Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, making her wait till the mic they started dimming the lights.
You started feeling all right from Birmingham home with the teddy lungs and the room and studies more once you discovered Paul Rather the lovers, Whitney Houston and Roman Reigns, all of the lovers, Mickey James and Mark k all of the lovers A Sasha Banks, you're numb on a silk signing?
Can page allow me to say? Look, I just trying to bless week escape every one of the buzz I was kind of laxed. I just made it up the troubled blood walking by the face because I know it's right in front of ud.
I ain't with the hay.
You gotta focus. Someone's grassed ladies and gentlemen and step Hardy's on the air. Had to drop a couple of bars just to make you all aware. So sit bad, relax, enjoy it show. You know, I go by Joe, What the wrestle?
Hey, y'all, Welcome to the first HWP extra episode up the New Year.
Happy new Year, y'all.
It is twenty and twenty five.
We've made it.
And because we made it, that is half the battle now we just got to get through. So I am so happy to be before you guys on this Monday Night.
Oh my god, Like this has just been a historic night, full of ups and downs in emotionally with wrestling, and just so many amazing things that have taken place, and we've watched Raw come into a new line of media, like, oh my god, we have literally gone from taping on videotapes to streaming when it comes to wrestling, and if you were born in the nineties, so I literally feel like I just sat and watched a full scale movie.
This episode of Monday Night Raw was probably one of the best episodes I've ever seen in my whole life, and I'm just so happy to be before you guys to talk about it tonight. Of course, I'm your girl, Stephanie Hardy. Welcome to the Hardy Wrestling Podcast Extra, where I talk about specific episodes or specific moments in wrestling. So this is me talking about what we just witnessed together the Raw on Netflix premiere, and of course this
is going to be out of order. And I also appreciate all of you guys for watching me on.
Any live platform because you.
Could be watching a certain post show that's taking place right now, that's talking about the exact same thing. You could be listening to somebody else, or you could be watching somebody else, but you are watching me, and for that, I am so, so so grateful.
So yeah, Riz on Netflix, y'all.
And when I say I was gagged from beginning to end, I was gagged from beginning to end. And of course, if you feel the same way I feel, and by moment by moment, as I'm discussing it throughout the show, chime in in the comments and you might wind up on the screen so you can talk about how you felt about this episode or if you're still processing or whatever. But all in all, I enjoyed myself. It was the perfect and somewhat imperfect celebration of the past and the
president where we're set to go. It's like a stamp of where it is in terms of culture and pop culture. Like it is absolutely nuts. How this whole episode was just a perfect combination of just the past and the president.
It was great.
Racarciu's watching on YouTube. Hey girl, Happy New Year, Thank you for watching. So yeah, there is so much to get into, but of course, you know, since I'm me, I have to start by talking about the women, and there was only one women's match on the card, which ruffled a lot of people's feathers, you know, a lot of Women's Wrestlings fans, because they sort of felt like the Women's Intercontinental Title final could have been on this episode as well because of that large because of how
large of a platform Raw being on Netflix was. But at the same time, when you really look at how big this show was and how all the moving parts of the show was, they probably felt like maybe they just didn't have a lot of.
Time for it.
But either way, there was one women's match on the card and it was for the Women's World Championship. Now, at one point it was announced as a last women's standing match, but I guess maybe they changed your mind or me. Maybe somebody made that up. I don't know, maybe I made it up.
I don't know.
But Real Ripley, the Eradicator, Mommy and the Beat of all of Our Hearts went up against Live Morgan for the Women's World Championship and this match was a doozy.
It was really good.
There were shenanigans involved, but either way, both women definitely killed it. They stood like apart from each other, of course, staring at each other from afar as they just you know, tried to figure out like what was about to be.
This match.
