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Welcome to the WWE Podcast. On this Thursday, June twentieth, twenty nineteen, the last day of spring, so summer actually starts tomorrow, longest day of the year for daylight anyway, and after that, sadly, things start to turn the other way until we get to the winter beginning of winter in December. So longest day of the year tomorrow, Enjoy it. It'll be light at least where I am until probably like you can see the sunlight up until nine p
fifteen at night. It's just nuts. So enjoy that and enjoy this podcast as well, because we have a great one for you might be And I keep saying this, but I keep topping myself. The longest show in the history of the WWE podcast, my co host Anthony DeMarco and I we chatted for over two hours about the status of WWE, the current product, Ron spack Down dove a little bit into the past because a lot of the past is now relevant for what's going on now.
So some cool tidbits there, and of course we give our predictions for the Stomping Grounds pay per view this Sunday, so we get you all ready for that with some interesting selections and what is a pay per view that on paye looks very predictable, and so we've got a couple of swerve picks for you there and I think you'll enjoy it. But again, guys, if, by the way, if you guys don't like ads in the show and
you're like, oh my god, too many ads. Easy way to resolve that, Number one, you could just use your skip button on your phone, or you could get an ad free experience for every single show that I've ever put out on Patreon and you go to patreon dot com slash WWE podcast and you can get all these shows ad free. There's not one plug. It's just straight wrestling audio to your ears, and you just go to patreon dot com Patreon dot com slash WWE podcast and
it's just a dollar. A dollar will get you access to like a zillion shows that I've done. Okay, not a zillion, that's not I don't even know if that's actually a numerical term, but a lot of shows that I've done that are a completely ad free experience. So if you want ads to go away, there's your place
to do it. So thank you guys once again for joining me though, and please check out wwepodcast dot com, where I have published numerous articles over the past couple of days too talking about WWE, and I think you'll enjoy them. It's always a good read, not coming from me, not just my brain, other people's brains, which is a good thing. And so the site is growing in content, it's growing in general. This podcast is growing, as you
guys know, and that's all thanks to you. So this will be the final show of the week, but I'll be starting a new week and just a few days on Sunday, when I do my wrestling nostalgia and or what if segment. I haven't decided yet, so what I've done, what I've decided to do, just so you guys know, my schedule is. On Sunday, I'll be doing my typical what if and or wrestling nostalgia segment, and then I will be taking Monday off from doing audio, and then
Tuesday I'll be doing a raw show. Wednesday I'll be reviewing SmackDown Live. Thursday will be my typical co hosting spot, and then I'll take Friday and Saturday off, so you guys will get me four days a week. This week I did experiment with five. I think four is more realistic for me just in terms of time, and I have other projects going on. So I think that Sunday,
Monday or Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday will be your audio audio pleasure of wrestling, and so I'll be off three days a week, working four days a week for you. So just so you guys know, and thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys for making this a great show, a big show, and much more to come. As you guys know, this show is just getting started, so no further Ado, Let's just get you to the conversation with myself and Anthony and everybody.
Enjoy your weekend. I'll be back Sunday. Take care. Okay, welcome to the WWE podcast, and this week I have my third co host in the rotating cast of three, Anthony DeMarco, who is officially on the show as a co host for the first time, and it's a blast to have him here. So Anthony, welcome to the show, and congrats on being the official co host of the ww podcast.
Thank you so much, Matt.
It's a real honor to get this position. I'd just like to thank everyone who voiced their opinion, who supported me and wanted to be wanted me to be a permanent co host.
So thank you all, and especially thank you Matt.
No, it's it's it's always great when I have an opinion that agrees with the masses. And you were one of the three that people were like, oh, you got to bring them back on, you got to make them make him a co host. You guys had good chemistry, and so I was like, yes, all right, so I don't have to pick somebody that I was didn't feel was the best choice, and I got my wish. So it's a it's a blast to have you on and we certainly don't have any shortage of things to talk
about this week. There are a lot of things going on in WWE. The some of them good, some of them not. With the lowest SmackDown rating in the history of w WE, that's a non holiday. That is a telling tale sign for WE, and you can't really blame it on any kind of sporting event. You can't blame it on Memorial Day, fourth of July, and so we'll
get to smack Down live. But so ay, they let me just ask you this, out of this entire week in WWE, what are some of the things that really stood out and that you're like, we need to talk about this.
Well, I think the biggest thing, and I'll start with a positive, is I actually like Seth Rollins's kind of changing character with the chair shot the business that he's on right now. It kind of adds a new element to his character. I feel like he was getting a bit stale there for a bit and it was just kind of getting repetitive. But it kind of gives him almost like a Steve Austin anti hero type of thing that I'm really liking, and I guess and then on a.
Bit on the negative side of it, it's.
Just kind of like the Shane McMahon in your face over over and over and over and over and over and over again of raw and SmackDown.
It's just the same thing.
It's like it's just getting repetitive a bit, and I'm just kind of getting tired of it. So there's my big positive and there's my big negatives for this week so far, and.
So I want to touch on that. I mean, I I'm with you about the Shane McMahon deal. I was a proponent and still I am a proponent of Shane McMahon staying heel. I think he's doing a very good job as a heel. But the problem is, Shane McMahon is not the future, right. Shane mcman' is a forty nine year old son of the promoter who is the head of this stable that has no name that I know of that is that should be. And it's starting to transition to focusing on the wrestlers Drew McIntyre and
Elias who's just kind of there. So, yeah, I'm with you about the Shane deal. I understand what they're going for with the heat, but at some point this is going to need to come to an end. There needs to have a faction that stands up to them and just dismantles them and they all go their separate ways. But I'm with you on that. The chair the chair
shots with Seth Rollins, I'm all for too. I mean, that was a nice change, a nice big difference from what we have seen from Seth in the past of just kind of like talking and there was no real aggression. There was no sense of urgency from Seth. It felt like and he has seemingly snapped and become the chairman of WWE and gone around and just pummeled anybody that has thought about being a special guest referee for Baron Corbyn. So I really liked that aggressiveness from Seth to It
needed to be done. As you said, Seth has been feeling a bit stale and adding this to his character is just another layer that we need to see from Seth. We needed that and I was glad to see it Monday night and obviously bleeding into Tuesday night.
Yeah, and It brings almost like a realistic sense to the character. Because anyone who's constantly being shadowed by a monster, by a guy like brock lesnar and toyed with the potential cash, and then you have Baron Corbin just always kind of like busting his balls in the background and like taking cheap shots at him. So it makes sense that eventually any normal person would come to this conclusion
where you would snap eventually. So I like that it shows it's more like of a realistic feel from seth Rawlins as opposed to just the repetitiveness that were both alluded to. But then to just go back to the shame thing a bit. I really do like what Chaine's doing. I've always been a big Shane McMahon fan, and I
like the whole faction thing. I think factions are kind of a lost art in the WWE these days, or if they are, if they do get assembled, they're quickly died out, like that awful faction the League of Nations way back in twenty fifteen or what was it.
But yeah, I like it.
I like that now it's transitioning onto Drew McEntire. But I think just as a.
Result of this stupid wildcard rule.
It's kind of getting diluted a bit that we're seeing it on both shows for more than once per show. So I just wish they would tone it down of it because I loved the idea, I love the people in it, I love McIntyre, I love the revival.
But I just think it's getting a bit too diluted.
And you mentioned wildcard. What are your thoughts on the wild card I'm hearing a lot of conflicting opinions, very strong opinions one way and the other. What are your thoughts on this wildcard rule?
If it was used to the pure definition of it, just like three random wrestlers per week could go on, maybe I could get behind it. Like I told you the first time I was on the show, before I was a permanent co host, I grew up in the ruthless aggression era, and that's when the brand split was in full force, and that was like, no one crossed over brands. The only only time you saw crossovers was
at the Royal Rumble. Now I understand it's not like that anymore, but and I know they're more loosely with the rules, So like I'm.
Trying to be open to the idea.
You know, times change, but it's not even random three on each shows. It's now four or five or six, and it's always the same four or five or six. They're just using the wild card to use the same wrestlers weekend week out on both shows.
It's not changing.
It's always samy Ze going to SmackDown, Alexa Bliss going to SmackDown, Drew going to smack down. It's always Roman coming to Raw, Kevin Owen's coming to Raw, Bailey coming to Raw. It's not being creative, and I thought the whole point was to give more creativity to the writing and make it more unpredictable, but it's actually become the exact opposite. It's predictable, same thing, same thing, every week, and I absolutely hate it, Honestly, I can't stand it.
And we're not seeing other wrestlers being used, like we've barely seen Cedric Alexander since he came up, and he was supposed to be like the big graduation from cruiser Weight to Raw. So yeah, I just think it's done more.
Harm than good.
And it's also I think an admission, although would never be admitted, but it's kind of in a subset admission by WWE that they're of their failure to create big stars that can hold down both brands, so they have to take their biggest stars and put them on both shows. And as you just said, you already know who's going
to be there. So this quote, this idea that the wild card is supposed to add this this unpredictability factor that anything could happen at any time, it's done the opposite, because you know which stars are going to show up, and they've taken their top stars and just diluted the entire product with those stars, and now you've overexposed them
on both shows twice a week. So it's not you're doubling down on the problem by doing this, which is it's really unbelievable when you think about it, that this rule was supposed to be doing the opposite of what it's actually doing. And if it was, as you said, implemented to a t in the exact way that it was meant to. Yes, this could be a very cool idea if NXT stars could do it. Have we seen an NXT star come up and utilize this wildcard rule?
I mean anybody? And furthermore, and I've said this before, and I won't get too much more into it, but how is this done. Nobody has explained to the fans how it's decided who shows up. They just I don't understand as it first come for surf, first to the building. Nobody's explained this, so that furthermore is diluding this whole wild card thing, which is just it's nonsensical. But as you said, I would love them to go back to totally sprint lands sprit split brands, I'll get it right.
And they just have one world living in it of itself, and an island another island, and they never ever ever cross paths unless there's an absolute, big reason to do it. Maybe it's WrestleMania. As you said, I remember when Goldberg and brock Lesner were on separate brands, and I mean back in two thousand and four when they had their terrible match of WrestleMania twenty. But I remember how crazy it was to see, oh my god, Goldberg's on SmackDown.
He's not supposed to be here, and it just felt like it felt much more exciting when it genuinely felt as if somebody was invading the other opposing brands show. So we don't have that. Nothing surprising. You know who's gonna be there. And this whole thing is not even a wild card, it's just a it's a quasi brand split, but really there's no brand split anymore.
So no, yeah, and that's exactly it.
And it just feels like they knew the ratings were down, so they wanted a reason to get top superstars from both.
Brands and just use them on Raw and smack them.
Like look look at this past week on Raw Daniel Bryan Verus Eth Rollins of that kind of match, zero build to it, no logic behind it, Like it makes no sense and you're just wasting it. And was it a good entering, Matt, of course it was. It's two of the best wrestlers there. But you're you're just wasting this to get cheap ratings, in my opinion, because you advertise this big time match and I just I can't.
I think you're you're a big proponent of this.
I don't care if the match is super good, if the story is garbage or in this case, nonexistent, I'm not gonna care about it.
I won't.
I've never been a big guy of like, Okay, well we'll throw two really technical guys together out of nowhere
and you'll draw attention. No, I'll get behind a really good story, even if I know that the in ring product won't be its best, Like Shane mcmah versus Vince McMahon at Wrestling in seventeen that like we knew that the entering product wasn't gonna be too good, But I to this day go back and watch that match because I remember the build to it and the build of Shane coming to his mother's aid and all this in the street fight and Dad versus Son and this and that,
and now with this wildcard rule, like except for like the same stories of Roman against Shane or Alexa Bliss against Bailey, and then somehow, some way, Kevin Owens and Sammy Zane always weasel their way in as just guys who lose. Because that's why I just feel like they
are now guys to put over the good guys. I don't know, it's just really bothersome to me that they're just using this to be creative, but it's the opposite, and it's just the same thing weak in week out, and just the stories have just gotten so diluted and just poorly written.
And and we're not gonna beat it at horser but I yeah, I mean we've said everything there is to say in terms of the wild card execution, and I don't think we're being unfair. This is just the truth. I mean, the fact that you can bring a team over and only consider them as one out of the four wild cards is preposterous, because why doesn't everybody just say they're a team, and oh, we're all just considered one.
