Ep 307: All The Latest From the World of Pro Wrestling

Episode 307: AJ Lee returns to WWE. MJF gets married. Dynamite gets a new announcer and more. 











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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, everybody, welcome back. It is pro wrestling. After Hours
on Michael Carlisle, joined as always by Micah Frankle. Micah
was shaking.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Man John Cena figured out how to use the steal
a finisher feature on the two K.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
It's an homage. It's not stealing finishers. He's paying homage
to past opponents. It's a difference, come on, past opponents.
One of the dudes is standing in the locker room
that there was a still a past up punk reference
in there.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
That I did not get the retired, the no longer
there they injured made it a lot of sense either way.
I didn't know if he was stealing finishers or if
this was Johnson this way of saying, you think I
can't wrestle all hit eight hundred finishers and saw you
I can. Yeah, No, he's he's paying homage.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Fine, it'll be fine. I thought you were gonna say,
MJF shaking after getting married on Friday night and not
going on a honeymoon Saturday instead interfering with Mark Briscoe
on collision.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Some things are priorities, and burning of brisco is obviously
a priority. Friend JF. I guess it's like that nice
honeymoon moon to Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
I guess it's a good thing he married someone in
the business who kind of is a little bit understanding
of what do you mean We're not going on a
nice honeymoon where you're gonna be on collision on Saturday?
What the fuck are you talking about?

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Right, it wouldn't be the same if you went out
and got engaged to an artist and had to go
to gallery opening. She probably wouldn't understand the pro wrestler's
lifestyle the way he's already been there.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
See that. Now you're cutting too close to home. Micah, Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Don't know how to color inside the lines. My bad.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Oh no, no, no, it's it's it's fine. It's fine.
Lots of stuff to get to as we build it
all out to Wrestle Palooza. A couple things I wanted
to hit on real quick. Aw announces last week the
pay per views finally will start streaming on Max. That's
gonna start with next week's all out. That's the good

(02:25):
news the bad news, and it shouldn't be surprising, but
I'm still curious your thoughts on it. Unlike WWE previously
with Peacock moving over to ESPN where it's all included
with the package, you still have to pay for the
pay per views. Now they are going to give you
a twelve dollars discount if you order through Max, which

(02:48):
is about what a month's worth of MAX will run you.
HBO Max what they're calling it now, so it's making
up for it. Is it a bad look, I guess
is the question that WWE pay per views are free,
but you're gonna have to pay for AW pay per views.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
That's a hard question to answer because I bought Peacock,
and I've looked at a Peacock out the beginning strictly
for WWE, there was WWE Network, and we've established that
AW pay per views are about twice given performance to

(03:24):
a consumer from what a WWE pay per view is.
It's only a bad idea if the numbers start going down.
I expected for it to be a inclusive when they
went over to HBO. But if you're gonna still get
your one hundred thousand buys or whatever they get from

(03:45):
pay per view, that seems to be a dying dacross
combat sports entertainment. I wouldn't do it, but AW is, Yeah,
I see.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think it's an easy question to answer. Now changing it,
I think it's complicated and difficult, but I think it's
definitely a bad look. If the number one company can
include pay per views with the subscription service price, why
can't the number two company? So from that same point, now,
when you get into it a little more, maybe at

(04:17):
some point as pay per view continues to die out,
it is included with the subscription. But when you've already
budgeted in X number of pay per view buys per
event and things like that, going and changing it in
the middle of the year, I think is a little difficult.
I also think that in the wrestling landscape outside of WWE,

(04:41):
if you want to watch an AAW event, if you
want to watch a New Japan event, if you want
to watch or whatever, you're paying something, whether it's the
fight app trailer, whatever, whatever company's own app, you're still
having to pay something. So compared to every other wrestling

(05:03):
entity out there, is kind of right in line. But
it is different than what the quote unquote Big Dog
is doing. So it does stand up and I have
seen some backlash from fans online about that quite a bit, actually,
And while I understand it, I also get the other
side of it. We're not going to just turn on

(05:23):
a dime and give away our pay per views for free. Obviously,
the WWE recently moving their right steal over to ESPN
got a lot of headlines. But WWE, let's be honest,
going back to the network days have been including the
pay per views with the price of a subscription for
quite some time. Same thing happened when they moved the

(05:44):
network over to Peacock. So it's nothing new there. Nothing's
really changed, but I think for in the minds of
some fans is highlighted more because now AEW with their
parent not parent company, but their TV rights company, with
their platform, Now you're putting the pay per views there,
but oh you got to pay for them. But it's

(06:04):
been free with my Peacock subscription. It'll be free with
my ESPN subscription. Why am I getting WWE ones and
no extra cost? But I got to pay for aw ones.
So I understand it both sides of it. But I
get the fan backlash, but I also get why they're
not changing it. But I think they're gonna have to
at some point.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
They may have to at some point, But what we
got was an announcement that aw pay per views will
be available on HBO Max. You know what I didn't
hear in that announcement. What's that how much HBO Max
is paying to have these pay per views? See that

(06:44):
that's the difference in all this. When WWE went to Peacock,
it was how much Peacock was paying for this content.
When WWWE went to Netflix and how much they're paying
for this content. And I couldn't be sure on this,
but it almost sounds like hate will allow you to
put your pay per views here and will allow you
to charge what you want. Thanks, guys. I don't know

(07:08):
if this is the same kind of broadcast rights deal
that the one point one billion for the w for
the UFC, is that the three hundred and sixty million
for the WWE is with ESPN plus. I think this
is just allowing them to have another platform. Because there

(07:32):
was an Amazon platform, they're not promoting that now they're
promoting HBO Max. There was YouTube pay per view, there's
pay per view online wrestling, there's been traditional pay per view.
There's been so many different ways to try to sell
these aw pay per views that I'm skeptical that HBO
Max bought this for any kind of monetary gain towards AW.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
Oh. I agree with you on that, And just for
the record, you can still buy your away per views
on Amazon Prime if that's what you so choose. I
can't tell you with one hundred percent certainty, but I
also soon assume that means you can still get them
the way you like. I just buy it through direct TV.
Not a big deal. I assume I can still do that,

(08:17):
although again, it's ten bucks cheaper if you got HBO Max,
and I've got HBO Max as well, so that may
be what I moved to in the future. But yeah,
so to your point, I would be a little bit
surprised if Warner is giving aw any extra money, But
I think they should be using that to leverage more
people to buy the HBO Max subscription and throw in

(08:40):
the pay per views, or at least more of a
than a ten dollars discount than if you buy it
somewhere else. I don't that might be what actually got
the fans route up the most. If it was twenty
bucks with your subscription, that's one thing, but you're not
gtting ten bucks awful. Ten bucks is roughly what a
month of HBO Max costs you so it's not if

(09:05):
you don't already have HBO Max, it's really not that
much of it. It's really not a savings at all.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
No, but if, well, if you don't have HBO Max,
it's an incredible bundle. Now you get the pay per view,
but for the cost of the pay per view, you
get all this incredible content on HBO Max just for
being an aw fan.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Don't most people have HBO Max.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Where do you get all these streaming services from?

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Dude?