And these women know each other so well because of course, at one point they were Tag Team champions together. I believe they were in at tag Team together and they were friends. But now, of course they're better rivals now. And the one thing that was that was that a lot of emphasis was being placed on in this rivalry is the fact that it has to end here. And I am really glad that at this point it does end here, because this rivalry has been very bitter from
last August all the way up until now. And Ria has had to jump through so many hoops in order to even really get to live, Like there were times where she even fought lived and it still wasn't fair and square. And you could argue that even in this match it wasn't fair and square, but Ria actually fought through the BS, fought through Dominic and Raquel, utilizing chairs and titles and distracting the referee in order to try to get the upper hand on her, and she won her baby back.
She got the.
One thing she truly cares about, and that is the Women's World Championship that she never lost. Like, let's really think about that for a second. Ria Ripley never lost
this championship. She was injured. She defended it in WrestleMania that she got injured by Live, who threw a chair at her, and she had to give the title up and then Live for all of that big talk she was doing was literally literally won that title be a cheating via Dominick off of Becky Lynch, and that is essentially what led to Becky Lynch sort of taking her hiatus after she lost against Live in a steel cage, and Rhea had to fight tooth and nail in order
to get you know, her title back, fight through Dominick's shenanigans, the Judgment Day shenanigans, and all of the above in
order to get to what she truly wanted. And I am so happy that the focus was mainly on each other and on the title in the match and not even you know, the whole boyfriend thing, Like it was very refreshing to see it in this way and to see Rhea actually be smart enough to just jump out of those calculations that Live always had going on because Live never could and I've said this multiple times on my show before Live never could beat just straight up, and this match basically told that story.
And you know, I thought maybe we.
Would see a little bit more of Live and her reaction to losing the title afterwards, but we didn't, and we saw more of Ria just reacting to having it still and having it back, and it was just really cool. And also for this to be the only women's match, I did enjoy the fact that Daphnie La Shawn aka Aja Smith was refereeing this match as the sole female referee on this show. It was really good to see her.
It's always good to see her just from a representation standpoint as a black woman, it was always great to see that, and you know, just to see her ref this match, it was just really good. So big ups to all the women who participated in this, including Raquel.
But Ria is our.
New women's World Champion and I am so freaking happy. But the drama doesn't end there, because Dominic wanted to act like a where's my hug kind of guy and actually go in the ring, you know, during Rhea's moment and center himself, you know, like a man, and censer himself in her moment and try to ask for a hug from his eggs and I'm staying here like, oh, so now that she's the champion.
Again, now you want to rub up on her again.
But Ria wasn't having it, and she kicked him in his huhah, which I'm more than sure he didn't feel that much because it's probably not that much down there, but hey, either way, she kicked him down there and gave him what for and celebrated with her title.
Now.
They did show I Believe online or yet another clip on social media of her having an interview with Jackie Redman along with Damian Priest, who was set to go up against Ben Bala in a street fight next week. But either way, it was just really good to see them get some come up and because at this point
the judgment, they don't even have any titles anymore. Live was the only girl in the group who had a title after Finn and JD Losso's tag team title, so now they are goldless and they have to contend with that while also you know, deal with the fact that they've bother and beefing with each other. So it was really nuts and really just happy. It was a very happy moment for me to watch Ria just finally get her come up and get the title that she never lost.
And for a minute I thought Becky Lynch was gonna pop up and.
Be like, hey, I want to fight you.
But as it turns out, Rina got surprised by a certain biker taker in the form of Undertaker on a motorcycle and they had a good little moment together and that was cute and everything, so big ups to her for having that moment. Afterward, even though the dong really caught everybody off guard and for a second I was like, hold on, is he about to attack Dominic? What's going on?
But he came out there, rode his motorcycle just to get us a little bit of nostalgia and had his fist pump moment with Ria and.
That was cool.
So yeah, that was good. Ria's supremacy, Mommy's supremacy. Yes, our sweetheart, our big Gothic sweetheart is the CHAMPIONI guie. So that was the only female action that we got, but there was a lot of female representation in terms
of the guests that showed up. Michelle McCool was in the audience as well as a number of of WW superstars like the women's tag team champions, Biancle bell Aira and Naomi, like Tiffany Stratton, the new ww Women's Champions, shout out to her for that, like Lyra Valkyria and Damage Control, like all the women were out there, you know, and even in the audience. And then you had another og that was very unexpected in the form of Nikki Bella.
