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Winter Is Coming · Elite Heat

• Tim All right, we are going to talk about a loaded, I thought, winter is coming today. Dug It was jam-packed, my friend. Jam-packed. Tim It was. Now, before we dive into that, though, I want to clean up a couple of things from last week because I want it on the record that I'm a big enough person to admit when I'm wrong. Dug Oh, okay. Dug What? Tim And boy, did I biff the Darby thing last week. Dug Yeah. Well, we both did. Well, to be fair, that's kind of how they were presenting it, to be fair. Tim It is. Yeah. I was absolutely convinced it was some sort of weird work. Dug Yep. Tim And then it's like, nope, Jack Perry stepping in. Dug That's right. Tim So biffed that one. Dug that's right Tim um Also, boy, a lot can change. So last week, if you listen last week's episode, you might have been like, wait a minute. Why are they acting like Darby's thing was work and talking about like, oh, maybe Netflix is going to buy Warner Brothers because by the time we got everything up, because there was a technical issue as well that we had no control over. Tim By the time we got all up, that stuff had all been announced. And I was like, cool, cool. Dug Yeah, well, you know, hey, that's how technology and time works, my friend. That is just, we are victims of the planet. Tim That's true. Dug That's all. Tim That's true. So if you want to talk real quick about the the Netflix, Paramount, Warner Brothers drama, just because you and i I, think, have a little bit of unique insight having spent many, many decades in the broadcast industry. Tim um We've been through some of these types of things. Dug All we can really say right now is we don't even know if it's actually going to go through. Tim Yeah. One of them is going to. I will tell you that right now, either the Paramount hostile takeover will go through or Netflix is going to get ahold of it. I'm slightly inclined at this point to say Paramount's going to get it, which I don't think is I, and there's a lot of different reasons for that, but that we don't need to go into here. Dug ah really? Tim Cause frankly, I think it's too inside baseball and we'd be boring, but. Dug Gotcha. Yep. Tim i write and ah They have, in my mind, like a slight edge over Netflix to me right now. But, you know, who knows? Dug Okay. Tim Who knows? i But one of the two of them is going to get it. um What I will say, because a lot of what I've read is like, oh, what does this mean for AEW? Here's what I'll say. Probably nothing. Dug Correct. Yep. Tim They have a contract, as Tony Khan pointed out, with HBO Max for the streaming stuff. That's not going anywhere. And I don't think that either company is going to buy Warner Brothers Discovery with the intention of not putting stuff on HBO Max. Dug Correct. Yes. Tim So there's that. um I don't think if Netflix gets a hold of it, I don't think it's going to matter one little bit for AEW. The only thing that could be interesting if Netflix gets it is my understanding is they are not but they are not buying ah the networks. Dug Correct. Tim So they're not buying TBS, TNT, CNN, True TV, Discovery, et cetera. Dug What I have read as well is that they're go to spin those, we're going spin TBS and TNT off before the merger happens. Tim Mm-hmm. Tim Yeah, and and you're going to see more of this, by the way. NBC Universal is working on doing the same thing where like Peacock and the Universal Studio are going to be one thing. Dug Yep. Tim And then the NBC stuff is going to be a whole other thing. and and And the inside baseball of that is people view the streaming services and the actual studios that produce stuff as being valuable and they don't view the TV networks as valuable. Tim Which kind of makes sense. So streaming has kind of wrecked all that. Dug Yeah, yeah, I get it. Dug Yeah. Tim Um, I mean, it, it has, it just, it just has. Dug It has. Yeah, no, that was me saying yeah. good Yeah, sure has. Tim Yeah. Um, so anyway, uh, I don't think anything is going to change. I will say the one really fun, uh, wild speculation thing that I enjoy. Tim And let's be honest, wrestling fans. Uh, we are nothing if not wildly, wildly speculators, wild speculators, uh, Dug Yes, he we fantasy book everything, my friend. Tim We do. I don't think this would happen. But if Netflix did get a hold of Warner Brothers Discovery and got a hold of the AEW, at least partially the AEW rights in that situation. Tim But let's just fantasy book it and just play around and say they somehow got all of it, all of the AEW broadcast rights. Dug Why not? Yeah. Tim It won't happen. Dug No. No. Tim But my God, it could be fun if that opened the most forbidden of doors. Since they've got Raw and outside of the US, s they have wwe WWE's library. Dug Man, that, yep. Yep. That could be, so weird. Tim I have spent a stupid amount of time fantasy booking that in my head. Even though I know it's not go to happen. Dug That's going to have to be its own. that We'll have to put that behind a paywall that episode. because Tim I'm totally down with that. Nobody will pay for it, but I'm totally down with that. Dug But we can do it. Tim um Dug We can totally do it. Tim Yeah, it's it's I've spent too much time trying to book that in my head, and that's why it won't happen is because I don't. Dug Yeah. Tim Triple H is not going to give an inch. Tony Khan's not going to give an inch, and that's why it won't happen. Dug No, no, no, it is. No, that's not happening. But never stopped us from doing it before. Tim Yeah. It's fun. Oh, no. It's fun fun to think about, fun to play around with. Dug That is, that is. Tim So with that winter, well, where we live, winter is here, but God, we had something called squalls today. Dug Damn right. if wolf Dug right Tim I'd never heard of that before. Dug DJ Squalls is one of my faves. Are you kidding me? Tim Oh, well, there's that. Okay. So we come right out of the gate with the women's tag team championship match. Dug Woo! Tim Your thoughts on that, sir. Dug Solid, solid opener. Really, really good. um They did a really good job of presenting Both teams are strong, but you could tell you could tell they were really pimping out the the whole underdog for the Babes of Wrath. Tim Mm-hmm. Dug that That whole storyline, they were really focusing on that. And honestly, there were so many one-two-oo moments with Babes of Wrath almost getting the pinfall. Dug I didn't think they were going to pull it off. i've really like it got They gave us so many near falls for them that I thought... this is going to be heartbreaking for them because they were pushing and pushing and pushing. And then they're going to go ahead and Tony service and the timeless love bombs are going to take it. Dug