When you hear the word Seattle Supersonics, what comes to mind? Maybe it's Sean Kemp, the Rain Man, or Gary Payton, the Glove, or maybe an image of a tall and skinny 19-year-old rookie, Kevin Durant. For fans in Seattle, it's It's tragedy. with an incredible fan base that packed its bags and shipped off for Oklahoma City.
From Spotify and The Ringer, I'm Jordan Ritter-Kahn, and in my podcast, I talked to players, politicians, owners, about how Seattle lost the You can listen to it on the Book of Basketball or wherever you get your posts. Question of the week, Kaz. What's up, shows? This one is the most obvious cold open question ever. Everyone who likes this show, everyone who listens to the show knows it's coming. Who had the better Blade job last night? Jon Moxley or Josh Hart?
I'm going to say Josh Hart, clearly. Because, see, this is exactly what I've been telling Jon Moxley and fans of AEW for years, right? And you bleed all the time. It's not that special. It's just another bloody night. Just another bloody night from Oxley. But that Josh Hartblade job, I guarantee you. What time is it? 12 21 eastern time there's at least six guys in penn station right now SELLING
Josh Hart bloody face t-shirts ahead of tomorrow's game six because he keeps the blade job special. That's why, people. Can we make the Hart 316 and then just the bloody face on the back? Oh, blood from a heart? Yeah. Some blood from a stone? Yeah. Money, money. James Dolan would, yeah, he would do it in a heartbeat. The Roommates guys. I know the Roommates podcast, they probably got him just printed up already.
Game six. I'm getting my silkscreen out today. This is a great idea. Okay. Well, if I'm Dolan or whoever's running the Masters Square Garden, Athena Andrews, Talaya Williams, all those great, wonderful people. I am putting bloody Josh Hart t-shirts on every single chair in Madison Square Garden for game six. And I...
and declaring war on the Eastern Conference with that face. That's what the blood is supposed to feel like. But when you do it every damn week or every damn match, like Jon Moxley seems to. Kind of loses its last turn. Kind of does. I'm going to surprise you here. I really like Jon Moxley's blood last turn. But we can talk more about that when we start the show. Let's go.
Good, man. I did not mean to impugn the integrity of Josh Hart. I don't believe it was actually a blade job. No. I believe that was actually, that was Hardway. Yeah, it went Hardway thanks to Luke Hornet. Nice little elbow to the jibs. Required some stitches. And then later in that game, we got that gold dust Roddy Piper spot from Jalen Brown and Josh Hart. It just goes...
Full palm. Full palm of the sack right there. Hey, do what you got to do, man. To continue the series. Going to Down a Superstar. Listen, you got to... If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. Or it's Eddie Guerrero. So I get it. See you Friday, Boston fans. it's true it's true jason tatum just one last nba note out with the injuries tragic thing for all the celtics fans for the nba fans in general yeah what would be the nba equivalent of cm punk
becoming more valuable than ever after hurting himself? Could Jason Tatum somehow increase his value to the league by not playing? Yeah, because everyone loves a comeback story, especially the way... Jason Tatum went down right here, 42 points. He was probably playing his best game in the playoffs so far. They were on the road, you know, a win.
You send it 2-2 going back to your house. It was clearly the most pivotal game of that series. But Jason Tatum suffers from something that... I don't think he can really cure them, which is why I don't think he's going to be bigger when he comes back from this Achilles tear. And the thing he suffers from is she has awful commercials. Just awful commercials. He does have bad commercials. Every commercial is just like...
Dave Jacoby was on Bill's show today calling him corny. I think corny is just the sort of word you hear or you think. But here's what I'm thinking. Can't he pull a CM Punk? What if he's out next season? What if he just spent the whole season being mic'd up, just talking shit from the bench?
Or if the Knicks, no jinxing intended here, if the Knicks end up winning the series, What if Jason Tatum just became the third man in the booth for the Knicks broadcast next year and just worked heel the whole time? Was the heel commentator alongside Walt Claude Fraser and Mike Green? Yeah, he just even churried it up out there. All he did was just antagonize, antagonize Jalen Brunson the entire time. That would be huge.
And this is why basketball isn't wrestling and wrestling isn't basketball. That's just the reason why. Because, you know, as much as I'm a fan of Jason Tatum's game and... He's probably... No, I'm not going to say that. That's not nice. He's the equivalent of many wrestlers who have cool moves but doesn't necessarily connect with you on a personal level. Now I know what you were going to say. He's the epitome of the five-star wrestler that wins the championships.
does a million great moves every single night, but just can't get behind him as a character. That's what Jason Tatum is. Until he gets some cool commercials. Like, he... He's not even for a guy as good as he is, which I think wrestling definitely needs. He's not even top five in cool NBA commercials. He's like bottom tier. Bottom tier commercial guy, which you need to have in this league if you want to have, you know.
that big comeback success story after the injury, you know, you're not going to get, you're not going to have them, you know, unless Jason Tatum comes out in a denim. Jacket. That's what I'm saying. You can do anything. Time to play the game. Do some shit like that. Maybe, but even then, you know, people just accuse him of copying off another celebration like he did in the finals when he won the championship and all that stuff.
I don't know. You're harsh, man. Oh, I am harsh. I am harsh. Let's be harsh about some pro wrestlers. Let's do it. What wrestler do you hate the most this week? The wrestler I hate the most? I'm going to say the wrestler I hate the most. It's Will Ospreay. What? I hate Will Ospreay this week. No, I'm just kidding. Just because he's the easy person for me to say that to. But I hate him this week.
