Latest / Singlets & Suplexes: A Pro Wrestling Podcast / 19 - Surviving A Heat Wave And Getting Sweaty About Wrestling

Transcript

19 - Surviving A Heat Wave And Getting Sweaty About Wrestling · Singlets & Suplexes: A Pro Wrestling Podcast

0:46
Hello, welcome to Singlets and Suplexes, a pro wrestling
0:51
podcast. I am one of your hosts, Pete.
0:55
Evening. I am the other host, Luke.
0:58
How we're doing. I'm doing pretty good.
1:01
Obviously it's a two man announce booth.
1:02
As always here on SNS Pod Luke, it's too hot.
1:07
I know a few weeks ago I was talking about how I was wearing
1:09
a woody hat because I was feeling cold and had a snooly
1:10
nose and a week or two weeks later on here in the North East
1:14
England I am sweating my tits off.
1:17
Well, it's been a heat wave hasn't it's been a lovely bank
1:19
holiday weekend, but I've had too much sun think I've got a
1:22
bit of heat stroke. I'm very tired.
1:23
Might be with delirious. So let's see how this goes.
1:26
But it has been very hot. Heat wave was that was it WCW
1:30
heat wave was it ACW? There's definitely a
1:32
pay-per-view, isn't there? Called heat wave, but.
1:34
I was about to say that it's definitely one of those two.
1:36
I'm not going to try which one. I'll tell you what.
1:38
I'll do a quick I'll do a quick search.
1:40
While I was talking about yes, I prefer my heat waves in
1:42
wrestling are not actually happening in real life, although
1:45
I do hate the cold, so maybe I am just a moaner.
1:48
What do you think? Maybe he's a moaner, like I'll
1:50
take the heat. Like I was just silly by taking
1:53
my hat off yesterday. That's why I've got sunstroke.
1:55
But I'll always take the heat. Me, I'd love to live that
1:57
Orlando lifestyle. I'd love to be a Florida man.
2:02
That's where you want to live. Yeah, I spy out to be a Florida
2:05
man. It's me.
2:07
It's my favorite song in the hit musical.
2:12
The moments, I don't know if you've seen it.
2:13
I have yes, Yeah of a sudden, an empire when it was on tour.
2:18
Fantastic song called Orlando. It is always.
2:23
Heat wave. ACW Heat wave.
2:26
So yes, there's a professional wrestling event originally
2:30
produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1994 to 2000.
2:34
So run for six years, Luke. Yeah, I can see your videos like
2:38
the old videotapes used to have in global because I was more of
2:41
a global man than a blockbuster. There's a there's a niche UK
2:44
reference. Indeed, and then for the more
2:47
modern audience it was. The most recent addition of the
2:49
event was WWENXT Heat Wave that took place in August 24th, 2025.
2:55
Oh, they were good movies actually.
2:56
I was thinking of it then. Yeah, and actually are quite
2:58
good at really brilliant because they do Halloween Havoc as well,
3:01
don't they? They do indeed.
3:04
They do pretty well. But yes, it's it's very hot
3:07
here. And obviously while you're hot,
3:10
you also have to stay clean, don't you, Luke?
3:12
You do, yes, and the best way to keep clean is if you've got a
3:15
tidy house, always start at home.
3:18
Yes, always start at home. Let's do some housekeeping and
3:21
we're going to dive into the Spotify housekeeping first.
3:25
So also don't know, we start the show with the unofficial segment
3:28
called housekeeping. So we dive into sort of listener
3:30
questions, thoughts, maybe tie into some things from last
3:33
week's episode. And the way to do it is on
3:36
Spotify. If you listen on Spotify, you
3:38
can leave comments and you can take part in polls that we put
3:42
up on the episode as they go out.
3:44
So the comments will be reading from Spotify are on last week's
3:46
episode. So if you were listening this
3:47
week, listening right now in real life in the future, and you
3:51
want to leave a comment or a question, do it and then it'll
3:53
be picked up on the next episode.
3:55
That's how easy it is. If you want Spotify, you can
3:57
also follow us on Instagram at SAS Wrestling Pod.
4:01
That is a good place to also interact with us on social media
4:05
and get to be a part of housekeeping.
4:08
We're going to dive straight into the pool on Spotify, Luke,
4:10
if that's all right. Which would you prefer?
4:14
Some Aslam would give four options, Kodi versus Punk, Kodi
4:17
versus Bala, Kodi versus Gunther, Gunta versus Bala, 100%
4:22
of the vote all went for Cody versus Bala.
4:24
So, you know, last week the podcast seemed to be interested
4:27
in Finn Balan, his resurgence. And 100% of the people who voted
4:31
say they won Cody versus Finn Balor at Summer Slam.
4:33
What's your thoughts on that? Yeah, I think it'll be a really
4:35
cool way to go. I think a Cody heel turn might
4:39
be sooner rather than later, the way things are looking.
4:42
So obviously you've got Balor on his own now and that could be a
4:44
first nice little kind of rivalry, Cody, Balor with Cody
4:47
kind of going into that as the the baddie, if you want to put
4:51
it like that. So yeah, that is a good show
4:53
because I think Punk, Cody, that's got WrestleMania written
4:55
all over it for me. So I think.
4:57
So the only that thing, the realistic option maybe be a
5:00
rematch with Gunther. But then I suppose how see how
5:03
King King of the Ring pans out. But we'll talk about that a bit
5:06
more. Maybe he's in We can review King
5:08
of the Ring. We certainly will going into the
5:12
comments now on the spot on the Spotify episode, Lou said.
5:15
How do you feel about putting the moment in time match out in
5:18
advance so we can watch it before listening to the episode?
5:20
And then Wells jumped on that scene.
5:22
Great idea, Interactive. Luke, do you think that's
5:25
something that we could do? You think that people want that?
5:27
I think it's just these two super fans.
5:29
No, I think it's great minds think alike because it's
5:31
something that I've thought about before, but I've thought
5:33
about it a bit more this week because kind of, you know, as we
5:37
know, we're kind of trying to give people as much as we can
5:39
with this. And we're going to have some
5:40
extra stuff coming out, including some interviews and
5:43
kind of some of the interviews that we've got lined up to
5:45
record soon. We are getting the special
5:48
guests to pick a match for a moment in time.
5:50
So we're going to bring one of our segments into the interview.
5:52
So I think it's a really good segment.
5:55
And if that's what people want, I think it's a good thing
5:57
because our friend Matt as well once asked as in advance what
6:00
we're doing that week so we could get it watched.
6:02
And I think, yeah, it makes it more interactive.
6:04
So yeah, absolutely, because we always pick it well in advance.
6:06
So yeah, also I pointed out there on the Instagram.
6:08
And then again, if people want to send comments in in advance,
6:11
we can kind of add that to our analysis of it.
6:13
So 100% I think we should do that.
6:16
So I will look to see what sort of images and that now so much I
6:19
can do do an Instagram post once we've decided what what the
6:24
moment in time is and get that put out on Instagram.
6:26
So therefore you will have to be following us at SAS wrestling
6:29
pod to do that. It's our only social media
6:31
account and it's the only one we're going to have in for the
6:34
foreseeable future. I can't see that changing
6:36
anytime soon. So that is where you will need
6:38
to be for that. Wells then jump on with some
6:41
more comments on the episode. So to know where this came from
6:44
when he put one photo of listeners Channel 4 documentary
6:48
Wrestling with Trump, it looks at how Trump uses wrestling
6:51
traits, shoots and KFAB across the political landscape.
6:55
It's a classic Channel 4 doc. Get on it.
6:58
Luke. Have you heard of Wrestling with
6:59
Trump and how it shows you how Trump uses wrestling psychology
7:03
to be How did the world be sorry?
7:06
I have and again, great mindset, right?
7:08
We've got a good community here because not only I put it on and
7:12
within 5 minutes I've started taking a load of notes on it
7:15
because I think it could be quite an interesting one off
7:17
special to look at. Or maybe, you know, do it as
7:20
part of a week in review if you can watch it.
7:22
Because, yes, it's a fantastic documentary, actually.
7:25
And I forget his name, but he's a comedian who's fronting it,
7:28
and he's a big wrestling fan. And he goes to some kind of
7:31
local schools as well. The kind of, you know, bolt the
7:33
documentary out. And yeah, it's really, really
7:35
good actually. The Guardian even give it four
7:37
stars. So there you go, Guardian, given
7:39
some of the wrestling and four stars.
7:41
There you go. I mean, I haven't seen the doc,
7:42
but I think whenever he's on telly, I always turn to Louise,
7:46
my wife, and say like, oh, like he's just just using what he's
7:50
learned watching wrestling here and being friends with wrestlers
7:52
over the past few decades. Like to absolutely just, you
7:56
know, he's pointing across or just numb the audience the way
8:00
that it doesn't matter what he says.
8:02
No, 100%. And like it's character work,
8:04
isn't it? And it might be something that's
8:05
a bit relevant that kind of did. Did he read, did they really say
8:09
this this week as well? So I'll try and kind of circle
8:11
back to that. But no, it is, it's fantastic
8:12
documentary, great show for Wells kind of letting the
8:15
community out there know about it.
8:16
But yes, it's on 4oD. I've got notes on it.
8:19
So maybe, yeah, we'll might talk about that at a later date
8:21
because it's one of those documentaries where I feel like
8:24
it might become a bit timeless and that it doesn't really
8:27
matter when you talk about it. I think unfortunately it's going
8:29
to have a lot of relevance for a long time to come.
8:32
Certainly could. Walzone came with a knock knock
8:34
comment and he's put another idea for a section of the pod
8:38
promo of the week past and present.
8:40
Why was it good? What was the build up and what
8:43
did it lead to on the Fallout AG sunny days?
8:45
Ha, I did it for the Rock and classic Austin 316 I think.
8:49
Great ideas. I think as it stands, the show's
8:51
pretty much jam packed. I think, you know, down the line
8:55
we might take segments out and put new segments in and that is
8:59
certainly a very, very good segment idea.
9:00
Wells, we do appreciate you putting that in.
9:02
But I think in the short term, I think we'll stick to stick to
9:05
our formula for now. I wouldn't want to take
9:07
something out to put that in, if that makes sense, Luke.
9:08
And if you start putting more things in, we get long, that's
9:11
more prep work. We actually do this while we
9:13
work full time jobs and have family lives as well.
9:17
What's your thoughts on that, Luke?
9:18
No, again, it's another good point to kind of for the for the
9:21
whiteboard, the chalkboard. But I mean, we could even, you
9:24
know, Panda do if we wanted because a moment in time could
9:26
be a promo. And as you were kind of reading
9:28
that out there, there's a promo that comes straight to my head
9:31
there that I'll make a note of. So yeah, maybe we'll do a promo
9:34
for a moment in time because we have always done matches.
9:37
But as we've said, when we're kind of go over that feature
9:40
doesn't necessarily have to be that.
9:42
It's just that's what it's always been in the kind of early
9:44
days of SAS. I feel though from home in time,
9:48
but we couldn't do Austin 3 to 16 because everyone that's one
9:51
everyone knows, right so. No, no.
9:54
So like I say, I've got a good one though that I think die hard
9:58
will know, but it would definitely be worth one way if
10:00
we put it out in advance as well.
10:01
I think people will enjoy it a lot and.
10:05
Then he's also but also thoughts on this.
10:07
If Roman does come up against Oba, would it be the tribal
10:11
chief versus the ruler? Is that the angle?
10:14
I do feel the push they've given to Jacob leads to something
10:17
they've really invested in character depth and family
10:20
tradition. The depth grip as an example.
10:23
Does he get a run or is it just building him to main event
10:26
status so he's ready for when that time comes?
10:29
I think was a sort of saying they're like he probably doesn't
10:32
think Jacob takes the belt and if Jacob doesn't all be going
10:35
towards a Roman versus or by family storyline.
10:39
I think so. I think that's where we'll go.
10:41
I think it'll be Roman Orba 100%.
10:44
But yeah, I think it just leaves Jacob ready to go do something
10:46
else where maybe he goes to smack down because I think
10:49
there's more chance from taking the belt off of someone like a
10:52
Cody or a gun theft gun that gets the belt.
10:54
I just can't see it being Roman this time round.
10:57
I think it is all kind of, in my opinion, roads leading to the
11:01
ruler versus the tribal chief. No, definitely.
11:06
I think for me, and again, since Wales put them comments in,
11:09
we've had, you know, a smack down starting to be an event in
11:12
Raw where again, it's further the the whole warfare, they were
11:16
a bit more respectful on Raw with each other.
11:18
And like, yeah, trial warfare is going to be or tribal combat's
11:21
going to be wild. Whoever wins becomes a tribal
11:25
chief and the world heavyweight champion at the same time.
11:28
I think I could say going to the point where, you know, Jake gets
11:30
beat narrowly and then he sort of acknowledges Roman in a
11:33
respectful way. But time will tell us that come
11:37
up next week, right. So we haven't got too much
11:39
longer to go for that. Moving over to Instagram.
11:44
So again, if you follow us on SAS wrestling pod, you can sort
11:47
of take part lots of different things and then interact with
11:49
us. We also on the day of our on the
11:51
morning we're going to record the new episode.
11:53
We put a post up in our stories where you can leave a question.
11:57
Obviously we're a day early this week recording on this is
12:00
Tuesday, so we've had one question come through and they
12:04
usually have a few more, but obviously that's how we are
12:05
recording a bit early. So we'll probably have caught
12:07
some people off guard and this ties into something that I've
12:10
got for my week in review, but I'm going to read out anyway.
12:13
So question comes from Geordie and he says, is there a Saturday
12:16
Night's Main event problem where they just don't feel big anymore
12:20
like Cena aside in the big Cena special, Like when was the last
12:24
like memorable Saturday Night's Main event?
12:27
And I've got some faults off on my negatives for we can review,
12:31
which I'll save for them. Luke.
12:34
I mean there were always meant to be AB pay-per-view though I
12:37
think like again, there is a lot of negatives from the one that
12:40
we've had this week, which we'll no doubt get into in a in a
12:43
moment there. But yeah, I feel like they were
12:45
always, I think it's kind of pitched as a lower level
12:48
pay-per-view. So it doesn't bother me as much,
12:50
especially because the run times normally only about two hours.
12:53
I think this one was one of the more weaker ones, definitely.
12:57
But I think overall, I always enjoy them and I don't think
12:59
they're ever kind of pitched higher than what they're meant
13:02
to be, if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, as a as a show, I
13:05
enjoyed it. As a show, I think I just felt
13:07
that like, and I'm getting it, but like I feel it was just a
13:12
shorter build, something to add more things for the
13:14
pay-per-view, which that's what they do.
13:16
That's what they do. But it does take some of like
13:19
the ice not to take cake of like what?
13:22
What it could be? Maybe, I don't know.
13:23
No, definitely. Like I say, it was a, it was a
13:25
very poor one I thought this week.
13:27
But like I say, I don't mind it if it kind of progresses things.
13:31
But yeah, there was some stuff that was progressed on this one,
13:33
which will come to in the negatives where just it had no
13:36
right to be on something what was technically a pay-per-view.
13:39
Indeed, let's move in a week in review.
13:42
This is where we look at a couple of things, usually two to
13:45
three things each that me and Luke have liked and then maybe
13:48
not liked as much. Positive negatives from the past
13:51
week in professional wrestling. Luke, if you want to go first,
13:54
we are first positive. Yeah, because I want to be
13:56
greedy this week. So I've had a really nice week
13:58
of watching stuff with all the stuff that's been there to
14:00
consume. So I've definitely got more than
14:02
three, but I kind of do mine in order of when they come out.
14:05
So I thought Smackdown was a bit of a kind of filler show this
14:07
week, but I did enjoy this main event of Cody and Sammy.
14:11
So I thought obviously the build up of Sammy kind of kicking off
14:14
on Nick Aldis, calling Cody, Golden Boy Cody, hearing them
14:18
and going off. I'll have a match with you then
14:20
if you think you're getting kind of written off the show.
