Latest / Real. Guy. Pods. / Drew McIntyre Wins the WWE Title… Now What? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #831 – 1/15/26
Transcript
- 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,560 It's still real to be damaged! 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:12,560 [Music] 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:20,640 Welcome everybody! Welcome to this week's edition of the Show 4 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,720 Episode 831 for January 15th, 2020. 5 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:29,520 Welcome to this week's edition of AskRTU. 6 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:34,160 I am one after the show, I am Jeff Packard, joined every single week like us 7 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:41,360 along with Dr. Trey Franklin, Dr. Trey, and a new WWE Champion, my friend. 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,960 Yeah, it is not hard to swallow. I'm so disappointed that a horse swagger 9 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,680 never got to run with the WWE title, but... 10 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,160 Well, Vince isn't around anymore, so his dad. 11 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,520 Yeah, but that would have been nepotism because he was Vince's son. 12 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,440 Yeah, talk about great storylines, huh? 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,040 What's it made you go, man, I'm so happy to be a wrestling fan. 14 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,840 Yeah, it's... I'll always say that is I literally just saw a video of 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,800 horn swagger when he wrestled a Brit Baker and Adam Cole showed up. 16 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,080 So that's why I got horn swagger on the brain right now. 17 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,720 But yes, new WWE Champion, and I wasn't far off. 18 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,160 He is from the United Kingdom, just not Ireland, but he's from Scotland. 19 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:27,360 Yeah, it was a really fun episode to smack down this past Friday. 20 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,200 Drew McAttire captures the WWE Champion Chip. 21 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,880 Dr. Trey, I remember you, like, poetically comparing him to that Kevin Owens run. 22 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:36,480 And what was it like? 23 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,720 Basically, from my 2020 to 2023 word, always felt like Kevin Owens was on 24 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,680 the precipice of winning the WWE Champion Chip, 25 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,920 typically from Roman Reigns, and was always some sort of fodder as 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,720 taking the L from Roman because he was on that historic run that he was on, 27 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,040 holding the title for three, four years. 28 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,400 Over a thousand days, the WWE Champion in the modern era is something we 29 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:00,160 probably will never see again. 30 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,400 And that's what Drew was. I mean, Drew was always knocking on the doorstep 31 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,000 of becoming WWE Champion, no matter how good his character was. 32 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,680 Especially as a heel over the last several years, it just always felt like 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,600 Drew should get a run with the title, but he was being fed as the guy 34 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,240 to make the baby face as look strong or whether it be CM Punk, whether it be 35 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,560 Seth Rollins, whether it be Cody Rhodes, Damien Priest. 36 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:30,480 The time that Drew held the title since the COVID era was for just what, 37 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:36,560 a little over five minutes at WrestleMania 41 in Philadelphia or 40. 38 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,400 It was WrestleMania 40. 39 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,680 >> It was like five minutes and 34 seconds or something like that. 40 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,280 >> Yep, defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, wins the world. 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,560 Every way of championship drew and then Punk takes him out, 42 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,720 Damien cash is in, which going back to those days, we predicted that as 43 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,800 potentially happening. And then he leaves and doesn't hold the championship 44 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:02,880 again up until now. There was some push in the fall of last year 45 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,480 that Drew McIntyre should win the WWE Championship from both Cody Rhodes and 46 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,160 Drew McIntyre reportedly around WrestleMania time and they did not go 47 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:15,440 forward with that. Then we had this gap until now and it was basically like a huge 48 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,880 moment in Drew McIntyre's career because if he walks out of three stages hell on 49 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:26,080 SmackDown without winning the WWE Championship, I mean, there could be a near ride over in Europe. 50 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,200 And I'm happy that he did. I'm happy that he won the championship. 51 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,120 He's been such a good character. He's a guy that deserves the opportunity to 52 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,960 be holding a championship in front of live crowds, especially over on the European 53 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:42,640 tour that he's been doing in the last several weeks or so. I think he was in his 54 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,200 hometown the next night after SmackDown on a house show. He'll be there this Friday. 55 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,800 I believe they're in London. I want to say on Friday. 56 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,840 I think they're in Wembley this weekend or Friday. 57 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:01,920 Okay, okay. And then they're in Belfast for RAW on Monday. I think it's London on Friday on SmackDown. 58 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,560 So he gets the win. It's very controversial, which we'll get to that point. 59 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,400 But let's look at it here from the Drew McIntyre standpoint, Dr. Trey, as he 60 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,640 finally captures the WWE Championship by defeating Cody Rhodes on SmackDown 61 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,200 in a three stages of Hell match. 62 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:23,440 Yeah, I mean, like I said, like I said, last time when he wrestled Cody the PLE, like he had to 63 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:30,960 get one of these. Like you can only have him come up short so many times before he kind of 64 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,440 becomes like just like an unbelievable, like he used to bump below bills in a lot of ways. 65 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,560 Like if you have coming up short, you just never bought into it. 66 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:48,720 Even heading into SmackDown. I'm like, I can't remember the last time a heel won a three stages 67 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:55,120 of Hell match. Like that's typically a very baby face kind of winning situation because 68 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,280 there's a lot of endurance. You have to outlast, you know, all that stuff. So 69 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,880 the fact that they pulled the trigger and the timing of it was really great because I mean, 70 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:10,480 I remember you and I sent here when he didn't win and clash at the castle, you know, against Roman. 71 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:15,440 And we were like, why do you not pull the trigger there and get the biggest pop possible? 72 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:23,040 Like this kind of fills that void a little bit. And it is kind of like, Drew's been arguably the 73 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:30,400 best character in WWE the last five years. And even since turning heel, just even better. 74 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:38,560 The fact that he's finally getting that payoff to be the champion heading into Royal Rumble season 75 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:44,560 is a hell of an accomplishment. And just shows you like like, no, no, no, we actually do value you. 76 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:50,480 We do think you're a top guy. We think we can put you out there on the circuit. We saw it a little 77 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:57,920 bit during the COVID era, like the kind of via satellite type interviews he was doing back then. But 78 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,960 this is a showcase for Drew McIntyre. The hey, we're going to give you the chance to kind of carry 79 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:08,480 the ball for a little bit heading into Rumble season, possibly WrestleMania season. Let's see what 80 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:15,120 you do with it. Yeah, I love that they're given this opportunity. And I love that it is kind of 81 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:20,880 shaken up the WrestleMania stuff, which we'll get into a little bit more here momentarily. 