Because I'm supposed to hate him this week. And I think I like that. I like that every interview that has come out with Will Ospreay in the past five weeks. since wrestlemania really has been pretty much said yeah they're a big show but their wrestling sucks and we have the best wrestling here Every single week and he's unapologetic about it. And I say this on the show man Honestly, I love a little tribalism in my wrestling. I thought I did it for a while
There's definitely parts of it that I still don't like. Well, yeah, there's times. There's opportunities for it, sure. But between the talents, when it's like, yo, we're the best and you're not. I like it a little bit. I almost don't even want Tony Khan participating. Let Tony shut his mouth. Let the fans shut their mouth. But when the wrestlers
Got something slick to say about somebody on the other side? Oh, I love that shit. I love it. I love it when Triple H said Will Osprey ran from the grind. I love when Will Osprey says Everybody in WWE can't hang with him. My Triple H counts. Triple H is allowed. You gotta be an ex-wrestler.
uh yeah yeah there's definitely something about it definitely hits different between triple h who's actually you know say what you want about him he's actually put some skin in the game as a wrestler over tony khan who has it No offense to him. He's an amazing person for everything he's done, but he hasn't wrestled before. when it comes to we're better than you bell to bell or you guys are minor leagues compared to us and it's between the wrestlers
I'll be honest, Dave. I don't know if he caught this. Did you catch this back and forth between Javon Evans and Ricochet last week? Of course I did. Of course I did. I kind of love that a little bit. I kind of love that a little bit. Wait, how did it start though? What was it? So I think the tweet was Ricochet pretty much, you know, he interacts with the fans a lot. and he said something along the lines of, oh, I'd squash that dude, or da-da-da-da-da.
And then, you know, I think he said something else about Javon Evans. And in all fairness, it did seem like, you know... Ricochet threw a rock at Javon Evans and Javon Evans pulled out a machine gun. It was just like, oh, word, that's what you think. And he went full crash out mode on Ricochet basically saying like, yo. I just got done trading at the Performance Center under Shawn Michaels. Something that you don't have or do, but I beg your brown egg head ass would...
I bet your brown egghead ass would squash me if Tony told you to. Much love. Oh, gee. oh wait that's not all that's not all and then ricochet said brother i was learning from sean michaels when you was like 12 then went on to become multiple time champion let me know when you win one little boy and yeah if tony asked me asked me i'd definitely beat yo
Yeah. And then Javon said, you learned from HBK when I was 12 and became a multiple-time champion. Now you're wrestling in front of 2,000 people every week for a crackhead. Talk about an upgrade. Am I right? And then it sounds like going on, continuing, sounds like Mr. Khan isn't giving you enough attention. So you had to come for a successful ass young and you're giving me the most views on my posts and I'm finally helping you get the most attention you've ever had in your career. All love.
See, actually, I'll be honest. I like it. I like it. When it's between the wrestlers. I think they should have carte blanche to say what they want about their company about their ability to wrestle about their ability to draw Any of that stuff. That's the only stuff that's interesting to me. It's corny to me when it's fans going hard for for the billionaires like the please leave the billionaires alone fan brigade is corny right and and no offense tony
I think it's a little corny when he participates in it too, right? But... I give a little bit of grace to Triple H because he actually wrestled and if he's talking about stuff in between the lines of wrestling, I can understand that. But I love taking this way too seriously or you're giving it too much credence. This is I want to give a credence. I want to give a crew. We need to talk about Tribalism and how as much as we try to act like
We need to be peace, peace, fun, fun, non-violent, non-violent. We love everybody. If I'm going to say there's not parts of the tribalism that I find thoroughly entertaining, I'd be a liar. I would be a liar. I love when Will Asprey talks shit about WWE. I love... Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok Javon Evans talking shit to Ricochet. I love Ricochet talking shit to Javon Evans.
Between the wrestlers is where all the tribalism talk should start and end. That is it. If you were running NXT, would you tell Javon to tone it down? I'd definitely tell him to delete the post because you just call somebody a cracker. That was a little out of line. And he's also 21 years old. He has a lot of life ahead of him, right? There's no telling where his life path will take him. Lots of people have trained up as Shawn Michaels.
That ended up wrestling for 2,000 people Ricochet is not the first and probably won't be the last But, uh, I would definitely tell him to delete it. But on the inside, I'm sure. Javon Evans is wrestling in front of like 185 people. Like, I don't really know. It seems like a very weird metric here that he's trying to judge this by. It's all very... I don't know. There's something about Javon's poses that he went so hard that it's almost less bad.
Because he seems like he's messing around instead of just being pissy. I don't know. But it's not an ideal situation. Not an ideal, not a great look, as the kids say. Also, the all caps thing was kind of funny. It's like, did he just learn how to, like, I don't know. I was joking at the group chat. I don't know who the English teacher is at the performance center. I did find a picture of what was his name? Of Dean Douglas.
doing a spelling lesson and everything was in all caps but the all caps sentences just kills me every single time it's just so funny man it's just like like you learn to write sentences from like you know like black sports online headlines on Twitter or whatever. Like it's just like, yeah, exactly. It's like, yeah, just so nuts, man. Um, anyway.
Yeah, I don't mind the beef. I like the beef. It keeps things fresh, right? It keeps people interested. Come on. More than that. Javon Evans has more important things than he should be doing. Right? Not really. He might be a contender. He looks like he's in line for another title shot. For a North American title shot. He's got Ricky Saints in there calling him out and stuff. In the locker room. Maybe this is the best thing he could do. I don't know. It's weird to think. I mean what?
I guess just if NXT were like the number two, this would have a lot more currency. I think it's probably a worse look for AEW that you're like feuding with a dude in NXT. That's all sort of hypothetical. I don't know. We're going to circle back to this because there's a lot of wrestlers fighting these days. Yeah, I was talking about it. I want to talk a little bit about Dynamite last night.
I enjoyed Jon Moxley bleeding. I enjoyed the whole cage match. I thought that was really fun. Is Samoa Joe... where do you think Samoa Joe ranks in terms of like greats of this generation. Oh, you're asking the wrong person, dude. He's one of my favorite wrestlers to ever live. Easily. He's like the same, like Samoa, like it's so funny because it's kind of a limited usage, but he does seem like it's got so much more weight, you know, so everything, it's like, like, like,
Samoa Joe versus Kevin Owens. Who's closer to the top? Who's closer to Mount Rushmore? Oh, man. Two, three years ago, I would have told you some Ojo, but I think the last three years with Kevin Owens might have... gave him the slight nod over Joe right now just off Wrestlemania success and you know just being at the top of the card every year without necessarily being champion. He's kind of, uh, Yeah, I would have said Samojo three years ago, but I think Kevin Owens gets a slight nod now.