Speaker 2 (09:36):
I have like Peacock because of the WWE which outside
of that and Twisted Metal, I don't know what's on there.
I have Netflix and Hulu. I don't know how you
have all the time for Prime TV, Apple TV on
top of that.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa. I'll run them down
for you. Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN,
Paramount Plus. There's probably a few more, but that's eight

(10:14):
right there. Yeah, I mean that's you know, it's so funny.
Cord cutting, right, Oh, we'll save money. You don't have
to have cable, you don't have to have direct TV.
You just get a couple of streaming platforms. No, if
you want to keep up with everything. You pay more
in apps than you ever paid in cable or satellite.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
Oh yeah, you are totally right about that. That's why
I was sitting here at thim King.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
And oh, by the way, I don't think you could
have a higher price DirecTV tier subscription than what I have.
So yes, not only am I paying almost three hundred
bucks a month for DirecTV, I'm paying for I just
named off eight different streaming services and there's probably a
few more in there that I neglected to mension. So yeah,

(11:01):
you're paying out the wazoo for TV Man these days
for sure, which I think again is why the fans
are like, well, give us the day of pay per
views for free, like WWE does.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'm pretty sure I have my Netflix, my pet cock,
am I Hulu thanks to either Internet TV or cell
phone providers. Sure, so I think I have all of
those for free, and we might have a paramount account
somewhere already for free also thanks to that same kind
of what out low streaming service or whatever. But I

(11:33):
can't even keep try. I am not even gonna lie.
I have not looked through most of those services, and
if I'm not just going straight to WWE pay per
view Monday Night Raw or back over to regular TV.
I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, there are a lot of them out there, but
I glad the pay per views are going to be
streamed on HBO Max. I wasn't expecting them to be free,
but I think a lot of people were. And I
don't think the news was met with the enthusiasm by
a lot of people in the internet wrestling community like

(12:12):
you would have hoped it would have been put it
that way.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
I think people were hoping that the little guy was
gonna cut a break when the big guy really never does. So,
I mean, we'll see how wrestled Paloza goes. I'm still
have you needed yet to download and use the new
ESPN app? Uh Yeah, I'm still skeptical on how that's

(12:37):
gonna work, and that is just purely reliant on the
amount of bugs that we've seen with ESPN Plus and
the amount of times the Fight Night I was watching
this past weekend.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Raw, same app, same app. Oh no, yep, yep, yep,
yep your ESPN app yep, oh no. On the subject
of aw Tony Con, announced late last week, Brian Danielson

(13:10):
will join the Dynamite commentary team on a full time basis.
He didn't say he was moving out. I assume it
will be Shavanni, who we've kind of seen in and
out on Dynamite on at the commentary desk and more
backstage and in ring stuff with him. I'm assuming it'll
be ex Caliber, Taz and Danielson. But we had talked

(13:31):
a couple of weeks ago about Danielson's commentary and how
we felt like it added to the product. So I
think this is good for AW.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
I think this is good for AW. It doesn't matter
which side of ex Caliber they Replacedanielson with. I just
didn't see them replacing ex Caliber with Danielson. If that
makes sense.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Well, no, and look, Shavanni, I am assuming will continue
to do play by play on Collision. I love Tony Shavani,
the voice of my childhood, as this podcast says, but
it's true for me. I don't like him in the
number two role because I think he's more suited as

(14:11):
a play by play guy than doing some play by
play and some commentary. So maybe this works out better
all the way around. But I do love Danielson being
added to the commentary team. Because at least in the
past when he's been sitting there, he's not trying to
get himself over. He's focused on the matches, trying to
get the guys over, the storyline's over. And I think

(14:33):
when you're doing play by play, when you're a color
commentary guy, it's easy to get caught up in the
other stuff. You need someone there that's going to keep
everything focused on the guys and gals in the ring
and the storylines you're trying to progress.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, I found Danielson to be refreshing on commentary. Aw
has definitely tried a lot of different people at that table.
He is one that should remain there.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
I would agree with you on that, speaking your commentary
if you called it on Roll this week, Joe Testaitour
said that he and Corey Graves would be the Raw
broadcast team going forward for the time being, which doesn't
necessarily make you feel good about long term, but there
had been talk as recently as over the weekend that

(15:20):
it would be Michael Cole and Graves. Corey Graves and
Graves would actually be doing both Raw and SmackDown, But
in the end they decide, at least for now, Joe
Testa Tour will be the raw voice and Cole will
be the SmackDown voice.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
I like Testa Tour with boxing better. I've come to
realize that I don't hate on him. I just at
some point last night was just thinking, I don't know,
there's little things that it just doesn't seem steamless for me.
Where Holy Moley, we're boxing where I think he's even
done some NFL shows. There's been other things that were

(16:00):
a lot more seamless of a transition rather than this
has been.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
He was ESPN's Monday Night voice at one point. Yeah, no,
he's well versed.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
Was that on durn raw?

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Well, yeah, Monday Night it wasn't catching him? Ye, yeah,
I got you, I got you? Uhm, you brought up
Holy moly, damn, I missed that show. Him and Rob
Riggle were phenomenal on that. I like Testa Tour on
on ww far and away the best play by play
guy not named Michael Cole or Jim Ross that WWE

(16:34):
has had in decades. And that's no disrespect to anybody else.
That's just true. That's just my opinion. Maybe saying it's
true is that again it's subjective, but that that is
my opinion, and I would argue that point very vigorously.
You can't have the same announced team on both well,

(16:55):
I guess you could, but you don't want to have
the same announced team on both shows. So somebody's got
to one, somebody's got to do the other. I got
no problem with Testitur on Raw. I got no problem
if they put him on SmackDown.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
I'd be fine with one commentary team. I mean, it's
one big olds show. It's seamless. There are in any
brand separations or anything to have rivalries.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Of course there are, Micah. Of course there's brand separation.
Just because Jimmy Usso shows up on Raw and name
your aw wrestler that shows up on SmackDown every week,
there's still brand separation.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Come on, figments of your imagination.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
No, it's true, it's just not really adhered to. And
unless you know it suits the purpose, and when it
doesn't suit the purpose, it's not adhered to.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Okay, Kurt Angle, you need to calm down with the
it's true over here, all right, it's not true. They're
all lies, damn it lies.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
I hear you that would. I'm not going to argue
vigorously because you're you're kind of sort of right, But yeah,
if I'm Graves, I don't want to go back to commentary.
I want more play by play roles. I think he's
been phenomenal on the the two Triple A Premium live
events that that he did play by play on. Okay, now,

(18:16):
I don't watch enough of NXT to form an opinion
one way or the other on what the hell's going
on there with the announced team, but I think he's
been really good on the pay on the uh, the
play by play stuff. But I guess the allure of
being on one of the main shows is you're not
just going to turn that down.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
I'm just not trying to get into the Triple A stuff.
So good for Corey Graves. Hope he keeps working. What
have you had against the Triple A stuff that's kind
of Triple A stuff, kind of WWE stuff, but kind
of exists only in this like third realm out over here,
even though like doesn't seem to be that important to

(18:59):
most of the judgment day when they're on Monday Night
Raw except for Domastereo. It's this weird pseudo thing, not
to mention like the whole Natalian I hard thing that
I still can't stand. She seems to be bad ass
night like Triple A is an extension of CZW NOW
and NWA where she gets to be badass Natalia instead