14:23
And then I like the match. I thought those two have got
14:24
really good together. I think we're definitely going
14:27
to get a storyline with them soon.
14:28
We'll get something more fleshed out.
14:30
And then I thought was really nicely done how at the end of
14:33
the match, Gunther choking Sammy out and Cody plays the scumbag.
14:37
It's not Cody, sorry. Gunther choking Cody out, and
14:40
Sammy plays the scumbag and just leaves them to it.
14:43
He could have helped his friend, but he walked away.
14:45
The descent and the spiral of Sami Zayn continues.
14:48
And I thought it was a really cool visual of him, like looking
14:50
at him in the ring, turning around outside.
14:53
And I thought, yeah, the I'm really enjoying the kind of slow
14:56
burn he'll turn of Sami Zayn, especially with him kind of
15:00
playing dumb to it where he's like, I just don't get it.
15:02
Like, I'm a good guy. I think whenever you've got to
15:04
tell people you're a good guy, you're probably not.
15:06
And I think he's playing it really well.
15:09
Certainly is nothing for me. I think it was it was coming to
15:12
a point now where it was time to turn the gusset with a little
15:13
bit on it and that's what they did.
15:15
Perfect timing. Sammy shouting off again.
15:19
Cody come across reverse course. Well I'll fight him then.
15:21
Like Cody didn't back down, didn't try and save the French.
15:23
It was like well I'll fight if you want to fight.
15:25
Then Sammy said Oh well not really but OK.
15:27
And then they have the match now.
15:28
I said Cody wins. And then we have Sammy sort of
15:34
doesn't really know what to do, does he?
15:36
You can see part of him maybe he thinks I will get involved and
15:39
he then he doesn't. And inaction is what is the
15:42
crime. He does not get involved.
15:43
He does not help his friend. And yes, we are seeing Sami Zayn
15:46
turn into the heels. Sami Zayn, which, you know,
15:50
hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll see that turn continue and
15:52
we'll see where it goes. But when he was a heel last
15:55
time, it worked when he was in the Continental champion, I
15:57
believe. So I think we're ready for this.
15:59
And then if you turn him heels sooner often, yeah, it means you
16:02
can turn him back with Horus, a Mania in Saudi Arabia, where
16:05
he's over as hell as a babyface. Definitely.
16:07
And I could see him maybe he's getting involved now in the Cody
16:10
Gunther match where Gunther maybe he's leaves with the belt
16:13
at clash in Italy. And then he could maybe get like
16:15
a triple threat where Sammy's like, well, I'm one of the only
16:17
people in the history of the company that have actually beat
16:19
Gunther for a title. And obviously Cody getting a
16:22
rematch in there. I think, yeah, I think the maybe
16:24
he's planting some seeds for Sammy to have some involvement
16:26
there this coming Sunday. No, definitely.
16:34
So that was also one of my positives.
16:35
Just to give you a heads up, Luke, what's your next positive?
16:37
So this one come from AW collision in the lead in to the
16:41
pay-per-view. So it was champ and Briscoe.
16:43
They've had a kind of on and off feud because of kind of Briscoe
16:46
having a bit of an injury champ coming in, taking the TNT title
16:49
off them. That a really cool little fun
16:51
spot fest match, kind of really like nice, like hardcore spots.
16:54
I thought it was fun, but I just thought pick that was a
16:56
highlight because I think AW hire a lot of people who leave
17:00
WWE and bring a lot of people in and they kind of debut them and
17:03
then they disappear. But I think the overall
17:05
presentation of champ has been fantastic.
17:07
Like from him debuting, he's won the TNT title, lost the TNT
17:11
title, turned heel, had a world title match against Derby Allen,
17:16
kind of resurrected his psycho killer gimmick, which was kind
17:20
of what he was doing in NXT and obviously the Indies before
17:23
that. And I just think it's quite
17:24
interesting kind of parallel where, yeah, you know, the two
17:27
different people. But if you look at what he's
17:29
done in like, you know, the 2-3 months he's been in, in AW those
17:35
whole two or three months, Johnny Gargano has been lying
17:37
down on a pallet backstage. And I think it's quite an
17:41
interesting parallel to where they're going at the moment.
17:43
It looks like maybe he's Gargon who might be getting paid with
17:46
Sammy's in. But I just think, you know, that
17:48
falls in one of my small like like I guess small negative not
17:51
to go on about it for how just the weird Buchanan of Gargon or
17:54
just being depressed and lying about against kind of how well
17:57
Champ has been presented in AW. Yeah, I think Tom Gargon, I
18:02
think I've been a bit funny with it and showing them being
18:05
depressed in like a few weeks of that worked, but now it's like
18:10
it's overrun too long and I feel like, has he just been ribbed?
18:14
Obviously this past few weeks we've seen him interact with
18:16
Sammy where I think week before last he sort of looked up at
18:18
Sammy and Sammy's walked away. And this week Sammy walked away.
18:21
He did like knock a water bottle over, which is what Sammy's been
18:23
doing a lot of lately. So hopefully it builds him like
18:26
just become a chicken shit, real heel.
18:28
Doesn't have to be depressed anymore, like lying around lazy,
18:31
like cover him in the ring wrestling because that's what
18:32
he's good at. I just think, why are you
18:35
paying? Especially when you're talking
18:36
about saving money and making cutbacks in getting wrestlers to
18:39
take pay cuts and releasing people.
18:41
Like if his only part that shows the line a pallet for three
18:43
seconds, then like fireman, like you know what I mean?
18:47
I don't mean that nasty way, but like he can get work anywhere
18:49
else in the world, right? You would think so, yeah, 100%.
18:52
And yeah, let's say just a cotton look, what is their mates
18:55
doing in AW? And I'm someone who can be quite
18:57
critical sometimes when they bring Putin to AW because it's
19:00
kind of the there that week and then you just don't see them for
19:02
months. But I think Chamba's
19:03
presentation has been excellent and he looks, I think it's good
19:06
when you see someone who looks like he's just fully kind of
19:08
like got a new lease on life where like, yeah, it's exciting
19:11
to see he's been doing some really good stuff.
19:13
And that I say that match was a fun, fun match with Bear Bear
19:16
Briscoe. One of my positives is and I
19:25
sort of I really enjoyed watching the vision at Saturday
19:29
night's main event and then on raw.
19:32
Obviously, you know, we hear about the injury to Logan Paul
19:37
and I thought I'll be really enjoying theory like in the
19:41
vision lately, in the past few weeks, I think he's really been
19:43
getting his personality across, but also getting his tenacity
19:46
across. I think he looks jacked, more
19:47
jacked than he ever has. He looks like a mean, a mean mug
19:50
guy, right, which is good. And I think, I don't know if you
19:54
saw, but obviously he came and attacked Johanna and enjoyed he
19:56
was singing a song, making fun of.
20:00
Looking forward the chain. Oh, I did.
20:01
I did say it because that kind of, I know it wasn't a headshot,
20:04
but when that kind of head chair headshot where Henry was wrapped
20:07
around the bottom player turnbuckle, it was it was
20:10
vicious. I think that's possibly the most
20:12
vicious you've ever seen theory. And this is someone who has had
20:14
a couple of cracks at a singles run.
20:16
So yeah, like theories, presentation, coming off the
20:19
bat, the injury, definitely good stuff.
20:22
So yeah, I just, I just like where it's going and I just
20:24
think like you can do it. Like, I think he's got a lot of
20:28
upside. And I think in the past we've
20:30
seen him, you know, when he was been some man's chosen one.
20:33
We still like the baby face, good looks, you know, and the
20:35
the cool hair. You know what I mean?
20:37
Like, he was a baddie, but he was like, you know, like trying
20:39
to be handsome, where now he's like, he's a mean mugger heel.
20:43
He's jacked. He's dangerous, but he's also
20:45
nasty. Yeah.
20:47
Like, I'm all for it. So hopefully they keep building
20:49
this version of Austin Theory. No, definitely.
20:51
And I think it kind of ties into a negative for me because like
20:54
obviously with the Logan Paul injury now, it's like the
20:57
vision's fucking done. It's been done for a while
20:59
anyways. But like I hate the fact that
21:01
like Heyman's just like, well, you are still tag team champion
21:04
by Defect or now Brom break as the other half of the tag team
21:07
champions. And I think you need to get
21:09
Break away on his own. I think you need to get Theory
21:11
away on his own. It looks like they're doing
21:13
something with Maxine Dupree in theory.
21:15
There's been little clips of them backstage together kind of
21:18
in the background and then the kind of reference each other
21:21
this week on raw property for the first time.
21:22
So I think you just need to get the belt off from ASAP St.
21:26
profits or more than the right tag team to do that.
21:29
And then it's just done. You have theories.
21:31
His own Portmouth, Maxine Dupree and Brom breaker doesn't need
21:34
anyone. Just break that up because like
21:36
you say, the presentation of theory.
21:38
Excellent. But yeah, like with another
21:40
injury now it's like it never got started and it's just done.
21:44
Like I'm just please see the visions done.
21:48
And then Logan, not like Joe, Joe Henry is one of my like
21:52
slight negatives because I think he obviously did that song
21:54
called Fire Logan Paul, which got over.
21:56
And then he was then I feel like I didn't see him for a few
21:58
weeks. He wasn't involved and then he
22:00
wasn't involved in the science main event.
22:01
And then he was back on role this week after all the hard
22:04
work's been done. I just think like, where have
22:07
you, where have you been? Like why aren't you getting your
22:08
hands dirty to help your friends?
22:11
Well, no, 100% is that, but it kind of falls into our thing of
22:14
like we were on the fence about how he would land and at the
22:16
minute he's already looking like he's getting lost in the
22:19
shuffle. Because, you know, one of my big
22:21
positives of the week is like the IC title picture generally.
22:25
So I thought like the best match on the card Main event was Penta
22:29
versus Ethan Page. I would like to have seen Paige
22:32
take the title, but you know, money's in the chase and all
22:34
that. And then obviously you have that
22:36
great match on Main event. You then go straight into row
22:39
where you have another banger between Javon Evans and Penta
22:42
for the IC title. You've got Penta, what in the
22:45
face, Ray, you've got Rusev in there doing probably, I think
22:48
the best work he's done since he's been back.
22:50
He looked like a real monster in there with Rey Mysterio.
22:53
And I think it's a really exciting icy title picture with
22:55
Ray Javon, Ethan Rousseff. So again, you've got this like,
23:00
you know, red hot icy title picture at the minute.
23:03
Henry's nowhere near that. He's nowhere near the world
23:06
title. So again, yeah, kind of sheds a
23:09
bit more light on the fact that it looks like he's already
23:11
getting lost in the shuffle, doesn't it?
23:13
No, it certainly does. One of my other positives was
23:17
Carmelo Hayes. Melo, obviously.
23:19
I say he's back last week. You know he's in a match again
23:21
this week. Trick Williams, he looked great,
23:24
obviously not quite the result, but I think I don't know if you
23:27
saw the backstage interaction, obviously Ricky Sainz got
23:30
involved in the match and then obviously backstage Ricky Sainz
23:32
was cutting a promo, an interview with Kathy and Mel
23:36
came and got him as if you say, like do not get involved in my
23:39
fucking business. And I think we've seen a little
23:41
bit of a mean streak to Carmelo, which I think is needed to take
23:45
him to the next level. And it's great to see that
23:47
tenacity in him. And it's like, I'm all here for
23:49
what Carmelo has does next. And when he's doing bits, adding
23:52
bits to his car like this, he doesn't need to be for a belt.
23:54
You can you can now have views of people without belting when
23:57
he's, when he's adding this little bit in there.
23:59
Yeah, definitely, and I hope it does come because considering he
24:03
was US champion with an open challenge for nearly two months,
24:06
do you know, again, it's just something that I saw kind, you
24:08
know, he's never had a match on a pay-per-view yet.
24:11
Like, AW, obviously he's NXC. He has.
24:13
But yeah, Dual Mellows never actually been on a pay-per-view
24:15
since he got called off. So there we go.
24:18
We need, we need to rectify, don't we?
24:19
Once he once he gets in a situation where you can.
24:21
No, 100%, yeah. And like I say, obviously, yeah,
24:25
like you say that US title pictures looking good on
24:27
Smackdown, IC title pictures excellent as well.
24:29
Kind of one of my positives as well on Main Event where I
24:31
thought they did well, kind of circling about the IC title for
24:34
the tag team and the IC title. Again, we've talked about how
24:37
much we think we are very good at these.
24:39
The the video packages leading up to them where they did kind
24:41
of a mini history of the tag belt and the IC Championship.
24:44
I thought they did a really good job of kind of adding that extra
24:48
prestige to these belts. No, they certainly did.
24:52
They certainly did. Then another positive for me is
24:55
I watched AAA this week as I thought this week was the mask
24:59
versus mask match and I was intrigued to see what would
25:02
happen with Kaiser. So have you, obviously, Did you
25:04
see what happened with Kaiser and his girlfriend, first of
25:06
all, because that kind of leads into this.
25:07
I've. Always been arrested because he
25:09
assaulted somebody. And I think looks like he's
25:12
assaulted some because the person was being racist towards
25:15
his girlfriend. And I think, you know, it's
25:17
wrong to assault someone. Absolutely.
25:18
But I think if somebody pushes your buttons, then who knows
25:22
what you'll do to protect your loved ones, right?
25:23
So I'm not going to judge them too harsh because I think, you
25:27
know, this guy was looking for a bit of trouble and he found
25:29
trouble. No, 100%.
25:31
So that's that's obviously a negative, but it's a positive
25:33
because I was hoping that I wasn't going to kind of stop
25:36
what he was doing in AAA and it hasn't.
25:38
So again, the AAA show I watched, although it wasn't the
25:40
mask versus mask match, always enjoy them when I watched it.
25:44
Really cool because at the start of the show you had Ray Mysterio
25:46
announces the new AAA GMGM, which I think's a cool little
25:50
thing. I think I think they are doing a
25:52
lot to get extra eyes on it. And I think Ray Mysterio will be
25:55
in the GM of the kind of, you know, massive Mexican wrestling
25:59
company. That's fucking cool, isn't it?
26:01
It's very cool. When I seen that I was like
26:03
right, obviously ways Ray is winding down apparently as we
26:07
know and he has been for the past year.
26:09
He's probably still got a year left wing and probably and I
26:11
think for him to go and work in AAA and then be the GM as well,
26:16
I think it sets it away. We know Mark Calloway, the
26:18
Undertaker sort of is doing a bit of booking down there.
26:21
I don't think he's like the head head honcho.
26:22
Maybe he is, but like he's doing a lot of booking down there.
26:24
But I think on screen GM role you can't really have him doing
26:28
it, so makes perfect sense. I've really Mysterio doing it.
26:32
No, I do. I just love the overall
26:33
presentation of it. And look, there might be some
26:35
diehards of that particular kind of wrestling.
26:37
I hate this, but I just love how like in 2026 you've got kind of
26:41
a AAA show that's going out there where you've got, you
26:44
know, in the background, you've got fucking the Undertaker
26:46
Hilton book it, you've got JPL on commentary, you've got
26:49
fucking Rey Mysterio as the GM now.
26:51
I think it's just, I don't know, there's something like it just
26:53
sounds like a mad fever dream and I think but when you watch
26:57
it, it's just loads of fun. And again, it's one of those
26:59
ones as well where it's kind of like an hour to two hours.
27:01
So you can just kind of nip in there whenever we know you're
27:03
going to have a good time. And kind of deposited from as
27:05
well as not just Reobe in the GM, but the main event kind of
27:09
ended with both Americanos brawling it out.
27:12
The original Grand Americano, who I believe may be Chad Gable,
27:16
I don't know, but that's the rumour, unveiled the T-shirt
27:19
with Kaiser's girlfriend on it and he lost the plot and broke
27:23
the new contact rules. So I thought that is good
27:25
because I think that's kind of WWE triple AC and yeah, he's not
27:29
in any trouble, don't worry about that.
