It's Tuesday. You know what that means. It's time for ignition with the aw fan Hub podcast team. This is Kelson and I've got Barry, Shane and Sutton here with us tonight, and guys, I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions. Let's see what your opinion is on this. The first question is in the men's division right now, like, based on what's been going on maybe in the last month or two, named three men who are over right now, I mean just over in AW. Shane, I'm gonna go to you first.
Well, not John Moxley, I mean, I mean, like the real question is how over? I mean, Michael, we are we talking like to the moon? Are we talking like hockey?
Well, I'm talking about let's just say, when they come out, the fans respond to them. You feel like they're you personally feel like the fans are responding to them. You personally feel like when they come out, they're a benefit for TV for example. Okay, No, it's something you feel like other people are gonna want to see them.
Well, there are guys in AW that are permanently over no matter whether they're well, that's fine too, Okay, I'll entertain this all right. First of all, Darby Allen, Darby Allen is permanently over, no matter what happens. He's permanently over, not just because this thing. But that's just the reception that I mean, like the dude. I'm not going to talk about conspiracy or his past, but the dude dodged some very hefty bullets in terms of things outside of
wrestling to make him relevant in wrestling. So Darby Allen won Kenny Omega. That's a that's a go to. He's always going to be over. He's always going to be over for aw audiences. One yeah, and we're struggling. I've been to several a W shows last year. It doesn't matter who is performed a W doesn't matter who's performing at any given period of time. It could be women in the ring and someone's gonna go lose House and everyone's gonna stop and go Swerve's House.
Perfect. I'm gonna go to Barry, Arry, what are your three? And you agree with you even you know what what's out and agree with Shane if you want.
So we're gonna say over, just over, not baby faces, like just.
Not at all, not babyfaces.
Just over for me. It would be Swerve, MJF and Osprey. Those three they're always they're over every well Will especially But to Shane's point, Swerves rise last year just cemented him as a top guy. The reactions he gets every time I hear somebody was at a basketball game and somebody has randomly yelled at and people responded, So like, that's how I know the guy's over Will just because he's well Osprey, everybody like his music hits elevation or
elevated hits, people go lose their mind. And then MJFF same thing. His music hits, everybody knows what's coming and that's uh, that's that's kind of the qualifiers for top top top people for me.
Fair enough, Sutton, let's go to you, Osprey, Omega and at Darby.
Okay, great, all right, now, I'm not gonna get my opinion on this. I'm going to wooz out, but I want to ask the same question. But now this is to be a little bit more difficult, I think. But let's talk about the women's division. Three women that are over right now, Shane will go to you.
Uh Christad obvious reasons, Mercedes Monet, and I'll save the best I'll save the best for last Tony Storm. Tony Storm doesn't even have to be on television to be over. She could be giving some fai contrivable bullshit article to some dirt sheet and people are going to treat it like it. She's crapping gold, which.
Is fantastic, Like the visual, one of the.
Most interesting things that's happening in professional wrestling today. That's spanning all promotions.
But yeah, I mean even w w E fans love Tony Storm.
Yeah they should have. They should have loved her more when she was on n x T.
Yeah, but hey, you know, sometimes you need changed to really do better.
Opportunity and environment, Yeah right.
Who are your three women?
Willow our music hits, everybody go, everybody pops, right. I would put Tony on there too. Different, It's it's hard to explain how she's over. It's more different than any other performer that's been over, because every everybody is more interested in seeing what her next character work is going to be than necessarily she's going to come out and
put a banger of a match. She's just she's taken the performance of being a p wrestler in just a different era that are a different way that very few, if anybody, has ever ever touched on before, which is why she's so fascinating. And then I think after the two of them, there's a layer of a bunch of other folks. But I might put Mercedes. I might put Mercedes in there as well.
Okay, that's fair enough. Let's go to you and then we'll get to a point. I have a point to all this. Let's get the sun and get his.
Three Julie Hart, Chris Dat Lennar and uh chetam that one.
Yeah.
Every time, no matter what, those three come out, they're always over.
Okay, that's fair enough. Let me get to my point here, and I have a few points here. The first one, the first point is of all the men that were mentioned as being over by you guys, how many of them have championships right now? Answer? None? Zero. Keep that in mind. Of all the men that people mentioned, you guys mentioned just right now, how many of them are over thirty five? I don't think any of them are.
You see where I'm going here. Kenny, I'm sorry, Kenny, Yeah, but Kenny is Yeah, but Kenny's a little bit and you know, I'm just say it. When you're talking, think about it. Now, look at the women that you mentioned. A couple of you mentioned Mercedes Monet. She's the only one that was mentioned that has a belt right now. And again there's none of those women that were mentioned or over the age of thirty five. They're all young.
Some of them are not are under by Julia Harts under twenty five going here.
She does.
No, I think you're right. I think Cheetah's thirty six.
Cheetahs thirty six. This is why we have Tonic.
Yeah, it blew my mind.
Yeah, I mean, but you can add me to sheer account to that. Harley Harley Cameron is also over you know, in my opinion, Uh again, none of these people have belts except for Mercedes Monette and both the meds and
the women's division. And my point here is when you look at Aw's booking, do you think that the fact that the people Because I'm gonna be honest with you, when I listened to the people that you named, I really thought that those were great names that I think would be representative of what other people would probably say is to say as well, none of them have belts except for Mercedes Monet, Kenny Omegas, where Strickland none. These guys don't have belts. They're hardly a main event mode
right now. Do you think that the fact that so many of these people that are over with the fans are simply not being used as they should be. I mean, is that a weakness in Tony Kahin's booking or is it a strength? I don't know what do you guys think.
I don't think it's a weakness at all. It just shows that you can put your best people and they don't have to be involved in titles with titles to be over. You don't have to have your most your top talent always have a title, because if you do that, what's the point then you have nobody else that everybody's got to.
Stride.
Ex are hard to try to get to a point where they can compete with them, and right now they're not. I mean, Kenny's just coming back from a long time off, Julie's coming back from a long time I mean a lot of the people we mentioned are either involved in other things, like she's already ever around because I think she's involved overseas. You know, most of them are either involved in something else or have come back from a
long time gone. But they've come back and still in the same place they were when they left.
I see where you're going Kelson, and I don't think necessarily what you're getting at is wrong. I think part of the challenge is nearly everybody we mentioned either has been a title holder, and most of them have had a major title. Recently. Tony Storm and Willa both had titles. Tony had one of the longest runs ever. On the men's side, everybody we mentioned had titles, one of them,
like from Jaff, the longest ever. The challenge that I see, which is I think in line with your argument, is there is no white hot babyface champion, either in the women's or the men's division. And you look at what WWE did with Cody. They built to that they've got their white hot babyface champion, just like they did with Sina. There's a real strength to have that hot babyface and if they are not the champ, then they should be pursuing the championship. So even though Cody took a year,
he was still the guy. And one of the challenges with aw is there is no top babyface. The closest I would say is well Osprey, but Tony has a habit. Coming back to your also point Kelson of swinging his booking from all babyfaces having to all heels having. And so one of the weaknesses with AW has been once Tony gives these guys their run as a babyface, the what's next is very weak. We see it with Sanna
Garcia right now, we saw it with Private Party. Those are the two most recent examples that the US sure why he falls back to putting him back on the heels. Not everybody can be over, but at some point they're going to need to fix that because Swerve elevated himself as a baby face, and I still don't think that what's next for him was a strong enough program. And he's a fascinating character as well.
