Latest / Real. Guy. Pods. / WWE Royal Rumble Preview, WWE Creative Flaws & Triple H’s Hall of Fame Moment! | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #781 – 01/30/25

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WWE Royal Rumble Preview, WWE Creative Flaws & Triple H’s Hall of Fame Moment! | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #781 – 01/30/25 · Real. Guy. Pods.

• 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,580 It's still real to me, damn it! 2 00:00:02,580 --> 00:00:11,680 [music] 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:12,960 What up, you! 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,620 [music] 5 00:00:15,620 --> 00:00:17,680 Welcome, everybody! 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:26,300 Welcome to this week's edition of the Snow Realtows Show, episode number 781, for January 30th, 2025. 7 00:00:26,300 --> 00:00:33,900 This is your Royal Rumble preview and predictions edition of #ASRTU. 8 00:00:33,900 --> 00:00:35,220 I am one after the show. 9 00:00:35,220 --> 00:00:40,620 I am Jeff Peck, joined every single week of my course, Lonely Dr. Trey Franklin. 10 00:00:40,620 --> 00:00:45,940 Dr. Trey, are you ready for the road to WrestleMania 41, my friend? 11 00:00:45,940 --> 00:00:51,860 I mean, I had to hiccup in the road yesterday, but right now, actually, you say that I'm 12 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:54,020 actually sitting in my car. 13 00:00:54,020 --> 00:01:00,140 So I don't know if there's anybody more ready for a road to WrestleMania than somebody 14 00:01:00,140 --> 00:01:05,380 doing a podcast about the road to WrestleMania while they're sitting in their car. 15 00:01:05,380 --> 00:01:12,500 The only thing that would be left is probably maybe, maybe like an acoustic guitar and riding 16 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:15,860 a country song about being on the road. 17 00:01:15,860 --> 00:01:20,200 I mean, I could get either Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson to play softly in the background 18 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,200 everywhere. 19 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:35,080 I could throw some background music on and make this just a full shindig for a road to 20 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,320 WrestleMania podcast. 21 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:37,320 Yeah, yeah. 22 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:40,560 Maybe something to think about as we get to the road to WrestleMania 41. 23 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:41,560 Welcome one and all. 24 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,360 Welcome to your Royal Rumble preview and predictions edition #ASRTU, the official road 25 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:48,240 to WrestleMania 41 kicks off. 26 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,280 Now here on the program, I'm excited. 27 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,200 I'm stoked. 28 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:53,680 We talk about it every year, Dr. Trey. 29 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,240 This is obviously one of our favorite pay-per-views to watch. 30 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:02,400 The men's and women's Royal Rumble matches is probably the most fun match to watch because 31 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,320 it's like non-stop. 32 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,600 Who's going to be the surprise entrance? 33 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,640 Any surprise, eliminations? 34 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:11,680 For a shadowing from WrestleMania 41 takes place in the match. 35 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,680 You get to see some like dream matchups all in the span of those two matches. 36 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,840 I'm very, very, very excited for this weekend, Dr. Trey. 37 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,360 Yeah, I was excited, Evan. 38 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,280 I was kind of playing with my WWE super card game. 39 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,080 I don't know if you're familiar with this game, but it's going to be the interesting twist 40 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,440 because I have no idea where you're going with this. 41 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:34,440 Yeah, no. 42 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,600 So this game, on there, it actually has a section for Royal Rumble predictions. 43 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,880 And I'm like, okay, I'm picking my winner for the Rumble, picking my... 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,720 And then I went, I only know two more matches on the card. 45 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,600 I'm like, is there only two more matches on the card other than the Rumble because I think 46 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:57,760 I'm forgetting something, but I'm like, I know the men's Rumble, the women's Rumble, 47 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,200 the World title match with Cody and Kevin Nollins and the tag title match from SmackDown. 48 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:07,760 I'm like, am I missing something because I feel like the Rumble used to have a lot more 49 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,680 stuff going on in this year right now in top of my head. 50 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:12,440 I can only think of four things. 51 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:17,640 Yeah, I mean, this is the new age of WWE PLE's under the Triple H Air. 52 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:21,480 It's the old takeover time stamp. 53 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:26,560 And I want to say, Dr. Trey, that I think the last two Rumbles ran like this as well. 54 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,560 There is only four announced matches, two of those being the men's and the women's 55 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:31,560 Royal Rumble. 56 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:37,080 You got to figure each one of those matches take probably like grand total start to finish. 57 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,280 Maybe an hour and twenty minutes. 58 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,080 Is that a safe estimate for each one of those? 59 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,700 So they catch you to what, two hours and forty minutes? 60 00:03:44,700 --> 00:03:48,760 So yeah, I guess that makes sense because we're doing two out of three falls in the tag match. 61 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,640 That's at least going to be at least twenty minutes. 62 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,400 And you can get a lot of money. 63 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,880 Cody and KO probably go about at least twenty to thirty minutes. 64 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:00,720 So yeah, I mean, I guess in that scheme, that scope of things, it makes sense. 65 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,760 But as much as I love the machine, it doesn't DIY, you could have just had a singles match 66 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:11,440 and then add it in your US champion or your Intercontinental champion. 67 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,880 Add one of the other mid card guys into this as well. 68 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,400 But look, I can't argue with the success they've had. 69 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,760 The last few pay per views, PLE's have been fantastic. 70 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:29,800 So it does kind of put the focus more on the Rumble matches and less on the World title 71 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,680 matches that we might have had in the past. 72 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:38,440 So I was just looking here real quick, Rumble 2024 had four matches. 73 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,000 The women's match itself went an hour and five minutes. 74 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,800 That's not counting like the initial beginning and the beginning of it, the entrances. 75 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,880 The men's went an hour, eight minutes and twenty five seconds. 76 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,080 In 2023 they had five matches. 77 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,920 Men's match went one hour, eleven minutes, forty seconds. 78 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,960 Women's match went one hour, one minute, eight seconds. 79 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:09,440 In 2022, which I think was the last of the Vince era per se, the Rumble had six matches 80 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,560 and both Rumbles were under an hour. 81 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,500 And if you remember correctly, Dr. Tray, that men's Rumble, which was won by Brock Lesnar, 82 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:19,640 we absolutely cropped all over. 83 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,400 Figure tibly, not literally. 84 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:28,040 So it seems so we've gone six to five to four, four seems to be the sweet spot. 85 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:33,800 But I'm fine with them having a good, I'm fine with the four matches because this will 86 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:39,460 probably be a three hour, three and a half hour PLA, maybe close to four because those commercial 87 00:05:39,460 --> 00:05:42,900 breaks they run through during the live show is extremely long. 88 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:45,520 So I'm fine with the Rumble matches getting a lot of time. 89 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,760 I'm fine with the latter match getting a lot of time and I'm fine with the two out of 90 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:50,840 three falls match getting a lot of time. 91 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:52,480 Yeah, no, I am too. 92 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,240 I just know like what you just had, shinsuke come back. 93 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,800 Shinsuke's in the Rumble. 94 00:05:58,800 --> 00:05:59,800 He now sees in the Rumble. 95 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:05,560 Yeah, I would have liked to see him get at least a little bit more one on one time to kind 96 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,080 of sell the character a little more. 97 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:14,120 But then again, I can't, I don't want people to say like for one, this DIY match versus 98 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:19,000 the most of machine guns, two or three balls, like if it's anything like DIY and FTR 99 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:25,160 was back in the days or you know, those Matt, those great tag matches from NXT, I'm going 100 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,720 to end up loving it in which they could have been you know, five out of seven balls instead. 101 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:30,720 No, I hear you. 102 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:31,720 I like it. 103 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,160 I think I've been a big proponent of like three hours is enough time for arresting pay 104 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:37,960 preview nowadays. 105 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:43,200 I'm fine with the big shows to get close to the four hour marks, the big four on the WWE 106 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:44,200 side. 107 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:49,400 I've absolutely crapped all over the AW pay previews being four hours every single time 108 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,680 and the pre show being an hour and a half of matches as well. 109 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,840 So we'll see how it plays out, but I am excited for the rumble here. 110 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:01,200 Four matches on the card, we'll preview and predict each one of those matches later on 111 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:02,200 the show. 112 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,200 But I think what's the most important thing on this out of this all Dr. Tre, you got the 113 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,680 men's rumble, women's rumble. 114 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,440 Both matches to me, they are wide open and that is a good thing because you and I have sat 115 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:18,040 here and we've correctly predicted at least one of the rumble matches each year, but it wasn't 116 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:20,760 something where we felt totally confident in. 117 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,240 It was something that over the, during the triple H reign, it's like I could see this person 118 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,960 doing it, I could see this person also winning. 119 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:32,760 I love, and it's been more on the men's side this year than the women's side. 120 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,760 I love that there's an absolute crapshoot on who could potentially win this match. 