82 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:28,160 Do you feel like Drew is the best heel in WWE right now? 83 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:38,560 As a wrestler heel, yes. I think that I still get say Paul, Paul Haymes the best heel in 84 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:44,960 wrestling, but he's not in ring. So as an in-ring performer, I think it has to be Drew because he's the 85 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:52,320 person that kind of knows what buttons to push with the crowd. And he has the believability factor 86 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:58,880 to also kind of back it up in the ring. But that's something you and I have discussed 87 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:06,800 months ago, which was there wasn't a lot of great heels in wrestling. Do you put, I mean maybe Logan 88 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:13,360 Paul is second on that list of actually like being a true heel in ring performer because 89 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:20,560 it's not Braun Breaker because Braun gets cheered too much. But Drew gets cheered too. I mean people 90 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:26,320 do love Drew. Maybe I maybe have to go back. Maybe it might still be Gunther. Yeah, it's gotta be 91 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:32,240 it's gotta be Gunther. It's gotta be Gunther Dom because it was Dom but Dom's getting cheered now also 92 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:38,080 because he become kind of the cool heel. So I think Gunther is just maybe universally hated 93 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:43,920 by most wrestling fans where like Drew is getting those cheers, Dom's starting to get a lot more 94 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:53,360 cheers. It might be Gunther Logan Paul and then Drew. Let's take a look at the Cody Rhodes aspect of 95 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:58,480 it because we're obviously glossing over the finish right now, which I want to get to here in 96 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:04,560 the next bullet point basically. But the Cody Rhodes stuff. I felt like Dr. Trey even watching the show 97 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:10,560 live, sitting down on like if Cody walks out of here with the victory and retains the title. I think 98 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:17,840 he could be getting close to John Cena reverse baby face. You know, we hate you because you're 99 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:23,280 you've been dominating WWE over the last year is the the white meat baby face that he would be 100 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:27,920 getting like John Cena reactions, especially over in Europe because I think people wanted to see Drew 101 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:35,200 win. I think for me character standpoint, I think this was the right move for Cody to lose the 102 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,920 title because I prefer to him being someone that is chasing the champion, chip heading in the 103 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:47,680 WrestleMania rather than being the champion. And I just felt like with him at the top for a little 104 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:57,680 bit, it's just creatively. It's it's not as flourishing as I would like to see as as as a viewer. It felt 105 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:03,120 very vanilla over the last several months with him as champion. So I just felt like even going into 106 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,600 that match is like if they come out and Cody is still champion like this could be really, really bad 107 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:12,000 both creatively because it's could be very predictable the direction they could be going with Cody 108 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,560 because we saw the reports out about it and now that's influx, which we'll get to here in just a 109 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:24,400 little bit as well. But even more so like I thought Cody was getting close to that 2000s 2010s 110 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,480 era of John Cena that is just it's not a positive thing for the business. 111 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:35,040 Well, I think it just kind of depends on where you fall in the demographic range because I know 112 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:41,840 there's a lot of kids who love Cody Rose and love everything that the Cody Rose character stands 113 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,960 for. But then as you get older and life kind of beats you up and you know things are not black and 114 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:52,640 white. There's shades of gray. We tend to kind of you know root for the anti-heroes or the anti- 115 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:59,040 establishment and we kind of turn our nose up at those kind of Cody Rose, John Cena, Paul Cogan, 116 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:08,880 surfer sting type characters because like the good guys don't always win. And so I like that they 117 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:15,280 mixed it up and changed it up a little bit. But you know you have to in order to stay a relevant 118 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:23,840 top good guy you have to have obstacles to overcome and you can't win every fight like we would not 119 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:29,600 be hyped up about Avengers Doomsday if we knew the good guys were always going to win in the end. 120 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,800 Like we like those movies where hey it looks really dicey it looks really sketchy I don't know if 121 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:40,960 I think he might win but there's those those real possibilities that he might not come out. That's 122 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:49,920 why I like for me as I like having heel champions because we always get more in grossed into the baby 123 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:56,320 face chasing that guy down as opposed to when we were kids and we love when we had the whole Cogan 124 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:03,600 rains or the dust but baby faces typically don't have long rains as champion in the modern era. 125 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:09,040 It's usually the heels that have the longer rains because that's how you make good guy stars is 126 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:14,880 by chasing those villains down and finally conquering them. Yeah that's what we like to see as viewers 127 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:20,240 is you want to see the chase you don't want to see you know the dominant villain being the baby face 128 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,200 all the time. So I thought that was the right direction I thought that it was going to be a 129 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:30,960 definite problem for WWE if they walked out of there with Cody Rhodes as champion because at so 130 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,280 many levels I talked about the character stuff but also from a storyline standpoint it's like what do 131 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:41,760 you do next with him because at this point in droves like the top heel on a Smackdown brand unless 132 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:47,600 he sits idle up until Mania or he's being royal rumble and whoever walks out of the rumble is let's say a 133 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:53,760 raw guy and they win the match and then they you know come over to Smackdown to challenge Cody there's 134 00:11:53,760 --> 00:12:00,640 been a lot of talk about Roman it just felt very easy to predict if Cody's Cody retain now without 135 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:05,760 Cody retaining there is a layer that's been added here where it's it's extremely intriguing to 136 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:11,520 enter us in hand in Mania season which again we will get to here in just a second the third point 137 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:17,680 Dr. Trey in this entire thing is the Jacob Fattu factor. Fattu makes his return for Mindry was 138 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:23,520 last shown on Smackdown being laid out behind the scenes I think he was set to face was he got a 139 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:29,040 face Cody that night. I suppose face drew that was it. He's got a face drew yes and then that led to 140 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:35,920 an in-prob to Cody and Drew match and I said at the time and and Kit Wilson was behind the scenes and 141 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:43,200 he was he like viewed the whole thing take place with Jacob Fattu and that part hasn't come out yet 142 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:47,520 on Smackdown he was like in the background like staring with the officials so he may have seen 143 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:53,120 who actually attacked Jake Fattu I'm surprised they haven't pulled that lever yet or even teased it 144 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:57,200 maybe they will this upcoming Friday or the following weeks that leads to the whole Fattu stuff 145 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:03,600 but with that said you know I approached the idea like do you think there's a possibility that 146 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:08,960 Cody was responsible because the way that Cody was acting was kind of quasi-healish like it was a 147 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:15,040 baby face that was entering the heel zone and that's like how he treated it maybe that's a 148 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,920 direction that they go I thought Fattu's here I'm like oh man is this it they're going to turn Cody 149 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:25,440 Cody heel Cody was the one responsible Fattu enters ring takes out Cody no he attacks Drew 150 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:31,200 because he probably thinks Drew is the one that took him out unless he knows for sure Drew took him out 151 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,280 which we'll add a very nice layer to which is I hope the direction that they go that it's still a 152 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:42,400 mystery this entire thing and then you know he he enters the ring and Cody's like what the hell are 153 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:47,760 you doing he starts fighting Cody and then allows Drew McAttire to slide out the ring and win the WWE 154 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:53,360 championship while Cody and Jacob are still brawling because Jacob Fattu is cost Cody Rhodes the WWE 155 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:58,000 championship I really like that finished dr. Trey I thought it was different I thought it was intriguing 156 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:03,280 I thought it was entertaining I thought it will it leads well to this Friday's edition of Smackdown 157 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:09,440 to get more answers your thoughts on the finish and the return of Jacob Fattu on the Smackdown brand 158 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,920 yeah I thought it was a really good job I was really excited to see Jacob Fattu back 159 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:22,880 I took it that it was a really smart creative