Latest / Real. Guy. Pods. / Is Something Huge About to Happen With TNA? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #747 – 6/6/24
Transcript
- Welcome everybody. Welcome to this week's edition. This'st A Realta Show Episodembers seven and forty seven for June six, twenty twenty four. Welcome to your NXT Battleground Preview and Predictions edition of s RT You. I am one half the show. I am Jeff Peck joined every single week my co host one only, doctor Troy Franklin, Doctor Trey. Allergy season is here, my friend, I kind of heard it from you in off air when you were we were talking, kind of heard the sniffles kick in. A little of the drain is going on. Luckily for me, I am incapacitated, so I don't really get to go outside at all, so I don't have to fight the allergies like you do. So my my condolence is on your battle for the next couple of weeks. Thank you, brother, I really appreciate that. And feel free to join in on the hashtag feel better Jeff all one word over on x Facebook, minuspace, whatever you're using. A friend of mine and I were talking on Saturday and we were like, I haven't experienced any allergies this year, like it's wild, And then Sunday I just started getting like an stream tick on my throat, and I was like, okay, there we go. It is here and I've been battling. This is probably the best I've been all week, doctor Trade. And usually it's not this late, but uh yeah, it's there's WrestleMania season, then there's allergy season here on SRT, so usually it's I get hit whenever we first get the big rush of pollen. So usually like mid to late April, I'll get all this sinus trainage and then I'm good for a while, So I don't really battle the allergies. Is it literally just comes down to how much pollen's in the air for me. But uh, like I said ear like, yesterday I got I only get to leave the house about once or twice a week right now. So yesterday we got to go out and take Sammy to like his speech therapy class to help him talk a little more, a little bit more coherently. You'll probably hear him in the background mumbling at his video games on his tablets. But then I got said earlier like I want so many meds right now because of the surgery and being diabetic, that my every day's an adventure for me. Because I don't know which medication is going to jump to the front of the line say that they're taking over for the day. So right now, if you threw Benadryl into my list, I would just sleep non stop right now. Yeah. So there you go, two old guys just talking about how they're breaking down as at this point in their lives. That's how far we've come here in sr TU. So that is historically something that always happens here. I think Doctor Trey brought it up on the podcast, like we have had Jeff Allergy Week coming up here and here we are. I mean, I feel like I'm at the tail end of it. But yeah, Jeff Allergy Week is upon us other history that is going on. But in the world the professional wrestling Doctor Trey is. There is a debate right now with current undisputed w champion Cody Rhodes in regards to his babyface era that we are presently in, and this comes to us from both Wrestling Observer Radio and Wrestling Inc. According to Dave Meltzer, he revealed recently that cody Roads drawing up berns were bigger than that of John Cena's during Sena's run as WWE's top babyface in the mid two thousands to early twenty tens. As such, this would make Roads the most successful top star w we's hat since the Attitude era, where the promotion was built around Stone Cold, Steve Austin and Rhodes's rival Dwayne the Rock Johnson. So I ask you this, Doctor Trey, I mean, is everything that's going on right now can we contribute it to the babyface run of Cody Rhodes And very much so. This is in the early early stages of this babyface run. Are you surprised that in some circles? And whether you like Dave Meltzer or not, he is definitely historian the world of professional wrestling. He is making a case that this babyface run is bigger than Sena's and I think to me, Sena's babyface run is one of the biggest professional wrestling history because of the longevity of his time in w versus Hogan and Austin and Rock who are around for bits and pieces, but they would eventually like come and go or forcibly have to retire very early or go to Hollywood. What are your thoughts on this comment here by Dave Meltzer regards to Cody Roads his Babyface era, I'm gonna ask you for a little clarification. Now, is he comparing like timelines like Cody's like in the first three months or in his first two years, or is it just his numbers right now are better than any of seen his numbers at all? During his Babyface run, He's saying that the attendance drawing is that already bigger than at any point turned Sena's run, So that that is kind of surprising me. I would say, like, if you're looking at like Cody's been the company now about what almost two year and a half to almost two years, about two years now, Yeah, so if you're looking at his first two years versus maybe seen his first two years as a Babyface, I would say, yeah, I would think Cody might be ahead because you haven't really seen it as a heel for a while before he turned baby Face, So there's still a little bit that questioning whether he's going to stay at baby face or go back to heel, and some people still didn't like him. I think if you're looking at overall, it's really surprising because you know, during the middle of that scene of Run, when he really peaked, like his stuff was everywhere and you saw him everywhere, and I mean, you don't. I don't excuse me. I don't think you've seen Cody everywhere yet. But you know, maybe the economy and money available out there is better than it was during the early two thousands of seens run because it is surprising that Cody's outpacing Sena if you're looking at you know, Seena's best time in Gates. So it's a little surprising. But maybe, uh, you know, remember Sina was so divisive because there were a lot of fans that like the people that were in their twenties to thirties and you know, early forties that did not like Seena's maybe face because he was shoved down our throats. And I guess everybody likes Cody because you know, saying you know, hey, I'm a fan of the American Nightmare does sound edgier than saying I'm a fan of hustle, loyalty and respect. So it's a little it's a little surprising, but maybe Cody is one of those baby faces that fits for everybody. Where Seena was kind of divisive, I think eventually Cody hits that Sena era, where like fans start to turn on at turn on him a little bit. I just think that is just how wrestling fans tend to be. But who knows, maybe it's a little bit different than the creative air of Triple h rather than that of fitsick Man. And that takes me to my next point here. Doctor Trey, Steve, Austin Hogan and Cody very very short term are part of the focal points of some of the biggest eras in professional wrestling right now. The Sena era in two thousand and twenty