Arry, I want to expand on that thought. This is an observational statement, but like in a lot of instances, when these guys are dropping their titles, they're disappearing. It feels like in a lot of cases, like Tony is dropping belts to allow these guys going to go on vacation, take R and R you know, or you know, get surgeries that they have so desperately needed for for months and months and months. That's not very that's not very
you know, Calcu. I mean in terms of storytelling, you're planning six months out, and it seems that that seems to be the case for TK. I've always said that Tony's greatest strength and weakness is his long term storytelling because he has a tendency to drag things into the into the mud, you know, yeah, he can't pull the trigger. I think Adam Page and CM Punk is a great
example of this. You know that seem they had their match Adam Page dropped and then they were dropping the belt onto mocks in Cleveland, like what the two weeks later? Three weeks later, So because punk Punk was injured, I mean, like, could we be a little more creative, intuitive, or or at least a little more call better audibles in terms of how we're managing these these stories. I don't think in terms of his booking. You know, right now he's
on the upswing, but how for how much longer? You know? That's definitely yeah.
I also.
Let me break in here, Barry just real quick, because I want to change. Just said something that kind of took me off guard. I'm startering over myself, I'm falling over my tong like Mercedes Money on a Wednesday. Look, you think that Tony Kahn's booking is on an upswing right now?
In a manner of speaking, Yeah, I mean I think the Death Death Riders thing is contrive I think that, Uh, I don't. I think that in terms of like the mid card, the mid card belts look more important than the World Championships right now. I think that's the biggest issue. I think if he wanted to be you know, I think that he needs to redirect the Death Riders story
and put optics on the tag titles. Uh. He has to put some trios together because now we hit like I don't think, but I don't think it's in a place that it was three months ago.
Yeah, I agree with you, Shane. I've always I think this trend started last year too. The Continental Classic really lays out so much of how their TV has to work that Tony kind of falls into really really good programming. And I think actually the last three months have been
some of the most solid dynamites and collisions. There's been some problem and they're not everything's a home run, But you look at the first three quarters of the year compared to the last quarter, and it was far more consistent and more in line with the types of stuff we want to see. But I want to hit back on something that I think Shane said too and sudden you got on when people disappear. How many times have we seen somebody want a title ballut and they're not on TV?
Well, something I got a disagree with on that though, with the injury thing, that's not in your control. Like, for example, the only time that they did that and they shouldn't have was with Brian Danielson. Everybody knew he was hurt when he won the title. He didn't win the title and the didnt get hurt. He was hurt when he got the title put on him. And I get why they wanted to do that, but that was
a mistake. You can't do that. But when you have somebody get hurt when they're holding the title, dropping that title and then moving on instead of doing what they did with like thunder Rose, that happened to to set it aside and they just kind of gave it to Tony Storm. You can't you can't play for that. You
can't have a backup for that at all times. So you know, if somebody like for for example, if tomorrow night, Hobbes comes out and drops John on his head and they have to give the title of Hobbes and it's a it's a called audible. That's understandable. But you know, I don't I don't know that you can really say that's an issue that Tony has, because for the most part he's done a halfway decent job with that.
I'm gonna have to kind of disagree with you there and then I'll give you a case some point. One of your favorite wrestlers is Chris stat Lander. G I'm just gonna look, Tony kept that belt on Jade Cargill are longer than she he needed to in order to, you know, getting ready.
To say the same thing, and that's that that was the one thing I was just getting ready to point that that was the one example of when it was the worst thing that could have been done. But I think since then Tony has learned a little bit about doesn't do a great job of us still, but he's getting around to the point where he's like, for example, with Julia Hart when she got hurt, he dropped the title. He didn't wait for what he wanted to have happen happen he put the title on Willow and now he
might come back to that, but he hasn't. But he's starting to learn that a little bit better. So yeah, I agree with you, Kelse, And I was just getting ready to say the exact same thing as an example when he did it so badly.
Look, here's the thing, No, here's the thing. I just wanted to point this out. Looking at just the TBS Championship. We've had Chris Statlander, Julia Hart, We've had Mercedes Monet, We've had Jade Cargill, we've had Willow Nightingale as TBS champions. The longest reigning TBS champion was Jade Cargill. The worst TBS champion in my opinion, was Jade Cargill. It was super arguing that want the way that they're handling it now that it's very it's you know, Mercedes Monet has
held on to it. It doesn't look like she's going to lose it anytime soon. But at least she's out there having banger matches, not you know, she's traveling around the world having matches, and she's having competitive matches instead of glorified or not even glorified, just flat out squashes like Jade Cargill was. I mean, it was a bad championship when Jake Cargill had it. And it's nothing to do with Jade Cargill as a wrestler. It's he has to do everything to do with the booking.
I think some things too, is we're able to look at stuff in hindsight in a way that really wasn't available at that time. What AW had with Jade is what I think everybody saw is this woman's going to be a million bucks if they can justigure it out. How are they going to make the money off that? But you look at her and she is marketing one on one for the prototype of just Glamour Incarnate. Like she's strong, she's pretty, she's athletic, she's she's not terrible
on the mic, she's not great, you know. But Tony tried the WWE approach of building this and building the hype and all that, and that works if you have the other machine around it, and that's not what AW was at the time, and they don't have that. That works for WWE because they're really freaking good at it.
They've been doing it for decades. They're marketing. They think the way they approach stuff is just it's not from a pro wrestling standpoint, it's from a media marketing standpoint, and that's something people like overlook like WWE is almost unique to pro wrestling the way they operate now, and
you almost shouldn't compare them to anybody else. But that's why I had it for too long, you know, And it was a mistake in retrospect, But at the time, understand what they were trying to do with her, and it's what I think anybody in that position would have tried to do with her. But I think people who get hurt with the belts is pretty rare in an outlier, and it's a real tricky situation and book out of But I think all of you guys are right as Tony.
When somebody gets hurt in an angle, they just kind of sets that person aside who's not hurt, and they flounder, and then when the person comes back, they pick it up again. And he needs to get better at pivoting away from that. When there's an injury, you just you need to go in a different direction. You can't come back to that booking. It hurts too many performers, and it hurts the storytelling.
Should want to bring this home for us, Buddy.
I mean, by definition, WWE is a soap opera with athletes. I mean, like, I'm sorry, since twenty sixteen, the only wrestling program running out of ww media that by definition is a wrestling promotion is NXT And I hate to be that guy. It is what it is. That And again you made the comment that they built the machine around it. They figured they had they had decades to test the waters. Yeah, they know exactly what they're selling and who they're selling it to, which is why it's
kind of a revolving door. I mean, like, uh, what what happened to the mystery and professional wrestling? That's why we flocked to AW to kind of encapsulize that nostalgia, that nostalgia drug from the wrestling that we grew up with. And we said, hey, you know, it was the mystique and and the surprise and the and the mystery that that sucked us into it. You know, we're not getting a lot of that from w w E.
Now.
It stagnates with AW. That's the problem. And I and Barry I agree with you completely, Like Tony Kahn needs to he needs to put a put put his foot down on himself. Hey man, I need to stop this. I need to hop on the next bandwagon and and revisit this, you know, in a manner that's you know, respectful to the people that are working in the back, instead of front running someone that's been sitting for seven months in spite of the fact that they're some of
the best wrestlers on earth. That's not how it's ever worked anywhere else. So I mean praying Boston prayers for t Case.
I want to see him. Just do a hard push for somebody too, Like just pick a guy and book him to the moon, and you've got enough people. People are ready for that. And I'm not talking like an Osprey or anybody like that. But like Fletcher's right there, man, you can book him to the moon. Hobbs is right there. Like, give them Hobbs more mic time. You can push him
in the mood takesh It is already doing it. But so much of what he's doing is away from aw on some of the international tours that we don't get to see at firsthand. Clearly he doesn't speak English as much.
But like the.