That was something I was not expecting at all, but the fact that she was there was just like, Wow, that's cool. And my boss lady named twin, Stephanie McMahon was there too, so it was a nice little, you know, back down memory lane type of thing, so it was cool. And also we saw Vanessa Hudgens from high school musical and other things there with her husband. We also saw
Danielle Pinot. I feel like I'm pronouncing her last name wrong, but either way, she played Topanga in the iconic show Boy Meets World, and she was sitting right next to Will Fredell from Kim Possible and also Boy Meets World too, So it was just a lot of great representation in terms of celebrities, female celebrities, male celebrities. To everybody was there. It was a star studded affair. But moving more so back to the action in terms of WWE, we had
John Cena come out and address the WWE universe. Of course, because since the new year has begun, we have to embrace the idea that this year is going to be his last active year in professional wrestling, because after this he is getting ready to retire. So he came out and talked about, you know what a lot of wrestling pundits and wrestling writers have been saying about who he should face during his farewell tour, like a cmpunk, like a Cody Rhodes, or in my case, like a Carmelo Hayes.
But he did mention that he felt like maybe a seventeen time, like a seventeenth title reign, was out of the question for him, But as the fans booed that, he realized, well, maybe, you know, it would take a miracle for me to get a title opportunity like that. But considering he also just declared for the Royal Rumble and then we have Elimination Chamber on the horizon too, he has multiple opportunities to have a championship match at WrestleMania if he wants it, or if he wins either
one of those things. So now that John Cena has officially declared for the Royal Rumble, I'm definitely here for watching him win and stuff, just so he can have that seventeen Tyraine and his last go round. I'm definitely here for it because I'm just here for all the nostalgia at this point, because John Cena is really like the superstar of generation. It's like I mentioned episodes before, like when he started his career, my sister was a baby and I was still and I was like seven
to eight years old. So the idea of me now reaching me and my sister both now reaching adulthood and he's wrapping his career up, it's just really astounding, and it's heartbreaking from a selfish standpoint, but it makes sense because he's given so much of his career and so much of his life and body, you know, just to entertain us and to raise us, you know, so he deserves.
This time that he's about to have.
But in the midst of it all, I'm just really grateful that I get to experience this last time because sometimes there are there have been wrestlers in the past who have been retired due to injury and never really got to have like a last go round or god or in the worst possible way, like something tragic happens and you're not able to finish the way that they would have liked to due to outside forces outside of
our control. But the fact that John Cena gets to wrap his career up the way that he wants to is an amazing thing. So the last time is now, but we get to basket and enjoy it from now until December of this year. And time can go by really fast when you're an adult. But at the same time, let's just bask in the moments that we do have it, because once it's gone, it's gone. It's like he said, up money in the bank. If you want some, hurry up and come get to them, because the last time
is now. And let me just say him coming out and Dodger Blue was amazing.
And if you get that reference, you get that reference. Shout out to Kenchrill Lamar.
But I loved, you know, his outfit and the towel he had, and of course the title belt that he had that WW shop did have, but I think it's sold out now.
So but either way, the merchant will be.
Bought to commemorate this occasion, Malcolm in the comment saying John versus Cody for.
The undisputed title at Manu.
You know, I was thinking the same thing off of the basis of something else that happened tonight or something else that I thought was gonna happen, but we'll get to that later. So in the midst of it all, we had a one on one match between jay Usso and Drew McIntyre because Drew McIntyre is in his crash Out two point zero era.
Y'all know.
Last year he crashed out because of the whole Ceau Punk thing, but now he's crashing out on the bloodline again because he wants vengeance for how they ruined his title opportunity at Clashing the Castle in Wales, not in Scotland. And so in the midst of this he got to.
Fighting with ja Usso, and jay Usso wanted to match with him, and Adam Pearce gave it.