tenish, creatively was not as strong as what we saw in the Attitude era or the wrestling boom in the eighties and even present time. If you took John Cen and you put him in the Attitude era, or if you take John Cen and you put him into Cody roadsera. Right now, are we having this discussion where Cody Rhodes is considered a historical bigger babyface than that of John Cena. Yeah, see, I think Sena would fit pretty well in like the eighties air of Hogan. I mean, I think he'd fit in there. I think if you put him in the edge of area, you'd see maybe Sceena wouldn't have stayed a babyface his entire run. You have seen at least one Heel turn in there, and we've seen John z Heel you know, earlier his career. Can he can pull it off? And I think a Sena in this era would be would be really strong as well. I think it's kind of like the debate about like if you put Michael Jordan in present day, would he still be successful. He's a fantastic basketball player. He would adapt to whatever environment he's in and still be very, very successful and probably still the grace of all time. So I think with a guy like Sena, he was so versatile, you know, early in his career and then later in his career, that you could drop him in any era and he would be successful. I don't know if if you put Cody in the eighties if he would be as successful as you now, because he's a little bit smaller than those guys. I mean, even Macho was at a little bit bigger size than what Cody is. I think Cody might have struggle there. I think Cody would be okay in the Attitude era, and I think he would succeed in you know, Sena's timeline despite his struggles. You know, he was in his infancy in his career during the early Scena run. But you know, I think seen of those still is all around better than Cody from the totality of character. Right now, I feel like there's more similarities between Cody and Sena than anything. In my mind. I think the only difference is what you pointed out, Doctor Trey, that Cody is a little bit more accepting by the adult audience. I think Cody's a great in ring worker, but I think he's a very like solid, safe in ring worker, very similar to Sena. I think the character of Cody Rhodes can be a little bit corny as well. I mean, and it wasn't that long ago you and I both were sitting up here talking about him being like a used car salesman in a way, which I've heard that described of him before. I think the authenticity of Cody Rhods is one that definitely, you know, captures a lot of people's emotions and feelings about him. But Cody comes on the screen for me as a wrestling fan, and I'm not like captivated. I don't put his stuff as the top storyline in w in my mind right now, the one that at least I'm most excited for. I like Cody as a worker, but I just it's very similar to the way that I looked at Sina. It was like, I like Sena, I respect Sena Seena's matches. I wasn't like, wow, you got to go out of your way and check out this match. Some of its feuds were not great. It was just kind of like safe, And I feel like Cody is like that too right now. So I don't know. I just don't. I guess what I'm trying to get at. As even as maybe historical babyface, I don't think Cody should be getting all the credit for like how popular or you know, his run as a babyface has been successful. I know it's merchandise sales are through the roof, They're fantastic, But I don't know. I just don't. I don't. When Hogan was on top, it was like, this is because of Togan. When Austin was on top, it was like this is because of Austin. But as time went on, you were like, all right, these guys, I've also fed into the attitude error success. When Sina was on top, it just felt like it was because of Sina at that period of time, and with Cody Roads on top right now, I don't look at him as the main reason as to why their success for w WE. He plays a huge vital role into it. But I'm like, look it over here, look what's going on with Damian Priest, Judgment Day, dom liv Morgan. Then look on over to SmackDown and see what's going on with Logan Paul and everything. The United States Championship Division or the Tag Team Title Division, or the women's feuds that are going on right now. Like there's a whole bunch of other stuff that I'm like, I can hang my hat on and go, this is what I find entertaining. I don't find just the Cody Road stuff to be the most entertaining. Well, I think part of it, and we talked about this, you know before WrestleMania, of it is you know Roman, you know, spent three years basically beating everybody, so they really didn't have anybody built up in place as the eventual top heel to chout Cody when Cody took over, So you're kind of treading water. We've seen that, you know a little bit with the with the with the AJ feud and the Logan Paul stuff and now kind of back to AJ where you know, people aren't looking at AJ as man like they're not You're not, You're still just looking at going, Yeah, Cody's gonna bet AJ, you know, whenever they they eventually match up, you know, square off, like Cody's gonna beat Logan Paul. Like there's no juicy storyline for Cody after Wrestle Media yet, So they're kind of you're kind of feeding off of everything else that's kind of built up, whether it's like you know, like you mentioned the stuff on Raw with Damian Priest, or the Chad Gable stuff, or the New Bloodline stuff or the stuff going on with Live and you know there's other stuff that's kind of carrying it as they build. You know, Cody's next guy heading into SummerSlam, And to me, I look at it like Cody's a safe pick for fans to get behind because kids love him because he's a good guy and he doesn't says all the right things. The older audience, you know, we can cheer form because hey, that's the son of Dusty Rhodes. It's not like this Charlotte Flair, where we've seen Cody's struggle to get to where he's at, where a lot of people felt like Charlotte was handed stuff. You know, Cody's like grinded and been at the bottom of the car and we've seen him work his way up so you can get behind him. I just right now, I think they're just looking at as Hey, business overall is strong, we still have to build somebody up to be Cody's main rival and have that anti Cody. Whether you know you mentioned Austin. For a long time it was Austin and Rock and then it was Triple h and that you know, there's other guys in there. Scene always had Orton and Baptista an edge to fall back on. Hogan had all his rivals, like whether it's Piper or Nor Orbacho Man or you know, Earthquake or whoever it was, Cody hasn't found They haven't found that main rival for Cody yet, so it's kind of like, hey, we need the rest of the car to be solid until we find that guy to match up with Cody where we can have those fight for every chance that people love, you know, So I think that they're just kind of trading wire. I don't like, I agree with you. I don't put this all on Cody as being the main Dragon force right now, but you could say, you know, from last SummerSlam