121 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:46,080 You've got CM Punk, you've got Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, John Cena, Roman Reigns. 122 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:52,880 There is what at least maybe 10 people, less than 10 people that could at least win the rumble 123 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:53,880 match? 124 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,320 Yeah, I mean, here's the crazy thing. 125 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:01,640 We're naming off the big name guys, but then y'all throw in like a Damien Priest, former 126 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,800 heavyweight champion in this match. 127 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:11,040 There's other guys that literally could be main eventing any other PLE. 128 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,000 You're putting Jey Uso in in this match and he just had a main event, match, or serious 129 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:16,000 main event. 130 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:22,280 So, you got, this might be the deepest rumble we've had, the most star-studded rumble we've 131 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,080 had. 132 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,480 In a lot of ways, it is wide open. 133 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,040 I don't know, I'm not going to spell my predictions yet, but for me, I kind of feel like, 134 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,080 what does it say, do you want to do like a quick little game here? 135 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,280 Because we got 15 men announced for the rumble. 136 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,840 If I go through the names real quick, will you say, say yes or no, if they have a shot 137 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,000 of winning the rumble, all right? 138 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:48,000 So here we go. 139 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Yeah, we can do that. 140 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,000 L.A. 141 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,000 Night. 142 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,000 No. 143 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,000 John Cena. 144 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Yes. 145 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:55,000 CM Punk. 146 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,000 I'll say yes. 147 00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,000 Jey Uso. 148 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:00,000 No. 149 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,000 Roman Reigns. 150 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:03,000 Yes. 151 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,280 Seth Freakin' Rollins. 152 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,280 Yes. 153 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:08,280 Drew McIntyre. 154 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,280 Alleen Yes. 155 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:16,320 Ray Mysterio. 156 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:17,320 No. 157 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:18,320 Sammy Zane. 158 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:19,320 No. 159 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,520 Shinsuke Nakamura. 160 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:22,520 No. 161 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,520 Logan Paul. 162 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,240 I'm in my heart. 163 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:33,560 My brain says no, my heart says, yes, so I will lean no. 164 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:34,560 Okay. 165 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:35,560 Wow. 166 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,760 Penta Chad Gable-Bron Breaker Carmelo Hayes would all be nose for me in any of those 167 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:39,760 B.E.S.? 168 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,320 I agree with you on all those as well. 169 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,960 So you had five, the only ones I disagreed with you on, I think Jey Uso is a chance and I think 170 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:47,960 Logan Paul is a chance. 171 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,720 And that's seven out of the 15. 172 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:51,720 Five out of 15 for you. 173 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:52,720 I only reason. 174 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:53,720 Which is good. 175 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:54,720 Those are good numbers though. 176 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:55,720 Yeah. 177 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,720 My only, my only arguments for Jey Uso and Logan Paul is those are B.E.S. 178 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:05,680 I would say like Jey Uso is a B plus main event guy and we're talking about WrestleMania. 179 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:10,600 So that's why I have a little bit of a downgrade on J for this one. 180 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:11,600 Logan's that weird one. 181 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,640 We've heard them talk about Push Unitop. 182 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,320 He has the social media following. 183 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:23,160 I just, I don't see a good match up for him for the world title where it goes, oh my God, 184 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:24,680 I have to see that match. 185 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:32,840 So like I don't, yeah, Logan versus Cody or Logan versus Gunther does not scream WrestleMania 186 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,400 and made a match up to me yet. 187 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,940 So let's talk about it because I thought, I thought there was some foreshadowing on Mondays 188 00:10:38,940 --> 00:10:39,940 Raw. 189 00:10:39,940 --> 00:10:44,120 So you had CM Punk confronting Cody Rhodes to close Raw up until that point. 190 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:48,720 I never thought that I would see that I was even considering Cody Rhodes or CM Punk, but 191 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,160 I'm like, man, this promo is really good. 192 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,320 Could there be a chance that they run with this for the next three months? 193 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,400 And if they did, if it's anything like this, sign me up. 194 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,240 The other one foreshadowing wise, Logan Paul confronting Gunther and Seth Rollins. 195 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,680 I was like, man, we've heard some rumblings that they're thinking about Logan Paul versus 196 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:09,840 Gunther at WrestleMania 41. 197 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:11,600 That is not something I would be a fan of. 198 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:13,800 I think most wrestling fans wouldn't be a fan of that. 199 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,040 That would be something that would grab headlines from a pop culture standpoint, which 200 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,560 WWE is obviously always chasing. 201 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:23,680 But from the wrestling fan standpoint, I think all wrestling fans would love to see Gunther, 202 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:28,120 you know, slap the crap out of Logan Paul literally. 203 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,880 And then on the outskirts of this, you've got the Sami Zayn and Jey Uso quest to become 204 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:33,400 a world champion stuff going on. 205 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:39,720 I think Sami, he's fallen to that carrying cross storyline where it's like borderline 206 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,720 dabbling into the evilness a little bit. 207 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,440 And could they run with Sami winning the rumble and Kevin Owens shockingly defeats Cody 208 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:47,680 Rhodes in the latter match? 209 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:52,320 And those two guys go at it in a WrestleMania absolute wet dream match for Dr. Trey and 210 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:53,320 I. 211 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,200 And then, hey, we talked about it last week, show, would they pull a no way out 2004 Eddie 212 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,320 Guerrero style with Jey Uso at the Saturday night's main event? 213 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:01,320 It was a great match. 214 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:02,320 It had those moments. 215 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:07,120 They went with Gunther to retain Jey Uso falls in the outside. 216 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:08,120 That's still on the fringe. 217 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:13,200 He cut a promo with Quavo, which I know Dr. Trey is a big fan of and he was saying that he 218 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,600 could beat Gunther and I think fans could get behind that. 219 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:22,920 So I thought for the first time at any point in the WrestleMania 41 build, Royal Rumble build, 220 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,800 we may have gotten some foreshadow in this past Monday night, Dr. Trey. 221 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:32,080 Yeah, my favorite part of Logan Paul thing is when Seth and Gunther are face to face and 222 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:37,440 Logan Paul's music hits and Seth goes, who is that? 223 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,440 He didn't know Logan's music apparently. 224 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:46,360 So, I mean, yeah, I think they like to kind of test the audience a little bit to kind of 225 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:52,080 see how the audience feels about some of these teasers, just like dropping Easter eggs. 226 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,080 Like, oh yeah, it's a little bit of foreshadowing. 227 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:55,640 It's a little bit of like down the road stuff. 228 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:02,000 It's also like, hey, let's test the waters with this to see how the fans respond on social 229 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:09,200 media, on the interwebs, you know, on the message boards, you know, all of those things. 230 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,360 But I think like when it comes to WrestleMania as much as you and I, like we try, like a lot 231 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,240 of times we try to smart book these things and try to go, ooh, this would be a great match, 232 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,200 this would be a great match. 233 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,240 WrestleMania is still about the casual fans. 234 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:22,240 It's the Super Bowl. 235 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,400 I'm getting people to get your eyes on the product and typically don't watch the product. 236 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:31,320 So, like as much as people love to see Gunther and Logan Paul, like Logan, or Gunther slapped 237 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:36,040 the hell out of Logan Paul, it's still bad guy versus bad guy. 238 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,080 And I think WrestleMania, they still try to stay more traditional. 239 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,880 And hey, let's put Logan Paul in a good match with somebody who's a really big fan favorite. 240 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,280 Like I'd be okay with Jay Luson Logan Paul or Sami Zayn in Logan Paul. 241 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:54,480 Somebody that crowd really loves to beat the crap out of Logan Paul and vice versa. 242 00:13:54,480 --> 00:14:00,800 But when they tease in these baby face, baby face, heel versus heel matchups, they typically 243 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:08,120 don't do them unless it's generational matchups like John Cena and the Rock. 244 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:09,120 >> It's interesting. 