So I mean, like, it's just the ridiculousness of this and the fact that they don't ever take the time to just give us basic details of how this works is maddening and insults fans intelligence. And it's lazy, sloppy booking to allow themselves leeway to book however they want without regulation, to fit whatever story they want to fit at the time, even if there's no parameters for it. It's it's the worst possible storytelling that you could make if you're if you're an author of any book. It's
just terrible. So moving on, though I want to, I'm going to move away from this because I could, I could run about the wildcard for a while. I'm not gonna do that. So what about Dolf Ziggler. Do you are you are you thinking like, hey, does Dolf Ziggler even belong in the main event picture? Do you think that Dolf Ziggler is deserving? Do you like that he is saying it should have been me? What's your take on Ziggler and Kofi Kingston.
Oh? Well, I've always like Dolf Ziggler.
I I because I he's kind of a diverse character. You can kind of give him anything and he'll spin it into gold if you will. But I, as we talked about when I came on the show about a month ago, I really liked at the beginning, I feel like it this should have been me saying the promos.
It's starting to.
Get a little bit repetitive, but I still like it. But even though he's kind of referring back to like his screaming thing now the one thing about Golf, And I'm happy that he's getting a second match because I thought it was just gonna be a one and done in a Super Showdown, But I still feel like he's just a placeholder challenger, and it just it gets that feeling because he doesn't really like even though he's the number one contender for the w Championship, He's still kind
of just on the side of it. Like he comes out at the first segment of the show, he wrestles a match against Zavier Woods and he's done, and then the guy who he's challenging for the belt on Sunday is often a completely irrelevant tag team match.
So even though I.
Like for the most part what he's doing, and I think that he should have been there, no pun intended, even though I think that he belongs to be there, it just it gives off this feel and this is more on the writing than him, that I'm not taking him seriously as a potential winner and they're just kind of finding a placeholder challenger until they can find something more concrete heading into SummerSlam.
Yeah, he does. He feels like a placeholder. And I said this last night on the show that I did with for the SmackDown review, is that Dolf Ziggler. He the thing is his character has been educated to fans for how many years now that he can wrestle his ass off, he can sell his ass off, he can cut a good promo'. He's not a bad character. He's not bad on the mic, he's decent on the mic. I mean, aside from his screaming, and even when he's screaming,
you're still paying attention. There are certainly worse guys in the business on the promo than Dolf Zigler. He's I would say good to above average. And so the problem though is, no matter what how good his promo is, no matter how good he is in the ring, you just know, because of years and years and years of booking that Dolph Zigler is going to lose the big match because we have been educated to believe that, and I have no reason to believe otherwise until proven wrong.
Dolf Ziggler's character has been a victim of creative booking and just just booking that has destroyed the credibility of his character. Anytime he tells us he's going to win, he has to win, I will beat you, it's like, but you're not going to, Like Dolph, let's be real, you're not gonna win. We all know you're not going
to win. And that's the problem with his character. Beyond the fact that he is one of the best in the ring and has been for quite some time and is a he can make his opponent look like a
million bucks. That's a huge asset. But as you just said, Kofi Kingston, I think is on a roll and he is a people's champion, no pun intended, and he anytime that and I've said this before too, anytime Kovie Kingston or anytime a champion wins the championship at WrestleMania, it's a championship win that needs to stick for six months. And I really believe that you can't just have a champion win it WrestleMania and then have them lose the next month or two months after, because then it really
means nothing. WRESTLEMANI is the reset button Wrestlemani's the end all be all. And on top of it, it doesn't hurt that Kobe Kingston's a black man. I mean, let's be honest, he is the perfect candidate right now for WWE's progressive ideology to play Kate Hey, we have an African American champion. I mean, I don't think he's being used for that, but it certainly doesn't hurt that he
is the face of WWE right now. There's a lot of things going against Dolf Zigler, and those are just a couple of them, but overall, look, I am a fan of Dolf Ziggler to a point. You know, I'm not gonna go there and scream my face off like a thirteen year old girl for him. But I think that he has a lot of good qualities and it's just unfortunate that they didn't strike while the iron was hot.
And when I think the iron was the most hot for him was I think it was the night after WrestleMania at twenty seven, don't quote me on maybe twenty seven to twenty eight, and he cashed in and won the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto del Rio and he was placeholder champion then and he feels like a placeholder contender now.
Yeah, because if if memory certainly correctly, they ended up at the end of that feud, it culminated in a double term turn with him in Alberto do Rio, if I'm not mistaken, where like in one match they swapped heel.
And face positions, and honestly, like that whole feud, like I just hated Alberta do Rio.
I thought he was the most boring thing I'd ever seen, and they were just kind of recreate Eddie Guerrero to be honest. But yeah, to get back on Dolf Zigler, Like, it's just kind of been the same thing.
Over and over and over again with him.
I did think they were kind of rejuvenating it with his initial phase run when they first did the brand split in twenty sixteen or the second brand splint, I must say, because he was the initial number one contender to Dean Ambrose at the time on SmackDown to.
The w W Championship.
They actually had a title match at SummerSlam that year, and then he kind of had that feud with the Mizz of the Intercontinental Championship, and I thought that there was going places, and then it just kind of died again. And then he did the whole like the no music thing, the no entrance themes thing, and then he walked out after winning the US titles. So I just found that his character has been kind of hard to follow. He's
all over the place. He was somewhat relevant when he teamed with Braun and McIntyre last year when he was on Raw. It's just and I feel bad because I do like the wrestler for the most part, but it's just been way too hard to follow because it's been all over the place.
He's been faced, he's been heal, he's.
Been kind of cocky and arrogant, or now he's kind of psycho. It's just too much and I just I don't see how there's any way that he actually wins this title or how I can even take him seriously.
You can't. And that's a good point too, that his character, there's zero consistency in his not just as you said heal and face, just his personality, like we don't know who he is outside of a great in ring wrestler.
We we just don't know who he is. And I'm sure that him as a as a person is extremely frustrated with Creative just not giving him a clear path and saying, yeah, you're you're this this month, this next month, but you know, we'll see how this goes, and then we pull back and then there's just stop start, stop, start, go over here, go over there, And when you get to that point, no matter how good you are in the ring, fans get complacent. They just go who cares?
I mean, like this, this guy's clearly not the guy that WW is gonna get behind. How can we get behind him if we know that he's going nowhere? And that's exactly where Dolph Ziggler is and it's really unfortunate because I really think he could have been He could have been a top top guy had they given him a serious run and go all in with him at one point, but they never have. So let's let's get to something that we like and something that I like.
And I thought I brought this up last time, but it is a shining light in my week of WWE, and that's a Firefly fun House Now I can't remember. Are you a fan of the Firefly fun House?
Yes? Very much? So.
Okay, now now that we're what almost two months, probably closing in maybe on two months of this, are you still as big of a fan? Are you ready to just say, oh my god, just dive you already? Where do you stand with this?
I've loved it.
There was a point where that one episode of him when he was like dancing and it was almost like a weird music video, and I looked at my girlfriend, I'm just like, did we take LSB? And I didn't know, but but on his ears note, there was a point where I was like, Okay, it's hanging old. But it actually worked out perfectly because they dropped the whole fiend thing for a bit, and there was either two or three weeks where you didn't really see him, and now
he pulls you back in. And this episode was just amazing because now it's kind of it's starting to make a lot more sense that like, from what I'm taking from it is that he's saying like he was always rejected, so he created this altered ego to protect himself from it, And I just think it's amazing.
I think they're really pushing the boundaries here of PG.
Again, I think you shared the same concern, or the only concern I may have is that I just hope that when he finally does debut, they execute it properly, because they've built it so well better than anything they've done in the last number of years, that it would just kill me to see them just butcher it when he finally does debut.
But as of right now, I think it's the best thing they have going.
WWA cannot, under any circumstances screw this up. They can't. This is one of the best things, as you said, that they have had going in. I can't remember the last time, when is the last time that WWE has utilized Vignette's videos, promos, whatever, to this extent to where there's this much anticipation and for not only the video itself, but also when is he going to debut? I can't wait. What's gonna happen? How's it gonna be? Is he gonna come out in a sweater vest? Is he gonna come
out as a fiend? How's it gonna work. Is he gonna be like Finn Balor and kind of a regular guy but bring out the demon when he needs to? I don't know, And I think that's the that's the interesting part, but also the part that I'm scared of, Like I'm nervous that they are going to really really mess this up and they can't. And bray Wyatt has done an amazing, amazing job going all in with this character. Like when I when I look at bray Wyatt, I
believe that he's like that in real life. He's gotten me to that point where I believe that he is
this crazy. Of course, I still know it's fantasy, but at the same time, when I'm watching, I get lost, and that's what I miss watching w w E. And I just I watch this this Firefly funhouse every week and I'm looking for Easter eggs and I'm looking for hints and there are there's so many layers to every episode that he's done that you could spend hours every week dissecting just that episode because of just all the different things that he's put in each episode, between the
characters' names and the things that he says, the looks that he gives, the way he says things. There are so many different things that you could dissect that it's just it's so complex, but it's easy to follow at the same time, and he is he's a he's a master at making you just in pulling you in right now. He's masterful at that. And he has got us hooked.
And it's been two months, I think around two months, probably a little bit less, but it's been to the I don't think it's I'm not to the point of, oh my god, I'm sick of this. Let's just get him in the in the ring. I want this to go as long as it needs to go, and I want creative behind the scenes and Vince McMahon to make sure they have all of their ducks in a row and have a long term plan for bray Wyatt, not just well we're debuting against I don't know Matt Hardy
and see how he does. No, no, no, they need to have a vision and stick by their guns and go all out with this character and see their plan through, which hopefully is a three to six month maybe even longer plan for bray White. I need this to succeed, bray needs us to succeed, and WWE cannot flop on this.
Yeah, and I'm really hoping that when he does come out, it's not just him, you know, squashing people like just no names or really bottom card guys. Because you mentioned this the last time we spoke about it. He's already an established wrestler. Sure he's been repackaged to the fullest extent, but people know who Bray White is. He's been a WWE champion, he's been around since twenty twelve or whatever it is.
He can't just.
Come in and you know, squash like Apollo Cruise or whatever one of the guy's chasing the twenty four seven title. He has to come in and get into a few that's worthwhile, like come in and attack Reigns or take or fight with Kofi Kingson. I want him to come in and make an impact because already his story of the Firefly.
Hunhouse is making such an impact and he's not even in the ring. So I don't want.
Him to show up on either Raw or SmackDown, or at this streat both and take a back seat. I want him to come in and I want this story to be the focal point of the show because I think it can be, and I think people want it to be. And he's just such a mastermind at it, as you brought up, and he's good in the ring. We've seen him be good in the ring. I just think that when he comes out, they better pick their spot properly, because it can't just be a storyline on
the back burner. It has to be front and center. It has to be in a major storyline or possibly for a title. I don't know what they're gonna do, but I just know that they have to make it worthwhile. It can't just be an afterthought.
No, it absolutely can't. WW has no choice on this one. And I don't say that lightly. I don't know if I've said that in quite a while, but if they botched this, there's gonna be I think a lot of angry fans that that are. I mean, they might I don't I don't want to say the rebel, but you could turn a lot of fans off very quickly if this is is failed, and it's failed on the part of WWE, and Bray White has put so much effort
into this and has done an amazing job. So let's touch on the women's division, and I just have to put some quick thoughts. So in general, you know, for a while, it felt as if Becky Lynch, I think has been cooled off and I think that she has been kind of just flopping out there since WrestleMania. I alluded to a few weeks ago that maybe it's because she hasn't had the great dance partner of Ronda Rowsey hanging around, which I think is a is a big
contributing factor. And you have Lacey Evans who's been put front and center against Becky Lynch. And while some people may really really dislike Lacy Evans and thinks she's undeserving, and yes, she had a terrible match against Charlotte a number of weeks ago. Of course it was awful. It was probably the worst match of the year. But you need to establish new stars and build new stars. You
can't just have all the time stars against stars. You need to have people that are up and coming, and after WrestleMania is the perfect time to do it, to build that new star for the new year. And I think overall, Lacy Evans has done a good job as the heel. I don't think she's masterful in the ring.