I don't disagree. But nah, man, I love Samoa Joe simply for the fact that, like, he, you always, to me, I give him extra points for being the same character since the first day I've ever watched him. That's true. He's like a... Like CM Punk. Like a territory wrestler. He just carries his gimmick around. Yeah, like if you if you have been popping enough to be the same guy every company you've been to
That gives you a little notch above. Even though Kevin Owens and Kevin Steen are essentially the same guys, you still get bonus points. If Kevin Steen was Kevin Steen his entire career, he'd get bonus points too. But guys like AJ Styles, CM Punk, is a former AW champ, right? And had a nice little run there that we all enjoyed. Yeah.
I think it serves the company to have him situated closer near the top at all times as a former champ, kind of in general, in principle, but also he's just so useful. But in terms of guys that have, I mean, Kevin Owens is a weirdly... parallel comp. It's hard to split hairs between them. but for guys that generation was for like, like AJ Styles. Did you just mention him? I mean, it's like, as far as dudes who like never really got a chance at the top in WWE.
But despite getting some title matches, I mean, it's hard to think anybody's a bigger deal than Joe. without getting the full machine behind you at any point in your career, you know, like it's just, it's Joe's just got, I mean, he's just incredible. He's incredible. And you can have him wrestle for the world title in a cage match. on an episode, a random episode of Dynamite. Okay, it was Beach Blast or whatever. But like...
Nobody thought he was going to win. Like, not a single person thought he was going to win, right? And yet, he still brings a legitimacy to it, you know? I don't know. I just think he's just really, really special. And it was a really fun match. Yeah, I think legitimacy is the right word. That is what Samoa Joe does better than so many people out there. Here's somebody Who talks believable? who wrestles a believable style
When you stand next to him, you're like, this guy can really kick my ass. But he carries a calm demeanor about himself that most real life ass kickers usually carry. Oh my god. that's why he's one of my favorites man like he's got that it's totally true it's totally true i mean he is he is He is terrifying in person. I've told the story the first time I encountered him too many times, but he is terrifying.
But he's such a dude. He's such a dude at the end of the day. There's some Samoans that are genuinely terrifying because they're so kind. Because they talk in such a... They talk about violence in such a matter of fact tone. They're just like, oh, yeah, this guy's definitely, like, pulled eyeballs out of a skull before. You know? Like, he described it in such detail. I'm like, you can't be lying about this. You definitely choked someone. Well, there's a reason why he's the guy to break up.
you know, the brawl for all stuff. I guess it was the Jack Perry one. Which, by the way, where's Jack Perry? It looks so... Beats me, though. He was supposed to do something with Omega. It looks like Ricochet kind of got his spot, which I don't think anybody can really disagree with that decision, but... But yeah.
Just very... I miss that guy. Not really, but just a weird mystery there. But yeah, Samoa Joe's the best. That match last night was really fun. Now apparently we got Anarchy in the arena with The Ops and... Swerve and Kenny Omega again. The Death Riders and Gabe Kidd.
And that would match up. And you could do Willow and Marina Shafir in there too if you want to make it extra fun, which I'm sure they will. But then there's the Bucks should be involved too if Omega and Swerve are involved. So I don't know if we're going to like... Are they not involved? Well, they haven't really announced the match yet. I don't think it was the whole death rise. I thought it was Marina, Mox, Gabe, Kid, and the Bucks. Is it official? I think so. I think it's pretty official.
Let's see. So Claudio and Wheeler don't get to wrestle? How will we move on? How will we function without cardio? I don't know. I know. I know that Mox is not going to lose a double or nothing. I know that he's not going to lose before all that. Right? But it still feels sort of weird to have your champion wrestling a steel cage on dynamite and then have being this like schmoz fest match. which is going to be a lot of fun, but not my favorite thing at Double or Nothing. Doesn't that seem weird?
So as it stands right now... I guess, what would you rather, if we could all accept that he wouldn't lose if he had a singles match, would you still rather Mox have a singles match, a double or nothing? No, I don't really care, to be honest. I think... I love Anakin in the arena matches. I know you do. I know you do. This is one of the only things we disagree on. You don't like him.
I mean, sure, they're fun sometimes, but I can't say I've ever been excited for one. Oh, I get excited for Anarchy in the Arena because They've never disappointed me in the years that they've done it. It's almost like a freaking Looney Tunes match, basically. It's like... I agree. If we could do Looney Tunes with real people, what would it look like? One of these days, I'm going to have an anvil fall on Jon Moxley's head or something. Yes. I'll play the whistle and everything.
And I'm not the guy who's sitting here saying, oh, but would that be a good thing? I don't have any philosophical issue with it. It's just like, to me... I don't think I enjoy... I think I would enjoy Anarchy in the Arena just as much if it was like...
Like... the dark order versus whoever like it's like i get it it's i agree it's looney tunes i don't need my like favorite wrestlers involved in something that doesn't always add up to much in terms of real deeper meaning that's fine it can be a thing i like it i don't i don't sit here and complain about it i don't even think about it that much but
It's weird that Mox is like, I don't know. Is that weird? Is it not weird? Also, not for nothing, but... I don't know if the outrider, I don't know if the death writers still have a gimmick per se, but if they still are philosophically the same people that invaded, quote unquote, invaded the company all those months back. what is their problem with the ops? Shouldn't they be like, nah, guys, we like you. Like, you're exactly what we're hoping for.
Like Samoa Joe shouldn't be a death rider. In name specifically, if you're the ops, it doesn't matter what you stand for. I'm your opposition. That's all that matters. If I'm your op, don't matter. Don't matter if we ultimately agree that we should be, you know, this place sucks and we should destroy it from the ground up and build something new and beautiful and violent. All that type of stuff. You know why it doesn't matter?
Because you're the ops and the ops the only thing that matters is being the opposition to whatever it is I got going on So maybe maybe eventually they'll just be a little bit more You know a little bit more friendly friendly hunky-dory Not yet. Not yet. Shit's gotta go down first, man. Shit's gotta go down!
