Latest / Real. Guy. Pods. / WWE’s Big ESPN Deal, WWE vs. AEW Heats Up & Kross Contract Fallout | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #809 – 08/14/25
Transcript
- 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 It's still real to me! 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,000 Dammit! 3 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:12,000 [music] 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,000 What up, eeeh! 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,000 [music] 6 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Welcome everybody! 7 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Welcome to this week's edition of "The So Real This Show" 8 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:25,000 Episode of our 809 for August 14, 2025 9 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,000 Welcome to this week's edition of "Ask RT You." 10 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,000 I am one after the show. I am Jeff Peck. 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,000 joined every single week when I go as a lonely doctor, 12 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Tray Franklin. Dr. Tray, I just signed up for my annual subscription of peacock 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,000 about two weeks ago, my friend. 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,000 [laughs] 15 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:52,000 So I'm on month to month and that's why I refuse to do anything 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:58,000 that much of a long-term commitment just for somebody else to bite me in the ass. 17 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,000 So I hope you like all the additions of the office. 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:04,000 I do. 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,000 Maybe some new additions of the spin-off show, 20 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,000 the paper that's coming out soon. 21 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,000 Maybe, I don't know what else peacock has. 22 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:14,000 I know they have the office. 23 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,000 I think they have like one NFL playoff game. 24 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,000 They are going to have the NBA on NBC, which I'm a 90s kid. 25 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,000 So that's nostalgic. 26 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,000 Yeah, I don't know what else they have because I just went there for WWE. 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,000 And now WWE is going to a new place. 28 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:35,000 So maybe, maybe they keep the library, maybe they keep NXT PLEs? 29 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,000 Who knows? 30 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 Because, yeah, there's a big change there. 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:44,000 As we'll kick off this week's edition of the show with a big story that WWE and ESPN announced a deal 32 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:49,000 to carry premium live events starting in 2026. 33 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,000 It is in the billion with a B range. 34 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,000 I believe it's around 1.6 billion for five years this deal with WWE and ESPN. 35 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:06,000 It's about $180 million more a year than they were making from the peacock deal that they signed five years ago now. 36 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:15,000 Yeah, it's funny because I just got an email back in June that my subscription, my annual subscription for peacock was coming up. 37 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:22,000 And I was like, man, I don't think they're going back to peacock because they don't do a lot of original programming on there anymore. 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,000 I think the most recent one was the documentary on WrestleMania 9. 39 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000 And outside of that, there is nothing. 40 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Like the only reason why I go to peacock for WWE content now is the PLEs. 41 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,000 That's it. 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,000 So, I was like, I don't know if I want to renew it. 43 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,000 I want to do month a month potentially. 44 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:50,000 And I looked online, which is my mistake, and it said that the peacock deal lasted until March, 2026. 45 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,000 So, I thought to myself, I was like, I'll screw it. 46 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,000 I'll do the annual subscription. 47 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,000 I'll keep it. 48 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,000 And then it, you know, I won't renew it in July, 2026. 49 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Who knows? Maybe something comes up. 50 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Maybe they renew with peacock. 51 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,000 And then literally like two weeks later, they announced the deal with ESPN. 52 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,000 And I was like, you have got to be shitting me. 53 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:14,000 But I guess, Dr. Trey, that if, which I'm still trying to get clarity on, 54 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:22,000 if you are someone who is a cable, has cable service or several streaming services, 55 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:29,000 you may get this direct to consumer ESPN product that they're now pushing for free, 56 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,000 along with your regular account. 57 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,000 So, there is no additional money. 58 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000 And I have the streaming service of Direct TV from my regular television. 59 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,000 Direct TV is in there. 60 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,000 And I chatted with Direct TV online last week to find out about this. 61 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,000 They had no answers, which is shocking. 62 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:53,000 But, yeah, this actually may work out for some people out there, Dr. Trey. 63 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:03,000 But this is a big deal. WWE Pay Per Views, PLEs, will be on ESPN moving forward in 2026. 64 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:10,000 Yeah, no, it's a huge deal. And in some ways actually legitimizes WWE more. 65 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,000 And they played with this in the past. 66 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Like we saw the ESPN WWE Crosswear for a little bit a couple of years ago, 67 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,000 where they were talking about WWE on like sports center stuff. 68 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:28,000 You had Ad Non-Virt come over to post Raw or to run, you know, be played by play on Raw. 69 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:35,000 So it does and give like a little bit of legitimacy to WWE kind of like they've done with UFC in the past. 70 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:43,000 But for me, it does raise a lot of questions because like I cut all my satellite, all my cable stuff out. 71 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:48,000 We do have the Hulu Disney+ ESPN bundle. 