Latest / The 3Ts: Tables, Tailgates, and Toploaders / One Road to WrestleMania is Set
Transcript
- WEBVTT 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:13.699 What's up, friends? Welcome to another episode 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:16.219 of Tables, Tailgates, and Toploaders. So happy 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:18.960 to have you all aboard for this episode. I am 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.460 your host, TB. Thank you so very much for stopping 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:24.300 in and checking out the 3Ts. Now, I apologize. 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.199 The podcast is getting out a little later than 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:29.620 I expected. I have been under the weather for 00:00:29.620 --> 00:00:32.119 going on a week, and I'm just to the point now 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:34.460 where I feel like my voice... is good enough 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:37.820 to record this. But we have a lot to talk about, 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:40.719 a lot to dive into. We're going to start with 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:43.659 the Royal Rumble. So, Wrestling Marks, you are 00:00:43.659 --> 00:00:46.200 on the clock. How the heck are we feeling after 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:49.100 an interesting Saturday afternoon, an interesting 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:52.520 Royal Rumble from good old Saudi Arabia? Now, 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:56.000 a few general notes about the show. First off... 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:58.939 Y 'all know I have talked about this over and 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:02.340 over and over again. This Saudi thing, WWE, what 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:05.260 the hell have you done? I will say right off 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:08.560 the bat that this just sucked. The Royal Rumble 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.900 historically is one of my absolute favorite, 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:14.780 favorite pay -per -views of all time. I have 00:01:14.780 --> 00:01:17.959 watched this event since I was a little kid and 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:22.099 it is always been my favorite, probably my favorite 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:24.719 show that I look forward to each and every year. 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:27.920 And I was worried about this going to Saudi Arabia 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.420 and my worries were completely warranted. So 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:33.980 first and foremost, let's start with the stadium. 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:36.299 Have you all seen this? Have you all seen the 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:39.939 photos? seeing the time -lapsed photography and 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:44.379 the videos that shows a empty parking lot three 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:47.980 weeks prior to the Rumble and then you have a 00:01:47.980 --> 00:01:51.000 completely built stadium from the ground up in 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.680 three weeks. Are you serious? I'm talking a literal 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.599 parking lot less than three weeks ago and suddenly 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.459 you have this ginormous stadium that is hosting 00:01:59.459 --> 00:02:02.540 the Royal Rumble. I mean... Sure, sure. Does 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:05.340 anyone have any guesses on how this was actually 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:08.460 accomplished in the middle of the freaking desert 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:11.939 in Saudi Arabia? Does anyone? Is there anyone 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.379 out there who thinks this was totally ethical, 00:02:14.740 --> 00:02:18.340 totally humane, didn't violate any basic human 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:21.240 rights? Because if you do, you're totally crazy 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.819 and you need to rethink your position. It's just 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:26.699 insane to me. But sure, sure, let's ignore the 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:29.319 slave labor topics and let's move on. Let's talk 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:31.500 about the crowd. How about we start with the 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:34.210 crowd? Or maybe the lack thereof. crowd because 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:37.370 the place the place was not full by any stretch 00:02:37.370 --> 00:02:39.789 of the imagination no matter how they tried to 00:02:39.789 --> 00:02:42.210 mask it no matter how they tried to hide it in 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:44.349 fact i would argue that for the women's rumble 00:02:44.349 --> 00:02:47.090 match which started the show i would argue the 00:02:47.090 --> 00:02:50.129 crowd was probably less than half full and i 00:02:50.129 --> 00:02:53.050 would say that yes seats filled in as the show 00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:56.310 went on but there is zero chance that this brand 00:02:56.310 --> 00:02:59.289 new uh arena that you built in the middle of 00:02:59.289 --> 00:03:02.430 nowhere was more than 75 percent filled i would 00:03:02.430 --> 00:03:08.430 say maybe 60 to 70 % at best, at best. And that's 00:03:08.430 --> 00:03:12.289 not even to talk about this LED nonsense that 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:15.689 we were dealing with on Saturday afternoon. I 00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:17.530 don't know how many of you watched the show, 00:03:17.610 --> 00:03:21.050 but they put these LED lights in the front or 00:03:21.050 --> 00:03:23.289 at the headrest or behind. I don't know what 00:03:23.289 --> 00:03:25.509 the hell they did, but they put these LED lights 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:29.280 into the seats, right? They're saying that the 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.280 reason you thought the stadium was empty was 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:34.639 because of these lights. Have you guys heard 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.979 this fiasco? And they're saying that the lighting 00:03:37.979 --> 00:03:40.439 effects made it look like the seats weren't occupied. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.259 Now, I get what they're saying to a point, right? 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.280 When you look straight on, so if you're looking 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.860 at a seat or a section straight on, yes, the 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:50.580 LED lights could make it look like that section 00:03:50.580 --> 00:03:53.740 was. empty or unoccupied because it made it very 00:03:53.740 --> 00:03:57.180 hard to see the crowd. The lights almost masked 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:00.060 the crowd, but, but. There were camera shots 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:02.919 where you saw entire sections from different 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:05.680 angles, not necessarily head on, and they were 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.020 almost completely empty. So I don't want to hear 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.840 that the LED lights made it look like the place 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:12.620 was empty because there were sections that were 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:14.759 empty. Get out of here. This is disgraceful. 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:16.680 This is one of your top three pay -per -views 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.120 of the year. This is one of TV's favorite pay 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.819 -per -views of the year. And number one, you 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:23.699 sell it to the Saudis. And number two, you can't 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:26.720 even fill. a brand new stadium you built in three 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.620 weeks on the backs of slave labor. So great job, 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:33.879 WWE. Great look. Way to start 2026 off. Y 'all 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:35.920 should be ashamed of yourselves. And the fact 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.560 that you're going back next year for WrestleMania 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:42.160 of all things. Oh my gosh. I lost my mind when 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.800 it happened and I'm about to lose it again. But 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:48.300 no, this is not good at all. And it just sucked. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.379 And it took me out of the feeling of nostalgia. 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:53.959 Like, oh my God, this is one of my favorite, 00:04:54.379 --> 00:04:57.519 pay -per -views of the year because just just 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.060 of the reason that we're in saudi arabia but 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:02.279 a few other thoughts before we dive into the 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.439 actual card you know how the wwe likes to take 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:07.220 their pay -per -view and they like to assign 00:05:07.220 --> 00:05:10.279 a theme song to the pay -per -view well if there's 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:13.139 ever a song you actually like you better pray 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:16.279 that they never put it as the official theme 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:18.860 song to any show or pay -per -view because by 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:21.639 the end of the three four hour pay -per -view 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.920 you are going to hate this song so Case in point. 00:05:25.269 --> 00:05:27.250 For the Royal Rumble, they had picked Linkin 00:05:27.250 --> 00:05:29.689 Park's Heavy is the Crown. Now, you play that 00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:32.490 song outside of last Saturday. That song's pretty 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:34.670 good. Linkin Park, I like them. I like their 00:05:34.670 --> 00:05:36.589 music. I like what they're doing with the new 00:05:36.589 --> 00:05:39.610 lead singer. I think she's good. But this song, 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:41.269 Heavy is the Crown, it's a pretty good song. 00:05:41.509 --> 00:05:45.170 Well, by the end of the show, I am ready to never 00:05:45.170 --> 00:05:47.230 hear this song again because what they do is 00:05:47.230 --> 00:05:50.029 they play the same three lines of the song over 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:53.230 and over and over again, and it makes you want 00:05:53.230 --> 00:05:56.560 to hate it. I don't understand what the need 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.779 is to play it on loop, but yet it's the same 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:02.519 three lines over and over again. So can we maybe 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:04.560 make some adjustments, maybe play some different 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:07.740 parts of the song, maybe not play it every 10 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:10.579 seconds? It's just insane. Anyway, another point, 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:13.100 this camera thing where we're following the wrestlers 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:16.100 into the building and we're constantly, you know, 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:17.740 zooming in and zooming out and they're drinking 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:20.300 coffee and they're wearing their ball caps and 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:22.180 they're wheeling their luggage and they're coming 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:24.560 out of their cars. It's just too much. We do 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:26.899 it literally every single show, whether it's 00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:29.740 raw, whether it's SmackDown, whether it's a pay 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:32.500 -per -view. And now we see the champion Drew 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:34.500 McIntyre and they're zooming in on the Dodge 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:36.860 truck that he's driving. And it's like, great. 