(19:19):
of regular flufy barbie Natalia. Anywhere that she is badass Natalia,
I will not watch it because the biggest company in
the world does not portray her as that. So anything
that happens on that show, I cannot care about those
characters because they're obviously nothing that we're bringing up on
the main card.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Oh how I want to tell you how wrong you are,
but I can't.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
I want to be wrong. I want to care about it.
It's a ww antity in a product. They brought it
into the umbrella. Let's care about it. But when you
start having multiple matches with main card talents that we
recognize that are consistently there, but what's happening in Triple
A is no bother of them most of the week,
it doesn't kind to cross over to me.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
Well, let me clarify. I agree with you on specifically
with Natalia, how she's portrayed in WWE versus how she's
portrayed elsewhere. I think you're one hundred percent right on
that that doesn't keep me from liking the others of it.
It actually makes me care a little less about the
WWE side of things than it does the Triple A

(20:31):
or when she's making appearances in cc CZW or for
the NWA a while back or whatever whatever. But yeah,
it is unfortunate, isn't it. It's nice she's not going
to those places, she's not working any of those places
without their blessing.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
So.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
Why one way or the other, Why wouldn't you want
her character to be similar?

Speaker 2 (20:56):
It would make sense to me. Why wouldn't you If
you see it's work, it's catching on, people are responding
to it. It almost It's one of those things where
it feels like we accuse AW of caring too much
about pure wrestling fans, Internet wrestling fans, indie wrestling fans.

(21:18):
Something like Natalian Knightheart's success on that scene and how
they bring her back is the same opposite Cupcake character
that they want her to be. It spits in the
face of watching those independent promotions to me, because the
value is we're going to grab you and change you
into whatever we see fit.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
Anyway, Well, if AEW cares too much about the Internet
wrestling community and the quote unquote sickos WWE doesn't care
enough about them and hell but Bruce Pritchard is recently
as last week, admitted that on Cody Rose's podcast, I
don't care what the people on the internet say. I

(22:00):
care about what the people in the arena say. Now
I get his point. You listen to those reactions in
the arena, whether it's a raw, a SmackDown, a premium
live event, the occasional house show, what have you. But
I think you do have to take all of it
into account. And if you are of the opinion that
AW cares too much about the online community, then yeah, again,

(22:28):
same principle applies. You got to pay attention to all
of it and work out in your head, in your
think tank how to weigh all those things together into
one and decide storylines to side direction for talent. And
I think you can do both. I don't think you

(22:50):
have to do one. I don't think you have to
do the other. But it seems like both companies prefer
one over the other.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
That is something, And not to mention, I can only
watch Paragon and Psycho Clown lose to WWE talents so
many times before I stopped caring about them in tag
team matches. I think I've already kind of hit that point.
We understand the the handful of triple A talent that

(23:21):
WWE sees a future in, and that's not enough for
me to indulge in, quite frankly, as a lot of
talent that WWE doesn't seem to want to put effort
into using most of the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's

(23:46):
a lot of that on the card, unfortunately, I would agree.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Were you excited Friday about the return of aj Lee
to smack down into WWE?

Speaker 2 (23:56):
No, no, no, I was not. I knew that earlier
this year when it hit Wrestling Waves that somebody asked
aj Lee if she was returning to wrestling and she said,
oh no, me and my husband would never do that.
We're much better off not working in the same place together.

(24:18):
I was like, oh crap, she's coming back.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
No no, Punk was in WWE all this year. No no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
That she said she would not want to work in
the same place as her husband. So it referred to
that she would not be coming back to WWE because
that is his work environment. And as soon as she
said that, and she was referencing WWE and acknowledging pro
wrestling again because before she used to just I don't
want to talk about that that was ald in my
life and not bring it up in interviews. She brought

(24:48):
it up in interviews, and that's when I felt the
doom of she would be returning because to my negativity,
she was the best of a bad bunch. She had
her place and time, and after a decade away, the
game had evolved to a much different place. So just
from my fan perspective, I was good on aj Lee's career.

(25:11):
There was no desire for me to see her back.
And then when you saw the options and even see them,
Punk laid it out on Friday Night, I could go
get the eradicator, where I could go get the woman
one third her size and aj Lee's back, And when
I see aj Lee half the size of an already

(25:33):
small Becky Lynch, I was like, I don't know how
excited I am for this.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
I liked it. I popped for it. I liked the
idea of a Punk aj versus Rollins and Becky Lynch
tag match at Wressell Palooza. I don't know that I
care about a full time return to wrestling of aj
Lee again, nothing against her, you said, the best of

(26:00):
a bad crop. She just never did a lot for
me as a wrestler now, as an attraction, as a performer,
the way they were using the women back then. I mean,
I guess she was fine. She was good as good
as anybody else, but as a wrestler doesn't do a
lot for me. I don't know that I care about
seeing her, like I said, full time or semi full

(26:23):
time wrestling, But a one off mixed tag match against
Rollins and Becky you can sign me up for that.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
I'm just begging for the one thing I want, and
WWE just if I want to give us seth Rawlins
versus CM Punk and anything that perpetuates them not being
one on one against each other, to me is just
a waste of time.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
You're building to it, Micah, you're building to it.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
With the two of them.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
This ae W where you just rushed to it. Come on, man,
I know no. This is w W where.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Somehow we're gonna sell a match of no consequence to
somebody coming back after a decade, who, like we said,
was the best of the backrop and not that great
of a wrestler versus someone that we've called is at
the top of the echelon of female wrestling, for female
wrestlers at this time that wrestling guys had a resurgence.
I really didn't need this. Heck, you could have signed

(27:22):
me up more for CM Punk is the third USO
because Roman Range is injured and the Vision isn't a
six man tag that would have made more sense to me. This.
This feels like a waste of time for Becky Lynch
for where I was like, huh, are we gonna get
Becky Lynch to be a part of the Vision? Oh God,

(27:43):
why did I ever wish for that? If this is
what we're getting from that?

Speaker 1 (27:46):
Oh no, I love this. And since you brought him up,
I'd much rather see this match at Wrestle Palooza than
the USSOS versus Bronson Reed and bron Breaker. And I
was the one a month or two ago saying they
should just reunite the USE. I didn't know we were
gonna make ja kind of a jackass and have contention

(28:07):
amongst the USOS, or I would have never called for it.
Why can't we just reunite? Reunite now? Why is there
got to be whether it's what side is Jimmy on? Now,
what side is jayon? Why can't we just have the
usos together?

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Because we need drama, we need story, we need intrigue.
Because I was kind of nauseated when they started to
cut the same pro moo that they used to cut,
to think, Wow, all this evolution of Jay's game for
Jimmy to just grab his kottass, drag him back down
to earth slop all momentum and say, no, no, no, brother,

(28:43):
we're coming right back into the same shit we used
to do. No, no, no, you do not get to
be different. No, you do not get to be special
like Roman. No, you don't get to stand out. You're
just gonna eat. Well, I talk and then I'll talk
and you eat and we eat and yeah, yeah this
will be fine. I'll just rideer hotels. At least this
has some some intrigued and some settlements of being different,

(29:05):
because this reunion felt like they were just gonna be
the same Musso's. Instead, it's the same perpetuation of the
bloodline story over and over again. Is their dissension?