245 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,320 It's a really interesting rumble walking into here. 246 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,720 It's a hard one to predict and that's exciting, but the men's rumble match has definitely 247 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,440 got a better build than the women's. 248 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:28,240 I feel like the women's rumble match is, I don't think the winner of the women's rumble 249 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:33,640 match may have been on television in the square circle this past week, Dr. Trey. 250 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:38,680 There's a couple folks coming back from injury or time away that I think could be knocking 251 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:39,680 on that door. 252 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:45,040 >> Yeah, I think it's for me the women's rumble is like two people and one hasn't been 253 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:50,760 on TV in a year and one hasn't been on TV since Summer's slam. 254 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:55,040 >> If you're thinking about a person with red hair, I think may time. 255 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,120 >> May, yes, so somewhere in that window. 256 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:01,120 Whenever, yeah, whenever she went away. 257 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,360 But yeah, basically right when the other one got hurt or when, no, Priya got hurt. 258 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:06,360 >> Yeah. 259 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:08,200 >> Oh, you're talking about Rhea, okay, I thought you were talking about. 260 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:13,560 If you were mentioning the Queen Charlotte Flair, she got injured back in December 2023. 261 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,960 >> Yeah, so it's been a year for her. 262 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:23,200 The other one with the red hair hasn't been seen since the match after Rhea got hurt back 263 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:24,440 in April and May. 264 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,840 >> Well, she became champion, the one with the red hair and then wrestled, was it crown jewel, 265 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:31,920 dropped the title to live? 266 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:36,880 And then wrestled like the next night on Raw in a steel cage match? 267 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:37,880 >> Yeah. 268 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,680 >> And then that's the last time we saw the person with red hair. 269 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:48,160 >> Is it basically the two of the three last OG horse women in the company left? 270 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,240 Or am I basically the two strongest pigs I have for this thing? 271 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,200 >> I don't know when we'll get back to this. 272 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:59,120 So let's talk about it here with the women's because I think you and I are on the same wavelength 273 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,440 here where things could be headed. 274 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,800 If you go back about a month ago when you and I gave our WrestleMania card predictions 275 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:12,720 for, excuse me earlier this month for the first show of the year, I was making a case for 276 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,840 Tiffany Stratton to try to cash in the money of the bank briefcase, fail, then enter the 277 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,120 rumble and win that match. 278 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:26,560 Tiffany had like, is been positioned in a really good spot where the fans want to see her 279 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:28,360 shine. 280 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:34,600 And I think, and we'll get to some, you know, strange WWE creative decisions lately and 281 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:36,240 we often praise them. 282 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:41,960 I think WWE kind of messed up because if there was anybody, even anybody holding a championship 283 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,080 right now because obviously Tiffany is one. 284 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:48,120 If there was anybody that I would be like, this is who should win the 2025 Royal Rumble, 285 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,800 I would say Tiffany Stratton right now. 286 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:54,600 I would have said Liv Morgan, but I think Liv is getting out of the spotlight and heading 287 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:56,080 towards the women's tag division. 288 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,640 So I would have said Tiffany Stratton would be perfect for this one. 289 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:09,000 Yeah, Tiffany, if the Bianca Jade stuff, if the Jade injury hadn't happened, I would have 290 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:15,480 put Bianca in that list because she's been out of the World title picture for 18 months, 291 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,480 roughly. 292 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:21,040 And there's rumors about Bianca and Rio Ripley being a WrestleMania match right now. 293 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,920 Yes, which I don't know how we get there. 294 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:28,600 I mean, unless you say that, Rhea's the one who took out Jade and then be, I don't know, 295 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,280 yeah, it's confusing. 296 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:36,520 But like for me, really on paper because the women's division has had so much interaction 297 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,960 between people like we've seen Rhea and Naya, you know, a couple times this year. 298 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,440 We've seen Liv and Naya live in Rhea. 299 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:47,760 Like the top of the card has interacted so much over this year that it doesn't feel like 300 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:53,400 any of those people are strong enough to win because whoever, if you have one of the 301 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,440 people that's been around for the entire year, win this match, we've already seen that 302 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:03,240 match where if you have one of the two people who have been on TV in a while when this match, 303 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:10,400 okay, we haven't seen something's matches in either quite a while or in different incarnations 304 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,000 of themselves. 305 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,480 Like it still, it feels fresher. 306 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,520 So that's kind of why I'm leaning that way instead of going with something who's been 307 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,360 very active on the roster the last 12 months. 308 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:27,320 Yeah, I feel like the 2023 Cody Rhodes booking blueprint in the men's rumble is 309 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,120 what we may see with the women's match. 310 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:35,560 So we'll get to our preview predictions here later on, but again, Dr. Traa, the rumble match 311 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:36,560 is to me. 312 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,240 I think they're wide open and I think that's a really good thing. 313 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,480 I want it to be unpredictable. 314 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,480 I don't want it to be easily predictable. 315 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:49,680 So I'm digging what's going on with the rumble matches headed into Saturday. 316 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:55,440 Yeah, no, the men's side definitely feels more fresh and more wide open to the women's 317 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,120 side. 318 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:00,880 My only thing with the women's side is once again, it's going to be like who are the surprise 319 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:01,880 entrance? 320 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,920 You know, you saw Jordan Gray, who apparently has officially signed her WWE contract, but 321 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,720 she's putting out that she won't be in town for it. 322 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:16,720 And you know, you have a Mickey James possibility because Nick Aldis is already there. 323 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,720 So you have some stuff where they really haven't played with it much. 324 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,160 They're kind of keeping that side more, a little more secretive with the men's side. 325 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,880 With all the possibilities that they're talking about with, you know, whether it's Roman or 326 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:33,080 Cena, like all these interactions that can take place, it's hard for me to even pick 327 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:37,880 out who's the final four for the men, let alone who's actually winning this match. 328 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:38,880 Yeah, it's fun. 329 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,800 I'm stoked for Saturday's PLA. 330 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaking of WWE Creative, Dr. Traa, like I said before here a couple of minutes ago, we 331 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:52,360 often sit here as of late and we praise WWE Creative, which if you are strictly an AW 332 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,520 fan on WWE Hater and you listen to the spot catch, you're like, man, when did they get a 333 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:56,840 trash to do a creative? 334 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,760 Well, I think we may be doing that right now because I think it is time to point out some 335 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,680 of the flaws of WWE Creative. 336 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:10,120 Some things that stand out to me, Dr. Traa, and just as it's in top of mind right now because 337 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:13,440 they mentioned it on, I believe, Monday's Raw. 338 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:20,200 This transfer portal window, I haven't understood it whatsoever. 339 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,760 I wish they had some rules behind it. 340 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,880 There's been finally some movement eight-town-down under, have gone from SmackDown to Raw, Ms. 341 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:34,920 Raw to SmackDown, why it's six, Raw to SmackDown, Damien Raw to SmackDown, Bayley SmackDown 342 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:41,400 to Raw, Nia Jax hasn't been officially moved but she's been performing on Raw. 343 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:48,160 There have been some movements as of late for some people in this transfer portal window 344 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:49,800 and now it's closing at the rumble. 345 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:51,960 And it's like, what was the point of all this? 346 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:53,800 How long was it supposed to be open for? 347 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:54,800 Why do they do this? 348 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:56,800 Is this something that we're going to see more often? 349 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,400 Is there going to be no more draft? 350 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,000 I thought that was a major flaw. 351 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,880 One else that I'll point out, the booking of Gunther and Damien Priests is World Heavyweight 352 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:05,880 Champions. 353 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,760 I think has been very poor. 354 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:13,320 I don't think that they've done a good job getting those two guys over as world champions. 355 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,760 And this may just be the case of the first title reign because a lot of people in their 356 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,920 first world title reign aren't necessarily booked extremely well. 357 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,600 And then their second one comes around and you're like, man, why don't they do this for 358 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,320 X, Y, Z person? 359 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,560 Why didn't they do this before during the first run? 360 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,960 That has been me to me. 361 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:33,880 And then the Raw Tag Team Division. 362 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:39,080 It's compared to SmackDown which is starting to evolve as a tag team division. 363 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,560 It's like, why haven't we done this on the Raw side? 364 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:49,240 Four Raiders and Damien, Adaminec Mysterio and JD McDonough who had a gnarly injury during 365 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,280 that match, had a great match on Raw and hopefully they build off of it. 366 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,960 But the Raw Tag Team Division has basically been dormant and they would always bash Finn 367 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,680 and JD on television for never defending the titles. 