WrestleMania 41 Night 2 Reaction

Night 2 of WrestleMania 41 is in the books. It is done. We are still in Las Vegas, of course. We are staying for Monday Night Raw and then we heading out Tuesday morning. I don't know how it came across on television, but boy was night two an all -timer in the building at Allegiant Stadium. Welcome to the TFW podcast. That's Rick and Rustlin. No numbers. If you listen to the WrestleMania pre -show, you know why I'm not naming these because we will get to 202 quick

and we ain't started playing that show yet. We gonna name this WrestleMania Right 190 some WrestleMania night to reaction pod Best kept secret in wrestling podcast is the TFW podcast you guys know me I am your favorite talker out here in these wrestling streets Matt joined by that beautiful woman over there my wife Rhodesia we are a only Running two people today one is because of the significant time difference from Vegas. And each time he was usually with us, he got to go to work and

do all that kind of stuff. But I think even if this was regular Eastern Standard Time for E, he would have found a way to not been on this podcast. This podcast for all of my day one TFW podcast listeners, this is going to be very similar to two years ago, night two. WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles when I came on this podcast and I believe in January or February. I told everybody, guys, I got a feeling Cody Rhodes is not beating

Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. And I was kind of laughed out of the building at that point. What do you mean? What are you talking about? There's no way. This is his time. He's got to finish his story. And I remember coming back. On that podcast and letting the gunshots go over it is you remember that night? Told you so probably I told you so as we get It probably was about 15, maybe I told you so But what I will do because

I have grown since then Right. I am much more mature than I was then Much more mature than I was then I'm just going to do one gunshot And just say I told you so That's all just one just one gun shot so I told you so so humble actually Maybe more we'll see but What a night what a night I tweeted After the show That if I didn't have some size on me, I'm sure somebody probably try to test their luck Yep, because I was going hard on the Cody fans in the crowd after John

Cena won his historic 17th World Championship. for real, for real. And I was gonna say, fuck it, let's go, let's all go down together. And you got Matt, who has some size on them too. And he's being, usually I'm like, Matt, calm down, calm down a little bit. Nah, he's going into, then he started bringing in like, AEW haters, like, whoa, where did this come from? Like both of y 'all was on one last night. And I was like, F it, let's do it. Let's do it together as a

family. We all going down as a family. I was ready to go. But what got me the most irritated is you got all these people in these John Cena shirts. They ain't gonna spend $40 minimum to buy a new John Cena shirt. Why y 'all look like y 'all lost our best friend at the end of WrestleMania? Undercover Cody Rose fans. So many John Cena shirts, right? Until it was time. Until it was time. Until it was time. And Santa Claus ain't real. And that shit pisses me off because I'm

like, aw, aw, that's a spoiler, man. We can't do that. Oh, my bad. You right. I'm joking. Boy, it wasn't real. He may be real later on this year or something, but Santa Claus ain't real. John Cena crushed everybody's hopes and dreams. I also said on the WrestleMania preview pod that there was some thoughts about, you know, the crowd being very similar kind of to Rock Hogan from WrestleMania 18, right? 18, 17? And what I can say is I was talking to everybody who went

to WrestleMania. This is I think our 13th WrestleMania weekend. We've gone to we've been to and But we've been I've been really on social media for the last couple years, you know like daily, right? You are on social media more of course than you are at any show But what I can say is if you can get to a show and this goes for any show TNA AW New Japan WWE if you can get to any show and just enjoy yourself, do that. It is just

such a stark contrast from online. And even if you don't see a ton of negativity online, it is just completely different. Like inside of that building, that was the closest environment that I had seen to Rock and Hogan at Mania. than any other match. Now, if you're talking match quality, the match does not come close to what Hogan and Rock did, you know, 20 plus years ago or whenever that was. But it's not about when you're in it, when you're in it, when you're

there. It's not about the moves. It's not about the match quality. It is strictly vibes, environment, and how you are feeling in that moment. We came on yesterday, Rudy, and we talked about the crowd from night one to night two. And I brought up, you know, maybe the monetary situation. I think that was still a part of it. Uh, we also talked about the crowd yeeted itself out on night one and then it wasn't much to get the crowd going

again until the main event. I made a quick note and it was funny because I made a note and then we watched the press conference last night and Triple H made a comment on it and damn they're using the same words I use. But night two was about putting the pedal to the floor from match one until the main event, because from a wrestling match perspective, the main event was not going

to deliver. If you're only looking at it for holds and moves and what a quote unquote WrestleMania main event is supposed to be and going to be, the match probably didn't deliver. Inside the building, you couldn't have told anybody that because I don't know how I came across on TV, but there wasn't a second where the crowd was not on their feet watching and being involved

in what they saw. In hindsight though, 91 was about taking the foot off the gas until the main event because outside of Yeeting, the biggest thing to remember from 91 was going to be Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman business and just how tremendous that triple threat. Main event was so there was two different schools of thought so from a quality of product perspective You can get some of the philosophy now if you're in the show Like I said, it ain't buy one get one free tickets, right?

So if you only went to night one, it looks like there was a lot of people Who only went to one night, which was kind of surprising to me like that? Yeah kind of surprising to me so um, but I don't think anybody who went who was in the building night one felt like They weren't happy with what they got, but you could tell a difference. You could tell a difference from, uh, and of course we'll get into the show with our women's

match. And then, you know, after that, and after that completely different type of show, if you had to pick one show to say that was a WrestleMania show, it was night two. You got so many moments in 91, but night two in the building, all timer. Agreed. I was thinking about like how different a day makes. And again, it's not buy one, get one free. It's buy one and get one for the same price that you pay for the night before. That's really what it is. Or you get to keep the same

seats. You buy two together. A BOGO, right? But you look at, as far as night two, just when I talked about On Our Pie yesterday, I don't even know what day it is now. When I talk about it after night one, I had said that your book game matches As far as being there live is exciting, all the fields of mania, you have some good spots, but I get good spots on regular television. I get good spots on regular PLEs. This is what I was talking about. I was saying like, I need

mania matches. You know, the street fight, which I actually didn't even watch the whole street fight because I had left the seats, but that street fight felt like a mania street fight. You know, so. Each match that we watch, and then maybe against AJ Styles and Logan Paul, I did not watch that match at all. Maybe that had some elements of mania, but I guess Logan Paul himself

could be considered a mania feel. But to me, every single match that I watched last night all delivers some type of mania feel, mania vibe to the match itself. Like to me, WrestleMania night two so far surpassed Mania night one. And again, we're not going to talk about as far as though the workers or the talent themselves. I'm just as a card, as a show, as a production. Night two blew night one out of the water. And anybody who thought that the actual main event

of night two was going to be work heavy. Cena came on and told y 'all, I'm about to crush this stuff. I'm at the end wrestling. You're pro wrestling. Like no one should have gone in there and thought that he was actually about to do. move after move after move after move after move. You mentioned as far as, well, I didn't. And you mentioned talking about, you know, icon versus icon back from WrestleMania 18. I don't remember not one single move they did in that, in that match.