Didn't happen. Solid, solid win. And it seemed to go over really well. i was, I was pleasantly surprised and very happy for the outcome. I really liked it Tim I was too. I actually wrote, wow, in all caps when, when they won. Dug Yeah. Tim Um, I thought this was a really good match. I really liked the juxtaposition Tim of, uh, Mina and, ah Harley Cameron starting off. And I don't want to say being goofy, but you know, there was some comedy spots, right? Dug Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Tim And then you get the tags to Willow and Tony, and now it's serious. And now we're, we're throwing hands. Dug Yeah. Mm-hmm. Tim I thought that was really good. um Look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you this was the greatest match I ever watched, but what I will tell you is it's one of the most fun I've ever seen. Dug Super entertaining. And it it did the job it was supposed to do. It started the show with a bang, gave us a big surprise, gave us the first ever AEW Women's Tag Team Champions. Tim Mm-hmm. Dug I think with a, either way you get a crowd favorite, you get a fan favorite, but you were right. You've said it before that Babes of Wrath, they are on such a high streak and they are so fun. Dug I don't know how long they're going able to hold onto those belts as is seen by what we kind of predicted early on was going to happen with whoever won. And that happened not too long into the show. im About a halfway in. Dug But yeah, I, man, I was really, really happy. And poor Harley got, got bloodied near the end. I think that, uh, was it the back fist? I think the back fist really clocked her one. Tim I think so. Yeah, I think that's where it happened. I'm not sure. But yeah, there were there were a couple times in there where Harley, i was like, that's not selling. She, that hurt. Dug Yes. Tim There were some things that hurt and she wasn't selling. Dug Mm-hmm. No. No. Tim But overall, really fun match. i'm I'm very happy with the outcome and here we go. Dug Yep. Tim Then after that, we get a Joe promo. Here's the only thing I wrote down about this. Dug Okay. Tim Wrestling will be lesser when he retires. Dug Absolutely. Tim His promos are just, what as the kids say, chef's kiss. Dug You know what I thought when he got done? I thought... he's doing a better Jon Moxley than Jon Moxley. Tim Yes. Yes, he absolutely is. Dug because Because he's like, but I can't remember the quote, but it's basically, I will show you what wrestling is all about. And I'm like, that's what Moxley's been claiming he's been trying to do. Dug And you've been so confused on the journey, but you know where Joe's coming from. And it was so good. It was quick. It was to the point. And it all made sense. And it was just so good. So good. Tim Yeah, it was great. And ah when we talked about the finish at Full Gear at our first episode, somebody had commented on I don't remember, YouTube, TikTok, whatever, about like kind of what you and I talked about of I think Joe is getting this title run because there's not a lot of time left. Tim he He's even said that. Dug Yeah, 100%. Tim He's probably going to hang ah hang it up relatively soon. Dug Yeah. Tim I will be sad when he does. Dug Yep. Tim I will be very sad. So speaking of mocks, then we go into the mocks slash Daniel Garcia promo. And I think everything you said there is exactly correct of of this is the stuff that mocks should be saying. And here's what I wrote. It was okay and less cryptic than usual. Tim But in there, he's like, i I don't even know what the line was, but I wrote down, but who isn't working? Like, I think he said something about like, oh, you're not working hard. Dug Yeah. Yeah. Tim Who? Tell me who. Name names. Dug Exactly. Exactly. Who are you talking about? Tim Because you know what? I know who Joe was talking about. Dug Yeah. Yeah. Tim I've never known who Jon Moxley is talking about. Ever. Dug And I have to say, i thought the Danny Garcia part was the better part of that dual promo. Tim Ever. Tim I do too. That's what I wrote down too, is I thought he was good at the end and I thought he brought it home. Dug Yeah, he brought, I mean, he brought actual emotion and fire and it made me feel bad again for Wheeler Yuta because Yuta was the first guy to come in and kind of step into that role with them when it was Blackpool Combat Club and now Death Riders. Tim Mm-hmm. Dug But Garcia has taken that role and stepped it up. And so I felt a little bad for Yuta, but then again, he hasn't been bringing it as much as Danny has. So hats off to Danny Garcia. Tim Well, I think that also raises some questions about Wheeler Yuta. And what I have wondered through all of this, whether it was putting him with Best Friends originally, if I recall correctly, and then Blackpool Combat Club, and then now Death Riders, what I have wondered through all that is, is it just that like everybody likes him backstage, so he gets in these things and they go, well, you're you're not terrible? Tim Because he's not. Dug No, no. Tim But you're also not a main event level player. So like you're just kind of going to be in the background with these groups and maybe we'll let you get on the mic a little bit. Dug Right, yeah. Tim And when you do, it won't be terrible, but it also won't be the greatest thing you've ever heard. when you get in the matches, it won't be bad, but it's also not going to blow you away. Like it makes me wonder that. Dug yeah it like the big thing of his was his betrayal of Daniel Bryan right Bryan Danielson what ah what's he called here i don't even remember Bryan Danielson there go Tim Right. Tim Brian Danielson. But to be fair, I only stopped calling him Daniel Bryan like maybe six months ago. Dug that's fair that is fair but that was the big so you know and you're like all right here we go and then it It just didn't happen. And I think you nailed it on the head a week or two ago. Dug he They need someone to eat the pins in Death Riders in Blackpool Combat Club. So welcome aboard, Wheeler Uta. Tim Yeah, he's going to eat the pin. More often than not, when I see him in a match, I'm like so he's going eat the pin. Dug Uh-huh. 100%. Tim Okay. Dug one hundred percent Tim Yeah, I don't get it. Again, all of these are building blocks to the episode we'll do whenever this finally breaks up of me on my soapbox of why I have not enjoyed the Death Riders. Dug No, I get it. Yep. Tim This is all part of it. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim After that, Jack Perry versus Okada. I wrote down precisely two words. Holy shit. Dug I was curious. Tim That was, that was a banger, dude. Dug Solid match, man. Yeah. Dug So good. Tim That was an absolute banger. Dug So good. Tim And they were incredible together. I thought it was, i don't know what else to say other than that was a straight up banger. Dug Like you said, this card was freaking stacked and it did not disappoint with those two in the ring. Tim Mm-hmm. Dug Jack Perry comes in down a match, not able to make up any of those three points and comes in and makes a hell of a showing against, as they keep saying, the best tournament wrestler in the game and does great. Dug But i I do love how they keep repeating that and, Okada keeps doing those little subtle things that makes that just plays into it. And it's just it's so smartly done. He's doing such a good job with this with his best tournament wrestler gig. And i i really enjoyed the match. I thought Perry looked great. i You knew the Don Callis thing was going to happen at the end by how he's hyping him up. And I i i enjoyed that. Dug And as that match was just so solid. So good. And I i like i liked the ending. Tim I agree. It was my match of the night until we got to a later one, ah which surprised me because I was like, it's going to be hard to top that. Dug Okay. Dug Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. Tim Speaking of the Don Callis promo there that you touched on, I'm with you. I thought, of course, we knew that was coming. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim Look, at this point, Don is just going to try and recruit pretty much anybody, but especially people that can help kind of stick it to the elite, right? Dug Oh, yeah. Yeah. Tim What I really liked about that was him offering Don Callis, offering the money. I think that's a smart, smart way to use that money from that money match. Dug and here Dug Yep. And the only the only caveat to that is we have another million dollar match coming up. Tim Yeah, but but when we'll get to that, because it it does. Dug and waless but But it makes sense. But it makes sense. Tim and and it Well, we'll just talk about it now. It's fine. It fills out a little bit more later in the show, because I actually wrote down, just make the match already, and then they do later in the show. Dug Yeah. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim And we can talk a little bit more about when we get to that. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim But I think this is a smart use of the money. Dug Oh, yeah, 100%. Tim i Dug Mm-hmm. Right. Tim I think if you're going to do these money matches, which to this point have meant literally nothing, Until now, I think it's a smart use of that to give a little bit more a little, you know kind of that um visual of there is a prize here that they're fighting for rather than just the they hate each other. Tim We know that's really what it is that they hate each other. Dug Yeah. Tim But at least now you've got a visual that somebody can hold up at the end or whatever. Right. Dug Exactly. Especially with the the bucks attached to that money. And yeah, you do But what I really enjoyed about that was there was a moment when I thought they aren't going to break up Lucha, you know, Jungle Boy and Lucha's Horse already again. Dug But I really loved when Jack just said, looks like going to bite off more than I can chew again and just went ham and just did, you know, respect. Tim Yeah. Dug That's a that's a solid move. You know, I really like that. I like this new weird combo of scapegoat Jack Perry and the old jungle boy Jack Perry. I think this is a a better balance for him. Dug And I like I like seeing that. Tim I agree. I wondered what a face turn was going to look like for him after what I thought was a really good heel run with the scapegoat thing. Dug I like it. oh Tim And I think they found it. I think they found exactly what it needed to look like of this little bit of hybrid of both. I i like that. Dug Up until now, yeah the scapegoat was my favorite Jack Perry. Tim Yeah, I agree. ah After that, Briscoe promo comes next, which of course was good because it's Mark Briscoe. Dug Yep. Mm-hmm. Tim Speaking of Wheeler Yuta, I did write down, well, I guess it's nice that they did something with him where he got to talk for a little bit. Dug It's Dug Yep. And then immediately got outshined by everybody else on the microphone. Tim I don't know why. oh yeah. And I don't know why you have him do that because we know Danny Garcia is going to get on the mic there. Dug And even Shivani said, oh, I recognize that whiny voice anywhere. I'm like, man, you're not doing you to any favors. Come on. Tim well Now, i know i granted, I know part of that is Tony is the baby face announcer, although I would argue all three of them are, but like Tony is supposed to be that guy, right? Dug Oh. Dug amen Tim As evidenced by the easiest way to get heat is for them to threaten him, right? Dug Yeah, yeah. Tim So I get what he was doing there. He's putting the heel over as a scumbag. Like he's doing his job. Dug Absolutely. Tim I get that. But yeah, it, it doesn't do any favors for a guy who to this point has been there, but that's all I can say. Dug I do, yeah. Dug Yep. Yeah, yeah, he's he's been struggling. He's been struggling. He's one of those at it and that haven't found their footing yet of of who he is Tim So here's the thing. I don't, I mean, I see what you're saying. I don't even think he's been struggling. I just think there's nothing for him to do. Like he keeps getting connected to these groups. And then, and this, this is kind of one of my issues. Tim I think we talked about it a little bit before that maybe that was when we weren't recording. I don't remember, but this is kind of one of my issues with the AEW factions, particularly the heel factions to my mind Dug is. Probably. Okay. Tim If you're going to be this group of bad dudes, shouldn't you be chasing every title? Dug Yes. Tim And shouldn't you be just picking fights left and right? Dug Mm-hmm. Tim And they don't do that. Dug No. Tim And you end up with all these people that are attached to the group but are kind of on the periphery of it. And I know with the Don Callis family right now, some of that's the point. Dug Yeah. Tim Because I'm not entirely ah like I'm I'm there's like a 60 40 chance in my mind that the reason they're doing this is it's Tony Khan sticking it to Eric Bischoff and making fun of how bloated the NWO got. Dug That could be. That's actually pretty funny. If that's what's going on, I like it. Tim Cause they don't like each other. So, and I, I like, I think, I mean, they're doing the Don Callis bloat on purpose, but like with the death riders stuff until getting teamed up with Megan Bain. Dug That's okay. Yeah. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim And we talked about this before Marina Shafir was pointless. Dug Yeah. She was ah not Chyna Chyna for Mox. Tim Yeah. Dug Yeah. Tim And she just carried that briefcase around and that was it. And I'm like, okay, I'm not quite sure why she's there. I've never been sure why Wheeler Yuta is there. And now we're kind of into the death writer or breakup episode, even though it hasn't happened yet. But so spoiler alert. Dug Yeah, we can, we can shelve those thoughts because they I have more. So I know you do. Tim Oh, believe me, I got plenty more. Dug So yeah, we can, we can shelve that. Tim I know you've heard a lot of them. Yeah. Dug We shelve that for another time. Tim So after that, we got what you were alluding to, that it sure looks like Sisters of Sin are going to be first up for the tag belts. Dug Well, they definitely jumped the line by beating living daylights out of them in the back. Tim And like we've been saying all along, I have no problem with that. Dug Nope. It's way it should be. Tim I have no problem with whatsoever. Yeah. I like the Megan Bain, Marina Shafir team. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim I don't think that should go away. Dug Mm-mm. Tim But I have no problem with Sisters of Sin jumping the line here and doing that. Dug Absolutely. And you know we're getting that that three-way tag without a doubt with all the champs on one side against the Sisters of Sin or whatever they're called. Tim Oh, yeah. Dug That's happening. Tim Yeah. I could see. ah i kind of hope they don't do this because I think it would be slightly overbooking it. But I could see an eight woman tag with Jamie Hayter in there as well. And then. Tim I don't know, in insert heel here, probably Megan Bain, but... Dug Yeah. Dug Yeah. Well, definitely, I think coming up, because it's... Dug Boy, my brain just went sideways. It's... Tim I saw it happen. Dug ah Wow. Wow. Jamie Hayter is going for the title in man Manchester, right? Tim I believe so, yeah. Dug So... ah I can't imagine that Tekla or the rest of the Sisters of Sin are not going to have some say in that match, whether they interfere during or afterwards. They're definitely going to make a showing without a doubt. Tim Yeah, I would agree with that. So we'll see what happens there. But again, I'm good with Sisters of Sin being first up for the tag belts. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim I like it. Then Hangman and Swerve versus the Ops. Dug Woo. Tim How many times did Swerve staple that random dude? Dug He lit him up. Like, there's no way that guy's getting through airport security and a metal detector. Tim No, like I'm sitting there going, i think he just put like 20 staples into that man's kidney. Dug Yeah, he is. That dude is leaking like a like just a bad, bad. What are the? Yeah. so Yeah, it doesn't matter. He's leaking from every orbit. I couldn't think of the name of the thing again. Dug There's a thing, you know, the thing, the the thing with the thing, and it's got the the sticky stick, the straw stick, you got a patchy thing, and you do it a pop, pop, pop, and it doesn't go in, you know, and it's kids drinking, you know what i'm saying? Tim Capri Sun? Dug Yeah, that's the thing. Yeah. Tim Okay. Dug He was leaking like a bad Capri Sun. we get We'll edit that in post. We don't edit this thing. Tim Oh, no. Dug this Tim that's that's That might be the first thing that I clip to put on social media. Dug You're welcome. Tim That may have been the greatest analogy in the history of analogies. Dug Thank you. I think what I was trying to say is he stuck him a lot. Tim He did Dug That's what I was trying to very Yeah. Tim He very much did. um But other than that, I think your initial reaction was correct because who buddy? Dug Yeah. So good. it And again, this is this is a personal nitpick, and I am nitpicking. The hangman swerve stare in the middle. Guys, we don't need that. We understand where you're both coming from. We don't need the stare. Dug We don't need to feed. we We get that there's fuel to that fire. For me personally, ah I didn't need that distraction in what they were doing. let them Let them do their task. Let them beat ass and then move on. Dug Okay? We get that they're going to they're going to tussle. We get it. That to me is just, that but that's just me. Tim i Dug That's me nitpicking very much so. Tim Yeah, I didn't have a problem with it. And i think the biggest reason why I didn't have a problem with it is I understand that the story at this point is we still don't like each other, but we begrudgingly respect each other because we've you know pushed each other further than you could go, right? Tim And I also understand that they the non-kayfabe of it is they're trying to protect that rivalry because we're going back to it. Dug Yeah. Dug Oh, yeah. And they should. Tim Yeah, I mean, this is Rock Austin. It just is. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim So I get that. I don't have a huge problem with it. I mean, ah ah my thought watching it was Hangman's non-verbals, the stuff he does with his face, is really good. Dug Yeah. Plus getting deer at the getting the beer at the bar was another that was another tip of the hat. Tim And i so I didn't. Dug I like that a lot. Tim I enjoyed that a lot. Yeah, I enjoyed that. I also enjoyed that he left the fan hanging after he high-fived the bartender. It made me laugh a lot. Dug I know. I had a weird flashback for some reason. I don't know why. Tim I thought you might. Dug Yeah. Tim Yeah, I thought you might. Dug Yeah. It felt weird. Tim but i you know So I get why they did it. I'm not saying that i'm not saying I don't understand what what you're saying there, Doug, and I get where you're coming from. I didn't have a problem with it. the The thing to me that's almost weird, I guess, is that for as much as I love the Hangman Swerve rivalry, and I do, I might love them as a team better. Dug Oh, I think they should definitely be a team. Like, it's just so obvious. And I kind of want that to... I think that's probably what... I think you hit the nail on the head. I think that's what bothers me about that that weird, glaring rivalry. I understand they have to have it, and I get why they have it. They both want the title. They both should have it, but you can't have both of them have it, so... Dug I get it. But at some point, I would like to see whenever that runs its course, let those two be the tag team for a run. Let them do that. Tim So I think as we fantasy book, I think what's going to happen is right now, my guess is Joe drops back to hangman at world's end. Dug That could happen, yeah. Tim And then I think we're going to get hangman swerve again. Dug Oh, yes. The the minute... i Swerve is getting the next shot, regardless of who is holding the belt after that. Tim here Here's where I'm going to put one wrinkle into that. Dug we're Okay. Tim there is a guy that we know is coming back who