So this match was pretty good for the most part. I enjoyed what I did see from it because I was in the middle of other things while this match was on no shape. But there was a lot happening in my house but other than that, the action was pretty solid in this match.
I loved it.
But something that definitely caught me off guard was when Travis Scott came out and he made his entrance, and at first I thought it was reported online that maybe he was going to perform at the show, but as it turns out, he didn't perform. He really showed up with his hardcore title that was gifted to him by Triple H at a show, and he came out smoking some loud or smoking some weed depending on who you are, you know, partaking in the grass and the happy grass.
And then after that point, you know, everybody was crunking and screaming and stuff. And then he's there because he did the new theme song for Raw that I'm pretty sure will here in the next couple of days. And he came out with j Uso and they were doing the Yeat dance and it just had the cool factor to it. But a lot of people online were definitely freaking out of the fact that yet that they really
had a rapper on you smoking weed. I hope I don't get demonetized or whatever or blocked for that, but literally he was smoking weed, like everything was just chill, and then someone on Twitter actually posted a picture of him side by side with Dennis Robin in the nineties smoking a cigar with the nWo, and I was just like, Jesus Christ, we are in a different time. We are in such a different time, and I just I feel
like I love it. I just really love it because this is Netflix now, Like it's just you know, there's a level of you know, there's a level of uncensorship that can happen now that they're streaming and not on network television where there are you know, numerous restrictions. Even my dad noticed that, you know, during the Tribal Combat match, the crowd was saying af you solo and they didn't even edit it out, and I was and he was just like, oh, yeah, they can't edit that out now.
And I was like, oh, oh, we are gonna hear some colorful things, y'all. And this is the start of it right here, Travis Scott smoking weed with a hardcore championship with next to jay Uso. Baby, you really can't make any of this stuff up. But either way, their match was incredible. One of the best parts of this match for me was just watching how ja Uso was getting beat up by Drew McIntyre, but then towards the end of the match, he was playing possum and acting
like he was like super tired and everything. But then when Drew McIntyre thought he had he had him dead to rights, jay Usso pinned him like pin his shoulders.
And then after that.
He won, and I was like, oh, and I was so happy about that. I was like, yes, Jay you literally I was smart at Drew and Drew here again looked like he was reaching another.
Level of crash out from him.
So I love you. Feel like this definitely isn't gonna be the end of it, especially since Drew decided he was gonna pop up in the tribal combat match. But we're gonna get to that in a minute. But either way, I'm happy that Jay.
Usso got this win on this big of a platform, like it's great.
Make him champion this year please. So yeah, And then of course we get to this main event, this very heated, very angry main event between Seth Rollins and cmpunk. Now, if I'm going out of order, y'all, I'm sorry, But either way, this match was in the main event, and to watch Seth Rolins come out well in such an amazing outfit where he was just looking like a dragon, like a mad dragon.
Was just kind of nuts.
I was like, okay, sir, I see you're out here to prove a point, and I completely understand that. But then you also had CM Punk come out dressed up in his Ring of Honor outfit, which gives off the impression that this match is gonna be a little bit
more grittier and that he's ready to fight. And then someone on social media also noticed if this was the outfit that he infamously wore at the aw All in pay per view, and he fought Samoa Joe for the final time and then got into that little scuffle that people tend to bring up a lot of the time when they want to just you know, talk about the craziness of life. But yeah, this match was absolutely insane.
I enjoyed it very much.
I feel like the part that I love the most about this match was the fact that they kept using each other's moves back and forth, and I was just like, holy cow, so y'all are really just being super petty, not only with the words y'all say, but also with the moves y'all use, it's just really crazy, how hated how much they really just hate each other, Like it's just really nuts. And I loved how on commentary, Oh, let me just say.
Michael Cole and Pat McAfee were excellent.