Fans love him, push him to the moon, Like you have the people pick one this year and just make him the guy like you did with Swerve last year. You know how to do it. You did it with swer Who's next, Just pick the guy and push him.
Go ahead, Jane.
They did it with m Jeff as well. They figured out they figured out that humanizing connection to Mjab's persona, and he milked the crap out of it. And he even pivoted well when Adam Cole injured himself, but then to rip the belt off of him the way they did it with Samoa Drow and just drop the predictable thing on us. That was very bloodline esque. You might as well have You might as well have had Paul Heman out there with him. I mean, it wasn't that
much different in terms of like the turn. So sorry, I just want to.
Make mention two things along this line. Member where it started by saying who is over and a couple of people were mentioned, and I want to revisit this and just give you my opinion on it. One of the most over women that is in aw right now is Mina Shirakala. I mean just her. She was like a force of nature when you come right, can you imagine if Mina Shira Kala had beat Mariah May, the reaction
that the fans would have had. And it's not only the reaction to the fans, it's the fans now knowing that, hey, anything can happen. And it goes to I want to bring up because we're having this match tonight on Dynamite, Will Hobbs versus John Moxley. Can you imagine Will Hobbs getting a clean win on John Moxley what that would
do to the product. I think a lot of what's going on with the product and how people are perceiving it in an unpopular light is that Tony Kahan is going to book the people that he wants, and I don't think he really looks at what the fans want, you know, and I except for he's I honestly feel sometimes that Tony Kahan books to squash the fans enthusiasm. I don't know if that makes any sense with this match tomorrow night, Will Hobbs is going to be over
John Moxley, isn't. John Moxley is going to win, win this match and squash fans.
Helson I have to disagree with that statement. Kenny Omega is a shining example as to why. I mean, I agree to some degree that he is not providing fans service. I also believe that he's providing fan service to a very small fraction of pro wrestling fans. The people that would have understood why it was important for Kenny Omega
to hand the C two off to Okada. But like that that that's people that followed them back in during Kenny's New Japan DA's twenty fifteen twenty sixteen Battle the Super Juniors, even you know, pre and post Pool Club Kenny. I mean, like, like what not A lot of casual aw fans are gonna know what's up with that.
I have the same thing. The friend of mine at work and my buddy you flew down to go to go to the world's done with me and we were saying the same thing. Is Tony books for what Tony thinks is cool?
Yeah?
And I don't think he trolls fans or anything like that. I don't think he books against fans, but it's not what fans want because he's booking for Tony Khan. That's how I feel a lot, and I think he the creative team. He can book like a story, but the creative team in general needs to broaden how they're approaching stuff because a lot of it is kind of what you're saying. It's too inside baseball to really get the granularity. You have to know so many layers to appreciate everything
that it's just going over. It's going over too many people's head for it to be worthwhile.
You know you made the baseball reference. It's from as a Cleveland guy. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I am i gonna put a lid on this. It's like run in the nineteen ninety five Cleveland Indians for all of eternity, Like you're you're replaying the same players over and over and over. You could only capture that moment so many times before the league evolves around around you and learns how to squash you out, which is why the nineteen ninety seven Cleveland Indians happened. So I'm just saying, like.
The nineteen ninety five Cleveland Indians were a great team, Jim better but better, No, they weren't.
This is the resting show. We're not talking baseball past.
What Let's go ahead and move on because what Barry just said kind of leads into this next segment, and it's that if if Tony Kahan isn't trolling the fans, why in the world did Last week Tony Khan himself announced the twelve man main event that's taking place the twelve man tag team or whatever you want to call it, six on six, And as soon as he announced it, the internet lost their minds. No, it's almost to the point where I kind of look at it and go,
my god, nobody wants to see this match. And these are the biggest stars in a w supposedly, you're aw World Championship champion, You've got you know FTR, longtime tag champions, you know Adam Copeland, the outrunners who nobody mentioned, but they're quite over with the fans. But then you got Chris Jericho.
And there's a reason that there's a reason please please enlighten us because Max said they want these next two matches, these next two shows to be the best shows that they can be. This is what Tony thinks is going to bring the get more fans involved and be a bigger ending to the show than anything he can have go otherwise. Because they are demanding the Max pretty much said, we want these to be the biggest shows you put on.
Yet, right, and he doesn't want He.
Didn't have another chance, he didn't have another idea, he didn't have another way to go on. As a matter of fact, I short notice if it's within the week. He had a week to come up with two fantastic shows the maximccarter engine. Wednesday is tomorrow night or tonight is going to be what it is. It was already set, but he didn't have anything for Collision. So in order to make Collision as big as he can make it, you put the twelve best people that you have in your company in one match.
I have no words for what you just said.
I just I want to make sure are people really upset about this? Is that a real thing?
Okay? And that's the other thing. God, everybody, everybody on the subreddit might be upset, and everybody in the discord might be upset, But that is a fraction of the people who are watching these ships and who go to these shows. I don't think are's many people are said about.
This because I agree with you. But when Tony Kahan made that announcement Barry on Twitter, he announced the match on Twitter, Yeah, it got lit up on Twitter. I mean it was like, what the hell are you doing?
I just I don't understand, Like, who, who freaking cares it's a twelve man tech match? Like what is the problem here? Like why is this a thing?
Because people have it in their head that if they don't care for something, that they're the only one that matters. That's the problem with the Internet with people who reply to these they think, oh, well, it's a twelve man match. I don't want to see it because I don't like twelve That's what you can turn the damn channel.
That's what's going to happen.
Like, and you know what, they don't care.
There are matches every week on every show that I don't care about, all right, that's the nature of pro wrestling. You turn on any pay per viewer, there's like two matches. I'm like, I don't care about these people. Whatever. Some people might not for me, whatever. Like if I'm if the implication is if every match isn't up my you know, right up my alley, then I'm going to change the channel. That is the most cynical view to being a pro
wrestling fan. If you don't like these guys in the sixth man, wait the twenty minutes for the match to be over or whatever, like who cares. It's pro wrestling, Just like who cares? This is not a thing. This is not something people need to be upset or worked up about.
And the people that are if you watch the match, the people that are in Cincinnati who are going to be paying to watch the match, are going to love it because it's going to be.
Care everything they went there to see. Let me address that. Let me address that. You said Sudden that the people on Twitter, the people on Discord, and the people on Reddit are a very very very small sampling size of AW fans, And I agree with that. You know what's a smaller sampling size of AW fans. The nineteen hundred people they're gonna be there're eighteen hundred or seventeen. I think it's seventeen hundred, to be honest with you, because
that's what the capacity of that that arena is. The seventeen hundred people they're gonna be in the stands for in Cincinnati to watch that twelve man match. Yeah, you're gonna make you probably will make those seventeen hundred people happy, at least I hope it will be. I mean, that's not a good argument. That's not a good argument, buddy.
There are going to be so many more people that watch it, because that guarantee more people watch The last two weeks, there's been more people that watch aw on on Max or on TNT than can ever reply on the on the internet. Because these people don't care about the Internet. They don't care what they say on on Twitter.
They don't care.
Well, wait a minute, are they at the icon?
I don't know, now it's a music center or something.
Yeah, that's yeah, that's the icons that Andrew J. Brady music Center.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's Its capacity is forty five hundred indoor in eight thousand outdoor.
It the setup is seventeen hundred or something like that. For all right, Yeah, that's the second.
What is the thief? People like, what is the actual problem with this match? That it's it's twelve people, It's that there's certain people in that they don't want or there was some decision at some point that anything over a six man tag is not allowed, or like, what what is the actual thing?