27:30
And it's really interesting because whenever they've kind of
27:34
had the El Grande is on Raw, it's felt a bit shit and tired
27:39
and like it's run it's course. But in that crowd in like AAA,
27:44
like the really fucking into it. And it's it's different.
27:46
Like I'm invested in it again because the crowd are so into
27:49
it. And I think it's really
27:50
impressive the job Kaiser has done to get that gimmick over
27:54
like the absolutely love them. And it's like it's a completely
27:58
different feeling when you watch the presentation of it in AAA to
28:00
when the kind of drag it out on Raw.
28:03
And like I say, I tuned in this week thinking it was that much
28:05
and it wasn't. But it's this Saturday, so I'll
28:07
be watching the two weeks in a row now.
28:09
And I think you've got the Viking Raiders down there as
28:11
well competing for the tag titles as well.
28:12
So we've got another cool AAA show coming up this weekend as
28:16
well as Clash in Italy. So yeah, really enjoyed AAA this
28:19
week. I think that's just more than I
28:21
think we've seen a lot of them on the main rosters.
28:23
I think maybe maybe keep that battle happening down there.
28:26
You know, I imagine Chad Gable loses and he comes back because
28:29
he can't beat Chad Gable on the main roster where I feel this Al
28:32
Grande Americano who was little bit Kaiser is like a lot more
28:36
over with the with the with the Mexican fans down in Tripoli.
28:41
So makes sense. And I noticed as well that his
28:43
tag team that he has with him, it was it's essentially Pete
28:47
Doan and Tyler Beer, right, pretending Mexicans they've sort
28:50
of couldn't like promos in Mexican now even like on on
28:52
Instagram and YouTube like on the way.
28:54
So they're obviously getting into and learning it.
28:56
So like, why not keep those three as like this faction
28:59
because is a cultural appropriation.
29:02
I don't know, possibly, but it's wrestling.
29:03
Hey, it's fun. But I think these three are
29:05
putting all the heart and soul into it and or, you know,
29:08
putting in really good entertainment.
29:10
I think the Creed Brothers getting involved was set when it
29:13
further over the line of kind of cultural appropriation.
29:15
But when you like I say, when you watch the AAA shows, which
29:19
you know, it's in Mexico, it's the people who kind of love that
29:22
style of Russian lucha libre, the Mexican wrestling, like
29:25
they've fully embraced it. And like you say, like how much
29:27
he's got that gimmick over. Like there's a video doing
29:29
around somewhere. I don't know if it was like him
29:31
walking into the arena or if it was like some meet and greet
29:35
thing, but it was the first appearance after his arrest and
29:38
the crowd was just like like he was nearly in tears because like
29:41
they're just absolutely love him and like the way how over he is.
29:45
Like he just seems like the logical choice that he gets the
29:48
mask off Chad and then goes on takes the belt off Dom because
29:51
like it's insane how how you have to watch the shows to kind
29:55
of get how over he's managed to get that gimmick.
29:58
So like, fucking fair play to him.
30:01
No absolutely any more positive room.
30:03
Yeah. So it was AW their pay-per-view
30:07
this week double and often. And again, I've absolutely loved
30:10
it. So I kind of before we started
30:12
up this podcast as massively fell out of love with AW and
30:16
I've been watching it week on week every kind of since we've
30:18
started doing this and this pay-per-view just kind of
30:21
solidified me as being fully back in as an AW fan.
30:25
Like so first positive from it. I finally got the match I wanted
30:29
with edging Christian versus FTR open the show.
30:32
Fucking fantastic, exactly what you wanted.
30:35
Kind of, you know, it was a brawl that brought the different
30:37
storylines into it. Kind of I'll go over the finish
30:40
because I absolutely love the finish.
30:41
But like another highlight of the match was obviously, you
30:43
know, it was an I quit match. So there's a bit where cash try
30:45
to make Christians say I quit and you just went up, banged
30:48
your mom's. Like it was fucking hilarious.
30:50
Like it's so funny. Like like the one you just
30:53
weren't expecting something. He's like asked him if he's
30:55
going to quit. He's banged your mom's, so that
30:57
was really fun. But then, yeah, so I thought the
30:59
ending was pretty cool. So before you got to the ending,
31:02
you got a flaming table where they were setting it up to put
31:04
Beth through Bush and managed to escape, and Stokely got put
31:07
through the flaming table. And I don't know if I was just
31:10
being really nerdy, but I wonder if that was a little homage to
31:13
Edge and Foley's flaming table from WrestleMania, since he was
31:16
obviously made his AW debut. Do you reckon that was a homage
31:19
to their match? 100% of homage, yes.
31:22
Because it was everything, wasn't it?
31:23
The way it was set up, I really do think that was one for the
31:25
little wrestling nerds like us who enjoyed that.
31:28
But then, yeah, so it kind of talk you through the finish.
31:30
This is how I break down the finish.
31:31
So this is FTR taking all of this.
31:33
So it was a spear Dick, kick pile driver, scorpion deathlock,
31:38
cross face with a spike. And then the FTR said I quit.
31:42
I loved it. Like I say, that's an opening
31:44
match. That was what I wanted the last
31:46
time round. So yeah.
31:47
And then they kind of cherry on the top as he gets the edge of
31:50
Christian in 2026 as fucking tag team champions.
31:53
I just absolutely loved everything about that match.
31:56
Did you manage to catch it? So I've caught this match, yes.
31:58
And I didn't love it. And then did you see the message
32:02
from my party? Yeah, see him one more time that
32:05
that could be interesting with them being in TNA at the moment.
32:09
But yeah, I would love to see it.
32:11
I managed to catch the Hardy's match with the Dudley's.
32:13
It delivered for kind of, you know, especially kind of with
32:16
limitations at Devon and things like that, that was able to
32:19
deliver. Whereas this match obviously
32:22
both them are still kind of essentially work on full time,
32:24
give or take. So yeah, it'd be amazing to see
32:26
them go at it one more time. I don't know what the logistics
32:28
of it is, but yeah, I would love to see that.
32:31
It was great to see Matt here. He obviously said like, you
32:34
know, great work, congratulations as in Christian.
32:36
And then he tied it in without the end of saying, me and Jeff,
32:40
I got one more night of magic in US sometime in the future.
32:44
I don't know how I went, but let's do it.
32:45
So yes, exciting times. And then, yeah, go for it.
32:51
My last positive is I just loved how and again, it's so simple,
32:57
so to say I love swimming so simple.
32:59
Maybe I'm stupid, but like they didn't overdo it on on raw this
33:02
week. So it was like, you know, over
33:03
how he's on raw, he's angry comes up.
33:05
Paul Heyman doesn't hurt Paul Heyman.
33:07
No, because he wants them to send a message to Brock.
33:09
Tells Brock it's now personal. He says, you know, at at
33:13
WrestleMania. I was just trying to beat you,
33:15
you know, arc clash in Italy, I'm trying to kill you.
33:19
And you know, he's really upset about those 4 fives last week.
33:22
I think it was, it was simple story down, but they didn't
33:24
overdo it. I think sometimes in these
33:26
situations it's easy to overdo it.
33:27
But they didn't, they kept the top off, which was good.
33:30
And I think, you know, Brock, Brock put a video out as well.
33:33
So he wasn't on Raw when he put it.
33:34
There was a video that had on Raw Believe and on the Resources
33:37
where Brock sort of has cut his own promo to the camera saying,
33:41
you know, congratulations on WrestleMania, your beaters.
33:44
You give us an ass kicking, an ass kicking so hard that
33:46
actually I contemplated like a question why I even do this
33:49
anymore. But I took ass kickings before
33:52
and I've always come back from them.
33:53
And actually I'm ready to come back now and give you one.
33:56
But the question is, can you take one because you haven't
33:57
took one before. So again, it's just so simple,
33:59
but it gets us to this match, an epic rematch, a class that I'm
34:03
really excited for to see which way it goes because I couldn't
34:07
tell you which way it goes. If you asked us to pick now, I
34:09
couldn't tell you whether it goes broke off, it goes over.
34:11
No, 100% I agree with that. And you saying kind of it was
34:14
simple is a really good point to make because I think when this
34:18
rivalry has been at its best, it's just been the simple stuff
34:21
that's worked. And like you say, yeah, it was a
34:23
nice, you know, nice little go home for it and yeah, kind of
34:25
it. It makes sense, doesn't it, what
34:27
he said. So it's like, yeah, right, let's
34:29
go. Because I was when he come back
34:30
last week, I was a bit like, do I really want to see it again?
34:32
Could have hurt Oba's push, like what they're going to do.
34:35
But then that just simple explanation from Brock just kind
34:38
of got me back on board. So yeah, definitely see, you see
34:40
that as a positive. And I think, you know, see, if
34:45
this wasn't happening, I don't think Oba would have a match
34:48
right now. No, Well, this, I think this is
34:51
the problem where beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania the way
34:55
that he did is impressive as it was and as star making as it
34:59
was, you kind of book yourself into a corner a bit, isn't it?
35:01
Because then it's like who? Who can realistically come up,
35:04
put Ober in there with where it's going to be a credible
35:08
threat now? So yeah, so again, it kind of
35:10
for that reason as well, like having another match for Brock.
35:13
It works because it keeps over on TV in a way where there's
35:17
kind of engagement and unpredictability to it.
35:20
Not like them. Daft open challenges.
35:23
Yeah, and I feel, and everyone else was busy, right?
35:25
He couldn't go to a programmer. Roman couldn't go to a program
35:28
with Jacob, couldn't go to a program with Cody.
35:29
Like all these people are busy. So he's had to.
35:32
We've had to wait. So, like, why not have these
35:34
guys have a simple rematch that, like, is down to sort of, you
35:38
know, two big men who just want to beat the hell of each other
35:42
this time around? No, definitely, yeah.
35:45
So no, it is I say, I think, I think the whole card for Clash
35:48
in Italy this Sunday is very good.
35:50
And again, it's not the one that looking forward to.
35:52
And because in Italy I'll be able to watch it live and get
35:55
some tasty food in. So I am very much happy that it
35:57
is a European paper view this weekend.
36:01
Any more positive, Luke? Yeah.
36:03
So it's kind of roughly because I say how much as a whole I
36:05
enjoyed the kind of AW pay review card.
36:07
So I really enjoyed Takeshka card as much.
36:10
I think Takeshka for me is one of those ones where I think AW
36:13
has done a really good job of kind of building somebody up who
36:17
you didn't know a lot about. And I think he's someone who's
36:19
got kind of real promise in the kind of near future, who could
36:22
easily be a world champion. And I think sometimes the
36:25
promotions over here drop the ball a bit with these kind of
36:28
Japanese superstars who've got a name in Japan, but not over
36:31
here. I think that we kind of, as much
36:33
as I love them, have dropped the ball quite a lot with Nakamura.
36:37
And it's cool to see kind of Takashka kind of really getting
36:40
that kind of spotlight in AW where I think he's fully kind of
36:44
developed and built up in kind of front of, you know, an
36:46
American, you know, UK audience now.
36:49
So I really enjoyed that much. Osprey, Smart Joe really hard
36:53
hitting off 3 kind of off from the start.
36:55
That was really good. So yeah, really solid.
36:57
And then just a couple of negatives from the pair of you
36:58
because it wasn't all good. Did you catch any of the John
37:02
Moxley Kyle O'Reilly match? I have not.
37:05
So match itself was fine. I quite like their story.
37:08
How like Moxley's found this one guy just can't beat and then he
37:12
finally beat them and there was the respect there.
37:13
That's all good. That's fine.
37:14
That's storytelling. But they had Jr. on commentary
37:16
for it. Fucking hell.
37:19
Like they they need to stop. Like in it It's it's like it's
37:25
AW fault. Not Jr.
37:26
Like Jr. is one of like probably the yeah, yeah, You know, Jr.
37:30
I think is one of the greatest announcers of all time.
37:33
Like what he's done kind of behind the scenes in West as
37:35
well as kind of talent development and stuff as well.
37:37
Unrivalled one of the all time greats.
37:40
But like, you're putting a man out there who's like, come out
37:42
this year and said he's been diagnosed with dementia, is old
37:46
anyways, has had personal tragedy in his own life.
37:49
And it's like he didn't know who Kyle O'Reilly was.
37:51
He kept saying that kid. And then you had a scalbag on
37:55
Kyle O'Reilly and you just say, and there was like moments in
37:58
the match where he forgot where he was.
37:59
Like, it was awkward to have to listen to it.
38:03
And I think you can make an argument that a Jr. who's 100%
38:08
in 2026 isn't adding that much to a product, but a Jr. who's in
38:12
this kind of state, like it's almost like cruel.
38:15
Like I don't get why they think it's still needed, especially
38:19
like, you know, like when he wasn't on to be as much, but
38:23
they used to bring them back for say take as much as it mania.
38:26
It kind of make it works because he has that relationship with
38:29
Undertaker and he has that relationship with the attitude
38:31
era. Like putting Jr. on commentary
38:34
for Kyle O'Reilly John Moxley match adds nothing to it,
38:37
regardless of kind of the physical and mental state that
38:41
Jr. is in. I just thought it was horrendous
38:42
like and whoever made that call made a very bad call.
38:46
So this is the only match he did all night.
38:48
Yeah, that was the only match he did all night.
38:49
He didn't know who Kyle O'Reilly was.
38:53
Like it was it was like honestly, like it's really hard
38:55
to like, which then takes away from the match.
38:58
And it was like I think it was, I think it was like a 20 odd
39:01
minute match as well. So you essentially had 20
39:03
minutes of like a man rambling, not really normal where he was.
39:07
And it's like, I want to come across that this isn't actually
39:09
a criticism of Jr. It's like, who's putting him in
39:12
that position? Yeah.
39:16
So yeah, that was like, yeah, it's sad to see.
39:19
Like it's not a negative. It is a negative, but it's a
39:21
negative in a way where it's just, it's sad.
39:23
Like he's he's done. Like he's, he's, he doesn't,
39:26
he's got nothing left to prove. Do you know what I mean?
39:28
Like it's, he's the greatest. He's one of the greatest of all
39:31
time. Just stop.
39:32
Stop putting about there like he doesn't know who these people
39:34
are. Like one of the greatest of all
39:36
time. He's the voice of that
39:37
generation, which is probably the biggest generation in
39:39
wrestling history, but he's not the voice of this generation
39:42
that's here now. And like, yeah, I suppose the AW
39:45
need to, I mean, a look at the GR property where they're not
39:47
putting them situations where this can happen.
39:49
But also, you know, they've probably damaged their product a
39:52
bit. We have to put someone in there
39:53
who knew what was going on and didn't have these health
39:55
conditions. And the match might even have
39:57
provide more and people might be into it more. 100% and it's like
40:01
as great as he is as well because it wasn't announced
40:04
either. It was just oh he has GR now but
40:06
it's like even if it was announced in advance.
40:09
I don't think you're getting any extra viewers or selling any
40:11
extra tickets because GR is there.
40:13
But then at least if he's going to be there, maybe he's
40:14
announced it. But then like, I was just RGR is
40:17
here now, like, and I said, oh, OK, cool.
40:19
But I thought GR is here, but is he here?
40:22
Because like he doesn't fucking look.
40:23
He looks unwell. Like so yeah.
40:25
So like, I don't want to go on about it too much.
40:27
I think I have. But yeah, not not nice to have
40:29
to see or listen to in like in the most sympathetic way
40:32
possible. It's absolutely it's absolutely
40:34
not a criticism of Jr. I think they're just I think
40:37
hopefully there's no way anyone could have watched and listened
40:42
to that and thought, right, we'll get him out there again in
40:44
the near future. I think that ones done.
40:46
So yeah, shame. But you know, hopefully that's
40:48
the end of that. And then but kind of finally, my
40:51
other negative was just the MGF Derby Allen match.