to WrestleMania, it was Cody's battle to get back to WrestleMania and beat Roman. That was kind of carrying that show and carrying that audience. So he did his part there. Right now it's everything else carrying the show until they find that guy to match up with Cody. Yeah, I just think again, like you're saying in as well, it's just really too early right now to be like, all right, this is the reason why they're so successful. This is he is a historical, historically successful babyface could be better than Sena. I mean, Sena had ten plus years as the top babyface, Hogan had eight to ten, Austin had a good five year run, Rock had a good four year run up there, and it's like, we need to see a little bit more than you know, just a couple of months as the world champion, and if you're putting in the build over the last year, that's fine as well. I would say. When he returned the company, obviously he had the torn peck about a year, you know, two years ago at this point he returned Roy Rumble twenty twenty three. He had a great run all the way through twenty twenty three to then winning the title. So it's definitely up there. But I just think, again, it's really too early to tell to be like this is a historical run from a business standpoint. I mean, the business as a whole is being successful. He plays a cog in that wheel. But to be like this is the flag bear, this is the guy right now that helps moving the success very very early to tell as compared to the other ones. When it comes to Hogan, Sina, Austin Rock, whoever else do you want to put in those in that same vein. But right now, the way the business is booming, Cody's got to get a lot of credit for it. I just say, from a resting fans perspective, it's like, we need to see a little bit more before we can sit there and say this is what's going on. Switching gears about stuff that's going on right now. There is a lot of intriguing stuff that is taking place with t and An Wrestling right now, and it's got my spider Census Tingle in a little bit, Doctor Trey. According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and this comes to us via Restling Purists on Twitter, they had posted last week there is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes of TENA that just started a break. Robert Evans, also known as r D Evans on the independent scene. He was also with Roa Trusting for a period of time, who was one of the key guys on the creative team, resigned this past week. Other key people have been let go as well. There's nothing on the schedule past eight two and eight three tapings in Tampa. More about that. This comes to us from Dave Meltzer Wrestling Observer Newsletter as well as Wrestling in dot com that carry the story. So at the end of May, David Shahati and Louis d'angeli, who was also known as sign Guy Dudley in ECW all left t DA Wrestling. Dave Meltzer spoke openly about TNA situation on Wrestling Observer Radio, stating that people within the company now have to sit and wait for the company's next move now that they essentially have no marketing or live events team, saying they have no marketing team, they have no live events team. They have nothing booked out for the first weekend of August. They have a taping booked in Tampa. There's nothing after that. Meltzer said, what does that mean? I don't know. In theory, W setting them talent for the next paper unit exchange for Jordan Grace working three dates for them for we everyone is kind of waiting. They know something's up, but they don't know exactly what. So without saying much here, doctor Trey, it appears to me that there is something going on behind the scenes. And I'll just cut to the chase here. I won't go through any red tape in it, but I'm starting to wonder does WW have a hand in the future of TNA Wrestling. And the only way that we could look at this is are they looking to potentially acquire a TNA wrestling Very huge moves going on behind the scenes. Nothing on the taping schedule as of right now from A two to eight three. What is going on here? Are they shifting strategy? Are they shifting plans? Have they been sold? Is this falling under the w umbrella? What do you think is going on with TNA Wrestling right now? Yeah? See for me, when I like at first, I was like, Okay, this is kind of cool. It's just a little bit of cross promotion. It's a little bit like we saw with AWTNA, you know a couple of years ago, with Kenny Omega coming on at TNA. You know, they're just they're they're cross promoting each other's and I help each other out. This one's more questionable because when you see all the moves, whether it's the Scott de Moore stuff or the stuff with Rdy Evans or this, you know, the trimming of budgets, that's always a sign that a company's trying to get as lean as possible for a sale. Like you and I both work in the world of corporate America, we see that with companies going on, when they restructure management team or they cut expenses or things like that, that's usually a sign that they're getting ready to get sold off. And that's what's got me got these spiders. Sensus teming for me is when you see WWE, who never openly has ever acknowledged anybody else, now cross promoting with TNA and bringing in their knockouts champion onto their show and openly talking about who she works for and where she works at. That's got me thinking that, like, hey, they're not doing this unless they're getting something out of it more than just you know, booking or as good as Jordan Grace is, Jordan Grace is not a game changer in the eyes of the casual wrestling fan. So why would you hype this up so much unless you have a hand in what's going on in TNA. Like, it feels very similar to what they did with E c W, you know, back in the day at times when they would have Paully and Sandman, Tommy Dreamers show up and Rob Van dam it feels like they have a hand in that product. And usually if they have their hand in that product, at some point they're going to acquire that brand and bring it under their umbrella. So it just feels like there's like TNA's up for sale on the markets because otherwise, why would you not Why would you cut your marketing departments if you're trying to openly grow your product like that makes no sense to me. That's usually a sign that they're open for acquisition. So that's kind of where I think they're heading doors right now. Wrestling Ops on Twitter posted something from PW insider. The belief in WWE is that there will be some sort of NXT involvement at TNA against All Odds on Friday, June fourteenth, which will see Jordan Grace have an open challenge for the TNA Knockouts Knockouts title and possibly Slammiversary in Montreal. Brooks Jensen they're running angle with him, that he's like no longer with we, He's looking for booking. Appeared during the commercial break during NXC television, which I don't know if we're going to get to this two straight weeks of great NXC television mind you Like it's it's it's feeling old school and