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.279 drew drives a dodge who cares but they're zooming 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:43.259 in on the dodge ram logo and it for like 10 seconds 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:46.360 so i'm like okay can we maybe use a different 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.860 way to i don't know slowly get into the pay -per 00:06:49.860 --> 00:06:52.120 -view there's no other backstage ideas we have 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:55.300 other than to follow them around like a bunch 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:58.779 of creeps i don't know it's just weird but before 00:06:58.779 --> 00:07:00.939 you go thinking that i'm just crapping on everything 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:03.620 Here's a good thing. I thought the stage was 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:06.459 dope. I thought the stage looked fire. I love 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:09.459 the way they incorporated the entrance and the 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:13.139 way the fireworks and the pyro were used with 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:15.079 the stage. I thought that was sick. So great 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.509 job, WWE. Good job on the stage. So let's dive 00:07:18.509 --> 00:07:21.529 into the actual show. Now, there were only four 00:07:21.529 --> 00:07:24.670 matches on the entire card, so not a lot to choose 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:27.149 from as far as where we're going to start, but 00:07:27.149 --> 00:07:29.629 let's start at the beginning. So the first match 00:07:29.629 --> 00:07:32.449 was the Women's Royal Rumble match. Now, upon 00:07:32.449 --> 00:07:35.839 its... finish upon its completion i was like 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:38.279 that was okay but the more and more i think about 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:40.160 it the more i get some distance some space i 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.319 think it was pretty good match uh the beginning 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.980 i thought was very solid the middle was a little 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:47.160 rough a little rough and we'll talk about it 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:48.980 but the ending i thought the ending was fire 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:51.779 the ending was fire but a couple things the entrance 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:55.240 music i'm watching these women come out and i'm 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:57.399 noticing that the entrance music to most of these 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:01.129 women It's just terrible. It all is very generic. 00:08:01.230 --> 00:08:04.269 It all sounds the same. You have no clue who 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:07.569 is coming out until they show some logo or the 00:08:07.569 --> 00:08:10.430 name on the Titantron or until the wrestler is 00:08:10.430 --> 00:08:12.170 actually halfway to the ring. You have no clue. 00:08:12.230 --> 00:08:14.089 If you close your eyes and you're waiting for 00:08:14.089 --> 00:08:16.350 some clue of who the wrestler is, you have no 00:08:16.350 --> 00:08:19.410 idea because the music is all so... It's like 00:08:19.410 --> 00:08:23.660 playing... a 2k and you're doing random music 00:08:23.660 --> 00:08:26.379 generator for your created superstar it all sounds 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:29.579 terrible so i i don't know who is in charge of 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:32.080 the music it's not like it used to be where in 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.080 two notes you knew uh who who's coming to the 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:38.840 ring now there's a couple a handful of wrestlers 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:41.200 now who have like just bangers of entrance music 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:44.419 so i don't know what they're doing but Y 'all 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:46.879 need to re -examine the women's music because 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.559 most of it is just trash. And I feel like they 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.460 all are coming out to the same song. That's a 00:08:52.460 --> 00:08:55.960 problem. Outfits. Now, maybe I shouldn't talk 00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:58.559 about outfits when it comes to the women. Maybe 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:00.639 I shouldn't be commentating on this, but whatevs. 00:09:00.659 --> 00:09:03.120 It's my podcast, so we're just going to talk 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.519 about it. And they're in Saudi Arabia, so the 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:07.799 women are forced to wear these body suits. Well, 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:10.340 I don't have a problem with them wearing the 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:12.779 body suits. I'm not going to get into that. But 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:15.919 again, it's similar to the music argument. There's 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:18.759 nothing. that distinguishes one of the females 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:20.960 from another with these body suits. They all 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.840 look exactly the same and it's just stupid. And 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:25.460 it's another reason why they should never go 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:27.379 back to Saudi Arabia. You know, I don't know 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:29.659 if you've all seen the meme or the picture that 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:32.559 was created, AI, where the women are all like 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:35.720 looking up. looking like Power Rangers. And they 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:38.100 all looked almost identical. And it's just like 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:40.379 the design of these body suits has nothing to 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:42.460 do with their character or the way they normally 00:09:42.460 --> 00:09:44.899 look or anything like that. And it was like, 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:47.700 oh, there's a Saudi Arabian store that they got 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:49.879 to go shop at that has all these body suits. 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:52.440 So you better grab 30 of them because they all 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:55.519 can't show a single inch of skin. And it's just 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.419 like, this is so stupid. And look, I'm not one 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:01.580 to care about an overall appearance. And this 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:03.710 has nothing to do with like. sexism or anything 00:10:03.710 --> 00:10:06.269 it just they look dumb and it doesn't contribute 00:10:06.269 --> 00:10:08.450 to their character or their personality nothing 00:10:08.450 --> 00:10:12.730 so when you're doing stuff that impedes the uh 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:15.529 like pushing these women in a positive light 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:18.269 like what are we doing so maybe think about that 00:10:18.269 --> 00:10:21.669 too in addition to the slave labor that it took 00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:23.649 to build your stupid stadium but i don't know 00:10:23.649 --> 00:10:27.259 oh man it's so I was worried about the stupid 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:29.980 Saudi show, and it's just as I expected. Anyway, 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.159 let's talk about the actual rumble match. The 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.559 start, number one. Number two. Charlotte and 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:37.039 Alexa Flair. Look, they're a tag team. It was 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.539 cool to have them come out one right after another. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.379 And you knew instantly that there was going to 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:44.659 be some kind of problem. They were instantly 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:47.100 foreshadowing some kind of elimination was going 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:49.539 to take place with these two coming out at the 00:10:49.539 --> 00:10:51.799 same time. And they played nice and they got 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:53.659 along and they were working as a team. But lo 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:55.700 and behold, later on in the match, what happens? 00:10:56.220 --> 00:10:59.019 Charlotte, by accident, eliminates Alexa. So 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:00.679 you know that's going to set up something long 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:03.419 term, which everyone knew this was coming. Can 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:05.740 they be friends? Can they coexist? Yada, yada. 00:11:05.740 --> 00:11:07.860 It's cool. I have no problem with the story. 00:11:07.940 --> 00:11:11.429 And hey, whatever. So I like the beginning. But 00:11:11.429 --> 00:11:14.070 some of the stuff in the middle, the whole Becky 00:11:14.070 --> 00:11:17.250 Lynch, Maxine, Natty, is her name Natty, Natalia, 00:11:17.409 --> 00:11:19.549 whatever the hell her stupid name is. She's changing 00:11:19.549 --> 00:11:21.950 it now every week. What are we doing? But the 00:11:21.950 --> 00:11:26.029 whole thing between Becky and Maxine, when they 00:11:26.029 --> 00:11:27.950 were doing their one -on -one thing over the 00:11:27.950 --> 00:11:31.330 IC belt, Maxine was looking pretty good. Well, 00:11:31.389 --> 00:11:34.509 I'm sorry. She came in this Rumble match, and 00:11:34.509 --> 00:11:37.649 it looked like she regressed big time. She was 00:11:37.649 --> 00:11:41.649 not good. And I, ugh. It was just not good. She 00:11:41.649 --> 00:11:44.509 looked so out of place. Her moves were all over 00:11:44.509 --> 00:11:47.970 the place as far as like almost over exaggerating. 00:11:48.230 --> 00:11:51.090 There's exaggerating and then there's over exaggerating. 00:11:51.090 --> 00:11:53.789 And then her expressions, she was just, I'm like, 00:11:53.830 --> 00:11:56.440 take it. I know you're supposed to turn your 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:59.600 character up to 10. Maybe Maxine, maybe take 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.340 yours from a 19 down to a 12. Just take it easy 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:04.799 a little bit. But the whole thing with Natty 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.080 comes in and instantly eliminates Becky Lynch. 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:10.200 I'm like, Natty has been, number one, she's never 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:12.720 on TV. And number two, now she's injected herself 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:15.259 into this storyline between Maxine and Becky. 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:18.919 And she's now. Instead of Maxine's trainer, she's 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:20.820 attacking her and she's going after her. And 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:23.220 as a result, she interjects herself in this feud 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:26.019 in the Rumble and she eliminates Becky and we're 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:27.580 off and running. And I'm like, this doesn't even 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:30.860 make sense. And Becky Lynch is really damn good. 00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:33.179 So why is Natty, of all people, eliminating her 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:35.340 from the Rumble? So there's going to probably 00:12:35.340 --> 00:12:37.639 be some triple threat match here at some point. 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:40.240 But if it wasn't for Becky Lynch, I would have 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.639 zero interest in this. So anyway, it is what 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:46.250 it is. A couple other things. Lash Legend. Wow. 00:12:46.409 --> 00:12:49.409 Congrats. You made Lash Legend look like a million 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:52.429 bucks. She looked awesome. I think she had overall 00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:54.950 the most eliminations of any of the women in 00:12:54.950 --> 00:12:58.149 this match. And she had five total eliminations 00:12:58.149 --> 00:13:01.870 to include Io Skye, who is the best female wrestler 00:13:01.870 --> 00:13:03.730 on the planet. Charlotte Flair, who we just talked 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:06.509 about, who was, I think, the marathon woman in 00:13:06.509 --> 00:13:08.610 this match. I think she was in there the longest 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:12.269 of all 30 contestants. And then the last two 00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:16.220 she eliminated was the Bella Twins. And a newly 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:19.919 returning Brie Bella. So her eliminating Charlotte 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.159 Io and the Bella Twins. That looked great. I 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:23.700 can't remember who the fifth elimination was. 00:13:23.779 --> 00:13:25.500 It doesn't really matter. But she looked awesome. 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:27.740 She didn't look out of place. I think big things 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:30.000 are on the horizon for Lash Legend. Congrats. 