has a contract that he hasn't cashed in yet. Dug Yes. And I think he's... i think i I was going to bring that up. Because I think he's... i Unless I'm wrong... My gut tells me he could be coming back for the dynamite diamond ring again. Tim I think so too. And if they add a stipulation in there that somehow... I hope they don't do this because this would be real bad. But if they add some sort of stipulation in there that it like vaults you, it's not to put you in the main event at world's end. In fact are they doing it at world's end? Dug I want to say I think i think so. I think so. Tim Here's why I laugh. I'm not, I've not paid any attention to the diamond ring because every year that they do it, I'm like, I don't really care. And I assume MJF is going to win it. And there's like, whatever. Dug Right. Well, and it only stuck because I think it was one of the last things they said. So I want to say it is happening at World's End, I think. Tim Okay, so if it does, if we have that right, um and could I Google it sitting at a computer right now? I could, but i'm not going Dug and There's no way we can, know there's no way on earth we could possibly know that detail. No way. Tim to. That's true. that You can only find out in the moment, and the moment is gone. Dug Yep. Yep. Bye-bye. Tim But if if they do it at World's End, my guess is that they might add a stipulation to it of like you get to challenge on whatever the next, you know, winter is coming level dynamite is because they'll probably do another one in January. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim Would be my guess. In fact, I think they might even have like a New Year's Revolution type name in there, but I might be making that up. Dug Oh, yeah. Got. Excuse me. okay Tim Somebody must have driven past my house or something because my puppy was yelling. Dug thought maybe that was me. Tim So my 11-month-old puppy, who is deaf, ah when she gets startled by a car going by, everyone must know about it. Dug makes sense. Tim This is one part we might edit out. Well, that's true. Dug not Not unlike me. Whenever a car run goes by the the drive, I have to yell at my wife, honey. Tim yeah Dug Did you see? Tim There's somebody out there. don't like it. Dug Did you see what was happening out there? There was a car. There was a guy in it. Tim I don't care for it. was The last thing I'll say about the man and swerve and the ops match that I wrote down here is, and this is where I thought you were going with the nitpick. There's a production issue again. Dug Oh. Tim You know what I'm going to say, right? They cut away when Hobbs comes charging out of the corner at the actual start of the match. They cut away to show swerve next to a Papa John's box, which you could have waited till ah powerhouse hits the move and then shown him laid out there. Tim But instead, we got to watch him. Dug Yeah. they had to Tim get We got to watch Hangman get wrecked on the replay. Dug On the picture in picture. Yeah. Stupid. Made me so angry. So angry. Tim They got to get that together. and And the thing is, it's one thing if you cut away before he launches out of the corner and it's like oops, didn't know that was coming or we just biffed Dug He's on his way. Tim Yeah, he will he's like halfway across the ring when they cut. Dug And you can see. Dug and the And the thing that bothers me is you didn't know because you didn't see it. You only saw the, you didn't know if Hangman got out of the way and he hit the ref because they, it looked like they were setting that move up too, but that didn't happen. Dug But we had to wait to see the replay to 100% find out. Tim Yeah, that was bad. Dug So frustrating. Tim They gotta clean that stuff up. Dug That's not, See, that's not nitpicking. That's just common sense. Common sense right there, my friend. Tim Yeah, they gotta clean that up. But other than that, it was a good match. Dug Yeah, that was and with garbage. Tim We talked about this a little bit already. Well, that part was, the match was good, but that was, yeah. Dug That was garbage. Way to go. Production team. No, match was great, but that prod team is garbage. I don't know what I'm saying. Tim You're not wrong. Dug I just want to say that more. That's all. Anyway, what? Tim I don't know what is happening tonight, but it's either really good or really bad. So we talked about it already a little bit. We get the Don Callis promo again where they make it official for the match so we can erase my previous line of just making a match already. Tim Like I said, I think it's a good use of the money. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim i don't have a problem with that. I also liked the, I liked Luchasaurus later. i guess I'm jumping ahead a little bit, but I'm just going to tie this all together because why not? Dug No, I mean, it all ties in. Mm-hmm. Tim I liked Luchasaurus and the Bucks part of it ah pointing to the Kinney locker room. We all knew it was going to be Omega. Come on. Dug Yep. Tim I liked Omega's line of I'd do it for free. Okay, cool. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim Let's make the match. Let's go. Good. Dug Yeah, I like i mean, it it made the most sense. I'm all in. Let's let's make that happen. Tim Yeah. Dug Great. Love it. Tim And and the the thing I like about it is, although they're doing it in Manchester, aren't they? Dug Yeah. Next week. Tim Okay. See, this is another one of those things where I have to stop and go, why? I'm going nitpick again, but I don't know how nitpicky this is. Dug Okay. Tim We're what? Let me pull up my calendar here real quick. We are, as of right now, little over two weeks away from World's End. Dug Yes. Tim Tell me one match on the card that isn't the world championship match. Tim I'll hang up and listen. Dug um let me think um i'm pretty sure work horsemen are taking on dark order yeah but boom boom and doom are taking on the work horsemen again Tim Big Boom AJ. Tim the the The acclaimed will end up on the pre-show again. Dug Yes, taking on RPG Vice so that they can all four get counted out and no one going to get to win on that one. Tim Yeah. Tim yeah Dug ah Yeah, I don't know. Tim so Dug i don't know. i assume we're going to see um I assume we're going to see the Women's Tag Champions defending is my assumption. I assume that's where Mercedes is going to make her reappearance in the ring would be my assumption. Dug Um... Tim And I know we'll get the Continental Classic stuff. I believe both the semifinal and the final are there. Dug Right. So I think, yeah, so we kind of know, we kind of know, but we don't. But unfortunately, this is how it goes with AEW. but here in And I know a lot of people complain about it, but their pay-per-views are so, so good. Tim Oh, yeah. Dug