they're they're like building a really really good momentum right now that I'm enjoying. He cuts a promo on his social media and says that maybe it's time for him to make an impact, So that would appear to me an NXT contracted talent in Brooks Jensen should be showing up at TNA soon. I surmised on Twitter earlier this week Doctor Trey at us RTU Jeff cheap Pop that I feel like maybe this is leading towards the rebirth of the NXT world's Collide pay per view that they like to do or pl E, and they would do it with NXT and TNA for that event. There's a lot of weird things going on right now with TNA that I don't feel like is being talked about too much, and I feel like that maybe the directions were going and I think that would be a dream scenario. It would be basically ww's answer to a Forbidden Door pay per view that like AW is running Doctor Trey. Yeah, it would be kind of on a smaller scale because you know, once again, like as much as you know I appreciate TEENA Wrestling and the roster they have there, a lot of those guys are still kind of unknown to the mainstream. You got to be kind of a fan of both products to really appreciate, Oh my god, we're gonna have moos versus you know, Trick Williams, you know, something like that, Like that'd be awesome to me. It also kind of feels like, remember when WW got involved with Evolve, you know, back in the day, and we were seeing the NXT guys that they weren't using that much go to Evolve, Like I remember velveteen Dream being over there the street profits Matt Riddle, like they were all making appearances at Evolve shows and cross kind of cross promoting each other, but as a way for NXT guys who gets more TV exposure other than just on that NXT product. So it does feel like there's something going on here. Like TNA used to do the World Cup also and they would do like TNA versus the World So they could do something like that with these two shows and kind of help cross promote. But I don't think WP does that unless they have full creative control over the TNA wrestlers when they come on to NXT tail or when they come on NXT television. I don't really see a upside for WE fending their talents to TNA to lose the TNA talent, so because you still want to present your brand as being the stronger of the brands. So to me, it just kind of feels like, like I said, like what they did with e CW, like what they did with Evolve back in the day, Doctor Trey outside of Jordan Grace and will preview and predict WW Battleground or because of the NXC Battleground later on the show, do you think another con track to TNA Wrestling talent appears on the PLA this Sunday Man, Like, my dream scenario is that Josh Alexander helped Ethan Page beat Trick Williams. Wow the North the North, Like that would be awesome if that happened. Uh, I don't. I honestly, I don't think so, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had something at the post show. So I'll think about it. I don't, Yeah, maybe maybe I'll go. I'll lean yes that there's some kind of interaction like post main event, somewhat like the Invasion Angle or even you know, God willing, dear guy, I'm blanking Nexus, like the Nexus type event where a bunch of TNA guys jump Trick Williams to end the show and we have one of those big beatdowns Like that would be very very cool, and I think that would be a lot of people talking. We will preview and predict NXT Battleground later on the podcast. Keeping with the WWE Doctor Trey, I originally had this down and something I wanted to talk about after the match I saw on Raw Monday between bron Breaker and Ricochet, and over the last month, I'm like, Holy crap, Like they've got something here with bron Breaker, and then Russell Votes on Twitter tweeted out the following, saying, Wa has considerably altered creative plans for bron Breaker. Breaker has impressed many higher ups. In a short sit on Raw, a source stata that Breakers slated to be a major focus heading into the Netflix era. Source also added with his age speed look in Pedigrade, this way a combination of talents isn't to be overlooked. Again. That came to us from Wressell Votes on Twitter. I mean we've watched him in the last New or three years on NXC since they launched the two point zero era. He had the first official match. He actually defeated La Night that night, Doctor Trey, and I never was like this massive bron Breaker fan. You always looked at him and you were like, there's a tonnel potential there. He's got a good look, really athletic, and his time has gone on, like with the wolf Dog stuff that he was just doing, and then what he's been doing lately Unwraw and the way he's being booked and presented, and then his matches themselves, it's like, holy crap, they they have something here. Do you agree with that? Do you think bron Breaker is and we always are looking for this, Is he the next big thing in w w WA? Yeah, he is. And I was kind of with you like early on when they because for one, like when they first they put him, we knew his pedigree. I hated the name. I still don't like the name braun Breaker. I think it's just two comedy like it's two eighties for me, I guess two nineties. I thought like it's kind of like that weird era of like the late eighties early nineties is kind of cartoonishy. It's it's it's literally like almost like Sparky plug it. To me, it is how bad that name is. But when you watch him the ring, and you got to remember, like, guy, he's only been wrestling three years. Even with his pedigree, it was literally like he was a college football player, went to the NFL, didn't make you know, the football, didn't make the Ravens out of training camp and then transition into wrestling. It's only been three years. I still have the Madden game that has him in it. You know, it was like, it's crazy to think how far he's coming just from my time. But when you watch his like how fast he hits the ropes, Like his speed is incredible for a guy his size is. His intensity is incredible. He pops out of the screen when you watch him, and you're just like, damn this, Like they're still just kind of scratching the surface of what he can be. Like he's he's not as big as brock Lesner was when Lesler came over, Like size wise, he's still a little smaller, lesser. But there have been very, very few people I've seen in my forty two years of watching pro wrestling that have that combination of power, speed, intensity, and talk. And we saw that with the Wolf Dogs, Like there's different layers that he can go to, Like so early in the career, he's phenomenal talent. Like it's amazing how far he's come in a short amount of time. Like he's never gonna be like you know, the Kurt Angle, how Kurt Angle took to wrestling, or he's never had that natural technical ability, but like he's better in the ring now than what his uncle Scott was at this point in time. Like he's that good and like the sky is he could be that guy that ends up being the rival for a Cody or you know, somebody or a Gunther that kind of