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.539 That was great. A couple other things. Rhea Ripley. 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:36.000 Now she comes out at 22. There's 30 entrants 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.429 to this match. Uh, what is the need? Can someone 00:13:39.429 --> 00:13:42.309 explain to me why Rhea Ripley at 22 is going 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:45.629 to get her own individual pyro show as she's 00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:47.909 coming out to the ring? Does that make any sense 00:13:47.909 --> 00:13:50.509 in any world? And I know they did it for Roman 00:13:50.509 --> 00:13:53.570 Reigns on the guy's side. Stupid. Don't do it. 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:56.009 It takes you out of the match. They're supposed 00:13:56.009 --> 00:13:58.409 to be getting their asses to the ring. There's 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:01.269 no need for a pyro show. How does that make sense 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:04.250 at all? It doesn't. So you should never do that. 00:14:04.490 --> 00:14:07.470 But the ending of this match. The final three, 00:14:07.590 --> 00:14:11.080 you had Liv Morgan. You had Sol Ruka, who tipped 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.200 the cap to you. Sol Ruka, between you and Lash 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.220 Legend, I think those were the two standout rookies 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:19.639 or young up -and -comers. Sol Ruka was awesome 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:21.940 in this match. So it was Liv Morgan, Sol Ruka, 00:14:22.059 --> 00:14:24.340 and Tiffany Stratton, and they just put on a 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:27.000 great finishing sequence. I love the very end 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.460 of that match with them all on the outside of 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:32.379 the ring, hanging on to the ropes over there 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:35.220 by the ring apron and the turnbuckle. I thought 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:37.980 it was great. Sol Ruka went for her soul snatcher. 00:14:38.429 --> 00:14:41.029 on the outside, and it was just too high risk 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:44.490 with no reward, and she gets eliminated by Stratton, 00:14:44.490 --> 00:14:48.830 and then Liv Morgan hits the oblivion on Tiffany 00:14:48.830 --> 00:14:51.330 Stratton on the outside of the ring ropes, which 00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:53.610 was sick, and it was just cool. So Liv Morgan. 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.899 hitting that finisher and sending Tiffy Thompson 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.779 to the floor. Great. That was awesome. She wins. 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.360 And earlier in the match, she eliminated Raquel 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.620 Rodriguez, so we know you're going to have some 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:08.340 Judgment Day chaos, and I'm all here for it. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.980 Look, in my last week's episode, I had talked 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:15.320 about wanting Lyra Valkyria to win. That didn't 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:17.820 go over too well, but having Liv win didn't really 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:20.340 upset me at all. Side note, Liv's career, by 00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:22.580 the way, what a career arc. I mean, let's be 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:25.279 honest for the first couple of years. Who out 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.340 there actually thought she was going to make 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:30.019 it on this roster? She was terrible. It was not 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:33.259 good. She was always, I felt like hovering around 00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:36.399 that cut line, but she kept working. She kept 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.460 pushing. And now she's literally one of the top 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:41.860 stars in the business. And it's awesome to see 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:44.100 how far she's come, how much she's improved. 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.039 So good for her. Big congrats. It was good. I 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.919 really enjoyed seeing her win. Surprises. Normally 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:51.779 when we talk about a rumble match, we like to 00:15:51.779 --> 00:15:53.879 talk about surprises. Well, the only surprise. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.440 in this whole match was a returning Brie Bella. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.840 She had been gone for over four years. And can 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.279 you really label that as a surprise? I mean, 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:05.240 I don't know. Sure, I guess. But to me, it's 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:07.340 not that surprising. I think it's kind of cool 00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:09.899 to see her back. But if you fast forward to Monday 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.600 Night Raw, and we're going to kind of interweave 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:14.879 what happened at the Rumble with some stuff that 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:16.919 happened on Monday Night Raw. But if you fast 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:18.639 forward to what happened Monday Night Raw, that 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:21.789 surprise and... And happiness from her coming 00:16:21.789 --> 00:16:24.470 back instantly went away because she comes down 00:16:24.470 --> 00:16:27.250 with Nikki and they take the mics and they're 00:16:27.250 --> 00:16:29.990 in the ring and they cut this terrible, terrible 00:16:29.990 --> 00:16:32.710 promo about how they're coming after the women's 00:16:32.710 --> 00:16:35.070 tag belts. They literally talk for, I don't know, 00:16:35.149 --> 00:16:37.090 12 seconds and they don't really say anything. 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:39.730 They're like, okay, we're back and we're going 00:16:39.730 --> 00:16:42.909 for the belts. And everyone's like, that's it? 00:16:43.070 --> 00:16:45.549 That's terrible. That was trash. I was not sold 00:16:45.549 --> 00:16:48.789 whatsoever. And then I'm like, okay, cool. Bella 00:16:48.789 --> 00:16:51.149 Magic, Bella Twins are back. But have you looked 00:16:51.149 --> 00:16:53.710 at the rest of the women's tag division? Because 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:58.009 you have no chance of competing with any of these 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:01.129 legit teams. The division is stacked. And I have 00:17:01.129 --> 00:17:04.769 no interest in a Bella Magic tag team reunion, 00:17:04.890 --> 00:17:07.430 what, eight, ten years later or whatever it is. 00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:11.319 Other than Brie Bella, no shocks. The match was 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:13.819 pretty straightforward. The women's match basically 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:17.619 used the roster as far as NXT, SmackDown, Raw. 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:19.640 They just went with it. They're like, no, these 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:22.400 are 30 of our best women. We're putting our best 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.900 foot forward. And they had the talent to do so. 00:17:24.980 --> 00:17:27.559 And I thought it all worked well. And I'm not 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:30.559 upset by that at all. I'm not upset by the lack 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.940 of surprises for this match. I thought maybe 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:36.160 we would have seen a Bianca Belair at some point. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.240 Apparently, she's got this. injured finger that's 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:42.299 been a problem now and she can't seem to get 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:44.759 that squared away obviously she never came out 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:47.640 during the rumble so live is the winner and uh 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:49.539 if you look at what happened on monday night 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:52.019 raw which we'll get into here in a little bit 00:17:52.460 --> 00:17:54.599 It looks like she is going to be going after 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:58.119 Stephanie Vakir. So, hey, that should be a good 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:01.200 feud. Next match on the card, we had AJ Styles 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.000 versus Gunther. And I hate to say I told you 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.940 so, but I told you so. I thought this would happen. 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.839 I called it and it kind of went down exactly 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.220 as I anticipated. People were saying there was 00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:16.059 no way AJ Styles was going to lose. And my thoughts, 00:18:16.180 --> 00:18:19.140 which I said on the last episode, I said, look, 00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:22.519 the writing is on the wall. He is... trying like 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:25.279 hell in the last what two three weeks to get 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.000 in all these dream matches before he is out the 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.019 door it was shinsuke it was cm punk it was all 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:33.200 this other stuff And he was putting in these 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.640 really good matches, really good bangers. Shout 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:38.880 out to Sheamus. And stop me if you've heard this. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.240 You're not going to like it. Gunther is the top 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:45.859 heel in the company. And it's glorious. Like, 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:48.619 I texted my buddy Mike as we're watching it. 00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:51.839 And I'm like, this dude is a legit ultimate 80s 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.809 villain. He can wrestle. against any style that 00:18:55.809 --> 00:18:58.430 his opponent has. And he can make any one of 00:18:58.430 --> 00:19:00.549 those opponents look like a million bucks. I 00:19:00.549 --> 00:19:03.289 mean, he can get the best out of Jey Uso. Okay, 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:06.769 you know he's gold, right? Because CM Punk had... 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.920 trouble getting a good match out of Jey Uso. 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:11.480 Like I said, he can wrestle anyone, any size, 00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:14.019 any style. He can make them look great. He's 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:17.059 great. I love the career killer moniker. I think 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:19.619 it's perfect. I love that they added it to his 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:21.839 entrance on Monday Night Raw. And if you all 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.519 haven't seen this, you gotta go check it out 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:27.079 because on Monday Night Raw, AJ Styles' phenomenal 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:29.980 music hit with the theme music, with the entrance, 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:33.059 he comes out, Gunther comes out, does the bow 00:19:33.059 --> 00:19:35.519 low thing with the arms outstretched, just like 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.769 AJ Styles. And then he pops up and it's Gunther. 00:19:38.910 --> 00:19:41.089 And it was glorious. And the place loses their 00:19:41.089 --> 00:19:44.289 minds and boos the absolute ish out of him. And 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:47.349 it was fan -freaking -tastic. I love everything 00:19:47.349 --> 00:19:49.970 he's doing. But as far as the actual Royal Rumble 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:54.589 match goes, yeah, I think it was a really good 00:19:54.589 --> 00:19:57.509 match. Really, really good match. AJ got a nasty 00:19:57.509 --> 00:20:00.190 cut on his left forearm. It looked like it probably 00:20:00.190 --> 00:20:02.809 hurt like hell. But he soldiered on. He put forth 00:20:02.809 --> 00:20:06.680 a great last match in the WWE. And 10 -year career. 00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:09.539 It's been a 10 -year career. Almost exactly, 00:20:09.539 --> 00:20:11.799 if you go from his debut, which was at the Rumble 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:15.940 10 years ago to now, 10 years. So it's crazy. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.119 Tip of the cap to you, AJ, but it's a shame it 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.619 had to end in freaking Saudi Arabia. I don't 00:20:21.619 --> 00:20:24.579 know if you knew that was coming, but I don't 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:26.200 know. Maybe he goes on. It wouldn't shock me 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:28.019 if he goes on and wrestles somewhere else for 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:30.440 the rest of the year. Maybe it's TNA. Maybe it's 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:36.170 A or W. A or W. TNA or AEW. It wouldn't shock 00:20:36.170 --> 00:20:38.809 me to see him pop up there. There's probably 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:41.509 some really sick feuds that he wants some last 00:20:41.509 --> 00:20:44.089 awesome matches to have. Love to see some of 00:20:44.089 --> 00:20:46.430 the stuff he can do with AEW and some of the 00:20:46.430 --> 00:20:49.130 guys over there. It wouldn't shock me if he finishes 00:20:49.130 --> 00:20:51.210 the year over there. But thanks for the memes, 00:20:51.369 --> 00:20:53.609 AJ. It's been a blast. I've thoroughly enjoyed 00:20:53.609 --> 00:20:56.630 watching you wrestle over the last decade. Congratulations, 00:20:56.630 --> 00:20:59.970 and I hope retirement is awesome for you. Third 00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:03.369 match, Sami Zayn versus Drew McIntyre. Yeah, 00:21:03.390 --> 00:21:05.890 there's not much to say. There's not much to 00:21:05.890 --> 00:21:08.130 say. This went exactly as I thought it was going 00:21:08.130 --> 00:21:11.529 to go. How many times are we going to go to this 00:21:11.529 --> 00:21:14.609 well? I mean... We have told this underdog Sami 00:21:14.609 --> 00:21:17.470 Zayn story for a million times, it seems like. 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:21.250 Over and over and over again. You know, he gets 00:21:21.250 --> 00:21:23.970 all psyched up. He gets built up as this formidable 00:21:23.970 --> 00:21:27.789 opponent. And he never, never wins. And so in 00:21:27.789 --> 00:21:29.930 this match with Drew, he tries to make a comeback. 00:21:30.250 --> 00:21:32.750 And he takes two huge claymores to the face. 00:21:32.890 --> 00:21:35.390 And he almost gets his head knocked off. And 00:21:35.390 --> 00:21:37.630 then Drew wins and retains the belt. So thanks 00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:40.269 for coming. But you had no shot. Just like always. 00:21:40.549 --> 00:21:43.380 The match was fine. It was. whatever but i i 00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:46.029 read one review peek behind the curtain I watch 00:21:46.029 --> 00:21:48.230 the shows. I watch these shows. I take notes. 00:21:48.470 --> 00:21:51.230 I have a general opinion in my head of how I 00:21:51.230 --> 00:21:53.849 think the show is. I talk to my buddy, Mike. 00:21:53.970 --> 00:21:56.470 We always discuss how we feel about the show. 00:21:56.730 --> 00:21:58.690 And then what I like to do, I like to go online 00:21:58.690 --> 00:22:01.369 and I like to see what other people are because 00:22:01.369 --> 00:22:04.609 maybe I'm right or maybe I'm in the same universe. 00:22:04.809 --> 00:22:08.569 But most of the time, I feel like I'm completely, 00:22:08.769 --> 00:22:10.910 I don't know. I have completely different opinions. 00:22:11.049 --> 00:22:13.710 And we'll talk about a major one here in a minute. 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:16.279 I'm going online and I'm reading reviews calling 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.039 this the match of the night. And I'm like, well, 00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:19.960 first of all, there's only four matches. So is 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:21.660 it really fair to pick a match of the night? 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:24.759 You got a 25 % chance of getting it right. But 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.000 no, this was not the match of the night. It was 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.299 fine. But this was nothing that I'm ever going 00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:31.220 to be like, oh, I need to go watch Sami Zayn 00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:33.140 versus Drew McIntyre or Royal Rumble again. That 00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:35.039 will never happen. It was a match that I could 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.240 watch on Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown. 00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:40.720 No, there was nothing that made this match stand 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:42.759 out in any way, shape, or form. It was fine. 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:45.799 He's the underdog, and he got his ass kicked. 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:48.279 End of story. Let's move on. But it's probably 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.819 not the end of the story. We'll find out on Friday. 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:53.299 I bet she gets another shot, and it wouldn't 00:22:53.299 --> 00:22:56.359 shock me to see him in the chamber or something. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.140 Who the heck knows? Let's get to the, well, based 00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:02.640 on the card, the main event of the Rumble, and 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.349 this was the men's Royal Rumble match. Like I 00:23:05.349 --> 00:23:09.150 said, I watch. I take notes. I have my own opinion. 00:23:09.349 --> 00:23:11.769 And then I go and check online. And people were 00:23:11.769 --> 00:23:15.890 losing their collective minds on blogs and posts 00:23:15.890 --> 00:23:19.410 and social media. I'm not sure. If you made a 00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:21.269 comparison, I'm not sure who's more miserable. 00:23:21.450 --> 00:23:24.269 Are Bills fans or wrestling fans more miserable? 00:23:24.410 --> 00:23:27.210 And look, sometimes I'm guilty of this too. But 00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:28.970 it just seems like no matter what happens, we're 00:23:28.970 --> 00:23:31.490 never happy. No matter what. No matter what. 00:23:31.650 --> 00:23:34.839 I don't care who wins what match. or the belt 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:37.380 or whatever pay -per -view, but there's always 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:39.640 a group of people and they're always so vocal 00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:42.079 and obnoxious that are so upset about literally 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.319 everything. People lost their minds because Roman 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:48.059 Reigns, of all people, won the Royal Rumble. 00:23:48.140 --> 00:23:50.619 Roman Reigns? We're mad because Roman Reigns 00:23:50.619 --> 00:23:53.900 won the Rumble? Really? Okay, maybe I'm missing 00:23:53.900 --> 00:23:56.420 something. But have you all not seen that he's 00:23:56.420 --> 00:23:58.119 literally the number one guy in this company? 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:00.720 Look, I went back. I pulled a list of winners 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.279 from the debut, which was all the way back in 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:06.539 1998. And I thought, hey, let's go through. And 00:24:06.539 --> 00:24:09.619 maybe what the people are saying has some legitimacy 00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:11.440 to it. Because people are like, oh, we got to 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:12.940 give it to a young guy. Or we got to give it 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:14.440 to this. person or that person i'm like okay 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:17.400 let's let me just see throughout history what 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:20.619 has wwe done with royal rumble winners so you 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:23.440 go all the way back to 1988 the very first royal 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:26.140 rumble it was only 20 men but this was hacksaw 00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:28.339 jim duggan okay maybe we could take the first 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:30.619 one or two and kind of put them to the side because 00:24:30.619 --> 00:24:33.140 they were still getting you know getting their 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:36.359 feet wet with this show if you will so 1988 hacksaw 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:39.279 jim duggan one year later in 1989 big john stud 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:42.269 i don't know big john stud I mean, we're still 00:24:42.269 --> 00:24:45.029 trying to figure out what the hell this WWF thing 00:24:45.029 --> 00:24:47.089 was in the first place. So let's put those two 00:24:47.089 --> 00:24:50.990 aside. 1990, Hulk Hogan. 1991, Hulk Hogan. He 00:24:50.990 --> 00:24:53.230 was literally the top guy in the company for 00:24:53.230 --> 00:24:57.289 almost a decade, right? 1992, Ric Flair. We talked 00:24:57.289 --> 00:24:59.410 about this before. This was one of the only times 00:24:59.410 --> 00:25:03.309 that the Royal Rumble match decided a new champion. 00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:06.769 The belt was vacated and Ric Flair wins. So, 00:25:06.789 --> 00:25:11.430 okay, he's a pretty top guy in the company. 1993, 00:25:11.430 --> 00:25:14.089 Yokozuna. Back, I don't know how much you guys 00:25:14.089 --> 00:25:16.470 remember about historic wrestling, but in the 00:25:16.470 --> 00:25:20.990 early 90s, Yokozuna was the top heel in the company, 00:25:21.049 --> 00:25:24.910 and he won the 93 Rumble. 94, it was kind of 00:25:24.910 --> 00:25:27.630 a fiasco, but you had a tie between Lex Luger 00:25:27.630 --> 00:25:30.690 and Bret Hart. Still, two guys, two main eventers, 00:25:30.769 --> 00:25:35.190 two faces of the company. 95 and 96, Shawn Michaels. 00:25:35.390 --> 00:25:39.049 He was at the top of the company. 97 and 98, 00:25:39.269 --> 00:25:41.109 Stone Cold Steve Austin. Top of the company. 00:25:41.369 --> 00:25:44.670 1999, you know who won 1999 Royal Rumble? Vince 00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:48.509 McMahon. He was a major heel in the company. 00:25:48.670 --> 00:25:51.470 He was the head of the company, the president, 00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:54.710 and probably one of the biggest people who interjected 00:25:54.710 --> 00:25:57.170 himself in the storyline. So he was a major character. 00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:00.809 2000, you had The Rock. 2001, Stone Cold Steve 00:26:00.809 --> 00:26:05.119 Austin. Again, third time. 2002, Triple H. 2003, 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:09.119 Brock Lesnar. 2004, okay, Chris Benoit. Maybe 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:11.240 we shouldn't talk about him, but he was on his 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:14.220 way up. He was a top player. He was getting a 00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:18.640 monster push. 2005, Batista. Dave Batista was 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:22.500 a beast in the company. A top guy. 2006, Rey 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.720 Mysterio. I think this is when he lasted like 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:27.539 60 minutes or something. 2007, The Undertaker. 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:30.299 Top guy in the company. 2008, John Cena. 09, 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:35.099 Randy Orton. 2010, Edge. 2011. Okay, here's one 00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:37.799 a little out of the norm, Alberto Del Rio. But 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:39.700 again, if you remember what was going on in the 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:41.519 company back then, he was kind of a big deal. 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:46.240 2012, Sheamus. 2013, John Cena. 2014, a repeat, 00:26:46.500 --> 00:26:50.559 Batista. 2015, Roman Reigns, again. 2016, Triple 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:54.059 H, again. 2017, Randy Orton. Now here's a little 00:26:54.059 --> 00:26:56.980 different one. 2018, Shinsuke Nakamura. 2019, 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.339 Seth Rollins. 2020, Drew McIntyre. This is COVID. 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:03.140 Actually, this is right before COVID hit. 2021, 00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:06.599 Edge again. 22, Brock Lesnar again. And then 00:27:06.599 --> 00:27:09.259 you go on a Cody run. 23 and 24, Cody Rhodes. 00:27:09.460 --> 00:27:12.619 And then, oh, what's the outlier? 2025, Jey Uso. 