She does need work, but that'll come in time. She's got her promo down better than most do when they come up from NXT, even though she does speak a little bit slow, and Becky Lynch alluded to that pretty well on Monday net Raw, but I think she's she's got a good presence. I don't mind her right now is the challenger because I want to see Lacy Evans get her kicked and that's what I want to feel. And Becky Lynch, on the other hand, has kind of
felt lukewarm. I haven't got that spark, that energy that I want as a as Becky Lynch really had when she turned heel and turned her really into the biggest babyface in WWE, but has since cooled off and right now she's I don't think going to be getting back to that status when she's in a program with Lacy Evans. However, right now I'm fine with Lacy Evans and going against Becky Lynch. We all know Lacy Evans isn't going to win the championship, at least not at this time. So
those are my thoughts. What do you think about the women's division, and not just even Becky and Lacy Evans, but the SmackDown women's division.
As well well.
I think the women's division as a whole has kind of I won't see torpedoed, but it hasn't been as good as it was pre Wrestlmingia, because leading up to WrestleMania, I would argue that it was much more entertaining than the men's division. But since Wrestlingia, you know, Charlotte's kind of she's been there, but now like the past few weeks, she's kind have not been around. Sasha Banks has been
on a hiatus. We haven't really seen Naomi or Ember Moon prominent roles, so it's kind of just been Bailey, Becky and Lacy Evans. Becky, I find she's gotten really stale, you know. I feel like her promos have just becne the same thing, calling people.
Blokes or what have you.
And I won't say that I'm happy that she's cooled off to this extent.
But I am also because I think people took Ronda.
Rousey for granted and they didn't realize just how good Rowsey was in promos and in the ring, and as you said before, she was a great dance partner for Becky.
I personally really like Lacy Evans.
Obviously she does need work in the ring, but I think she's hammered down her character perfectly. Her promos are good, you understand her standpoint, and she's just not quite there to elevate Becky's game. I just think that Becky's become just repetitive and it's the same thing and we know that people have held you down and blah blah blah, and I don't know. I just I've had a hard
time getting behind Becky lately. But as for Lacey, I think she's been the best part of the women's division up until Alexa Bliss getting back into entering competition, because I think that Alexa Bliss Bailey storyline is much more intriguing, aside from the fact that Alexa Bliss is a raw competitor fighting for the Smackdowens title.
But we already touched the wildcard rule.
But as a whole, I think that storyline of Bailey and Alexa is much more intriguing than Becky and Lacey right now.
Yes, and I'm glad you brought up Becky and Alexa because that's something I wanted to talk to about as well. But just to finish up on Becky and Lacey, I really think that they As you said, Lacy Evans has her character. She down more than most do and more than some more established stars do. And she has come up from NXT and made it impact, made it impact quickly, and that's what you want. And she feels different than most of the women. That's what you want too. You
want to differentiate yourself from the pack. She's done that. She's the sassy Southern Bell or whatever cute nickname they give her. But she plays the part. She goes all in. That's what I want, and she does it, and she's got a really good looking finish. I like the woman's right, it's it's nice. It's kind of the female version of Big Shows WMD Weapon of Mass Destruction. I'm fine with it. I think it's unique. And you know, on top of that, Becky, as you said, has kind of just spun her wheels.
I mean, that's kind of a that's a good analogy. She's just there running on old fumes, not giving us something new to get behind her on. She's just still kind of in WrestleMania post match mode. Instead of looking ahead and just saying the same things you said, it good. I mean, she's just saying, everybody's held me down. I've done this all my life. I've put dopes down like you. Okay, well come up, we need something more, Becky. Please. Right now, I'm starting to lose a little bit of interest in
Becky Lynch. She's nowhere near how hot she was. If you would put her out of ten from how hot she was the night after the Royal Rumble, I'd say she's about a three or a four right now. That's based on crowd reaction. That's just based how I feel sitting at home watching her. I mean, I'm interested when she comes out, but I don't have that unpredictable feeling. I don't have the rebellious nature, that instinct that I
felt when Becky Lynch came out. She's just kind of another one of the women, and she happens to be champion, and I don't want that for Becky Lynch. As far as Bailey and Alexa go man. That promo they had on SmackDown, While they clearly booked it for a work shoot promo, it came cross very real and I'm sure that a lot of that, some of that material was instinctual and from their own brains in the moment. And that's what I love too. When Alexa noted to Bailey, hey,
you know you peaked an NXT. What have you done since you got here? And boy is that true? Since Bailey got here outside of her being the I don't know she was some surprise tag team partner. I forget it, what pay per view? She has just gone up, down, up, down, down, down, down, down down, and her and Sasha going back and forth and the love you Hate You mode for a year and a half and the Bailey this is your life that she had with ironically Alexa Bliss a year and
a half ago. None of that did her any favors, and the promo they had it brought it all back together. It made Bailey human again. It It really also kind of made me side with Alexa because she had a lot of good valid points that as a heel. I typically don't. I'm not supposed to. I feel like I agree with and you know, see that they're see their side of it. But they both had some scathing things to say. And yes, of course it was a workshoot promo,
but I don't know, I loved it. What did you think about that on SmackDown Lives?
Oh, it was really good. It felt real, it felt authentic. I liked I well, in general, I've liked the nikky cross element to it. I like that, like, you know, the whole manipulation on the part of Alexa Bliss, and yeah, I just think that a lot of it felt like it came from the gut with them. It's made me care about Bailey. It's not just like she you know, she was the cartoon character and at first it was fine,
but then the fire dynam quick. But lately, like I like seeing her come out just in street clothes and jeans and a T shirt and regular girl heels or whatever, and it just felt like she's more relatable now, and so it.
Makes me care about Bailey. It makes me you want to support her.
And Alexa, well, she's just always been great as a heel and getting heat. But yeah, I'm really invested in this match. I'm looking forward to this match as opposed to the raw one where I just really couldn't care at this point. But yeah, I really like what Bailey and Alecxa have done and that promo they had on Spact that was amazing, And.
Like you said in One Fell Swoop, they made me care about this program more than they have ever since they started having a few, and that was years ago too. This this is not something I want to see all the time. I don't need this workshoot style every single time. But when it's done in dribs and drabs here and there, when you don't see it coming, that's when it's the most effective. So just because it was super effective this week doesn't mean I want to see it every single week.
I don't mind the you know, the typical WWE created promo. Sometimes that's not a bad thing to have. I don't want to make it feel like they're reading lines. But I also don't need the shoot aspect all the time because it just it takes me out of the moment I need. I need it occasionally. So yeah, the street clothes thing, and while Alexi said it looks like you're working at you know, Forever twenty one, which made me laugh.
It did humanize her, just as it did with Drew McIntyre, not constantly seeing him in street clothes or in his wrestling gear and having him just wear jeans and his shirt or whatever. Just the simple thing of that humanizes people quickly. And Bailey was a cartoon character. Bailey buddies. I just like to hug people. I come out and I'm all colorful. I want to who's Bailey. I need to know who you are as a person and what your mission is. Apparently you're done giving hugs, but your
Bailey buddies are still here. I don't know. I don't know. But the Nikki crossing is interesting too. And for Bailey to say to NICKI, Hey, do you remember Naya Jacks? What did Alexa do to Nia Jacks? You remember Mickey James? What did she do to Mickey James? How do you not see this coming? And interestingly too, I don't know if this was by design or not, but Nicky Cross never actually punched, kicked, did anything too to to Bailey
to pull her off of Alexa. Other than just pull her off, There was no actual physical exchange between the two. So whether Nicky Cross turns on Alexa or not remains to be seen. But it was just interesting that they never actually had a physical exchange in that moment that she could have and there was there was also a pause or a hesitation by Nicki after Bailey had started attacking Alexa, So that's just something interesting. But yeah, to take Nicky Cross into this, it does add another layer.
I don't know what the endgame is for Nicky, but I hope it ends with Nicky not looking like a fool.
You know, Matt, you said something in there that I wanted to touch on because it doesn't have to do with the women particularly, but you said that it worked this week, So I hope they don't keep using it and gets diluted because I think we've touched on When Vince McMahon likes something, he beats that thing to death.
And one thing that I don't understand why he keeps going to is Sammy Sane and Kevin Owens.
You know, I don't understand why that these two constantly have to be paired together as just glorified trolls, and because they have relatively big names attached to them that like their losses will automatically put over the over guys, and it's just been something bothering me that like these guys, like I've has had seen them been building matches like final time ever culmination of former best friends they won't
meet again. Now one's on raw, one's unsmacked up, but then for some reason they're always just put back together
as giant trolls. And it's just it's bothered me that, like it's been going on for so long now, because now we're coming up on two years that the whole thing started with the angle against ironically Shane McMahon, that that's all that they've been and since the days where Sammy Sing was actually a somewhat relevant mid card guy and Kevin Owens was a competitor against aj Styles for the US title and the Universal Championship, And now I
just feel like, because their whole slightly heeled comedic act work, that that's all they use these guys for. And I just feel like these guys are being wasted big time.
Now I'm gonna try to remain a little calm here because last night I went I went off on this topic that Kevin Owens and Sammy's ain they are sorely underutilized, and that is being the most mild I can be. Do they have such an upside? I don't care if Vince McMahon looks at Kevin Owens and says, look at him, he's got a beer gut. He can't be the face of the WWE. I mean, I feel like that's what Vince McMahon is thinking. And I don't know why they
put him as Universal Champion. And since that time after Triple H handed it to him, if we all forgot he lost to Goldberg and then we have he just spiraled down into an abyss. And once he was doing these promo videos to come back, if you want to call him promo videos. He's in a bowling alley with his kids, he's at a movie theater and he comes back as a babyface, and I'm like, all right, cool, Like I want to see how this Kevin Owens' babyface
run goes. And they cut that so quickly that I well, I mean, everyone said all they shouldn't have done it that quick, and I'm kind of torn because we all knew the other shoe was gonna drop and it was a matter of time when he turned here Okay, so he turns, heal, he's back to where we all thought he was going to be anyway. But then they just
have him lose and lose and lose. What has Sammy done since he came back and was a critic of the critics, which I think has gotten good momentum and I actually enjoy It's something different, unique, And they bring out an electric chair one week, which made no sense, but they had an interaction with fans and it seemed legitimate. It didn't seem like they were plants in the audience. You get to ask Sammy z Ain questions and he attacks the fans and he's the critic of the critics.
I think that was great, it was original. I am enjoying it, and they gave him a lot of time to do it. And yet braun Stroman comes out flattens him.
You know, Kofi Kingston beats him like there. And I know wins and losses don't really matter too much in the in the world of professional wrestling, this fantasy environment, but I can't get behind characters that lose and lose and lose and lose, and two guys that could easily either one be a top guy and I'm talking champion just to Samojo, and maybe we'll touch on Samojo too.
You can put Samoa Jo in this argument too. All three guys, why are they being just just pushed to the side, not given an opportunity to take the ball and just go to the end zone when they could easily do it. All three are are very experienced independent scene. They've had their independent scene run. They know who they are. They are, they understand the business, they understand the psychology. They can work a crowd, they can have amazing matches,
and yet they lose week after week after week. And maybe, and I said this last night, maybe it's because for Kevin Owens anyway, that he's being punished by management for not going to Saudi Arabia. I don't know, I don't know the reasoning, but it is maddening that three, these three guys who could if my god, maybe they're eyeing a w because if they ever go to AW and are allowed to just creatively do whatever they want, look out. I mean, I'm sure they feel handcuffed. I'm sure all
three feel frustrated. So I'll just stop there.
Well, yeah, and we saw glimpses of the old Kevin Owens when he was like that vicious heel, like he could really be a force that you reckon with Samy's ay, and it feels as though, like, unless he's just riding
shotgun with Kevin Owens, he's a nobody to them. And it's kind of weird because when he first came back and he was the critic of the critics, you thought like, Okay, they're finally gonna let him go off on his own, but no, he just somehow inexplicably used the wild card rule again, jumped a SmackDown, and now him he's basically
riding shotgun with Kevin, like I just said. As for Samoa Joe, it's just it's feeling like bray White all over again, where he's like this vicious, like evil heel and like no one can stop him, and then he I remember you talked about how like Somojo has this aspect that even when he loses, he makes you believe that he's gonna come back better than ever. But even when he loses now he always has that like look
of shock on his face. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, where he gets rolled up and he's like completely distraught.
But it happens so often.
He loses so much that that look on his face.
It's not even realistic anymore. It's almost funny to me because you're just like, how is he shocked? This always happens to him. He always loses. And I know that they put the US title back on him, which I am.