So good. Tim Oh, yeah. There have been more than a few times that I've bought one and I went, I don't know what else is on the card, but I know the main event and I'm so invested in the main event that I don't care. Dug Absolutely. Yeah. Tim And that's part of why I throw that money, though, too, is I know the rest of the show is going to be good, even if I don't know what the card is. Like, I could preorder World's End right now because I know I'm going to buy it and it's not just because we do this show. Dug Yeah. 100%. Yeah. It's going to be, it's going to be good. Tim It's going to be good. It is. Dug well Tim It's going to be good. and I'm kicking around going since it's not that far from us, but I don't trust the weather. Dug Okay. Let me know. Dug Yeah, no. Tim That's my problem with it. Dug Yeah, I'm probably, you know what? I've already considered it and rejected it. I'm staying home. Tim Okay. All right. well Dug Unless you decide to go and then I might go. Tim Well, yeah, a buddy of mine, my friend Mike texted me earlier today and he's like, Hey, are we going? Cause we usually go in there up there. Cause we live about two and a half hours South. And I was like, I don't know, man, the weather and it's right after Christmas. I don't know how much money I'm going to have. I was like, i don't know. Tim I mean, unless you really want to go, then we could go. Dug All that's right. Tim Yeah. So we'll see what happens. Dug Yeah, i'll hang up and I'll hang up and wait for my answer. Tim We may go. We may not. Tim You're going waiting for a little bit. He and I landed on we're going to procrastinate for two weeks and then make a decision. Dug Oh, love it. Cool. Tim Yeah. ah Dug Speaking of procrastinating, that next match, if it's the one I'm thinking of, unless I've got something out of order. Tim Uh. Tim Well, the only other thing in between this and and that match is the Stokely promo. Dug Yeah, again... Good use of Stokely. Good use of not having FTR on the microphone. Tim Yeah. So that was the first thing that made me go, i think Tony Khan listens to this show. Dug He must. Clearly he must. Tim Because here I am going, he should be the only one talking for FTR. And look what happened. And then look what happens next. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim Speedball versus Kyle Fletcher. And this is what drove home to me. I'm like, I think Tony Khan listens because you and I did the whole thing. And I believe it was the full gear episode talking about he's fine. Tim Speedball's fine. Dug Yeah. Tim but his ceiling is probably upper mid card. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim And, you know, he might get a run with like, if he gets the TNT title, that's the ceiling. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim And holy crap. Dug Man. Tim That was the match on this card that I went, I mean, you know, they'll, they'll do the back and forth. They'll make it look good, but Fletcher's going over and there's not going to really be any drama or anything. do Dug Yeah. I thought the drama was going to be that was going to be the draw match because they kept going and they kept going even after Fletcher broke his back on the side. Tim I thought it was too. Dug Oh my God. What was happening? Tim I, so there were multiple spots in that where I went, I wrote down, this is a more brutal match than I ever would have expected. Dug he He almost murdered him there. Oh. Dug Oh. Dug Yep. Tim They beat the piss out of each other. Dug when speedball went to do that standing back flip, standing on the railing, I thought, Oh my God, he's going to kill Fletcher. And then Fletcher gets up and breaks his back over it. Dug My God, that was so brutal looking sober and it's back. Tim Yeah. that yeah Tim and Dug Oh man. Tim Yeah. And that's going to be the standout of that match and it should be. But there are so, yeah, that and the ending. Dug Well, that in the ending, Tim But there are so many spots that happened in that match where I was like, oh my God, you two. Dug Yeah. Same. Tim But well here's what I love about it. and here's and And it ended up my match of the night. It overtook Okada and Jack Perry. Dug yeah Dug same Tim But here's what I love about it was I think that Tony looked at the the card that he'd put together and went, so this is the match that everybody's going be like okay, that's the bathroom break or whatever. So I'm going to make it the match of the night. Tim I'm going to tell those guys to go right up to the time limit and give it a you know pull out all the stops and, whole boy, did they. Dug It's possible, yeah, because like I said, I thought that was going to be the time limit draw, and that was going to be Speedball's spoiler moment where he he kind of ruins things for Fletcher or could because of that. Tim Mm-hmm. Dug But the take the win in such a – and back and forth, and they made Speedball look like, you know, we haven't seen it, made him look like a freaking star. Like he stepped up. Dug the I thought the announce team did a good job of selling him. Bryan Daniel Bryan right away was like, speedball needs to use his black belt in karate or taekwondo, whatever it is. And they made him look great. And he he met the challenge. I got to take my hat off. He met the challenge. Dug So hats on. Tim he was he was yeah He was tremendous. That match was amazing. And I think that the other reason why they had to do it was Kevin Knight has made such a star turn so far in this tournament that you better make his tag team partner look good too. Tim Otherwise, it's like, what do what are you what are you doing, dude? Why are you wasting your time here? Go be a a single star, you know? Dug what are you doing hanging out with Marty Jannetty? Tim but Exactly. So I thought, Tim Really great job all around. Dug Yeah. that was it Not only was that match of the night for me, that was also the surprise of the night for me. Tim i thought it was. Tim Oh, oh, yeah, by far. Dug Without a doubt. Tim Yeah, that was. Yeah, because I wasn't that surprised at Babes of Wrath winning. I was shocked that speedball went over. Dug No. Dug Yep. Like i said, I was 100% convinced. I'm like, because they kept saying, we're almost out of time. We're almost out of time. And I was convinced it was going to be back and forth and flip and pin and one, two, one, two, one, two, time done. Dug That's again, speedball, Mike Bailey. you You won me over tonight. Let's see if we can keep that momentum going because was amazing. Tim Yeah, I agree. And that's the third reason that I think Tony Khan listens to the show is because I said, oh, there will be a draw in the tournament. Tim There always is. And he's teasing the draw, but it hasn't happened yet. Dug Yeah, he Tim And I think he's