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:17.200 So let's look at this, what, almost 38, 39 -year 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:20.140 run. Like I said, take out the first two years 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:21.480 where they're getting their footing. There's 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:24.279 only a few winners who weren't legit top guys 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:26.519 in the company. I'll give you Chris Benoit, and 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:28.539 maybe you could argue he was still a top guy. 00:27:28.680 --> 00:27:31.859 Alberto Del Rio, who, like I just said, was still 00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:34.240 a major part of storylines back then. Shinsuke, 00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:38.240 I mean, okay. And Jey Uso. Hey, does anyone remember 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:42.000 the Jey Uso fiasco of last year? Y 'all wanted 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:46.039 him to win, and he was a terrible champion. I'm 00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:48.920 like, why are we complaining that Roman Reigns 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:51.500 won? Now, who would we have been happy with? 00:27:51.619 --> 00:27:54.180 Did you all want to see Cody Rhodes win for the 00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:57.579 third time in four years? Please, God, no. Now, 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:00.500 I had picked Braun Breaker as being the winner, 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:03.650 but he was eliminated. Literally 10 seconds into 00:28:03.650 --> 00:28:05.970 the match. Now, obviously, this is part of a 00:28:05.970 --> 00:28:09.009 much bigger storyline. I love the fact that he 00:28:09.009 --> 00:28:10.990 was taken out before he even got to the ring 00:28:10.990 --> 00:28:14.190 by this hooded mystery figure. And now he is 00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:17.150 gone absolutely wild and he's on the warpath 00:28:17.150 --> 00:28:19.250 and he's going crazy all over Monday Night Raw. 00:28:19.349 --> 00:28:21.809 I love the story they're telling. But they literally 00:28:21.809 --> 00:28:24.390 didn't even put him in the match. He was eliminated 00:28:24.390 --> 00:28:27.230 by Obafemi as soon as he got thrown into the 00:28:27.230 --> 00:28:28.930 ring after he was jumped by the hooded figure. 00:28:29.150 --> 00:28:31.309 Okay, so he's not going to win. Randy Orton? 00:28:31.390 --> 00:28:33.730 Yeah. I would have been okay with a Randy Orton 00:28:33.730 --> 00:28:35.930 win, but like I said, he's already won two of 00:28:35.930 --> 00:28:38.289 these things. I feel like maybe that wouldn't 00:28:38.289 --> 00:28:39.990 have been the likely thing because he's doing 00:28:39.990 --> 00:28:42.529 this storyline, maybe kind of sort of with Cody 00:28:42.529 --> 00:28:44.049 Rhodes. So it seems like they're going to collide 00:28:44.049 --> 00:28:46.750 at some point. Obafemi, yeah, that would have 00:28:46.750 --> 00:28:48.730 been awesome. But guess what? He came out at 00:28:48.730 --> 00:28:51.769 one. Are you going to have Obafemi making his 00:28:51.769 --> 00:28:54.630 Royal Rumble debut, win it from the number one 00:28:54.630 --> 00:28:57.289 spot? I mean, talk about an ultimate rocket ship 00:28:57.289 --> 00:28:59.230 to come out at one and win the whole damn thing. 00:28:59.309 --> 00:29:02.960 I mean, look. Oba Femi was mad impressive. Mad 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:05.660 impressive. But they showcased him. They made 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:08.480 him look dominant. And they teased some absolute 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:11.140 bangers of future matchups for this one -man 00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:13.099 wrecking crew moving forward. And they doubled 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:14.960 down on it because Monday Night Raw, like two 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:17.359 nights later, they had him come out and basically 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:20.660 fight the War Raiders, two huge dudes, and destroy 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:22.960 them. So I think Oba is going to be just fine. 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:25.140 I think they're setting him up nicely. So, okay, 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:27.059 let's put him off to the side. How about LA Knight? 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:29.920 La Knight? Look, I think he's taken over for 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.339 Drew McIntyre because now he has the crown for 00:29:32.339 --> 00:29:34.960 not winning anything. He literally doesn't win 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.299 anything. So I'm not sure what to feel about 00:29:37.299 --> 00:29:40.440 LA Knight, but again, fast forwarding to Monday 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:43.029 night. And I know we didn't have, you know, a 00:29:43.029 --> 00:29:44.650 crystal ball. We couldn't look to see what was 00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:46.349 going to happen two days later, but he's knee 00:29:46.349 --> 00:29:50.089 deep in this vision battle. So the final six 00:29:50.089 --> 00:29:53.450 of the men's battle Royal Rumble was Jacob Fatu, 00:29:53.589 --> 00:29:55.849 Jey Uso, who we just talked about. You're going 00:29:55.849 --> 00:29:58.750 to put Jey Uso as the winner again? God, no. 00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:01.890 Roman Reigns, Logan Paul, Randy Orton, and Gunther. 00:30:01.990 --> 00:30:04.650 So in my opinion, it was either Gunther or Roman 00:30:04.650 --> 00:30:06.710 Reigns. And y 'all would have lost your collective 00:30:06.710 --> 00:30:10.549 minds if Gunther, who just retired AJ, gobbles 00:30:10.549 --> 00:30:13.109 down to the ring two hours later or an hour and 00:30:13.109 --> 00:30:15.390 a half later, and then wins the Rumble by eliminating 00:30:15.390 --> 00:30:18.430 Roman Reigns. All you crazy lunatics who are 00:30:18.430 --> 00:30:22.329 posting and doing your blogs and your rants on 00:30:22.329 --> 00:30:24.430 your little channels, and maybe I'm guilty of 00:30:24.430 --> 00:30:26.069 this too, but y 'all would have lost your freaking 00:30:26.069 --> 00:30:28.509 minds if they had gooned or beat Roman Reigns. 00:30:28.549 --> 00:30:31.529 So look, given the circumstances, I'm okay with 00:30:31.529 --> 00:30:33.670 it. I'm okay with it. And the whole Roman Reigns 00:30:33.670 --> 00:30:36.779 thing, the interview he cut on... Pat McAfee 00:30:36.779 --> 00:30:39.980 show on Friday before the Rumble, it literally 00:30:39.980 --> 00:30:42.200 paved the way and told the story. It told you 00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:43.940 everything you needed to know. He basically goes 00:30:43.940 --> 00:30:46.319 on the show and throws down saying, look, I ran 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:49.380 this place for four years. You all had two years 00:30:49.380 --> 00:30:52.019 to establish new stars and you all dropped the 00:30:52.019 --> 00:30:54.319 ball. I gave you a chance and you blew it. So 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.559 now I'm back. I'm going straight to the top and 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:58.839 there's really nothing you can do about it. Obviously, 00:30:58.859 --> 00:31:00.420 this story continues and we're going to talk 00:31:00.420 --> 00:31:01.880 about the end of Monday Night Raw in a second. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.759 But let's first finish with the Rumble stuff. 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.440 Look. I mean, I don't know what you all would 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:10.079 have been happy with. Maybe you all have a better 00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:12.380 explanation. But look, hindsight's always 20 00:31:12.380 --> 00:31:14.500 -20. I get it. We can't Monday morning quarterback 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:17.200 it after Monday Night Raw. I get it. I was like, 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:20.960 okay, Roman Reigns won. Hey, whatever. Yeah, 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.339 there's some cool spots. And we're going to talk 00:31:23.339 --> 00:31:25.920 about a couple other things. But Roman Reigns 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:27.779 winning is not the end of the world. Not the 00:31:27.779 --> 00:31:29.759 end of the world. So I'm fine with it. But a 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:33.400 couple other random thoughts. Javon Evans, this 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:35.910 was a great. Great debut for him. Great look. 00:31:36.049 --> 00:31:38.150 He was the marathon man. I think he was just 00:31:38.150 --> 00:31:40.470 over 40 minutes in the men's side, the men's 00:31:40.470 --> 00:31:43.250 match. And they are setting this kid up for big 00:31:43.250 --> 00:31:45.569 things. The future is absolutely bright for this 00:31:45.569 --> 00:31:47.809 21 -year -old. So congratulations. Powerhouse 00:31:47.809 --> 00:31:51.869 Hobbs made his debut, a .k .a. Royce Keys. I'm 00:31:51.869 --> 00:31:54.769 not sure how I feel about that name, but he made 00:31:54.769 --> 00:31:58.609 his debut in the WWE after coming over from AEW. 00:31:58.849 --> 00:32:02.109 I've seen him. I've seen his work in AEW. I really 00:32:02.109 --> 00:32:04.170 like the stuff he's doing over there. And I'm 00:32:04.170 --> 00:32:06.990 super excited to see how he can be used and what 00:32:06.990 --> 00:32:10.170 he can do in the WWE. I just hope they use him 00:32:10.170 --> 00:32:12.460 right. I want to see some. Kick -ass matches 00:32:12.460 --> 00:32:16.160 with him. I think he's got a good future ahead. 00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.460 Another point, eight luchas. If you're including 00:32:19.460 --> 00:32:22.400 the two El Grandes, there were eight luchadors 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:25.339 in this rumble. I appreciate a good lucha match 00:32:25.339 --> 00:32:28.880 now and again, but come on, eight? Like, that's 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:32.059 20 % of your roster for this match. And it didn't 00:32:32.059 --> 00:32:34.240 even include the greatest luchador of all time, 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:37.160 Dominic Mysterio, right? He was nowhere to be 00:32:37.160 --> 00:32:39.759 seen. Thank goodness he came back out on Monday 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:42.809 Night Raw, introduced. the women's rumble winner 00:32:42.809 --> 00:32:44.990 Liv Morgan that was cool to see him I love the 00:32:44.990 --> 00:32:47.970 glasses she instantly runs in the ring jump you 00:32:47.970 --> 00:32:50.029 know jumps on top of him wraps her legs around 00:32:50.029 --> 00:32:52.329 him like I'm not sure how his wife feels about 00:32:52.329 --> 00:32:54.890 that but whatever but he's not even in the rumble 00:32:54.890 --> 00:32:57.509 match and you have eight other luchadors I'm 00:32:57.509 --> 00:33:00.269 like god this is too many freaking dudes in masks 00:33:00.269 --> 00:33:02.809 and doing the same move set I'm just like I don't 00:33:02.809 --> 00:33:05.109 know I don't know I felt like the some of the 00:33:05.109 --> 00:33:07.130 selections was on the men's side was just kind 00:33:07.130 --> 00:33:09.930 of a little weak I had picked Finn Balor to win 00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:12.789 this match clearly uh that didn't that didn't 00:33:12.789 --> 00:33:15.509 work uh he wasn't even in the match right eight 00:33:15.509 --> 00:33:19.069 luchas no Finn Balor uh apparently they're going 00:33:19.069 --> 00:33:20.910 somewhere with this Finn Balor story because 00:33:20.910 --> 00:33:23.930 they gave him not only one but two backstage 00:33:23.930 --> 00:33:29.700 or or vignette little video packages where he's 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:31.779 doubling down, he's going after Punk, he's coming 00:33:31.779 --> 00:33:33.779 after the world title, and he says he's willing 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:36.619 to do bad things. The only way I interpret that 00:33:36.619 --> 00:33:38.960 is we're seeing a return of the Demon, which 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:41.980 would be absolute fire. If we can get a returning 00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:44.819 Finn Balor and the Demon at WrestleMania, there's 00:33:44.819 --> 00:33:47.200 not many things that are cooler on that stage 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:49.519 than a return of the Demon character. I will 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:52.200 sign up for that right now. Let's go. I have 00:33:52.200 --> 00:33:56.059 asked, I have hoped, I have begged. That 2026 00:33:56.059 --> 00:33:58.119 be the year of Finn Balor. He's always been one 00:33:58.119 --> 00:33:59.960 of my favorites. I hope good things are coming 00:33:59.960 --> 00:34:03.599 for him. And maybe we'll see him get into the 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:07.259 title picture and actually get to wear the belt 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:10.159 for some time. We talked about surprises on the 00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:12.219 women's side. There are really no surprises at 00:34:12.219 --> 00:34:14.960 all on the men's side. Powerhouse Hobbs, is he 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:17.159 a surprise? I mean, this had been rumored now 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:19.780 for a couple weeks, so it wasn't really shocking 00:34:19.780 --> 00:34:22.139 to see him. I was happy, but I wasn't surprised. 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:24.880 But no Jericho, no Chris Jericho, no nothing. 00:34:25.059 --> 00:34:28.019 I'm sorry, Mr. Iguana, that's number one, not 00:34:28.019 --> 00:34:31.420 okay. And number two, not a surprise. And number 00:34:31.420 --> 00:34:34.699 three, like, dude, this is dumb. I get the comedy 00:34:34.699 --> 00:34:37.739 thing, but when your talent, when you have so... 00:34:37.769 --> 00:34:39.510 much talent on your roster and you're filling 00:34:39.510 --> 00:34:42.710 it with mr iguana i just i didn't like it at 00:34:42.710 --> 00:34:46.750 all but again i thought i thought and i was worried 00:34:46.750 --> 00:34:49.429 about heading into this saudi thing that you 00:34:49.429 --> 00:34:51.590 wouldn't get many surprises because they had 00:34:51.590 --> 00:34:53.829 to literally fly across the world and get into 00:34:53.829 --> 00:34:56.489 the country and that's kind of what happened 00:34:56.489 --> 00:34:59.010 anyway all in all how do i rate the first pay 00:34:59.010 --> 00:35:01.139 -per -view of the year It's kind of tough, right? 