Well, I think a lot of it has to do. First of all, if you give me the opportunity to make a couple of points, Yeah, one of the things that's that one of the things that that's bad about this match that people don't really like about it is that the Death Writers, which is so damn awful. I mean, the people it's it's not over and consistently shoving the Death Writers down your throat is not going to make
them better. You know, in my opinion, anything less than somebody getting a hand severed with a saw during this match is going to make this match of failure. You know, it's as simple as that. I mean, it's like something I'd say that in that that isn't over the top kind of thing. They need something over at the top. So much happened at the end of this match or during this match, because if it's just another match, people
are getting bored. The second thing is all right, you have the Death Writers teaming with the Learning Tree, John Moxley teaming with Chris Jericho, which makes no sense at all. These two are the bitterest of rivals in a w They've gone to war, they've bled buckets going against each other. They and now just for a match, they're putting them together.
The Death Riders and the Learning Tree of Bled Buckets fighting each other.
Was there that said, I said John Moxley and Chris Jericho buckets.
Having as the leader of the Learning Tree.
It's based off of the last week's Collision. What happened at the end. You had the Death Writers and Jericho going up against f rated r FTR. That's what it came down to. Yeah, there were some intermingling, but it's because they're having the FTR team on one side and the two people that are get some as a group on the other side. It'll probably break down afterwards and it'll be every man for himself and Death Writers will destroy the Learning Tree. But that's the point. How do
you know what the hell is going to happen? Did somebody see the taping on Thursday already or see the notes on what's going to happen? Because everybody's making your decision based on what they think is gonna happen.
Here's Sutton. Here's the thing. If you go by and again the small fraction of the fans, there are a lot of fans who simply tuned out for that match on Collision last week because they have no interest in this whole story. I'm one of these.
I didn't see it.
I didn't see it. I didn't care time, but I made a joke saying, I hope that this six man or this twelve man tag match, is that the is the main event on Collision because I've got something I've got to do early Sunday morning, and I'd like to go to bed early. And that's not what you want your fans saying and thinking, I have zero interest in this match, less than if I can have less than zero, was physically possible to have less than zero interest in
this match. I would have less than zero interest in this match. The only thing to get pirk my interest is that when I read about it or watch, you know, highlights on Twitter or YouTube or whatever, is the proverbial, you know, figuringly speaking, somebody getting their hand hacked, the hacks out off. Because other than that, nothing, nothing makes, nothing matters. I'm sorry, it just doesn't.
I can't wait to see that match. I think it'll be a great met just like if you chance at Marx might not be champion come Saturday.
Yeah, I really, I really hope that Hobbs wins. You remember when you remember the moment in WCW when Goldberg beat Hulk Hogan, Sure, or you know that was a turning point in WCW for me because it showed me that anything can happen. And you know, everybody wanted Goldberg to win that match. Not many people thought he was and when it happened, it just made everybody feel good. It revitalized the fandom. That's what AW needs to do,
is they need to revitalize the fandom. And you don't really revitalize the fandom by putting out the same shit every single week.
I read different. I read something that somebody tweeted. I think it was it was either on Twitter Blue Sky probably Blue Sky that I think is really apt here and it gets into I think part of the problem that Kelso's or Kelson's experiencing and anything other fans are so The thing I saw was that people aren't frustrated with AAW. They missed when it was new, and I think that is part of the problem with AAW now as well. When we fell in love with it early
on it was new. Everything was exciting because we didn't know what was going to happen. We didn't know the hierarchy. We didn't have to worry about certain stars being protected because the stars hadn't been defined yet. It was new, it was the alternative, and it was delivering on the promise of what we all wanted pro wrestling to be. It is now a five year old promotion. It is not new anymore. And because it is not new now is there is a pecking order in a hierarchy of stars.
I don't mean this in a political sense. Backstage, I mean from a storytelling sense. There's concern about making certain people look too weak and keeping people elevated. And when you have an immature creative team, and I mean that in the experience and talent standpoint, not from immature people get you get stuck. You get stuck in that rules and that overprocess, and you get paralyzed of making new stars. And that's why I was hitting they have to make
new stars. If they continued to do that instead of only doing one a year, I think it would address a lot of the problems we have, and a lot of the problems Kelson's feeling is that that newness is gone. You always have to be elevating somebody, You always got to be making something new, making something exciting.
And.
Geographers feeling we miss quote unquote well.
And the thing that comes in there is when when you get something. You know, everybody for the longest time complaining because a w didn't have long term match storylines. All they ever did was a match. At the time, they didn't do very many long term things. Now they're doing long term things, and everybody's going, oh, this is
taking too long. Oh we can't You can't please everybody because they either wanted one way or they wanted another way, and instead of rolling with it and seeing where things go. For example, I have a feeling that with it on Thursday to stiff or laughing up the death Rider's storyline, which it will not kill if the if Hobbes does beat Moxley, it will just make it even more intense.
And there's a very good chance, with the way they've been treating Hobbes, that Moxley gets beat on Wednesday, And it'd.
Be fantastic to see Tony actually take some liberties and storytelling on a dynamite, you know, like and Dynamite has been dynamite. It has been exceptional. But I mean like, well, but we all because of how storytelling has been so driven into us in the past two years. Like you made a very strong point in that, you know, the at the you know, Inception of aw everything was so fresh and new. It was like rediscovering professional wrestling for
some of us. So like, yeah, I mean, I don't the idea is a beautiful thing that that Hobbs drops this belt off of Mox. I just don't see it happening, you know, I I think, and I think that's something that you know, the fandom is actually you know that that's another thing that's buying into its stagnating. You know, like we are so disposed to believe that these things are going to happen, then to see them happen and then we'll see you next week. We know what's going
to happen. So I just I don't think that I honestly don't think that Hobbs is going to drop this belt off the box. I think this is good.
Can't lose this match. He needs to, he can't. He doesn't have to win. But Hobbs can't lose this match.
Okay, so it's gonna be another no.
No, it doesn't have to you can do it. So there is a no winner, a double out in a way that is biable. The men are just exhausted, you can establish. Hobbs went toe to toe with mocks. But you got to beat the chap and they both fell. You know, that's the way you can. Yeah, yeah, I mean that's it's a he didn't beat him. He didn't beat him. So now because Hobb was in the twelve man, you keep that going. That rematch is going to be
something because he went toe to toe. Nobody want this is going to you know, So there you've got something you can continue to build and push that guy with. I don't Shane, you're shaking your heads. You may not disagree, may not agree with the direction, but I'm just trying to come up, you know, ideas on how you can keep a guy hot without beating him, but also not dropping the title off the guy. You're not ready to take it off of yet.
Man, your perspective is fresh. My only objection to that would be, you have nine other guys that are going after this title. They're trying to build stories on top of right now, and they're all involved in this six man tag, this ted tag match. Almost all of them are involved in it. It's it's it's a hard thing to have to swallow and then digest on top of it. Do I think that match?
Here's the thing about that, Shane, you still have another month and a half, two months on most of them before the next pay per view, so no decision has to be made between now and then, and they have that two months to wait. We out who's going to be the next one to get this title, because if you look at it and everything's been being said, Cope's the one who thinks he's getting the next title shot. Okay,
he's not even thinking about the Hobbs match. Cope is like, I'm couldn't take that title off a hob off off of him. I'm not even he didn't even act like he knows that that Hobbes match is happening tomorrow. So you know, you have a two month period because it's not till March to eight, so you have a little over a month and a half. I mean, this is.
If we're going to talk about pro wrestling psychology in terms of like the fans, you're hanging on the end of two different spectrums. I mean, is this going to be great or is this going to be awful? And there's nothing in between, like like like if I were Tony Khan, this is just me fantasy booking this, I would drop this belt off a box on Wednesday. I would shake up the death writer story. I'd give them a reason to be a little more extreme and not
continue to doever the same guys. I wouldn't let Will Hobbs carry this until you know the pay per view and then drop it off onto someone else. There's nothing wrong with pingponging a championship around at all. I mean, like, think about how awesome it was for WWF in the mid nineties when they did this shit like on a regular basis, or WCW that never even hesitated to do things like this on normal standard television programming.