Double or Nothing is not this weekend. It's next weekend. This is a rare non-pay-per-view POE weekend. What are you going to do this weekend? Are you going to kick back with the family? Oh, yeah. Hopefully. Watch some basketball? Hopefully it'll be a stress-free weekend and the next closing out Friday. Uh, yeah, man, I'm chill. This weekend, buddy. so next weekend we got saturday's main event on saturday double or nothing on sunday
This double or nothing card, aside from my anarchy in the arena take, is going to be great. Osprey and Hangman last night had more fun. it was more fun than i've ever could have ever imagined watching them do all that you almost hit your partnership and but still like take it to another level hangman's face when he almost got hit with the um with the Hidden Blade was the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life. Hangman is...
Heyman may be one of the best pro wrestlers in the world. We were talking about this last week. He never messes up. Every match is freaking incredible. His big matches are five stars, uniformly, four and a half stars plus, no matter who's rating him. Hangman vs. Osprey might be just the greatest thing ever. What do you think? Hangman and Osprey. Well I like both of these guys I think they're both incredible wrestlers They both have a style.
that complement each other really well. And we often say that a lot about both of these guys. We always say how much great chemistry Hangman has with Swerve or Kenny Omega. We say how much... Great chemistry Will Ospreay has with Kyle Fletcher and Kenny Omega and all these great guys, right? Yeah, there's a theme here. There's a theme. There's definitely a theme here. It takes two to tango.
Well, I love like the hidden blade like almost thing where he almost just stopped right and put the elbow right in front of his face I like the stare down between each other after they did the hidden blade buckshot larry a combination after they both won um you get so many of these can they coexist matches all the freaking time yeah and they get kind of dry after a while uh but There's always a new wrinkle to put on some old shit.
what pro wrestling is that's what pro wrestling is at the end of the day which is what i will always love like if there's a new twist you can put on a simple old ass concept that's been used for decades and decades I'm into it. And at the same time, we get the enjoyment of watching two just awesome wrestlers Be like, you know, super power teammates together for a little bit. Just to be clear, though, this isn't just a straight traditional can these guys coexist match. Like...
They weren't friends before they made it to the finals. It's only because they're in the finals of the Owen Cup. They've started to have interactions, and now they're thrown together as a tag team just to sort of push the storyline. But yeah, I mean... You're right, Osprey's kind of been hateable lately in a very special way. Fighting for the... Wow. The Redemption versus Ascension storyline is actually really smart and cool, and I'm glad that they're acknowledging it in storyline.
And these two guys are just two of the best wrestlers in the world. It's going to be absolutely bonkers. Also, Mercedes versus Jamie Hayter and the Women's Own Cup Finals is going to be an absolute banger. Mercedes remains... has the longest undefeated streak, not literally in terms of literally, but also in terms of Just incredible matches. Does she have the streak right now? Is she the linear best matches in a row title holder? I mean, she might be.
She's definitely up there. I mean, she did just lose her New Japan Woman Strong title recently. So I guess her AEW streak is still intact. Yeah. Yeah. Go on. No, I mean, I think Jamie Hadron needs this match more than anybody. You don't think they're just steering towards Tony versus Mercedes if this is all been planned all along? Of course. Tony versus Mercedes should be the top women's match at... Yeah. But...
Getting Jamie Hayter this match hopefully puts her in a position like she was before she got injured, right? Like I think at one time. I don't know what's going on with Brett Baker, but I'm sure she's on her way out soon mixed with the injury. Is there anything going on with Brett Baker? You mix with the Jamie hater injury like it's been it's been it's been kind of rough sledding for her as far as like
you know, catching her bearings since coming back. And this match with Mercedes is probably going to do her a lot more good than anything else right now. Even if I do think she's going to lose, right? Because I don't know how they're gonna do this tony mercedes match with all those titles on mercedes like is this gonna be a winner take all is this gonna be no no i think it's just for the i think it's just for tony storm's title so the mercedes just gets another belt yeah yeah i mean
You know, Jamie Hayter is a really good wrestler. And, you know, before Wembley last year, when she was home, I think she had a really big buzz. I just don't think she's going to need to... I don't think she's winning this match. I think this is all. This is another, you know... CEO showcase another Mercedes Monet is the best women's wrestler a global champion does this is that the third The last Infinity Stone is the AEW Women's Champion. championship.
And that should be the story being told this entire time, which I think it is. Yeah, I think that you don't build Tony up this long. The Mercedes, I mean, the Mariah May interlude notwithstanding, you don't build Tony Storm up this long without some sort of payoff in mind. And I think that Mercedes wins and then we get to see Tony. I mean, listen, I think we're past the point.
this is probably the greatest compliment I can give Tony storm. I think we've evolved past the point where you even talk about her evolving the gimmick, you know, it's like, this isn't like orange Cassidy where it's like, you need to, at some point you need to like, lighten up on the gimmick a little bit or take it to the next level. I think Tony Sorb can just be this for the rest of her life. It's so good. But
you do get to change the stakes a little bit. She loses the title, you know, you can, then it gives her a renewed sense of motivation. Um, Can I have another hot take today? If it's that you hate Tony Storm, then this is going to be just incredible. But go on. I'm not into Tony Storm's character anymore. What? What's wrong with you? I'm not into it, yo. Like, I get it. I think she does a great job of it.
But am I completely into it like I was a year ago? I'm not anymore. I don't watch enough classic movies. I don't watch enough. old-timey tales like to be into it but i have to watch classic movies to understand what's happening no i understand what's happening i don't say i don't understand what's happening i'm just not into it
But here's the thing, I don't think she should change who she is because it clearly works for her. She's clearly over Rover with this character. She does an amazing job with it. But... I'm just like, I don't know. This is sacrilege. Is it sacrilege? Dave, can I tell you I've been wrestling with this take for the past two episodes? i'm like is this gonna be the day that i tell dave i'm kind of losing interest in that whole I want to preface this I want to be clear she is great
in this character. She does an incredible job with this character. She's probably the best. character that they have and I always talk up and down about how AEW needs more characters and people that you can get behind and other motivations and all that type of stuff and I think Tony Storm does a great job But personally, Am I a little over it? Just a little bit.
I'm getting there. I'm definitely a little bit like, ah. So what would you do? Nothing. Nothing. I wouldn't do anything. I wouldn't change a single thing she's doing. I'm just a human experiencing human emotions about my wrestling. And I can recognize that someone is great at something and doing something great. And even though I may not be rocking with it anymore, she shouldn't change a single thing that she's doing because it's clearly, clearly, clearly working for her. But personally...