Michael Cole was talking about and told more detail as to how Seth Rawlins actually drove to CM Punk's like I guess seminar and tried to you know, get trading from him for free because he couldn't pay for it, and how he basically impressed Sampunk in the moment, but because he couldn't do it for free, he was just like, Okay, well I'm sorry. But in the midst of that, you know, their feud, they begin to respect each other. But of course when CM punk leaves, that causes a rift in
their friendship, and Seth has feelings about it. And then he also has feelings about a lot of the things that Punk said after he left, you know, and all the above, and he proceeded in his mind to carry WW on his back while Seth while CM punk was just out doing whatever it is he wanted to do because he wanted to do it, but also because he wanted to get away from an unhealthy environment, and I feel like that's something that Seth isn't taking into a help,
Like just because you decided to thrive in this environment and state and it does not mean that it was healthy for everybody else. And I feel like that's just something that he just keeps missing and not taking it into consideration.
But of course none of that matters when.
You're ready to beat somebody up, because it's like my boyfriend says, all is fair and.
F that man.
So yeah, this was very like you could feel the tension with a knife. You could definitely cut the tension with a knife with this match. And something that really got me together emotionally was just the idea that years ago I used to fantasy book this match in my head so many times, especially when Seth had that gimmick where he was a Monday Night Messiah, and in my brain, I always figured that the Monday Night Messiah versus the
Second City Saint would just be a sick match. But I didn't I think, you know, I thought that it would never happen, simply because the fact that CM Punk said he would never return to WWE, and I had just you know, accepted that as the reality. But of course that's not the reality we live in now. So we got this match and it was nuts. These two, like I said earlier, destroyed each other, use each other's moves.
We're talking all kinds of trash, beating each other's faces in you know, holding each other while beating each other's faces, in jumping onto each other on the turn, well not the turn, vocals on the barricade, and shocking new fans as you can see sitting up front, as well as fighting on the commentary desk, the brand new commentary desk and dead like that's cute, like leave it alone, but
you know, this is wrestling. But either way, in the midst of all of this fighting, Sampunk came out on top after he fell on top of seth Rawland after hitting him with the GTS, and he won the match. And after the post show came on and Jackie Redman interviewed him as he was walking back to the ring, he said that this victory in this night, you know, was a really big moment for him, and he said that this was for a friend of his whose name
I can't remember right now. But then he also said that his victory was for Chris Bay and for those who might not know who Chris Bay is. He was a wrestler in TNA who is very accomplished in other promotions as well, but he sustained a really bad injury and the wrestling community has rallied around him and raised money for him, you know, to just cover fees and to just you know, take care of his form of living while he's not able to wrestle and make money.
So if you find that link somewhere to take care of Chris Bay, or google Chris c h R I s b e Y like Beyonce, except it's not pronounced that way, you can find that and donate to it or buy a t shirt that pays tribute to him in that way. So yeah, you could just help him out that way. But I thought it was a class act that Sam Punk would mention him.
And then he.
Also said to all of his haters who felt like, oh, well, y'all try to tell me I was an ish, look at me now, And I was just like yes. And then he also Loki preached another word when he said that forty two or forty six was just a number. And I thought that was really amazing because in life a lot of people feel like if they don't. And this is something I struggle with too. A lot of people feel like if you don't have a lot accomplished by the time you reach the age of thirty, then
you feel like you failed. And something that I'm trying to internal lies and learn for myself is that that's not the case, and knowing that even as you're growing up, that you can still make great moments for yourself and still accomplish new things for yourself even though you are of a certain age, Like life doesn't just stop and you don't just become an old person when you're in
your thirties or your forties or whatever. Age does not define the level of success that you reach, and to a degree that does apply to see him Punk right here, because literally there are people who started their careers like DDP. You know, he started his wrestling career relatively late in the game too, but he turned out to be a
heavyweight champion. And to see a lot of these people still thriving and still being as healthy as can be in a new environment that allows for that well into their thirties, to even forties, and to some degree even fifties, it's just really amazing. So, yeah, don't let age define the level of success that you can have. So yeah, I think that was a really amazing lesson to learn
from what seam Punk had to say. And as Seth was walking away, he looked like he was very space side or whatever, So I feel like maybe their feud might not be done. But either way, this was an amazing main event and if they do fight again, I'm definitely here for it because it was awesome. And oh, I'm pretty sure this baby loved event too, So.