I just remember how I felt seeing the old and the present. The old and the present and how their two fan bases, these generational talents, these people who elevated this wrestling business to the next level. in their own respective right, going head to head. I don't remember anything else about that match. I think I had asked you yesterday, I forgot who actually won the match, but that's the same vibe that I got here. The reason why I remember who won the match is because

Cena broke, he made history. He broke Ric Flair record. But to me, like night two was everything. And I would probably feel being at both, I probably would have been like, dang, like I've missed out if I didn't go to WrestleMania night two. We so I brought that the guy who was behind us the two guys and they was on one on night one They were looking they were much more subdued on night two. I don't know they I think there

was a drink night one. It was just chilling But uh, so they were from the UK and I think they had on Cody's shirt. I'm not mistaken And yo, I was in almost shed a tear I'm gonna shed a tear yesterday Austin comes out to announce the the figure, you know, the attendance figure and anybody who's been listening knows that's like my goal. He's the reason why I cut my hair bald back in high school when he broke his neck. I'm like, I'm cutting my hair until Austin comes

back. And then the look just for me just stuck. So I never grew my hair back. But to hear that glass break and he comes out, I don't give a damn what he did. It was we got a chance to see him and hear him. So you go from that. to go right to Cody and Cena. So I was talking to the guys behind us and I was on one. Of course, I'm a Cody fan, but this is John Cena. This is Seventeen. I am going to rile up the people around me. I'm going to do that whole thing. So I'm doing that

whole thing. Cody sucks. I'm screaming and all that. So the guy behind me, I think he starts like a Cody Rose chant. And then I turn around and we just start having a quick conversation. And he's like me. He's just like... Dude, like, how cool is this? Like, look what we're, and I told him, I was like, man, look what we're experiencing. I'm like, we go from Austin. And I guess that was like his go -to. And, uh, it

was funny. He's like, man, if you ever want to break into any of my passwords, it's Austin316. Like, you ever find any of my stuff? That's my password. And, uh, you know, so during, during Cody and Cena, you got, you know, two just fans of this thing, you know, who are, you know, for them, they're traveling from the UK to get to WrestleMania. to see history. You know, and that's when like, that's, that's when this thing is fun. When you just, you ain't worried about the

moves. Like I said, you know, you just sitting there and you're in it and you're watching. And at one point, it's probably about four or five minutes into the match. Not much has been going on, but a lot's happening. And I look up and there was nobody sitting down. Exactly. In the stadium. And you know, I, I tapped Rhodesia and little man. I was just like, just look, they

aren't doing anything. and they have everybody and this is after we've seen everything you guys are the are the main event you know uh so just so so much fun man but cena beats uh cody rhodes with the help of travis scott no rock duane duane duane now i was not Locked in on, oh, I'm only showing up to WrestleMania to see The Rock. Okay, that was not me. But what I will say is, do not show up and involve yourself in the road to WrestleMania

if you are not going to be at WrestleMania. I don't care if they hadn't brought him up again. I don't care what the case is. You show up at Chamber, run this storyline. We could have gotten the John Cena He'll turn without the Rock being involved. I don't even care if he shows up tonight and we'll be in attendance at Raw. Do not show up in the Road to WrestleMania build if you are

not going to be at WrestleMania. And I can only, I can only probably think about how irritated or pissed off Triple H is at times when it comes to The Rock. I'm trying to set up my storylines, my TV programming, and we get a phone call on

Dwayne saying he wants to get involved. I am sure, because he can only say so much because The Rock is Triple H's boss, I am sure when Dwayne called Triple H a couple weeks before, we saw him, you know, show up for the chamber build and said, I want to be involved and, you know, I'm not. I can't work a match with Cody this year, but I still want to be involved at, you know, chamber or whatever the case may be. I'm sure at one, some point Triple H said, okay,

so what's the end game for Mania? Are you going to be at Mania? And if that response was either, no, I can't make it or we'll see. I can't imagine how irritating that has to be for creative because you have to leave things open for him. And we thought the, the The appearance from The Rock was tremendous leading up to the chamber. But stay away if you can't be at Mania. This is WrestleMania.

So I think a lot of people, and we kind of talked about that last night, the Finnish could have come across and probably was anti -climactic for the main event. You see Travis Scott. You're just going to assume Travis Scott is going to be accompanied by the Rock at some point. Because how does Travis Scott, and I think we do see some more probably with Travis tonight, potentially.

So we know that's not ending, but how does Travis Scott be the only one that determines John Cena winning the championship over Cody Rose after a year -long title reign? He's not a wrestler. He's not a wrestler. So that was a downer. That was an absolute downer. And you just can't do it. I'm sorry. You can't do it. Like, either you're going to either in or out, right? That's how I feel, either in or out. And I don't believe in anything of, hey, just, you know, watch with

the rock. You know, what does he always say typically? Be quiet and the ride, the rock brings you on and that whole thing. Well, that ride should have stopped at WrestleMania. and it did stop and it went on and he was nowhere to be seen. How, I'm not going to say irritated, but how surprised were you? Or maybe you were irritated. I really wasn't irritated. I was surprised. My whole thing was just seeing Cena win. Like that was the move. Now say if Cody would have won

and then we didn't get Rock. And it wouldn't be because I'm not a Cody fan, but it would have been like, we did all that for this? Like, yo, where is the payoff? And to me, a crossroads to Travis Scott is not enough of a payoff for me to be like, cool, we got the payoff from elimination chamber. I'm happy he got physical. I'm sure the numbers are probably somewhere in the hundreds of million dollar views or, you know, a hundred million views at this point on social media and

et cetera, et cetera. But from a storyline perspective, uh, but I guess he also was showing his hand too. He showed up in that press conference and said, yeah, you know, me and Cody may never have to need to have a match. It was like, yo dude, that's not the point of wrestling. Like a farmer, farmer planting seeds. Say that and I think probably a part of those people who were quiet that we had on the John Cena shirts to probably a portion of them were like Okay with that's what we got.