368 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:05,040 And it's like, well, the reason for that is because creative isn't booking anything. 369 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,920 So hey, we need to improve that. 370 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,000 I think WWE is actually focusing on something like because they've got some talented tag 371 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,680 teams on the red brand. 372 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,620 Pretty brothers come immediately to mine. 373 00:22:14,620 --> 00:22:17,600 So there's some flaws that I see with the WWE creative right now. 374 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:24,480 I would say it runs at like 95% happiness for me as a wrestling fan doctor, and 5% still 375 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,120 that bitchiness that we'll see on social media. 376 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:31,920 If I was given a letter grade, I'd give it a very solid A. But there are some flaws that 377 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,320 we are starting to see bubble up more often than not when it comes to WWE creative as of 378 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:37,320 late. 379 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:44,080 Yeah, I feel like on one hand, the Raw brand is a little top heavy. 380 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,840 Like there's a lot of big name stars and that's why we've had this conversation several 381 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:50,200 times over the last year. 382 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:55,720 Like when you're looking at Gunther or Damien Priest as your world champion on a brand that 383 00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:03,280 has CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Sammy Zane, Jey O'Sou. 384 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:08,400 Like where does Gunther in at the time, Damien Priest fall in that pecking order of who's 385 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,040 your most bankable star? 386 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:14,400 Usually your champion is your top guy on that show. 387 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:20,200 And I don't think that they've done Damien Priest or Gunther any favors over the last year 388 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:26,480 by positioning him almost as a B+ type player on that show. 389 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,520 You look at SmackDown and it's like Cody's the top guy. 390 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:34,360 Now that Roman's back, it's a little bit 1A and 1B, but it's Cody the top guy. 391 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:40,480 We've had an issue filling in the gap for guys for Cody to challenge where that's why I 392 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:47,400 thought with this roster or with the transfer portal window, you'd see a couple guys moving 393 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,680 to kind of even that out a little bit. 394 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,960 And we saw Damien Priest make the move, but he's on the same side as Cody. 395 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,800 Like he's a maybe face for all intents and purposes. 396 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:02,160 Like who's the next challenger on that brand after you move away from KO? 397 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,240 So I feel like there's some depth issues. 398 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,840 The tag team division on SmackDown since the most of machine gun, the show has gotten 399 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:10,840 better. 400 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:16,120 The raw side, when you have the war raiders and you have the judgment day, but then you're 401 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:17,120 using those guys. 402 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:19,280 But the creepers have it really been used. 403 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,920 We really never saw any of the why it's six get used in tag team. 404 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,040 But new day finally have something to do, but now they're looking like a little bit of 405 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,400 like the bumbling idiot type gimmick going with them. 406 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:37,960 I was kind of bummed out when they moved A town down or A town down under so raw because 407 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:42,280 I thought the A town down under pairing with the Miz would have been great. 408 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,080 But to then suddenly shift them to raw makes you feel a little bit weak. 409 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:47,400 So yeah, there's there's something. 410 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:53,840 And then to me, even the women's division, like it's felt monopolized by Rhea and Liv. 411 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:58,520 And luckily we have the intercontinental title to kind of start building some depth, but 412 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:04,560 it feels like there's such a dramatic drop off from Liv and Rhea to everybody else on 413 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,080 that show. 414 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:11,480 You know, it's like, man, like who are you building up to really be the next challenger for 415 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:12,480 those guys? 416 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,720 And maybe moving Naya and Bailey over is what their bandaid solution for it is, but now 417 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,880 you have the same problem on SmackDown with all right. 418 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,120 You got Tiffany. 419 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:23,480 Who else you got? 420 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,680 Yes, everybody else has been kind of shifted around or stuck in tag teams and you really have 421 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,040 them built up anybody else to be that next breakout star. 422 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,320 So there are some chinks in the armor. 423 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:38,920 I'd give WWE booking over the last, you know, five months, like an A minus just because 424 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:44,840 like we're focusing on the cool kids club and we're not focusing on the band kids who can 425 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,000 turn into the cool kids later on. 426 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,080 Yeah, it's a very interesting time because I think from a roster standpoint, this is one 427 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:56,480 of the most talented WWE rosters I've seen in nearly 25, 30 years top to bottom. 428 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:01,160 It's like, man, this is, I really feel like that the way that this roster is set right now 429 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,720 and who's on the roster and how they're performing and where they could be going. 430 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,920 This is one of those deals where 20 years from now fans that are like, we're our age with 431 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:14,360 an attitude error as teenagers in our early 20s and join professional wrestling. 432 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:19,040 It's like, you don't realize it at the time and then you look back and it's like, man, 433 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,560 I think in 2009, 2000, Edging Christian and the Hardies were on the bottom of the card. 434 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:27,720 Kurt Angles in the middle of the card and Rock and Austin Triple H were running at the top. 435 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,800 It's like, can you imagine that today? 436 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,560 And I think that they've got that right now. 437 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:37,360 I think this is a roster where you look back and you're talking about 20 years from now, 438 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:42,960 how does this compare to that attitude error of 96 to 2001-ish WWE programming? 439 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,160 And I think they're there, but there are things that need to improve and I'm with you. 440 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,280 I think the biggest thing and we talked about this at the initial launch of the Netflix 441 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,400 era of Monday Night Raw. 442 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:59,000 Raw has definitely lost its identity since going to Netflix because it's become so top-heavy 443 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:03,120 and they're focusing on a lot more of the top stars rather than all the build that you 444 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:08,560 saw over the last four months when it was on the USA Network, which as a long time fan 445 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:14,160 of WWE as a fan who watches WWE 52 weeks of the year is disappointing. 446 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,360 But I get why you're trying to grab those new folks that are probably tuning into Netflix 447 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:23,120 for the first time and hoping that they stick around there through WrestleMania season. 448 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,880 So there are some things that WWE Creative needs to work on. 449 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,360 We obviously are pointing those out and we'd love to hear what you have to say. 450 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:33,680 Hit us up on Twitter @srtupodcast. 451 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,880 Speaking of Creative Teams, Dr. Troy, one creative team that we definitely take shots at here 452 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,560 more often than not is the AW Creative Team. 453 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:46,680 And there are reports out there as of late that Tony Khan is quote more in the weeds when 454 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,640 it comes to AW Creative. 455 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,480 I don't know exactly what that means but some of the things that they're pointing out 456 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,320 there is the last weeks of programming. 457 00:27:55,320 --> 00:28:00,320 The opening segment from not the most recent edition of Dynamite but the week prior of 458 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,520 Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay working together was really good. 459 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,280 I thought it ran a little bit too long for my liking but I thought it was really good. 460 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,000 I thought it was a step in the right direction. 461 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,720 Another segment that everybody's talking about and I heard about this before I ever watched 462 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:17,720 it. 463 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:18,720 I did not watch Collision Live. 464 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:24,080 I watched it on DVR was the return of Timelstone Storm and I clearly enceded on social 465 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:25,080 meeting. 466 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,080 And everybody was raving about it. 467 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:31,320 I watched the segment happen and I wasn't the biggest fan of it. 468 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:32,320 I got in it. 469 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,440 I did not like that Mariah May beat the crap out of Tony Storm and that's how we got the 470 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,160 return of Timelstone Storm coming back. 471 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:44,640 I would have liked to see something where Mariah May is acknowledging this Tony Storm that 472 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:51,640 was out there with Mneeja shakes her hand, laughs and walks away and then that's when Timelstone 473 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:58,480 Storm goes, "Oh one last thing Mariah in that Timelstone Storm voice, the best role I've 474 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,400 ever played or the most challenging one is one playing yourself rather than the beat 475 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,360 down that was in the middle of all that all." 476 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:11,200 With that said, it's like there's been some good high buzz talked about segments and then 477 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:17,120 the report comes out that like Tony Wheat Khan is back in the weeds of AW Creative. 