You should barely had the belt at all during that era. He barely held the belt.
I think, I think what it comes down to, and I think I mentioned just a couple of shows ago. I think Tony's problem when it comes to that kind of thing is he doesn't want to be considered the same, you know what I mean. He thinks that if he's been hung in the titles around that people are going to compare him to the other company, and he doesn't want that, So that's why he doesn't do it as much.
Who gives a fun who gives a bunch?
Who cares I didn't agree.
I agree with you one hundred percent, but that's not you know, it doesn't matter what we think, it's how Tony looks at it. And that's so like.
The key here is when I'm asked to describe professional wrestling, I describe it as a fictional television show about a combat sports league where all of the actors do their own stunts. That's professional wrestling. And it doesn't matter if it's Law and Order. It doesn't matter if it's Severance, it doesn't matter if it's aw Dynamite. We tune in for the drama. You have to make it compelling. You have to give us a reason to care that this
stuff's going on. It's okay you can have a squash match because you're trying to get a new character introduced or whatever. But that's why we tune in. It's the same as any other TV. So if you don't have compelling characters and storylines right now, and that's a problem at the top, everybody's saying it. Nobody really cares about the death writers because it feels like a storyline they started with then they screwed something up and they don't
know what to do. With it, and they're floundering like they plan to do something else different. It's going nowhere. But you have to keep this stuff compelling. You have to keep those stories in there. And one way to make compelling television is making a lot of new stars and making stuff exciting. If it's compelling, and you can think of a way to drop the belt after six weeks or after three months or nine weeks or whatever,
it doesn't really matter. Just make it compelling. Nobody is going to care other than the nerdiest of the nerds. Oh he only held it for six weeks. Since nobody cares, it's fake. Make it compelling. You do that, we're going to be.
Happy, exactly. I agree with that.
All right, I'll get off. I rambled too long. They're my apologies.
Well, let's talk about something fun, honestly, let's talk about something fun. Because to night on Dynamite we've got the Women's Casino Gauntlet, which was urban who is going to be the number one contender and face Mariah May at Grand Slam in Australia. Now I think it's fun to look at because I thought the men's Casino Gauntlet simply by how many people they brought out, and not only by how many people they brought out, but they were viable.
They were viable. I thought that was really good and I really hope that they do the same kind of thing with the women's Gauntlet. Now, we could go ahead and say that most people, and this is just my opinion, I believe most people believe two things. One is that Tony Storm is going to win this Women's Casado Gauntlet tonight. Two is that she's probably going to win the Women's World Championship at Grand Slam in Australia. In my opinion,
that would be a mistake. What I'd like to see is for somebody else with the Casaando Gauntlet tonight for the women and maybe when that match at at Grand Slam. Okay, but then the question would be, all right, what do you do with Tony Storm? Tony Storm versus Mercedes Monet is like, right there, it's right there, that's what you do. That's my opedia. I wanted to ask you guys, who's gone first.
Here's the reason why Tony Storm and Mercedes anytime soon. Because Tony is in rookie mode. She's not even close to thinking about going after any title. She's just happy to be there. She's happy to be facing these people who he looks up to. So going and getting a title shot for her in the next couple of months makes no sense. I think she's gonna come out. I think she's gonna do well in the She's gonna last for a while. She might come out third or fourth.
I think that I personally think that Statlander's gonna win it, but I hope she doesn't because if she wins it and doesn't beat Mariah for the title, there's no sense in being Statlander anymore because that will be the third time or the third championship in a row that she will have lost when she should have had a title by now. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And of all the women in the company that deserves a title for the things that they've done for the company since they've come back
from injury, it's Statlander. She's put up and done the most for the company until until me uh Tony got started on her thing, and before Mercedes came along, she was to go to and they pretty much ain't been giving.
Her any props for that at all.
But I think, I don't know, it's just it kind of worries me that this is the first time they're doing a women's gauntlet mass like this, But it could be really, really, really good. But I just have a feeling and it's gonna be really short.
I have I'm lovey man, I really do. Fellow. Uh, we're in We're in leagues in terms of being like Chris Stat fans like, she's probably my probably my favorite a W women's wrestler. Do you think that Stat has done more work than Willow?
Oh, definitely, because.
Longer I love Sad.
That's been a lot more around longer will doing it for two years before Willow came in.
Willow has been taken l's for a e W consistently back to back to back to bad. The only reason that stats in the conversation right now is because she came back from injury into Tony decided to put rocket straps on her, and which is also like to be fair, like it's not really putting. It's not really strapping rockets to a person. If you're gonna have them lose the same title three times in a row on pay per views,
I mean, like, dude, like, I'm sorry, it's Stat. I'm not gonna say status cooked, I'm not, but I mean like it's time for her to step aside at or at least pursue things that are more relative to the story that they put her in. Willow is the inaugural New Japan's Strong Women's World Champion. She had in spite of the fact that she got that belton of fluke, she carried it with pride and honor, defended it like
a champion. And and again I in terms of I'll look at I'll look it up right now, I Willow is taking way more l's than stat way more way more like.
But the point the problem with that is it's not it's not an a W title. That title has absolutely none to do with her career in a title.
Then then well then let's talk about the TBS because it's not that hard of a pivot. No Blue dude, like I I believe, I believe that in terms of this uh, this battle royale, that if Tony really wanted to shake up the women's locker room, he'd put that belt right back on Tony Storm. He'd have her get knocked into her next personality and let that person be a tyrant in the locker room and have it pitched that way, and anyone that tried to come after her
would just get slapped down. Treat Tony Storm like a w's women's roman reigns like that would be smart. That would be a smart angle to run, because it would, it would the title. It gives relevance to the title.
Go ahead, shamee. But so you're saying that you think that Tony Storm should win the Gauntlet tomorrow night.
Oh yeah, one hundred percent.
Grand Slam. Yeah, oh yes, it's dable. I mean that would be the most the most predictab.
Rome is split right now. You just literally had something less than five minutes say hey man, you can't have Tony take that belt off because she is in rookie mode right now. The whole entire argument is that that wrestler is still in Tony Storm, and that it's one of her many personalities. Yeah, I mean, like that's.
It's not a personality. It's not a personality. It's a complete mental break. She doesn't know. She's not switching between personalities. She's completely broke. She's gone from beating the old Tony Storm to being someone who existed from the She's worse than broking. Matt Hardy. She's completely she had a complete mental break. She has no clue about any of the other stuff. She is rookie.
She's conversation we've ever had on this podcast.
She is going to be in the locker room cheering herself up, and the camera is going to turn around and there's going to be a double me and she's going to see your reflection and it's going to be timeless in the mirror, and she's going to say, chin up, tits out and watch for the shoe, and Tony is going to march out there and then we'll see, we'll get the truth of what that is. But that's not my point here. Tony Storm is winning the Battle Royal
and she's she's winning the title in Australia. That has been and that is fine. It is fine, It is perfectly fine. Pro wrestling is about making moments. It is something WWE excels at, coming back to my earlier point, because they are a media company that puts on professional wrestling. They know how to do that. They know how to build those moments. This moment has been written since they
announced that show. They're going to do the storyline that leads up to it, and I'm with Shane, it's going to be great if the next that I said earlier that they have a problem with that follow up delivers, and you got to deliver with something big. It's got to be a whole character change. It's got to be some huge deal. Otherwise it's going to be a failure.