40:54
Like the match itself was fine. I think MGF had a lot better
40:58
main event matches, but just the story of it where like in the
41:02
end it was Derby having all them title matches and he was
41:05
knackered and that's what led to MGF kind of getting the belt
41:08
back because it was just a bit like so then Dobby Allen's an
41:11
idiot for taking all their matches And how strong of a
41:14
champion is MGF If like it was kind of heavily implied that you
41:17
only got the belt back because of how fucked Dobby Allen was.
41:21
So and and again, the match was fine, but them to have had
41:25
better matches than this one. So I just thought on a
41:27
pay-per-view that was so stacked and had some fucking phenomenal
41:31
matches on it. You know, even like, you know,
41:33
swerving Bandito was fucking brilliant.
41:35
Like I just thought this was a disappointing main event and
41:38
overall now that it's done and obviously because then at the
41:41
end the match you had the jet Kevin Knight come out and attack
41:44
Derby Allen. So it looks like he's definitely
41:46
out with that title picture now. I just think, yeah, I still the
41:50
question I had when he won the title of why.
41:53
Now that he's lost the title, I still go why?
41:56
But I still don't understand what the purpose of it was.
41:59
I think it was to give him a run because he's probably not going
42:02
to get if if Tony Tony Connor, who has been knows the future of
42:05
the next couple of year. Not not pin detail, but you know
42:10
what I mean, roughly. Wait who wants his champions to
42:11
be and stuff and and Derby's not one He probably wants to know.
42:15
He has a thing where they get hard ONS for the pillars of the
42:18
community of the pillars. The love seeing the pillars.
42:20
Don't know. I mean, the other two pillars
42:22
are fucking Sami Guevara and Jack Perry and like Guevara's
42:26
fucking relegated a Ring of Honor.
42:27
And again, there's theories on why that is, but that's the
42:29
story from another fucking time. And then you've got Jack Perry
42:32
who's never going to be a star. So it's like I the pillars
42:34
things dead now as well like. I think if he's made, what if
42:39
half of them are now being world champions and it's like, it's
42:41
good, isn't it? I think he's he's trying to has
42:43
he just made Derby the champion for a month and the new we're
42:47
going to get the Dolphins. So that's given as many title
42:48
defenses as we can as well, just so that we can see all like, but
42:53
in 10 years time and they do the Hall of Fame and the first
42:56
inductees Derby Island and say, yeah, he was he was world
42:58
champion and he defended 6 times in one month.
43:02
Well, he was the so the set on commentary, he's defended the
43:05
belt the third most amount of times in the history of the
43:08
company as a champion. So it's like, and again, it's
43:11
kind of like what was saying about the Jr. thing?
43:12
Like it's not a criticism of Dobby Allen because every one of
43:15
those title matches were good and they were like unique
43:17
actually in like what I clicked on this week as well.
43:20
I was watching as well as like some because obviously the most
43:22
of the time the film Collision and Dynamite, the same night he
43:25
was wrestling 2 fucking matches in one night, like 2 title
43:28
matches in one night. So like what he's done to
43:30
himself and the work he's put in is fucking second and none.
43:33
But it's just the overall storytelling of it where now
43:35
that it's done, I'm just like, I don't quite get it still.
43:38
I don't think I ever will. And I get what you're saying,
43:40
and you're probably right, but yeah, I just think, yeah, he's
43:43
putting a lot of work for something that I don't still
43:45
quite understand. Yeah, I think it's a lot of
43:47
work. It's not for now, it's for later
43:48
when the when the when the give them these flowers later on I
43:50
think. But nothing has popped me mind
43:53
you don't think that they're using Jr. because I like what
43:57
we're paying them. So we've got to use them.
44:00
Maybe he's but like, but he's not well, like that sounds like
44:05
I'm saying it'd be funny, but like, yeah, like you need
44:06
there's like there's a duty of care.
44:08
Isn't there any job and like? In some jobs, yes.
44:12
In some. Jobs, yeah, but well, yeah, that
44:14
that again, that's for in the world we live.
44:16
And now that's a fucking conversation for another one as
44:17
well. But yeah, maybe he's there for
44:19
paying him. Might as well use them.
44:21
But if that's the case for me, like he's aren't doing right by
44:24
yourselves or him if that's the case.
44:27
Indeed, I've got a couple of negatives.
44:29
So dive into my science main event once.
44:32
Like what was the purpose of this week's science main event?
44:35
I think it was just designed to basically promote or add things
44:39
to passionately. So saw Ruka Becky.
44:41
You know, it was all right match.
44:42
I enjoyed it, but you know, we have it ending the
44:45
disqualification and it sets up the title match for Caution
44:48
Italy. Jumping in on the back, you saw
44:51
thing that was one of mine because that's what I said at
44:54
the start where I felt like I had no right being on a main
44:56
event where I don't mind main event being like AB show
45:00
pay-per-view. But yeah, that that's the type
45:02
of thing you do on Raw, isn't it a disqualification that then
45:05
leads to a title match? And did you see leading up to
45:08
that match in the week it got made an icy title match on the
45:11
Wednesday, then they made it non title again on the Friday and
45:15
then they did that on the Saturday.
45:16
So yeah, just seemed really that they didn't know.
45:18
I have a fucking clue What what are you doing with that?
45:20
One absolutely and then we have sort of the the six woman tag
45:24
match, which was basically just used to set up Jade and react 2,
45:29
which is going to be our clash in Italy again.
45:31
Sort of, you know, I enjoyed the match and enjoyed the story
45:33
down, but I feel it was all a set up just to literally get
45:36
Jade to attack Ria at the end to like add more to their feud
45:40
going into the rematch, which is again, like, just yeah, what's
45:46
going on? And then other one was just
45:50
like, yeah, like no titles change hands and I'm not seeing
45:52
titles need to change hands. But like I never felt like any
45:56
of them ever were even in the vision versus the the street
46:00
prophets. You know, enjoy the match, but
46:03
not at one point. I think all the street prophets
46:04
are going over here. See, I did think there were
46:08
actually. But yeah, again, it's another
46:10
match where it's like, you know, going to get a rematch of that.
46:13
So no 100% of what you're saying.
46:16
And I've just realised I've forgotten a positive.
46:19
So on Smackdown when we battle this positive Luke.
46:22
So on Smackdown we had a we had a six man tag match, six women
46:26
tag match, even where we had Jade teaming with B Fab and
46:31
mission. And you know, I've not really
46:35
seen from what I've seen of B Fab and mentioned over the past
46:37
few months as just like them being little like spot monkeys
46:41
and taking bombs for Jade. But like in this tag match, they
46:44
really got to showcase what they can do.
46:46
And I really enjoy watching them wrestle.
46:48
They actually these guys now I have seen them before, so I know
46:50
that they can, but I've got I've forgotten then seen them and
46:54
smack down them wrestle in the six man tag.
46:56
You know, they they got a lot of reps in that match.
46:58
I thought, actually, yeah, these two can go.
47:00
Actually, they're really good. No, definitely.
47:02
And it kind of ties back to what I was saying last week, wasn't
47:05
it, where you've got quite a deep women's tag team division
47:07
at the minute. We certainly do anymore.
47:11
I guess you, Luke. No, that that that.
47:13
That's it for me. I say I've I've really enjoyed
47:16
this week. So I say you've had Raw,
47:17
Smackdown, AAA and AW. So I've had a bum, a bank
47:20
holiday weekend, a wrestling me. Loved it.
47:23
Feasted on that buffet of wrestling.
47:25
Does indeed? It does indeed.
47:28
Moving on to our next segment, which is a moment in time.
47:33
So it's where we typically look at a wrestling match a more than
47:36
an event could be a problem in the future.
47:38
Wells, don't you worry. Something that's interesting or
47:42
worth watching and looking back on with commenting on not
47:45
necessarily the biggest things that everyone remembers.
47:47
It's more of the things that may be, you know, I'm not seeing or
47:50
obscure, but things that may be on at the forefront of people's
47:53
minds. It's a match this week.
47:56
I chose it. It is from WWF or WWE In Your
48:01
House 6, which was later named Rage in the Cage, but it was not
48:06
named that at the time. But we're not going to do the
48:08
main event, which was the cage match.
48:10
We're going to do the second match from the end, which was
48:12
Shawn Michaels versus Owen Hart. And this was a singles match.
48:16
And Shawn Michaels, who'd won the Royal Rumble to earn the
48:20
number one contendership for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania
48:23
12. He puts it on the line here
48:26
against Owen Hart. Luke, when I picked this match,
48:29
what were your first thoughts? Yeah, so it was one that I had
48:32
no real memory of. So I always like when you pick
48:34
one of those because like, cool, I'm going to get to watch
48:36
something that's going to seem new to us and kind of dive into
48:39
it. So I did really enjoy that.
48:41
What I did as well this week as well I thought might be cool
48:43
obviously because it's a moment in time to kind of talk about
48:46
like quickly the year in general.
48:47
So obviously we've picked this match, which was on February
48:51
18th, 1996, Goodyear, February, good date, February the 18th, it
48:54
is my birthday. So obviously this match we're
48:57
going to talk about happens in February, but this year alone in
48:59
wrestling, a couple of big things that happen.
49:01
You get the year that HBK will go on to achieve the boyhood
49:04
dream at WrestleMania. Brett takes quite a lot of time
49:07
off TV this year. Taker is kind of going on his
49:10
Big Bad era where he's having more violent matches like a
49:13
boiler room brawl. Austin wins King of the Ring and
49:16
over in WCW the NWO forms. So that's kind of where we're at
49:20
in wrestling history. But we've picked this one,
49:22
haven't we, of Owen versus HBK? We have.
49:26
I just think, you know, the wire rumble's pretty big.
49:28
You know, Sean wins the wire Rumble and then this is sort of
49:31
in between. This is the period before
49:33
WrestleMania. WrestleMania is in March of this
49:37
year. And we have, you know, Bretton,
49:41
the main event offended belt against Diesel, Kevin Nash.
49:46
And so whoever wins that will obviously be the champion going
49:49
into WrestleMania. And then obviously Shawn
49:51
Michaels versus Owen here. And yeah, I just think it was
49:56
really cool. It's really cool to keep Shawn
49:58
out of the title pitcher to WrestleMania, which can
50:01
sometimes be hard. You know, we saw it this year.
50:04
It wasn't hard, but you know, we had Roman sort of declare for
50:06
Punk straight away. And then we had like a few
50:09
months of build and, you know, that build was good.
50:11
In that case, I think sometimes it's not so good.
50:13
So this way, they're being able to keep keep Sean preoccupied
50:18
and I think we're ready for a match rundown, Luke.
50:21
Should quickly go out with the do the card as well on the rest
50:25
of the card. Can indeed so the card Arthur
50:28
was pretty Jack card to be fair, these in your houses are
50:31
sometimes like you might underrate them going in, but
50:34
they really do deliver. So there was a like 1 dark match
50:40
was Jake Roberts Jake the snake versus the tanga.
50:42
Our first actual match on pay-per-view was Razor Ramon.
50:45
Scott Hall defeated the 123 kid that was in a cry very match
50:50
Triple H Hunter as Hemsley defeated Duke the dumpster
50:55
Jossy. Do you know what?
50:58
Do you know what Duke is up to these days?
51:00
What's he doing? Serving time for being a
51:03
paedophile. And he said that he was.
51:05
So Yep, next match. Why?
51:07
You just admitted it. Yeah.
51:11
Hopefully he gets help. He needs to not do that any more
51:13
things. Yeah, Match 4 or match three of
51:17
the actual Pit of you. Yokozuna defeated the British
51:20
Bulldog. We then had Shawn Michaels
51:23
versus Owen Hart, and then the main event was Brett Hart
51:26
against Diesel, who escaped the cage to retain the WF
51:30
Championship. There's also three of the dark
51:32
matches, so we had Ahmed Johnson versus Isaac Yangham, who is of
51:35
course Kane. The Godwins with the help of
51:38
Hilbury. Jim defeated the Body Donors who
51:40
had Sonny in that. Undertaker defeated Gold Dust by
51:43
Count Out. That's a match that happened at
51:47
Whitney B Ice Rink that, you know, taker versus gold dust.
51:49
That's on the wall. Very good, very exciting.
51:53
If it's good enough for Whitley Bay, it's good enough for the
51:55
WWF in America. Exactly, Yeah.
51:59
So I enjoyed this match. I think to start with before you
52:02
go for a run through so you know it's high stakes.
52:05
Shawn Michaels puts his WrestleMania 12 main event world
52:08
Championship opportunity on the line.
52:10
Owen's been taught in HBK claiming he was responsible for
52:13
putting out of action the previous autumn sort of added
52:17
sort of genuine storyline grit to the match, which was really
52:20
cool considering such a such a short feud here between Warren,
52:23
Rumble and WrestleMania. They've tied it back to
52:25
something that happened in the autumn and Owen's been pretty
52:28
vicious about it, which is pretty, pretty cool.
52:32
And I think this is an exceptional match.
52:34
Underrated gem, I believe, and I'm going to run through it.
52:36
So we start off with Owen comes to the ring and Sean comes to
52:40
the ring in he's sort of maybe highlight and he's going to have
52:43
a big rest of man because he comes off the roof of the in
52:45
your house set, which I hope is pretty cool.
52:48
Obviously that's going to be overly done big time from
52:52
WrestleMania. When he comes down from the from
52:55
the from the ceiling of the of the stadium.
52:58
When he first gets the ring, he throws on out the ring and he
53:00
finishes doing what he's doing in the ring as well, which was
53:01
pretty cool. And then once these guys get
53:04
started out, you know, there's a couple of couple of lock UPS,
53:07
ends up with the sort of Michaels takes a bable, a
53:10
baseball side to the outside and starts touching hands with the
53:12
fans and celebrating with them. Gets back in the ring, locked
53:15
up, few moves. Owen ends up getting baseball
53:18
side out as well. And he obviously mocks the fans.
53:21
I thought this was like Portree, like, it rhymes.
53:23
Like HBK did it. And then Owen does it but then
53:27
does the opposite. And he's it's showing that.
53:28
Yeah, like 1's the fun favorite. Yeah.
53:30
And one's absolutely not. And the two very, very different
53:33
characters. And I thought it was really
53:34
cool. Michaels hits the top room,
53:38
moonsault the back of that to sort of to own on the outside.
53:42
So that was really cool, taking one down and showing off.
53:49
They get into the ring headlock. There's a bit.
53:53
Yeah, we're like, Michaels has been a bit healers because he's
53:56
so over, because Owen so dastardly.
53:58
Like the crowd are still cheering and it works.
54:01
And basically Cornet's trying to trying to distract the ref and
54:03
then Michaels are then pulling on owns hair when he's got him
54:07
in the headlock. I thought it was quite cool
54:08
psychology wise. Bit different, but we don't see
54:10
much these days. But no, definitely and kind of
54:13
what you see in a bit of a heel is worse because Jerry all I
54:16
wasn't a fan of it was he Jerry all I said he was a hot dog and
54:19
and Jerry all I said he doesn't like hot dogs.
54:21
So yeah, he definitely was playing a little bit of the heel
54:24
HBK there. I tell you what, Joe can fuck
54:26
off because hot dogs are the best thing in the world.
54:28
Yeah, I mean, I've never heard of someone being a show offers
54:31
called Hot Dog Interview. I have not, but hey, if I'm next
54:35
time I'm showing off, I'm going to have a couple of hot dogs.
54:37
Yeah, exactly. I'm hot dogging.
54:39
Like calm down now I'm hot dog and leave us alone.
54:41
I once got caught, I was at the fridge and I was dipping hot
54:46
dogs and hummus while I was had Creed playing on me phone and me
54:51
wife walked in and went what the fuck's going on?
54:53
And I was like, oh, I'm just doing just I'm just being a man.