carries the brand for five years that you always go to that rivalry match and get eyes on the product. He's that good. Like, I'm just completely impressed with how far he's come such a short amount of time. Yeah, when he was getting the climb in n XT and if somebody was like, hey, this is a future WE champion, I was like, yeah, I could see that in the next ten years. I could see that in the next year or two. I mean, it is just completely come off the page. And I think the big difference here, Doctor Trey is, and I want to get your thoughts on this is I feel like bron Breaker is so much more confident in the ring, so much more confident in the microphone, and so much more confident in his character than we've seen at any point in his short WE career. It's amazing what that time with Baron Corbin taught him. Like he's after that that whole thing. Like when he first turned heel like he had that strong run early on the baby face and we were like, okay, but it was so like it was very Roman Reigns babyface. For early babyface run where it was kind of like an odd g shuck's baby face. They were chanting his they were doing the John Cena sucks chant to bron Breaker. Yeah, and then when he turned heel, he just he never looked that first four or five months like when he turned heel, it just never looked Comble. Remember you and I said, you're going, what are they doing with bron Breaker, Like it was like, yeah, they were just testing. They do this. You've seen this with rocksdam Perezer or they have a strong baby face push and then they turn him heel kind of just to see if they can be a heel. And that pairing with Baron Corban, bro he learned so much from Baron Corbin in that short amount of time that put him on a different playing field. Like you see it like he knows he's good, he knows he's a good worker. He knows how to get the fans either behind him or to boom. Like he's kind of like the light bulb has gone off. He's kind of figured it all out now. And you know, when you're putting them in the ring with guys like Ricochet who can sell their ass off, it just makes him look even more impressive and ili your dragonov like the stuff with like him and Ilia did at NXT and now seeing it carry over into the main roster on RAW, Like when you get guys that can sell for you and make yourself look you more impactful, it just brings it to a whole different level. It's it's I don't know if if if Like he's better in the ring than Goldberg probably ever was. But when Goldberg was on that initial undefeen history, like Goldberg was doing something in the ring that you and I had never seen before, and that's what kind of captivated a lot of people, was like did that power the speed? But then you saw him doing some of the mixed martial arts stuff that nobody else was really doing, and that's what kind of grabbed us. Like he wasn't cutting promos, he wasn't doing all this stuff that bron Breaker can do. He was just a big badass that was just melling roop people and Broun can do that plus cut a good promo, plus actually you know, be safe in the ring and not you know, hurt somebody. But he just looks like he's having fun. He looks like he knows what he's doing that. Confidence levels through the roof right now, and he's not struggling like a lot of people have when they move from ning team to raw, Like the stage hasn't gotten too big for him. And that's where the pedigree of having a dad and an uncle like the Seiner brothers can kind of help him because they can kind of prepare him for what to expect going from working a you know, fifteen hundred, three thousand person crowd to working a fifteen thousand person crowd, Like that stage never gets too big for him. So they've they've got gold that they're just waiting to minz is you know where Like where do you sync it up at? Does he stay healed? Do they turn him baby face and let him wrong? Like where do you go with it? But they have their next brock Lesler, their next Roman reigns sitting there waiting in bron Breaker because I mean broad Breaker. Gunther could be that next big few that carries the company for five or ten years because they've met, they're gonna match up so well when they finally cross paths. The booking right now of the WA World Heavyweight Championship is like really got me thinking. It's like when you look at the stuff with Damien Priest and Drew McIntyre, which we will prefeing predict on next week's podcast for Clash at the Castle, it's like, Okay, which way do they go? Because it's summer slay in the winner of that match is theoretically then taking on Gunther and then at the end of that month in August is Bash of Berlin, which I always had figured gun Through would be playing a big role in that pay per view, And it's like, Okay, there are a bunch of people. Damian Priest can hold on the title. True McIntyre can win the championship, Guntherer could win the championship, see him, Punk could win the championship, And now I agree with you you're throwing bron Breaker in there. It's like the way the raw side of WW is structured right now, it could go multitude of different variations with the World Championship, and that's very exciting. If I was a betting man and I could put down money on Roy Rumbo twenty twenty five right now, I would be plading money on the odds for Broun Breaker to win that match, because I think this is coming sooner. Rather than later based on his recent performance, I guess my last question this entire thing, Doctor Trey, though, is where is the success going to be lying? And is it going to be on the babyface side or the heel side. I think it's gonna meant to be on the baby face side. I mean that that and even though he got those those bronze sucks chance like that you're referencing earlier in that run. I think, you know, we love those American made meathead type guys, whether it's a Hodan, whether I mean, I don't say Austin's kind of like just the American redneck, mirror drinking, swilling kind of guy. We love those guys that are like all gas, no breaks kind of guys and and bron breakers, that kind of guy. It's it's the Goldberg in him. It's a little bit of brock Lesner in him, it's a little bit of the Roman Reigns in him. Just that combination of power and speed and intensity are something that everybody can gobble up. Like, you know, he's a handsome dude. Women love him like he's a big muscular, badass guy. Older fans love him like, you know, just like he's a guy that can cross all boundaries as a babyface and and be that next kind of conquering hero that is the face of the company. Yeah, it's it's very, very impressive the path that he is taking rainw now in Wa and it's really exciting to watch and it's I don't know, it just I was like, this is someone we got to talk about in the podcast. And then that story drop today is just before we were about to record it. I was like, this is perfect timing because this is how I feel as a viewer at home watching Brown Breakers development right now. So something we will