decision because if not that buys them time I'm sure 160 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:28,480 they have a plan for where they want to go but in the meantime as this story is playing out you're 161 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:36,160 kind of setting Jacob Fattu as that tweener character because you know most fans love Cody most fans 162 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:42,240 hate Drew and then you got Jacob out there who the fans like but he just beat up Cody so Jacob 163 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:49,520 and I'm not saying this as in a direct link but he can kind of be that stone cold character in the 164 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:55,040 sense of you don't know who he's going to take out like you might be a good guy and catch you 165 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,040 know some hands from him you might be a bad guy and catch some hands much like Austin did for a while 166 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:05,040 where he was just stunning everybody didn't matter I mean you can have Jacob play the unhinged 167 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:12,640 character really really well and it's believable and the fans can kind of ride that fence of I don't 168 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,480 know where this is going but it's entertaining like maybe this does turn Cody heel and Jacob 169 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:23,280 becomes a top baby face maybe it's revealed that it was Drew and Jacob slots in as the number two 170 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:29,680 baby face so it's a really good way of kind of positioning it and kind of seeing how the crowd 171 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:35,520 responds to know which direction you want to go with Drew and Cody coming out of this yeah there 172 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:41,680 were reports circulating leading into Friday Smackdown that Jacob Fattu was due to return soon 173 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,680 and that the belief was he was going to have very significant creative that was going to help him 174 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:52,320 like elevate his game on the WWE roster I I think that this guy's a star I think there's a potential for 175 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:57,920 him to win the WWE championship this year I had him down in my WrestleMania predictions is taking 176 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:03,760 on Brock Lesnar putting him in a big match I think that is now off the table but I'm glad that 177 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:10,480 Fattu is back I think he's very likable both as a baby face and as a heel I tend to lean more 178 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,120 to the heel version of Jacob because it was just so damn dominant but I think you can totally get 179 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:21,920 over as a baby face as well on the Smackdown brand which then takes us to the WrestleMania 42 plans 180 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:28,960 now in Fluxeddoctor Trey it was reported after Survivor Series War games in November that we were 181 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,040 basically getting foreshadowing from the WrestleMania matches and those foreshadowing matches were 182 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:39,680 CM Punk vs Braun Breaker which has since happened at Barclays last week on RAW and Cody versus 183 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:47,120 Roman 3 at WrestleMania 42 according to reports now after last week's title change it would appear 184 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:53,200 that the Cody Roman match is now off the table for WrestleMania 42 I guess it could still happen 185 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:58,960 maybe in a title match maybe in an on title match but if Cody and Roman is off the table Cody 186 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:12,160 Roman 3 did WWE make the right call in your opinion? 187 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:21,520 a big time match and unless Jacob gets super red hot and this is something I wanted to bring up to you 188 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:28,400 and boy like when you look at Smackdown like you have Cody and Drew and then it just felt like there's 189 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:34,560 a huge drop off to the next level like there's really nobody else that you kind of feel like is on those 190 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:41,920 guys as level like like RAW feels like really top heavy Smackdown feels really mid-card and 191 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,320 I was trying to think about earlier I'm like okay if Drew is your top heel who's number two who's 192 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:55,040 number three and I kept getting the solo as number two like I don't know where else people slot in as 193 00:17:55,040 --> 00:18:03,920 so like if if it's Cody and like to me it's like okay you knew Cody and Brock Cody and Roman 194 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:10,640 Cody and you know if Randy Orton turns heel but where like I don't know where the 195 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:19,280 Cody big match is coming from if it's not Roman Randy or Brock unless Jacob catches fire as a heel 196 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:24,720 or a baby face and you go that route like I don't really know where else they go with a big time 197 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:30,480 Cody match unless it's one of those other options yeah it felt like for a while Cody Randy 198 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:35,120 was going to be a match that I was thinking at WrestleMania and it would be Randy turning 199 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:39,600 heel because he so damn good as a heel even though I think a lot of people nowadays don't want to see 200 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:45,360 Randy Orton as a heel because you couldn't make the case potentially he's in the twilight of his 201 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:50,560 career maybe five more years left I know he wants to keep going for a while but he's in now I thought 202 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:56,960 Randy and Cody would have been a very good title WrestleMania match I'm not upset that Cody Roman 203 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,920 three is not happening I thought their matches have been very good I just think that there should be 204 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:08,160 a little bit more space I think you really got to have people want it and then that that really puts 205 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:15,360 a lot of like question marks around the Roman Reigns match for his direction dr. Trey where does 206 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:21,120 this leave Roman right now like what do you do with Roman at WrestleMania do you have him deviate 207 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:26,480 and it's him in punk does I mean there's still the Rollins factor there's been a lot of videos of 208 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:33,120 Seth Rollins unfortunately celebrating the Chicago Bears fan with his shoulder looking pretty damn 209 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:39,120 good he worked the Netflix Christmas football games I was watching he was working as like a like a 210 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:44,240 host and a sideline reporter which was awesome to see for him I mean it appears Rollins could be 211 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:52,160 back here very soon as well do you run it back with with punk Roman Rollins three or two is Rollins 212 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:57,760 going to be back as a heel as a baby face as he looking towards the vision as his matches I mean there 213 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:04,080 is a lot in play here right now with WrestleMania and that's why when we do the show like several weeks ago 214 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:12,880 to preview the the upcoming year it is so damn hard nowadays to predict WrestleMania which is a good 215 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:19,680 thing and even more so because you and I do that show we pre-record that way beforehand I mean it is 216 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:24,560 pre Christmas and we're trying to figure out WrestleMania but I mean even as we sit here today January 217 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:30,320 15th like it's hard to pick what the direction is because even though they've got an away from it on both 218 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:34,880 the men and women's matches over the years for the titles you've got the rumble coming up and that's 219 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:39,520 just a one-on-one match winner picks who they want to face as champion elimination chamber is the 220 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:45,600 month after that in late February in Chicago and the winner of that is setting up another one-on-one match 221 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,120 so it's not as easy being like oh they could just do a triple threat they could just do a fatal 222 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:55,280 four-way with that said all directing back around to it the original question now to tray what do 223 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:03,360 you do with Roman Reigns now so if you keep Roman involved with the vision stuff like we saw a 224 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:08,000 survivor I would do Roman and Braun Breaker like I think if you that's if you want to keep 225 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,960 Braun as a heal we really haven't seen we saw the suspension angle play out on a raw Monday night 226 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:19,840 with Adam Pearce and Braun Breaker getting suspended but at some point you also get to like Braun Breaker 227 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:25,280 is going to be a baby face but if you're keeping him as a heal through WrestleMania Braun Breaker Roman 228 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:32,080 Reigns you know that'd be good match up you don't want to do Roman and Brock again you could go to 229 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:39,200 Roman and punk because we saw that you know that moment in the ring you know a month or so ago where 230 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:44,320 Roman's looking at Cody and punk he goes man that belt looks nice and both guys are like wait who 231 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:50,240 are you talking about so you go and use that as the Easter egg to come back to Roman