54:57
Just I'm just having peaceful times listening to me Creed
55:01
while I'm eating hot dogs and then should just walk.
55:05
Away it's it's it's being a man or it's got like tinges of Alan
55:09
Partridge mental breakdown driving the Dundee for Toblerone
55:11
in it as well. I guess it's got it's a little
55:13
hybrid. Put the perfect hybrid.
55:16
The perfect hybrid. Yeah.
55:18
Do you know creeds like, like the fourth highest selling
55:20
artist in the 2000s in America? Mad that isn't it.
55:24
It's mad, but I mean, I mean, I said perfect type of song if
55:28
you're eating hot dogs in the night.
55:29
And you know, the only really recorded music between 2000 and
55:32
2004 as well. That's that's some start.
55:35
That is why. I don't know why I know that
55:37
either, but sorry, yes, go back to the match.
55:39
Sean being a bit of a heelish. Cornett's not happy.
55:42
Yep, so after that we end up getting own delivers an arm drag
55:48
to HBK. Both men do like the the role in
55:51
the back and flip back on the legs which is really cool.
55:56
Some fast-paced back and forth. Owen's hit with a
55:58
Frankensteiner. Owen kicks out and then Owen
56:02
hits sort of the sick over the head, belly to belly almost.
56:05
It looks looks awesome and he starts stamping on him.
56:11
Owen delivers. Owen then delivers a stiff neck
56:13
breaker gets a 2 count. Owen goes for the sharpshooter.
56:16
He then you know Sean gets out of it.
56:19
There's a bit of back and forth. Owen then locks in the camel
56:21
clutch, which I thought was really cool, and then begins to
56:23
work the back still. Michaels fights back with some
56:28
hand combinations, comes off the ropes, they hit a knee, gets
56:35
them back up, there's a bit of a back and forth.
56:37
Owen hits a sort of sunset flip cover on HBK, but he kicks out.
56:41
He's starting to grind them down.
56:42
Basically own strategies that he's going to grind HBK down
56:46
working on his back and he's not even trying to strike him in the
56:48
head, which ties in with the storyline.
56:53
He got HPK in a headlock, HPK powers up and out of the comes
56:59
bounce off the ropes and then at an only hit some of this like
57:01
flying heel kick which the start talk about Michael's brain
57:04
injuries. Which it's funny how in this
57:06
storyline they're talking about how serious brain injuries are,
57:08
but actually in real life the WRF aren't going to take this
57:10
seriously until that Moir there's a double meta suicide.
57:13
Yeah, we're quite a way off them taking that seriously.
57:16
Indeed, which is, you know, very strange.
57:19
We'll take it seriously in KFA for this storyline, but it's
57:22
going to take a double murder and a suicide for us to take
57:24
this seriously. And so yes, after that, and I
57:32
need to find where I'm in my notes because I've lost track
57:41
and I have absolutely lost track.
57:42
This is not good. Well, no, no, he was saying,
57:44
because obviously it had the bridge roll up from Owen.
57:47
Then Sean kind of continued to kind of couldn't get back going.
57:50
There was a spinning drop kick from Owen superplex to the
57:53
outside and then he counter slams with a power slam there,
57:56
top rope drop kick from Owen back inside.
57:58
I think that's when they kind of going over the the trauma to the
58:00
head. Yes.
58:03
So this is all we're talking about.
58:05
So obviously it looks like Owen's going to try and like
58:08
Suplex HBK over the ropes back into the ring, but Michaels
58:12
reverses it and like one goes over the top and like, it looks
58:16
really gnarly, but it's really cool.
58:17
Managed to save himself, which was cool.
58:19
I don't know what you thought of this spot.
58:21
No, it did look really good. Like I said, I mean these two
58:23
just like gelled so well together.
58:25
Like I knew they've had matches here and there, but like
58:28
actually getting to see them in this match, which one that I
58:30
had, I don't think I don't know if I'd have ever even seen this,
58:32
to be fair. Like yeah, kind of really showed
58:34
the chemistry. Like I say, it was a super Plex
58:36
the outside, wasn't it? But he kind of automatically
58:38
count as it so kind of be able to have that chemistry.
58:41
Brilliant and. You've got the intensity where
58:43
like you thought he was going to go over, then he sort of he
58:45
does, but he doesn't. But like the shock factors there
58:47
and it's like, and it's actually probably safest houses in real
58:49
life, which is great. After that, Owen hits him with a
58:52
power slam. The back in the ring, Owen hits
58:54
the missile dropkick. HBK kicks out, he's delivering
58:58
forearms in the corner. HBK hits the roll up, but Owen
59:01
kicks out. HBK takes that famous Irish
59:03
whipway. He flips out over the Turnbull,
59:05
which was really cool. Owen then locks him in the
59:08
Sharpshooter drags him in the middle of the ring again.
59:11
He's got locked in a lot of minutes spent here.
59:13
Where you think HBK is he going to tap?
59:14
Is the boyhood dream going to die right here?
59:16
But he managed to drag himself to the ropes, which is
59:18
fantastic. That is when we have Owen sort
59:25
of stomp in the back of the midsection.
59:26
There's a scoop power slam and HBK hits A roll up.
59:30
Obviously Owen kicks out. Owen catches HBK with another
59:33
kick. This time it's an set up
59:35
insecurity and he knocks him to the outside again.
59:37
They're talking a lot about the head injury that was sustained
59:40
in the autumn by HBK that led him to having the sort of post
59:44
concussion syndrome. He's nearly counted out, but
59:47
Owen gets out the ring and brings him back in the ring,
59:49
then gets the pin for a 2 count. And commonly he's like, oh, like
59:53
you should have left him outside.
59:54
He would have got the win. But people saying, oh, you all
59:56
wanted the pride of getting the he's such a dastardly heel.
59:59
He wants the pride of pinning Shaw Michaels in the middle of
1:00:01
the ring and taking his boyhood dream away, which I think was a
1:00:05
good way to sort of back up the weird psychology that was used.
1:00:08
But it backed him up with the commentary, actually made it
1:00:11
make perfect sense, which is fantastic.
1:00:17
Owen then goes running shadows himself in the turnbuckle HP
1:00:19
came who's out the way HP he hit him with an atomic drop comes
1:00:23
off the ropes of the flying head clothesline.
1:00:25
Michael's flips up slugfest starts are going back and forth.
1:00:30
Owen takes the turnbuckle whip hard in HPK takes him down Xena
1:00:34
scoops power slam. Michael's then goes up for the
1:00:39
famous show Michael's elbow Cornett then gets on the apron
1:00:43
and Michael's finally attacks Cornett and takes him down.
1:00:44
I think it's perfect time because Cornett, for the past
1:00:47
five minutes in the match, Cornett's been really like
1:00:48
winding the crowd up. The crowd, obviously Shawn
1:00:51
Michaels heavy, unlike he's been really getting them really
1:00:54
angry. You know, the heat's there,
1:00:55
which is fantastic and Michaels used this opportunity.
1:00:58
He hits him, which gets the crowd cheering, which is great.
1:01:03
He misses switching music on Owen.
1:01:04
Owen then goes for step up in Saguiri.
1:01:07
HBK avoids that and hits switching music for the win.
1:01:11
And that's why I think that whole perfect.
1:01:12
It's just it's a perfect end of the match, I think.
1:01:16
No, 100%. Like I say, absolutely.
1:01:18
Yeah, I love this match. I think kind of what you said at
1:01:22
the start with Shawn kind of coming down the way that he did,
1:01:24
I think this is kind of peak Shawn Michaels where he's kind
1:01:26
of at that kind of good looking, long flowing hair, cocky, but
1:01:30
the fans love him kind of HBK. He's got the red tights on.
1:01:33
He's kind of the peak Shawn Michaels that kind of that era.
1:01:38
And then these two just work fantastically together and all
1:01:40
kind of one of the reasons he kind of went for this match is
1:01:43
Owen isn't someone we've talked about a lot.
1:01:45
So it was really cool to see him in there kind of when I was
1:01:48
watching it because obviously he hits a couple of Inseguries in
1:01:50
the fantastic. I feel I always felt like that
1:01:52
was his move. And again, doing a bit of
1:01:54
research on that there, that was it was kind of Owen that
1:01:57
introduced kind of an American audience to the Inseguri.
1:02:00
So again, because there was some pretty naughty looking ones in
1:02:02
the match. And what I liked about the match
1:02:04
is that it's basic as fuck. Like, you know, you've got the
1:02:07
heel with the manager, you've got the Super Rover baby face,
1:02:11
you've got the kind of Shawn getting this stuff in at the
1:02:13
start, Owen grinding them down, come back finisher 123.
1:02:18
Like I just think it's like saying it's simple and basic is
1:02:21
kind of the ultimate compliment I can give it because when
1:02:24
something simple and basic, but it's done by two of the kind of
1:02:26
greatest to ever do it, it's just perfection.
1:02:30
Definitely, it's like it's so simple and I when it's when
1:02:32
things are so simple, they just flow really well.
1:02:34
I think OWN expertly works HBKS back focuses offence on the
1:02:39
exact moves that had previously injured HBK.
1:02:42
Meanwhile, HBK played the arrogant, showboating bad good
1:02:45
guy, effortlessly firing up the crowd during his comebacks.
1:02:48
You know it's simple wrestling, right?
1:02:50
But when you hit that sweet spot and you do in the simple
1:02:54
wrestling, that's when it's most powerful and works the best.
1:02:57
I think the action was seamless. You know, you got to think, I
1:03:00
think it was a the restrictive heavyweight pacing of the era.
1:03:04
The Jewel I think was a fast-paced athletic bout.
1:03:08
You know those times when they slowed it down certainly
1:03:10
beginning like on purpose, but you know, it's fast-paced, the
1:03:12
traded, the Trader blows the finish.
1:03:14
You know, Michaels goes to switching, misses it and then
1:03:18
goes for the integrity misses it to then Michaels hits switching
1:03:21
music to win it. You know, it's simple, but it's
1:03:23
it's it's back and forth. It's great.
1:03:25
You know, I think that heavy impact by the back suplex that
1:03:29
he hits that I mentioned was just crazy, but awesome.
1:03:33
And again, as I've already mentioned, that dramatic closing
1:03:36
sequence, you know, and hitting, switching, switching music was
1:03:41
just was just fantastic. No, 100%.
1:03:43
I mean, that's the obviously one of the reason we picked this.
1:03:45
So a bit of a kind of chat around Owen as well.
1:03:48
I mean, what's your kind of thought?
1:03:50
I have seen, oh, you're a big heart man, but like, what's your
1:03:52
kind of thoughts and opinions on Owen kind of generally?
1:03:57
You know, I think Owen, it's, it's hard to talk about, I think
1:04:01
I think because who knows where things go, right?
1:04:04
But I think, and I've seen a lot of all matches, but not all of
1:04:10
them, but you know, see, like Brett, Brett will tell you that
1:04:15
one's a better wrestler. So like where could Owen have
1:04:19
gone had he not passed away? Yeah, so I mean, again, which
1:04:23
makes it like just tragic. And obviously, you know, it's
1:04:26
it's all just kind of what ifs. But do you know what I think as
1:04:29
well? Because I think I will have
1:04:30
thought about, you know, if there was two world titles like
1:04:33
in this era, who would have had one?
1:04:35
I don't think, you know, it's horrible.
1:04:37
It's horrible to say because obviously he died.
1:04:38
But like, if Owen lived like is maybe it's not a nice way to put
1:04:42
it, but if only if I don't think he ever does win a world title
1:04:45
in WWE. But I'll tell you who I think he
1:04:47
would have been an absolute pillar of.
1:04:49
I think TNA. Like if you look, because
1:04:53
obviously WCW has gone its way out.
1:04:54
Like you might have had a run in WCW, but because of the period
1:04:57
that it was, it would have it would have amounted to nothing.
1:04:59
But yeah, I think this kind of alternative universe where kind
1:05:03
of owns a big part of kind of helping established TNA with
1:05:06
you, Jeff Gerrison kind of getting in there eventually with
1:05:08
the like the AJ Styles and stuff, which is obviously
1:05:11
something that would love to have seen.
1:05:12
I mean, what do you think about that?
1:05:14
Do you? Because I don't think, I think
1:05:16
because of the screw job and stuff, I just don't think you
1:05:18
would have ever got the WE title.
1:05:22
Yeah. And you know, that's definitely
1:05:24
a big thing. That's a play.
1:05:25
And I think you met in Jeff Jaros.
1:05:27
Jeff Jargon were very good friends.
1:05:29
So exactly, yeah, that's where they were kind of thinking on
1:05:31
that was. So obviously, Can you imagine,
1:05:34
could you imagine on wrestling like the early careers with
1:05:37
Chris R Daniels and AJ Styles and small jewels?
1:05:40
I know exactly. That's what I mean.
1:05:41
I think like Owen had TNA written all over him.
1:05:43
If you look at how that company kind of got itself up and
1:05:46
running and quite a cool little pick to have this week in a week
1:05:49
where in AW, the Owen Hart tournament has just begun.
1:05:54
No, definitely once we only mind the past few weeks.
1:05:56
I don't know why, but maybe it's because of these things are
1:05:58
happening. But I thought you know that's
1:06:00
doing all matches. I think he was fantastic in the
1:06:03
ring. I think if you look at how legit
1:06:05
he looks, like he looks big and bulky, right?
1:06:07
But he also was fast and because he's a harsh and he's one of the
1:06:11
good ones, like he just knows where to be, how to move in the
1:06:13
ring where things are seamless. No, 100% and he's someone where
1:06:18
people, some people on the Internet would kick off with
1:06:20
this comparison, but I can I'll try and buy it up where he's got
1:06:24
a bit of the Miz about him in the way that you can put him in
1:06:27
there with Sean here, the pay-per-view before WrestleMania
1:06:31
and he looks legit and he's credible.
1:06:33
But then at Mania, he ends up having a six man tag match with
1:06:37
him, Bulldog and veil against Ahmed Johnson, Jake and
1:06:40
Yokozuna. So it's kind of like he was a
1:06:42
bit of a utility man. We're kind of in there's been
1:06:44
times we know he's he had A tag team of court will be where he
1:06:47
was in tag teams with Jeff Jarrett.
1:06:48
But then you can put them in the main event scene with your
1:06:50
Shawn's, your Brett's, your Kevin Nash's and it's
1:06:52
believable. So I think that's something that
1:06:54
often kind of goes and said about him, that he was someone
1:06:58
who kind of wherever you put him, he never lost his integrity
1:07:02
or legitimacy and you could put him right back up the card and
1:07:05
nobody ever like kind of questioned it.
1:07:08
Absolutely. And then he's not really
1:07:09
Mysterio if you're where he can work any style and any size of
1:07:12
the public like he can work. He can work yoga Zuna, you can
1:07:16
work Bulldog, you can work Sean, you can work Kevin Nash.
1:07:19
You can work the big guys. You can work the smaller guys.
1:07:21
You can work the guys the same size.
1:07:23
You can have fast-paced letting about you can slow it down.
1:07:26
You know you can. You can do it all against
1:07:28
anybody. 100 percent, 100%. So a really good pick for this
1:07:33
match, and we'll have to get our heads together, work out what
1:07:35
we're going to do next week so we can tell our rabid listeners.
1:07:40
We will indeed. But with that we go to our next
1:07:43
time, which is did they really say that?
1:07:45
Which is a look back at a court from somebody in the wrestling
1:07:48
business. It could be from the
1:07:50
autobiography, it could be from an interview, it could be from
1:07:51
an actual television product. And it's something that maybe
1:07:54
hasn't aged well or something that's interesting.
1:07:56
We want to digest it. Lately you've been doing some
1:07:59
modern ones. Luke, you've chosen this week's.
1:08:02
Yeah, so it's it's a pretty well known one, but I think it makes
1:08:05
for a good type of conversation. So it's from the legendary film
1:08:08
Beyond the Mat, where I believe the director that recently
1:08:11
passed away didn't in the last couple of weeks.