And I'd be with Hugh Calson. It's the right booking, But whether or not it's going to be a success depends completely on what they do afterwards.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Storm was not even in the Gauntlet tomorrow or on Dynamite. I surprised. I wouldn't that way. She did make it sound that way.
She's like, I'm gonna now, yeah, now, but.
With what's going to be the last entrance, she's going to go ahead.
Let me finish. As Barry said, I said, when you're talking about Tony Storm, which Tony Storm are we talking about?
Hm?
You know, so Tony Storm may not be in this, but timeless Tony Storm may be in it.
A royal rumble. I I called this, I did call this, You.
Did do cack this jack mankind and thing, whoa.
Wait, she wins in the interviewer the next week back in the Tony the Rookie persona, and she's like, what do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about. I was in the Battle Royal Center shot like this.
Could be brilliant.
Who's built?
Don't do something that's that's They've got something that's unpredictable.
This is it, this is it.
She has to have a complete severance between the personalities, just like on the TV show Severence, Like they have no they have no knowledge any of them exists. But what would be the thing that triggers the changes as if you get hit on the head or like, what what does it?
I like your idea just staring in the mirror and seeing her face?
Yeah, I mean you never like Moonnight. They can't remember.
When you have a character that's so batshit crazy, you could get away with anything. Oh yeah, but okay, let's take to brilliant. Oh my god, that's let's take time to Storm and Tony Storm out of the equation here. Now Son's already said that he thinks, I if it's not Tony Storm that Christatlander is going to win, who would be your pick? Not Tony Storm? Then you think who would you like to see get that spot? If it is a Tony Storm any iteration of Tony Storm.
Harley came because he's from Australia, Australian. Yeah, who did you?
Who did you say?
Sundon?
That woman amazes me in this whole new way, Like he's a character. She shouldn't exist.
Crazy, She's the crazy. She's the crazy one. She should get the title shot because they put on a hell of the match last week on the Collision and she's from Australia and she would be the one if I was going to give it to somebody out of any of the women, they could, They could be a good story for it. It would be hard. Cameron an a J.
And a J. Okay, one of the drugs? Did you say anybody?
No? I didn't. I'm really thinking about this, Okay, Well.
What were you gonna say, Shane.
One of the best women's matches this year was Mariah May and and a J and that death match. My god, that match ruled. And Anna J like I get it now that post dark order at a J hasn't really connected with a lot of audiences, but she's incredibly talented.
Yeah, I have my own pick my picks a little bit different, but go ahead. I mean, have you thought of anybody bury or you just want the one?
I'm kind of just going back and fourth on. I'd love to see a Tina and just heat it up, but I don't think she crosses that that rubicon yet. I just uh, yeah, I'd like to see her get in there and tear it up for six or for a month two and a half months leading up to that pay per view.
I really want to see a moment tomorrow night.
Uh.
And if it's not timeless Tony Storm or Tony Storm, I would like to see something unexpected happen and not something unexpected in that Oh that person came out of nowhere and wanted that a lot of people probably didn't think that she deserved it. I want it to be I can't believe this woman showed up and holy crap she wanted And yeah, we've got a we got a beggar coming up. You got to make it by you, Tani.
I want to see my you show up tomorrow night, and I want to see a couple of apes, wrestlers and even a maybe you know, presephone from CMMOU show up. But I want to see somebody unexpected and deserving win this match. Mayu said she wanted to wrestle in ae W. She wanted to do some matches over here. Well, this would be a match for her to work in and she could win it. And can you imagine Mariah By and Mayui Watani in Grand Slam? Uh? I'm there for that.
I love.
This chaos.
Yeah, I'd like to see some you know, one or two stardom wrestlers and the CMMO performer in there for sure, But I don't want any of them to win this. I this, this is a this is a this is a big show and it needs to be. The women's title match needs to be I think like an a W s are in my opinion, it shouldn't be a third party.
I don't think that. I don't think the Grand Slam is the biggest show as Revolution.
I mean it's a state I mean it's a stadium show. It's a smaller stadium, but it's still a big show.
But the aview it's not a pay per view.
It's just it's like it's like Crown Jewel for w W. E that one of those big shows.
It's just like when we went to to the Arthur Ash Stadium in New York. I mean, it's just a it's a it's a it's no different than Maximum Carnage. It's just it is.
It's a it's a third show and it's five hours long. It's it's a it's a big show. I mean, it's a pay per view. It may not be streamed as one, but they're they're booking it as a as a as a pay per view. It's not just like an episode of Dynamite or Collision. It's a anyway like seven or eight matches on that.
Yeah, well, you know, the point is is that it's going to be interesting. That match tonight is one of the matches is probably the match the women's Gauntlet matches, probably the match that I'm looking forward to the most.
Yeah, I'm stoked because it's.
Got all kinds of possibilities, it's got creative and I would love to see. Just last week, I even mentioned that this is this could be a catalyst for form for forming and tightening up tag teams for women's Tag Team Championships that people have been asking for for a while now. Not a lot of people are into that, but there are a lot of people that are into the women's Tag Team Championship and this could really set things off.
Did you see the promo package they put they put out for it, and it's.
Renee I've seen I don't know which.
It's like a three minute video package they put together. I think it was on what I saw on Blue Sky It's it's good, especially when you when they clip together the clips and they talk a little bit about the different performers that could be in it. You forget I'll stack the women's roster is and how many good performers they have, and I'm with you, like it's uh.
I mean, this match is always exciting. AW has shown that they don't mess around with it, like this is their match and they do not take it for granted. So they have shown they are going to book it really really good, and I'm gonna trust that and say I expect this match tomorrow or tonight to be really really good.
Yeah. I mean there's been names like Cabille tossed out there, you know, people saying that is would Camille show up Sky Blue. I know she's been training. I don't know she's cleared or if she's ready yet. I kind of doubt it. I would expect her back until around May. But hey, she's young, so she they heal faster. You know, Hey, maybe even Eddie Kingston will show up, you know, dressed. And did you see the pictures of Eddie Kingston training
this week? He's in training. Yeah, the guy. The guy looks like he hasn't showered or shaved since he got injured. I mean, it's just he's just his beard is just it's it's it's impressive because.
He's got he is he's he has a thick beard too, Like so is it just like Grizzly Adams bushy everywhere?
Oh it's it's literally, you know, and he and you kind of tell that he's put on some pounds too, so.
He's kind of like did you see did you see what Ned said in the cat about the women's Gauntlet? No made that she predicted Christian Cage catches in it gets.
I have the greatest women's champion of all time, undisputed. Yea, I haven't put over stat there you go.
That is so funny.
Oh boy, man, God, I love you. Oh boy.
I saw that. I had to mention that that just that just cracked me.
You know, I want to bring up something that's been happening, and that's the whole Malachi Black House of Black, a parent breakup. Now. I've said several times that when it comes to Malachi Black, I don't believe anything until Malachi Black says something. He's had apple opportunity to say something about what's going on, and he frankly hasn't really, So I'm kind of along the lines now where either this is a huge work or Malachi is gone. And I mean we've at all, we've seen the House of Black
kind of becoming a little bit more. I don't know how to put a baby face at all. In they were, you know, clapping back, shaking hands, congratulating the winners. They continue to do that throughout except for Julia Hart. She's still a bitch.
I only got one thing to say about this. It's it, you know, you're waiting for you waiting for me to say the thing.
Yeah.
I mean, if he's going, hey man, see you on NXT. Good luck never winning a ww World championship in the next five years. Have fun being in a company that will never frontrun you because you have tattoos and you're not a conventional looking big man. Oh I'm sorry, your your wife works there, right, well, have fun with her. How she's doing really great things for herself being in a stable with a bunch of other latinos that she's
been doomed in for the past two years. I think that's a little I mean, hey, it's very cynical.