Yeah.
There's also, of course the notion of me talking about the tribal combat match, and like I said, these pictures are out of order. Some of these pictures are out of order because of just how much was going on and just me trying to just keep up with everything. But the match between Roman Rains and Solo Sica for the right to be the real original tribal chief was fire. That match was amazing. It was definitely giving bloodline rules
to a certain degree. Of course, if you watch the match between Roman Rains and Cody Rhodes from last year's WrestleMania, that's kind of what this match was giving. Outside of you know, just the Avengers of wrestling coming to save Roman. That's kind of what this match was given, and I really enjoyed it. For the most part. I was getting irritated Solo's crash out cousins came out to help him. I was like, no, like I thought it was over with. After that point, I.
Was like, no, please, Jesus no, But.
Sammy USO in this case, and Jimmy came out to even the eye, and then that made me feel a little bit better. But then of course you have Kevin Owens coming to the thick of things, and I'm just like, dude, what why are you here? And then that's where I really thought the ish was gonna hit the fan. But of course Cody Rhoades comes out and he saves the day,
and I was just like, yay. But the more Cody and Kevin beat each other up, the more I feel like they're not gonna make it to Indianapolis for their royal rumble manche Like, I just don't feel like they're gonna make it. Like they're just gonna keep fighting and keep beating each other to the point where they're not gonna have anything left to give us for this ladder marriage. But it was just nuts. And then the fact that Cody hit the Cody Cutter onto Kevin Owens in his
dress shoes, wrap me up. I was like, excuse me, you're doing a Cody Cutter in yo church shoes. Stop, stop everything. Cody Rose is just not a normal human being. And I just I just I just can't get over it.
I just can't.
But either way, to see Roman, you know, finally get his ula follow back was just really amazing and I thought that maybe Paul was going to bestow it upon him, right, but no, as it turns out, his cousin, his movie Star Future WW Hall of Famer Final Boss cousin the Rock came out and bestowed it upon him. He came back out and just spoke and bestowed it upon him.
Because the show started with the Rock coming out and addressing the people talking about how you know this episode was making history and how you know when he first started on Ron talking about his journey, and he even hit.
The people's eyebrows, which was really cool.
To see in terms of nostalgia purposes, Like when it happened, I was like, do it for the nineties A, do it for the nineties A. But either way, the Rock coming out was such an amazing moment, and he was able to share his title with his daughters, his little daughters, Tianna and Jasmine, and you know them seeing him in WWE element is just really cool. And then his mom was there, their grandma, and then his wife was there and it was really nice. So it was just a
beautiful family affair. And then in Los Angeles there was a lot of Pacific Islander representation because when I tell you, there were a lot of chews in the audience. I was just like, y'all better come through, step through Pacific Islanders. I love y'all. So yeah, all of the Mana was in the moment, and the fact that that the Rock gave him the Ulafalla and put it on him and he felt like everything was right with the world was
really beautiful. And it's definitely symbolic when you think about who gave him the Ulafalla in the first place, which were the wild Samoans, also known as Roman's Dad and Roman's uncle, And when you think about how in the past year both of them have passed on to a higher plane, it just makes it all the more deeper. So yeah, I'm glad that Roman has this ulafalla back. And I'm not gonna hold you for a second thing.
I thought The Rock was gonna attack Roman and take the ulafalla off of him and be like, you know, I'm the real chief, because they kept talking about how the Rock has this high chief name and I don't want to mispronounce it, and I don't want to mispronounce it or Butcher in any way, shape or form. But he is a high chief of the island of Samoa.
So they kept mentioning that on commentary. So I'm thinking, so, if y'all keep talking about this, this has to mean something, right, But I guess tonight they just let it go and charge it to the game and just relaxed so Roman
could have his moment, and I'm glad he did. And then The Rock also got on Instagram and had a drink with Cody Rhodes and he hugged Cody Rhodes, and that was really interesting considering the whole half of last year he was beating the crap out of him with a belt and you know, talking all sorts of trash to his mom. So it's just really nuts how everything happened. It seems like this version of the Rock, I'm not sure if he's the final boss. I'm like, I'm not sure if.