certainly keep an eye on here for the rest of twenty twenty four going into twenty twenty five, because I think the sky is the limit for the former NXT champion. Last thing I want to talk about here, doctor Trey before we get an NXC battleground, and this is one part making me feel old and then obviously looking back at the entire thing, and the second part here. But this past week on June second, was the ten year anniversary of the Shield breakup in Wa and I vividly remember recording that show and you and I being like, we are really bummed out about this because the Shield was right in a high popularity at that point, but we were like, we totally get it. And here we are ten years later, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and John Moxley have basically not basically, they have identified and defined a generation of professional wrestling that we see today. Roman and Seth and WI John Moxley in AAW. Safe to say that these three guys are some of the most influential wrestlers in the last ten years and have changed the game in both companies that they have served. You. I think, coming up on the five year anniversary of AW, John Moxley is the greatest AW wrestler of all time right now in their short history, and I think Roman Reigns is the greatest w star we've seen in the last five years, and I think Seth Rollins is like number two to that. So here we are ten years later, Doctor Trey, what are your thoughts on the entire Shield breakup ten years later? Right? Call still or like, oh, I wish they held on to a little bit more and your thoughts on the impact of all three men in professional rusting at this point. Yeah, it's it's one of the greatest breakup angles of all time, if not the greatest breakup angle of all time. Like, I can't think of another group breaking up, The Rockers they always point to, Yeah, but you know, but it was one guy had success out of that and not both. And I think when you look at the Shield breakup and then all three guys becoming bigger stars separately than they even that they were as a group, I don't know if that's ever been accomplished before, where all three guys go on to be, you know, multiple time world champions. You know, Marty had an intercontinental title victory out of that, but it lasted like a week. So yeah, when you look at a group splintering and all three guys going off and having successful singles careers, it's it's unprecedented. So it's yeah, so it's the greatest group breakup. But you know, like you said, like these three guys have been arguably the faces of their respected companies for five years. You know, Seth was kind of the face of the company coming out of that breakup, like he had that long title run with the authority behind him. You know, Roman just had this long three year run. Moxley's basically been the workhorse in the face of aew over the last five years, and even prior to that, he was kind of the workhorse in the face of you know, Monday Night Raw when he was shooting with Seth. So really, over the last ten years, I mean eight of those years have been dominated by Moxley, Rawlins and Range and you know, really not that they've held down other people, because they've helped elevate other people, but they've been kind of the Mount Rushmore of wrestling. The last ten years have been those three guys. So and arguably maybe the greatest chair shots of all time. I mean, I don't know who else is chair shots equal. You know, Seth hitting Roman and then how about a ten year storyline paying off at Wrestle with Roman, you know, almost sacrificing his match to hit Seth with the chair he did, yeah, I think he did. He sacrificed it. Yeah. So it's like it's a ten year storyline that played out on our TV that might be the longest, one of the longest storylines to play out in wrestling history as well. So it's crazy to think about the impact that that one chair shot had. But it turned I mean, it ended evolution, because evolution ended that night when the Shield broke up, it launched the singles crews of all three of those guys, and they've all been multiple time world champions, so it's just incredible. And then you know a ten year storyline playing out last year WrestleMania, so just incredible to see how long that they've they've milked that and how much they've gotten out of it. So greatest breakup to me have ever in wrestling history, I think the Shield had. When they debut Survivor Series twenty twelve, they did punk and right back match. Yeah, well ye, I think it was a trouble threat. I think they have been seeing a punk rye back in that match, I feel like there was another person involved. Nonetheless, so it was less than two years that they were together in that incarnation. Then they would get back together every now and again a couple of years later, and then towards the end there of Moxley's run as Ambrose and Wa they did one last ride for a period of time. When you look at the Shield and you compare it to nWo four Horsemen D Generation X, where does it compare to all those Is it based on the success of all these guys coming out of the Shield. I mean, they came into this business at that point very much so like unknowns unless you were a hardcore fan and I watched Seth Rollins as Tyler Black win the ROH World Championship of two thousand and nine. I knew of Dean Ambrose's John Moxley on the independent scene Roman Reigns. The only thing I really knew about him was Jim Ross his blog on we dot com. He would cover Joe Annawani and his college run and going in the pros periodically on his blogs. I remember those outside of that, they were kind of unknowns in the professional wrestling world, and then they came in and they became some of the biggest stars of the professional wrestling because of the launch pad that was The Shield. Where does that group compare to all the others? Is it? I mean, I think it's safe to say it's one of the greatest stables of all time, But is it the best based off of everything that has happened pre during and posts that run as the Shield, Yeah, I would probably put it put The Shield in the top five, but I don't know if I could put it ahead of nWo DX or The Horseman I mean to me, that's that's the hierarchy, that's that's the top of the line that comes to stables because those groups probably had a longer run together than the Shield, and as a group, I think those groups accomplished more. But separately, I would say that there may be the greatest, like I said earlier, the greatest group breakup because of the success they had post group, like the nWo when the NVO finally broke up, Like nobody had really had a ton of success post nWo. I mean, they're all still kind of on the same level as they were when they got into the n OFO the Horsemen, like really it's always been Flair on top, and then everybody else kind of stayed at the same level. DX, I mean you probably. I mean it helped elevate and launched Triple H's career. It helped elevate you know, road Dog and Billy Gunn up to upper mid