Happy about because I think he's a guy that could benefit from it and the title could benefit from him as well. I still find it ridiculous that he got it because Raymond Steer just vacated it. I remember you touched on it, Like when has that ever happened before? The title never just gets vacated and then handed to someone. It always has to be fought for, like what happened with Roman Reigns when he had to go away for
his leukemia. So even though they put the belt back on Joe, it doesn't mean anything because they just handed it to him. But another thing is like, do titles mean anything anymore? Obviously the two major titles of the Universal and the WWE means something. But again, Finn Baler, besides his win against Andradi a Super Showdown, I don't even know if I've seen him on television, let alone win a match since he's been drafted the SmackDown. Samoa Joe is the US champ, but I don't think he's
one match since being the US champ. And as for the tag team titles, well, Hawkins and Ryder literally lost it their first titled event since WrestleMania, and that's that's just ridiculous to me. Like I think people had forgotten that they had these titles and that's why they eventually just put them back on the Revival. So yeah, I think Joe at this point is just a very big victim of just how badly they use the titles right now.
It's a crime. I mean, I feel like this could be a felony of sorts, Like there's got to be some kind of penal code for this. It's it's awful. And Samoa Joe is a guy that could easily be a top guy, you know. And when I said that about Samoa Joe and his promos, he is you could have him lose and his promo the next night would make you feel like he won and you want to see him you lose again. He's got that ability, and that is an ability I don't really know anybody has
that I can think of beyond Smojoe. It is such a good quality. But he loses and loses and loses. It's it's as if his one win was a fluke win and it happened to be for a championship and since then, I mean, he constantly loses. At WrestleMania, I said, Okay, here we go. He beat Raymisterio in like a blink of an eye. They're gonna finally strap the rocket to him. He's just gonna tear through in the SmackDown Live roster
and they're just gonna have him be a bulldozer. And he loses and loses and loses on roll ups and roll ups and roll ups, and it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous That'smojo would lose on a roll up, the guy that
nearly beat brock Lesner straight up. So but as far as the tag team champions go, if we're gonna jump into that realm the revival, yeah, I think it's simply because they are associated with Shane McMahon and they want to get more heat on that faction that they have the Gold and they were told, if you bring the Gold, you can come to the party. Well, they brought the gold and now they're invited to that backstage champagne lobster
whatever it was that Roman Reigns ended up crashing. But on the flip side, I'm really liking Rowan and Brian as champions on SmackDown Live and Heavy Machinery. I really think that they are good, formidable opponents for daniel'brien and
for Rowan. Rowan, who has been reinvented from the really the third wheel of the Wyatt family and has been re educated to us as a legitimate threat, a legitimate big man, a guy that can take a lot of punishment, kick out of finishers, and is the heavy for Daniel Bryan. And I'm really liking this duo the Planet's champions. I think that Daniel Brian has done a great job with his veganism brought to the max to be arrogant and
an obnoxious and they're doing a really good job. Despite the fact that they are not being booked to be anywhere near the focal point of the show. They are always a highlight of the show because Daniel Brian is
so believable and his delivery is always very smooth. It's easy to understand, and it's they're arrogant, and the fact that Daniel Bryan has been able to pull the wool over fans eyes and in a way that you resent Daniel Brian now a character that we never thought we'd hate again is just a tribute to the genius and mastery that is Daniel Brian and he's and Rowan is certainly benefiting from this, and that's that's always a plus.
Yeah, Daniel Brian is brilliant. I think he's one of the best talkers right now. He's a great wrestler and he's just great in whatever role he does. He's really taking the ball and run with it. In his he'll full blown he'l Vegan mode. And I think Rowan is really excelled. He got a shot and he's really been like taking advantage of it. And I really it's good to see how well they're doing because if I've seen this though before WrestleMania SmackDown was loaded with tag teams
and now all of a sudden, there's none. You know, Jeff Hardy got hurt, so they're so the Hardy Boys don't exist right now.
The USOS went to Raw.
The New Day have basically been taken out because of what's gone on with Kofi. The bar inexplicably dismembered, and now Cesarro is off being some weird character on Raw that we'll get to. But yeah, I really like what they've done on SmackDown Rowan and Brian, that is, I like how Brian has alluded to the fact that SmackDown has no formidable tag team challengers. As for Heavy Machinery, I really like them. They feel like an old school
type tag team. I find them funny too, and they're well placed comedy because it's organic they don't go out of their way to but they.
Also are good in the ring.
I find them entertaining, and I think it's a good kind of feud because obviously Heavy Machinery are rather heavier set guys. Daniel Brian can kind of, like, you know, grasp on to that about like the whole vegan thing and being healthy and not stuff in your face with gluten.
But yeah, that's been a really bright spot. I've always liked.
Daniel Brian Rowan's been nice touch and they've had good chemistry with Heavy Machinery.
Yeah, and while we're on that subject, as you said about Cizarrow, though I don't know what they're doing with Czarrow. I don't think Cesarrow knows what they're doing with Czarrow. It's just another iteration of them trying to find and Cesarrow trying to find who he is. We all know he is freakishly strong in the ring, he's a great competitor, he is in incredible shape. All of that is true, check check check. The problem is he has never been able to organically connect with the fans on a level
that's outside of the tag team of the bar. And even the bar didn't really like it. Never connected with me, like I understood who they were, but I never was saying, oh, hey, yeah, I understand what you I mean, I can I feel what you're doing. They just kind of came up with the catchphrase that you know we are we aren't the bar, we set the bar, you know whatever, And they never just felt like they were something that would be long term.
They were just in good in ring competitors. And now Cizzar, as you said it, is doing this whatever he's doing with new music. Okay, he's refreshed with new music. I'd like to see a promo from him to let us know who he is. But his in ring competition on Monday Night certainly spoke for itself. And that's where he does most of his talking is in the ring.
Uh.
And in his crazy strength that he you know, what he showed against Bronz Stroman was just otherworldly. Uh. And you know he has that ability to go toe to toe with anybody and put on a five star match if given the time. So, I mean, obviously that match was really more focused around Broun Stroman, who tossed everybody around for you know, half the match until he was eliminated by two guys who were already eliminated and then hit you know, about three finishers on him before he
was taken out of the match. So what did you think about that match and what did you think about Cizarrow getting kind of repackaged.
Well, the match was good, the match was entertaining.
I think it was like a cool aspect that it was the elimination factor. As for Cizarrow, I think it's never been in doubt how good he is in the ring. I remember, even before the bar he had one or two really really good matches with John cenn Raw and people were always kind of waiting for him to break out. And then when he got paired with Seamus, I was personally a.
Fan of the Bar. I liked them.
I've always liked Shamus, and I found that they were also kind of like an old school like brutish tag team. But ever since he's been repackaged, it kind of made me realize why he.
Was in a tag team because he I don't know who he is.
I don't know what his character is, and I found it weird because they feel like there was even confusion between him and the creative because when he first started coming out on raw solo post WrestleMania without Seamus, he came out using Seamus's music and then they quickly switched it to new music. But then for the biggest while, he was still coming out with the Bar wrestling attire and doing the sign coming to the ring, while the commentators were making no reference to the Bar.
And it's only been the past few.
Weeks where he's got rid of the sign and got rid of the attires, So it's almost been me just not taking him seriously because obviously he's good in the ring and no one can take that away from him, but it's just the whole character direction just doesn't make sense. He hasn't said a word since coming over to Raw and being dismembered from the bar. So I can't get behind him because I just don't know who he is. I don't know why he's there. I don't know why
him and Shamus broke up. I know, for real reasons.
I think Seamus left to go fill him teenage mutant Ninja turtles or something thing.
But just tell me why, tell me what happened, Just tell me anything, you know. It could be as easy as when Bobby Rood and Chad Gable split and Ruges said, ah, he was weighing me down and I shed two hundred pounds of nothing.
Okay, at least I get it, at least I know why.
But like, I have no reason as to why won the most successful tag teams over the last two and a half years randomly dismembered.
So yeah, but it's just been kind of hard for.
Me to get behind him when it's like there's been no explanation as to why he's solo.
It's kind of a funny point. I mean, when you see Cizarro outside of a tag team, you just said it. I mean, you go, oh, that's why they put him in a tag team and him and Seamus before they became the Bar. We're having a best of seven series and if you remember, they got to game seven, if you will, they got to the seventh match, of course,
and I believe that match ended in a draw. And so Mick Foley decided to put them together, and they reluctantly were together for I don't know how many months before they finally started to gel and just accepted each other, and the fans got behind him for a while. It was Boo shamous, yay Cesarrow, Boo shamous, yay Czarrow, and then they just kind of morphed into one and you know, outside of their catchphrase, they didn't say a whole lot.
It was just their catchphrase. And so now that he's on his own, he needs to tell us his identity and tell us it fast. While you while you kind of alluded to it, and I agree that I'll get behind him because I like Cesarrow as an in ring performer. I respect him so much and he's so good that I'll get behind him until they tell me otherwise. But I'm not going to get super excited about who he is or where he's going until I'm told who he is until they tell me something. But WWE doesn't care
about detail, and Vince McMahon you can hear him backstage. Oh, people don't remember that. People don't care, They just want to be entertained. Well, here's how you entertain people by telling them detail and rewarding them for paying attention to detail. But that's not gonna happen. You know, we'll never get an explanation, just as and I don't know why I keep bringing this up, but it irks me. Charlotte got a SmackDown Women's Championship title match a week before WrestleMania,
yet and she won. I mean there was no zero explanation against Oscar for that. I mean things like that. How can you overlook that? How can you not tell fans why this is happening or how it's happening. Obviously, Ciesarro and Seamus breaking up, I don't think is on the scale of Charlotte winning the SmackDown Women's Championship a week before WrestleMania. But it's that same logic, that same mentality that WWE has creatively Vince McMahon that we don't
need to tell him, we'll come up with something later. No, one's gonna ask, well, we're asking, we're asking why wouldn't we want to know? And it's a fundamental problem with WWE.
And you know what, I like that you brought up the lack of logic because this is something and it's been amplifed by the wildcard rule that's been bothering me. Why is it that heels who have never come into contact before, or heels that have had past beef with each other, just because their heels they're friends? Like why do Sammy Zain and Kevin Owens inexplicably have the back of Baron Corbyn?
Why is it that like Baron Corbyn can bump.
Into Bobby Lashley backstage and all of a sudden their buddies and it goes on to SmackDown Sea McMahon's walking into the building, Sammy Zane and Kevin Owens are there to greet him and kiss his ass. Do we not remember what went on a year and a half ago that lasted six months between Seaye McMahon and Kevin Owens
and Sammy z Ain. It's just like I understand the premise of it that eventually heals will side with heels and babyfaces will side with baby faces, but like, let me know why you guys are siding like with each other. I always found it cool when heels would come into contact with each other and they would actually like have a bit of beef and say like, oh, you know, like I don't like you, but the the enemy of
my enemy is my friend or whatever it is. But like, just give me something, like I just can't get behind like, okay, they're together because they're two heels.
No, why are they together?
Why is this guy backing this guy? And it's just it's too much of just like it's just lazy, like oh yeah, like.
You mentioned about Vince mcmatt.
Oh yeah, they will remember that Sammy San and Kevin Owens and made the shame mcmhan's life a living hell for five or six months on end.
It's just like, give me something. It just can't be so easy as heels are friends of heels and babyfaces are friends of babyfaces.
I think maybe the logic would be, if you're if I'm talking to Vince McMahon, why are all heels automatically friends? Maybe his explanation would be, well, fans aren't gonna care about two heels fighting each other. There's no investment there. They have nobody to get behind. And that's probably what he would say, is that's the reason that no one would care who wins if they got in in any
kind of argument or program, because no one would care. However, you could create a new star and see who who the fans would organically get behind by putting two heels together. They did that, maybe you remember or not with Kurt Angle and Triple H when Kurt Angle was getting with Stephanie McMahon and getting a little close, but Triple H was still the heel. So do you side with Angle? Do you side with Triple H? And ww left it up to the fans to decide. That's how you created.
Yeah, and exactly culminated at Summerstime two thousand and a triple threat match with The Rock, and it actually happened where the Kurt Angle and Triple H brawled for about ten minutes before the Rock even got to the ring. And now I'm not not like you are right because why would heels like go against each other? The fans women get behind it, and I'm not saying that, but it's it's also it's and more so in the fact that like Why are Sammy Zinging and Kevin Owens so
behind helping Baron Corbin out? Why can't heels trying to undercut each other? Like I liked it a bit when Baron Corbin tried to like take advantage of Drew McIntyre in a Number one Contenders match.
Something like that.