Like I thought there would be more the best way that I could Parallel this to another filling I had was when it was Brock versus Undertaker when he broke the streak and To me there was just no way that Brock was going to beat him like at all. So when the The one, two, three happened. I almost felt like, oh man, the Undertaker get concussed. Like, did he not kick out in time? Was there something else that was supposed to

happen? And I mean, for several minutes, as I'm trying to think through what the hell just happened, who knows how I even popped afterwards. I mean, I knew I was angry, but then when you look at last night, when he won and got the cover, like to me, I was like, that was it. So people who are at home watching it, you have seen an amazing mania up until this point. Great storytelling, great action, great entrances, all the good feels that you would get from WrestleMania. And it

ends like that. I could see why some people would be like, oh, that was, that was crappy. That was sucky. I just knew that that pin was not going to happen because the rock had to come back. He had to. Like to me, that was, that was the whole thing. And I remember coming on the show a couple of months ago and I said even about

John Cena too. I'm like to John Cena and to Rock, if you can't give us availability, us being the fans, the fan base who watches every week, don't insert yourself because there's people who are doing it well. And I think I even said it, I've never been the one person who, or the type of person who said legends shouldn't come back. I've never, I've never been that up until this

year. You know, there should be, I've always said your biggest name, even if they're not an active wrestler, they're part -time wrestlers. No, they're putting you on the map. They're putting exposure. They giving light to this product. You should always want them to come back. But when I'm so invested in a story and I'm so invested

in, I'm going to say poor Cody. Once again, yeah, he got his, he got his payoff at Mania 40, but it's just like, once again, This hill turn of his he's gonna be able to pull from a lot when he's finally able to get to it because I've All I have been just is a good. Yes, man. I've been flexible Between all these different people that I'm working with Hell having in ring promo segments for people who aren't even there That's not even fair at that point so for me I did not feel irritated

was not the word again. I just felt like incomplete but Because I'm such a huge John Cena fan. Because I got to witness history. That made up for it, and for, not for a second was I, after that, like, damn, that's messed up that Rock didn't come back. Like, if Rock shows up tonight, I'm gonna boo him. Because, like, you just don't do that. Because, like, you couldn't come last

night. Somebody was saying on the internet, because he was still trying to figure out the Rubik's Cube, that's why he couldn't make it to the Mania. It's hilarious. I never picked up that Rubik's Cube a couple weeks ago. That boy stuck. But it's funny because, I mean, to your point about Cena, that was the story. And so, okay, so this is twofold. Number one, Rock should have been there. Don't get involved if you can't show up

at WrestleMania. To me, that's number one. This also now shows me why, and this is seeing this what happens when You're real right when i get my real authentic thoughts out here everything is not skittles and rainbows or something happens on another company it doesn't suck. I came out here and said the first two weeks of scene is your turn was horrendous. What now i kind of know why it's horrendous there was no connection

to the actual hill turn itself. Because that's not the payoff right like so if you look at right now. Scene is two for four. We see what he does tonight because he said tonight he's going to start to ruin wrestling So we'll see what that looks like but the first two promos I said was

disjointed It didn't make sense. It felt like in a capsule was something he wrote ten years ago that if he turned heel he could have cut Had nothing to do with elimination chamber and it had nothing to do with Cody Rose But now for me, I kind of see why because now we know why the Rock was never brought up again He wasn't

gonna be at WrestleMania. So don't bring them up But what I did love about Cena and Cody, if you go back to SmackDown's promo from this past Friday, where Cena basically said, I don't have to wrestle you to beat you. Like, you gotta wrestle me. And he's saying, because I can take shortcuts. Like, I don't have to wrestle anymore. Like, and you need to figure out, Cody, who are you gonna be? Basically, you're gonna be a man and you're gonna cheat. or you're gonna try to do

it the right way and you're gonna lose. And they had that spot. And that's the thing about Cena's storytelling. Cena would kind of tell you, pay attention to his promo. He's gonna tell you. A couple years ago when it was him and Roman at SummerSlam and his, the big storyline was, I know you're better than me, but all I need is three seconds. It's all I need is three seconds.

And I mean, it's kind of common sense, but I remember telling Matt, I was like, the major spot of that match is going to be a false finish, because all I need is three seconds. And we got that spot last night at WrestleMania with the belt. What you gonna do, Cody? Cody couldn't pull the trigger. Got kicked in the nuts for it, and he lost. So that adds even more, to your point, to the story arc and the character seeds for Cody Rose. You could have easily used the

belt. Cause the referee was knocked out, but you didn't. Now, if I really wanted to deep dive it and we ain't not here for deep dives, I can say, well, that time, one time you almost tried to murder AJ Styles with the steel steps. When you stun it on Sami and KO after you damn near killed Kevin Owens and you stood on top both of them with the belt, you got some of that mean streak in you. You should have pulled the trigger at WrestleMania and you did not. Whatever, right?