card status. X POC was still kind of in the same area he's always been in. But the Shield as a group was fantastic, but when they broke up, they were even better. So I would probably put them either. I probably put them forth in the greatest You know stables in wrestling history. Maybe you know, arguably you can go back and forth with them a New Day because of the excess that you know, Biggie had a title run run, Xavier was King of the Ring, but you know, host breakup, they've had more success. So I would might put them, you know, top five, but that'd be about where I I would put them either fourth or fifth. Yeah, I think it's the point that you made that as a as a group, they were dominant, and I do believe as a group they're one of the greatest of all time. The success that they had afterwards, it's hard to look back at and go, well, this makes them the greatest of all time. I think maybe as a membership trio they may be the greatest of all time based on all their successes. But I would almost say, like, is the Shield better than the Bloodline when it was like USO's and Sammy's Ain that incarnation that we just saw kind of come to an end, And I think that's a tough call. I've loved that Bloodline as a group, and I think it's on par with the Shield. New Day I think has definitely lost momentum over the years because of the injuries and not having the success like they did when they first started. But I think the thing that catches the shield off Guard from being like the greatest of all time is you don't really look at them as a stable anymore. As a group you remember it certainly, and all the success that they had afterwards is like, I don't know, just like put them on a different level than everything that they did as a group per se. So I'm in agreement there. It was mind boggling to be like, this was ten years ago because I remember that Doctor Trede. Do you remember covering that episode? For some reason, that episode like vividly is in my mind, Yeah, because I think it wasn't too long before that. You and I were talking about when are they going to break the group up? And then they got into that whole run with them in Evolution with the returning of Thetists and everything else, and we were like, man, they're doing too well right now. You don't want to break them up. And then they broke them up. It's kind of like, was the way like we jinxed the whole situation because we had covered them breaking up like three or four months before they actually broke up. And then we got really into the Evolution rivalry. We were like, man, they can just leave them together. Just let him run this, let him ride this whole thing out, see how far it goes. And then they broke them up, and we're like, damn it. But we were just getting really excited about them, you know, continuing on as a group, and then they pull they pulled the trigger and broke them up. So yeah, I think the plan was before Punk had walked out, like they were gonna split up. I think before WrestleMania, there's that always that rumored WRESTLEMANI thirty card and I think on that it was like Dean Ambrose defend the United States Championship against the Roman Reigns or something, So they tease it, kept them together, gave him that run against the White family, that run against evolution for a little bit. Then they broke them up. And then that summer of twenty fourteen was a lot of building Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and seth Ron's as individuals and future main adventures. Which that was a really exciting time in wa watching those guys grow and you know, stand out on their own as top level talent. There is no, and I hate to use this phrase, there is no Marty Jeannetti in the Shield. It's like every single one of those guys is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and at different points in their careers, as you pointed out, Doctor Trey, they were the top guy. Rollins had that run, Rains obviously had that run, and Moxley has had that run in aw And that's pretty quite crazy that they've all had times where like they were the quote guy for the promotion they were working with in the United States. So wild ten year anniversary of the Shield breakup, and that takes us to our last thing I want to cover here in this week'sition the podcast Doctor Trey NXT Battleground Preview Predictions this Sunday from the ufc Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Let's start with the first match here, Doctor Trey, Soularoka, Lash Legend, Fallon Henley, Jada Parker, Meechen Kalanie Jordan. They will all be in a ladder master crown in the inaugural NXT Women's North American Champion the first one. Who do you like in this one, Doctor Trey. I haven't asked you this yet. Are you excited for them having a secondary women's title in NXT, I am, because we've never seen it on the WE landscape. So I'm interested to see how this takes place, and I kind of get the vibe that maybe this is a test to see how it could work out on the main roster, which I think an intercontinental United States Women's Championship on the main roster would be pretty cool. Yeah, I've always, like you and I talked about before, I've always hoped they would just do like almost an all women's show, like not a plee, but like it's just a show that's just all women. So that way that you can also see like are they drawing or is it still the guy's carrying them? But yeah, I'm curious about this match because you know, we've kind of knocked AW for having too many titles, and I kind of feel like I don't want WW to go down that path of having too many championships. So but I'm excited with this match because this is kind of like what the North American title has been for the men. It's kind of like a launch This looks like a launching pad excuse me for certain women you know going forward? Uh, with all the with all the storylines, so we go with lash Legend and Trick Williams. I think I'm gonna take a lash Legend winning the North American title. Yeah. I like Hume taking lash Legend a lot of the same reasons, Like I think the way that she's being built on NXC television makes sense for me to see her as the first champion, as the NXC Women's North American Champion. And by the way, she has really come a long way in ring wise, her work has gotten a lot better. She went from somebody that was very hard to watch and the ring to someone who's really coming far away, So props for her. Obafemi defends the NXC North American Championship in a triple threat match against wes Lee and Joe Coffee. I am gonna take Oba Femi to retain in this one, Doctor Trey. Yeah, like we were hyping up bron Breaker, Oba Femi's not far behind him. Like that guy's got so much potential as well. This was kind of tough because just the mix of wrestlers they've thrown in there, because I'm like, man, you can know you could have wes Lee, Pinn, Joe Coffee, recapture the Rosbergen title and move Ova up to main event level stuff. But I think right now I'm gonna take the safe pick