I just I want a bit more of like a bit more meat behind the storyline, Like explain to me why they're helping him. I'm not saying that they have to, you know, go against each other, because you are right there. I don't think there would be too much emotional investment
in from the fans. But at the same time, it can't just be Okay, well, they're both bad guys, so he's gonna have automatically come out to help him, like what happened at the end of Raw, where like all these different people were coming out, like the USOS came out to help the Fate the the New Day, just because they're both good guys, like in the Daniel Brian
and seth Rawlins match. I just don't like how, just like all these different storylines will intertwine and and people will side with each other just because ones are booked at baby Faces and the other ones are booked as heels, and that's the only explanation we get for it.
I think it's just reasons. I mean, that's just reasons. I mean that you're right that there are no inexplicable rational reasons why heels and heels and faces and faces are all just we Oh, well, you're on my side of the land. Here're on my side of the train tracks. We all like you. Once you cross over, we automatically dislike you. I mean, it's not reality, that's not life, but it's the life of WWE's interpretation of professional wrestling. So now I do want to get to stomping grounds.
But before I get into stomping grounds, is there anything else that maybe I didn't touch on from this week that you wanted to get to.
Well, there was one little tidbit of SmackDown that happened backstage, and it was the whole Apollo Cruise on Ratty part where you know, on draw he basically got Selina Vega to goat in Apaulo Cruz and then he attacked them. And I actually liked that story, and I'm just like, oh, you know, this is like a cool, fresh storyline and then it made me realize, like, you know, because of the wildcard rule, all these guys got in this week a WWE programming was a minute and a half of
a backstage segment. But that's why I liked the brand split, because guys like Androtti and Apollo Cruz would get screen time and it was fresh feuds. And those are two guys that ONRAFTI much more so than Apolo Cruz, But those are two guys that are very good in the ring and I think have potential, but they're just buried because Raw and SmackDown are constantly being taken up by
the same guys and the same storylines. And I just feel like, if they just let the brand split alone, these are two guys that could actually have a really good undercard feud and maybe eventually culminated an Intercontinental Championship match or Number one Contenders match. And again, like, where is Finn Baler And I think he's also a victim
of this wildcard rule. So that whole segment backstage made me realize that I want to see your wrestlers, and I like a lot of the wrestlers are not using and just kind of makes me despise the wild card that much more.
We keep coming back to the wild card, but a lot of a lot of the source of the problem is the wild card that's been implemented, and that is a side effect, a negative side effect. Another that we can just tally up on this bandwagon of just terrible ideas, is that yes, because you are now bringing in the
same predictable wrestlers into each show. Now, that takes away from the guys that would have gotten the screen time to build new stars for the guys that are already here, to just kind of run the same main storyline through and have the leftovers on SmackDown and the real the progression of the storylines un raw and then the leftovers are smacked down. It's the same thing over and over
and over now since it's been implemented. And guys like Andrade, who, as you said, Andrade is so damn good in the ring. He's so damn good. Zelena Vega adds so much to his character. I love that pairing. They are so good together. Apollo Cruz, who I think inarguably may have been one of the i'd say least successful NXT call ups since NXT has been a thing, and he was actually I
believe one of the first NXT call ups. Yeah, that could be that the spark for Apollo Cruz that he needs in his career going against Andrade, who could make him look really good in the ring. It was and it is a few that I want to see, but it's a blink of an eye in terms of the airtime that it's given because we got to worry about Shane McMahon and his faction or is Roman Reigns gonna
come out here? I mean, it's the same thing as Seth Ronin's gonna attack somebody from behind with a chair, which I like, but again it's it's over exposing the top guys when I want to see less of them, which makes it more special to see them, and I want to see newer stars built. That's the cycle of professional wrestling, and right now we're not getting that.
Yeah, that's exactly because I remember days of pay per views, especially when they were Brad exclusive pay per views, where I would look forward to some of the undercard matches and I would look forward to the US title feuds and the Intercontinental Championship feuds. Like I find it kind of crazy that, Like, yes, the match was great, but the US Number One Contender Championship match of the Fatal
Five Way where Ricochet ended up winning. I find it kind of insulting to that whole group of wrestlers that they were given just a week to build a feud with Samojo for a title before a pay per view event.
And as I brought up several times already, but Finn Baller holding one of the most prestigious titles on the main roster is just irrelevant and we just I don't see him and there's not even a challenger for him, Like no one brings up the Intercontinental Championship, and that's after years and years and years of the Miz repeatedly saying that he was trying to elevate it and make
it relevant. And again, I just think it all comes back to the Wild Carnival because they're just devoting so much time to the same three or four storylines and then recycling it and as you said, Raw gets the main advancement and then SmackDown kind of just picks up the scraps. So I just find it really a disservice to a lot of these wrestlers who are very talented that they can't get the proper airtime now, obviously Apollo Cruz, like,
you know, I wish you would stop smiling. Damn it, you know, like it's kind of the same thing over and over again. But maybe if he got a somewhat relevant feud, he could become something. I think and Drowndi's one of the best up and comers they have. But how are they supposed to take that next step and advance themselves when all they get is a minute and a half of backstage airtime.
In a few that we don't even really know why it's happening.
You can't. The answer is you can't. You can't succeed with that little air time. I know that the old adage is maximize your minutes. Well when you don't even get minutes you get minute, you can't do it. I mean, it's just not feasible, it's not realistic, and it's not fair to expect any performers to excel if they're getting
that little air time. And it's unfortunate because and I understand that there are some wrestling fans out there that don't have the patience to build new stars and that they just want to see all the big names all the time. And they don't care about these people that we don't know their names, Well, why don't you learn their names? Because eventually the people that you like to see all the time, and that's all you care about.
You want to see your favorite moves and your biggest stars, they will be cycled out because Father time wins all the time. You need to constantly have people up and coming. You need to have that farm system, which is why NXT is so brilliant. And credit Triple H for his vision and his execution of it, because that is the
breeding ground for the stars of tomorrow. And so when you don't have that mentality on the main roster, eventually you're going to be so reliant and heavy on the top stars that you are quote top stars of Roman and Seth and Drew. Whatever what if they get injured, What if they decide to leave and their contract expires, they go to a different promotion. There are so many variables and factors that I understand. You can't get everybody hot all the time, but you certainly can add new
things to their character. You can progress them in different ways. There are ways to advance characters and move them along and give everybody an equal share of the time that is allotted unsmackedown. I know SmackDown's two hours, which is why I enjoy the show more. But they need to understand that while all the big stars do indeed draw ratings, you need to also build new stars and you can't do that if the current stars are sucking up all
the airtimes. So one more thing I want to get to and then I want to talk about stomping grounds and get your predictions. What are your thoughts on the twenty four to seven Championship still funds kind of corny in between, I.
Think that it's done better than I would have anticipated. I'll give them that They've come up with some creative things to keep me interested, Like you know, the whole elevator scene is kind of funny. I found the whole airplane thing going to Jetta funny. How our Truth covered Jinner Mahal and then everyone chased them through the plane. I think that given my ultra low expectations for it, it's really succeeded. I think that they've timed it properly,
unlike how when it originally started. I think they've kind of reduced how many times they use it on a programming show. So yeah, I think even though it started maybe a bit too much to just get the point across, I think the past month or so they've done a pretty good job with it.
I'll second that. I mean, I was a lukewarm proponent of it when Mick Foley introduced it in front of my hometown crowd that gave it no reaction, So congratulations Albany. I was a proponent of it, and it was we all kind of alluded to it as the PG hardcore title because it's got the same rules, and we all kind of we all poo poo on what it looks like. You, Oh, it looks like awful. I don't need the belt to look good. I don't really care about that part of it.
I don't care what the belt looks like so much because it's not a belt that's supposed to take seriously anyway. But in execution, they are certainly going wild with the creative on this, and the creative is. The upside is there is no limit to what they could do, the scenarios that could happen, and I think that it adds a little bit to that unpredictability that Vince McMahon is
looking for. But at the same time, they need to be careful to not undermine their own product with such a joke of a championship, and there's that fine line, and right now I think they're teetering on it. I love Our Truth as champion. I loved the Drake Maverick interaction because Drake mav has been going all in on his character on social media, putting up wanted signs for Our Truth, just saying you know, I'm gonna find you. He bumps into him backstage a couple of weeks ago.
They look at each other and Our Truth takes off. They have a really good chemistry right now, at very unexpected chemistry with Drake Maverick and Our Truth. And Our Truth obviously loses this week because Drake Maverick dresses up as Carmela, which was really funny, and Drake Maverick ends up tweeting out that you guys don't know how much those fake boobs cost or something like that. Like, I mean, just the hilarity of it is. It does make me chuckle. It is a nice bit of a comedy segment to
cut through all of the quote serious storylines. I'm fine with it right now. I think that eventually that it will get boring and we'll all go home. My god, Okay, what are they doing this week? This is getting boring, This is stupid, This is totally unbelievable. I'm sure we'll get there. I mean, this has a shelf life. This championship does have a shelf life. But for the moment, I'm enjoying it. I love the the completely impossible scenarios
that happen. Do I enjoy that our Truth is constantly being chased in it by I don't know, the same five, six, seven, eight guys that aren't having anything going on backstage, and they all just chase them in a straight line all the time, and it gets a little bit cartoonish. But I'm enjoying it for what it is right now, and I'm on board. It'll eventually, you know, wear itself out, and the expiration date will happen. But I'm fine with it.
One thing about one of the wrestlers that's constantly chasing our Truth, because I think the Our Truth has been fantastic doing it. I love what Drake Maverick has done. I really enjoyed that elevator scene. I found that pretty comedic.
But I don't know.
About you, Matt, but how lost does EC three look? In every single segment? He looks like just completely low.
Like in that elevator scene, I remember when everyone's.
Fighting each other, he was literally being restrained by the ref but the ref wasn't even looking at him.
Like it's just like it's like he couldn't get around the five foot five ref and I just he it's almost distracting that like as soon as the segment comes out, like I automatically focus on him and.
He's just just so bad And I don't want to be mean, but he's just bad.
And he's never even said a word.
And like, okay, his segment on Raw when he got clobbered by Seth but the chair was purely funny. But aside from that, just like the twenty four to seven Championship moments, like he's so he stands out in the worst ways and I just can't understand how clumsy he is.
Yeah, this is this is a tough one with EC three. As you said, with the elevator segment, yeah, I'm on board with that. It made no sense that he couldn't get past the referee. It's just preposterous. I mean, and he when he game to the main roster, I believe he was in a very very short program with Dean Ambrose. I think he lost one week and one another week.
The crowd didn't react to him in any kind of significant way, and he's just all over the place in the twenty four to seven Championship trying to be a referee. They don't know what the hell to do with him. I mean, it's very clear right now. They're going here, there, up, down, left and right. And what's very interesting, though, beyond this this disaster that he has so far had in WWE, is that when they were doing all of the promos for hey, we're bringing up new stars, and Lars Sullivan
was one of the freaks. And obviously he's injured for the next six to nine months with a knee injury, which is I'm kind of sad about. Honestly. I think that when you have EC three as one of the stars of that promo, if you remember, it was just crazy.
I mean they were talking about all these new stars that are gonna come up, boom boom, boom, and then it slowed down and was EC three walking into a room in a suit, and you were like, oh, well, They're clearly going to focus on him because he seems to be the focal point of this promo video that they aired like four hundred times leading up to all of these this change that they were implementing, and since then they've done absolutely nothing, zero less than zero with
EC three. He doesn't look lost. He looks like he's in another universe right now. He looks like he's he doesn't know what to do, where to go, And I really hope that they know and figure out what to do with him.
Yeah, I think it hurts his reputation and more that there was so much hype behind him, and like, okay, his initial feud with Dean Ambers was underwhelming, but you can't.
Just pour cold water on him. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not the biggest fan of him, and I wasn't as soon as he debuted it.
But like, what are you saying to the other guys coming up from an X that you build and hype up this guy so much.
And so much and then he's just become such an utter joke.
Like I don't know how he could ever come back from what happened to him on RAW where he got obliterated with the chair and then the New Day mocks somewhere again, like, come on, really, like he's that Like they were acting as if he was dead, Like let's be real, like I'm all about comedy, but after a certain point it just kind of becomes hokey and unrealistic. But aside from that, like that segment alone buried him.