Yeah, like, let me let me temper this a little bit. Like this comes just what I was saying earlier, like who cares man like Malick? I I don't have a problem with them. I don't know why they never put him in a singles push. I'm sure there were reasons. He was a Triple H guy. They let him go. Anybody should have hired him. Tony was smart to hire him. I'm fine with what they did. It was pretty clear to me when they started letting the guys act more
like babyfaces. Brody's been over. People want to cheer these guys. They started to let him do that. That's when I knew Malachi's on his way out. He's probably wanted to go back to WWE since Paul got better, Triple God, I can't call him. Paul Triple H gets got back in charge and his wife works there, and whether he's going to be a star or not. That's just where he wants to be. So like, I don't see the problem.
Just just go where you want to be. And part of being fans is speculating about this stuff because it means, well, how are they going to change booking? What happens to these people? I don't understand why people get upset talking about that either, Like they're just performers, are going to go to where they want to go. Like the Luca Brothers, they felt they'd done everything they could in aw they wanted to do some new stuff that wasn't going to be possible there.
They went to WWE.
I mean, that's just wrestling, man, That's what happens.
Yeah, so let's just say that Malachi Leeves. What's next for the House of Black.
I don't think it changes. I think I think Brodie takes the leading. It's the three of them.
Yeah, tag team, let them run like you know, they just like they don't all have to be like with a figurehead. They can be more of a nu Jaban type of stable where it's just a bunch of dudes. They got each other's back. They can go as a tag team, or Brody can get a singles run or Buddy can get a singles run with a belt like they're all over, just push them like guys they just happen to be in the stable.
Yeah, what is that? What is that that people do that?
Now?
Why does every stable have to be like they are always wrestling with each other all the time or in that kind of a stable when you can't just have guys that are like hanging out and are part of a group but are still individuals. I don't get that.
I always liked how New Japan where the stables come out and unless their House of Torture, they're just kind of their cheering their bros on. There isn't a lot of you know, interference and stuff, but it's just a different way of presenting. But you know, I don't know, I don't know.
Back, one of the things about House of Black that is kind of putting people maybe a little bit of confusion is the babyface turn almost I guess you could say of Buddy Matthews and Brody King. However, it was Julia Hart back Dark in the Dark days. She did a promo on Dark and I'm going off the top of my head here, but basically what she said, she's she said, whyired a house of Black so evil? And her answer to that was, who said anything about being evil?
We're just people that enjoy violence. Then she further went on to say, good people could do bad things and bad people could do good things. It's all perspective. So even Julia Hart, even though out of all three the remaining members of a House of Black, Julia Hart is definitely the most heelish, I guess you could put you could say, but even then she's not really a heel. She's still more of a tweeter.
They never did like evil stuff though, Like they didn't light anybody on fire. They didn't put you know, I mean like they were heels in the sense that they wrestled like heels. But they even didn't do cheap heel stuff. There weren't a lot of rough bumps things like that. Julie would spit people's faces. But they were just bad guys, you know. And it was a different approach to a heel because they weren't like devilish or evil heels. They were just bad guys. They were just the big bruiser
bad guys you're supposed to boo. And it wasn't really much more complicated than that that they did occasional spooky stuff that was cool with the lights go ahead, but.
They were fighting with honor. That was the whole angle. You know, like we're doing this not because we want to, because we feel that that had a code, you know. And uh And I also wanted to point something out, like you were talking about Julia Hart and the House of Black in a relationship to like heal behavior, and then you said something about, you know, Buddy Matthews having his call come up andce and having kind of like
a babyface turn. That's not a new thing. This started back in Halloween, like during the Adam Cole match man Buddy came out. I was like, hey man, you're better than this. We see what you're capable of doing. Like like they've been running this angle with Brody and Buddy for like the past couple of months, so did did It's it's.
Been running this angle with Cody with Buddy and Rody sends all in in August.
People have wanted to cheer them, and they figured out a way to let him start and the that's smart.
So is is this a work? Is Malachi blackdn is the case?
I think you're still on the second honeymoon.
No, I think he's gone. I think I on, Yeah, he's on his way out. Like like again, like do you don't find his like like, let's let's let's put a let's put a it on the k fabe stuff. I believe that every single time he's ever hopped on an Instagram live or a Facebook live or had to respond to something happening in the dirt sheats, it's been a bit, a bit, a bit disingenuous. Like you've had the opportunity from day one to say, hey man, I'm
here and I'm doing this. You shouldn't wait until catastrophe to say hey man, no, I'm here, because you know you have to be Now, he has options in his contract. They could be activated from both angles. He has been injured. He could be sitting adult twenty twenty six, you know, or he could reactivate and do some more things. None of those things have been clear, you know. It's the
same thing as Ray Phoenix. Like like, I believe that Tony will hold on to him with the injury option to prevent him from going over there and think about like in in his most if we were just talking about outside of wrestling, he just renewed his vows to Selena Vega two weekends ago. What do you think was happening at You'd think him and his wife don't talk loog What if I came back over. What if we
could spend our time together full time? What if we could focus on our combat sports Jim or our gym or our business training other professional wrestlers, and that's all centralized in Florida, around of territory that ww's built out of his most his for his future, the most you know, the rewarding prospect would be to go back to the FED, even if he's never going to hold the belt. Yes, I was being cynical making that statement before, but in the better interest in the future of his career being
with being a triple H guy works for him. I just like Ethan Page, you know, I know I came off as a dick before. I wish him well, same as Penta. Dude, Sea have a good time over there. Maybe you'll wrap back around. We could do cool things with wrestling in the future when these two companies learned how to actually work well together, which they could, you know, But again that's a topic for another podcast. But I think he's gone. I think I think this is bon
bon bon voyage. I think they had the opportunity to put a lid on this gracefully and they didn't do it. And now he's just doing what he wants to do until he knows that he could start talking about talking about what he actually wants to be doing.
Right. I agree, I agree, I agree with you. I do think he's gone. And I've been very much of a proponent for stating emphatically wait until we hear from Balachie Black before we jumped the conclusions. The fact to the batter is we haven't heard from Malachi Black.
I mean, even if he isn't gone and he takes a two year hiatus then comes back or is gone for eight months and comes back because of some obligation in a contract or whatever, regardless, I mean, it doesn't
really matter. I think everything Shane articulated is something that people forget when they talk about professional wrestling, and that these are human beings and they make decisions based on the type of life they want to live, not the type of people we want to see in these characters on this fictional television show we tune into multiple times a week, you have to look at them as actors and a television show and not as people politicking and fighting for a top spot in a real combat league.
They're going to make decisions that make sense for them and for their families. It could be a financial decision, it could be a personal goal decision, all sorts of stuff. And the thing that always bugs me is when I hear people like attack stuff people. And I know Shane was being cynical earlier, That's why I called it out.
It's just like, you know, they're just people, man, and they're going to go where they want to go, and fans shouldn't take this as a personal attack on them because they're leaving their favorite promotion to go work somewhere else. A lot of these people, it's a very small community
of professional wrestlers. It may seem like it's a lot, but it isn't when you look at it as an industry, and everybody knows when you work for a boss you like working for sometimes you'll go work for them again, even though it's for a less prestigious job or a less prestigious position, because you enjoy working for them. And that's what a lot of it it is. For when people switch and move around too, they just think with certain people, you know.
Yeah, Plus they want to try new things too, Yeah, you know. I mean obviously Malachi Black has been in that in the WWE before. But look the way I look at it is this, if Malachie Black comes back to AW or if he never leaves AW, I'm happy. Not that it means anything to him, but I respect him. I really do. I mean that sincerely. Again, he probably doesn't care if I respect him or not. He's going to do what he wants to do, and that's fine.