I'm just like, it's okay. You don't have to like everything. You should like this. You should like Tony Storm. That's weird if you don't. I did at one point. At one point, I thought it was awesome. And there's still some parts of me that still thinks it's awesome. But I'd be lying to you if I didn't watch some promo sometimes. Just be like...
Okay. That's just nuts. This is your worst take. Is it? I'm sure I have. This is the worst take, and I'm talking about somebody who said Hulk Hogan should be free. I'm just kidding. You never said that. On the mic. I'm just kidding. Somebody sent me this tweet. comparing Hulk Hogan and John Cena at 48 years old. Do you know where Hulk Hogan was at 48 years old? What phase of his career? Hmm.
48-year-old Hulk Hogan was back in WWE, I want to say. That's correct. Yeah. 2002, Hulk Hogan. Same age as John Cena now. Hogan seemed like... Two evolutionary steps beyond washed up. I guess John Cena's not that far away. Hogan also was in great shape. He was. He was. When he came back, the Hogan-Rock match build-up? Yeah. Absolutely. Who's more washed? O2 Hogan or John Cena?
Hogan's more washed. That's because he couldn't even move around. Yeah, no. Hogan, the most briskly I've ever seen Hogan move in that entire run. was literally the comeback spot between him and The Rock at WrestleMania 18. I was like, holy shit, he's actually moving like... like 1991 uh hulk hogan right now and that was it like right after that rock kick out He went right back to be a 48-year-old Hulk Hogan. That's true. What are we doing with John Cena right now?
Hmm. I feel like you need to elaborate on that, dude. I was very excited for John Cena to win and go on this run as the heel John Cena it doesn't feel like it's hitting But now, in a very Jon Moxley-esque situation, it feels like we're a little bit booked in to like... He's not going to lose a title until November, December. John Cena, I mean. Right? I don't know if that's all the way true. Let's just say it is true. Moxley's not losing till the end of August.
Cena's not losing until probably November, December. How do you keep Cena interesting? How do you keep Moxley interesting? I guess Moxley solves itself to a certain extent after next Sunday because you have a challenger for it. But then you still have three months. I think Moxie is interesting though. I still think Moxie is interesting even though you know, because there's a, there's a, there's a,
I had a goal at the end of this rainbow with Jon Moxley, and that's the fact that the title is still in the briefcase. And whoever beats him is going to get that. There's no guarantee that the person who beats John Cena is going to retire. right you're just gonna win the championship but the person who retires him wait but isn't that the same stakes they're both for the championship
But they've never explicitly said that though. He's never explicitly said, hey, when I lose the title, I'm out of here. He just said, I'm wrestling to the end of the year. So there's a scenario where he could lose the title and still have like... two matches or three matches afterwards or something like that. Um, But he still loses the title. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still think Moxie's interesting. The Cena turn definitely needs to be kicked up a notch.
It definitely needs to be shaked up a notch. It's like this. Santa's... Cena's been like... They gave it a little bit of something at the end of Backlash where John Cena seemed a little bit, you know, conflicted with everything going on and the walkout. I think eventually he needs to move on from the fans and the attacks of the trauma dumping he's doing over the 25 years he's been a WWE wrestler. And eventually, we've got to be able to psychoanalyze this guy.
and fix him before he's done. And by fix him, I mean, we've got to figure out If he can do all this stuff, say all this stuff. And then... Us be okay with him going off in the sunset. Like how does that look? How does it look that like You know, I think before WrestleMania, we were all like, oh, he could easily retire as a heel and just go out like a chicken shit and just kicking and screaming and all that type of stuff. Okay. But I think during Backlash...
You know, we finally saw a little bit of a change in the character from between the end of the match and into the press conference where it seemed like the things that people said about him affected him.
and and and and not in a retaliatory sort of way but just in a way that is like damn am i doing this right like am i it's not the typical wrestling conflict that you usually get the usually inner turmoil of wrestling you get is if you're holding a chair or a belt and you're like oh should i i don't know maybe This is the first time. Well, not the first time, but I like the fact that Cena...
You can see the pictures, you know, the whole phrase. You're doing the you can't see me gesture right now. You can't see. You can't see the inner turmoil. So I think that's the way. this this heel turn sort of kind of has to jump up a notch because I don't know if it slides to... Okay, this stuff is affecting me. I really do want people to think I can wrestle. I really do want people to love me. Or it could shift to Nah, you know what? This heel makes a lot of sense and I'm with him.
I think that's the only way you could shift it to where people are really behind the scene of turn. I think it's... I don't know. I just don't know, man. I said after WrestleMania, the worst thing that happened to the Cena tour was The Rock and Travis Scott being involved. You could have pulled it off at Elimination Chamber with just John Cena
And I think we look at this entire heel turn differently. No, but I've said it before. I think if it weren't for The Rock and Travis Scott, then it wouldn't have happened at WrestleMania. I mean, it wouldn't happen at Elimination Chamber. It would have happened at WrestleMania, and we would have gotten...
We would have been whining all the way to WrestleMania. Don't get me wrong. That's what we're paid to do. But it would have been a better show. And the heel turn would have been so much more electric. Don't you think? Have you waited until WrestleMania? Yeah. And then it's just a John Cena thing, just a baby face versus baby face, and John Cena kicks him in the balls. You know? I mean, that could have been so great. Hmm.
but you know they did what they did and i agree that no matter i mean i think john i think that rock and travis scott and john cena trio had some juice and they just got rid of the rock which just sort of defeats every purpose you know What do you think the next rock bid is going to be? Who is the rock going to come force his way into being involved with next? Honestly, I hope nobody. But who's it going to be? Given that it will be somebody.
given that it will be somebody i mean it's gotta be cody right like you still gotta You still got to do Rock and Cody, I think. By the way, Cody has not been on TV at all since WrestleMania. Good. Since losing the title this season. Let us miss you, Cody. Great move. Let us miss you, yes. It's a smart move. When is the right time to bring him back? Book Cody's return. Money in the bank. In Los Angeles. Money in the bank.