There's no way that he can ever come back from this and be a somewhat relevant wrestler or superstars, they like to say. And I just I can't understand how that early into this guy's career, especially after all of this hype behind him and you thought that they were gonna give him this big push, especially that he had that opening feud with Dean Ambrose. Obviously Ambrose was on his way out, so he wasn't held in as higher regard.
But it's just how could you bury a guy so so fast and not even give him a chance to breathe?
Well, they're doing it. And again, I didn't follow EC three too much before his WWE entrance, to be honest with you, like I knew a little bit about him, I didn't follow him beyond or before that too much. So if you didn't know anything about him, before you would just think that this guy's here to be used as an enhancement talent. And like you said, he's basically laying there like a corpse after a few chair shots. Really, all he did was get hit in the back. You
didn't get hit in the skull. Chair shots of the skull are gone. I mean, you got knocked out from being hit in the back. Really, I mean, and then they made a reference to weekend at Bernie's and all
that stuff. I mean, it was clearly just a segment to try to make people laugh or Vince McMahon, you know, sitting backstage, you know, Nie slapping and chuckling, and a lot of this humor seems to be Vince McMahon driven, and any nine times out of ten, Vince McMahon humor is not the majority of the audience's taste in humor. So yeah, it's really just a shame that they're doing with him. Find something for him, do anything anything, I don't care what it is, but find something and stick
with it. And right now they don't have a direction, So let's get to stomping grounds. And I want to start right at the top of the card here and not waste any time, I'm gonna go with the Universal championship of Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin. That floating guest referee is out there, I think we all know who it's going to be, so I won't steal your thunder. What are your thoughts on this match? Who's that special guest referee going to be?
If I were to take a guess, I would have to guess Elias, But again, I'm not too sure of it.
You seem more sure than me, but I was gonna guess Elias.
I think that no matter who the guest referee is gonna be, I think Seth Rollins is gonna win, and I just think that Baron Corbin's have a placeholder challenger right now. I do like what they've done with Baron Korman, but just not enough to overtake Seth Rowlins for the title.
Yes, I agree with the outcome, so I'm gonna second that that Seth Rollins isn't gonna lose. He's on fire. Baron Corbin as champion would be a disaster, ratings disaster more than it is now. Seth has really got a lot of momentum. To use the corporate buzzword, he is on a tear and he won it WrestleMania. Again my argument that WrestleMania Championship wins need to stick and this
one will. So my pick though for referee, and I'm only saying this confidently because I had heard someone suggest it and go, oh, how is this person not going to be the special guest referee? And that is one and only brock Lessner as a special guest referee, because if Baron Corbin has him as a special guest referee, then it would essentially put doom and gloom to Seth
Rollins as champion. I mean, at least in the story arc of brock Lesner being this special guest referee, and if he is and then Baron Corbin, which I think he's going to lose somehow, Seth Rollins wins the match, but he'll be beaten down and worn down from the match, which would put brock Leser in a very advantageous position, which Brocklezer would want to be in if he was a special guest referee to cash in his money in the bank contract. Do I think He's going to cash in?
Maybe not, but the scenario just seems to make sense that brock Lesner would be the special guest referee. What do you think about that?
I think that would be great. I think it would be really cool. I didn't even think about brock Lesnar. I was just under the impression that they were going to kind of let Brock sit a bit and lurk in the weeds and aka let him have time off that we all know he loves. But no, if that's the case, I think it would be the best case scenario. It would kind of suck to have him, you know, kate the belt away from Seth because one thing I'll say about Brock is that they can have another failed
cash in. So the only reason why I think they may not do that is to build up when you said it, they want set to run with the belt here have a good long title run, but they can have another failed cash into the third year in a row or also just diminish the value of the money in the bank. So I think that's a really cool concept. I'm just not sure if they would go with that and have Brock failed cash it in.
Very possible. Yeah, I don't think a failed cash in by brock Leser especially would I don't. I think that would be disastrous as much as nobody really wants to see Brocklesner's champion anymore, I think the prestige and value of the money the bank briefcase is worth more at this point because Seth could come back the next night, challenge Brocks somehow and even win it back the next
to not unraw. I mean it's very possible so that you know, Brockleazer could cash in, and maybe he does, and maybe we just say, okay, good, Brock doesn't have a championship, he doesn't have money in the bank, go away for a little while, and we keep thinking Brock's just going to kind of go away. And every time we think he's gonna go away and sit on his farm in Minnesota, he ends up showing up out of nowhere. And I like that to a point because it's not predictable.
But at the same time, brock Lesnar needs something in his character as well. It's just kind of the same old Brock. He's Brock freaking Lesnar. I mean, think about who he is. He doesn't need to pick people apart at their weakest moment. He is the guy that was the UFC champion and came in and dominated the sport. He's the guy that came in and demolished the WWE stars,
the wrestlers. Think about who he's beaten. He's beaten Goldberg, he's beaten Big Show, He's beaten the rock Like, you don't need to have Brock Lesnar playing this heel character as this guy that, oh, I'm only gonna I'm only gonna cash in when you're at your weakest. Brock doesn't need to be that. And I know he's a heel, but that's not Brock. I need Brock to be Brock, and Brock hasn't felt like himself for quite some time now.
Yeah, and that's why I like, I found and get kind of weird that he like planned his cash in after the Super.
Showdown, which I know how you felt about that show because I listened to your rant about it.
But yeah, I think that a scenario of Brock being the ref and then cashing in on vulnerable sent rollins, I don't think that would be too good for his character. I think, as you mentioned, they should get brought back on the whole train of doing everything face to face, beating the hell out of the guy's face to face.
He doesn't need any advantages.
That's why I did find it a bit weird that they put the money in the bank on him so quickly, but look look at the braun Strowman how he did it last year. Obviously it was a failed cash in, but in a similar aspect, he wanted to face Roman face to face. So I think Brock will eventually do that.
But I'm kind of expecting something more down the line towards SummerSlam a bit, because as of right now, I think people are still like on their heels for Brock to come back, because we had what three four weeks of Brock consistently being on coalition for a bit. So I think now they want to let people kind of forget about Brock a little bit and then finally come in and actually surprise people when he does show up.
Very possible. I mean, that was just a logical choice that I was like, oh, because I didn't think of it either, And I'm like, how did I not think of that? But it would make sense for him to commit as a special guest referee. I'm fine with a long periods of time without seeing brock Lesner, at least in his current incantation. I want to see a different brock Lesner. Maybe one that even if he cuts his own promos or whatever, they're just short, sweet, to the point,
because that's where brock Lesner lives and thrives. He's never been a good long promo guy. That's why Paul Haym is with him and is a perfect mouthpiece for him. Yeah, but I would also like to see somebody get an advantage on brock Lesner or face him face to face and get an advantage without having to kick him in the nuts. Like the only way that seth Rollins has been able to get an advantage is by kicking him between the legs. That has been the only way as
a babyface. I'm just like, come on, even the Undertaker did it when he faced brock Lesner a couple of years ago. I don't want that. I want to see a babyface be able to go on, like you know, Manda Man, toe to toe and be able to find a way to get an advantage on Brock without having to resort to that. And it's just it diminishes the babyface's credibility every time I see it.
Yeah, And I think that's just it shows just how much stock Convince is put into brock Lesner and that he wants to build Brock as like this bigger than life character that even the best of the best wrestlers need to cheat to beat him. But you're right, it takes away from the whole baby face because yes, Seth climb that mountain and finally beat Brock on the grandest stage of them all, but like, at what cost did he.
Have to do that? So yeah, I would like to see someone be Brock clean.
Well, obviously we know Triple H did it and Goldberg did it, but like, it doesn't always have to be the select few that Vin chooses, and as we brought up before, like he always relies on like the established legends, but like, let Seth beat him clean as Roman did, because it always kind of leaves that Asterix beside him
or that that stain on him. And even now, you know, like Seth beat the holy hell out of him at Super Showdout, but you did it with a low blow and twenty four times you hit him with a chair. So again, like it's cool to see him get the better of Brock because it shows that he's smart and he'll do anything, but it takes to win the title and take Rock down, which I could kind of get behind, but again, it would be nice to actually see him be able to be brought clean and true baby faced fashion.
So I think we're both on board with Seth retains as long as Brock doesn't cash in.
Yes, all right.
So with that said, moving on to the other big championship match, Kobe Kingston against Dolf Ziggler in a steel cage. I'm gonna take a breath and a pause. What are your thoughts.
I think Kofe's gonna win. I think Kofe's gonna win clean. Because obviously Xavier got involved in the match at Super Showdown, which I liked because it allowed for the storyline to advance a bit and set up a rematch.
I think it's probably going to be the match of the night.
These two guys inside the steel cage is gonna be something.
To be seen.
But I think that eventually KOFE will come out on top. He's gonna win, and then they'll finally close the book on this storyline and move on to bigger and better things. But I will add one tidbit that I do think that when Brock does cash it, it will be on KOFE and not Seth.
Hm.
I was thinking the same thing. Really Yeah, well, I don't know if it'll happen on Sunday night, but people keep thinking it's definitely gonna be set, It's gonna be set, It's gonna be Seth, and you're not even thinking about Kofe. And I think it very well could be. And think about the heat that that would put on Brock Lesen
to beat Kofe Kingston. That feel good story comes crashing down to a guy that is going to hold that the WWE Championship, which has a hell of a lot more prestige in the Universal Championship does in lineage and hold that championship hostage for months or maybe even years at a time. I wouldn't put it pat pass Vince
McMahon to do that. And it could very easily happen because we've seen Brock and we've seen Seth a couple of times, and now it's time for maybe a new opponent and when the guy we're not thinking of as Kobee Kingston. But to the match on Sunday, assuming again Brock doesn't cash in on Koffee, is I'm looking forward to this match. You hit it on the head. This could easily be and should be, on paper, the best match of the night if given enough time. Both of
them are very similar styles, they both sell well. They do have a lot of parallels which do alluded to, and they do. They are both very good in the ring and if given enough time, this could be a classic. And so my prediction is Koffee wins hands down, goes away. And so let's get that out of the way. The only thing, the only tidbit I have and an issue I have, is just the premise of a steel cage match itself. And I went off a little bit on
this last night. I don't understand that why and how escaping a cage or walking through a door is a legal way of winning a match. Basically, whoever can run away from their opponent the fastest or the best wins the match. And think about this. All you have to do, if you're a super athlete is you could throw somebody in the other side of the ring and if you really wanted to, you could climb over the cage in
the blink of an eye. And think about I mean, think about all these athletic crazy things that they do, but they just somehow can't get up that cage in time and draw it out. I don't like the fact that you can open a door and walk out and win. In what world is that a legal way of winning any sports sports situation, whether I don't care what sport you're talking about, in you know, whether it's a competitive sport,
professional wrestling, it just doesn't make sense. And the fact that supposed to believe that a steel cage always keeps out interference, there's nobody gonna be able to help you. You're not gonna have any help, it's just you and me. Well, the last time I checked, a steel cage match is a no disqualification match, which means the world could come in that match, the entire locker room could come in
that match, and it would still be legal. So it just every time I hear that and hear those two arguments, it's it just hurts my brain. It should be pinfall or submission only inside of a steel cage.
Yeah, I know, I've always personally hated the walk through your door, the walk through your doorway to victory because you're right, like, anyone if they try hard enough, could scratch and claw their way out of there or weasel their way out. And I don't think I've ever seen someone actually win by going out of the door.
I don't so much mind the over the top of the.
Cage thing, because at least that proves an obstacle, like you have to actually climb the damn thing and go over it before the guy can come up and stop you.
But yeah, the whole.
Like argument of like oh yeah, like there's gonna be no more interferences.
Side like oh come on.
You know, one of the most iconic steel cage matches, well maybe not iconic, but one that sticks out of my mind is the one that the Rock and Stone Cold ad after wrestling its seventeen when Vincent Triple Ah got in the cage and they just beat the holy hell out of the Rock and formed the two man power trip. And I'm just like, okay, well, what the hell was the plying of that they just basically trapped
the Rock inside and destroyed them. But yeah, I've hated that whole narrative and it's gone on for as long as I could remember about like oh, well, no one's gonna get in now, it's just you and me. Then maybe I've just become accustomed to it, and I don't really you know, react to it the same way anymore. But yeah, I'm with either the whole notion of being able to walk out of the door and win, or that we're supposed to believe that no one's gonna.
Get inside like and I think.
What makes it worse is that we all know that when and it's actually a match where no one's getting inside, it's the hell in the cell. And I think that makes it a bit more or less believable for us, because WWE has an exact other match that does that exact purpose that the steel Cage match pretends to do.