478 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:18,400 What do you make of this Dr. Trey? 479 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,920 What did you think of the last 10 days of AW Creative? 480 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,800 What do you think about this report about Tony Khan being in there? 481 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:28,040 Because quite honestly, I think it's a load of BS because it's not like he was away from 482 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:29,480 the company for a period of time. 483 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:30,920 These things were still happening. 484 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,720 He was still pushing the wrong people in the main event picture when people were clamoring 485 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,520 for Will Osprey, Darby Allen or Swarov Strickland to be in that role against the death 486 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:39,520 writers. 487 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,960 He's still pushing those buttons so I don't exactly know what this means that Tony Khan 488 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,200 is back in the weeds or more in the weeds of AW Creative. 489 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,800 Oh, I thought I missed red of that. 490 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,200 I thought that Tony Khan is back smoking weed. 491 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,960 Sometimes it feels that way, especially when he hugs his arm. 492 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:02,800 Yeah, to me, I didn't get the report because I was told that Tony Khan has the final say 493 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,880 over all creative booking in the book and the buck stops with him. 494 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:11,320 That's when we were all led to believe when this whole, you know, the EVP shake down happen. 495 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,960 It was like, no, no, no, Tony Khan is the final voice. 496 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,720 And then you hear this is like, wait, does that mean he was away from the booking for a while? 497 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:24,240 And that's why the book he was out of sorts or like it just confused me more than anything 498 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:25,240 else. 499 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,600 I thought Creative had gotten better over the last few weeks. 500 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:34,760 Like I liked the offspray, Kenny Omega stuff, like even the, the only thing was, but even 501 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,760 their interactions were like, you know, even when Kenny is acknowledging, hey, the last time 502 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,560 I saw you, you were with Don Callis. 503 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,400 Like that's the stuff that you and I guys like you and I love. 504 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:50,280 Whereas like it's not that short term wrestling fan memory booking that Vince used to do, 505 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:54,440 it is going, hey, I know you guys saw this and remember this. 506 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:55,680 I'm going to acknowledge it. 507 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:57,240 I thought that was good. 508 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,160 The Don Callis family dinner. 509 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,480 I enjoy the Tony storm, Mariah May stuff. 510 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,480 Would I have done it a little bit differently? 511 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:06,480 Yeah. 512 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,160 I felt like they're kind of shotgunning this. 513 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,440 This could have been even bigger reveal. 514 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:19,680 You know, you could have had Mariah May befriend Tony storm and have her act as a mentor to, 515 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:21,400 you know, the ups, I'm air quoting here. 516 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,840 You can't see it because we don't have our cameras on. 517 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:30,920 The upstart rookie Tony storm have her take Tony under her wing to then later reveal that 518 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:32,720 time was Tony storm is here all along. 519 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:33,720 That would have been good. 520 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,560 And that to me would have been that would have been a really good angle to play. 521 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:37,560 Yeah. 522 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:41,120 I felt like they shot gunned it because I thought the rookie Tony storm gimmick was actually 523 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,240 pretty, like pretty good. 524 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:48,400 So I felt like they rushed that a little bit, but still I thought that the, the, the promo 525 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,960 and the soliloquy that she presented was, was really good in the crowd pop forward and 526 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:55,240 that thing of the day, you want your crowd happy. 527 00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:02,040 So even, you know, like, but there's still some kinks in the armor, the, you know, the stuff 528 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,800 with cope and FTR against the death writers and, you know, some things like that. 529 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:11,120 There's still some chinks in the armor, but I thought overall the presentation and the 530 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,280 programming had been better the last two weeks. 531 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:18,800 But to get that report that he's in the weeks, to me in the weeks means like you're behind 532 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,640 the scenes, but you're kind of taking a back seat role. 533 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:28,680 I don't know what they meant by that statement because it just, to me, it sounds like he's 534 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:36,080 there, but he's letting other people run the show, but he's just there to have, I guess, 535 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,160 final approval or answer any questions that people I have. 536 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,440 I don't really, like, I'm with you. 537 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:45,440 I don't get with that statement really means because to me, it means he's stepped back 538 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,880 and he's letting other people run the show. 539 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,960 But what, what it sounded like to me is that people were praising the last recent weeks of 540 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,200 programming for a W and Tony commas, taking like credit for it. 541 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,480 So I mean, that's how I, I interpreted it to be honest with you. 542 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:04,400 It's, it's had, there have been some really good positives. 543 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,400 I just don't, it's in the step in the right direction. 544 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,880 I, I wouldn't say like the pendulum is swinging back in AW direction, but it's like, I like 545 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:13,880 what I see. 546 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,000 One from a guy that watches AW every single week. 547 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:19,000 There have been some things. 548 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,480 I like the Osprey, Kenny Omega coming together. 549 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,540 I like the dinner at the table there with the Donalds, Don Couls family. 550 00:33:27,540 --> 00:33:33,320 I thought collision this past Saturday was a show I, I could have done without with the 551 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:34,320 exception. 552 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:39,600 I like the powerhouse Hobbs, Bill Bill, Big Bill interactions. 553 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,760 Big Bill clearly could not get the handcuffs on, on Wil Hobbs, which kind of, 554 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,120 made things weird. 555 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,440 Do they make, did they make handcuffs in Wil Hobbs size? 556 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:50,440 Like that's a big point. 557 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:51,440 Probably not. 558 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,640 I'm going to gas that the purpose of that was him to break them off because the way that 559 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,240 the other spots went, especially through the table, I was like they didn't improvise 560 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:00,240 this. 561 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:03,320 I was thinking they were probably like, he's handcuffed to everyone else breaks them, 562 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:04,320 like the incredible Hulk. 563 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:09,760 There might was a, was a Mark Henry that had the handcuffs spot with the hell in the 564 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:10,760 cell one point. 565 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:14,600 But they didn't, they, they forgot to Jimmy the handcuffs, like they're supposed to, so 566 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,200 he legitimately broke up hair handcuffs. 567 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:23,600 Well I know the story about this, but Mark Hobbs, Mark Hobbs, Mark Henry is, they had him, 568 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,480 they did not Jimmy the door on a steel cage one. 569 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:27,920 The door, yeah, that's what it was. 570 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:33,960 That's what I think that was the one you're talking about and he legitimately did that. 571 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:38,080 And that may have been a rib, knowing the way that they treated Mark Henry in time to 572 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,920 some stuff, especially when Mark Henry, 573 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:41,960 tell some really funny stories. 574 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,240 But yeah, you know, there's steps in the right direction and I must say if we're going 575 00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:48,920 to be talking about AW, I saw something online with social media, I'm not the biggest fan 576 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,160 of the Death Riders angle whatsoever. 577 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:56,640 I see people online calling them the death ratings and I laughed. 578 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,880 I know that, I know that was a good name. 579 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:03,180 They should have, I mean if that's the case, you just take what MJF said about Jeff 580 00:35:03,180 --> 00:35:06,720 Jarrett and stick Jeff Jarrett with the death writers and it wouldn't be kind of true. 581 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:10,360 Can we just talk about MJF real quick? Is the lustre off of him? 582 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:11,840 Is the lustre off of MJF? 583 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:13,880 Speaking of creative that is confusing. 584 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:18,240 I mean, the glasses, the sunglasses, he's wearing, I don't know if he's doing that as a 585 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:20,280 joke, but I don't find it funny. 586 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:26,200 Like I miss the MJF that I was like, man, this is Roddy Piper back, this is awesome. 587 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:32,960 Like there are things about MJF that he does that are so subtle, like wearing like the 588 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:37,920 initial promo with Jeff Jarrett where he's blasting Jeff Jarrett and saying he's riding Owen's 589 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:38,920 coattails. 590 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:43,480 Meanwhile, he's wearing a blue blazer, like little subtle things like that. 591 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:44,920 I do enjoy it. 592 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,040 I just don't know what the storyline is. 593 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:50,960 They put him in a lot of times. 594 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,520 I don't see what the upside is. 595 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:59,000 Like you should be be positioning your future stars. 596 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:02,840 The guys you're building this company around the guy that you just apparently is, you know, 597 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:09,440 trying to multi-year deal in positions where it accentuates him and moves him up to the 598 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:10,440 next level. 