You're going to leave him off TV all the way until, I mean, it's already close. Do you think that Cody Rhodes should be Mr. Money in the Bank? No. I mean, it would make... Listen, this is my problem. This is a problem I've had. It's an existential issue. It's a problem that I've had before. I was the guy out there saying during John Cena's last run on top before his pseudo retirement, when he was just the champ and everything was boring as hell. I was like, just pick somebody fucking.
Actually, it was Drew McIntyre before he left the first time. You know, just like a member of 3MB. You know, Heath Slater, like, whatever. Way back then, I fantasy-booked just someone coming to the ring during john cena promo and hitting him with a chair someone has no business being there and just do this is a dumb idea but just doing the thing that like you're not like saying the thing out loud that you're not supposed to say right it's just that
oh, I know how to get a main event match. I just attack the champion ruthlessly. It works every time. Mm-hmm. If you're at the top of the card, if you've been in a main event match on an episode of Raw within the past six months, You don't need to be earning your way into a title match. Cody Rhodes is the last champion. He doesn't need the money in the bank briefcase to get it, but it sounds like something they would do.
By the way, it's a great way to terrorize John Cena, though. It's my problem right now with the AEW, to a much lesser degree, because headlining all in, especially for both of the guys involved, is a really big deal. But you got Osprey and Hangman competing for a spot to challenge Jon Moxley, who is in a feud with the ops right now, who did not matter like two weeks ago, four weeks ago. No, like three weeks ago. It did not matter, right?
You shouldn't be in a tournament for a title shot when you're more important than the people who are actually just feuding with the champion because they asked to. If you're that high up the totem pole, you can just ask. All you have to do is go punch the guy in the face. You get a title shot. We've seen this in wrestling so many times. I'll forgive AEW because, as Will Ospreay said, tournaments are the heart and soul for wrestling, and I like what they do with those things in this match.
is going to be the main event, and John Moxley's not going to have some lesser match on that show. He's going to have an anarchy in the arena thing. I get it. But no, Cody should not be Mr. Money in the Bank. But he should definitely return that money in the bank. I would book his return for money in the bank.
Maybe not in the ladder match, but definitely. He needs to be doing old-fashioned running. He's an old-fashioned wrestler. Let him come back at the end of Saturday Night's Main Event. Punch John Cena in the face. Well, do you book him for Money in the Bank? No, you don't need him for Money in the Bank. Does he have a match there? Does he just show up? It's got to be a surprise. However he comes back has got to be a surprise. But you can't pull a surprise with Cody.
It's got to be something big planned, though. Something's got to be planned and advertised that's already big if you're going to surprise Cody. But if your big surprise is Cody is back, you got to advertise it. You gotta give him the... The video package. Maybe you give that to Saturday Night's Made event then. Maybe that's an SNME thing and then that hypes up future Saturday Night's Made events and you can announce them for Money in the Bank.
I feel like it's got to be a surprise. You've held them off TV for so long. If they just do a, next week, Cody Rhodes returns to SmackDown. I bet I will be so disappointed. Wouldn't you? Doesn't that just seem like insufficient? I mean, I wouldn't do it for a week, but like, you know... I understand why you would advertise it though. Cody Rhodes is a massive name. They're going to be in Los Angeles.
I mean, on one side of my brain, you could say, well, it's Los Angeles. People are showing up anyway. You can hold out if you're surprised or two. On the other hand, it's Los Angeles. You want to promote as many big-time people, so you sell the bitch out. And then you're going to give, you know, like they did in Madison Square Garden. You advertise a ton of people, big stars coming out. Rumor range is your surprise.
advertise a ton of dope people coming out, Cody Rhodes is your surprise. I could see why they would do that. But just on a fan level, booking level, I want the surprise all the time. Like I appreciate. I appreciate a return vignette. I appreciate a next week or blah, blah, blah, or two minute highlight video of how much we all love this guy. We miss this guy and he's coming back or whatever. Like that's all great.
Because you can still make storyline out of that. You can still say, like, I know you're coming back, Cody, and I will see your ass face-to-face in Los Angeles and da-da-da-da-da and do all that type of shit, right? Because there's anticipation now. But at the same time, I don't know.
I love a good surprise. I love a good... Oh, my God, he's here. He's here. I can't believe it, David. I feel like it's... I'd be willing to bet he's going to come back as a surprise. If you're a wrestler, wouldn't that be your... preferred return though like i wouldn't even want of course that's what everybody would want that's why they should do it no return vignettes bro just fucking fuck um Yeah. Holding Cody off TV is absolutely brilliant.
It was just starting to get those boos, you know, I mean, and I don't think that's a real big indicator. I think it's more of just like a fact of life. when he comes back. And I feel like announcing him ahead of time, giving him the Roman Reigns treatment. risks the boasts. It risks getting back into that territory. We need him to come out to make the save. We need him to come out and punch John Cena in the face. I mean, I guess that the downside of him being gone is that there is that
when he comes back, he has to deal with Cena. It's not necessarily a downside. I'm just saying like, Just conventional booking tactics. You could have had him show up on SmackDown after WrestleMania and say, You know, talk about how he can't believe he lost and blah, blah, blah. And then have, you know, Drew McIntyre hit him with a chair. And then you got that feud. You know, you can spin him off. Now he's been gone so long that the next feud has to be the Cena remake.
And maybe it's the tag match that we've been seeing rumored online with Cena and Travis Scott against Cody and Bad Bunny. I think that would be a fucking disaster. I mean, just what a fucking mess that would be. Dave, I said this before, I said this again. You're on your own with that, buddy. I can't wait. No, no, no. I can't wait. From the point of view of keeping Cody Rhodes over as a baby face. Don't put him in the schma. Don't put him in a mess. Don't put him in that.
you can have you can have bad bunny and and just fill in the blank bad bunny and sammy zane i mean that's probably a bad man that doesn't really make any sense but you could have You could have somebody else in that role. But I just think Cody... Cody doesn't need any silly shit, man. No. I don't think it's silly.
All right, well, I may be on my own on that one. I'd keep him as far away from that as possible. But I guess, yeah, I mean, the likelihood is he's going to be there. I don't think Cody's really running the risk of getting booed in some real way, I just think. Woof! I would be careful. That's all I'm saying. Did they call this in their boat somewhere?