and punk I 232 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:56,480 was thinking as we're talking like how cool would it be if we if if the whole plan is to divert us 233 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:02,000 from Cody and Roman to go back to Cody and Roman and Roman is also the person who got in Jacob's 234 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:08,160 head to send Jacob out there to cost Cody the title and then you get Jacob and Drew for the title 235 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:16,000 but Cody and Roman three because Roman sent his cousin out to cost Cody the belt so there I mean 236 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,840 there are ways of playing it but like to me those are the most obvious choices would either be Roman 237 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:32,560 punk Roman Braun or Roman and Cody again I think Roman Braun Breaker is a match I'd love to say 238 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:41,120 that would be number one I am fearful that the direction WWE wants to go you know we're talking 239 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:50,960 about Trilogy's what have you is Roman Lesnar three at WrestleMania um there was Roman Lesnar 240 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:59,200 at 31 Roman Lesnar at 38 in the biggest WrestleMania match of all time and then it would be this one 241 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:07,120 no WrestleMania 34 the one that you were at as well so it would be Roman Brock four I think that 242 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:12,960 could be a likely solution as well events was still at the helm I would say that would be the 243 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,800 direction they would be going for sure but I prefer to see Roman Braun Breaker and I would love to 244 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:24,720 see Braun Breaker get the victory obviously but part of me is thinking that number two is Roman 245 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:30,160 and Brock again because they were teasing that at Survivor Series War games as well is it is it for 246 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:35,760 you did you count the Summerslam match I'm only counting WrestleMania matches okay yeah yeah yeah no 247 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,240 there's the Summerslam match that I was at were those two went out again and Roman walked out 248 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:46,080 there with the championship and you were at 34 so you and I are lucky to have been part of this 249 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:52,400 chapter of our lives but even to the that that point Dr. Trilogy Roman and Brock on on another level 250 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:57,360 than they were even back at WrestleMania 38 and dare I say I think they're both better workers now 251 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:02,640 than they were at WrestleMania 38 I mean you can say they're better workers but then I'd always 252 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,240 go back to the John Cena Brock Lesnar match and be like was that a really good work it was that 253 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:11,600 really a well-worked match for Brock but uh yeah I mean if Vince was still there he would just 254 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,920 have like the crowd you know some double chant fight forever that would be the Vince thing for 255 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:22,320 Roman and Brock like oh you guys just go out there and find it every WrestleMania from here 256 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:29,280 until you die my Vince is getting better by the way and he's nowhere to be found so it loses 257 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:39,760 luster but yeah like I it's it's this is probably the most confusing time for WrestleMania that we've 258 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:45,520 had and maybe our entire history like a lot of matches we could kind of pick out six months ahead of 259 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:51,280 time like I'm looking at the card now and I'm like I have no idea where they're going with anybody 260 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:57,200 upgrade at the top of the card right now because you don't know when Rollins is coming back I'm 261 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:02,400 pretty sure he's coming back as a baby face just because you just did the whole Austin theory 262 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:09,040 stomping people to you know make people think it was Seth um I think we'll probably we might get 263 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:14,880 Rollins if Rollins can make it back by WrestleMania we might get Rollins in theory at WrestleMania um 264 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:20,880 I don't know what you do with Bronson Reed in that I don't know what you do with Logan Paul um 265 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,800 if you do Braun and Roman that's a fantastic match but then do you do the Usos against like Logan 266 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:32,640 Paul and Bronson Reed the tag belts like I don't like there's so many questions as to where you go with 267 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:39,280 stuff um it it's really it's almost like like the old family guy joke of you're just throwing 268 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,520 stuff in the wall and seeing what kind of comes out of it and then that's the story we're going with 269 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:49,200 because it's just and not mentioned you still have LA night on the sidelines right now we don't 270 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,840 know where LA night slots in all this heading into Royal Rumble season if he's going to be a baby 271 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:59,840 face if he'll in it come back as he heal uh you have smackdowns only got maybe four top guys and 272 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:04,640 the rest of the cards of mid card where is Sammy Zane slottings all of this trick Williams they're 273 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:11,520 all on Smackdown like the it's it's a good like there is no pecking order really it's like on 274 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:17,040 Smackdowns like top four guys and then just everybody else and it's a free for all to see who claims 275 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:24,480 the next spot up yeah it's it's it's major in flux and you know I pitched the idea of Sammy 276 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:30,000 winning the Rumble and Saudi Arabia I thought that would be good I like a Sammy run going into Mania 277 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,800 trying to win the World Heavyweight Championship they tried touching upon that uh several times over 278 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:41,760 the years it was like I remember I think fall last year uh he's talked about it heading into uh this 279 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:49,680 past year even that he wanted to get in there and and win the World Championship finally because he always 280 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,760 was someone that couldn't win the big one and they like go back and forth to that I think that 281 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:59,360 would be a great storyline you bring up LA night uh as well I think it's time for him to catapult to 282 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:05,680 the top of the card and get an opportunity as champion it's a tough job to have as a creative member 283 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:10,320 of WWE according to reports they know what they want to do with those title matches and uh I 284 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:15,840 guess we'll have well we certainly have a much better view of it in in about two to three weeks time 285 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:21,760 once the Rumble passes uh I have at least one match under the books but the Roman stuff is is 286 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:27,920 extremely intriguing what happens with him now um and then going back to the Smackdown brand 287 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:33,840 doctor tray there's early reports right now that that match for the WWE Championship will be 288 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:40,080 Drew versus Fat 2 versus Cody Rhodes somehow getting in an Attribute Threat Match which if that's 289 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:48,880 the direction I'm here I'm for that right now because I prefer seeing a storyline build now early 290 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:55,600 January that takes me to you know mid April or WrestleMania then waiting you know early February 291 00:27:55,600 --> 00:28:00,720 mid February for just a couple months I would love to see this thing play out uh until then with 292 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:06,960 a lot of different twists and turns going back to big Drew going back to the WWE Championship 293 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:13,040 do you want to see that being a Triple Threat match with Cody Drew in Fat 2 uh over the next several 294 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:18,560 months heading into WrestleMania yeah because I think it's interesting I mean you have Drew's champion 295 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:24,880 Fah 2 is the tweeter Cody on the chase again like fans love that stuff I mean like we love Cody 296 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:30,880 in the chase we love Jacob being on hand do we like Drew being the mega villain so uh I'm for that 297 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:36,000 which if you do that then you can always do the cool thing at Limitian Chamber and like let's say 298 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:42,480 because I think my prediction was Roman winning the rumble uh so if Roman wins the rumble and you put 299 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:50,000 Roman with punk brawn with Seth you do Cody and Jacob in the chamber and the chamber match ends with 300 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:56,480 those two being taken out by Drew and there's no winner and then uh Nick all this comes out and 301 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,960 declares that we're gonna triple threat match at Mania with all three of those guys and then you get 302 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,320 basically a month and a half buildup of those three guys just beating the hell of each other leading 303 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:11,440 into WrestleMania like I'm fine with that I think that would be a pretty good card yeah I would be 304 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:17,120 