He feels like he's been humbled or what.
But he was really chilled to in a way that I did not expect. So this show was very interesting.
I really enjoyed it.
I felt like I was watching a movie the entire time, Like when everything was done, I felt like I was watching a movie towards the end of it. But there is something that I do want to point out to end this show, and it's the fact.
That Triple H did this intro.
Now, of course, the intro to all the w W shows is still the same with all the constellations and
the stars or whatever, which I love. But when this episode came on, the cold open started with with Triple H's voice talking about the history of wrestling as a whole, and it had clips older clips of people going to circuses and seeing you know, the carnies as they used to call them way back when, and going to see those like that, and then you know, going and then people watching it on old school television and stuff like that, and just moving into TV and what it once was,
and now us moving into the streaming and just showing all of the truth of wrestling with its characters good and bad. And when I tell you that hit on an emotional level, it really hit because I've been watching this my entire life. And when I tell you, these stories carry the same way that a regular TV show or a soap opera would, they very much carry that same weight. Even though a lot of people might look down on it or whatever, it carries the exact same weight.
And there's and in that.
In that code open he was talking about, you know the truth of it, and there is the truth to it because you don't see like wrestling fans don't just gravitate to this stuff just because we love the athleticism of it. We gravitate towards it because there are stories within it that.
We deeply relate to.
Like when it comes to Cody Rhodes and how he wanted to make his father proud on a spiritual level and finish his story and win the title that his dad never won.
That's real. Like when.
Becky Lynch wanted to rise above and win all of the championships because she felt like she was one of the horsewomen. She was one of the horsewomen that didn't get her just doomed.
That's real.
Because how many times have many of us as human beings have tried to work hard for something only to be passed up for it for somebody who has favoritism, or for someone who comes from I'm a well to do family, or deals with nepotism in some way, Like, how many times have people had to deal with it even to a degree, even with Kofe many And I know we don't like him at this point right now, especially after what him and Xavier pulled, but years ago
when Kofe was trying to fight for his opportunity at the WWE title but he was being put through ringer after ringer after ringer. That is the black experience to a tee, and that's real. So that entire monologue that Triple H performed, where we also saw all the photos like the art piece of all of the characters that have existed in all of wrestling over the years, all
of that just felt very real and very heartwarming. And the thing that I love about Triple H as a leader is the fact that you could tell he loves wrestling the.
Exact same way as we do.
And it's beautiful. It's really beautiful, Like it's not just a money thing, like it's a true at the heart, in the deep depths of your soul type of thing. And aside from the booking, aside from all the other stuff, at the end of the day, what brings us all together is this crazy little world that we get to be a part of. And this night felt like a celebration of it all. Like you saw celebrities, you know, sitting with each other, you saw ordinary people sitting with
each other, like all of it. Wrestling just brings us all together. And I think that was just the most amazing part of it. Now, there was a part that I'm going to be very truthful about that I did not like and that the people of Los Angeles also did not like either.
And that was the part.
Where a certain terry decided to show up and you know, give a little bit of a pep talk with an American flag and talk about his partnership with Real American Beer and all that. And of course today it was made public that WWE was doing a partnership with his beer, Real American Beer, and it was one of the sponsors. Because the logo was in the ring, along with the Netflix logo and the Prime logo and other logos too.
And let me just say, I just don't feel like WW at this point doesn't necessarily need Hu Kogen anymore because and honestly, I as a wrestling fan and as a black female WRISKLM fan born in the South, I really feel like someone who has made it his business to talk all sorts of trash and say all kinds of negative things about black people should not be on a show that actively features pieces of black culture and black people as athletes.
He shouldn't be there.