We don't have to get that deep into the... Didn't he get like all like that after direction from his mama and after the bell had rang? Well, his mama was ringside this weekend, too. Yeah, evidently she didn't tell him. She didn't tell him to do it. I think because Liberty was there. I think he was trying to be that commendable mentor in life and role model that, hey, my dad can't hit him with a belt. When you playing with the devil, you gotta play these double games. So tremendous

tremendous year for Cody, right? I think it's a testament for him testament for WWE that He had to build for a year and nobody was really clamoring for him to drop the title. It wasn't like man He's holding up TV is holding up the storyline. So that thing they did an awesome job I'm excited to see now where he goes, you know, how soon do we see him back on television? And is it right to Cody is it somebody or a right to the scene as somebody else but overall Thoroughly

happy with how the main event went. The night itself, awesome. The entrances, like seeing it coming out to just nothing, just his name in white. Yo, what? And the entire stadium being black, which is a polar opposite of Cody with a million dollar budget of pyro and red, you know, white and blue lights and sparkles and everything. I thought that was, that was great all the way overall. I'm personally happy with

it, how it went down. And now I'm excited. Now, now we see the ride that they take us on for Sina. But overall, E, wherever you are, man in spirit, hopefully you still with us somewhere. I sent him a text. He sent me back a gift. I'll let him explain himself when he gets back on his vibe in a few days. But I told you, I told you, I broke it down. So anybody who was surprised or shocked. You gotta tell them listen to TFW

podcast. I'd be giving up game. Anyway, Rhodesia, let's move on to arguably the best opening match in WrestleMania history. And you even added another like caveat of it being an opening match. Yeah, I know opening matches you have to usually start off super hot. So you already at a higher level of expectation, but just WrestleMania matches, period. And I hate triple ways. I hate them. I hate them. But you don't, because you got two. Clearly I don't. You got two this weekend. God

damn, this is so good. And we could talk about how people were booing Bianca and then the reasoning behind why they booed her. Whatever right you gonna hate I was looking at her and I'm like y 'all just mad because y 'all can't be heard for the guys What's the line people say that your man wants to do me your girls want to be me like I think that's all the reason why she's getting hate I don't want to put other things

out there right now. I'm of what it could and could not be but the three of them beautiful and We didn't touch on it because you said we was going to be nice on WrestleMania night one on a couple of spots and some other matches. But just the timing of the three of them, knowing where everybody's going to be at when you hit that moment. And when you add in that third person,

there's chaos. And I think that's probably why me and maybe most people who don't like triple ways is because usually it always feels like there's one person out or you got it. You can almost see the tiny, you can see the choreograph and the dance. Sometimes it's kind of like take you out of the field of, of the actual flow of a match. These three wrestlers put on, they were

there when they needed to be there. All three, the designs that just all the, I can't even, I can't even articulate how amazing of a match that we saw with them. And it wasn't a point up, here's a couple of punches, here's a couple of grabs and then suplex. No, like. It was such a beautiful symphony that we saw when it first opened and they know that they had us at the stage. And they just overperformed. And I was just so proud. I'm like, this is what, this is

what it is to be great at what you do. These three women put on a hell of a match. They all look beautiful. They all were over for the most part. Even Bianca getting booed. You're still over, right? I guess you're still getting booed. You're still getting some interaction from the crowd. My God, was that not some of the best wrestling in professional wrestling, in WWE, in mania that we've seen? And again, I don't even want to call it a women's wrestling match.

That was one of my favorite wrestling matches ever. I say it was going to be a match of the year candidate. It even exceeded that expectation. Legit, when I tell you, I know a lot of people, if you've been watching wrestling for a long time, kind of go right to Bretton Owen. WrestleMania 10 as an opener I Get anybody who feels like that's that's their their answer For my money.

It's this This is the one By far And if you were in the building for it and that's that's what it is for for some reason this show Came across differently for me a lot of times like if you're in the building for A wrestling show. The energy course helps. The impact of the moves are different. You know, you get the pomp and circumstance, you get the music, you get the pirate, you get all that. But it was something about this particular show. That what I'm seeing on in front of me.

I'm like, I know it's not coming across as well as it. should on television. And that is even with the top notch production for W2B. It's not cause they missed a camera shot or it's nothing. It was, I don't know what it was. So I got to kind of maybe figure that out. And maybe even if I re -watch Mania, I can, I can kind of get that. But this match from start to finish, I don't want to go crazy, but it was one of the better matches I've seen live. And I have seen

thousands of matches. I have. I knew with those three women, they were going to deliver. And that's why we kept talking about, like, from a storyline perspective, we got irritated because we're like, man, you could have just went with Bianca and Rhea. This don't make sense. It's disjointed. And never because what the match is not going to be, because we know what the match is going to be. If they're allowed to be

that, they were allowed to be that. And that goes back to my point earlier where Triple H says, you know, we're not taking the foot off the gas. It's not to say we took the foot off the gas for night one, but you got to leave something for night two. You got to have people who watch night one want to watch night two. You can't, you can't blow your load night one. I get that.

But then my argument would be, but you are taking your foot off the gas because there was nothing remotely close to Rhea, Bianca and EO on night one outside of the main event, which you throttle the other matches to make sure We remembered and got what we got in the main event. I came over here yesterday and said, if they would have gave Tiffany and Charlotte another five or six minutes, what that could have looked like. Guess what? Women's Triple Threat match got more than

nine minutes. Case in point. Case in point. The IC Fatal Four Way match delivered. Damian and Drew delivered. And I had even tweeted, Yesterday, you know, there's two schools of thoughts, like just philosophies when it comes to putting a car together and doing wrestling. And it is when you have a massive match, like something like we got with the Triple Threat Women's match as

the opener. The next match, either you take the philosophy of what they did Saturday night, which is either put a match in there that people really don't care much about or match after start slow. Right? Start slow, let the crowd catch the breath. And then you work your way throughout the match to end at a high note. Or, you hit it hard and go balls to the wall. And that was what Drew and Damian did. Of course they have a producer. I have a sneaky suspicion that Drew had a hand

in that also. And that's also the thing, that's why they went to a street fight. It's easier doing a street fight than it is a regular match. They went right forward as soon as the bell rung, it's go time. And it really helped the show and it really helped that match by them doing that. But I was even super impressed with that, but you could tell the difference. If by watching the show, you could really see that night two was at a different pace than what night one was.