as well I I don't know if I like the idea of like Drew taking out people in in huge matches like the 305 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:22,880 elimination chamber uh I know you like clear you like clear cut winners but you know if you're 306 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:28,560 storytelling and you know your end story is that triple threat how do you get to it in the easiest 307 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:35,040 fashion is having the two guys at the end of the chamber not having a winner I I like fans in 308 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:39,280 attendance especially with the ticket prices that they're paying today if they want to go to 309 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:44,320 elimination chamber I like to see them get the most out of their dollar value rather than you know 310 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:49,440 serving up as a storyline for WrestleMania to pay even more money to get to that's why that's 311 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:54,720 that's why you put the men's chamber match on first and then you have the women's chamber match 312 00:29:54,720 --> 00:30:00,400 be the main event and whoever your woman is that you want to have the clear cut finished to challenge 313 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:06,800 WrestleMania she wins in the main event at the chamber and the fans go home happy because then 314 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:13,200 that first match can be your storyline match that second chamber match is your clear cut victor 315 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:19,120 we got plenty of time to talk about elimination chamber for sure and maybe that's how it plays out 316 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:25,760 but WrestleMania 42 plans currently in flux there is a direction creative knows what they want to do we 317 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:31,360 don't know yet as fans maybe we're seeing seeds planted maybe we're not maybe those seeds will be 318 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:38,400 planted in two weeks times three weeks times four weeks time but it is a very intriguing time to to 319 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:43,360 see how the build to WrestleMania goes on and goes forward here it's some of my favorite time in 320 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:49,040 the year because I really love the creative process that goes into the WrestleMania card being built 321 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:55,360 so maybe we're seeing it play out right now or maybe we're not so more to come here in the coming 322 00:30:55,360 --> 00:31:00,400 weeks because what we do in our WrestleMania 42 roundup card roundup here soon which it's just 323 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:06,000 wild it just felt like we we literally just did that speaking of storylines dr. Trey on raw this 324 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:12,240 past Monday CM Punk said that the vision is behind him following his victory over Braun Breaker at 325 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:18,640 the first raw of 2026 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and he is heading towards the royal rumble 326 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:25,360 he will have a match in Belfast against Finn Baller for the Royal Way Championship this Monday in 327 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:33,120 CM Punk what should CM Punk's path be right now because even though he says storyline wise the vision 328 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:38,400 is behind him it feels like it's just beginning for him and the vision especially heading towards 329 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:46,000 WrestleMania 42 what do you think the path is now for Punk as we move forward I still think you get 330 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:51,360 a royal rumble match with Punk and Braun Breaker or something like that I don't it's funny that he 331 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:57,280 said that because didn't Cody say the same thing about Drew McIntyre a couple months ago and then 332 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:02,240 Drew didn't let it go and now Drew's champion so I think that's just kind of their way of saying like 333 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:07,200 hey I'm moving on to something else and then when the vision jumps up again they get more heat on 334 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:12,320 them to me the storyline is not going to die until Rawlings comes back because I'm fully 335 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:18,800 envisioning at some point CM Punk and Seth Rawlings are going to have to team up against people in the 336 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:24,000 vision and that's going to be great storytelling so I think you kind of play with some of the other 337 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:31,280 characters until you decide to ramp up the visioning again the Finn Baller and Belfast that might 338 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:38,720 cause a riot if Finn doesn't win in Belfast because the Irish fans are not known for being very 339 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:46,880 polite I mean they were ECW arena before ECW arena so but I think that's a good way of kind of continuing 340 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:52,560 the storyline on and then maybe you get some crossover from the Judgment Day getting upset if 341 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:57,600 somebody from the vision interferes in that match and costs Finn the title because 342 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:05,440 we haven't seen a baby face Judgment Day yet really so there's a way of playing with that and 343 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:11,200 then leading into playing into Dom's popularity and then you might get vision and Judgment Day for 344 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:17,120 a little bit until we get to more towards WrestleMania season. Yeah I would I love that we're seeing this 345 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:23,840 match with Punk and Finn Baller on Monday night I love that Finn's got this opportunity I wish 346 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,960 he was getting this opportunity more often I hope this is not just a homecoming thing for Finn 347 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:34,480 because I think Finn should be a main event player and in the discussion of world titles 348 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:45,680 the punk direction right now is is is you know really interesting to watch because it's not as 349 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,680 cut and dry as it was and maybe that's the whole point of what WWE is trying to do there is the 350 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:56,240 thing in the background right now where Braun Breaker was suspended by Adam Pierce and the last thing 351 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:01,600 interaction they had together was Paul Heyman walking away and saying that you had hit your hands on 352 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:08,080 him first we could see a situation that is similar to to Drew and Nick Aldous or the force was made for 353 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:14,720 Drew McAhtar to get his title match where Braun Breaker now gets that title match at maybe rumble 354 00:34:14,720 --> 00:34:21,040 or at a later date or maybe it's something I would love to see it play out not as predictable where 355 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:28,160 let's just say that Heyman forces to avoid legal action that they gave Braun Breaker the number 356 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:33,760 30 entry at the Royal Rumble or something along those lines like I'd like to see something different 357 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:43,200 so I don't think punk is done with the vision I think the vision is who he feuds with for now until 358 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:50,320 after WrestleMania that is the direction and he goes it will be something to watch for though 359 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,600 on the direction of that because if they do separate the two they do continue to separate and 360 00:34:55,600 --> 00:35:01,280 widen the gap between punk and vision interactions it makes you wonder how close Seth Rollins is 361 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:07,760 I could see a scenario with Seth is involved with them punk is away from the vision he's focused on 362 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,920 someone else maybe he is setting up a match with Sammie's Ain't a WrestleMania maybe he is 363 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,320 setting up a match with LA Knight at WrestleMania and that's the direction they go for that period of 364 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:21,040 time and then eventually we get to the Seth and and punk having a tag to one another with one 365 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:27,280 another against the vision where you know enemies the enemy of my enemy is my friend situation takes place 366 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:35,920 so yeah the punk stuff is is not very clear right now which is a good thing again I don't think we 367 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:40,320 should have predictable WrestleMania matches in January and I think that we should have the 368 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,880 opportunity to sit here and go I wonder if they're going to go this way I want to figure out 369 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:51,120 going to go that way so see a punk's direction heading into Royal Rumble is one to watch and we'll 370 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,760 see where things go this Monday's he takes on Finn Balor in a title match in Belfast Ireland 371 00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:00,080 we have to say something Dr. Trey yeah just before we move on I was going to ask you this as well 372 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:07,040 is Finn Balor in that Drew McIntyre era or area where it's like Finn's has some title shots 373 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:14,400 over the last year and hasn't come through we saw that weird promo was about three weeks ago with 374 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:20,720 Byron and Finn up in the balcony and Finn's like I'm coming for all the gold like and we saw reports 375 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:27,120 that hey Finn might really get pushed this year are we trending that if Finn doesn't come through 376 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:33,840 shortly he's kind of going to be locked in is that like non believable challenger type thing where 