1:08:13
So it's from Beyond the Mat again, one of the all time kind
1:08:16
of greats within wrestling fandom.
1:08:18
That documentary, what means what, what are your thoughts on
1:08:21
Beyond the Mat is a kind of documentary first before we kind
1:08:23
of go into the court. So I haven't watched it probably
1:08:28
for about 20 years, which so, but I remember like, I remember
1:08:32
coming out and like we're going to Asda to get it.
1:08:36
Like me, me, my friends actually.
1:08:38
So Johnny Pearce, who actually does our indoor music or indoor
1:08:41
track, like he, his mum managed to get him it and that's where
1:08:44
we watched it. I remember that.
1:08:45
And that's not the last time I watched it, but that's the first
1:08:47
time I watched it. Was that like, because a bit
1:08:50
like wouldn't let us buy our parents and then like some of
1:08:54
our parents didn't watching it? And then Johnny's mum managed to
1:08:56
get him beyond the map, I believe, or it was his sister
1:08:58
somebody. Anyway, so we got beyond the map
1:09:00
and watched on VHS at his house. And I remember it being like a
1:09:03
big deal that we got it and that we were able to watch it.
1:09:06
So like around the playground. We were taught all this beyond
1:09:08
the map since before we had Internet and things like that.
1:09:10
But like beyond the map was a thing.
1:09:11
I was like, oh, it's come in, we need to get it.
1:09:12
And it's like, oh, it's on the shelf and Asda, we need to go
1:09:15
get it now. No, definitely it's, it's
1:09:18
something I've, I've definitely watched it in the last five
1:09:20
years and it kind of still holds up.
1:09:22
It's like a really fucking well made documentary.
1:09:24
Obviously there's some stuff in it that isn't nice to watch.
1:09:26
Obviously Jake's in a very bad place in it.
1:09:28
But no, it is, it's a, it's a fantastic documentary and I, I
1:09:32
always love going back to every couple of years.
1:09:34
So yeah, the quote from DVC that is from that it's old Vince
1:09:37
McMahon himself that says it. So kind of the big context on
1:09:41
the quote is he's kind of getting interviewed about the
1:09:44
kind of nature of kind of the competitiveness of the sport,
1:09:48
and he kind of casually dismisses the idea of kind of
1:09:51
traditional athletic competition.
1:09:53
And he just kind of looks down the camera.
1:09:54
And this is the kid. He really say this.
1:09:56
He just says, at the end of the day, we make movies.
1:10:00
So Vince kind of saying that it's not about real competition,
1:10:04
they're there to make movies. What do you think about that as
1:10:06
a comment about Vince's approach to the wrestling business?
1:10:12
I think I think it's wrong for us to say that.
1:10:14
That's his entire approach to wrestling.
1:10:16
Business. No, it is.
1:10:16
Yeah. That that, yeah, that I'm
1:10:17
definitely not saying that. But I mean, that's, that's
1:10:20
definitely an element of it. But it certainly is an element
1:10:23
because I think it has to be because I think it's
1:10:26
professional wrestling is storytelling and what is what,
1:10:29
what is movies? It's movies is storytelling.
1:10:31
And it's most money, Megan, and it's most colourful and it's
1:10:36
most eccentric, over the top beautiful.
1:10:40
Like think about movies that you've watched that have made
1:10:44
you laugh, that have made you cry, that have stood with you
1:10:46
since you first watched them, right?
1:10:48
Movies that you are waiting to see are coming out that are
1:10:51
epic, you know, So like being a movie is a good thing.
1:10:58
So I think that's trying to try and look at as a negative, I
1:11:00
think, which I think some people do.
1:11:01
I think I think what And I'd have to be watch it, but I think
1:11:06
he's trying to be a bit like small Alec you with with the
1:11:09
with the interviewer, hasn't he? But he's also trying to make
1:11:13
them look like, you know, this time is when he's really pushing
1:11:16
the really, you know. So I think it was 99.
1:11:23
But yeah, I think you kind of hit the nail on the head with
1:11:25
kind of saying that, you know, it's kind of what, you know,
1:11:29
that's what they were doing. They were pushing it.
1:11:30
He was kind of maybe he's kind of being a bit smart alecky with
1:11:33
it. Because I think in this kind of
1:11:34
sums of what we want to do as a podcast where we love all
1:11:37
elements of it, where we've taught a lot about how much kind
1:11:40
of, you know, love and respect kind of the the work these guys
1:11:44
put into themselves to look as good as they do, but also be as
1:11:46
good as technically they are on the ring.
1:11:48
But for me, like, I think I would say I'm more of a sports
1:11:53
entertainment fan than a pure wrestling fan, whereas I think
1:11:57
particularly now more than ever, you've got loads of guys who can
1:11:59
wrestle loads. But if you haven't got that kind
1:12:02
of narrative, that strong storyline in the match as well,
1:12:06
it takes away from it and it makes it a bit nothing to me.
1:12:09
So I kind of really like, I need that element of storytelling at
1:12:14
me. I like that movie element of it.
1:12:15
I think that's probably what kind of made me fall in love
1:12:18
with. Do we like the silliness of like
1:12:19
Kanan Undertaker being brothers and undertake a burn down the
1:12:22
Family Funeral Home? Like I've I love it when the I
1:12:25
love a great wrestling match as well.
1:12:27
Don't get as wrong, like a technical classic, but I'm much
1:12:30
more someone who kind of needs that story as well.
1:12:32
So I kind of, I like that comment that he made.
1:12:36
And I think it's not just what the story is about how they make
1:12:38
them. So I think I think professional
1:12:39
wrestling and sports entertainment are the same
1:12:41
thing. And I think it's because let's
1:12:44
just say it's you know, you can do the Corkscrew pile driver,
1:12:49
right? But like, how was that filmed?
1:12:53
How was it then shown? If we go back to the North
1:12:55
Shore, we were art, right? We saw like there's a hard
1:12:58
coming. It was like on one side and we
1:13:00
saw people with the mini cams who were caption all the action.
1:13:02
Like if they're not doing that for the people watching like at
1:13:05
home or online, then then the magic then it doesn't feel as
1:13:09
magical. So I think because it is a
1:13:11
television product, like you have to treat like a movie.
1:13:15
You have to catch the action at certain times, like, tell you
1:13:17
what, when you watch it. And sometimes they miss a move.
1:13:19
I'll tell you like, all, like, actually, they come around and
1:13:22
book it up. Yeah.
1:13:23
This is not good. No, definitely.
1:13:25
And that North Shore is a good example because not just kind
1:13:27
of, you know, their use of the cameras and stuff, like
1:13:30
obviously go back and listen the episode.
1:13:31
But what kind of really bought me into the NCL Cup was that
1:13:34
kind of running thing in the background of Ronan and Judas
1:13:37
being tag team partners and then facing off in the main event.
1:13:39
That's all you need. Do you know what I mean?
1:13:41
I don't think it needs to be over complex.
1:13:42
In fact, sometimes that's when it goes wrong, where you try to
1:13:45
be too clever with the story that you're telling.
1:13:47
But yeah, just that little bit, you need that something because
1:13:49
otherwise it's just, well, why do I care about what these two
1:13:52
are doing? It could be the most impressive
1:13:53
wrestling I've ever seen, but if there's not just like a little
1:13:56
bit of a story to it or a progression, then what's the
1:13:58
point? Absolutely.
1:14:01
It'll be a case of like, you can do a cool move and we'll talk
1:14:04
about it that week, but if it's a cool story, we'll be talking
1:14:06
about it for weeks on end. And that was one of the things
1:14:09
that kind of made me really fall out with AW where like I just
1:14:13
thought there was a lot of stuff happening and a lot of it didn't
1:14:16
mean anything. Whereas I think, I think since
1:14:17
I've got back into it, there is still a lot of that, but I think
1:14:20
they're a lot more kind of story focus.
1:14:22
Like even if you kind of look at the pay of you just gone.
1:14:26
I said I mentioned that you had Swerve versus Bandito in the
1:14:28
opening round of the Owen Cup. But leading up to that you had a
1:14:32
thing where Strickland had gone to fucking Bandito Saloon and
1:14:35
beat them up. And then there was a bit of a
1:14:37
heat there just for that match. Do I mean just a little bit
1:14:39
more? OK, get it.
1:14:40
This isn't just the opening round of a tournament, but
1:14:42
there's a bit of something there.
1:14:44
And like, you know, Owen, not Owen Osprey versus Samoa Joe
1:14:48
kind of smart. Joe was trying to kind of
1:14:50
recruit him from joining the Death Raiders.
1:14:52
But Osprey does have the slight respect for Samoa Joe because he
1:14:55
kind of said that. I think it was Daniels, AJ
1:14:57
Styles and Samoa Joe that kind of really cemented it to him
1:15:00
that you want to be a wrestler. Like just that's it.
1:15:01
Just all we need that is story that is making movies.
1:15:04
Do you know what I mean? Yeah, you come back to
1:15:06
WrestleMania like the Cody manual and saw line that is
1:15:09
making movies. Then the start adding all the
1:15:11
things that added which you know the pub McAfee is a lot which
1:15:15
was just made it to communicating to rubbish like
1:15:17
actually noticed how keep it how it was it was already perfect
1:15:19
movie. Yeah, that's shown too much
1:15:21
100%. So yeah, I just think it's a
1:15:23
comment that I think a lot of people use.
1:15:25
I mean, you know, allegations aside of Vince McMahon, I think
1:15:28
people who kind of just want to have a go Vince McMahon for kind
1:15:31
of what he's done at the wrestling business.
1:15:33
I think that's one of the comments.
1:15:34
People often use that, but he's not bothered about like the
1:15:36
wrestling state. Well, no years because as you've
1:15:38
said, that's just one aspect of it.
1:15:39
But also him wanting to make movies is actually fucking
1:15:42
important. And that's what kind of took it
1:15:44
from kind of what it was in the 80s to the fucking mainstream.
1:15:48
Yeah, look at the match. We've just did as well for
1:15:49
moment in time. Obviously Vince is part of the
1:15:51
country team with Jerry King, Lola.
1:15:54
You know, this is a time when Vince wasn't like the boss on
1:15:56
television, but he's obviously one of the company.
1:15:58
But again, it's like it's the wrestlers in the ring doing
1:16:01
their bit, combined with the cameramen.
1:16:03
How it's edited, combined with the voice of the commentators
1:16:06
adding the flavour, like all of it is like telling the story.
1:16:09
No, definitely. So yes, that's that's what I
1:16:12
thought was a cool one to pick this week.
1:16:15
Very good. And then we're going to go to
1:16:17
Cursed by the Wrestling Gods. It's either we look at a
1:16:19
gimmick, a person, a career. It could be an event, a match
1:16:23
type something. I come to a halt.
1:16:26
It didn't work out. Or maybe something that, you
1:16:29
know, maybe did go well, but maybe could have went better,
1:16:31
maybe had more potential than I had.
1:16:33
Maybe it came to a halt because of unsorseen, unforeseen
1:16:37
circumstances, things like that. Luke, you've got this week's
1:16:40
Cursed by the Wrestling Gods. I have so this week and I've
1:16:43
done a big old deep dive on this one because I think it's
1:16:45
actually quite fascinating. So I've gone with Mr. Nick
1:16:49
Dinsmore, who is or familiar with Nick Dinsmore's work.
1:16:53
Eugene. Eugene yeah.
1:16:56
So let's dive straight into this one because there's a lot of
1:16:58
stuff I didn't know and had made assumptions on but was wrong.
1:17:01
So Nick started, he was trained by Nightmare Danny Davis, and
1:17:06
then he was kind of took under the wing of RIP Rodgers, which a
1:17:08
lot of people were. A lot of people kind of credit
1:17:10
him. He's a bit of a kind of
1:17:11
background man that you only your hardcore fans would know.
1:17:14
He made his debut in 96 for the United States Wrestling
1:17:17
Alliance. Again, little known fact, 98 and
1:17:20
99. He was used as enhancement
1:17:21
talent in WCW. So he was kind of dropped out of
1:17:25
people like Ernest, the camp, Miller, Canyon, Steiner.
1:17:27
But again, he's only a couple of years and it was Korea and he
1:17:30
had a bit of time on WCW, which I didn't know about.
1:17:33
WCW Falls. Obviously he wasn't ever signed
1:17:35
there. Anyways, he heads to OVW, He's
1:17:38
got an absolutely massive kind of history in OVW.
1:17:41
So he was in A tag team with Rob Conway called The Lord of the
1:17:44
Rings, which is just a fucking fantastic tag team name, isn't
1:17:47
it? And it was very relevant of the
1:17:48
times that definitely would have been out in the cinema.
1:17:50
They actually go on over there OVW time to have a record 10
1:17:55
reigns as the OVW Southern Tag Team Champion.
1:17:58
So he holds the record for most tag team titles, one in OVW.
1:18:01
He also holds the record for having the OVW Heavyweight
1:18:04
Championship 10 times. He was kind of known as Mr.
1:18:08
wrestling really good in the ring, kind of solid again going
1:18:12
by that kind of technical side like couldn't beat him.
1:18:14
So again, ten time tag team champion OVW 10 time OVW world
1:18:19
heavyweight champion. During this time he'd again does
1:18:22
a bit of enhancement work up on WWE TV.
1:18:24
So he portrays dunk the clown in JBL's ballroom brawl at 2002
1:18:29
vengeance. So if you want to go cash that
1:18:31
out, the person playing dunk the clown in that match is Nick
1:18:35
Eugene. He also has squash match where
1:18:37
he's beaten from Benoit and him and Rob Conway also play the
1:18:42
lost Quistadors in the Hardys and edging Christians feud.
1:18:45
So again, he's kind of quite a bit of under a mask, but quite
1:18:49
cool little pop ups there, isn't it?
1:18:52
You know, he's, he's learning a lot from people.
1:18:54
He's working a lot of the greats, you know, really sort of
1:19:00
saying, you know, push me to the next bit, please.
1:19:03
Definitely. So then this is where Eugene is
1:19:05
born. So on April the 5th, 2004, he
1:19:09
debuts as and this is their word and his word and as the special
1:19:12
nephew of Eric Bischoff. Now the Eugene character kind of
1:19:17
how it comes about. Do you know anything about this
1:19:19
I? Remember what happening and
1:19:22
actually I remember enjoying it as like a teenager.
1:19:24
I would have been 15 and 16. Sorry 15 and 16 year old when
1:19:29
like this run I'm enjoying it finding it funny but also
1:19:32
entertaining, but also tune for him.
1:19:34
I've since I'm a couple years ago like I found some of this
1:19:37
stuff and I played of a couple of friends to be like all right,
1:19:39
this is what wrestling could be like sometimes No, like how on
1:19:42
earth was this on television because.
1:19:46
Yeah, because of course he's not.
1:19:48
Because. He's not.
1:19:48
He's not disabled. Yeah, because of the
1:19:51
implications. So would use if you have a pick,
1:19:53
would you say this was kind of WWE Vince pitch storyline?
1:19:59
I would. I wouldn't know who pitched it,
1:20:00
to be fair. So it was Nick, it was Nick
1:20:03
Dinsmore. So he'd had a couple of dart
1:20:05
matches for WWE where again, he's Mr. Wrestling, Mr.
1:20:08
Technical, and it was on Anderson essentially said to
1:20:10
him, like, look, you're really good in the ring, but you don't
1:20:12
show much emotion. Like we're kind of, we need a
1:20:15
bit more. So Nick Dinsmore come up with
1:20:18
the Eugene character. So he took inspiration from
1:20:21
Dustin Hoffman and Rain Man, but also RIP Rodgers has a son who
1:20:25
is autistic. And he he come up with the idea
1:20:27
and kind of pitched it. And they were just like, unsure
1:20:31
of it, but they were like, right, let's give it a go.