That's probably a great, that's probably a great. definition of what we saw in difference. It was the pace. You're absolutely right. It just, it never, it never let up. Mania Night 2 did not let up. Even when you had a moment of Terry brief up who Randy was going to wrestle. Even when Austin came out to post again, bring the crowd down right before the main event. He had like two accidents, one in the back before he even came out. And then when he hit the lady, I shouldn't

be laughing at that. You didn't get hit. The barricade got hit. You don't get your old man. All right. But the point is like even that was exciting. And shout out to you because I left

to grab another drink when Austin came out. But feeling the energy from you, feeling energy from the UK guys behind us, as far as how much You love Stone Cold how much he loved both of them love Stone Cold like this is so personal for us And I think that's why everybody who was like a wrestling fan is Opinionated because it's something that's so special to us something that we hold Deep down inside even if you grow up and you try to act like you're no longer a pro wrestling

fan But you know deep down inside You are I mean it's it's emotional to it It has a huge block on our heart and to be able to get that like that is what WrestleMania is about. I remember the dongs before Undertaker became Mark Halloway. I Will get those feelings just hearing the dongs from at home watching on TV if I was able to know the times I got to hear the dongs live it

almost would bring you to tears. And some people will be like, you a sucker, you loser, you nerd because you get an emotional over, but okay, I am. This is special to me. I hold this really deep in my heart. So I'm happy that you were able to get that Stone Cold moment too. Cause we don't know how many more times we'll be able to get to see Stone Cold. But yeah, that may have been it. You know what I'm saying? Like to hear the glass break in that element, like

even. I had a feeling we were going to see him. I didn't think he was going to do a run in in the main event. I never once brought that up on the podcast because it didn't make sense because I had seen a winning. So it doesn't make sense to use Austin in that spot. But when we didn't get his music when they introduced him and Brett Saturday. Oh, that's a good point. That's a good point. You know, I just look at it from a different lens. I'm like, hmm, OK, like you had an opportunity

to pop. crowd there. You know, you didn't get it and we got it on on Sunday. And when his music hit, it wasn't even about, oh man, is he gonna be a special guest referee? Oh, is he a special guest enforcer for the main event? Because we knew there was nothing left. We knew the only thing that was left was the main event. But it was just a matter of, man, we got a chance to see and hear him. So to your point about what this thing means to us, it does mean a lot. Like

real quick, two quick stories. Bill Goldberg, you know, a lot of us are not fans for Goldberg anymore, either because you feel like he's watched, you know, you feel like he, you know, hurt Brett. You feel like he's whatever the case may be. Right. I was on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. He put out, no, what it was, was there was a video that came across the timeline of him. I think when they were at the Superdome, I can't remember where they were. It was a stadium show.

It was Nitro. And it was a minute and a half, like two minutes and 12 seconds total for the time. Gobert got in the ring to the time he was about to leave the ring. And I stopped watching the video and I paused it. And I'm like, Hey, Reducer, come here. Like, I don't know if you've ever actually seen Pete Gobert before. So we sat there and watched the two minute video. And in that moment, I just remember the hate, the

come on, dude, like. You went over to Saudi and messed up, you know our guy braids push you took the title from them all that kind of went away and for me it was like Damn, thank you because I remember Having a who's next shirt. I forgot I even had it somebody in the crowd. They showed I was like, yo I had that shirt and like for us to spend money and To wear somebody's merchandise. That means they mean something to you, right?

No matter if it's strictly entertainment or what it is it struck a chord with you And like, so in that moment, I was like, you know what, man, if Goldberg wants to come back and have a retiring match, how can I say no to that? This man put his body on the line for our entertainment. Yeah, they get paid, but it's still something to where they are doing this for our entertainment. I got a quick chance to see Chris Bay, I think Friday night, Friday night. And I had a chance

to tell him, like, dude, like. Keep pushing, baby. Like, you know what I'm saying? Just keep pushing. Like, God doesn't make mistakes. And to see him walking when he was paralyzed, you know, after working a match, he's worked hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of professional wrestling matches. He is a professional wrestler that is not in AW, that is not in WWE, meaning... He now has to still find a way to provide for

himself and his family going forward. There is no pension There is no retirement fund for him right now like so you gotta get through the mental aspect of To help me even trying to figure out how I'm going to continue to wrestle I gotta walk and I gotta learn how to provide for myself now. He's gonna be fine He's a good guy, but Those are just two instances where it's like, a lot of times, you know, we get in our feelings as fans and anything that you do or you watch,

professional athletes, whatever it is. But at the end of the day, you're still a human. And at the end of the day, what they do is for the enjoyment of us. And it's just like, that's just something to not take lightly or, because it's easy to forget. It's really easy to forget. So we had the women's match. We got to talk about Dominic. On my bingo card, he was probably number

three, maybe four to win. I probably had maybe Bron, deep down inside, if I'll be honest, Bron retaining maybe Penta number two, and then between Finn and Dom, three, four, if I'm being truly honest. In my favorites, Dom was absolutely number

four. Like I wanted Finn to win. But when you think about what he has done over the last two years, being on every show, damn near every SmackDown and Raw at one point when Judgment Day was on everything, getting that massive heat, retaining that massive heat, even to this moment getting that massive heat when now there's massive cheers

that he got. But just a true student of the game, you look at somebody like Dom, and I don't want to take this from you, Matt, because I know you told me earlier about a story that you heard about him, but just how effortless it looks for him. And not in a bad way, not like, okay, it comes easy to you and blah, blah, blah. No, because you can tell that he's dedicated to this. You can tell that he's just a sponge and a student of the game and he learns as much as he can.

And all the effort he's put in. Always being able to handle whatever they give them. A lot of wrestlers are flexible and versatile like that. Um, and I think this is going to be the year for them. 2025 is going to be the shining lights of these people who just are just your great, I don't even call them utility players because it's almost disrespectful to use that word because they are so good at what they do. But when we say a payoff and deserving. God dog.