Speaker 1 (29:15):
Right? No, right, it's not different. You just said at
least it's different. It's not different. At all other than
Jimmy is playing Jay and Jay is playing Jimmy. Now,
other than that is the exact fucking same. I would
have much rather had the reunited USOS challenging bron Breaker
and Bronson Reid, and then you go from there, we
don't need own. Now you're sounding like Roman, Well maybe

(29:39):
I should sound like Roman. All right, you go save
l a night. I'm gonna super kick and fuck you again,
all stuff we've seen in the past, just with the
Jimmy and Jay roles reversed.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
But Bruce Piser will tell you the audience in the
arena is loving it.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
I don't think they are.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Then they why they pay so much money to go,
because we know that's not a cheap ticket.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
I don't think they bought the ticket for the USOS
and Bronson Reed and bron Breaker. But I hear you.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
There's a way to tell people when you don't like
the product that they're presenting and you feel like it's
repetitive of something that you've seen before.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Sometimes you know I told you storytelling, you got to
be patient with rollins and punk over in ae W.
We can all be guilty of this at times. I
did it I'm like, all right, you brought Hook back.
Why the fuck didn't he say anything about the ops?
They damn replaced him just to have him show up
and not have anything to say about why Samoa Jo,

(30:38):
why did you replace me?

Speaker 2 (30:39):
Why?

Speaker 1 (30:40):
Why'd you guys just move on without me? Blah blah blah.
All right, I should have been patient for another week,
because they did address that this past week on Dynamite
and Hook Uh. Not only did he actually get dressed
this week and not come out in his pajamas, still
didn't really comb his hair, but he wasn't wearing his pjs,
but not happy with the ops, and he let that

(31:02):
be known.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
He let it be known. He told Joe, Joe said, hey,
you fell out injured. List we had to get somebody
hobb stuffed up to the plate. Did you want us
to relinquish the tie? Itles looks like there's still gonna
be some hostility there, but there's enough heels in aw.
I don't know where this friction leads, but we kind

(31:26):
of need Hook to be somebody right.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Now, and I think he will be. And I I'm
going to assume while there might be friction with the Ops,
ultimately because they're gonna need each other from time to time.
They will somewhat peacefully coexist. I don't think Hook turns
on him. I don't think they turn on him, at

(31:49):
least not yet. But I'm just glad they addressed it,
because in any real life scenario, guy gets injured and
you just immediately replace him like that and keep moving, Well,
it might have been smart on the part of the ops.
If you're that guy that got replaced, you're gonna feel
a little hurt about that, and you're gonna feel the
need to address that when you come back.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
It's just like in every other sports entity. Yeah, they
replace you the minute, dude, they replace you as you're
getting carded off the field.

Speaker 1 (32:18):
We got a game to play.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
There's another member needed. Third string linebacker steps up, You're
in the game all of a sudden. I understand it
from Hook. At least he's not like emotionally traumatized sitting
on his couch finding out that this happened and having
to speak out against how much it really hurt him.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
I would agree with you on that. Why of the
show for Dynamite.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
Body Bag Jones Bodybag Jones, I like.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Tasle commentary, especially when he's motivated. There is a part
of me that would like to see him be a
manager again and have Hook just turn on everybody and
be a little mini badass and have task calling the
shots and basically being a more ruthless don callous I guess,
for lack of a better comparison, I like the fact

(33:13):
that Gabe Kid took that dragging like like a man.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
He got tied up to a back of a dodge
ram and dragged through an alley. Darby is a sicko,
and Gabe Kid could definitely be appreciated for taking that part.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
So so Kid takes Darby in the back, beating the
hell out of him, and has the unfortunate luck of
stopping right there at Darby's truck where the powder, where
the body bag is, where either the keys were in
Darby's pocket or left in the truck, and Darby gets
the upper hand, then throws him in a body bag,
ties the body bag to the back of the truck,

(33:51):
and drives off. Gabe Kid's got some bad luck.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Man Darby looks like the kind of guy that just
leaves the keys right in the ig mission, knowing he
was about rob the liquor store.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
Darby looks like the kind of man who needed a
booster seat to see over the steering wheel of that truck.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
Dude, he just slammed the They're like, just drive forward,
you'll be fine. Don't move the wheel too much, just
go forward.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
I can't reach the pedals. I can't reach the pedals.
I don't know and did that seemed to contrived to me?
That was the point I was trying to get out.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Oh, I get you, I get you. But more my
thought was, I did not expect by the time we
got to Collision that we would go from Darby aling
neary Lee killing Gabe Kid to John Moxley accepting the challenge.
I was. I was about sold on the thought that
all out was going to be Gabe Kid Darby.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Somehow, I think Moxley had to accept the challenge well
more importantly to me, uh and maybe this is just
where my brain lies. We get to Collision, and I
got fucking Daniel Garcia against Moxley again, and I got
Daniel Garcia losing again. Dude, just fucking beat the hell

(35:06):
out of Daddy Magic. Join the Death Riders and you
and you to be the B team of the Death Riders.
You can be the Death Rider juniors, let's just speak. Look,
I'm all about long term storytelling. Sometimes you need to
speed things along. If that's what we're doing with Daniel Garcia,
there's gonna be a hill turn. Let's speed that fucker

(35:26):
up so we can make him interesting, because he that
interesting right now.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
We need the heel turn from not just Daniel Garcia,
but Chris Statlander.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
Also.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
I like that the four by four for women's we
get the homage to you to on the pinfall. He also,
you know, he had jumped up there, gave a little
bit of inspirational advice to Chris Statlander to start off.
I would almost also like to see someone else could

(35:59):
come out, like a a third woman that we haven't
thought of, and instead attack Statlander and really been the
one they were building this all around, because it feels
like this has been way too long of storytelling almost
what's going to happen with Statlander and the Death Riders.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
It's one thing to plant seeds and to gradually build
off of that. It's another thing to drag your feet,
and it does seem like they're dragging their feet on
the Statlander stuff for sure.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
So I want to see this, this reigniting, this rebuilt
death Riders you had in gay Kid, You're bringing Garcia Statlander.
I don't know if you can add any credibility back
or fierceness back to a faction that's just taken a
lot of l's recently, Micah.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
This past week on AAW, we also got the return
of Rio. Were you surprised at that?