377 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,720 like yeah Finn's a great wrestler but we know they're never going to title on him like is he in that 378 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:46,480 range and he was one of the triple age guys building NXT like I kind of wonder like if he doesn't get 379 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:54,640 this where does Finn go long term in WWE is he always going to be kind of upper mid card at best 380 00:36:54,640 --> 00:37:00,080 at this point I don't think Finn's there yet because Finn has been in the tag division for like 381 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:06,640 the last year with JD McDonough he is like a background player he is a mid card upper mid card the way 382 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:14,240 he is booked I think if they continue to push him upwards he will enter that face where if he becomes 383 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:18,960 as good as Drew and Kevin Owens were as a character we all know we know he could do it in rainwise 384 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:27,520 then as a heel that then he needs to find that moment like Drew I don't think he's there yet 385 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:33,440 just because the type of creative he has had has not been one where it's comparable to Drew 386 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:40,480 where Drew has had multiple chances for a world title as completely failed and is like just 387 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:46,640 obsessed with becoming WWE champion and Drew Finn's not there yet but he certainly could be for sure 388 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:53,040 okay yeah because I mean like to have I mean this is kind of like it is in a weird way 389 00:37:54,000 --> 00:38:01,760 Drew losing at clash at the castle like this is Finn challenging for the title in his hometown basically 390 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:08,400 I mean Belfaz is only like 45 minutes from Brooks County or Brooks Windsor County Ireland or whatever 391 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:14,160 they say he's from like it's not that far away and so like when you put this kind of position if 392 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:19,520 he loses back at lead to storytelling within the judgment day of like Dom you know still being 393 00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:25,040 double champ and you know Finn guy getting pushed down like there's some good storyline coming out 394 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:30,240 but also like I mean every time we see Finn in a big match in a singles match he hasn't come 395 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:36,240 through in quite a while and that's why I'm kind of wondering like maybe they shock us all and 396 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:42,400 Finn walks out with the belt because Braun interferes in the match that would be extremely shocking 397 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:48,080 I mean you want to talk about like WrestleMania in flux like presently like there there was 398 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:53,280 there was like a 50 50 split that like Drew McIntyre walks out of there is WWE champion like I 399 00:38:53,280 --> 00:39:00,080 I think it is like 80 20 yeah yeah yeah if Finn wins this match I'd be like holy crap like what do they 400 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:05,840 what do we do now I mean that could is this the opening for L.A.9 now is then punk solely just going 401 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:12,080 after the vision without a championship involved and Finn is the transition champion to guy like L.A.9 402 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:16,480 like those are the discussions that we're having it would be nice again I like creative that's putting 403 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:21,040 things upside down in WWE rather than being very very predictable I thought that they've been very 404 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:28,320 vanilla very easy to predict over the last let's say 12 to 15 months they got away from that 2002 405 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:35,200 to 2000 early 2024 run that they were on creatively when when Triple H took over where it wasn't 406 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:41,520 as predictable and it was very very fun to watch as a fan now it's become a little bit more predictable 407 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:50,000 to an extent or some creative has been more like let me just try to get some buzz and stuff for unreal 408 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:56,480 or stuff for you know YouTube and Twitter and X for these these viral clips whether it be our 409 00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:02,720 truth returning as a heel and I'm Ron killings now to just can be completely forgotten about now or 410 00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:09,120 seen as heel turn or the knee issue with the Seth Rollins like they went to go do more viral 411 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:14,320 shit than stuff that actually matters long term for the company I was saying we were talking about 412 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:21,600 predictable I did go undefeated my last two PLE predictions like I got I nail survivor series and 413 00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:26,800 I think the NXT show like I went I didn't miss a match the last two PLE because they got in kind of 414 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:33,680 predictable so I'm with you I like them shaking up stuff but we haven't really seen that big shocking 415 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:43,120 like you said Drew and Cody is 50 50 we haven't seen that big shocking upside down win out of nowhere 416 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:50,080 and quite some time and this would be a great chance to do it especially if Finn wins and we get 417 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:55,680 Dominic and Finn like Dom's jealous of Finn because Finn's got the big belt and even though Dom has 418 00:40:55,680 --> 00:41:01,840 two it's not that one like it's one of those things where like you can shake up all of WWE if you 419 00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:08,320 had the gust of pull the trigger on this and really make WrestleMania completely unpredictable going 420 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:14,080 into the last three months it the Drew title change definitely is close I would say it's still 421 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:19,280 surprising it happened given it was Cody close to WrestleMania that type of stuff if this was 422 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:23,760 September I'd be like yeah this is definitely happening but being that it's close to WrestleMania 423 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,360 I was like will they do it will they pull the trigger and they did it's not like this jog to the floor 424 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:35,680 moment but it was certainly surprising that they finally pulled the trigger there so lots to discuss 425 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:41,520 in regards to the at least on the men's side of the main roster here of where things are going 426 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:47,440 with the titles heading into Mania season and that's a good thing that's we we like to see that we 427 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:54,080 like to see good creative creative that isn't predictable taking place right now in WWE 428 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:59,440 speaking of the men's division dr. Tre if we go down to the NXT crew right now 429 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:05,760 there feels like I was watching Tuesday night's edition of NXT there feels like there is a huge 430 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:12,880 roster shake up going on in NXT right now it is giving me 2.0 vibes when they launched there is no 431 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:19,120 clear cut star at the moment you have a lot of established names that are now working with not so 432 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:26,880 established names we saw Ricky Starks or Ricky Saints taking claim to be the guy to be the next NXT 433 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:32,880 men's champion there's going to be a six person NXT championship ladder match taking place in 434 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:37,680 early February I think it was like the second or third Ricky Saints is already the match you've got 435 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:44,240 miles born that wants to go in there Keanu Carter who I don't want to evolve he comes out of nowhere 436 00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:50,000 and lays claim is like being the next dominant oba femey brawn breaker those types of likes of 437 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,480 a guy's that came out of nowhere we've seen that creative happen out of NXT over the last five 438 00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:01,200 years as someone that's going to be in this match and dominate it's it's like a total crapshoot 439 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:07,120 right now of where this men's division is going to go I eventually think guys like Saints and 440 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:12,240 even Ethan Page on the North American side are going to find themselves facing up to Raw or 441 00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:17,840 Smackdown over the next three to six months which then leaves us no true quote established names you've 442 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:24,000 got Tony DeAngelo that's out there laying people out wanting the run of the NXT championship finally 443 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,960 he is an established name but the men's division like I'm watching like this could be either 444 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:34,160 a lot of fun or be this could be some rough times ahead for the NXT brand because the women's 445 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:39,280 division is just dominating on so many different levels your thoughts here right now Dr. Trays you 446 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:46,560 look at the men's division of NXT yeah I mean it's funny like we've talked about this for almost 447 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:53,200 the entire history of NXT like it goes through cycles it like the women's division we stacked 448 00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:58,240 the tag team division is solid the men's division is weak and then it'll cycle out the tag team 449 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:03,360 division stacked the men's division solid the women's