I did not think that I would want them to win that IC championship, but I am so happy and so proud. And I popped super loud when he, when he finally did win. Kudos to that man. That was, that's one of those you had to be in a building to get the gravity of that moment. A little similar to like when Jay won the title, like being in the building and feeling the energy, but probably honestly, even a little bit more was it was Dom's win because that was strictly a pop of appreciation

for Dom. Yeah. It felt different. Yeah. Because it's like, dude, you have busted your ass. Think about where he was four years ago. I remember having conversations with people, and I'm like, yo, it may be a rap for him. Going down to NXT is not going to help. Like, it's just not. Like, he was in a space when he was just with Ray, and he was the, you know, carbon copy, Babyface

101. They were working tag matches at house shows TV It was just like damn he ain't got it man that sucks like he ain't got it and he turns heel and he starts doing the thing a little bit and then at a time it was a crutch of I got the mic and then I get boobs doesn't matter. He's not really cutting promos Right. He put the mic up to your mouth. You're going to get booed and we'll have somebody else in judgment day take

over the promo. Okay, cool. But to see him go through all of that, to get that type of appreciation and adulation from that crowd because of who you are, not necessarily because of a storyline, because yeah, if you had to pick a babyface or a hill between him and Finn, he's the babyface for sure. That wasn't that pop. That wasn't that pop. That was a pop of You have earned everybody's appreciation, and we actually all like you, but

you are so good in your role. We are going to continue to boo you because this is what we do. The same way now you go to Yeet. A few years ago, you went to these shows to boo Dom. That was the moment. That was the crowd participation moment, right? Austin had the what, Jay got the Yeets, Domine's got the boos. And it was just awesome to see it flip on a dime in one show. There was no lead up to this. Don wasn't getting

cheered at any show before this. So to see everybody in the crowd want him to win and then for him to be able to pull it off, not really cheap, you know, and then be able to run back to the ring and get that secondary pop. That was awesome. I hope they have a plan for him. And this is not a, you know, he drops it at backlash or anything. He deserves it. He absolutely deserves it. John Cena made a comment right before we recorded, John was on Pat McAfee show, which Pat is hilarious.

Pat is high and drunk right now. Still at this moment. I don't know what time he stopped partying last night, but God bless Pat for you to be as high as you are and still be able to handle your national worldwide job on ESPN. Kudos to you, brother. But Sina just said like, you know, his dad is my guy. He's like, but he's a kid that I have so much love for, and he just said that in 20 years, Dom is going to be the most famous Mysterio. And this is when like you, now you

like kind of really peel back the curtain. Think about John Cena. We're like, think about how much Ray did for John. And now I get to see your son do this. Same thing with Punk. Punk was on last night ESPN with Cormier. It was a quick thing on Sports Center. Punk brought up Dom again. And Punk always finds a way to bring up Dom. It's because like - It works any young talent. Yeah, like, well, when I was here last time, you were a kid. Like a legit kid. Same thing.

And me and your dad worked up and down the roads all across the country in the world. And now there's a chance I get to work with you. Hell, I shared with you last night. I didn't think you remember. Dom was Punk's first match back in WWE. House show in California, in LA. That's because I'm sure a punk was like, man, I got it, man. I got to work down. Like, I was like, dude, I remember you running around as a kid back here back in the day. So it's just awesome,

man. Like that. That's when, you know, this game becomes much more real than, you know, what is shown on television. But shout out to him. I love to see Penta get a legit, true WrestleMania moment. Finn has been around for a while, right. But for him to still get a spot, Brian. Did brown things. I'm excited to see what's next for him. But a true legit WrestleMania moment was made. Absolutely. So I still got something I didn't share from night one that I wasn't too high on.

I'm sure people could put two and two together. Now I got one for night two. And I'm gonna first start off by saying... Becky Lynch is one of the most over wrestlers in the last decade. Every time we're at a show and I don't care if, because it was a surprise, a return, throw that all out. She gets one of the biggest, most sustained pops at any wrestling show she is on. Her pops are so loud. It sounds like it's part of the music. It sounds like they're pumping it in to the stadium.

When her music hit, the stadium was damn near shaking. Legit. I think they even cut to somebody in the crowd who was crying. I understand this is a business. I get that for sure. Bailey and nobody else is getting that type of reaction. I do feel a certain type of way. And I get Tripoli said on the press conference, guys, Bailey's gonna be fine. I get that. Okay, cool. I personally feel a certain type of way with Bailey not getting

on WrestleMania. And then you parlay that with the MVP of the women's division for the last 12 months taking the pin. I also understand storyline wise it makes sense. I get all that. Have Raquel take that pin. I just have an issue with the work that Liv Morgan has done throughout the entire year. And you can't, in my opinion, pick and choose now what a WrestleMania moment is and then say, oh, but everybody doesn't need

a moment. It's fine. Right? Because then you're talking out of both sides of your neck and you can't do that. I just felt that was a little I absolutely would not have booked it that way. I would not have had Liv take that pin. She's done too much. To me, she means too much. And yes, she's going to be fine, right? They could run something tonight on Raw where she gets her heat back. So really what Heels is not about, oh, if they lose, you destroy them. You kill

all their heat. But I do think in this instance, Bailey not having a match. And you parlay that with. Liv taking a pin. I just personally have a nasty bad taste in my mouth about that. But I say that to say this. I get it. I get it because Becky is her. Becky is one of those. And I remember how pissed off we all were when she came back at SummerSlam and beat Bianca in less than 30 seconds. Still a horrible decision because it took Bianca a couple years to bounce back from

that. I don't care what you say. I know what I'm talking about on that. That is not up for debate. This is not that, but she is her. I get it. But I ain't like it. I would have felt differently this morning if I didn't hear H address the Bailey thing. Um, we already know there's been times just in this year alone that I felt that he's dropped the bomb. When it comes to a PR time to respond and H be it as it may Didn't represent

the black history month. We don't have to go down there None that road, but I do feel a bit different that he did say guys Bailey's gonna be fine because you acknowledge That she got wronged here. She did We can get past that because again, this is their product they are gonna Either I'm going to buy a ticket or I'm going to watch a product or I'm not, right? What I can't stand is the fans who, and I maybe I should also probably start with, I'm not a huge Becky girl. I'm not

a Becky girl at all. I can appreciate her. I can appreciate her work. I can appreciate her being a role model for a lot of people. And it is undeniable every time I've ever seen her live and just even the reactions on TV. Like you said, she's her, she's him at this point. Well, how can you be clamoring so happy? Blah, blah, blah. Yes, Becky's back. But then you throw hate and shade on the queen. I just don't understand that

double standard. Talk about it. Like, you sit up here, and she comes back the last two times she came back from injury. In 26 seconds, she beats Bianca, like you said, who took years to recover from, takes her title. And then she comes back again now and wins the tag team championship. But everybody is so happy about it. I mean I was happy about I love Lyra I think she is in

time. She just has to be maybe a little bit more work on her character Like maybe people get more interested in her character, but I think she has all the makings of a great future Bird lady got her moment the bird lady bird. Yeah bird lady I think bird lady is going to be Very important in pro wrestling game later. I think she just kind of they're trying to figure her out She had a start and stop last year So I'm not gonna hate on that moment. I think it was a wonderful

moment. I even got happy about it I even Cheered for Becky coming. Although that was probably the biggest non surprise surprise that we got this whole mania weekend But you can't do that fans. You can't sit up here and be all happy Becky comes back in the last time two times She comes back. She wins the first match back Then you throw shade at Charlotte gone with that.