00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:03.360 Because there's only four matches and two of 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:06.360 them obviously are your 30 member Royal Rumble 00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:08.960 matches. But like I said, I got a little space, 00:35:09.139 --> 00:35:11.119 a little time, a little distance away from it 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:12.880 from Saturday. And the more I think about it, 00:35:12.900 --> 00:35:15.079 I think it was a pretty good show. I didn't think 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:16.659 it was great, but I didn't think it was terrible. 00:35:17.059 --> 00:35:19.579 A lot of people were crapping all over it. Look, 00:35:19.619 --> 00:35:22.480 I'm not trashing it like a lot of a lot of maybe 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.239 you all are. I don't know. But I like the direction 00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:28.699 of where a lot of these stories are going. I'm 00:35:28.699 --> 00:35:31.179 excited to see what is in store for the chamber. 00:35:31.420 --> 00:35:33.639 And I can't freaking wait to be there, by the 00:35:33.639 --> 00:35:36.219 way. That's going to be amazing. But all in all, 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:38.980 you know, I always like to rate these pay -per 00:35:38.980 --> 00:35:41.539 -views. But I'm going 2 .75 turnbuckles out of 00:35:41.539 --> 00:35:43.980 four. Maybe that's high. Maybe that's low. But 00:35:43.980 --> 00:35:46.599 had this been in literally any other city, it 00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:49.269 would probably been a higher score. just for 00:35:49.269 --> 00:35:52.550 being in Saudi alone, instantly docks it a three 00:35:52.550 --> 00:35:54.949 -quarter turnbuckle. So you're already operating 00:35:54.949 --> 00:35:59.210 from the jump at 3 .25. So it got docked another 00:35:59.210 --> 00:36:01.670 half a point. I don't know, 2 .75 out of four 00:36:01.670 --> 00:36:03.949 turnbuckles. Hey, it is what it is. But Monday 00:36:03.949 --> 00:36:06.469 Night Raw, real quick before we move on, Monday 00:36:06.469 --> 00:36:09.170 Night Raw I thought was pretty good and a continuation 00:36:09.170 --> 00:36:10.869 of some of this stuff. The Bron Breaker thing, 00:36:10.949 --> 00:36:13.570 him losing it, great stuff. Javon Evans again. 00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:16.599 I think they're setting Javon up for great stuff. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:19.920 And he had this thing with El Grande Americano 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:22.199 in which the old El Grande came out just like 00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:24.440 the rumble, a continuation of the old versus 00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:26.820 the new El Grande. I had hoped that this was 00:36:26.820 --> 00:36:29.480 going to happen. Didn't really focus it on it 00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:32.340 too much. Maybe this is a major story moving 00:36:32.340 --> 00:36:36.880 forward. Hey, if it's a fun extra match on the 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:39.960 WrestleMania card, I'd be down for that. But 00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:41.719 like I said, I already talked about it. The Gunther 00:36:41.719 --> 00:36:43.900 coming out to the phenomenal AJ style music. 00:36:44.199 --> 00:36:46.940 Outstanding. Love the career killer. Add it to 00:36:46.940 --> 00:36:49.559 the entrance logo. The crowd went nuts with the 00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:52.539 FU Gunther chants. I mean, this guy is hated. 00:36:52.699 --> 00:36:55.519 He has so much heat. I am so here for it. I love 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:57.880 everything they have done for this guy. The one 00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:00.880 thing. that I wish and I bet if you go and you 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:03.480 really dig deep and you if you could get an honest 00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:06.420 answer I think they regret having Jay beat him 00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:08.780 at Wrestlemania last year because it just looks 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:12.699 terrible and the way that Jay is now and and 00:37:12.699 --> 00:37:16.110 the way he was as a champion I just think They 00:37:16.110 --> 00:37:19.630 are trying so hard to overcome that loss to Jey 00:37:19.630 --> 00:37:22.449 Uso. But I think Gunther is fantastic. I think 00:37:22.449 --> 00:37:24.329 he's the best heel in the company. I love everything 00:37:24.329 --> 00:37:26.670 he's doing. And it's just great. He's a ruthless 00:37:26.670 --> 00:37:30.150 killer, but he has this funny side to it at the 00:37:30.150 --> 00:37:32.809 same time. So I'm all in. I love everything about 00:37:32.809 --> 00:37:35.650 it. The Stephanie Vakir, Raquel Rodriguez street 00:37:35.650 --> 00:37:38.110 fight for the title. Raquel comes out wearing 00:37:38.110 --> 00:37:40.530 jeans. Okay. Interesting choice, but whatever. 00:37:40.909 --> 00:37:43.530 I thought this was a strong matchup. Of course, 00:37:43.610 --> 00:37:46.469 Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez get involved. Liv's 00:37:46.469 --> 00:37:49.510 interference kind of costs Raquel a little bit, 00:37:49.530 --> 00:37:51.969 maybe, who knows. So you know where that's heading. 00:37:52.210 --> 00:37:55.050 And then Stephanie ultimately maintains the belt. 00:37:55.130 --> 00:37:57.789 And then immediately after Liv Morgan hits her 00:37:57.789 --> 00:37:59.389 with her finisher and we're off and running. 00:37:59.530 --> 00:38:02.230 So I think that's where we're going. Liv Morgan 00:38:02.230 --> 00:38:05.530 is going to go after Vakir's belt for WrestleMania. 00:38:05.670 --> 00:38:08.090 And you're going to. throw the whole uh judgment 00:38:08.090 --> 00:38:11.269 day and raquel into the mix it's good stuff i 00:38:11.269 --> 00:38:13.909 i'm i'm liking where that's going but we gotta 00:38:13.909 --> 00:38:16.570 talk the ending segment the last segment of monday 00:38:16.570 --> 00:38:19.369 night raw roman reigns comes down to talk and 00:38:19.369 --> 00:38:21.909 he's talking for i don't know four or five minutes 00:38:21.909 --> 00:38:23.949 and he's talking about his history with philadelphia 00:38:23.949 --> 00:38:26.730 it was a great setup and he's talking about his 00:38:26.730 --> 00:38:30.280 options between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk, and 00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:31.760 he's kind of playing to the crowd and seeing 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:33.820 what their reaction is going to be. And then, 00:38:33.860 --> 00:38:36.139 of course, he's interrupted by none other than 00:38:36.139 --> 00:38:39.599 CM Punk, and they are in the ring. Look, there's 00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:42.940 very few times when you can get the infancy stage 00:38:42.940 --> 00:38:47.000 of an absolute blood feud, right? And when these 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:49.400 two guys are in the ring on Monday night, and 00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:53.539 they start trading verbal jabs and just throwing 00:38:53.539 --> 00:38:57.300 verbal haymakers at each other, and we are on 00:38:57.300 --> 00:39:01.760 what? february 2nd and you have over two months 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:05.059 to go this got me so fired up this segment right 00:39:05.059 --> 00:39:09.769 here is why he won the royal rumble so if You 00:39:09.769 --> 00:39:12.289 weren't ready to run through a wall after seeing 00:39:12.289 --> 00:39:14.909 the end of that back and forth promo segment 00:39:14.909 --> 00:39:16.849 on Monday night. I don't know what to tell you. 00:39:16.889 --> 00:39:19.489 This was pure fire. This was gold. This is perfect. 00:39:19.550 --> 00:39:21.989 This right here, this 10 minute segment is why 00:39:21.989 --> 00:39:25.789 I freaking love professional wrestling. They 00:39:25.789 --> 00:39:28.769 slowly picked each other apart. They drew so 00:39:28.769 --> 00:39:31.409 much stuff in from their past. It like tied together 00:39:31.409 --> 00:39:33.730 so much stuff that had happened between them 00:39:33.730 --> 00:39:36.949 with the shield and with punk leaving and all 00:39:36.949 --> 00:39:39.539 this other stuff. Each of them carrying the belt 00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:41.840 for ridiculous amounts of time. I was on the 00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:43.800 edge of my seat. I actually went back and watched 00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:46.420 it a couple times. Look, this is going to be 00:39:46.420 --> 00:39:48.539 the main event at night two. The main event at 00:39:48.539 --> 00:39:51.780 night two, closing the show, Las Vegas. This 00:39:51.780 --> 00:39:54.699 is what a freaking WrestleMania main event needs 00:39:54.699 --> 00:39:57.139 to be. So yeah, this is why you have him win 00:39:57.139 --> 00:40:00.139 the Rumble. This is a marquee matchup. Sorry, 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:02.579 Cody. Get the hell out of here. I don't want 00:40:02.579 --> 00:40:05.280 to see you close Sunday night of a WrestleMania 00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:07.519 again for quite some time, although it probably 00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:09.880 will happen in Saudi. Hey, go take your ass to 00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:12.460 Saudi and close. But WrestleMania in Las Vegas, 00:40:12.699 --> 00:40:15.960 night two, it better be CM Punk versus Roman 00:40:15.960 --> 00:40:17.940 Reigns because this is the best match WWE can 00:40:17.940 --> 00:40:20.239 put together. So I am so psyched. But we are 00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:22.000 off and running and on the road to WrestleMania. 00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:24.559 I am all in. There's a lot to look forward to. 00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:27.840 So much to talk about in the future. But wrestling 00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:30.710 marks, just take it easy. Take it easy. Try to 00:40:30.710 --> 00:40:34.309 enjoy the shows maybe a little more. Don't automatically 00:40:34.309 --> 00:40:37.010 get on your socials and just start blasting everything. 00:40:37.269 --> 00:40:41.389 Maybe take a walk. Go get some air. Think about 00:40:41.389 --> 00:40:43.929 it for a little bit and ask yourself, is it really 00:40:43.929 --> 00:40:46.369 as bad as I think? And maybe it is. Maybe a couple 00:40:46.369 --> 00:40:49.530 hours later, you're still all grumpy and disgruntled. 00:40:49.570 --> 00:40:51.949 And then you can go keyboard warrior on everybody. 00:40:52.190 --> 00:40:53.789 But just take it easy. Everything's going to 00:40:53.789 --> 00:40:56.510 be fine. This is going to be OK. I think we're 00:40:56.510 --> 00:40:58.550 in a good place now. I think the past. at the 00:40:58.550 --> 00:41:01.090 WrestleMania is going to be fun and exciting. 00:41:01.269 --> 00:41:03.849 So I think it's going to be awesome. But anyway, 00:41:03.969 --> 00:41:06.769 let's move on. Bills Mafia, you are on the clock. 00:41:06.849 --> 00:41:09.469 How the heck are we feeling? A lot has happened 00:41:09.469 --> 00:41:11.809 over the course of the last week. By now, the 00:41:11.809 --> 00:41:14.030 whole world knows Joe Brady has been hired to 00:41:14.030 --> 00:41:16.710 be their head coach. And again, this kind of 00:41:16.710 --> 00:41:18.210 goes back to what I was just talking about with 00:41:18.210 --> 00:41:22.019 our initial reactions. Initially, I was... I 00:41:22.019 --> 00:41:24.539 was not happy. I was not happy. But again, sometimes 00:41:24.539 --> 00:41:28.739 being sick is a good thing because you can't 00:41:28.739 --> 00:41:31.340 initially lash out because you're just not feeling 00:41:31.340 --> 00:41:33.320 well. You don't have the energy. You can't get 00:41:33.320 --> 00:41:35.480 on a podcast and start recording for an hour. 00:41:35.559 --> 00:41:37.639 But here's the thing. The problem with the decisions 00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:40.739 that are being made by the team. There is nothing 00:41:40.739 --> 00:41:44.940 tangible that we as fans can measure for weeks, 00:41:45.039 --> 00:41:48.179 months, if not years in some situations. So we're 00:41:48.179 --> 00:41:51.079 simply operating out of a space of pure emotion 00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:53.619 and right. And I do it. You do it. We all do 00:41:53.619 --> 00:41:55.320 it. So we can say it and we can argue with each 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.949 other about. this candidate or that candidate 00:41:57.949 --> 00:41:59.989 and who would be the best fit to coach the team 00:41:59.989 --> 00:42:02.449 thinking that we as fans, we know better than 00:42:02.449 --> 00:42:05.349 the organization. Look, I'm totally guilty of 00:42:05.349 --> 00:42:08.050 it too. I do it during the games. I do it after 00:42:08.050 --> 00:42:09.929 the games. I tell you who we should trade for, 00:42:10.010 --> 00:42:12.409 who we should hire, who we should... Look, it's 00:42:12.409 --> 00:42:14.369 part of the fun of being a fan. I get it. I'm 00:42:14.369 --> 00:42:17.099 guilty of it. But... It's all kind of a waste 00:42:17.099 --> 00:42:19.000 of time, especially with this whole coach search 00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:21.719 thing. And it's completely an exercise in futility. 