599 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,560 I don't know where he's with Jeff Jarrett. 600 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:18,080 Jeff Jarrett hasn't won really anything in the last year. 601 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:23,240 So you're putting MJF out there with a guy that's basically beginning his ass kick for a 602 00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:26,280 year since he's not in any of his television. 603 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,600 How does that help MJF? 604 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:33,080 Like are you trying to elevate Jeff Jarrett at the expense of MJF? 605 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:37,960 Like it doesn't, this is where the creative comes in where I'm like, this doesn't make sense. 606 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:41,080 You know, it's Darby Allen losing to Jack Perry in a coffin match. 607 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:46,120 It's like, okay, that doesn't make a ton of sense in the long term. 608 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:50,920 Now it could be who, like once again, MJF's loss could be lost here because he's due to 609 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:55,800 a Jeff Jarrett, a person that, I mean, really, like he said, how many people are diehard 610 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:57,520 Jeff Jarrett fans? 611 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,360 Like it's not really getting the great reaction. 612 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,440 We just saw the same thing with Adam Cole in him where they're coming back, but they switched 613 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:07,360 roles and the fans have stopped caring about the feud. 614 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,840 Like you're not putting him in places where he can really shine. 615 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:15,680 Now part of it is, yeah, some of his promos, I feel like he's phoning it in. 616 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,000 Like he's just going for the cheap heat and that's it. 617 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:22,000 Like it doesn't feel like he has, it doesn't feel like he's having fun. 618 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,520 And that's one thing you and I always talk about in this show is when the guys are having 619 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:29,080 fun, we feel it. 620 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,240 Look at Drew McIntyre earlier this year, like we're like, this guy's having a blast and he 621 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:36,840 elevates himself up to me when the top guys in the company all over again in a different 622 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:37,840 role. 623 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:43,040 It just feels like, you know, guys like MJF or, and even to a degree, the deathwriters, like 624 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:44,440 they're not having fun. 625 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,320 They're just going through the motions and you kind of feel that through the television. 626 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:53,240 Yeah, it's, there's definitely some weird aura going on there with AW with certain elements. 627 00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:58,040 So yeah, I miss the old MJF stuff, but I will say the last 10 days programming overall for 628 00:37:58,040 --> 00:37:59,040 AW. 629 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,760 It's definitely set up in the right direction and hope things continue there. 630 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,880 But I just thought like Tony Kombi and more on the Weets VW creative. 631 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,080 It's like, well, where's he, where's he been? 632 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:09,320 Like, did he not give a crap for the last four months? 633 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:13,120 I mean, it's just a weird story to put out there and you have to figure the way that 634 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:16,560 this story was directed that it came from AW to try. 635 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,120 Yeah, I mean, he had soccer going on. 636 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:20,120 Yeah, of course. 637 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:24,760 And, you know, him and his dad had to fire coach and then hire a guy who said, do 638 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:30,120 Vall, maybe the creepiest I've ever heard you've all said, do you know what I'm saying? 639 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:31,120 Oh, I know. 640 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:36,520 It's just like, I just pictured Liam Cohen and now as a murder, like a, like the serial killer 641 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:38,880 and a Jacksonville horror movie. 642 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:44,560 We haven't even gotten a chance to talk about this, but as NFL fans, I mean, the, the 643 00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:48,280 con family for if you're just strictly arresting fan and you don't follow what's going 644 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:49,760 on in the NFL. 645 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:57,440 The con family is like looked at as joke owners now and I'm like, man, this is kind of bleeding 646 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,360 into potentially how people feel on the rest of the things as well. 647 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:10,160 Yeah, no, I mean, I mean, I, the Jaguars have always been kind of like my, like my secret 648 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:11,160 favorite team. 649 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:17,320 Like, yeah, I love my honors, but I always, I always wanted to find an AFC team to root for, 650 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,720 you know, so that way it's like, I have one on each side. 651 00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:24,680 And Mark Bernel brought you in that you were like a, you were a fan of Steve Young lefty, 652 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,280 Frower, Kodobak and some of the Cornell. 653 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:29,280 Mark Bernel, Jimmy Smith, Fred Taylor. 654 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:30,760 I like the Tony Bustelli. 655 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:31,760 Tom Cofflin. 656 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:38,240 Oh, yeah, but when they brought in Trent Balky to be their GM, I knew that was going to 657 00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:41,080 be a train wreck because I dealt with him on the nighters. 658 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:48,080 So I knew that's a bad, but yes, like, you know, the urban Meyer hiring, the Doug Peterson 659 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:52,280 two years, and it's like, they're not giving these guys any time to actually build anything 660 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:54,120 and then you're sticking them with a crappy GM. 661 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:55,320 You're not going to be anything done. 662 00:39:55,320 --> 00:40:03,160 So, but yeah, like they are, they're not dance, nighter, Redskins, commanders owner of 663 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:10,000 bad, but they're right there in that weird Jerry Jones level where if you're, if you like 664 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,400 the Khan family in that part of the Jacksonville area, then you're great. 665 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,520 The rest of the area just despises them and wants them to disappear. 666 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:21,880 I'm a Tony, I'm a, I'm a shotgun fan because it was mustache like if that's, I'll give him 667 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,120 the credit, I'll give him credit because he looks like a real life Mario. 668 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:26,280 That's, that's very fair. 669 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:29,080 I think that's very fair. 670 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:33,800 So we've been bouncing around here, WWE creative, AW creative, well, the head of WWE creative 671 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:36,960 is one Paul triple H, LeVec. 672 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,920 And it was announced yesterday on social media. 673 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:44,840 Dr. Dre threw various reports that there was a town hall meeting at WWE headquarters over 674 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:45,840 in Stanford, Connecticut. 675 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:50,320 And it was announced during all of that that triple H would be the first member of the 676 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,800 2025 WWE Hall of Fame class that the undertaker came out. 677 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:55,000 Sean Michaels came out surprised. 678 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:56,920 They meant it was a whole big thing. 679 00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:00,520 Later that evening, WWE released footage of it. 680 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:03,080 If you have not had an opportunity to watch the footage, go out of your way and check it 681 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:04,640 out. 682 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:09,400 But long overdue, so well deserved. 683 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:14,720 I'm happy that he's going in and it's just not on his own and not just with degeneration 684 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:19,040 X. Because I thought it was going to be like a Vince thing where the person running the 685 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:23,280 show with the pencil is never going to get a chance to put himself in. 686 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:29,200 Paul triple H, LeVec is headlining the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame class. 687 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,160 Dr. Dre, the impact is wrestler. 688 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:35,440 Now the impact is a booker. 689 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:36,440 This is awesome. 690 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,520 So very well deserved for the cerebral assassin and get his rightful place at the Hall of 691 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,680 Fame during WrestleMania 41 weekend. 692 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:49,520 Yeah, I honestly had not I forgot that he had not been put in as a wrestler. 693 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:54,040 Like I knew he's a Hall of Fame from DX and just didn't dawn on me that he wasn't in for 694 00:41:54,040 --> 00:42:01,520 everything he had done as a professional wrestler leading into his new role. 695 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,840 He's a marvel to me in so many ways. 696 00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:11,760 Like he's the perfect blend of coming from the Vince tree, but also the dusty tree, 697 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:17,280 the fly like he's got so many influences in how his mind works and he's able to meld it 698 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:22,240 together pretty seamlessly for the most part. 699 00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:31,400 Getting that little acknowledgement from his wife, his best friend and his greatest rival. 700 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,920 Like that's pretty cool. 701 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:35,840 And I was thinking about it earlier day. 702 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:44,160 I don't know if there's anybody else in the history of professional wrestling that has 703 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:50,700 got the wrestling community to give him a complete 180 on where they viewed him early 704 00:42:50,700 --> 00:42:57,200 on his career to where he is now because at some point around 1999, he was the most 705 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:02,560 reviled person in pro wrestling because people were basically saying he only got his spot 706 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:04,840 because he married staff. 707 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:10,520 And you see where he's at now and he's arguably the most beloved person in all of professional 708 00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:11,520 wrestling. 709 00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:16,960 My only thing that I wish was I wish Ric Flair was on the WWE roster right now and Ric could 710 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:23,600 help be a part of the festivities for his induction. 711 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,240 Who's who is it going to be Sean or is it going to be taken that induction? 