That's what I can't get over Yeah, so two other quick things Joe Hendry With Orden Fun little piece of business place erupted for Joe Hendry. So it was the right call And I was happy because nobody had to eat a loss If you remember, that's what I was talking about on the show for the last couple weeks. Be careful who you put in there with Orden Because they got to lose they're going to lose. You know, there was some talk of You know, Alistair Black, there's some talk

of Mero. Well, we knew it wasn't going to be Alistair. Just one, I knew that because I know they got plans for Alistair. And then on Friday, they showed the video package showing this Friday. Yeah, for Alistair. But then there was talk of Mero. There was also some talks of some other people, Carmelo Hayes. And I'm like, no, like whoever you put in there, you're feeding to Randy Orton. So you mission accomplished. You got Joe Hendry, a incredible rub. This man was on WrestleMania.

Think about somebody like Joe Hendry, right? Where it was funny cause I saw him in the airport on Monday when I was heading over to Sensei. I think he was in Chicago for autograph signing last weekend, but it looks the exact same way at the airport as he does on TV. But you think about somebody like him. this guy before there was even a partnership with TNA, he's on Impact and rocking and rolling and trying to do things. And he goes from that to being on WrestleMania.

I mean, Vikingo night one on WrestleMania. Like, and these guys are not under WWE proper contract. So that's gotta be just cool for them. Absolutely cool for them. But got a awesome moment. Got a pop, you know, got Orton to have some fun out there. Good to go. Keep it moving. So I'm happy Orton got another, another, you know, opportunity to get out in front of WrestleMania. Still sucks

about KO for sure. Uh, and then I saw it when the press conference Triple H just talked about in his mind, you had to just completely pivot away from what KO Orton match would have been. You know, that was, you know, serious and, you know, deep grudge and violent. So what they wanted to present needed to be completely different. If you look at it from that philosophy, it was absolutely mis -accomplished. I want to backtrack a little bit. In other words, hindsight's 20

-20 or should be. That's when you realize that you've grown in life. But I did come on here and say that if you didn't have anything after chaos, injury, leave, I'd say we don't need to put Randy Ordon on mania. You know, there's no point in you only had a couple weeks into mania. Why would you insert anybody else into it? Can

you like not already? You got if you have warden you put him on mania and of course, I'm in my feelings I know we don't need to have him on there because there's some other matches we could have had on on the show We don't need to have warden I will come back and say that that was a very great move because what it was able to do was able to put somebody else over and at no loss to him nothing but games so in this is his 20th WrestleMania like again when you talk

about somebody who deserves things. Like he's been in the game for a long time. He deserved a Mania match and he didn't take up that much time. And again, overall, it was a plus positive for everybody involved. But when I did post, I don't know if I actually hit Twitter or not, but I'm like, outside of the Seth Rollins RKO, I was like, this has been my most favorite RKO I've ever seen. Like, how amazing is it? And it's cringy because we, you know, that's his

move, Joe Hendry, close up. And the camera action of that and RKO and Randy weren't arcane on that was just so awesome. That was absolutely my most favorite of RKO of all the times. And again, now you got Joe Hendry over too. So I am happy that we got to see that. And it was a moment of levity. So we were able to laugh a little bit and again, a very fast paced, high paced moving show. I do think it's funny that I had

been talking for a couple of weeks. surrounding, I've mapped out my bathroom breaks each night. I said, I didn't take one on night one, child to you, going to grab drinks night one, so I didn't have to get up. But I said it was be new day and war Raiders strictly because of the presentation, nothing to do with like them or anything like that. And I said the second match was going to

be Logan Paul. and AJ Styles. Shout out to my guy, the Earl Taylor on X. Showed the font, matched it by the star and he tweets at it and says, bathroom break for that's FNW. And I didn't leave at that point because I left as soon as Dom won the title. Because at that point, like once again, I was talking about you gotta map out your times to leave. If you wait until Everybody exit stage left, you in the concessions in the bathroom

for about 20 minutes. If you leave as soon as that bell rings, you can be back before the next match starts. So we book it. Head out, bathroom, alcoholic beverage break. So we're back in for everything. So actually I saw all of Logan Paul and AJ Styles. And I will say, I probably still could have went to the bathroom during AJ Styles. and Logan Paul. Get some more out. Worst match of the night. This is what it is. Is what it is. Yeah, it is what it is to me. I didn't watch

any of it. Well, I did watch the one part with Karrion Kross, the new goat. My guy. My guy, Karrion Kross, speak about it. If you guys have not seen the three minute video, I posted it on X, that's FNW, but go find it. When I tell you it's time, it is time. I have been a Karrion Kross guy, I'm sorry, I have been a Killer Kross guy before he even got to NXT and WWE. Okay, that's how far back of a fan I've been of Karrion Kross. He knows it. Every time I add him, my

guy likes it or, you know. pre -tweets it or he engages with it somehow. So he knows, I know for sure he knows how much I appreciate him and Scarlett. It's time, right? Like he's, he got an opportunity last week in a match on Raw, thought he delivered, showed up Andre DeMuro, Battle Royal, showed up, got a great response from the crowd. It's not the name of that match. Whatever lady. He's from Vegas, so I would expect nothing less. Got a massive pop at Mania. And then couple

that with the promo that he cut. It is a, this is the guy that I need on my television. So I am excited for him. I know he's in a contract year also. Um, so I'm excited for him, but that's my guy. That that is 100 % my guy. I'm looking forward to what they have in store for him in the next year. As I am with a lot of these, we had six title changes at WrestleMania. That's a ton. Right? So. It's gonna be exciting to see. And I do know there are a lot of surprises planned

tonight on Raw and on SmackDown. So should be a lot, a lot of fun. So that was awesome to see. All right, before we get out of here, I do have one question for you. So we talked, you know, we didn't deep dive. I mean, we deep dive a little bit on this show. Shout out to the Freaks. Shout out to everybody who supports the pod. Listen to the pod. Y 'all know the deal. We appreciate you guys. Let's say on Wednesday's pod, we'll

kind of like rap. the whole weekend and kind of give you guys just general overall thoughts about things that we did out here in Vegas, but a ton of fun. Got a chance to meet some awesome, awesome people. I love everybody and shout out to everybody that we met. From a WrestleMania perspective, night one and or night two, give me a moment that we have not talked about on either podcast that stuck with you, that you really enjoyed, that may have been underrated.