Speaker 2 (36:51):
Didn't see that one coming? Something had to give in
the world of Tony Storm Mercedes Monet. We kind of
thought that could we backtrack to Monet versus Storm two?
And obviously AW said something else up their sleeve. Riho,
who I mean this? And no slider funny. I think

(37:15):
she really did gain ten pounds. Maybe looks a little
more of a not just the skeleton this time around.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
She's quite you know. Then if she gained ten pounds,
it was in the upper body area, and I'll just
leave it at that.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
There was ten pounds game though somewhere right.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
Maybe maybe okay, little little little enhancement here, A little
enhancement there.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
I thought a leg or two might have looked thicker.
Knows what surgery that is that I don't know about. Yeah,
but no, look, it's good to see her back. It'll
make for an interesting all out. I guess forcedes monete.
If nothing else, Mercedes has a talent for working with
the international individuals. We've seen her do very well with

(38:08):
the LOOTSA style, very well with New Japan. I think
that it'll come across as a very good match, especially
the size comparisons being all that they are, and now
Mercedes can use somewhere power moves. I don't think it'll
be a bad one. No reason to get overtly excited,
but aw loves them some Rino.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
They do, they do. I love what they're doing right
now with Ricochet and the Gates of Agony. I was
not overly thrilled. I think if you're a long time
listener to this podcast when they put them together, didn't
like how things went early on the last several weeks. Well,
going back to the Forbidden Door pay per view when
they took out the Hurt Syndicate and cost them the

(38:51):
tag titles and what they've built off of that, looks
like we're going to get a match at all out
Between the two fact I love what they're doing here
and I love this promo right up until the end
with Ricochet's goofy laugh, which I don't think he needs anymore.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
I'm fine with the laugh, and it adds a little
jokers nice to his character where he's still kind of playful,
cartoon ish. The Gates of Agony can speak for themselves.
Now they're physical, they're imposing, and we finally get to
see MVP in an ae w ring. I think have

(39:34):
you gotten over the surprise that we're getting more Hurt Syndicate?
I think we were pretty sure they were done with
the company after the way things played out at the
pay per view. Didn't see this popping up.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
No, I'm not really surprised. Look at there had been
talk going into Forbidden Door that maybe the Hurt Syndicate
weren't the easiest guys to do business with and didn't
want to drop this to the and that, And while
there may have been some truth there, I think a
lot of that was overblown, and the fact they're still

(40:08):
around and being used in a pretty high profile way
probably speaks to that, I would think. So a little
surprised maybe, but not all that surprised.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
Like I said, a little surprised, not that surprised, just
like I was a little surprised Big Bill with a
pointed call out to the Mad King. Eddie Kingston. Didn't
have that on my bingo card either.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
I can only assume this means Eddie Kingston is getting really, really,
really really close to being ready to return. I would
have thought you'd have gone in a different direction with
Eddie Kingston when he comes back. Maybe you got to
get your feet wet a little bit. I don't hate it,
I just didn't see it coming either. Do we need the.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Do we need the match mashup that's gonna be the
Outrunners in Dalton Castle?

Speaker 1 (41:11):
Yes, because I was about to throw something through my
TV until the very end of that promo when Dalton
Castle appeared. And now I'm like, ah, you know what,
It's all good. Now. I love me some Dalton Castle
and I can tolerate the Outrunners if this is gonna
bring us back Dalton Castle. So, if I'm being honest

(41:34):
to answer your question, no, but I'm here for by
the way, and I will continue this every single fucking week.
Mica to just strap in and get ready. You got
a goddamn faction with the Outrunners in Dalton Castle, and
you can't squeeze fucking Dan Housen in somewhere, Tony Khan,
don't be a goddamn asshole. Just bring back Dan Housen

(41:55):
and be done with it. Give the fans what they
want for crying out loud. Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
We're cloning a hologram by now, but we don't have
Diane House right right.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
We're gonna have a fucking hologram clone and we can't
bring back Dan Housers. I'm sorry, Yeah, the clone wars,
I hear you, all right, I'm off the Dan Housen soapbox.
I promise I'll try really hard not to bring him
up again this week.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
Okay, who is fighting who? Because I think MJF is
fighting Mark Briscoe, I guess, But wait, so Kyle Fletcher
then gets hang Man Paige instead of brisco fighting Hangman Page. Uh,
this is some strange centergy. How are you liking the
storytelling of where we're going in that direction? Because it

(42:43):
felt like there was still something left between Mark Briscoe
and MJF. But Mark Briscoe had his eyes s factuated
on MJF. Now MJF has opened up Mark Briscoe's attention
by costing him an opportunity at Kyle Fletcher. Nothing on
Kyle Fletcher's plate. He wants to become the first two
belt champion in the Kallis family because Okada only has

(43:06):
three belts. But wait, I think Okata and Takeshna both
also want to face same man.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Yeah, I'm fine in Fletcher and Hangman Dynamite this week
and not the pay per view.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
Is it just Dynamite this week?

Speaker 1 (43:20):
I think so? But yes, MJF and Mark Brisco is
a go for all out, so we're definitely getting that.
I'm fine with it. You got to give And maybe
I'm wrong on Fletcher and Hangman. I'll try to look

(43:41):
that up while we talk here. I know it's not
officially listed for all out yet, but I thought they
were doing that this week on Dynamite. But I could
be wrong.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Well, that leads to a better disquestion, better discussion then,
with eleven days from wait, ten days from as we're
talking here, with the episode dropping, what is hay Man
Page doing it all out? Uh?

Speaker 1 (44:06):
It does look like uh he and Fletcher will be
all out? Oh okay, okay, so I stand corrected. It's
not officially listed yet, but yeah, that's.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Where we're going. That makes more sense. I don't know
if I love that our TNT champion is going to
take an L on a pay per view, But there's
a lot of injuries going on in aw so somebody's
got to do a job somewhere.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Is he gonna take an L?

Speaker 2 (44:34):
I don't think we reached ultimate callous overload with a
short hook on Hayman Page. That would be more likely
if we had already spoiled the MJF factor and the
contract wasn't in existence, but maybe it would be more fun.

(44:57):
The contract exists. But Kyle Fletcher literally has an army
around him, So how are you going to get past
all these bodies? MJF. I don't I don't know. If
that's an intriguing storytelling for you.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
I'm good with it. No, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah because
because yeah, yeah, Dynamite this week we get Hangman Page
and Josh Alexander, So that makes yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
So so yeah, well yeah, it looks like we're getting
Fletcher and Page at pay per view that I'll probably
be announced officially on Dynamite this week. In the aftermath

(45:34):
of that, when do we need to start worrying about
Kenny Omega? This man may lead all of professional wrestling
and getting fucking stretchered out. You could stretch her out
Kenny Omega every week, but you can't bring back Danton.
And I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Don't worry. I
calm down, Micah. It was only kidding. It was a joke.

(45:55):
But in all seriousness, how many times can you stretcher
a man out before it loses It's it's it's seriousness,
it's drawing power, because at some point you're gonna be like,
oh look there's Kenny getting stretched off. It's gonna be
like fucking South Park. Oh my god, they killed Kenny,
you bastards. Oh my god, they're stretching out Kenny Omega,

(46:16):
you bastards. But we're almost there, are.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
We at two times or three times?

Speaker 1 (46:22):
We're like forty seven times, Micah, But it's twice in
the last six weeks two months.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
They had to write them off again quickly. I don't
understand it. It Also, I thought you were gonna even
go a step further and say you were worrying about
Kennyo Mega, because he looked like he was turning into
a version of mid two thousands Triple h when you
saw him come out into the ECW arena with the
boots and the blue jeans and the wet hair and

(46:53):
the kind of protruding gut that looks like the diverticulitis
might be coming back.