712 00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:27,240 I think it's Sean. 713 00:43:27,240 --> 00:43:29,200 I think it's Sean. 714 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:31,160 I think it is too. 715 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,280 I mean, take your inducted cane. 716 00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:36,280 Anything or take your inducted something recently. 717 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,400 So I think it will be Sean's turn. 718 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:44,520 But yeah, like if you could have had Sean Flair and take the three of them to induct him, 719 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:49,880 I don't know if there's any bigger class of influences around him that could be on TV 720 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:51,560 that's not named Vince. 721 00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:55,520 But yeah, like just well deserving. 722 00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:57,200 I was always a triple H guy. 723 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:01,800 I've always like, Marvel was the rub from Sean, but I always like triple H even when he 724 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,120 was hated by everybody in the wrestling. 725 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:10,520 I was like, the guy goes out there and he makes people want to watch because you hate him 726 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,600 so much, you have to see everybody try kick his ass. 727 00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:15,000 That's one of my favorite things. 728 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:19,440 And he was always great in that role and he's transitioned to other things and he's arguably 729 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:21,880 the best mind in the business right now. 730 00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:27,680 So the guy's like a living like a marvel to me is how well he's resurrected and changed 731 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:32,960 course and got the entire wrestling community to change their opinion on him without actually 732 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:34,680 even saying a word about it. 733 00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:39,120 He just accepted the way it was, did his work and people went, oh crap, he's really good 734 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:40,120 at this. 735 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:41,600 I love the guy. 736 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:50,720 Yeah, like from 96 to 99, I think people were a big fan of the degeneration. 737 00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:53,640 Actually finally got his opportunity as world champion. 738 00:44:53,640 --> 00:45:02,880 And then from 99 till about his injury, the quadricept he was loathed as a heel, legitimately 739 00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:06,880 loathed as a heel and there was some rumbly there on the dirt sheets of why he was getting 740 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:07,880 pushed. 741 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:16,320 He goes away, comes back in 2022 returns for the road to WrestleMania 18 wins the rumble, 742 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:22,480 has one of the best reactions of any return in Madison Square Garden in January 2002. 743 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:24,720 And he was riding as a baby face for a while. 744 00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:30,280 Then shortly thereafter turns heel turns on Sean and then from that point on until about 745 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:38,040 like 2005, it was like triple H was jammed down our throats as a world champion as a heel. 746 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:43,120 And it was not, it was not great times and I am a triple H fan, but that run for triple 747 00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:46,520 H with evolution was was not my favorite. 748 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:52,280 He was headlining pay per views there in 19 B Booker T 20 loses to Benoit. 749 00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:58,640 That was the match with Sean Michaels, 21 loses to Batista helps put Batista over. 750 00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:02,920 And then it things started to pick up more where he had the matches with Cena, he got injured 751 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:06,160 again with the quads and then returned. 752 00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:11,520 And I want to say it was around that time, Dr. Tray that triple H became a father and I 753 00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:16,480 think what anybody who's become a father, me recently, Dr. Tray, it really does change 754 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,920 you, changes you for the better. 755 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:21,720 And you started to see a little bit of a change there. 756 00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:25,200 There was definitely some politics and triple Hs it was still going on, especially if he 757 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:31,080 listened back to those C on punk interviews on his departure from WWE in 2014. 758 00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:36,240 But as time has gone on, he's like really embraced independent wrestling, seeing that as 759 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:42,400 a positive for professional wrestling rather than that was a negative because I think in 760 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:47,080 that 2000 era, he was the type that would crap all over Bringabon or any independent 761 00:46:47,080 --> 00:46:52,440 promotions are taking over at that period of time and then really started to transcend professional 762 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:53,440 wrestling with NXT. 763 00:46:53,440 --> 00:47:00,320 I think NXT led to the popularity of going out there and checking out things like New 764 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:05,800 Japan which then led to the elite being able to do all in which then led to the birth 765 00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:10,720 of AW then AW was doing everything that we want in WWE to be. 766 00:47:10,720 --> 00:47:16,640 Vince goes away, triple H takes over the books and now WWE has been phenomenal under him. 767 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:20,840 I mean it has been so much fun to watch the program and there's obviously a lot of pros, 768 00:47:20,840 --> 00:47:24,880 some cons which we pointed out here but a lot of that is to the credit of triple H and 769 00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:32,040 what's really really cool is the locker room loves and respects him. 770 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:40,560 And that is what I think we will see come April when he goes in the night before WrestleMania, 771 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:45,080 assuming it's the night after WrestleMania as the headliner for the Hall of Fame 772 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:46,080 in the last 2025. 773 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:49,160 I think that roster is going to show him some love. 774 00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:53,400 I think those fans are going to show him some love and it's so just a file we deserved. 775 00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:55,160 I think you hit it on the head, Dr. Trey. 776 00:47:55,160 --> 00:47:57,760 I mean he has done a complete 180. 777 00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:01,760 He was hated by the internet and now he is beloved by the internet. 778 00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:07,440 So high is the highs, lows, lows, highs, again nobody more deserving, Dr. Trey. 779 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:14,920 I mean there's very, very, very, very, very people that are deserving of being a Hall of 780 00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:15,920 Famer at this point. 781 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:21,440 Triple H is one of those people so I'm very excited to see him go in for WrestleMania 782 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:22,440 41 weekend. 783 00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:27,840 Yeah, like you hit the nail and like there's arguably nobody more deserving currently out 784 00:48:27,840 --> 00:48:33,000 there that hasn't been put in for just what they did on the run. 785 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:36,640 We've seen some guys go in as part of groups and stables and tag teams and he was one 786 00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:37,640 of them. 787 00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:42,560 But yeah, I mean for everything he's done, everything he's now contributed the world of wrestling. 788 00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:49,240 I think the biggest compliment I can give him right now as the head of creative is his 789 00:48:49,240 --> 00:48:58,360 ability to course correct, adjust and change some long held standards in what wrestling 790 00:48:58,360 --> 00:48:59,360 has been in WWE. 791 00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:06,360 I mean for years like you would have never seen guys go work in Japan while under WWE contracts. 792 00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:12,200 You would have never seen crossovers with stuff like TNA like they're currently doing with 793 00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:17,760 a McMahon in charge and he can look at the landscape of wrestling and go, hey this would 794 00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:23,840 be really beneficial to us if we do it and the crowd will dig it as well. 795 00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:28,960 He course corrects and adapts better than anybody else I've seen when it comes to running 796 00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:30,960 a major wrestling organization. 797 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:34,480 Yeah, so I'm looking forward to congratulations Paul. 798 00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:38,800 Paul H. LeVac go into the Hall of Fame once again, WrestleMania 41 weekend. 799 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:44,480 Speaking of WrestleMania 41 weekend, Dr. Trey, it kicks off the bill towards it this Saturday, 800 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:47,200 the Royal Rumble previewing predictions. 801 00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:51,000 This Saturday from Lucas Oil, Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. 802 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:52,000 Let's get to it, I trade. 803 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:53,800 Let's give our predictions. 804 00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:57,800 The first being here, the two out of three falls match for the WWE tag team championship, 805 00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:01,720 DIY defend against the Motor City, Motor City machine guns. 806 00:50:01,720 --> 00:50:02,720 I'm excited for this one. 807 00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:05,840 I'm going to go with DIY. 808 00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:08,640 Yeah, I'm excited for this one too. 809 00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:13,280 I'm looking at on paper, I'm like, okay, so if I pick this team, lose the next challenger, 810 00:50:13,280 --> 00:50:17,800 or if I pick this team, lose the next challenger, I'm going to take the Motor City machine guns, 811 00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:21,760 getting their revenge in the belts back, because I can see them going out, they're pretty 812 00:50:21,760 --> 00:50:25,040 deadly coming on and being the next challenger and have some great match leading in your 813 00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:26,040 wrestling. 814 00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:31,880 So I'm going to take MCMG to get the win, which is weird for me because I love DIY is the 815 00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:34,200 new age version of KO and Sammy. 816 00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:39,000 I usually never picking as DIY, but in this case, I'm going to take the machine guns. 817 00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:43,600 Next match is the latter match for the Undisputed WWE Championship, Dr. Trey. 818 00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:44,600 Who do you like in this one? 819 00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:47,960 Cody Rhodes or Kevin Owens? 820 00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:55,160 Because we are so close to WrestleMania, we are only 60 some odd days out from WrestleMania. 821 00:50:55,160 --> 00:50:57,760 I really want to see KO win. 822 00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:00,920 Jeff, you have no idea how badly I won KO as match. 823 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:02,160 I just don't see it having. 824 00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:04,200 Cody's your biggest star in the company. 825 00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:08,680 You want him heading into Mania as your champion, not trying to get the belt back really quickly 826 00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:09,680 before Mania. 827 00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:13,920 I'm going to take Cody retaining the title and maybe that's the whole thing. 828 00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:18,600 He gets to take the wing, the winged Eagle title home and put it on the mantle next to 829 00:51:18,600 --> 00:51:20,000 the picture of his death. 