What you got? That kind of a question What we saw actually on many a night one or night two that sticks with me Is that the question? Sure.

Yeah, something that you just want to either shout out or highlight or something that you really enjoy I Mean the low -hanging fruit, but you said that we didn't talk about is there anything if not if you just want to highlight something else go ahead and do that too i no okay i would just say that i would just double down on what you said um that the internet is nothing like what it is live okay oh no actually no we talked about it but Again, just the camaraderie between

you and the UK guys behind us having a moment like a gold ball memory. So anybody who knows, knows me, knows that I talk about Inside Out all the time movie. I call it emotions, the emotions movie. And gold ball memories are those lasting memories throughout that person's entire life. And that, you know, being able to have a gold ball memory with Stone Cold. Um, and then feeling like the energy off the both of you because again, Stone Cold, he's cool. I mean, he's nowhere near

one of my goats. Um, I would never disrespect him for what he's done because I know how much he means to you. Again, you shaved your head for the guy. Um, but. I could feel when I came back, I could even feel just the electricity between you and the guys behind us on how great of a moment that was. So yeah, we touched on it. Um, but that would be probably something I took away from WrestleMania one to, um, that probably no one else had experienced in this

particular setting. I'm just feeling the energy off of you of how, how, how happy you were, like a joy. It was joy. And I felt the joy off of you. Awesome. That's awesome. Uh, mines would be, and I kind of told you. Yesterday, I was like, damn, I didn't bring it up on our night one pod. But one of the most underrated moments of this WrestleMania for me, and it absolutely, they shot it. It was not the same as being in the building. It was when Roman and Punk just

sat in the ring for minutes. And Roman was just looking off in space. And Punk was just looking at Roman. Roman had his back turned to punk. Punk was looking at Roman's direction. This is after, of course, Heyman leaves with Seth. And I'm starting to get goosebumps right now, thinking about it. Because we're off. This is not... We're off. And we're selling. And the story of Roman Reigns, right? This is the lowest that he's ever been. This is the way I thought we were gonna

get last year. Talk about that redemption story. And I thought after he lost the title, we would get to that point. That's what we're about to get now. It gets no worse than where he's at right now, from a character perspective, for Roman Reigns. He has lost everything and everybody. Everybody continues to turn their back on him. Now, yes, you can argue and say outside of Seth, because Seth was the one that turned first. You can say, well, he mushed, he mushed Paul Heyman,

right? He turned on the Usos. He did all that. But every time he trusts somebody, they cross him. And he thought he lost Heyman. He's pissed off. He thinks he gets Heyman back just for Heyman to double cross him to go with the guy that has emotionally broke him a decade ago. Long time ago. Holy hell. And for him just to sit on that apron. And just look off for minutes. Like I said, I know they shot it. If you were in the building, you know what I'm talking about if

you watched. And then to see Punk looking at him. And think about Punk. This is all I ever wanted was to main event in WrestleMania with my best friend, Paul Heyman. And I got double crossed. When Paul Heyman was the one that brought me in this shit show in the first place for War Games. I didn't ask to be a part of War Games. Man, and I know that this wasn't a shot, because

it was impossible to shoot it this way. When Heyman hit Roman with the nut shot, the look on Seth's face without even turning around and putting his hand out for the chair. Boy, there it is again. Goosebumps, right there. That is to hell with. I ain't never got a goose bump over a damn, uh, somersault, moonsault, triple toe loop, clothesline, lariat. This is what, this is what gets me. It's never, it's never

been about the moves, right? It's about character investments, about the story you tell and the look on Seth's face. And then the pop of the crowd of just putting his hand out, knowing that chair is coming because I know what happened. I don't even have to look. I know what happened. Now it's business time again. Um, we got so much. to be excited about. From a WWE perspective, think about what we possibly have a chance to see tonight. We're gonna get Seth Rollins and

Paul Heyman, right? I would hope. I'm going to assume. On the same show, you get John Cena, right? On the same show, you get to follow up with Jey Uso. We know we're getting Jey Uso. It's a lot. It's a lot. And job well done, WWE. Once again, to what you said, Rhodesia, I knew it. And I'm gonna say it just one last time. Internet's not a real place. Internet is an incredible place to meet people, to engage, to have fun.

But the negativity, I truly understand now, and I said it last night, but I truly understand what Jay meant when he said at Wale Mania is, I don't know you. I can't see you. Come to a show. And like, then I know. Like, you'll see. And I'm starting to see some of you bigger... Internet accounts too. I'm starting I'm starting to see a game too and I'll just leave it at that but uh I'm starting to see starting to see now like I like it one bit All right, we out of here.

Thank y 'all for listening. Thank y 'all for watching We will be back of course in a few days to recap Monday Night Raw and just recap the week that was with WrestleMania Shout out once again to everybody who has supported the podcast it is awesome when we see people out there just like We've listened to the show, we love you

guys. That would never get lost to me. No matter how big this platform gets, that would never get lost to me that everything that we put in, that I put into this podcast, the Twitter account, all of it is appreciated. And you're told to your face, it's appreciated. So shout out to everybody who appreciates us, loves us, because we love you guys right back. Promise you on that. So we'll be back in a few days. to summarize everything we've seen. And of course, as always,

leave us your thoughts, your comments. What'd you guys think about Mania? Of course, I think everybody's probably in agreement. Night two is better than night one, but I would love to hear your thoughts. Give me your best matches, your best moments. Give it all to me so we can interact and engage. We are out. See you in a couple of days. Thanks.