00:42:21.820 --> 00:42:24.599 We don't gain anything from any of it. So we 00:42:24.599 --> 00:42:26.960 see and we react instantly and it's all based 00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:29.280 on emotion and we think we are right, but we 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:31.000 don't know anything and we won't know anything 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:32.940 for quite some time. And I'm guilty of it, just 00:42:32.940 --> 00:42:34.739 like I said, because my initial reaction, it 00:42:34.739 --> 00:42:38.599 was not good to me. As an outsider, as a fan, 00:42:38.760 --> 00:42:41.219 obviously I call myself an outsider because I'm 00:42:41.219 --> 00:42:43.199 not a member of the Buffalo Bills staff, right? 00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:45.440 So I'm a fan. I'm just like everybody else. But 00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:47.860 as someone who follows this team religiously, 00:42:47.860 --> 00:42:50.139 I read articles. I listen to shows. I literally 00:42:50.139 --> 00:42:53.340 try to consume it all. I was not sold on the 00:42:53.340 --> 00:42:56.639 idea at all because at first look, it made no 00:42:56.639 --> 00:42:59.159 sense to me. But as time went on, as always, 00:42:59.300 --> 00:43:01.389 right? We talk about zooming the camera out and 00:43:01.389 --> 00:43:03.650 taking a breath, taking a walk as time goes on. 00:43:03.769 --> 00:43:06.190 And the press conferences happened and they introduced 00:43:06.190 --> 00:43:08.489 Joe and he started to speak more and more. And 00:43:08.489 --> 00:43:12.289 I felt the ice starting to thaw on my cold, dead 00:43:12.289 --> 00:43:14.849 Buffalo Bill shaped heart. Look, I don't have 00:43:14.849 --> 00:43:16.949 to like the move. I don't have to like the hire. 00:43:17.110 --> 00:43:19.889 But for now, at least I can understand why they 00:43:19.889 --> 00:43:22.670 did it. And logically, it seems to make sense. 00:43:22.809 --> 00:43:25.170 And if I'm looking at the totality of the entire 00:43:25.170 --> 00:43:27.909 situation, the entire organization, I think it 00:43:27.909 --> 00:43:30.829 does make sense to me. And as Joe started picking 00:43:30.829 --> 00:43:33.670 his staff, as he started hiring his coordinators 00:43:33.670 --> 00:43:36.969 and his coaches. you could start to see the vision 00:43:36.969 --> 00:43:39.010 for the team moving forward. You could start 00:43:39.010 --> 00:43:41.469 to see the vision coming into focus. And I find 00:43:41.469 --> 00:43:45.289 myself buying more and more into it. And I'm 00:43:45.289 --> 00:43:47.489 almost there. I'm almost completely on board. 00:43:47.690 --> 00:43:50.030 But here's the thing. As fans, we never truly 00:43:50.030 --> 00:43:53.349 get the full story. And maybe we're never supposed 00:43:53.349 --> 00:43:55.309 to get the full story. We think we have access 00:43:55.309 --> 00:43:57.250 to all the information, all the knowledge, but 00:43:57.250 --> 00:44:00.550 probably we're operating with 50 to 60 % of the 00:44:00.550 --> 00:44:03.000 truth. We never know what really goes on behind 00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:04.840 the scenes. We think we know, but in reality, 00:44:04.920 --> 00:44:08.639 we never do. So I'm sure there's way more to 00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:10.559 the Sean McDermott story than we will ever know. 00:44:10.719 --> 00:44:12.639 I still think there was some kind of power struggle, 00:44:12.820 --> 00:44:14.719 whether it was between him and Bean, him and 00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:17.619 Pakula, who the hell knows. But it doesn't matter 00:44:17.619 --> 00:44:20.079 because it seems at some point we got to a point 00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:22.139 where it just wasn't going to work anymore. One 00:44:22.139 --> 00:44:24.280 of my first thoughts after they hired him was 00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:26.679 they just went with Joe, with Joe Brady, because 00:44:26.679 --> 00:44:29.219 I thought he was going to be a yes man. And I 00:44:29.219 --> 00:44:32.559 literally... joked that I thought the interview 00:44:32.559 --> 00:44:35.219 process was one question. And I thought that 00:44:35.219 --> 00:44:36.860 question was, what do you think of the roster? 00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:38.920 And he's literally the only candidate where they 00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:40.559 interview eight, nine people. I thought he would 00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:42.800 be the only candidate that said the roster was 00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:44.420 great. So he was the only one that was picked. 00:44:44.519 --> 00:44:47.599 I really don't think the more distance and separation 00:44:47.599 --> 00:44:49.460 I get from it, I don't think that's the case. 00:44:49.559 --> 00:44:51.219 Now, like I said, we're not going to be able 00:44:51.219 --> 00:44:53.719 to back up any of these claims until we get into 00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:56.420 the draft, until we get into a free agency and 00:44:56.420 --> 00:44:59.639 trades and deals. And we actually see what the 00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:02.599 roster shapes into but i think this team is and 00:45:02.599 --> 00:45:06.079 has a whole new vision a whole new approach you 00:45:06.079 --> 00:45:08.980 can tell by the hirings and the way he's shaping 00:45:08.980 --> 00:45:11.199 his staff and the way things are moving forward 00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:13.300 But I think it's going to be totally different 00:45:13.300 --> 00:45:15.960 heading into the new stadium. And I, for one, 00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:19.059 am super, super excited about it. So if you look 00:45:19.059 --> 00:45:20.940 at the defensive side of the ball, I think we're 00:45:20.940 --> 00:45:22.639 going to see a brand new defensive philosophy. 00:45:22.940 --> 00:45:25.360 And I, for one, that gets me freaking fired up. 00:45:25.460 --> 00:45:27.980 Like, how many times have we talked about this 00:45:27.980 --> 00:45:30.179 bend -don't -break defense and the secondary 00:45:30.179 --> 00:45:32.599 sitting 10 to 15 yards off the line of scrimmage? 00:45:32.659 --> 00:45:34.320 And I'm yelling because I can't even literally 00:45:34.320 --> 00:45:37.449 see the cornerbacks and the safeties. on my television 00:45:37.449 --> 00:45:39.210 screen because they're playing back so far out 00:45:39.210 --> 00:45:40.730 the line of scrimmage. It's like, it's freaking 00:45:40.730 --> 00:45:42.789 maddening to me. So you're, you're changing the 00:45:42.789 --> 00:45:45.570 defense. You're, you're going to bring in a attack 00:45:45.570 --> 00:45:48.230 style defense. And this is what I can tell by 00:45:48.230 --> 00:45:50.469 him hiring Jim Leonard and the way he's talking 00:45:50.469 --> 00:45:53.909 about it and what he envisions and having this 00:45:53.909 --> 00:45:56.769 attack style defense, former bill, Jim Leonard, 00:45:56.809 --> 00:45:59.050 by the way, but yeah, it gets me fired up. I 00:45:59.050 --> 00:46:00.570 can't wait to see that. Of course, there's going 00:46:00.570 --> 00:46:01.969 to be growing pains. Of course, it's not going 00:46:01.969 --> 00:46:05.050 to be a perfectly smooth plan, but, and that's 00:46:05.050 --> 00:46:07.099 to be expected, but. As a fan, I would rather 00:46:07.099 --> 00:46:09.199 go down watching my team go down swinging than 00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:11.000 sitting in there and getting picked apart play 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:13.400 after play on these 60, 70, 80 -yard drives. 00:46:13.500 --> 00:46:16.460 It's freaking maddening. So attack style, yeah, 00:46:16.539 --> 00:46:18.460 sure. I'm sure we're going to give up a big play 00:46:18.460 --> 00:46:20.360 here and there, but I would rather be aggressive 00:46:20.360 --> 00:46:23.500 and get after it. Yes, count me in. Offensively, 00:46:23.500 --> 00:46:27.059 if you read between the lines, I think... I think 00:46:27.059 --> 00:46:29.280 from what I'm interpreting, I think Joe was kind 00:46:29.280 --> 00:46:32.340 of limited week to week on what game plan he 00:46:32.340 --> 00:46:35.079 was allowed to call because he was kind of handcuffed. 00:46:35.159 --> 00:46:37.940 I wouldn't say 100 % handcuffed because I don't 00:46:37.940 --> 00:46:39.900 take all the blame off Joe. But I think that 00:46:39.900 --> 00:46:42.619 there is a, I would say a significant portion 00:46:42.619 --> 00:46:46.159 of how the game flowed and how the game was called 00:46:46.159 --> 00:46:48.860 that was dictated by Sean McDermott. So if you 00:46:48.860 --> 00:46:51.260 throw all that crap out the window. And we can 00:46:51.260 --> 00:46:53.500 actually open the throttle and put the pedal 00:46:53.500 --> 00:46:55.599 to the floor, which is what I screamed for the 00:46:55.599 --> 00:46:58.239 entire season. And we could get after it with 00:46:58.239 --> 00:46:59.940 the best player of the game, Josh Allen. And 00:46:59.940 --> 00:47:02.440 our goal should be to score 40 points a game. 00:47:02.539 --> 00:47:04.679 And the things, like I said, I'm trying to read 00:47:04.679 --> 00:47:06.440 between the lines. But to hear him say things 00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:08.599 like we don't want to let the other team dictate 00:47:08.599 --> 00:47:11.239 how we play football, they want to come in here 00:47:11.239 --> 00:47:13.340 knowing that they're having to play the Buffalo 00:47:13.340 --> 00:47:16.000 Bills. And I like that. And I like that vision. 00:47:16.079 --> 00:47:18.510 I like to see. that that's the space that we're 00:47:18.510 --> 00:47:20.670 going to try to operate in. Because the other 00:47:20.670 --> 00:47:22.769 way of that, having the other team dictate how 00:47:22.769 --> 00:47:25.190 you play, that's no place to live. So I think 00:47:25.190 --> 00:47:27.829 I want to believe good things are in store if 00:47:27.829 --> 00:47:30.530 this truly is a design change moving forward. 00:47:30.650 --> 00:47:33.309 And look, emotion, it's never a good space to 00:47:33.309 --> 00:47:35.469 operate in. And I think the timing of it was 00:47:35.469 --> 00:47:38.199 just kind of... whack right because especially 00:47:38.199 --> 00:47:40.860 what what had just happened we had just we were 00:47:40.860 --> 00:47:43.739 just coming off the heels of losing in such a 00:47:43.739 --> 00:47:46.719 terrible way to the the Denver Broncos in the 00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:48.800 division round and then to find out that he broke 00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:51.300 his foot and then it's just like it was just 00:47:51.300 --> 00:47:53.400 like it was just one crap sandwich after another 00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:55.980 with the whole catch the no catch that turnovers 00:47:55.980 --> 00:47:58.179 like I don't want to replay the game, but then 00:47:58.179 --> 00:48:00.400 him getting his foot broken and then knowing 00:48:00.400 --> 00:48:01.780 they're going to have to play the Patriots and 00:48:01.780 --> 00:48:03.760 the Patriots are going to literally walk into 00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:06.000 the Super Bowl. And then it's like the floodgates 00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:08.219 opened and it was just a flood of garbage, right? 00:48:08.619 --> 00:48:11.000 And then it was like, okay, now we're instantly 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:13.619 to the coaching search and all this other crap. 00:48:13.739 --> 00:48:16.079 And it's just like, I get it. The time frame 00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:18.980 and the speed at which the NFL operates is insane. 00:48:19.659 --> 00:48:21.739 But we're emotional. We're reactionary people 00:48:21.739 --> 00:48:23.780 as fans. And it's hard to process all this crap 00:48:23.780 --> 00:48:25.699 in such a short time. So I think that's why the 00:48:25.699 --> 00:48:28.420 Wolves were at the gates and why we're all ready 00:48:28.420 --> 00:48:30.639 to tear out the throats of Terry Begula and Brandon 00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:32.420 Bean. I get it. But just like with wrestling, 00:48:32.599 --> 00:48:34.400 right? Just like with our reactions to wrestling, 00:48:34.519 --> 00:48:36.280 sometimes we need to just let things breathe 00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:38.139 a little bit. Put it on the side. See how it 00:48:38.139 --> 00:48:40.889 plays out. And I know, especially, look, trust 00:48:40.889 --> 00:48:44.909 me, I am very reactionary, very emotional, and 00:48:44.909 --> 00:48:47.190 it's easier said than done. But look, now I think 00:48:47.190 --> 00:48:49.769 it's kind of about roster breakdown. How are 00:48:49.769 --> 00:48:51.250 the players that are currently on this roster 00:48:51.250 --> 00:48:54.309 going to fit into whatever new system, both offensively, 00:48:54.309 --> 00:48:56.230 both defensively? There's going to be a lot of 00:48:56.230 --> 00:48:57.909 questions on both sides of the ball. And how 00:48:57.909 --> 00:49:00.250 do we do so? How do we move forward with the 00:49:00.250 --> 00:49:02.530 cap implications? The Bills, they have to be 00:49:02.530 --> 00:49:04.269 aggressive, in my opinion. They have to. There's 00:49:04.269 --> 00:49:07.150 no other way. They have to. They can't go into... 00:49:07.469 --> 00:49:10.130 20, 26 with the same roster. They can't repeat 00:49:10.130 --> 00:49:12.829 these plug and play waiver wire guys. It's just, 00:49:12.849 --> 00:49:14.510 you have to go for it. You have to make some 00:49:14.510 --> 00:49:17.030 big splashes. So I'm excited about the potential 00:49:17.030 --> 00:49:20.070 for that. In some respects, Brandon Bean, the 00:49:20.070 --> 00:49:21.969 way I see it, Brandon Bean going with Joe Brady, 00:49:22.130 --> 00:49:25.369 I think he shortened his own leash. If you think 00:49:25.369 --> 00:49:27.750 about it, a brand new staff probably would have 00:49:27.750 --> 00:49:30.570 bought him a longer grace period. Had he gone 00:49:30.570 --> 00:49:32.690 outside the organization, wouldn't you think 00:49:32.690 --> 00:49:36.130 that there would be naturally a longer period 00:49:36.130 --> 00:49:38.150 of time for everyone to like get up to speed 00:49:38.150 --> 00:49:41.210 and get a handle on what was in front of them? 00:49:41.289 --> 00:49:43.650 So I think by going with an in -house candidate 00:49:43.650 --> 00:49:47.090 and Joe Brady, now I know Joe went outside the 00:49:47.090 --> 00:49:48.849 organization for literally every other hire, 00:49:48.969 --> 00:49:51.789 which is good, but I think it shortened Bean's 00:49:51.789 --> 00:49:54.730 own grace period and his own leash. So he is 00:49:54.730 --> 00:49:57.960 tied directly to Brady. The results should be 00:49:57.960 --> 00:50:00.940 there ASAP because if it's not, if the results 00:50:00.940 --> 00:50:02.980 aren't there quickly, I think Bean is gone. Simple 00:50:02.980 --> 00:50:05.219 as that. I really do. But I'm ready for the draft. 