830 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:25,280 There are some rumors out there that a new championship is set to debut that will resemble 831 00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:26,800 more of the winged Eagle. 832 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,360 And that's why this has been involved in it. 833 00:51:29,360 --> 00:51:30,360 Warriors Cross on that one. 834 00:51:30,360 --> 00:51:34,120 I am also taking Cody Rhodes to win and to retain. 835 00:51:34,120 --> 00:51:38,120 And now the tough one, Dr. Trey, the women's Royal Rumble match. 836 00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:45,200 The winner receives a women's World Championship match at WrestleMania 41. 837 00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:50,440 I've been thinking about this one and I think because of the lack of build, I mentioned earlier 838 00:51:50,440 --> 00:51:53,800 the 2023 Cody Rhodes return from injury blueprint. 839 00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:58,000 I think that is what they're going to be doing this Saturday. 840 00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:02,560 I think they're going to be doing that blueprint with Charlotte Flair. 841 00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:04,600 Charlotte is my pick to win the Rumble. 842 00:52:04,600 --> 00:52:08,440 I think her and Tiffany Stratton have a match at WrestleMania that has been the Rumble 843 00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:14,920 And I think this is the way that they get Charlotte in later in the match. 844 00:52:14,920 --> 00:52:16,680 She's not in the for a long time. 845 00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:18,440 She's still coming off of injury. 846 00:52:18,440 --> 00:52:22,280 We don't really see her wrestle all that much up until WrestleMania. 847 00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:23,560 Keep her fresh. 848 00:52:23,560 --> 00:52:25,720 Keep her un-injured like they did with Cody. 849 00:52:25,720 --> 00:52:30,280 So I'm going to go with Charlotte Flair to win the women's Royal Rumble match once again. 850 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:35,600 Yeah, to me it came down to Charlotte and Becky. 851 00:52:35,600 --> 00:52:39,760 To me, everybody else we talked about on the show. 852 00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:43,320 Either has been in the title picture, been at the top of the card. 853 00:52:43,320 --> 00:52:47,880 We've already seen all the other matchups you can possibly come up with. 854 00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:51,240 Outside of throwing Bianca into the mix by the thing, she's going to get tied up with 855 00:52:51,240 --> 00:52:58,000 Jade at some point here or some kind of weird love triangle between her Naomi and Jade. 856 00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,240 So I'm taking Charlotte as well. 857 00:53:00,240 --> 00:53:06,960 What I would love to see is Charlotte win and basically do like almost take Tiffany under 858 00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:13,560 her wing and protect her to get to WrestleMania then you get that match because it does kind of 859 00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:19,240 feel like Tiffany and Charlotte is almost like watching like the old version and the young 860 00:53:19,240 --> 00:53:21,400 version of the same person wrestling. 861 00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:25,920 So it might be one of a few times I've actually been intrigued to see how a Charlotte match 862 00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:28,680 will play out if we do get Charlotte and Tiffany. 863 00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:31,760 So I'm taking Charlotte to win the women's Rumble as well. 864 00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:36,640 And then finally the men's Royal Rumble match winner receives a men's world champion match 865 00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:37,640 of WrestleMania 41. 866 00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:42,280 Dr. Trey, who do you have in this one? 867 00:53:42,280 --> 00:53:43,280 This one's tough. 868 00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:45,960 It's almost by process of elimination is how I got to it. 869 00:53:45,960 --> 00:53:49,120 Like we mentioned earlier, you got Drew McIntyre Seth Rollins. 870 00:53:49,120 --> 00:53:55,720 C.M. Pong, John Cena, Roman Reigns, you got Damien Priest, Sami Zayn, Jay Huso. 871 00:53:55,720 --> 00:53:59,120 I almost feel like a lot of those guys are going to help eliminate each other in a lot of 872 00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:00,120 ways. 873 00:54:00,120 --> 00:54:05,000 And I looked at it and went like who's the person who doesn't have a huge rivalry with anybody 874 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:08,080 else going on that would cause them to lose this match? 875 00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:12,320 But John Cena, Cena is not in a rivalry with anybody. 876 00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:16,040 Like Roman's got solo, we figure solo is going to get involved or Jay can fight too. 877 00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:18,480 We figured the bloodline would be in the match. 878 00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:20,400 Jay and Sami got their stuff with Drew. 879 00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:23,320 C.M. Pong's got his stuff with Seth. 880 00:54:23,320 --> 00:54:27,520 I feel like all these guys are going to kind of help eliminate each other. 881 00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:31,320 And then you're left with John Cena standing there because I still, to me, the money matching 882 00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:36,120 WrestleMania still, one of the big matches would be Cena versus Gunther, Cena going for 883 00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:37,120 the record. 884 00:54:37,120 --> 00:54:40,240 So I'm taking John Cena to win the Rumble. 885 00:54:40,240 --> 00:54:43,440 Yeah, this is a tough call. 886 00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:49,080 I've been thinking about this for a long time here and the direction they may be going. 887 00:54:49,080 --> 00:54:54,440 There's Rumbleings of Cody Rhodes versus John Cena at WrestleMania. 888 00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:57,720 There's Rumbleings of Logan Paul versus Gunther at WrestleMania. 889 00:54:57,720 --> 00:55:00,200 John Cena versus Gunther at WrestleMania. 890 00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:08,960 Dr. Jay pointed out and all be all I'm going to go with CM Punk to win the men's Royal Rumble 891 00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:09,960 match. 892 00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:15,800 And a lot of momentum, he's never main evented, he's never won the Rumble match. 893 00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:20,280 And I think this is something that is missing on the resume of one CM Punk. 894 00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:24,560 So I'm very tempted to pick John Cena as well, Dr. Trey. 895 00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:29,480 But I'm going to go with CM Punk to win the men's Royal Rumble match. 896 00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:34,920 And we will recap and review everything from the Royal Rumble on next week's edition of 897 00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:38,480 SRTU, the first episode of the month of February. 898 00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:40,800 So stay tuned for that one. 899 00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:44,240 We obviously go into this paper view, zero and zero. 900 00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:47,640 Coming off of 2024's paper view predictions, which I won Dr. Trey. 901 00:55:47,640 --> 00:55:49,760 I win 145 and 43. 902 00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:51,760 You win 129 and 59. 903 00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:56,320 So I think we need to start to parlay some of the stuff with like draft Kings or Fandall. 904 00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:57,320 [LAUGH] 905 00:55:57,320 --> 00:56:02,240 >> Well, I mean, you have a lot more connections with those guys than I do. 906 00:56:02,240 --> 00:56:03,480 I'm in Alabama. 907 00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:09,320 I can't even legally go on those sites to play some wager on anything. 908 00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,000 So you might have a little more pull with those guys. 909 00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:15,400 Look, you were kicking my ass the entire year the last month and a half. 910 00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:17,600 I literally just started picking an opposite of you to try and catch up. 911 00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:19,560 Obviously, I didn't work out. 912 00:56:19,560 --> 00:56:22,240 But this year, I have a different mindset. 913 00:56:22,240 --> 00:56:28,640 I am trying to, instead of pick with my heart, try to more pick with my logic and 914 00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:31,640 kind of how the shows are being put together and booked. 915 00:56:31,640 --> 00:56:33,800 So hopefully that will turn things around. 916 00:56:33,800 --> 00:56:37,120 Not to mention, I'm sure we'll get into this here in a minute. 917 00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:39,160 Sammy Franklin still has to pick his stuff. 918 00:56:39,160 --> 00:56:45,160 That will be up on the Facebook page either later tonight when this comes out or 919 00:56:45,160 --> 00:56:46,440 definitely before the rumble. 920 00:56:46,440 --> 00:56:51,640 Sammy Franklin who has never picked a rumble winner correctly and 921 00:56:51,640 --> 00:56:54,240 usually picks the first person eliminated. 922 00:56:54,240 --> 00:57:00,960 So I'm excited to see who he picks for this year's rumble to see if his streak continues on. 923 00:57:00,960 --> 00:57:01,960 Stay tuned. 924 00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:02,960 I am looking forward to that. 925 00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:05,960 That will be on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/todayrealthosshow. 926 00:57:05,960 --> 00:57:12,320 With that said, let's get a couple of plugs and sponsors out of the way you can download 927 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:15,960 the show every Thursday or Friday at realguyradio.com. 928 00:57:15,960 --> 00:57:19,800 Russell Chatnet on X and the Stoodle Realthos Show iTunes feed. 929 00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:23,480 Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to help us kind of charge on iTunes. 930 00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:25,760 You can also individually on X for myself at SRTU. 931 00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:28,760 Jeff and for Dr. Franklin at the Dr. Tre. 932 00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:33,920 And of course don't forget to follow the show on X at SRTU podcast. 933 00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:39,080 Without being sad of what is going on in the wonderful world of Dr. Franklin this week. 934 00:57:39,080 --> 00:57:43,200 Well like Jeff said, you can follow me on X at the Dr. Tre. 935 00:57:43,200 --> 00:57:47,280 You can find me on Facebook and Instagram Dr. Tre Franklin. 936 00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:50,760 When you're on Facebook, be sure to check out Rocket City Championship Wrestling. 937 00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:53,040 We actually will be doing a show this Saturday night. 938 00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:56,960 So I may not be able to watch the rumble live because we got some Rocket City stuff going 939 00:57:56,960 --> 00:58:03,800 on as we are on the road to WrestlingCon 5 May 4th from Lovely Hazel Green Alabama. 940 00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:07,400 Also be sure to check out Spartan Championship Wrestling, one of my favorite groups to work 941 00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:09,040 with here in the Save Alabama. 942 00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:12,800 But most importantly, get out there, find your own independent wrestling shows. 943 00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:14,320 Dig in. 944 00:58:14,320 --> 00:58:19,120 The weather is changing, the sun is coming out, all these great things are happening. 945 00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:22,760 So go out there, find your local independent wrestling show and see if there are promoters 946 00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:26,240 hiding in the back in the weeds, secretly booking the shows. 947 00:58:26,240 --> 00:58:30,600 So there you go, enjoy everything that is out there in the world of professional wrestling. 948 00:58:30,600 --> 00:58:33,840 It's going to be a very fun weekend as the road to WrestlingCon 4.1 kicks off. 949 00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:38,920 One of my favorite shows to sit down, relax and just enjoy the Royal Rumble PLE Live from 950 00:58:38,920 --> 00:58:41,720 Indianapolis, Indiana, Lucas Oil Stadium. 951 00:58:41,720 --> 00:58:45,440 So once again, we'll be back next week to recap it and review it for all of you. 952 00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:47,160 Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the Royal Rumble. 953 00:58:47,160 --> 00:58:50,440 Difficult to rate, review and subscribe to SRTU. 954 00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:54,240 And until next week for Dodge Strike Franklin, I am Jeff Peck. 955 00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:56,200 This has been The Still Rural Show.