1:20:33
He worked a couple of dark matches where obviously he goes
1:20:36
out there, the crowd don't know what this is, really wins the
1:20:39
crowd over. And then they're like, right,
1:20:41
essentially, let's strap a fucking rocket to this.
1:20:43
And that's where this character then debuts as the nephew of
1:20:46
Eric Bischoff. So let's see, Dave uses the
1:20:49
special nephew of Eric Bischoff. He's kind of back story of how
1:20:53
he's learnt to wrestle as he's a bit of a savant and he's learnt
1:20:56
to wrestle from watching his favourites on TV.
1:20:59
So he yeah, then obviously he does that.
1:21:04
So he's then put with William Regal straight away where it's
1:21:06
kind of Regal's furious with it at the time, but Regal grows to
1:21:09
love him. Eugene massively credits Regal
1:21:12
for kind of getting the character over as well.
1:21:14
So again, just kind of, you know, Regal, one of the all time
1:21:16
greats, give him something to work with, he'll turn it into
1:21:18
gold. So yeah, he's debuted as
1:21:19
Archbishop, his special nephew. He's working with Regal.
1:21:22
He then has a little feud with Jonathan Coachman, which leads
1:21:25
to promo time with The Rock. So within about 3 months of this
1:21:29
character debuting, he has an in ring segment with The Rock, then
1:21:32
the big time starts. So so The Rock asks him who his
1:21:34
favorite wrestler is, thinking it's going to be The Rock,
1:21:37
Eugene says it's Triple H. This kind of then leads to a
1:21:39
feudal Triple H. We're kind of evolution or
1:21:42
manipulating them a bit. And this leads to a massive
1:21:45
match at Summer Slam with Triple H.
1:21:48
So again, within a couple of months of this character debut,
1:21:50
and he's Eric Bischoff's nephew, He's got Regal at his side.
1:21:53
He's at screen time of The Rock, He's now wrestling Triple H at
1:21:56
Summer Slam are kind of the peak of Triple H's powers.
1:22:00
That then leads to a match like when that that feud ends.
1:22:03
He then fused with Bischoff where they have a hair versus
1:22:05
hair match at Taboo Tuesday. Bischoff loses, so Eugene gets
1:22:09
to shave Uncle Eric's hair, wins the tag titles, him and Regal by
1:22:13
beating La Resistance. That doesn't go as long as it
1:22:15
should have because in January 2025, that year he suffers A
1:22:19
ruptured left Patella. So he's out for six months.
1:22:22
During that time when he's out injured, though, he does get to
1:22:26
go out there and have screen time at WrestleMania where he's
1:22:29
attacked by Muhammad Hassan and Davari and who saves him.
1:22:32
Mr. America himself? Hulk Hogan.
1:22:34
Hulk Hogan. So with a year in the company,
1:22:37
even with an injury, he's been in the ring with Triple H, He's
1:22:40
at screen time with The Rock and Hogan, it's a decent 1st 12
1:22:43
months that considering he's carrying injury at this point as
1:22:45
well, isn't he? Yeah.
1:22:46
You've got to remember as well, this is when the rocks not
1:22:48
really here. So the rock, the rock, the rock
1:22:50
was, I remember this raw. So the Rock was unadvertised.
1:22:53
So essentially coachman if I remember correctly, he like
1:22:58
belittles him so much he tells him to go away and leave the
1:23:00
ring and leave wrestling. So he starts crying and he like
1:23:03
leaves. He goes to leave and the Rocks
1:23:05
music hits out of nowhere. It wasn't advertised.
1:23:07
So it was for those watching at home and for those in the
1:23:10
audience it was out of the blue and crazy Rock turns up and the
1:23:12
Rock tells him like come to the ring, come to the ring and
1:23:14
that's when they have the segment I guess.
1:23:15
So it was like Rock, You was not really there much.
1:23:20
I think the last time Rock was out was the team I make 40
1:23:22
WrestleMania against Evolution. So like, you know, Rock's fitted
1:23:25
this in to just do this segment with the Coachman and with
1:23:28
Eugene, which is wild when you think of it that way.
1:23:30
And then yeah, works Triple H. You know, I think the way
1:23:37
because I'm read the words like special nephew, like it's almost
1:23:41
like a pun. It's how how it's announced and
1:23:43
it's almost a punishment for regals.
1:23:44
It's like regals punishment is that he's going to look after
1:23:46
this nephew who's disabled, which he knows that's not a good
1:23:50
thing. But then obviously this nephew
1:23:52
actually wins Regal over and turns Regal back to being a
1:23:54
face, right? Yeah, yeah.
1:23:56
And I say they were massively over and I get great.
1:23:59
And in within that, like I say, obviously why Triple H
1:24:01
manipulating them. You get a really cool kind of
1:24:03
match with Regal and Triple H as well, where Regal calls Triple H
1:24:06
out on his bullshit. I think it's the classic
1:24:08
forefront where it's like we're both villains here.
1:24:10
But yeah, you've gone too far and I'm going to stand up for
1:24:12
this boy. And you get a really cool little
1:24:14
kind of mini Regal Triple H feud within the Eugene stuff as well.
1:24:17
So it's all good stuff. Like we'll we'll circle back to
1:24:21
kind of the special nephew in the gimmick itself.
1:24:24
But yeah, so that's he's out injured.
1:24:26
Pond coming back six months later.
1:24:27
It's when Kurt Angle's doing his open challenges where he puts
1:24:30
his gold medal on the line. Eugene answers the open
1:24:33
challenge, beats Kurt and then wins the medal, which then leads
1:24:37
to a summer match with Kurt Angle.
1:24:39
So we're talking about a guy who has had summer Slam matches with
1:24:41
Triple H and Kurt Angle. Kurt does get his medal back
1:24:44
then. And again, there's then a brief,
1:24:46
this is when it kind of starts to go down a bit.
1:24:48
So he's then in a brief tag team with Tajiri.
1:24:50
Tajiri ends up getting released and then he has this mini the
1:24:52
kind of legends run. So at that Taboo Tuesday, he
1:24:55
teamed with Jimmy Snooker to beat everyone's favorite tag
1:24:58
team with Tyson Tomko and Rob Conway.
1:25:01
Again, you know, that's lost on me, that one.
1:25:03
I can't ever remember them being a thing, but there you go.
1:25:06
Now November 18th, 2005, he passes out in a hotel in
1:25:10
Manchester. He then admits to have an an
1:25:13
addiction to prescriptions, prescription pills and drug
1:25:16
abuse. So he's sent to rehab.
1:25:18
So this is in the November of 05.
1:25:20
After his stint in rehab, he is brought back.
1:25:22
So he comes back at the 06 Rumble.
1:25:25
He then ends up kind of having a match with Umaga where he has
1:25:29
Jim Duggan, Kamala and Dunk the Clown in his corner.
1:25:32
Umaga still gets the window. He's then put into the DX Vince
1:25:38
and Shane rivalry. So in that rivalry ends up
1:25:40
beating Vince and Shane in a handicap match after DX
1:25:43
interfere. So again, he's got a pinfall
1:25:46
victory over Vince and Shane in a handicap match.
1:25:48
There's not a lot of people that can say that.
1:25:50
He then starts tagging with Duggan quite a bit.
1:25:53
They think they're going to get a room with the tag team titles
1:25:55
that then turn Eugene on Duggan. It goes absolutely nowhere
1:26:00
because I think they kind of realise that because of the
1:26:02
character that he's portraying, it's quite a hard character to
1:26:05
Boo and I think it put them in sticky water.
1:26:08
So again, he turns on Duggan, but he kind of gets taken off TV
1:26:11
for a bit. He's then reinserted back in
1:26:14
with Vince McMahon where he gets his head shaved.
1:26:17
And this is in the lead up to the Battle of the Billionaires
1:26:19
where it's her versus her. Now this was a fun little story
1:26:22
I found out. So in the lead up to Vince
1:26:24
shaving his hair, he poured paint on him and put his head
1:26:27
down the toilet. So flash forward a couple of
1:26:30
years later when Linda's running for Senate or whatever she is,
1:26:33
she's running for, the opponent she's going up against, brings
1:26:37
up the fact that her husband on TV poured paint and put the head
1:26:40
down the toilet of a man with Down syndrome.
1:26:43
So Eugene had to go to Senate and say it was just a character.
1:26:48
I'm not really, I'm not really disabled.
1:26:51
I'm not really. I don't have Down syndrome.
1:26:52
I'm not disabled. But yeah, so Linda's political
1:26:55
opponent try to say that Vince was bullying Down syndrome
1:26:57
people on TV and it was real. Wow.
1:27:01
And it's funnier than that because you, I've, I've heard
1:27:03
Nick talk about this and he wasn't even employed by the
1:27:06
company at the time. But they were like, what could
1:27:08
really do with you coming to kind of show that it was just a
1:27:11
character and it's not real? It's mental as professional
1:27:16
wrestling is crazy. Correct.
1:27:18
Well, again, going back the kind of that political Donald Trump
1:27:21
wrestling documentary, this is kind of where those lines get
1:27:24
very blurred, where you've got someone actually try to use this
1:27:26
is a real kind of stick to beat Linda with our husband bullies
1:27:29
people with Down syndrome. So, yeah, just absolutely
1:27:31
mental. But yeah, so again, he's kind of
1:27:33
a little bit part of the battle of the Billionaires feud going
1:27:36
into that. I say he gets his head shaved
1:27:38
and then after that it's kind of nothing really much happens.
1:27:41
He kind of debuts a kind of a superhero character that doesn't
1:27:43
really go anywhere. And on September and then in
1:27:46
September 2007, he's released. So he's had a three-year run
1:27:50
kind of in there where within that three-year run.
1:27:52
I mean, how would you rate that three-year run?
1:27:56
Yeah, I think he gets a, you know, gets a very sort of
1:28:01
particular gimmick over and over.
1:28:02
Well, to where, like, the audience will love it.
1:28:05
He works for legends like Regal, The Rock, Triple HDX, Vincent,
1:28:09
Shane, Hacksaw, Jim Duggan, Kurt Angle.
1:28:13
You know he's during his time period.
1:28:16
I think he's very much like a household name for wrestling
1:28:19
fans, no? 100% yes.
1:28:23
Like I say, he gets released, then he then ends up where a lot
1:28:25
of people that we've done Kurt by wrestling guards ends up.
1:28:28
He works a good couple of months with the Juggalos where he has
1:28:31
matches with fellow Cursed by the Wrestling Gods alumni Raven,
1:28:35
and he also tags with everyone's favorite one legged wrestler,
1:28:38
Zach Gowan. He has a little stint back in
1:28:41
OVW where he wins one of his ten World Championships.
1:28:44
So even though he's been on the main roster, he kind of goes
1:28:46
back down to OVW July 09. Now this is a funny one.
1:28:50
He's back with WWE, so the sign in July 09, his first match on
1:28:55
Raw is a contract on a pool match against the Calgary Kid,
1:28:59
which he loses. And the Calgary Kid was Miz
1:29:01
under a mask because Kizzard. Mizzard also been fired.
1:29:04
And then after that match, he's then released in August.
1:29:07
And I've tried to look into why that happened.
1:29:08
So he was essentially employed for six weeks and then released
1:29:11
him again. So very strange, September 2013
1:29:16
kind of next big kind of milestone he's brought in the
1:29:18
NXT as a trainer and he's kind of taught about that year that
1:29:21
he spent there, how much he loved it.
1:29:23
He had people like Chad Gable, Braun Strowman, Sasha Banks,
1:29:27
Charlotte in his classes quite regularly.
1:29:30
They were kind of the four names that he picks out with people
1:29:32
who felt that you worked with a lot and really enjoyed it.
1:29:35
Also had some pretty interesting comments on the on NXT, because
1:29:38
he's kind of said that it's so impressive the performance now
1:29:42
that if you don't make there, it's kind of your own fault.
1:29:46
But what do you think about that?
1:29:49
I mean, it's quite a broad statement, but.
1:29:52
So I think I've heard trip ratios means sometimes like, you
1:29:54
know, back in the day, you'd have to like find your own
1:29:56
school, like go and learn, pay your money, you know, clean up
1:30:02
after everyone in the school. You know, like only get hot dogs
1:30:06
for food when you were working the indie matches for free.
1:30:09
Right now, if you sign to NXT and you get put in the
1:30:11
performance centre, everything is the only one roof.
1:30:13
All the knowledge that you can get on promos, on match work, on
1:30:17
camera work, you know, if you want it, it's there.
1:30:20
If you don't utilize it, then you don't.
1:30:22
But I think if you yeah, I think if you if you are there for a
1:30:25
certain amount of time, you don't get and you don't succeed.
1:30:28
And I think that means that your word menu or that you didn't
1:30:30
want enough. Yeah, I think as a broad
1:30:33
statement, I generally agree with that.
1:30:34
So, yeah, so he didn't, he couldn't speak more highly.
1:30:36
Loved his year there. When he leaves NXT, he kind of
1:30:39
goes back to the independence. He runs a lot of shows and shoe
1:30:42
falls, which is kind of where he's based.
1:30:44
He's done lots of stuff over from the UK and you'll be not
1:30:47
shocked to hear that. But when he's been over here, he
1:30:49
likes working Grado. And there's a quite a famous set
1:30:51
of matches with Grado where it was a bumbag on a pole match and
1:30:55
each bum bag had a weapon in it. And they did that match, they
1:30:58
kind of without probably telling anyone because Vince Rousseau
1:31:00
was backstage for that show. And apparently Vince Rousseau
1:31:03
loved it, bro. So yeah, he had a bum bag on a
1:31:06
pole match where each bum bag had a weapon in with Grado.
1:31:09
And currently he's on a retirement tour.
1:31:12
But he says he describes his retirement tour as a motley crew
1:31:15
or kiss retirement tour. So don't worry, there's no end
1:31:18
insight. Get him.
1:31:20
So I take it he's not in the gimmick anymore?
1:31:23
He kind of does, yeah. So it's spelt with AU instead of
1:31:27
the E that he spells it with. But no, he does kind of work the
1:31:30
gimmick still, Yeah, depending on like where he's at, but those
1:31:33
matches with grade or it was very much the gimmick.
1:31:37
Got you. And like I say, he's kind of, he
1:31:40
loves the gimmick. I think he had a period where he
1:31:42
kind of did fall a bit of love with it and felt bad.
1:31:44
But he kind of ultimately says that, like, he's had a lot of
1:31:47
people who have come up with the conventions and stuff and have
1:31:51
said, like, you know, I've got a son who's autistic or something
1:31:53
like that. And they thought as parents, it
1:31:55
was really cool seeing that kind of representation on TV.
1:31:58
And he kind of the only negative of it is that they were talking
1:32:00
about, like, was there ever any talk?
1:32:02
You're coming back, you know, as a different gimmick?
1:32:04
And he just said that's kind of one of the only negatives of it,
1:32:07
that it's really hard to renounce that gimmick and make
1:32:09
it believable because what do you do?
1:32:11
Do you say that you were pretending?
1:32:13
Do you get hit on the head and change your personality?
1:32:15
Do you just not reference it? So yeah, he absolutely loves the
1:32:18
gimmick now, and he's really proud of the work that he's done
1:32:21
with it. But he kind of admits that it
1:32:24
trapped him a bit, if that makes sense.
1:32:27
I mean, imagine, imagine if he imagine if he wrestled with
1:32:30
debris. Now let's just say he was on an
1:32:32
episode of Dewey Dewey unreal on Netflix.
1:32:35
It was in backstage saying, Oh, yes, here I am a normal, like
1:32:38
I'm, I'm a, I've got no disabilities, but I'm going to
1:32:41
go to that ring now and I'm going to be disabled and I'm
1:32:44
going to portray aspects of autism and Down syndrome because
1:32:48
that's me character. Like would that fly in the day's
1:32:53
world? Do you know, do you know what it
1:32:55
is? I don't think it wouldn't.
1:32:56
I think from the outside view at the time, it didn't really like,
1:33:00
I think it did get a lot of negative backlash from people
1:33:02
that weren't watching it week to week.