division is weak it goes to a cycle and I 450 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:10,640 feel like we're in one right now where like the women's division is base is carrying the show the tag team 451 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:16,320 division is eh and now the men's division with Oba Femi vacating the title is like completely 452 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:20,880 in flux because like you mentioned like I'd love to see Ethan Page get another run he's one of my 453 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:26,000 favorite people to watch Ricky Stain's good you still got Joe Henry floating around as well I don't 454 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:31,680 know who Kiana Carter is I don't know who Ilya Le Croix or LaFlora Le Croix or whatever his name is 455 00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:37,680 I don't know that is you know you had Jasper Troy got this big push and then now he's the speed 456 00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:45,760 champion but he's kind of in the background Tony D I don't think Tony D will ever be a main roster 457 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:51,120 guy if he is he's gonna be kind of like middle of the card I just don't see world champion when I see 458 00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:58,160 Tony D so like you have a couple of guys you can build off of but yeah I don't know who I don't know 459 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:06,240 if it's bad as nsc 2.0 but that men's division yeah it's it's struggling really really hard right now 460 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:13,680 is that a good thing or a bad thing if it's struggling I would say it's actually it's it's a land it's 461 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:18,720 the uh what's the old smackdown edge the land of opportunity yep like who's gonna jump out and catch 462 00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:24,400 fire it's never a bad thing when things are in flux because that's when they get really creative 463 00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:30,560 and they try different stuff and people try different things there was a point um right about time 464 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:35,440 that brawn breaker came out that nxt was kind of weak in the men's division like right after Adam 465 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:40,880 Cole and all those guys left were like okay well who's left like it was kind of flux and that's when 466 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:44,960 the brawn breakers started jumping out at you that's when the Carmelo Hays is started jumping out 467 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:50,800 the Ilya dragon offs don't there like that's when those guys kind of took hold and but right 468 00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:55,200 before that you didn't know who was gonna be the guy that broke out we all thought hey at one point 469 00:45:55,200 --> 00:46:02,960 we all thought Tyler bait was gonna be the the the focal point of nxt and nxt uk and then that now he's 470 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:11,040 Hispanic or something so you don't really know who's gonna be that guy that breaks out and that 471 00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:17,360 ww also goes hey not only is he good in this setting but he can be good on the main roster as well 472 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:24,160 and be a bankable star the main roster so it's you know this is when guys can really just shoot their shot 473 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:30,720 and go all out and kind of see who lands and lands on top well this is all happening dr. 474 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:34,880 tre because there have been some call ups here very significant call ups when it comes to the men's 475 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:40,400 division trick Williams now on the Smackdown brand javad Evans now on the raw brand and of course 476 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:45,920 on last week's edition of nxt oba femmy gets the victory really on slater leaves it out in the ring 477 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:51,920 leaves it vacant relic which is it which is leading to the eventual six pack challenge ladder match for 478 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:58,080 the in the vacant nxt championship that'll take place in early February your thoughts on javad 479 00:46:58,080 --> 00:47:03,520 Evans signing with raw trick Williams signing with Smackdown and then where do you think oba femmy 480 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:08,160 oba femmy lands because that is a factor that was like in the back of my mind when we were talking 481 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:14,080 about all these wrestle many matches like could we see oba femmy playing a factor either on the raw 482 00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:18,960 brand side with the world of weight championship or even on the Smackdown side with the WWE 483 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:24,080 championship your thoughts on the two signings and then we're oba femmy eventually lands i think 484 00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:28,960 trick going to Smackdowns good because a it puts i mean Carmelo Hayes is one of his best friends 485 00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:33,680 so at least it puts somebody on that roster that he's super tight with to help him kind of grow on 486 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:39,280 that brand and like we're saying Smackdowns kind of i don't want to say they're starving for stars 487 00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:44,800 but that that show feels very very flat for a while so getting a little injection of new blood in 488 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:53,200 their role will always help you know ilya coming back was a big help as well i don't know if i'm a fan 489 00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:58,400 of the javad Evans going to raw because it just kind of feels like he's going to get lost in the 490 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:06,080 shuffle for a while he might be the new version of Evan born like in on a raw we're like you love to 491 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:12,400 see his matches but like is he beating anybody at the top of the card do you think like javad Evans 492 00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,960 could be like just on paper like looking at going he's not beating Gunther we saw that match 493 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:23,440 he's not beating uh you know jay loose so anytime soon he's probably not beating la nai he's not 494 00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:28,320 beating bronzen or eater bron breaker like it's gonna like anytime he wins you're gonna be like 495 00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:33,920 oh wow that was crazy on Smackdown i think you can see javad Evans beating Carmelo Hayes 496 00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,480 and being us champion and that's believable so i'm worried about that move and then also the 497 00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:44,000 fact they had to sign his contract during a commercial break is just kind of disrespectful 498 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:51,040 i would have liked to see javad and triq and oba all go to Smackdown because i think that would 499 00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:55,200 have injected some life into it and then if you needed to move some people around your mid card 500 00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:01,360 guys back over to raw you could do that um because we saw oba and kody at saryas made event you could 501 00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:08,000 inject oba into that kody jay kofatu drew mac entire mix and i don't think any of us would bat 502 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,960 an eye because oba looks the part and we all know he can perform in the ring so even the casual if 503 00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:18,480 you were like oh damn that guy's big he moves good yeah i can tell you see him being a top guy so 504 00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:23,760 i would have liked all of them go to Smackdown i am worried about javad getting lost in the shuffle 505 00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:30,720 under all i disagree and javad i really think he is he is gonna be a major player and i could see 506 00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:36,080 him involved on like the intercontinental championship stuff with like tomas terriol moving forward 507 00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:43,200 yeah i mean and but that's my worries like on on on raw i feel like he's always gonna be kind of in 508 00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:48,320 the middle like he needs he needs to add a little size this is the the will osprey conversation you 509 00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:52,640 and i had like eight years ago if will could put on some size he could be a main event guide he did 510 00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:58,240 but javad is only 22 i think you could have put javad on Smackdown and he could have factored 511 00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:05,280 into the upper mid card lower made event range faster than he can on Monday night raw well i think 512 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:11,440 something but go ahead doctor i say it might be that this is the kind of their way of testing i mean 513 00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:17,040 the kids only i mean javad's 21 22 years old so it's kind of might be a way of like hey let's see if 514 00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:25,360 you can swim with the big fish because putting him on a very veteran heavy side might be a great 515 00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:31,200 learning tool for him as well so then you know in a year if they do the draft and he ends up on Smackdown 516 00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:36,560 we're like okay yeah i can see javad now being a main event player i just don't see him being a main event 517 00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:43,520 guy on raw anytime soon i think his path to main event was we would have been faster on Smackdown i 518 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:50,640 i think he's gonna be a big time star for the company without a doubt i i don't feel like he 519 00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:55,680 should have been on in NXT one more year i think he should have gotten a run with the championship i mean 520 00:50:55,680 --> 00:51:02,880 i mean yeah i would have loved if they were going to put oba up on the main roster and the plan was 521 00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:08,320 New Year's