Speaker 1 (47:00):
He is barrel gutted. I don't know if that's the
diverticulitis or what. I I don't know. I'm worried about him. Well, A,
he's not getting any younger, but B you're doing the
same thing with him to build up to every big moment.
Stop structuring the man out, come up with something else.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
This is definitely a challenge to Tony Kahan to take
his creative powers, press them forward, take up, you know,
maybe take applications for writers for the wrestling room, get
a few more ideas flowing around there. We obviously have
to have a Kenny o'mega return, which will obviously shortly

(47:47):
be followed by a Coda Abuji return for whatever kind
of foray they're going to have against the Guy family.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
It would have been better if they had put Kenney
Omega in a body bag, tied him to the back
of a ram truck, and drove the fuck off. Even
though they did that at the beginning of the show. Uh,
that would have been better than stretching his ass out again.
Tell me I'm wrong?

Speaker 2 (48:10):
Is strapped into a carrier pigeon brought back whatever Jack
Perry's bus is.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't,
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
And are we ever fucking leaving the ECW arena? You
told me last week? Yeah, you told me last week.
We were done after last week. No, it's another damn
week of this. Look, Hallowed Ground's historic arena looks really
bush league on national television.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
I don't you can't apologize. It's okay to you about that.
This this is to be the final week. Now I'm
hearing that again this week. I'm hoping this residency feels
to be lasting a little while. Other residencies wronging, Like
I'm two weeks. Yeah, I don't know if we need
these residencies, but Tony Colin is all in on them.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
Yeah. Look, I'm fine with the residencies, but you got
to do it somewhere that looks good on TV. I
don't care how many great matches have been held somewhere.
They are armories all over the southeast that have seen
Rick Flair bleed his fucking ass off and escape with winds.
We don't need to be going and doing residencies there.

(49:25):
I understand the historical significance of the twenty three hundred Arena,
the former ECW Arena, but it just doesn't look good
on TV and it makes you look less than And
you're doing four plus hours of TV every week for
three weeks there. Plus you did the Ring of Honor
pay per view there as well, which is a little different.
We can set that aside if you want. But three dynamites,

(49:48):
three collisions in a place that's seating under a thousand
people and looks it. It's one thing if you can
make it look bigger or make it look good, but
it looks exactly like what it is, and that's just
not a good look for a major wrestling promotion. In
twenty twenty five, I'd.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Be all in on leaving Ring of Honor in the
ECW Arena just to see if you had a residency
for Ring of Honor there for for a year, they'd
be fine, But keep AW out of there. Slightly bigger
the three thousand seed arenas that that's where AW should be.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
Yeah, Yeah, I agree, And again I'm fine with the
the residency they did in Arlington last year at the
Esports Arena. It was like they were there like the
whole fucking summer. It seemed like like eighteen weeks or
some shit. It wasn't that long, but it sure seemed
like it was a while. I'm pretty sure it was
longer than this was that He's got good to wind

(50:47):
up being. I didn't think that was the best look either,
but at least it looked bigger, and at least it
was something different. And again I'm not please everybody listening.
Let me be really clear. I'm not sure sitting on
the twenty three hundred arena.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
I'm just saying it's ECW and Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
Ouch. Why would you do that? My kid? Jesus Christ. No,
I'm not saying that. I'm just saying it doesn't look
good on TV, and AW should not be doing a
residency there. I could live with going there once and
then going somewhere else that looks bigger. I understand all that,
but being there for six episodes of your TV over

(51:29):
three weeks, that's brutal.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
Man.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
It just made it feel small time.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
You are a commander's fan, and it is football season.
I'm not that far fetched when I talk about Philadelphia.
Hate might be strong, but love.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
Dude, Just because your team fucking choked away a game
to the hapless Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, don't come
fucking at me. How's my team doing?

Speaker 2 (51:53):
I wish I could play the Giants.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Shit, they were hapless on Sunday night and until Yeah
handed the game to him on a silver platter.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
Josh Allen is the farthest thing from hapless.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Did they not have that game in hand? Did they
not have a ninety nine win probability with under five
minutes to go? Yes?

Speaker 2 (52:17):
And yes, they can't watch football to still be considered
a fan of the team, because I'm pretty sure you're
giving me facts I want to know, because I didn't
watch any of time out.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
Motherfucker who spent hours on his Facebook on Sunday updating
his Baltimore Ravens photo gallery, adding fucking helmet and jersey pictures.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
I think I saw that a bunch of cool digital images.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Yeah, yes, so don't say I'm a fan.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
I'm a fan of the art with everything that has
a Raven on it. But I would be lying if
I told you that I watched any minutes of that
football game.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
Well, well, don't be telling me I'm a damn Philly hater.
It's just because I'm a Commander's fan and the Eagles
reside there.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
I love you. Oh okay, all right, all right. I
didn't know you were such a big seventy six Ers
and Flyers fan.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
I like the seventy six and now I was more
of a Celtics fan. I like doctor J. Growing up.
It's some seventy six ers expect.

Speaker 2 (53:13):
I was in the aller Iverson era of being raised.
I don't know what this doctor he's talking about, Like,
did you see people in the office?

Speaker 1 (53:22):
What type of medicine did this doctor J? You speak
of practice? Yeah? No, A practiced basketball, my man. And
he was damn good. I digress been.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
No.

Speaker 1 (53:31):
In all serious, I'm not hating on ECW or the
arena or any of that. It's not a good look
for TV. And look, you also, even if they and
I don't know, but even if they realized that before
the first show, not like you could do anything about it.
At that point. You were committed. So you do the

(53:51):
best you can, and I think they have. But I
just I don't think it's good for a major wrestling
company to be doing your TV there in twenty twenty five,
and hopefully they don't make that mistake again, right Ring of.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Honor cool aew not so much fit for there, doesn't
have the right ambiance for a big time looking arena. Cope,
did you see you shouldn't edge things, you should cope them.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
You know how a few minutes ago we talked about
Kenny Omega getting stretched out again. Didn't we see that
exact same fucking pull apart the week before with Cope
and Christian and FDR.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
I don't knock them for that because I see it
frequently from the worldwide leader in the genre of sports
entertainment where Roman reigns USO's. There's multiple pull aparts with
the same kind of JI.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
But you didn't have done it different?

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Was sorry, go ahead, but I did feel like the
build up for Cope versus FDR where this had been
less than I need to year from Coping Christian. I'm
okay now that at least on Collision we did get
a yeah, a promo cut from FTR and stokely, But yeah,

(55:15):
I'm not all about the pull aways. But I feel
like we do get this with a lot of wrestling
the same pull aways constantly.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
Yeah, because look, I mean I understand the need to
continue to build the match, but it almost seemed like
paint by numbers, the exact same thing we saw the
week before. I would just preferred something different, do it
in a different way. I felt like they went the
easy way and just did the same thing again rather
than putting forth a little bit of creativity and doing

(55:45):
it differently.

Speaker 2 (55:47):
I gotta agree with you on that one again. Most
creative things that we got going on MJF, Deaf Riders,
Hangman Page at least having a better second run now
as champion and Roddo.

Speaker 1 (56:05):
Did we think Broddo would.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
Really lost this long?