00:50:05.420 --> 00:50:08.260 I'm ready to get the Super Bowl nonsense over 00:50:08.260 --> 00:50:10.119 with. It doesn't seem like this just seems like 00:50:10.119 --> 00:50:11.860 there's no hype for the Super Bowl. It feels 00:50:11.860 --> 00:50:13.320 like everyone's looking at the Super Bowl kind 00:50:13.320 --> 00:50:15.679 of like, really, this is the Super Bowl. I don't 00:50:15.679 --> 00:50:17.940 know. Maybe everyone's laughing at this Patriots 00:50:17.940 --> 00:50:20.179 team like y 'all don't even deserve to be here. 00:50:20.380 --> 00:50:22.679 Maybe that's me as a disgruntled Bills fan, but 00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:25.199 I hope the Patriots get throttled by Seattle 00:50:25.199 --> 00:50:27.550 and we can get. on to the off season. I want 00:50:27.550 --> 00:50:29.750 to put this year behind us, turn the page, start 00:50:29.750 --> 00:50:32.449 to build that good old hope meter back up. You 00:50:32.449 --> 00:50:34.190 know, we talk about it every year, how we, that 00:50:34.190 --> 00:50:37.469 hope meter needs to start to fill up and, oh, 00:50:37.530 --> 00:50:39.710 here we go. So I want to start talking trades. 00:50:39.809 --> 00:50:41.369 I want to start talking about the draft. And 00:50:41.369 --> 00:50:43.429 before you know it, hopefully training camp will 00:50:43.429 --> 00:50:45.710 be here. I am ready, but I think that's going 00:50:45.710 --> 00:50:48.489 to wrap up that portion. Hobby enthusiasts, card 00:50:48.489 --> 00:50:51.780 marks. How are we feeling? A couple big releases 00:50:51.780 --> 00:50:56.099 coming around the corner. Topps 2025 Disneyland 00:50:56.099 --> 00:50:59.840 70th anniversary presale went up the other day. 00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:02.739 As always, I showed up a bit too late and they 00:51:02.739 --> 00:51:05.699 were gone, what, in like 15 minutes? But this 00:51:05.699 --> 00:51:07.960 is pretty cool, right? This is pretty cool. Now, 00:51:07.980 --> 00:51:10.860 this isn't gonna be for everybody. I... Receive 00:51:10.860 --> 00:51:13.260 that. I accept that. But some of this stuff in 00:51:13.260 --> 00:51:15.519 this set looks pretty awesome. Now, as I said, 00:51:15.639 --> 00:51:19.599 Disneyland 70th anniversary. You got cards that 00:51:19.599 --> 00:51:22.960 are based on rides, that are based on park snacks, 00:51:23.280 --> 00:51:25.900 that are based on different characters. You have 00:51:25.900 --> 00:51:28.760 rides from like then and now. So how the ride 00:51:28.760 --> 00:51:31.179 has changed over time. You have cards called 00:51:31.179 --> 00:51:33.940 timelines and that show different things that 00:51:33.940 --> 00:51:36.519 have happened in the park. You have cards that 00:51:36.519 --> 00:51:39.349 show different. posters of different attractions. 00:51:39.610 --> 00:51:42.449 Those are pretty cool. They're not the greatest 00:51:42.449 --> 00:51:45.070 looking cards, if I'm being completely honest, 00:51:45.230 --> 00:51:47.889 but I do like the concept. I kind of have a fondness 00:51:47.889 --> 00:51:50.210 for Disneyland. I got the chance a couple of 00:51:50.210 --> 00:51:53.130 years ago to go to Disneyland. It's the OG, right? 00:51:53.210 --> 00:51:56.170 This was the one that started it all. And it's 00:51:56.170 --> 00:51:58.590 a cool place. I like that this set is kind of 00:51:58.590 --> 00:52:00.869 paying respect to the park and it's dating all 00:52:00.869 --> 00:52:03.809 the way back to 1955. I think it's cool. I think 00:52:03.809 --> 00:52:05.750 it's cool. Hobby boxes were running right around 00:52:05.750 --> 00:52:08.539 a hundred bucks. As I said, They were gone almost 00:52:08.539 --> 00:52:10.659 instantly. A hobby box for a hundred bucks. Look, 00:52:10.699 --> 00:52:13.139 that's a good price point. It's fair price point. 00:52:13.280 --> 00:52:16.000 You were getting 96 cards, but there's no guarantee 00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:19.139 of anything. You did have some character autos. 00:52:19.239 --> 00:52:20.719 I'm not really going to dive into the little 00:52:20.719 --> 00:52:22.860 checklist, but it was a. Pretty cool overall 00:52:22.860 --> 00:52:25.900 set. I think it's cool for the nostalgia factor, 00:52:26.099 --> 00:52:28.800 which as you know, I love. So yeah, this was 00:52:28.800 --> 00:52:31.139 cool. I can't wait to see some of these. I'm 00:52:31.139 --> 00:52:32.860 not sure when exactly this comes out because 00:52:32.860 --> 00:52:34.920 like I said, this is a pre -sale, but I think 00:52:34.920 --> 00:52:38.539 this is cool. Topps 2025 Museum Collection Baseball. 00:52:38.780 --> 00:52:41.440 You want to talk premium high -end cards. I talked 00:52:41.440 --> 00:52:44.000 about the Disneyland not being that like great 00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:47.340 looking. These are like really high -end stuff. 00:52:48.460 --> 00:52:51.320 For a box, you are literally only getting eight 00:52:51.320 --> 00:52:53.679 cards. So what can you expect? You can expect 00:52:53.679 --> 00:52:57.619 an autograph or an autograph relic card, a mem 00:52:57.619 --> 00:53:00.659 or a quad mem, so four different memorabilia 00:53:00.659 --> 00:53:03.559 pieces into one card. You can expect two bass 00:53:03.559 --> 00:53:06.250 parallels. and then three cards from the base 00:53:06.250 --> 00:53:09.510 set in each hobby box. And like I said, the hobby 00:53:09.510 --> 00:53:12.869 box is only actually eight cards. The base set 00:53:12.869 --> 00:53:15.690 itself only runs 100 cards, so you don't have 00:53:15.690 --> 00:53:18.670 a huge checklist. There's not a ton of parallels. 00:53:18.730 --> 00:53:21.130 It's a very short parallel list. But the current 00:53:21.130 --> 00:53:25.590 price for this eight -card hobby box is currently 00:53:25.590 --> 00:53:30.190 running 550 to 600, so yikes. That's a tough 00:53:30.190 --> 00:53:32.610 one. But let's move on to my if money were no 00:53:32.610 --> 00:53:34.989 object buy of the week. This is going out to, 00:53:35.050 --> 00:53:36.969 if you thought the last one was expensive, wait 00:53:36.969 --> 00:53:40.429 till you hear this one. This is 2025 Topps MLB 00:53:40.429 --> 00:53:45.329 MVP Collection. You're getting a, what they call 00:53:45.329 --> 00:53:48.889 a premier look at the two premier players in 00:53:48.889 --> 00:53:52.250 the league. Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Otani, 00:53:52.389 --> 00:53:55.030 and the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge. Obviously 00:53:55.030 --> 00:53:57.849 your National and American League MVPs for 2025. 00:53:58.289 --> 00:54:01.070 This is a set that is only focusing on these 00:54:01.070 --> 00:54:04.300 two players. These are extremely limited online 00:54:04.300 --> 00:54:08.079 only offerings and you are getting five encased 00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:11.260 cards. So they are completely sealed and they 00:54:11.260 --> 00:54:14.059 are numbered to 99 or fewer and you are guaranteed 00:54:14.059 --> 00:54:18.239 one hit that is numbered to 75 or less. This 00:54:18.239 --> 00:54:20.519 is kind of bonkers. It's only a 50 card base 00:54:20.519 --> 00:54:23.420 set that's split obviously in half. So 25 for 00:54:23.420 --> 00:54:26.650 Otani, 25 for Judge. And it's celebrating their 00:54:26.650 --> 00:54:30.630 MVP runs. And they each have, what, multiple 00:54:30.630 --> 00:54:33.369 MVPs. I think Otani has, what, three or four. 00:54:33.429 --> 00:54:36.719 And Judge has three. So crazy. Each. Player has 00:54:36.719 --> 00:54:40.960 seven base cards in there, 25, and there's dual 00:54:40.960 --> 00:54:43.780 player cards. You get a lot of numbered variations, 00:54:43.900 --> 00:54:46.760 as we said. There's some parallels, but none 00:54:46.760 --> 00:54:49.179 of the parallels are numbered higher than 25. 00:54:49.320 --> 00:54:52.900 So you have gold out of 50, blue out of 35, orange 00:54:52.900 --> 00:54:56.780 out of 25, rose gold out of 17. I don't know, 00:54:56.820 --> 00:54:59.340 but you get autos, you get game use relics, you 00:54:59.340 --> 00:55:02.039 get... Autograph the relics of both players. 00:55:02.300 --> 00:55:05.280 I mean, this is crazy. This is crazy. The current 00:55:05.280 --> 00:55:08.900 price on eBay for these things, between $5 ,500 00:55:08.900 --> 00:55:13.559 and $6 ,000. So yikes. Yeah. If you're in the 00:55:13.559 --> 00:55:16.099 market and you want to snag one of these on eBay, 00:55:16.300 --> 00:55:18.800 help yourself. It's my, if money were no object 00:55:18.800 --> 00:55:21.239 by the week, what else we got coming out next 00:55:21.239 --> 00:55:23.820 week is kind of the start of the baseball calendar. 00:55:24.159 --> 00:55:26.619 We already talked about this, the debut of 2026 00:55:26.619 --> 00:55:29.500 top series one baseball, but a few more details 00:55:29.500 --> 00:55:31.900 have emerged regarding the product. I kind of 00:55:31.900 --> 00:55:34.139 already talked about it in general. A couple 00:55:34.139 --> 00:55:36.320 more things are doing. They are paying homage 00:55:36.320 --> 00:55:39.940 to the heritage of the series of this product. 00:55:39.960 --> 00:55:42.780 And they are featuring 10 players who, have been 00:55:42.780 --> 00:55:46.280 cover athletes on this product before. And it's 00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:49.539 pretty cool. 10 recent players. And it's called 00:55:49.539 --> 00:55:53.119 the Cover Athlete Autograph Insert. I like it. 00:55:53.139 --> 00:55:55.440 It shows the player. It shows the box that they 00:55:55.440 --> 00:55:58.139 were highlighted on. And these cards are numbered. 00:55:58.239 --> 00:56:01.000 And it's an on -card autograph. And it says Cover 00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:03.500 Athlete on the top. I would love to pull one 00:56:03.500 --> 00:56:05.880 of these. It's pretty wild. So those are pretty 00:56:05.880 --> 00:56:08.340 neat. They also have... You've probably seen 00:56:08.340 --> 00:56:10.480 the first pitch cards before, but now they have 00:56:10.480 --> 00:56:12.920 these that are autographed with the celebrity 00:56:12.920 --> 00:56:15.260 that threw out the first pitch. So that's pretty 00:56:15.260 --> 00:56:18.880 neat. You have autographed Relic cards that include, 00:56:19.039 --> 00:56:21.179 I don't know, we've seen these before. There's 00:56:21.179 --> 00:56:22.739 nothing new about this, but the Heavy Lumber 00:56:22.739 --> 00:56:25.860 autographed Relics. The City Connect Swatch Auto 00:56:25.860 --> 00:56:29.699 is fire. They showed a Corbin Carroll, who I 00:56:29.699 --> 00:56:32.460 like to PC, but Corbin Carroll with the Snake 00:56:32.460 --> 00:56:36.360 Eye. As part of the patch from the City Connect, 00:56:36.639 --> 00:56:39.599 it's part of the memorabilia side of the card. 00:56:39.699 --> 00:56:43.179 And he has an on -card auto. This card is fire. 00:56:43.340 --> 00:56:45.380 I can't even imagine how much this is going to 00:56:45.380 --> 00:56:48.960 go for. But that one is amazing. And yeah, I 00:56:48.960 --> 00:56:50.860 mean, some of the stuff that they're adding to 00:56:50.860 --> 00:56:53.119 this product, it's going to be really, really 00:56:53.119 --> 00:56:56.079 cool. Like I said, I had ordered a Jumbo Hobby 00:56:56.079 --> 00:57:00.460 Box. I'm hoping that will arrive prior to, I 00:57:00.460 --> 00:57:03.489 think, what? It comes out next Friday. next Thursday, 00:57:03.550 --> 00:57:05.849 next Friday. So we shall see. Those orders usually 00:57:05.849 --> 00:57:08.409 start to trickle in a day before release day, 00:57:08.530 --> 00:57:11.389 if you're lucky. But yeah, I'm super excited. 00:57:11.510 --> 00:57:14.110 But I think that's going to wrap up this episode 00:57:14.110 --> 00:57:16.550 of the program. If you have enjoyed this episode 00:57:16.550 --> 00:57:19.309 or any other episode of the 3Ts podcast, do your 00:57:19.309 --> 00:57:21.250 boy a favor. Share it with someone you know, 00:57:21.329 --> 00:57:23.670 whether they are a fellow Mafia member, a card 00:57:23.670 --> 00:57:26.389 collector, or someone who absolutely loves professional 00:57:26.389 --> 00:57:28.489 wrestling. It doesn't matter. I'm trying to grow 00:57:28.489 --> 00:57:31.269 this thing one episode at a time. So please hit 00:57:31.269 --> 00:57:33.190 that follow, hit that. like leave me a quick 00:57:33.190 --> 00:57:35.750 review let's build this thing together and as 00:57:35.750 --> 00:57:42.650 always i appreciate you all very very much so 00:57:42.650 --> 00:57:45.550 until next time whether it's ripping packs breaking 00:57:45.550 --> 00:57:48.489 tables or dropping elbows keep doing what you 00:57:48.489 --> 00:57:50.650 love and as always go bills