evil then they should have stuck with javad Evans versus oba femey for New Year's evil 522 00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:13,600 and let javad finally beat him and javad is the NXT champion for a period of time and stand 523 00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:19,040 to deliver during the WrestleMania season he's NXT champion he's holding it for a while and then 524 00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:24,560 maybe he gets that call up in the summer you know the word was anybody who basically performed on 525 00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:29,280 the john cnc and saturday night's main event show was gonna get an immediate call up well soul ruka 526 00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:35,520 is still in NXT right now and she's someone that i also feel like should remain an xd for a period of 527 00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:42,000 time because you should give her a run as NXT women's champion and oba and trick have been tested 528 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:47,680 like it's time elevate them put them up there even lash legend um i think lash legend is a very 529 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:54,400 just looking at recent call up from NXT she is the perfect example of somebody who uh doesn't 530 00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:02,400 work out well in NXT but just has the makings of a main roster player even when she's in NXT and that's 531 00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:08,800 how she plays out nia jacks was that way Alexa bliss was that way um and i think lash legend falls into 532 00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:13,840 that same category but i would have kept javad Evans in NXT for a little bit especially during the 533 00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:18,640 transition period and let him run with the championship for a while let him let him you know feud with 534 00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:26,720 ricky saints um let oba put him over on his way out of NXT but clearly they want to elevate javad 535 00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:34,800 Evans um and yeah it it'll be be interesting where oba fami ends up i i i'm always with you right 536 00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:40,880 because raw is always super studded for the last 25 years that they've been doing the draft they've 537 00:52:40,880 --> 00:52:45,760 been doing the brand separation is always felt like smackdown has been the underdog they add the extra 538 00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:49,440 hour to smack down so you know that there's some time to fill some void that they need to fill 539 00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:55,680 but there's also wrestlers on the smackdown brand that we're not getting a lot of run on smackdown 540 00:52:55,680 --> 00:53:00,960 because they were you know basically an hour and 20 minutes of actual airtime each and every week 541 00:53:00,960 --> 00:53:05,360 i mean gaming priests announced her black would be in and out on on smackdown and now they could be 542 00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:09,760 a little bit more featured players the up and comers like kit wilson i think there's a lot of potential 543 00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:14,960 there for him um but yeah i'm always with you like they should always end up on smackdown because 544 00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:20,240 they could get lost on raw especially when they come from NXT uh with that said i think oba should get 545 00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:26,960 the call to raw i think oba is someone that could be feuding with punk feuding with roman or feuding 546 00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:33,440 with brock lesnar heading in a restaurant and out to tray the word on him is that their eyes opened 547 00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:38,640 up oddly enough in that match with Cody Rhodes at saturday night's main event where they were like 548 00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:44,800 oh crap we've got something here if if that was at the reaction of people in wwe after watching oba 549 00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:51,520 feme over the last 12 to 18 months when he had his right running NXT uh he is good on the microphone 550 00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:57,280 he is a great character presence and he is a good in ring worker so i don't know what they weren't 551 00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:04,160 watching up until now but oba feme could be that he could have that brock lesnar run where you 552 00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:09,600 get debuting debuting april and you're debuting to be champion in four months time after that so i 553 00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:19,360 think oba ends up on raw i just because for me i go back to the obw class of 2000 with cina 554 00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:26,240 batista lesnar and ordin and for the most part you remember early on they always kept cina and batista 555 00:54:26,240 --> 00:54:31,840 on opposite shows and i look at it right now and go and you got brawn breaker on one show 556 00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:36,320 you want to keep oba on the other show because otherwise if they're both heels are going to cross pass 557 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:41,200 that they're on the same show so keep them separate for a while to build up in the fans minds like 558 00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:46,960 once again i want to see oba and brawn go brawn breaker go at it and then you make that moves where 559 00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:51,440 they're both on the same show and you can set that up so i would just keep them separate for a while 560 00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:57,120 to build up that anticipation for them becoming the perennial main eventers that we know they're going 561 00:54:57,120 --> 00:55:05,200 to come and then have that big match at a wrestlemania 44 45 and then then it's off to the races for 562 00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:12,320 the next 10 years yeah it's intriguing times for NXT intriguing times for rons smack down with these 563 00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:19,520 additions and it's fun to watch i love seeing this stuff taking place when they do these runs and 564 00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:22,800 because you know hopefully a year or two years so now you can look back and go hey remember 565 00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:27,120 that those call ups remember how the men's division looked and how they've kind of refreshed the brand 566 00:55:27,120 --> 00:55:33,200 because that is basically the cycle NXT goes through during each and every time period it's 567 00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:38,720 definitely a chapter that's ended on the men's side of NXT with that said dr. Tray let's close 568 00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:45,120 up shop on episode number 831 for jaynor 15th 2026 in a couple plugs and sponsor the way you can 569 00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:51,680 sports over at patreon.com/srtupodcast that remains free that remains your number one spot to 570 00:55:51,680 --> 00:55:58,320 receive this podcast at free and available once it is a release to everybody out there you can 571 00:55:58,320 --> 00:56:02,480 also download the show over at realguymedia.com wrestlechat and add on x or the still real 572 00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:07,040 a show feed on apple spotify wherever you download this podcast don't forget to rate review and 573 00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:11,840 subscribe you can follow us individually on x for myself at srtu Jeff and for dr. Tray Franklin 574 00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:17,840 at the dr. Tray and of course don't forget to fall show on x at srtu podcast with that being said 575 00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:23,360 what is going on the wonderful world of dr. Tray Franklin this week well like Jeff said you can 576 00:56:23,360 --> 00:56:29,360 follow me on x at the dr. Tray you can find me on instagram and facebook dr. Tray Franklin when 577 00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:33,760 you're on facebook be sure to check out rock and city championship wrestling we just had the rock and 578 00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:40,240 city rumble two weeks ago we have a big show coming this weekend but i will not be there 579 00:56:40,240 --> 00:56:46,160 because as i told Jeff off air this is sammy franklin's birthday weekend so sammy frank will be 580 00:56:46,160 --> 00:56:51,440 turning seven so we're going to be having a blowout big party forum so i'll have to mr. rocket 581 00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:55,680 city show but hey if you're not going to send money for sammy franklin's birthday go check out your 582 00:56:55,680 --> 00:57:02,720 local independent wrestling show where you two can go find the next kiana carter uh kiana reaves kiana 583 00:57:02,720 --> 00:57:10,320 ilio luflore like go find the next guy that'll be on nxc that jeff and i go who is that damn he's good 584 00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:15,360 i didn't see that coming so go go find those guys go support local independent wrestling because 585 00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:20,640 that's your bread and butter that's where wrestle mania 49 is coming from is that little local gym 586 00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:26,960 right down the ruff from your house so there you go support all the great things that support sRTU 587 00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:31,360 and once again thank you for making us part of it your week thank you for downloading the show thank you 588 00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:36,800 for supporting us again if you want to continue to support us go to patreon.com/srtupodcast sign 589 00:57:36,800 --> 00:57:41,520 up for free that is the way that we are tracking all of our listeners how many people tune in each 590 00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:46,480 and every week on the still real to us show so we're pleading everybody to go there please sign up 591 00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:53,280 for free and uh show your support to sRTU uh would that be in said dr tre that'll do it for this 592 00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:57,200 week's dish to the show we'll back next week we'll get you closer to the royal rumble and everything 593 00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:02,080 else that is going on the world of professional wrestling look back at maximum carnage from aew and 594 00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:09,840 a whole lot more so until next week for dr trey franklin i am jeff pack this has been this to release show