Yeah. I mean, I think he was getting booed at WrestleMania. I think that people were getting tired of it on the road to WrestleMania to a small extent. I don't think it's his fault. I don't think it's a big problem. But I think keeping him off TV is a smart move just to keep him fresh. You know? I don't know, man. I would be very careful with Cody Rhodes. That's not a big deal. As soon as it goes bad, you just turn him heel. I mean, whatever. What if Cody and Cena team up?
But if Cody comes back and he was like, you guys are right. I should have sold my soul. I don't think that'll happen. I mean, if you believe the reports that are out there, this man has repeatedly turned downhill turns, courtesy of one Dwayne Johnson. Not once, but twice. I don't think he'd do it again. Not for Juan Cena. You don't think he would turn heel? No, I don't think he would. I don't think he wants to. It's a good living being the top babyface, man. Why would you want to...
That's like willingly asking for a pay cut. Especially in Cody's position? Hell no. No, you're not wrong, but I mean, but... Sometimes it's out of your chance. Sometimes it's out of your hand. It is. It is. But I don't think we're there yet. Not with Cody. Not when we got two of the top champions. What if at Survivor Series, whenever Cena is going to lose this belt? We all have imagined this world in which Cena turns baby face again at the end. He sees the error of his ways, right? Mm-hmm.
What if The Rock finally comes out to help John Cena at Survivor Series? We have full heel John Cena versus babyface Cody Rhodes. And they do the double turn. Cena sends the rock to the back. He wrestles like a baby face. They have a competitive match. And then Cody turns heel. He aligns with The Rock as The Rock won it all along. And now we got heel Cody Rhodes' champ.
I'd save her for the retirement. That's what I'm talking about. I guess the last matches. Yeah. I mean, in my mind, he's going to drop the title in his second to last show, but that's not based on anything. That's just in my head. Yeah, I have more Cena thoughts, but whatever. We can get to them later some other time. You know what we didn't talk about, which we should have talked about right off the top? Your guy MJF. Yeah. He finally got jumped in. We hurt people. Yeah.
what do you think is this is this a match made in heaven i've liked all this stuff they've done on tv together it's it's definitely uh giving me honorary ooze vibes sometimes um But... I just think they've done some really great television together and a lot of that is due to MJF, man. Like, MJF. put him in a situation where he shouldn't be in and he shines. Right? Like, this is a situation where he shouldn't be in. It doesn't make a ton of sense. But...
you buy it because he's a scumbag. And you know, he's got some slimy shit planned usually. So usually his own benefit. And I think with him, he's done a really good job of... Bring in some personality out of Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley. MVP already had it, right? They already had it. And Bobby Lashley kind of had, you know, he had his own sort of strong, silent charisma that he had just being, you know, Bobby Lashley.
But, you know, I love him and, like, him and Shelton kind of remind me of Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn, where, like, they kind of had this sort of, like, kinship already between the two, where it's like, I didn't even know you guys were friends. But, like, you can tell every time they're in a room together or they, you know, they have any sort of segment together. Shelton Benjamin's always taken a liking to MJF since the job. In the same way Jimmy did with Sammy.
Now, again, it's a lazy comparison to compare Bloodline to her syndicate or whatever. But it's not wrong. It definitely seems like, you know, they're going to use this to jumpstart. something really interesting between Bobby and MJF by the time we get to All In, I'll say. Maybe it'll last a little longer, but I'll say it until All In. get that match between those two. So it's going to be a short-lived friendship? I think it's going to be short-lived, yeah, for sure.
If they're together for a shorter amount of time than it took for them to get together, that seems like a weird mess. Because I think they can do a lot of fun stuff together. I don't know, man. I wouldn't have said it's been three months teasing the get-together. They obviously decided to stretch this out as long as they could.
The Hurt Syndicate has a match of double or nothing against either Action Andretti and Leo Rush or Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest tag team division in the history of pro wrestling. I heard Syndicate aren't even a tag team like we were expecting with AEW. This is crazy. Like, can we just... Like, fuck storylines. Can we just get...
FTR in here? Like, can we just do something? I mean, FTR is tied up with, you know, Nigel McGuinness. I understand what's happening there. I do. Trust me. but the her business at this point are just like this is like the big john stud match on the house show it's just like like big guy versus local enhancement talent and it's fun to watch them get beat up but this is the third The third PLA pay-per-view in a row where they're just going to beat the shit out of somebody.
This isn't WWE where they have a pay-per-view every month. This is like the third in the spread over six months. And they've had no competitive pay-per-view match. That's weird. But I guess at this point at least MJF will be involved in something something. I'm tired. Everybody in my house is sick. I'm just complaining. Okay, we got CM Punk and Sami Zayn versus Braun Breaker and Seth Rollins at main event next weekend. Are you excited about that?
Not necessarily. So what? I was looking for some upbeat news here. Are we old curmudgeons today? This is curmudgeon week on the Masked Man Show for sure. Эмм... I'm not excited about this match. I'm not necessarily super hyped about it. Because I feel like Sami Zayn is going to turn on CM Punk and join the gang. Or somebody's going to join them. You think it's going to be a plan B? Maybe. I feel like they're going to get outnumbered somehow. Well by who? I don't know.
I don't know. You think it's going to be a schmoz finish? I mean, I think that's probably a safe bet. Schmozzy schmozzy schmoz, yes. Feels like it. Unless Sammy's in there to eat another pen. But, you know, you can't have Braun and Seth's first tag team excursion via L.
And it certainly seems like CM Punk has some championship aspirations as well as Sami Zayn. CM Punk's a weird one too. It's like, how long can you keep him away from the main event, but then what do you do with him when you put him in? Mm-hmm. You know? Because Jey Uso's the champ on Raw. And Johnson is the champ on SmackDown. It's funny, CM Punk made more sense almost in AEW as champ. He's almost a division killer in WWE. He's too over. He is very over, yes.
Maybe a heel champ is the way to go with him, but I don't know, man. It's crazy. Let's see.