I'm just saying is that if he goes to WWE, man, I wish him the best of luck, and I want him to be what his perception of being successful. I want him to get what he wants out of it. It's as simple as that. Let's move on to our poet, pride to pope. Pre resection is where we can bring up anything that we've already talked about, say something else or just something new off the top of our head, off on top of our heads for anything in pro wrestling. So, is there anybody who wants to go first?
I'll be fun, I'll be quick, go ahead, go ahead, I'm scrolling uh pro wrestling news right now, and Penta just did just did a photo shoot with George Kittle from the Forts, and it's well, they're friends.
I love their relationship. That's something.
Yeah, yeah, they're they're friends in real life and they they have a great relationship and they were both injured for half a year, so like, uh yeah, no, it's fun that that's this is the real world connecting to the things that I love and it's great to see man have fun. Yeah, good luck, good luck in the playoffs forty nine ers.
Doctor J Man. We just lost all of our San Francisco fans. Going with that, I do want to say something. I just wanted to piggyback on you. There, go ahead.
Well, a W just also lost all their PETSA fans, and.
We have a very strong uh you know, following an a W fan hub, somebody posted a there's been more than one post about Peta going to w W and a W fans. You know, I got to give them credit. A W fans are the type where with Panta you know, and others, you know, with anybody that's left, you know, J Cargill, Uh uh gosh, who's who else has got from a W two Brian Page, Well, seem punk. We're not going to talk about punk started that guy.
Yeah.
But the thing but the thing is is that in true form, a W fans have been exclusively I haven't seen anybody talk bad about Panta. Yeah. Everybody is luck, you know, best of success, and a W fans do that.
Did you see did you see that Gable match? It was great?
Yeah? I think I think I didn't see some of that.
Some of that is because I've said this before that a W fans are professional wrestling fans first, AW fans second, just like we so we do have a different perspective. In general, there are going to be idiots out there that hate because they're just they're mar super marks or whatever fandom extremes that are going to be shitty to
people who leave. But most of us, the vast majority, are pro wrestling fans first, and we want to see performers we like succeed, and if it means going somewhere else for them, great, We're still going to tune in and watch them because they're great, and if we don't like them, we'll change the channel, you.
Know, right, Well, does anybody else have a potpourri that they want to bring up.
I got one. What in that? Til? Is everybody making such a big damn deal about All in Texas being WWE scheduling a Saturday Night's main event on the same night. Hell, it's Saturday Night, WWE's worst show they ever do. It's Saturay, nice main event.
Who cares?
You have anything good on there?
At least they didn't run a house show the same night like they did here in Orlando the Night of World.
People were going crazy.
Who cares?
People? It's just like the people they are going to go to a w w W show are the people that are generally not going to go to an a W show, and vice versa. I see a lot of people, I see a lot of w W fans say that they're watching all in and they're gonna d v R Saturday Nights made an event and then what was.
Yeah?
I think I don't think this is a real thing. This is this is very online. This is a very online thing. It is not something normal people care about exactly. I think Someton's right. It's it's just it's not a thing you.
Have one of the congratulations to the van v Erics. They are officially a.
W now, oh good for those Oh yeah, yeah.
They were on a they were on the H part time or the per per use contract than they are now all elait So that's kind of cool, some young blood.
If you're going to try the tag should go ahead.
Kelson, I'm sorry, Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, I'm totally all boared with that. They're great. I enjoyed everything that I've seen from them.
That's just took. They have better luck than the rest of the famely.
Yeah please, yeah, look already wasted.
Yeah, I'll wrap up here. So I mentioned the show already once before, but I'm super excited. Friday is season two's premiere of Severance on Apple TV or Apple Plus or whatever it's called. If you like hard science fiction, it is a fantastic drama. It's one of those shows where you only need to watch the first episode. You'll know if you like it or you won't. You don't have to go good to get six episod now none
of that. You like it or you won't, And if you like it, you're gonna be really excit about Friday. So I can't wait for season two.
Just who's the number one contender for the belt there on that show.
I don't know, man, there's such a cliffhanger at the end.
Okay, well I have a potpourri. Uh. It's kind of a two parter, but they're basically both the same.
Uh.
They were actually doing a free count at the end of the show too, like literally they were counting down and it ended.
So so over the weekend, we saw Athena defend her Forever Championship against Decla and Stardom.
Uh.
And I don't know if you saw the match, it was it was a really good match. H After the match the started, people the started, fans started chanting Athena's name, and I mean she was balling her eyes out. I mean you could tell how much it meant to her. It was just seriously congratulations to Athena. But one of the things that happened there. Uh, this is where the Pope Mari comes in, is that we had two challenges issued over the weekend. The first challenge was made by
Athena to THEKLA for rematch in the United States. So maybe you know we mentioned somebody mentioned I think it was Shane mentioned maybe at the Casino Gauntlet that Athena coming.
No, that was Barry, but I would love to that was Barry. That was Barry.
I would love to see it too.
And there's book comes in and like Sad earlier, you can use that and they can take care of themselves.
Maybe THEKLA comes in the other one that was I don't know how to feel about this. Another challenge was issued in the women's division, and over the weekend, the challenge was issued to Mercedes Monette by Mina Shirakawa.
Uh.
I don't know. I really don't know how to feel about that because I love me to Shira Kala, but I'm hired to see her lose a big matches so always, you know, she deserves better. If they do this match and she loses, I'm rioting. I may be the only person rioting and I'll probably get killed, but I'm rioting. I'm literally gonna go to the bus stop and just riot.
Mena's not penning Mercedes.
Yeah, I mean, it's just it's to the point where I love me to Shira Kala. I really have grown to really, really really appreciate Mercedes Monette. I wasn't a big fan when she first came into the into aw but she is really growing up. I mean, she's put on some of the best women's matches in the women's division in the last just over the last couple of months, she's really come into her own.
I have to.
You know, I made fun of her when she came into the aw for horrible promos and frankly subpar matches. But she's nail at her promos lately, and she's literally having some of the best matches in the women's division that you will be, that you will find. And on top of that, she's traveling around the world promoting ae W. She was on the Cherry Sherry Shepherd Show. You know, she's out there. She's doing the work. I think fans over whether you like Mercedes Monet or not, I think
she deserves some flowers. I really do. So, you know, that's that's what I wanted to say. Well, that's my potpourri, and that's that's the show. We will be back tomorrow night, right after Dynamite or tonight right after Dynamite. I keep messing that up. I don't know. I don't know my days. We've already known that before. You should have heard me make some introductions, you know, for for Tuesday night and
Wednesday night and got Tom messed up. But anyway, we will be back tonight after Dynamite to do our Dynamite review show. And I'm thinking we're gonna have fun. I think that this is gonna be a fun show, especially because other women's casino Gotlin match. That's the big one for me. And hey, if something unexpected happens with Hobbes and Moxley, I have a feeling we're gonna be popping some champagne or doing some vodka shots. Eh, Shane.
Whiskey. I'm not drinking, you guy, I have not drinking weeks. But if but if, yeah, swear to god, but if Hobbs goes over, I'll drink one of that.
There you go, We'll pop pop a beer whatever the rest.
Of us, you know, good luck Hobbs Vodka whiskey, Roca.
Yeah. Well, I'm going at a set kind of guy myself. So that stuff will burn you if you try to do a shot of it. But anyway, there comes out of your toes if you do a shot of that. But anyway, so that is the show for tonight. Guys, thanks for listening. We'll see you again after Dynamite forty a w FANO podcast team. This is Kelson, good night, everybody, May you night, Sonton