1:33:03
But kind of doing the research for this this week and I've gone
1:33:06
back and we watched some of the stuff and hearing him talk about
1:33:09
it like I think it was, I think it was done as tastefully as it
1:33:12
could. And he he was always the
1:33:15
underdog in it. And everyone you know, you
1:33:18
triple HS you Vincent Shane's, they were the bad guys.
1:33:22
They were the bullies, you know, to the point that thought when
1:33:23
someone in fucking mountain politics thought it was real.
1:33:26
So I don't I feel like it was done as well as it could be.
1:33:30
It's very muddy, I suppose, because you've got someone who
1:33:32
don't doesn't have those disabilities betraying it.
1:33:35
And there was part of it that would maybe played for laughs.
1:33:38
But I think some people, I think it's a credit to Nick Dinsmore
1:33:43
because I think some people might have been, I know
1:33:44
obviously he pitched that gimmick, but if that had been
1:33:47
given to somebody else, it might have been horrendous and could
1:33:50
have been in very bad taste. But overall, because he was kind
1:33:54
of a time strip like the main event star, I think everyone did
1:33:58
as well as they could with it. And I don't think it's as bad as
1:34:01
people might think it is if you just described it.
1:34:05
Yeah, and I think at the end of the day, like we did see, you
1:34:08
know, like I said, he gets put with Regal.
1:34:09
Regal doesn't treat me very nice, but he ends up like
1:34:12
turning Regal face where Eagle does start treating him.
1:34:14
Well, you know and you know, like I said, the coach is nasty
1:34:19
to him and belittles him, but the rock comes and helps him.
1:34:21
Then he gets one up on on the coach with the axe and with Kurt
1:34:26
Angle. You know, we see we see this
1:34:28
character like overcoming the odds.
1:34:31
It's like when those things are happening, it's that's not
1:34:34
taking the piss because I think that is generally like, Oh,
1:34:35
well, we're showing you this type of character, but we're
1:34:38
also showing you how they can overcome the odds and actually
1:34:40
be successful. No 100% and look, if he's had
1:34:43
people, you know, parents and stuff come up to and say they
1:34:46
they appreciate seeing that character being betrayed, then
1:34:49
we are fair enough. Like unless you've do you want
1:34:51
me, like unless you have, you know, a relative or you, you
1:34:55
yourself, you know, have those conditions legitimately, like
1:34:59
you can't fully kind of comment how bad or positive it is
1:35:02
anyways, really, unless you've had that lived in experience.
1:35:06
Definitely. Like I said, I remember watching
1:35:07
this being 1516 and like I did enjoy it quite a lot and I
1:35:11
actually like the carrot gun. And like I said, but he was
1:35:14
teamed with the rocking team of Hogan and he was going against
1:35:16
Triple H and he was going against Kurt Angle.
1:35:19
And when him and Regal were tag team champions like I did,
1:35:22
sorry, enjoyed, and she had him on.
1:35:24
No, I say because if you remember as well, because
1:35:26
obviously that I say that the character is he learned to
1:35:28
wrestle by watching his favourites.
1:35:29
It was cool how he hit rock bottoms and Pedigrees and
1:35:32
stoners and stuff like that was really cool.
1:35:35
Only that was really We would be the best wrestlers, me knew.
1:35:38
Well, exactly. Yeah, we are quite the savants.
1:35:40
I like how savants quite another way of trying to see what they
1:35:42
were trying to get across. But yeah, no, let's say I really
1:35:44
enjoyed kind of going back and looking into this.
1:35:46
And I think, yeah, I think overall I like the gimmick and I
1:35:50
think it was done as tastefully as that type of thing,
1:35:52
especially for the WWE, you know, who kind of so, you know,
1:35:56
haven't done stuff, you know, haven't covered themselves in
1:35:59
glory with other things they've tried like this.
1:36:01
I think it's pretty cool. I'm glad that he seems healthier
1:36:04
now with kind of, you know, the the drug problems he had.
1:36:07
And he's still going now. And he's like I say, he's got
1:36:10
his own YouTube channel where it's film stuff like every week.
1:36:14
And it's just really cool to watch.
1:36:15
And like I say, if you're in the UK, he's often over here at
1:36:18
least once or twice a year. So you can still go out there
1:36:19
and catch him on his motley Crew Kiss retirement tour coming to a
1:36:23
town near you. Indeed, I think what I think, I
1:36:27
do think with this gimmick, I think it doesn't really have a
1:36:30
certain shelf life because at some point you have to get over
1:36:32
the fact that these disabilities that he's portraying are like or
1:36:37
what he's overcoming and you have to change the way he's
1:36:38
going to have to overcome like the roster.
1:36:40
And I think you struggle to get away from that.
1:36:44
And that's what makes it like a short sell shelf life certainly
1:36:48
in the WFRWE anyway. I think in terms of the
1:36:50
Indonesia and keep doing a few different towns all the time.
1:36:52
But terms of national television, I think it's harder.
1:36:56
What does it evolve in new? No, that's what you kind of
1:36:59
said, yeah. That's what you can't renounce
1:37:01
about it. And kind of why it kind of hits
1:37:03
that kind of why we chose by tourism for this category is
1:37:05
kind of things that, you know, he had kind of, you know,
1:37:08
addiction problems that kind of prevented him from progressing
1:37:11
like that because he was kind of working with Kurt at the time.
1:37:14
You know, he had an injury when he was tag team champs with
1:37:16
Regal. So and then obviously he's had a
1:37:18
gimmick that which was to say can be quite 1 dimensional and
1:37:21
maybe he has a shelf life. So, And this is a guy who in OVW
1:37:24
was seen as Mr. Wrestling. So he's clearly very fucking
1:37:27
talented in the ring and then proved he could do it with the
1:37:29
character, which people said he couldn't.
1:37:31
So, you know, all the fucking talent both in the ring and the
1:37:33
sport A-Team inside of making movies, if we draw back to what
1:37:36
we've been talking about earlier.
1:37:37
But yeah, just a couple of things that kind of hindered
1:37:39
that mixed with a gimmick that was very hard to have a long
1:37:42
shelf life, but not really interesting guy.
1:37:44
Check out his YouTube channel. And like I say, he is over here
1:37:47
from time to time. Indeed, good old Eugene.
1:37:51
Mr. Nick Dinsmore, I remember thinking was a thing in like the
1:37:56
early 2000s, like maybe around, I don't know, towards 2010 was
1:38:02
like Rinka King or something. It was like Indian wrestling.
1:38:04
Where the ball characters? Was he not a doctor or something
1:38:06
on there? Yeah, he was.
1:38:07
Yeah, he was. He did do that.
1:38:09
Yeah. Rinka King.
1:38:09
Yeah. I remember that.
1:38:11
That's one thing I do remember. Rinka King.
1:38:13
Yeah. So yeah, like I said, check,
1:38:15
check your stuff out. They're still there.
1:38:16
And I say go back and rewatch some of his stuff.
1:38:19
Make your own minds up on how well it's dated because I think
1:38:21
surprisingly it hasn't dated too badly in the grand scheme and
1:38:25
stuff. And that moves us on to our pro
1:38:29
wrestling feel good fact of the week to end the episode, Luke.
1:38:34
It does indeed. So yeah.
1:38:36
So I've I've got a little something actually I do want to
1:38:37
bring up, but I'll let you go first with the actual real fact
1:38:40
of the week. Yeah, so mine was just going to
1:38:42
be a bit a bit a bit of breaking news as well.
1:38:44
So have you seen what's happened with Progress Wrestling today?
1:38:48
I did hear that apparently Progress and Defy maybe have new
1:38:52
owners. They do, yeah.
1:38:54
So it is WWE Nikki Cross that's just most well known and the
1:38:58
husband, Big Damo, who obviously was in WWE as well.
1:39:02
They have as of today officially bought Progress Wrestling.
1:39:05
But you know, it's pretty cool. So kind of a quick rundown.
1:39:07
Progress has been around since 2011.
1:39:10
It was kind of set up by comedian Jim Smallman, John
1:39:12
Briley and Glenn Robinson. Kind of their kind of a pot of
1:39:15
history of them is kind of really good independent
1:39:18
wrestling, kind of a punk rock edge to it.
1:39:21
Kind of 2015. They hadn't.
1:39:22
They did the full five nights at Download, which would kind of
1:39:26
lead to NXT taking that spot. They did Wembley Arena in 2016,
1:39:31
which sold 4750 tickets, which was I think the biggest UK
1:39:36
wrestling show in 30 years. That leads to 2016.
1:39:39
Then working with WWE where your Pete Dunns, your Tyler Bates,
1:39:43
your Trend Sevens and the UK Championship and then they've
1:39:46
kind of obviously COVID hit a bit and then they've been going
1:39:48
ever since. From strength to strength is
1:39:50
kind of one of the best, if not the biggest independent UK, some
1:39:53
promotions up there with ICW and North.
1:39:56
And then yeah, obviously things change behind the scenes.
1:39:58
And as of today, it's now owned by Bear.
1:40:00
That's a big demo. Nikki Cross, which I think is
1:40:03
really cool because obviously they're two guys, you know,
1:40:05
husband and wife who kind of been in WV.
1:40:07
They've, by the sounds of it, being sensible with the money
1:40:10
they've had that I'd imagine the made a little bit, you know,
1:40:13
working in the WV and they could, you know, put that in the
1:40:15
bank, invest it, retire early. But no, they've kind of
1:40:19
reinvested it in something that they love very dearly in
1:40:22
wrestling. And keeping a really cool
1:40:24
company alive. And I just think that's, that's
1:40:27
excellent, doesn't it? It just shows you the love of it
1:40:29
that they know they're two people who probably don't need
1:40:31
to be invested in a wrestling company.
1:40:33
So here we are. I'm assuming they're doing it
1:40:35
for the love of it, which is what we're all about.
1:40:39
Yeah. I just wonder like, like, why
1:40:43
were they for sale or what was it not for sale?
1:40:48
Did they just come with an offer that, like the current owners,
1:40:50
couldn't refuse? I think it must have been for
1:40:52
sale because I think there was a couple of parties like
1:40:55
interested in buying it. But they they, they, they appear
1:40:59
to be the safest hands, as in continuing it in the way that
1:41:02
they would want it to continue and not just being bought up as
1:41:05
a commodity. That's good thing progress and
1:41:07
is probably one of the top three promotions in the country of the
1:41:10
UK over there with North and with ICW, in my opinion anyway.
1:41:18
And you know it's championed. You know, you think about all
1:41:20
the top stars in television now, you know who've been through
1:41:22
progress. You said Pete Dunnsey, Tyler
1:41:24
Bates, you've all those have been through there.
1:41:26
Obviously now Gunther you will Osprey has been through there.
1:41:31
So you know that's the name. I feel there's more.
1:41:34
I think what I would like to think of as though is that
1:41:36
obviously Kilian Dean or big demos he's now called and Nicky
1:41:41
Cross probably still have a lot left in the tank wrestling wise
1:41:43
as well. So enough they'll be like
1:41:47
promote as and talent on the same show.
1:41:49
Well. Yeah, which is not a not a bad
1:41:53
thing at all, really. I mean, obviously this is the
1:41:54
first thing you've heard about Nicki doing since our release,
1:41:57
which is still fresh, you know what I mean?
1:41:59
So it's cool. That's just kind of that's still
1:42:01
massively, clearly, massively still want to be a part of this
1:42:03
thing that we love called wrestling.
1:42:07
No, definitely something you know, and do they have a bit
1:42:09
more pull than maybe pulling talent from other places and
1:42:11
things and relationships or do we read obviously they have
1:42:14
those relationships. So maybe those relationships
1:42:16
between progress and the and the big American companies can
1:42:19
continue. No, 100%, yeah.
1:42:22
Have you ever ever been to a progress show?
1:42:24
I can't wait when it was by the half, but it was about maybe 12
1:42:26
year ago. So I only went to my first one
1:42:30
last year. So again, obviously it was like
1:42:32
I think I mentioned before, my daughter has a health condition.
1:42:34
We spent some time in Great Ormond St. last year for
1:42:37
sometime four months and on one of my respite days, I was lucky
1:42:40
enough to go see them at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.
1:42:44
And yeah, again, just what kind of wrestling was all about.
1:42:47
It was a great show. It was the strong style cup that
1:42:49
they do as well. So similar when we went north,
1:42:51
it was another cup that I saw. But yeah, that was an absolutely
1:42:53
fantastic show. It was a 2 day as well, but I
1:42:56
could only go with one day. But yeah, again, just another
1:42:58
company where you went and it was absolutely fantastic.
1:43:01
Like to watch live. So again, they're they're kind
1:43:04
of, it's what quite is obviously we've talked about North where
1:43:06
they've got kind of shows in Newcastle and Leeds, progress on
1:43:09
more kind of Manchester, London. So you've kind of got the full
1:43:11
base of the UK kind of if you want to see a really good
1:43:14
independent wrestling show. So yeah, again, just check them
1:43:16
out if you get the opportunity to.
1:43:19
Definitely interesting to see where progress goes with these
1:43:22
new lease of life Phil Haven't and the new Warners.
1:43:25
Yeah. And like you see, I think kind
1:43:26
of the links they've got, you know, do we get some surprise
1:43:28
appearances as favours? So yeah, I think it's I think
1:43:31
it's an exciting thing. And I think the feel good thing
1:43:33
I've chosen is the fact that you've just got two people who
1:43:35
probably don't need to be doing this but obviously want to do
1:43:37
it, which I think is always the best, best way to go into
1:43:40
something. No, it certainly is.
1:43:43
And then one for me. And it ties back to an old
1:43:46
episode. So do you remember we had talk
1:43:48
about John Heidenreich and how he was working in a supermarket?
1:43:52
I do, yes. About how he was happy to talk
1:43:56
wrestling with his colleagues and give pictures.
1:43:59
So it looks like he is now taking bookings for like, for
1:44:05
conventions, like for meet and greets, for interviews, for, for
1:44:09
signings. I don't know if he's actually
1:44:11
taking wrestling bookings. I don't think he is.
1:44:13
But it's good to see him getting back in the business that we're
1:44:15
looking to make some money off of his name because, you know,
1:44:18
he's put the work in the past and people want to meet him and
1:44:20
people want to get a signature. Then hopefully that's like A, he
1:44:23
makes some money and B, hopefully these people have a
1:44:25
great time interacting with him. Yeah, and he's booked in, I
1:44:29
think this week for Chris, Chris Valiant.
1:44:31
Is that how you pronounce it? Who we, who we, the interview,
1:44:34
who does the interviews? He's booked in this week to go
1:44:36
on his show as well. Chris Van Vleet.
1:44:38
Van Vleet, that's the one, Yeah. I really like him as well, but I
1:44:41
can never remember how to pronounce his surname, which is
1:44:42
bad, really. But yeah, so he's not only just
1:44:44
taking bookings himself, he's been booked by one of the
1:44:46
biggest interviewers in the wrestling scene, I'd say.
1:44:48
So I look forward to watching that one.
1:44:52
Definitely Luke. I think that brings them into
1:44:54
our episode. Any last thoughts for the
1:44:56
listeners? No, like I say, we'll put out as
1:44:59
requested what next week's moment in time is going to be
1:45:02
love all your suggestions keep them coming in We're going to
1:45:05
start recording some interviews next week, so we'll put out on
1:45:07
Instagram who we're going to be interviewing and if you've got
1:45:09
any questions for them. But yeah, my thing every week is
1:45:12
just keep doing what you're doing get in touch we're going
1:45:15
to have a special announcement soon about summer slam watch
1:45:17
along party armor. I'm just finalising the details
1:45:20
on that. But yeah, there's it's just more
1:45:22
and more stuff coming and it doesn't keep coming and keep
1:45:25
going unless people get in touch.
1:45:26
So please do tell your friends, send us messages and all that
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