Speaker 1 (56:09):
Yes, they made shirts and everything. You need a T
shirt mover these days in aw Mike get because you're
about to lose your best T shirt mover his name.
I won't mention because I promised I try not to
bring up Dan Housen again. But no, I'm not in
all seriousness. The t shirt thing led me to believe

(56:30):
that that they were going to at least be somewhat
serious with this tag team. No, I'm not surprised. My
guess would be. And I don't know if they have
a match for all out yet let's see, no, but
I would assume they probably will and they'll probably win.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
I'd say, so. I think that we're looking at that
continuation with ae W. They don't do the short title reigns.
We're going for something lengthy, so right, I don't think
we're losing it quickly?

Speaker 1 (57:04):
Got you the uh? I think the dog fighting matches
just started, Micah, And I think I hear that in
your background there. You need to go get the referee.
Get ready. That's illegal. You know you brought up me
hating Philadelphia. Obviously you love Philadelphia. You Michael Vick lovin

(57:25):
such and such. Wait what your damn dog fighting ring
you got going on back there? Right?

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (57:33):
I hear all the the stuff going on. And we're
talking about fifth Philly. While ago you said I was
a Philly hater when I'm not. Obviously you're a Philly lover,
more specifically Mikey Vick lover. But uh.

Speaker 2 (57:46):
Whatever, you know what little dog is making this twice
he loves to jump in your lap.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
That that dog could not fight anything, that there are
stuffed animals that would kick the shit out of that dog,
and I love your little dog. That dog ain't fighting nothing.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
So I was like, what are you talking about? Dog fighting? Ring?
He fights for air man, he fights for air He's
just he's trying to breathe.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
He's like, I just need more breaths. Uh, what else, Michah?

Speaker 2 (58:15):
I was trying to think what else happened from wwe
talk about? Didn't we just see this? Are they really
giving us Randy Orton Drew McIntyre again, because most of
the guys at the top of the card have went
off to this film Street Fighter?

Speaker 1 (58:33):
Well, wasn't it just the one who besides Romans filming
Street Fighter?

Speaker 2 (58:37):
Oh? Cody's there too?

Speaker 1 (58:38):
Oh is he? How did I know? Oh? Yeah, I
did you know? What? I did know that?

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Duh? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (58:45):
I mean Nicky Tire's gotta lose to somebody.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
No, he's got to beat somebody so he can justify
facing Cody when Cody comes back after he had put
Cody's head into the table. I at least assume we're
gonna get the Cody revenge on Drew McIntyre. Then again,
we have been waiting for Cody Randy with the title
on the line for a while maybe you're right, Randy

(59:09):
takes out Drew and then goes after Cody.

Speaker 1 (59:13):
All Right, I can't talk about Dan Housen again on
this episode, so I'm gonna go to my second favorite
wrestler to talk about what the hell has happened to
El Grande Americano. This dude was a world beater, there
were rumors of an injury, and now all of a
sudden he can't beat anybody. He loses the aj styles

(59:34):
on Raw this week? What has happened to the myth,
the legend El Grande Americano.

Speaker 2 (59:42):
At least he's getting used. He's bought some slub like
Pete Dunn or the tiny lad that Pete Dunn tagged
with who might under or or some dude that used
to be uh Man I used to call him in Ludwig,
whoever that loser is also. I mean, none of these

(01:00:04):
three guys can even sniff a camera anywhere ever, you'd
never been put on a mask.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
I just wish Elgrandi Americano with go off TV a little.
I'll maybe rest up. Look, he greatest Luci door of
all time, Micah. He's been in some wars that takes
a toll on the body. Maybe he should just go
rest up for about three months and then come back,
you know, when Chad Gable's healthy. Excuse me, excuse you?
Feel like the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
The use of Penta has been very random. WWE supporters
love to point out that the guys that have come
over from ae W are thriving in such a better
way since coming over, and who it's nice to see
Penza on TV the other day.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
I mean, I guess Ricky Saints and Ethan Page are
thriving in NXT.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
But I agree with that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Rusef Malachi Black now, Russif, I guess did get a
win on Premium Live event the other week. But Malachi Black.

Speaker 2 (01:01:11):
Hey, he did get a win the other day over
a Damian priest thanks to the ref being a shield.
I didn't expect that from Malachi or Alistair whatever he is.
But he is sinister. I am.

Speaker 1 (01:01:25):
In a way. I am in a way I'm not.
I am a little surprised that Penta and Phoenix are
just like the other lw O people. Now, I'm not
surprised us I forgot about him. Yeah, I'm not surprised
Rucef's not being used better. I'm not surprised Malachi is
not being used better. I am a little surprised about

(01:01:47):
Phoenix and Penta though, and maybe that's your shame on me,
and maybe I shouldn't be, but I thought they would
treat them a little differently.

Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
You never know what they're going to think about the
Lou tudor characters that up with all of a sudden,
Dragon Lee hot Flavor of the Month to help aj
Styles out. It's like he took the Ray Mysterio position
all of a sudden.

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
So if aj Styles and Dragon Lee were to form
a tag team, would they be called aj Lee?

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Ay j Lee. That's a really original name. I'm glad
no one's taken it yet. That's a wrestler.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
I'm just saying.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
Confusion division. Rhea Ripley with Nikki Bella is not the
tag match that we expected. I'm guessing that Kyrie has
to turn evil at something to fully align with Osca

(01:02:54):
and there will be a breaking point for Edo Sky
to and up with Rhya Ripley. I don't want this
to happen. I'm just spitballing here.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
I try not to think about it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
Micah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
If I'm being honest with you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:13):
Well it's either that or are we having a Stephanie
Vancour or Edo Sky next woman's Champion? And I don't
know what Stephanie Vancour did wrong. She looked great, she
won a bunch of matches. I felt like she was
going in the right direction. And because Naomi got pregnant,

(01:03:35):
they've fully taken her off a TV and stopped any
use of her. It seems like, Yeah, I mean, what
are you gonna do put Stephanie Vancour in matches, use her,
have her back there for interviews. It seems like you

(01:03:56):
might have done something besides just kind of her as
an afterthought. Now you're feeling this time creatively with something
I might have had her involved in whatever that something was. Also,
this feels like a stark adjustment from where we were
going with Edosky and Rhea Ripley with the Oska Kyrie

(01:04:21):
saying angle I might have continued with that one and
figured out a way to put any other women's wrestler.
But you're getting the match with Stephanie van Kore.

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
Yeah, I'm saying you're getting vankor an Eo Sky for
the Women's Championship at Russell Palouzo. So you're still doing
stuff with her, she's probably gonna win.

Speaker 2 (01:04:42):
Well, that's where I say, for the last three four weeks,
it feels like she just hasn't been on TV. You
were like, oh, there probably was going to be a
build up with her in Naomi, And because Naomi wasn't available,
Stephanie van Kore has just been sent home on vacation.
There's only so much TV time to go around, like,

(01:05:03):
I don't, I don't know, I know, and yet Dom
Mysterio eats up so much of it. That's where I
think you can fill a little Stephanie Vancoure in there.
Or even when Dom steps off of TV, when someone
like Finn pops on or Rock hel Roder. You guys,
there's perfect seconds to be used.

Speaker 1 (01:05:24):
You're not taking Dom Mysteria off TV for Stephanie val Kur,
You're just not.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
How about the war Raiders?