like you and kind of take Opa Fami to retain here, Shannon be Basler takes on Lolavice in an XY underground match. Who do you like this one? Doctor? Try? And this was tricky for me because you have the stuff going on with you know, Shana and Zoe on the main roster and their fewd now with sorry Appaarly Sammy does not like Shana Basler. You know, you have this still going to the main roster like cause you take a loss here and did that effect he there? With with it being an NFC underground match, I know they're trying to get Lolovice over. For me, is just hard to pick against Shane Basler in this match unless there's some kind of you know, trickery or interferes or something going on there. I'm gonna take shanea get the win, even though my common sense would tell me Lola Ice, I'm gonna take Shannon Basler as well. I think the way that she's been built up going in this match, it would as you just said, as well make sense for like Lolovice to get the victory. I just don't think that they want to do that yet, so that would really help out Lolovis's character. They're reminding everybody how dominant Shannon Bezler was, and she was one of the most dominant wrestlers in all of NXC history. But I'm going to take Shannon Bezler to get the victory here. Next match is Nathan Fraser and Axiom defending the NXC Tag Team Championship against the OC of Luke Alis and Carl Anderson. This is a tough one to call, which is wild because you have a main roster talent and an NXC talent, But I am going to take the OC in this one. Doctor Trey. I feel like they're on the upswing from a creative standpoint. We saw them in the final segment of SmackDown this past Friday with aj Styles and Cody Rhodes a Mark Henry, and I think that carries over to the NXC show. So I'm going to take the OCD become the new NXC Tag Team champions. Yeah, with all the crossovers on shows and you know seeing you know, Jordan Grace pop up with her title on you know NFC television. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised to see you know, AJ standing with Gals and Anderson holding the nc tag titles. But I think I'm gonna I gotta like you're ahead of me. I gotta pick against you every so often, So I'll take Fraser and Axium to retain, uh, just to kind of be contrary because I can't agree with you on every single pick if I want to beat you with the m of the year, so I'll take Fraser and Axium to get the win. Next match here is rock Stane Perez defend the NXC Women's Championship against the TNA Knockouts Champ Women's Champion, which I never thought i'd say on the show, Jordan Grace, Doctor Trey. This is a tough one to call. Who do you like in this one? So we have to pick a winner? Yeah, we do, we do. That is the rules of this. Yes, it's tricky because I could see this going to like a double disqualification or no contest, so that way nobody loses. But I think I'm gonna I'm gonna take the the weird pick. I mean, I guess sound weird I'm gonna take Jordan Grace to get the win because I want to see the NFC Women's Championship appear on Impact Wrestling, just to kind of freak people out a little bit. So I'm gonna take Jordan Grace to get the win. Yeah, I'm gonna Jordan Grace as well. I thought it was a crazy pick, but I think it's in the best interest of both brands and this current relationship that she has the championship right now. I think Roxane Perez beating her it's a retain, does nothing for anybody. So I'm gonna take Jordan Grace to become the new NXC Women's Champion, a TNA contracted wrestler. Next match here is Trick Williams defending the NXC Championship against Ethan Page. This is a tough one to call. I really wanted to pick Ethan Page, but I'm gonna go with Trick Williams. He is super over and I think it would be strange if they took the championship off of him already. I was very tempted to pick Ethan Page because I think that would be pretty historic and buzzworthy. I'm gonna take Trick Williams Doctor Trey. Yeah, I think if Ethan Page had been on television for maybe just a little bit longer, I could pick Ethan Page. But for this to really be his first match in NXT is this title match makes it makes it hard for me to pick him. So I'm gonna take Trick Williams to get the win. But dear God, that the whole idea of a TNA Nexus type storyline to close the show out would be pretty awesome, So I hope they kind of do something like that because if you got like Josh Alexander and Moose and dear God, how cool do you see Dolph Zigglers show up at the end of the show to take out Trick Williams they former NC champion, that would be pretty well. And this is where I do think somebody shows up. I have Moose getting involved that are appearing at some point during this match. Yeah, or and just to hear you know, Booker t in them called Dolph Zigler nickname like that would make awesome for me. So yeah, but I'm taking Trick to win. But I do think somebody from TNA gets involved postmatch to kind of set something up for NXT t and A battles going forward, so they go NC Battleground this Sunday. A lot of good buzz going around heading into PLA. A lot of good stuff going on in NXC television last couple of weeks, and this match is or excuse me, this entire PLA is being hosted by Sexy Red, one of Doctor Trey's favorite rappers of all time. So we'll be checking that out and then we'll also preview and predict we clash at the Castle all on next week's edition in the show. With that said, let's get a couple plugs and sponsors out of the way. You can down on the show every Thursday or Friday at Real Guy Radio dot com, Russell chatnett on X and the star worl of the show iTunes feed don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to help us climb the charts on iTunes. You can follow us individually on X for myself at SRTU Jeff and for Doctor Trey Franklin at the Doctor Trey and of course don't forget the follow show on X at SRTU podcast. With that being said, what's going on in the one for world of Dot Trey Franklin this week. Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on x at D Doctor Tray. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram, Doctor Trey Franklin. When you're on Facebook, checkout Rocketee Championship Wrestling and they just had a big show this past Saturday. Their next show is June fifteenth, so be on the lookout for that. Also, Jeff, you're right, I'm excited about Sexy Red being there at Battleground, but I liked her better when she was restling on the Independence as the Amazing Red before she had her transition over to Sexy Red. Yeah, it happens to everybody. I mean, that's why they do Code Red all the time, is in honor of Sexy Red. So we will recap review NXC Battleground on next week's show, Previn Predictive w Week, Clash, the Jest at the Castle, and of course everything else and hopefully my voice is not destroyed by allergies anymore. So thank you for downloading, thank you for tuning in, and until next week. For Doctor Treit Franklin, I'm Jeff Peck. This is this is a real this show