Well, that's going to happen. The other Saturday's main event, we'll obviously talk more about next week, but it looks like we're going to get Jay Uso versus Logan Paul on that one. Although there is now the number one contender to whoever wins that match. Um, uh eosky versus rio ripley maybe um stream profits versus fraxium maybe uh yeah there's a lot of a lot of potential matches but then we got it then we got you know money in the banks are right on the corner so who knows who knows
I can't believe I started the show asking you who you hated the most, and this is where we've gone. Who do you like the most in pro wrestling this week? Let's end on a happy note. Okay. The wrestler I like the most this week. Dominic Mysterio. He's the man. He's gonna be the guy that's gonna be paying everyone's bills this time next year. I promise you. That guy has top guy. written all over him.
He should be the guy to retire John Cena. He should be a world heavyweight champion this time next year. Bye, God. Every week, he does something or says something that is extremely entertaining. So he's up there. Lyra Valkyria, another person who I am a big fan of. Becky Lynch's promo is freaking great.
Becky Lynch might be the person I like the most this week. She was a big, big one. Oh, being held down by the man? What a play of the words. I was like, oh, that is great. Why did I not think of that one? That was so good. So good. Yeah, that was another goodie. That was another goodie. Man, were we commercials today? Yeah. Yes, we're fully curmudgeons. Becky Lynch might be the top. I don't know, man. I did enjoy pro wrestling.
I like Wesley's. Crew's got a new name. What are they called now? The High Rise? The high rise? Okay, yeah, I can see that. Was it R-Y-Z-E? Is that right? It definitely looked like it, yes. I saw them just...
They just, uh, what? Fightful sees the, um, trademarks in WWE. Tatum Paxley is awesome now. I mean, she's, There was no way she was going to get cut, but having everybody around her, including, I believe, her... husband fiance getting cut is and her staying there is going to be just you know this is this is her moment sort of they're kind of putting her in sink or swim territory i think she'll make the most of it because she is great
uh miles born had the promo of a freaking lifetime i mean that guy is as likable as anybody in the world That's hilarious, by the way. Yeah. I love a good disability joke, especially when it's your disability. When Dempsey turns on him and they feud, that's going to be awesome. People are going to eat that up. High rise. Is that like a wink of terrorizing? No? Maybe if you're Sean. It got the Y. I don't know. Anything with a Y or a Z in it never...
Especially that close to each other. Always feels a little different. Um... What else did I love? Monday... I mean... Pinto was awesome. American Made was awesome. That AJ Styles Finn Balor match was freaking awesome. The main event was really, really good. Roxanne and Julia continue to impress. I mean, it was a good week for pro wrestling. It was a good week. We shouldn't have been so negative. This is your fault, Dave. We started negative and we stayed negative. We went on Josh Hart.
Josh Hart's fault. There you go. A couple of news items before we leave. Lillian Garcia will be the ring announcer for Saturday night's main event. We were talking about this before we hit record. The NBA is bringing back this terrible decision, but they're doing this AI voice of the old announcer. I don't even know his name. Nobody knows his name. It's really crazy that they're...
But he was the guy who would talk about the matchups before in the NBC. By the way, you're better than the AI version of him. I don't know why they're not hiring a person to do this, but anyway. If they were going to bring back somebody for AI for a Saturday night's main event. Is it Mean Gene? Bobby the Brain Heenan? Gorilla Monsoon. What WWE announcer would you like them to bring back via AI? you're gonna pick someone that's alive you can pick vince you can pick jesse the body um
Nah. Pat Patterson? Give me Bobby the Brain. Yeah, Bobby the Brain. Give me Bobby the Brain, man. Definitely. For obvious reasons, you know, he's the guy, for sure. Yeah, probably the brain it is. But you can't, AI can't, you know. Rowdy, Rowdy, Piper. AI can't recreate that sort of. that sort of humor man you can't do that
I don't know, man. Computers are pretty funny. I'm just kidding. Hulk Hogan says there's, I don't even, should I even click on this article? Nope. Hulk Hogan says there's not much he can do from booing him. Now we're haters. Here's the thing about Hulk Hogan. I understand people who listen to the show feel the type of way every time we make fun of Hulk Hogan or bring him up. They do? Yeah, they do. There's definitely a certain...
Section of the audience that usually tunes our very anti Hogan, but here's the exact reason why there's a guy who was painfully unaware and somebody who has yet to learn from any of the bullshit that he's been through, especially when it comes to belittling people who look like me. So when he whittles things down to all that just being haters, That's why I put my arm in. Oh, finally something made me laugh. That's so fucking great. I love when you do something actually bad and then it's haters.
Yeah, that's like, bro. This is exactly why people do not fuck with you, Hulk Hogan. Like, if you actually have... It's like Timothy Kaczynski gets arrested and he's just like, yeah, haters gonna hate. Yeah, no, the haters gonna hate. And I'll be like, I know. o nah man like that's the one thing bro like i think if if he ever just one time just like had a even a shred of accountability
for any of the garbage he's put out in the world, he'd be fine. But he refuses to. So it is what it is, Hulk. Stay in your bubble, bro. Thank you for listening to this podcast. Let's get out of here. Let's get out of here on a high note. Sorry, if you thought we were too negative this episode, all I can say to you is, you know, haters gonna hate. You wanna get your plugs in, Kaz? Yes, sir. New episode of 7 p.m. in Brooklyn with Carmella Anthony is out right now myself.
The hilarious Carlos Miller of Club 85 South. is on the 85 South show. I'm sorry. Uh, it's out right now. Uh, go check that out. Uh, my podcast, say less for casual can Rosie is out anywhere. It was in the podcast. It's just part there. And, uh, that's it. I got.
You can find me on the Press Box. We've got a lot of exciting stuff coming. Really, truly. Pay attention to this space. Thank you to our producer, Brian H. Waters. Thanks to our EP, Ben Cruz. Thank you all for listening. Special thanks this week. to Soraya, uh, It's not a thanks. This is just a special shout out because she gave an interview about leaving.
aw and actually used future endeavors in a sentence that was not we wish you all the best she said he was tony con was extremely supportive about my future endeavors which is just incredible work she's a real she's a wrestler i like Okay, we'll see you back here next week, humanoids. Adiós.