Speaker 1 (01:05:31):
No, and what the who did they offer help to
on Monday Night? Yeah? Yeah, Pinta. If I'm if I'm
pent I'm like, huh, I wonder if Tony Kahan would
take me back. I mean, at least the Outrunners are

(01:05:52):
funny if he stuck me with them. The the Viking
war Raiders ain't even funny.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
I'm I'm just saying I think there are space is
to use Vancore, just like I don't like what they're
doing with with Julia.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Now I don't. I don't like ww's women's division. Now.
I think they have talent, I just don't like the
way they use any of them. It's the biggest head
scratcher ever.

Speaker 2 (01:06:18):
To me.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
It's like, we care about women's wrestling, but we really don't.
But we do because look at all this talent we've got.
We're gonna do stupid shit with them. The only thing
that remotely interests me, Mike, and I'm curious your thoughts
is on this is Bailey. And you know if you
saw her vignetta on Raw, and you know I'm gonna

(01:06:41):
make this right, blah blah blah. She is so turning heel,
so turning heel.

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Again.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
Well yeah, but I'm fine with that at least. Well,
and then she wasn't, and.

Speaker 2 (01:06:59):
Then she will.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
I I.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
Don't know. It's a little hard for me on that one,
because she was, she wasn't, She comes to her senses,
she goes back into her insanity. I'm not really sure.
And the only thing I know is that her promos
are centered around Lyra Valkyria, and there's so much talent

(01:07:23):
on the women's roster. That's not the one I'd be
focusing on. But I digress. One day Charlotte Flair will
be cleared to perform again.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
I mean, I guess.

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
She might want to get a second opinion. I do
know if I trust that doctor, I uh, yeah, I guess.

Speaker 1 (01:07:45):
I guess they're gonna screw up Becky. You watch They're
gonna make her like hysterical crazy, and and it's could
have ruined I think you've got potential with that storyline.
I think they fucking oh Bailey, Yeah, Bailey, did I say, Becky?

Speaker 2 (01:08:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
I'm sorry, Bailey, my apologies. They've already screwed up Becky.
They're onto Bailey now. I'll give them credit. They're trying
to make people care about l A. Knight with the
USO stuff and all that. I just that's hard, man,
because you had l A. Knight right there, and you

(01:08:30):
decided not to pull the trigger, and a lot of
people lost interest.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
I lost interest. I can't be brought back in in
that same manner anymore. It's just not there for me.
Before you said La Knight. There was someone else on
the tip of my tongue where I was like they wasted.
There's just a few things. It feels like the stop,
the start. Oh wait, you are important. Wait you were important.

(01:08:57):
Oh wait, they're gonna try and make you important again.

Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
Oh yeah, well this probably wasn't the name on the
tip of your tongue. But but I'll give you one.
I will bet you anything you want to bet. John
Cena's last match, the opponent gum Through.

Speaker 2 (01:09:15):
Oh you're You're off the Logan Paul train.

Speaker 1 (01:09:18):
Now I think it's gonna be gum Thro. I think
Gunther is gonna be the one to get. You've already
given Logan the rub. I think you're gonna have John
Cena look up at the lights for gun Through in
his last match.

Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
Okay, that wasn't the one I was thinking of, But
I think and farther like no care about what he's doing.
I don't know if to work with the Miz is
helping Carmelo Hayes. Yeah, it's that there's a lot going
on in the WWE right now where I'm not sure

(01:09:55):
if it's helping or not.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
Well, look at least their capital on all the momentum
they they've got with our truth. You know, you released him.
The fans were outraged. You brought him back to big fanfare,
and well that was kind of it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
Yeah, that happened. He got a job back. We got
him his job back, and now he can hang out
there with Ludwig Kaiser and the rest of his friends
because they've all probably gotten to be really acquainted in catering. Well,
they're not getting to work on raw or SmackDown. Ouch ouch.

Speaker 1 (01:10:32):
Ouch, you're cutting deep, Micah. I mean, you're not wrong,
but you're cutting deep. It is deep. It is deep.

Speaker 2 (01:10:43):
We'll see what's next for Russev. He got him pent
his face and you said that's one that I wonder
if we could see something more out of because there
was a point in time where Rusev had that WWE
feeling to him.

Speaker 1 (01:11:01):
Uh, he's missing one crucial thing if he wants that
feeling back, and I don't think it's gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (01:11:10):
See, I'd rather talk about that than gun there because
the more time away, last time I missing.

Speaker 1 (01:11:16):
You'd rather talk about how WWE is missing the boat
by not bringing Lana back so Russeph can lose with
style rather than talk about.

Speaker 2 (01:11:25):
Gunther style, grace, panache, accent.

Speaker 1 (01:11:31):
Yes, at least we could get some tank sex.

Speaker 2 (01:11:37):
Yea, it just be do you bring Lana back as
Lana or with the accentuse she never lost the accent
in WWE?

Speaker 1 (01:11:45):
Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, as far as WWE's consort, I
think she still has the accent.

Speaker 2 (01:11:50):
Oh, come on, let's go back to the accent.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
Oh I think we should. I think that would be fantastic,
he said sarcastically.

Speaker 2 (01:11:59):
Where shouldn't gonna more people that just randomly disappear from
WWE landscape? See, now you got my mind starting to work.
Who else is just randomly gone?

Speaker 1 (01:12:09):
I don't know. I'm sure he's doing the important stuff,
samurai training or something. I don't know. Wasn't that what
he was the last time we saw him? A samurai?

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
It is amazing how many people WWE has on the roster,
how much stuff we can talk about in a week,
and how many people they still don't use.

Speaker 1 (01:12:29):
Well again, just like when we talk about with AW
in all seriousness, there is only so much TV time
to go around, and you can't use everybody. No, I
get it. There's people like.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
John Cena and Roman reigns who you just gotta kind
of track them down to get him to be there
for a while. These other ones just seem to be
gone randomly though.

Speaker 1 (01:12:53):
Real quick, can you name your Speed men's and women's champions?
I just like to play this game sometimes. That's okay.

Speaker 2 (01:13:02):
I heard they took Speed off of X and that
it's now on NXT.

Speaker 1 (01:13:07):
The titles are on you know n XT.

Speaker 2 (01:13:09):
Yeah, yeah, I would have no clue.

Speaker 1 (01:13:12):
Uh El Grande Americano and uh Soul Rucca Ruca, whatever
the hell her name is?

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
Oh Grande Americano up to big things hanging out on NXT.
Oh stop right, well, no.

Speaker 1 (01:13:25):
No, no, he's everywhere, dude. When you're a legend like
Elgande Americano, you can't be tied down on one show.
You got to make the rounds.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
I might like that brand exclusivity if I was him,
settled down somewhere.

Speaker 1 (01:13:41):
Yes, let's get out of here, Micah. Tell everybody how
they can keep up with you, man.

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
Oh oberon X is where we're talking about pro wrestling
through that and it's the last name, the first at FRANKL.

Speaker 1 (01:13:53):
Micah, you can get the show on X at PW
after hours. You can get me at real Mike Kurli. Now,
we will talk to you next week for another episode
of Pro Wrestling After Hours. You're on the After Hours
podcast network.