Yep, they do, they do. But as much as I would love to make the Helenacell a prestigious match and make it only for extremely deserving heated rivalries, that you know, you've gone from a standard wrestling match, maybe into a street fight, then you go to the steel cage and
the blowoff is a hell in a cell. I mean, it doesn't have to happen like that all the time, but that to me would be how a natural progression of a heated blood feud would end, and that the Helen of Cel would be the blowoff of that feud, and the Helen of Cel pay per view unfortunately dissolves all of the mistique of the Hell in a Cell because it's built into the pay per view schedule, so we're, you know, whatever feuds happened to be going on at that time, well, just to in the cell because it's
a cute gimmick and it's killed the Hell in a Cell. To me, the hell in a Cell is such a sacred, special place that so many amazing matches have happened, so many amazing moments, from the very first one with Shawn Michaels an Undertaker, which was the very first program that I remember watching, and it just that drew me in, like I was hooked forever because of that program, all the way obviously mcfoley's fall off the cage to Cactus Jack retiring at the hands of Triple H and I
believe it was two thousand when he pedigreed him on top of the cell to the Armageddon pay per view and a Rakishi got choke slammed off of it into like a bunch of wood chips. I mean, there's so many things that happened inside the cell that are special that when you put it into a pay per view schedule, completely kills the mystique of it. But I'm getting way off track. But you're right, they have a structure that
could do exactly what they're telling us could do. There's no roof on the cell, on the cage, it's just a it's not even a cage by definition, has a roof. This is like a four walled you know. I don't know what you'd call it. It's not true a true cage. So yeah, they are making us supposed to believe that nobody can get interfere. But even in Hell and a Cell, you've seen people hide under the ring up until the point when they're supposed to come out. I mean, you've
seen wacky things happen, but less so. But back to this match, I'm really looking forward to it. I think they could blow the roof off the place, and I'm expecting a lot of high spots, a ton of near falls, a zigzag off the top. I'm expecting some crazy crap because these two are capable of it, and I expect Kofe to come out on top in the end. So Roman reigns and Drew McIntyre, I am just I'm a little bit torn on this. I don't think this one's
as easy as most people think. And the reason is Drew McIntyre has been groomed over the past couple of months to be a top guy. Yet Roman Reigns is the elder statesman of Vince McMahon being the top guy. Roman he's the big, he's the he's the gatekeeper to being, you know, the top guy. But we saw them face at WrestleMania, which we're all supposed to forget. This time around, I think the program has been built much better, much
more properly. I'm much more invested in this program than it wasn't WrestleMania, which kind of felt like a last minute We'll throw these two big guys together and they'll have a match. Roman came out on top of that match. I wouldn't be so sure that Roman comes out on top of this match as revenge. I think since this
is the first time that they're officially meeting. And I say that in air quotes, I say, Drew McIntyre wins this, and I say that because I think Drew needs to win more than Roman does.
What do you think, I'm with you. I think Drew's gonna win this.
I think that they're fully behind building this stable with Shane and Drew and the Revival. But I think, like you said, I think Drew needs to win more. He hasn't really had a big time pay per view victory in a while now, and he's and I think they want him to be established as an actual threat, not just a lackey or just the right hand man of Shane, a man. They want him to be his own guy and be able to fight Roman reigns on his own and be able to take him out. Now, in saying that,
I don't think he's gonna win clean. I think there will be outside of the ring shenanigans from obviously Shane, maybe the Revival, maybe Elias or what have you.
But I think when it all comes, when it.
All finishes, it will be Drew McIntyre coming on top and in some way, shape or fashion. I feel like this is all gonna culminate at SummerSlam. But you know, Shane gets that win against Roman at Super Showdown. I think they're gonna make Roman lose again here due to outside interference and just keep Roman's frustrations building and boiling and culminate down the line. But as for this match on Sunday, I think Drew comes out with the win and get some more momentum behind them.
They have to. It's almost as if Drew has to win this because of everything that they've put in front of him and everything he's talked about and said, he has to back up his words. I don't care if it's a clean win over Roman Reigns. And you know what, I would actually prefer a clean win. I know he's a heel, and heels traditionally win by hooker, crook low blows feet on the ropes, refezent looking for an object.
I want to see Drew outright beat Roman Reigns with the Claymore, which has been established as a killer move, and it looks like Drew McIntyre is. It looks like a shotgun going off. I mean, it's it's sold really well, nobody's kicked out of it. It's a money finisher, and I would like to see Drew McIntyre outright beat Roman Reigns. I would that, to me, would be the most beneficial to Drew. It would establish him as a credible threat, not just a guy that uses any means necessary. All
heels don't have to do that. You could be a guy that beats your opponent clean as a heel. But you're what you stand for is is demonic, It's it's just nasty. Who you are as a person is terrible, even if you're winning matches clean. And I think Drew could do this because it would What it'll do is, yes, it'll get him over as a heel, as a credible heel.
But when he turns babyface, eventually the fans will remember that that he was this guy that just came out and kicked ass and now when he flips, you're gonna remember that. So of course that's down the line. I wouldn't I wouldn't want him to turn babyface for a year or two. But I think that Drew needs to win, and he needs to win clean and decisively.
Yeah, And because like I think what you said about imentering babyface one day is perfect. I think that they need to give the fans something to kate Drew McIntyre seriously, because yeah, he's talked a big game and he's been a lot of wrestlers on side matches, but like there's yet to be that one big time feud that he's really culminated in with a victory. Because he didn't beat Roman at rest sure he had his way with Dean Ambrews, but we know that Dean Ambrose was just doing the
favors going out the door. But yeah, I think that for the long term vision of Drew that he really needs this win. They've done a great job billing.
Up to now.
I really like what he's like his partnership with Sean McMahon. But I do kind of fear that, like, if he doesn't get this win, he'll just be viewed as an afterthought because it would look kind of straighte like, Okay, well Shane could beat Roman, but Drew can't, So yeah, it would hurt his reputation. I think that Roman could survive it because you know, Roman could just bounce back from anything due to the writing and how w W has built him, you know, come back.
It's survive and lost to Drew McIntyre.
So yeah, I really think this is a crucial mat Drew and he really needs this victory to build himself in the future.
Roman is elastic. I think that's a good point to bring up. Roman can survive, and he can survive a big string of losses because Roman has been established for so long in the minds of fans that He is a top guy, and at any moment, regardless of how terrible of a losing streak he goes on who he loses to, he could come back at any moment with fire in his eyes and just start as wait, let me say the tagline, start kicking ass and taking names.
He could do that. I mean, don't don't even get me started on that forced nonsensical, corporate corporately forced into every promo garbage. So that's what I think about that. It's it's awful, But Roman could do that. Roman could easily come back regardless of the losing streak, which is why Drew needs this tenfold over Roman.
Yeah, and that's exactly it. Man.
You hit it on the head there, because Roman just keeping knocked down and he will get up and he always will, and like even just like the whole real life battle he had with leukemia, that he no matter how many times he gets knocked down, he will be built back up.
But Drew needs it.
And I think Drew needs to kind of get the jackpack put on him and blown away here in the trajectory.
Of you know, succeeding.
And I think they're kind of doing that with with Sea McMahon right now, but he also has to find some you know, solo success at the same time.
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. So let's move on to the Raw Women's Championship, the Becky Lynch versus Lacy Evans. We alluded to this a little bit before, so I honestly don't have a whole lot to add to this other than I think that this will be a better match than their first, which I didn't think was a disaster. But it's their second match. They should get to get a feel for each other more. They probably will get a little bit more time. I think Becky wins, and
I think that's the end of the story. I honestly don't have a whole lot to add to this. I think just as Dolf will go into the background, I think Lacy Evans will fade into the background into another program after Becky Lynch beats her here. So what are your thoughts on that?
Yeah, you know, as I said before, I'm a big fan of Lacy Evans, but she's not ready yet to overtake someone like Becky Lynch. I think Becky's gonna win clean and kind of close the book on the story for this particular fear. But yeah, we kind of said all we had to say before. There's not too much to add. Becky wins clean and just closes it off.
Yeah, I mean case closed. Really Yeah, I mean there's it's very straightforward here, I believe. So all right, what about the SmackDown Women's Championship Bailey and alexas a little more interesting, so you know, you go ahead, What do you think?
I like this story a lot, so I don't think it's gonna be as cut and dry. I think that it's gonna end kind of in a disqualification of sorts.
I think that it's going to I think I would say I'm not sure who will win.
I will say Alexa wins via disqualification and warns a future title match, because I don't think that alex is gonna take the belt away from Bailey so soon after she won it and for the women the next pay per view after she wanted, because they compete at Super Showdown.
But yeah, I think it's gonna end in disqualification match due to Niki Cross getting not a disqualification match, but disqualification finished due to Nicki Cross somehow getting involved, so no clean finish and just something to result in a future match down the line, to keep this story going.
As we both mentioned, we both really like this story.
I don't think they're quite ready to close it off completely, So I would say Alexa wins disqualification, but Bailey keeps the title.
Man, I feel like I'm just gonna repeat what you said. It's the only thing I would change on that is. I think it easily and probably will be a disqualification. But Bailey wins via disqualification after Nicky, you know it, unintentionally gets caught by the referee hitting her in the head or you know, kicking her or pulling her off the apron or something. Something will cause a disqualification. I don't care who wins the disqualification because either way, the
championship doesn't change hands. But yes, I think that is the case. This is the start of the program. I mean, this is their first match. It can't be a clean finish either way. I believe that it is going to be a three maybe longer pay per view match, or a pay per view long feud. This could actually go all the way to Summer Slam. I really believe that if this is done correctly and we have no more Bailey, this is your Life segments. This could be a program
that does culminate at SummerSlam. So yeah, this is going to be a finish that has nothing clean about it. There's going to be a lot of tomfoolery in this finish, and you know that's just ww logic. I mean, there's other ways to do it, but just based on how WWE presents their programs, especially at the beginning of programs, Yeah, I think that's really the only way that this program can start off as via disqualification or some kind of some kind of funky ending.
Yeah, exactly.
And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because if you have a I don't think it'd be wise to the belt off of Bailey this way. And if Bailey wins, the story's pretty much done. So I think that if she wins clean that is, then the story's pretty much done. So yeah, I think in some way there's gonna be some nonsense that goes on outside something
to keep the storyline going. And Warrant selects a Bliss to have another match, and I think that's good, as I just said, because these two clearly do have chemistry outside the ring.
They will have chemistry inside the ring.
They are two very good in ring competitors, and I think the whole wrinkle of the effect of Nikki Cross has led to a way more complex story than we've just been presented on the surface.
Yeah, this is we've kind of said it all. I mean, this is the beginning of a program. So okay, the United States Championship, Samoa Joe and Ricochet. I'm gonna toss it to you first in this.
I think samo Joe wins here. I'm hoping, as you brought up for that, it's a start of a long run. I think Rikochhet won that fatal five way match to take the first loss to Samoojo. I don't think Rikoshet is gonna beat Samojo at Stomping Grounds to win his first title. I just don't think the stars are aligned for that. I think that it will be a very good match. I'm looking forward to it, but I just don't see how Rikoshet comes out.
I think it's a good.
First step to first step rather to get Rikochet's feet wet a bit in the title scene and his first kick at the can of the title. But no, there's no way that he can come out here with a victory.
I think Joe wins.
So my brain is telling me, don't pick Rikoshet. This is a very easy pick. It's a slam dunk. The problem is everything that we just talked about a little while ago about Samojo and the way that WWE treats him. I could see Ricochet winning this, and I'm going to pick him for that reason that WWA has not only devalued Samoa Joe to this point, but also they don't seem to really care about the United States Championship itself. So by Ricochet winning it, it's not the most prestigious.
It's not in in line with or or at the same level as even the Intercontinental Championship. Even it's if it's presented to be. It's not so for Rick Ischet to win this, I think would be I think the fans will go nuts. They the fans are behind him because he does really crazy, wacky moves, even though we haven't heard a word from him yet. He is exciting, he's fun to watch all of that, which is true. So I think Samoa Joe loses here. I'm not gonna
bet any money on it at all. Then this is probably a dumb pick, But I'm gonna go there's always that one or two, those one or two matches that you think are locks that Vince ends up in going out. No, they think this is gonna happen. This looks too predictable. We're gonna We're gonna change it up, and this could be that one, This could be that one. That is that that's sleeping giant. So I'm gonna go with Rickochet winning the United States Championship here to shake things up.