He should not be there. Like if WW is reaching this point where you have two black women, three black women as the Big Three as a part of your beginning intro that you had with the Cold Open, you have people like Kofi and Xavier, you know, being prominent heels at this point. You have so many black people, you know, just filling out what WWE is at this point, and then you have superstars like Travis Scott and so many other black stars being a part of it.
How is it that.
In twenty twenty five you are still doing business and gallivantin with the known racist who also supports.
A very.
Horrible person. How are we still doing this? I feel like I just feel like a place that utilizes that has been doing a pretty okay job at incorporating current culture. Or people like Sexy Red and people like Travis Scott and so many other black people and black superstars in your things should not be doing business with the likes of somebody like him who is actively put himself on the same platforms as a known racist. Both of these men are racists, So why are we doing this now?
Like it doesn't make any sense? And yes, you could say it's all business, but as a black man, it's just disheartening because I just feel like there is no level of nostalgia. There's no level of him revolutionizing wrestling in the eighties or everything else like that that's gonna take the sour taste of racism out of my mouth. Yes, he did have that iconic match with the Rock, Yes you did, you know, have one of the craziest hill
turns of all time. But at the end of the day, you are still a person who was caught on tape saying the N word about black people who probably were fans of you for a long period of time. It's almost like he just forgot about all of that and just decided, oh well, I'm just gonna be big at
it now because this is crossing my door now. It's terrible, and then you decide to double down on it for what And yes, I understand that he's gonna probably still have fans after this, But at the end of the day, I know I stand where I stand, and I just the fact that the people of la were booing him on this big of a show says a lot about how folks feel about him. And they can try to ignore it all they want to. I mean, I don't know.
I mean, they're gonna do what they're gonna do. Bat the end of the day, I'm just speaking out from how I feel. This man is not a nice person. He is not a nice person. If he met a black fan, he probably would just think twice about it and probably wipe.
His hands with hand sanitizer or.
Maybe even not even want to talk to them or talk to someone like me. And it's so heartbreaking, but that's just the truth of the matter. You've shown us who you are and we believe you. Now we don't want anything to do with you, like we have enough legends. We don't need you. And that's just how I feel about that. But other than that, the rest of the show. The episode was amazing. I definitely recommend you go back and watch it, and if you are of.
A certain.
Stance, you can fast forward through the whole Coking part but either way, or you can also fast forward through the Logan Paul part too, because yeah, but either way, it was still an amazing episode. So of course, you know Row's gonna be on Netflix, so just keep your apps shiny. And of course this has brought us to the end of this episode of HWP Extra. So thank you guys so much for watching. Even though I know there's other stuff going on, you chose to watch me
talk about this amazing show. So thank you guys, so so much. Of course, I will be back tomorrow with Christy b from Those Wrestling Girls and vond from The Victorious Ones, as we discussed for the very first time a subject outside of wrestling. We're discussing the CNN documentary Luther Never Too Much, which is all about the life and legacy of the R and B King Luthor Vandras, So please check that out tomorrow. I'm very excited about that.
And yeah, just continue to support the Hardy Wrestling Podcast. Follow Me your Girl, Stephanie Harty on Instagram and Twitter at Queen Steph Hardy. Follow the Hardy Wrestling Podcast on Instagram at Harty Wrestling Podcast and on Twitter at Hardy Wrussell Pod. Subscribe to the YouTube channel where you can be notified every time.
We go live. Follow me on TikTok.
At Stephanie Underscore Hardy, and you can follow me at Queen Steph Harty on Blue.
Sky if you have that as well, and just continue.
To support the vibe because we've got good stuff cooking up and coming on. And this week will be the return of stephan Kat Talk Wow for.
The new year, because we got a lot to cover.
So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this episode of HWP Extra, and I definitely hope you enjoyed this first episode of w W RAW on Netflix. And yeah, wrestling is amazing and wrestling is cool and it'll always be a safe place for those looking for it to be and for as long as we continue to fight for it to a safe place. So this has been the Hearty Wrestley Podcast Extra with your girl, Stephanie Hardy and until next time, Bye y'all, good night.