doing it all to stick it just to me. And if so, I respect it. Dug is. As do i By the way, Tony Khan, if Blue Chew doesn't come through, you a i't can sponsor this podcast. We're okay with that. Tim Elite Heat brought to you by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Dug Thank you. Yes, thank you. We can do that. Tim I like soccer. Dug who me down Tim We could be sponsored by Fulham. That's fine. Dug We can do that too. That's the round ball kicky thing, right? Tim Yeah, that's the football where they use their feet, says the guy that played American football. so Doug Dug Gotcha. Go sports. Tim is sports. Dug Damn right. Tim After that, we get the hangman interview. Short, sweet, to the point, no problem with it. Here's why I really liked it, though. One of my issues with AEW for a while has been any champion, for the most part, loses. And just like, oh, well, okay, I guess I'll just go to the back of the line now. Tim And that has always bothered me. It has bothered me that a dude like Chris Jericho never went for the title again. Dug Yeah. Dug Yeah. Tim It has bothered me that, you know, until really until MJF started talking about like, that's my belt and I want it back. Like we really haven't had a lot of the champions go, no, I think I'll be taking that back now. Dug Right. Yeah. Tim And I think they've left a lot of money on the table, not running some of these back. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim And so for Hangman to go, I don't care who wins. I'm coming for my belt. Okay, thank you. I'm glad we're finally doing that. Dug Yeah, yeah, that's great. And it in it it is so in character for for Hangman to say that. So I'm glad he's keeping true and moving forward with that. That that was really encouraging. So I like that. Tim Yep. Bucks backstage promo and stuff we already talked about. So that brings us to the main event of Joe versus Eddie. Dug Solid and exactly what I thought. Tim Yeah, I agree. I thought Eddie actually looked a little bit better than I thought he would. He got a little bit more offense in and some different offense than we usually see from him, I thought. Dug Yeah. Did a cutter. Didn't anticipate that. Tim I didn't either. And I thought he, oh I really thought he was going to kill Joe on that exploder. I didn't think he was going to get him over. Dug I thought he might've killed himself because I thought Joe landed on Eddie's head more than, more than anything else, but it might've just been the angle. Tim Well, there is that too. Dug Cause I was really concerned for Eddie in that, in that move, but man, Tim but My initial thought was he wasn't going to get him over. And so I don't think I processed Joe probably landing on Eddie's head, but I don't think you're wrong. Dug But when they showed the other angle, it did look like Joe landed on his own head and neck, and it didn't look good for anybody. Tim Yeah. Dug But that was one of the better one-two-oo's of the night because and it wasn't even a one-two-oo. It was Joe rolling out of the ring. And, yeah, that one I thought that, again, I think they did a really good job. I think Eddie did a really good job. He looked, like you said, better than he's looked in a while, got a lot of offense in and looked credible. You didn't think he was going to win, Dug But with Eddie, there's always that hope. And they let that go as as long as they could. And then, you know, I've got no problem with Joe winning that one. It was fine. Tim No, we all knew Joe was going to win. Dug Yep. Tim And I never really believed, but they came close at one point to where I was like, they're not really going to do this, are they? So, you know, if you can get that out of me, a dude who's been watching wrestling since, you know, the nineties for the most part, I mean, that's pretty good. Dug Right. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim You did a pretty good job of storytelling. Dug Yeah. Tim If you can get me to go, wait, they're not really going to do this, are they? Dug Mm-hmm. Dug Yep. Tim you know For a minute, I thought this was going to be their Mick Foley moment. right I did. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim I thought for a minute, like are they really going to do it? And this is going to be like when Mick won. and I think eventually someday they will do that with him, but I don't think we're there yet. Dug They kind of had that moment with him when, was it the Continental? Tim Yeah. Dug Intercontinental? Whatever it was. They kind of had that moment with him then. Tim Yeah. Dug i just, I love Eddie. I don't see him ever winning the world title. Tim Well, it's like I said last week, I think that at some point they may put the belt on him purely for the fan service, but I don't think it'll be a long run. And that that was kind of in the back of my head that made me think, well, maybe they will do it tonight. Dug That's fair. Tim And then he's just going to drop to hangman at World's End and we move on. Dug The only reason I didn't think that that was credibly going to happen was because, like we've talked, I think Joe's got the belt. A, I do think he deserves it. But B, i think when he loses it, he's kind of going to just say bye. And this is you don't want that ping pong and back and forth. You want him to go. I think Tony wants him to go out as strong as he can. Dug And so, yeah. Tim Yeah, I don't think he's going to go right off into the sunset as soon as he loses. But I do think what you're going to see happen is he's going to drop probably this month in a couple of weeks here to hang man. Tim I think they might try to reignite the trios titles at that point. And then eventually the ops will drop. And then at that point, you might see him right off into the sunset. Tim But I think Joe is going to get to pick that. I think Tony's going to let him do that. Dug Yeah. Yeah. Tim Like I said, the only thing that kind of percolated in my head was maybe this is their Mick Foley moment. But then I thought that would not be a great idea because if you have Eddie be the transitional champion back to Hangman, Hangman about to get booed. Tim Because as much as we love Hangman, we love Eddie more. Dug Yeah. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim So that that was what talked me out of it. But for a minute, I was like, really? I mean, you got me to almost believe. Dug Yeah. Tim That's pretty impressive. Dug And I was a little surprised because... There were more Samoa Joe cheers than I anticipated in that crowd. Tim Well, Joe is one of those guys that whether he's face or heel always gets cheered and he should. And I think part of it also is people know people know that like, look, Joe doesn't have a lot of time left. Dug Yes. Tim And I appreciated the hat tip to Sina, who, of course, is retiring on Saturday. You know, so Sina's going. Joe's not got a lot of time left. AJ Styles is saying he doesn't have a lot of time left. Tim The Bucks are talking about, well, you maybe only have a couple years left. I don't know if Kenny Omega physically is going to be able to keep going for much longer. Dug Yep. Tim There is a reason that he primarily is doing promos and not getting in the ring on Dynamite. Dug I was just going to say that. Yeah. Dug Yup. Tim So you're looking at a wrestling landscape where some of the biggest names probably not going to be doing it five years from now. Dug Oh yeah. Without a doubt. Yeah. Tim and And look, I know Jericho is going to ride it till the wheels fall off and then he's going to keep riding it. But you can't. Dug I hope he's smarter than that. I really do. I hope he gets a big fat paycheck from whoever's cutting him the next check. I hope he takes the two to four year deal and then says, see ya. Tim I hope so too. And and probably let's be real. He's going back. I think we've all agreed on that. He's going back to WWE, wwe which is fine. My hope is that he goes back under the, like my hope is the deal that triple H works out with him is we will let you do 18 to 24 months in the ring. Tim And then you're going in the hall of fame and you're done. Dug Yep, that'd be great. Tim And I think that'd be fine. Dug Mm-hmm. Tim But regardless, we're looking at a world where there's a whole bunch of people that I think really led the wrestling renaissance Dug Oh, without a doubt. Tim that are not going to be doing it for much longer. And I think a lot of what you're seeing when Joe gets that kind of pop, regardless of the fact that he's supposed to be heel is people paying tribute to that. Dug the The only reason I brought that up was because he was wrestling Eddie. If it would have been anyone else, that wouldn't have shocked me. Tim Oh, sure. Dug I just thought Eddie... Tim Sure. Dug That was that was really my only thing. Tim No, and I get that. Dug But yeah, I 100% get Yep. Tim And I think it just goes back to one thing that AEW, they kind of got away from it, but they kind of didn't. If you go back to that first year and the whole thing, you know, Cody telling everybody that would listen, we're not doing the traditional face and heel stuff. Tim You cheer who you want, you boo who you want, and it's fine. ah They do still do some of that. Like, I don't think that anybody backstage at AEW worries when a face gets booed or a heel gets cheered. Dug Oh. Tim And I'm not sure that other wrestling companies would feel the same way about that. Dug I would agree. And I also think that AEW fans get the joke of cheering both sides. Tim Oh yeah. Yeah. Dug i Tim Yeah. Dug I think they get it, and I think it's that mutual respect. i Like i said, I was just a little bit surprised because he was going up against Eddie that there was that even of a balance, but I should have known better. But, yeah, that's all. Tim No, no, no. I get where you're coming from, and I'm not trying to tell you you're wrong. I didn't think of it that way, and I and i see your point. Dug Well, that's first. Tim I just think i think whatever Joe does between now and whenever he retires, he's just going to get a pop wherever he goes, and he should. He's more than earned it. Dug Yep. He 100% should. Tim Yeah. So that's it. That's Winter is Coming. Dug Yeah. Tim um I'll tell you this. I enjoy that collision starts at like two in the afternoon or something for us. More of that, please. Tim I might actually watch it now. Dug Yeah, that'll be good. Tim Because it's not that I have plans on Saturday night. It's just that, you know, I'm a fall asleep on the couch before it's over. Dug Yeah. And that's okay. That's all right. Tim Yep. Dug But yeah, i'm looking forward to I'm looking forward to watching Collision. That'll be a good one. Tim Yeah. I think it's going to be really interesting from the in Cardiff, I believe Cardiff, Wales. Dug I believe so, yeah. Tim So we'll check that out and then ah we'll see if we get any more build to world's end on collision. Dug I think... Dug Come on. you know we're You know they're going to wait until the next week. Come on. Tim Probably, but you never know. Dug Yeah. But I think, I think it's safe to say we both agree match of the night, speedball, Mike Bailey. i and I, I think he was like the surprise of the night, just in the fact that he lived through all that. Tim Oh, absolutely. Dug ah Tim That might be the biggest surprise of the night. Dug heard surprise of the night Tim Yeah. Yeah. Dug Again, ah very happy with this show. I thought it was really, really solid. Tim I guess that answers the question I was about to ask you of pouch or slouch. Dug Uh, Dug Oh, I pouched more than once. More than once. Tim I would say pretty much through the whole show for me, that was a great show coming off of a weird one last week. They brought the heat tonight. I thought it was great job. Well done to everybody. Dug Yep, except production. Don't take your eyes off someone who's getting ready to do a power move in a corner. What are you thinking? Tim Yeah. Yeah. One of these days, maybe they'll get that cleaned up. Dug I hope so. I really do. Tim And that is winter is coming. We are on to next week. But again, if you would like and subscribe and share and do all those fun things, it would really help us out a lot. I do appreciate ah lots and lots of people watch our stuff, which is very cool. Dug Thank you. Tim I would, however, like it if you would just hit that subscribe button for me. That'd be great. Dug yeah hit What did it say? Ring the bell? Hit the subscribe button? Something something? Tim Yeah. Yeah, hit the bell used to be the thing. I don't hear that as much anymore. Dug Yeah. Hmm. Okay. Tim That could also just be me not making it to the end of stuff. Dug Hmm. We need to say it sooner then. We should lead with that. Hit the bell! Tim Well, we're we're at the end, so that didn't. Dug Oh, can we we'll fix that in post. that'll That's how we're going to start the show. OK, let me take that clean. Hit the bell. Got that. All right, cool. Can we get someone to cut that in? Dug No. do you mean no one's over there? Tim I'm just going to see how long he goes. Dug Then who am I talking to? Who am I talking to? Tim Still going. Dug Look at me like that. Oh, hey, Tim. Tim yeah If you go for like eight more minutes, we'll hit the hour mark. If you want to just stretch that all the way out. Dug Probably could. Tim I know. Dug i don't think either one of us wants that. Tim No. No, I'm going to cut a lot of that off the end there. but Dug That's fair. that's fair All right. Tim For real this time. Dug Yes. Like, subscribe. Tell everybody, you know, tell,