As Vince McMahon would say, I'm just trying to get in that man's brain. And I think that Rikoshet could win this and try to bring some life back to the United States Championship. And do I want that to happen.
No?
Do I think that should happen. No, But I could see a case of Vince McMahon wanting it to happen.
Oh yeah, I mean all the points you just outlined, it could very well happen.
Like I would have never thought in a million years that being Mysteria would have beat Samojo for the US title. And just the way that Simojo has been treated as all the points you just brought out, it's completely realistic, and I have to keep bringing myself back down to earth about the US title because you're right, it's not that prestigious anymore. They don't seem to care about it.
It is kind of an afterthought. So even if rik A were to win, it's really not a big deal and that would kind of stuck for Rik Koshet, like his first title win is supposed to be this big monumental achievement, but it's the US title who don't really cares about. But no, yeah, I think that he could go either way. Just based on McMahon wine to swerve US. I don't think that's a bad pick at all on your part.
And think about the way Simo Joe quote won the United States Championship. He inexplicably had his long time he did rival just handed to him. So that tells you what Vince McMahon thinks about the United States Championship. So this could Now I'm kind of like talking myself into it, but I really believe Ricochet could win this. So that's my pick. SmackDown Tag Team Championships with Daniel Bryan and
rowing against Heavy Machinery. I think this one is a pretty darn good lock and I don't think anybody's gonna be surprised by this that Daniel Brian and Rowan retain, and my god, they should retain. Is. I enjoy Heavy Machinery. I enjoy Otis and Tucker, especially Otis, who he's clearly the star out of the two. They're funny, but they're also serious when they need to be, and they're legitimate, so they're not just a comedy act only. But they're
not ready, just as Ricochet. It doesn't seem ready this one. Really, they are really not ready, and Daniel Brian and Rowan are on a roll as the Tag Team Champion champions on SmackDown Live, and they're bringing credibility back to the tag team division. They're clearly the top team. There's just no reason to have Heavy Machinery win this match. Daniel Brian and Rowan walk away as champions.
Yeah, I'm with you there, I love Heavy Machinery.
I'm gonna just sound like a Maco and You here, but yeah, they're just not ready, especially in a SmackDown world that the tag team division isn't especially deep. I think Rowan and Daniel Bryan are single handedly carrying it and making those titles relevant just because of the star power attached to Daniel Brian. And give give Rome for addit like you brought up before, He's done a really good job. But yeah, there's just no logical scenario how Heavy Machinery comes out with a win. I think it's
gonna be a good match. I think it's gonna be an entertaining match. I hope then it's not the last match these two teams have. But yeah, I think Rowing and Daniel Bryan come away with.
A win here.
Yeah, I really have nothing more to add to this. I mean, I think it'll be an entertaining match. I think it'll be you know, physical, It'll be just a very I think smooth logical ends with even if it's by hook or crook, Daniel Brian just does something underhanded. I mean, I'm fine with it. I I don't care how Daniel Bryan and Rowan retained. They just need to retain. Just end of subject. Uh, New Day and Kevin new Day versus Kevin Owens and Sammy Zay. Your thoughts, you know.
I wish that it was a harder pick that honestly, but as we've seen Kevin Owens and Sammy zaem being utilized lately. I'm gonna go with the New Day because just like how much how buried Zane.
And Owens have been.
But I could see Kevin Owens and say Za play the swerve here beating the New Day. But I just feel like the New Day has taken such a bat And by New Day I mean obviously Biggie and Koha and Xavier Woods. I feel like they've taken such a back seat to Kofe's title reign that they've almost been an afterthought and they they need this win. But then you could also say, on the other hand, that Kevin Owens and Sammy z need to win.
But I think when all of a said and done, that the New Days go with the win.
Here, just solely based on how Zane and Owens have been voked recently.
You're You're right. I just I'm trying to talk myself into Kevin Owens and Samuse and winning. I'm trying to come up with a reason and trying to convince myself to pick them. I just can't. I can't pick them for the fact that they haven't won a match since they came back. And yeah that Vince McMahon could this could be another one of the swerves that all people think that New Days just gonna win and Kevin and
Samy are gonna lose because they've continue to lose. I don't think this is a swerve because there's no reason to do the swerve in this case, there's no championship on the line. Clearly, Vince does not think very highly of either Kevin or Sammy as long term single stars in WWE. So I think New Day wins and Xavier and Biggie come out on top. Will I be absolutely stunned if Kevin and Sammy win. No, I won't because they honestly need the wins more than anybody on the roster.
But at the same time, look at the track record they do. Their track record is awful. It's it's abysmal. So I'm gonna go with the New Day and it's sad, but that's my pick.
Yeah, and it feels like we're both kind of getting depressed here. But yeah, you want it to be more of like a hard pick. You want to have trouble pick if this pick, But it also it isn't a hard pick because you just know that Kevin Owens and Semizan are and Tken seriously.
In the eyes of Fence McMahon and I just it's really sad to see. But yeah, there's just no way that I could see them coming out with a win here.
I can't. I really want to. I'm trying. I'm in I do I sound depressed because I am, because I can't believe that I'm not having a hard time with this. I'm trying to come up with something in my brain, but it's very depressing. So moving on Raw Tag Team Championship, A Revival versus the USSOS, I think this one's another one.
This card up and down the line looks very predictable, and it looks like you can make a case of no championships changing hands at all on the entire card, and I think in general that will be the case here. With the exception of the United States Championship. Is don't go to dount on the limb. But this Raw Tag Team Championship, I don't see how the Revival lose them
to the USOS. I just don't. I think the Revival, with Shane McMahon behind him and the McMahon power by behind them, in the stable that they're in, they don't lose here. I think that the Revival and usso's are going to have a very good match. This could be a sleeper of a match that people are overlooking. And again, if given the time, that's the key. They could have a very very good match, you know, like three and a half maybe even higher out of five stars. They
could have a hell of a match. I just don't know if they'll be given the time, and ultimately the Revival comes out as champions. What do you think?
Yeah, I think Revival a going to come out on top as well. I think the USOS could survive in victory as opposed to the Revival that although they are multi time tag team champions, it seems like every time they have a chance to defend the titles, they are unable to, whether it be against Gable and Rude or Ryder and Hawkins.
I think like a big statement.
Win over arguably the best tag team in ww REE right now is needed for them. I think if they are to drop the titles so soon after winning them, it would almost like I wouldn't be able to take the seriously.
So I think this is a crucial opportunity.
For WWE to allow the Revival to get a big impact win against a team like the US those and show that they are on that same level with them. So yeah, I really think the revivalill come out with the win here, and they need the win here.
They do. And again, I'm not a hot potato title fan. I don't like title changes for the sake of title changes and oh it's newsworthy. I like long reigning champions regardless of who's holding the belt. It means so much more when the belts change hands. So in this case, in this day and age, long term championship reigns last beyond a pay per view like Unfortunately, that is the scale and definition of what long term now means. But yeah, Revival retains. I think you can pretty much take that
one to the bank as well. And finally, the Cruiserweight Championship with Tony Nice versus Drew Gulak and a Kra Tazawa. What do you think?
I'm basically Tony Nice.
I like the way that they've built the I think that when he beat Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania, who is a telltale sign that they were serious about him.
I'm with you.
I like the long title rings here, so I think they're gonna stick with Tony Nies here. They've built them well, and I think they're gonna give him a bit more time before he drops the belt.
Yeah. I don't have a strong feeling on this, to be honest, because I don't have a lot of emotional investment in this, and I don't think most people do. I mean, however, two or five Live, they've been putting out some good matches as of late. There was some controversy in the finish of the number one contender fatal four way match, so Gulai can Tzau got the opportunity. I think Tony Niss retains because he seems I think he's got the most established character in the in the
cruiserweight division. He's a good champion. As you said, his win at wrestle Mania was a statement made by WWE to say, hey, we're changing. This is changing of the guards here, so we're gonna go with Tony Nice. And I think it's Tony Nice for probably the next few months. I don't see any reason to take the championship off him and just put him in matches, because you know he can have good matches and at the end of
the day, though, he's gonna be the champion. And I don't see anything different happening here.
Yeah, and you know, as you brought up like it was a change of the guard, and they gave the reins to Tony Niese and just in the fashion that the two challengers got put into the match, like the controversial finish at the end of the Number one Contenders match, I don't think that's the kind of, you know, storyline that would culminate in Tony lose event actually losing the championship. I think it would be something of way more of like an intense storyline, a one on one storyline for
a guy like Tony needs to drop the belt. So yeah, I think it's gonna be a good match. I think it's they're gonna all put on a good show. As you mentioned, they've been putting on a good product there lately. But I don't think a guy like Tony Nice, after winning such a big match against Buddy Murphy would lose it in this kind of fashion.
No, I think it's totally right. I honestly don't have a whole lot more to add to this, And it's just a shame that they have really defined down the cruiserweight division. You know, I just they WW can't seem to find that perfect balance of being able to showcase this division in a way that feels legitimate and not just kind of the stepchild to well, this is the main roster and then we have this little, this little
side thing of the Cruiserweight division. It just doesn't feel like it's as important, at least the way they present it on air, as it should. And that's the problem that I have.
Yeah, and because again I know I always keep bringing back up, but I remember how it was in the Ruthless Aggression era and how they weren't kind of just segregated into their own TV show, and the Cruiserweights could also be taken seriously, Like look at Raymond Sierra Eastern as the cruiserweight. I remember the days of Titchierri being a cruiseweight and all these guys who were just taking more seriously because they could sometimes compete with guys on
the main roster. So I have had a bit of a hard time taking the Cruiserweights seriously because even how they treat the cruiser eights when they jump up to raw like it's almost like they're graduating to the big show.
So I'm almost like, oh, Okay, So is this like kind of on the par with NXT Because when Cedric Alexander jumped from two to five Live to RAW, I was at the two five Live there in Montreal on his final show, and it was almost like he was saying goodbye, he was moving on to bigger and better things. So on that respect, I've always kind of had a hard time getting emotionally invested into the new version of the Cruiserweight Division.
WWE is just not doing what they should be to get people to care because they probably think people don't care. But the ironic thing is that people don't care because they are showing us they don't care, So how are we supposed to care? It's this vicious circle, and I just they aren't showing the respect that they should be for these athletes that are putting on matches that are going overlooked by the majority of fans because WWU is not presenting them as as a big of a deal
as they should be, so fans aren't tuning in. And and again it's just like this self fulfilling prophecy of c These people aren't paying attention, they don't care. Well, we don't care because you're telling us. You don't care, so how are we supposed to? It's just this, this, and I really believe that that's the psychology going on behind the scenes, and it's just it's a shame because of the fact of how good some of these guys
are so antony. Anything else that we didn't touch on that you wanted to discuss.
No, I think we covered everything up the bottom the We really touched on all bases this week.
I find.
We did. We did, and it's easy. It's crazy how fast two hours can go when you're talking wrestling. It's it's amazing. Like I'm looking at I'm like, oh, it's probably been an hour, right, No, it's been two hours. So it's just that's what professional wrestling does. And I'm not complaining because that's that's what we love to tell talk about. And it's always great to be able to bring people on the show that are so much fun to talk to, and it's great to have you here
as a co host. So, but before we let you go, let everyone know where they can follow you as an official co host now.
And you can follow me at aid to Marcos twenty five. I'll put out this caution if you're gonna follow me. I hope you like hockey, because I'm all about that. I'm sure you've seen that. Matt especially was the last month or so.
I'm big into hockey. But yeah, at Aid to Marco's twenty five was my handle.
And I just want to say thank you again Matt for choosing me to be one of the permanent co hosts, and thank you to everyone who wanted me to be one of the permanent co host I expressed my absolute gratitude and it's my pleasure and I can't wait to do it again in three.
Weeks definitely, I mean it three weeks flies by. I know it seems like a long time, but it'll be here sooner than you think. And yeah, if you like hockey, it is a good follow. I do say that, like I am a casual hockey fan. I mean, being from the United States, it's not as like Rabbit as it is in Canada. However, you know, once the playoffs come around in NHL gets into the mix here like I do, kind of pop in. So if you do like hockey, it's a good follow. You should you should definitely do that.
And Anthony, it's been a pleasure and always good talking with you, and we will definitely be in touch and you'll be on the show sooner than you think.
All right, then, have a good night and can't wait to do it again in three weeks.
Definitely, take care, take care,