72 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,000 But then reading into it, I'm like, wait, do I have to pay for something? 73 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:59,000 Do I have to go to get the Hulu Live subscription or and they're getting in Disney's getting away from Hulu completely 74 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,000 and they're gonna incorporate everything under one umbrella. 75 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:11,000 So it makes things a little tricky, but just on the numbers alone, $189 million a year extra. 76 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Like man, that's an amazing number to kind of throw out there considering like where we were at just 15 years ago. 77 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:25,000 I mean the amount of money being thrown around to all these companies is crazy, but it's a great move. 78 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:33,000 I mean it puts ESPN probably is easier for people to access than Peacock or Peacock as a road dog, you should say. 79 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,000 So it's a great move for them on that level. 80 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:43,000 It just does kind of like leave people like us kind of in limbo where it's like, okay, so how is this whole thing going to play out? 81 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:44,000 What do I got to do? 82 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:50,000 I hate last minute stuff, so just let me know what we're gonna do and I'm good. 83 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:55,000 Just don't leave me in a lurch where I'm not understanding where we're going. 84 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:03,000 Yeah, when the deal was announced, I think it was last Friday morning and I saw it online very early and when they did it was like around the 6 am east hour. 85 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 And I was like, oh crap. 86 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:11,000 I started doing the first off, oh crap because the Peacock stuff, I was like, damn it, I just re-up this. 87 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:17,000 I started looking into if I can cancel my annual subscription and I don't believe I can, which is fine. 88 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:30,000 I'm actually under the price that I guess it's gonna raise up to $169 a year and I just re-up for $139, which for like the PLEs, just really watching PLEs, it's not worth it. 89 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,000 Sorry folks, I'm not a love island guy, not my thing. 90 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,000 I know, I know, shocking. 91 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:45,000 I do love the office, the stock to trade point it out, but I'm old school, so I was like, we used to pay $50 a show for pay-per-views. 92 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,000 So still look at that as a nice deal. 93 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:55,000 Nonetheless, and then I was like $29.99 a month, oh my god, this is gonna be over $200 a year, there's an annual subscription, wouldn't you get the cost. 94 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:05,000 And then as the days went on, I wanna say then it started being revealed that it's going to be free for cable subscribers and certain streaming bundles. 95 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:13,000 Like I'm actually, as you were talking Dr. Trey, according to Google, which I believe is a reputable search engine. 96 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:21,000 It is saying that me being a direct TV streaming subscriber, I will get this service for free. 97 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:44,000 So if that's the case, thank god, one, and two, this is interesting because there's a deal that's in place right now with WWE's partner in the TKO umbrella that I'll get to momentarily here, where I won't, it's gonna actually save me money now to not have until July, 98 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:56,000 in 2016 when Peacock is no longer on my credit card, where now I'm basically getting pay-per-views for free because I'm a direct TV subscriber. 99 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:01,000 So things are changing and it's completely different. 100 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:07,000 What I will say is, because this is gonna start easing into some of the stuff that was announced with UFC this week. 101 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:17,000 Before we get to that part, Dr. Trey, that's part of the story and how it affects companies like AEW specifically, and even TNA for all intents and purposes. 102 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:26,000 I just got to say, you know, for coming towards the end of the Peacock era, Peacock is one of the worst streaming platforms to watch a live WWE pay-per-view ever. 103 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:43,000 I usually do not watch or I miss the start of the PLE if I jump into a PLE. It won't take me to the beginning of the show, I have to rewind through it and then it is one of the worst, like, try to fast-forward through the apps that you'll ever experience. 104 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Even when you're doing on-demand, but nonetheless, I miss the WWE network. 105 00:08:49,000 --> 00:09:05,000 I would be okay today to be paying $9.99 a month because the WWE network was such a transcending platform and really truly opened up to like ESPN's director to consumer product that we're seeing now and all these other ones. 106 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,000 It was like one of the very first legit streaming platforms. 107 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:17,000 I missed the original programming, I missed the original content, I missed going to the library and it was a very easy to use app. 108 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,000 So I just want to throw that out there, I miss you WWE network. 109 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:38,000 Yeah, I still hear from like, if you watch some of the Chris Van Blee interviews, they'll still bring up the VPNs and you can get a VPN and still get the English or the European version of WWE network that still has that platform available. 110 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:56,000 Like I've never been a fan of Peacock and a lot of it is like what you were talking about. There's a lot of times when you have kids and you have jobs and you have wives, you can't just shut everything down and jump in at, you know, 6 o'clock, central, 7 o'clock East Coast time on a PLE. 111 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:10,000 With the old network, you could just start from the beginning and you were good to go whenever you want to jump in and now it's like, man, you either have to be there at the start or do like Jeff does which is try to rewind it or just go screw it. 112 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:18,000 I'll just watch it tomorrow or after the show ends and watch it and that's when you get guys like me watching PLE's at 2 a.m. 113 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:34,000 But yeah, like it's, I've never really dabbled in a lot of the other streaming platforms live content stuff like I don't have, you know, a major baseball, I don't have the NFL network, I don't have those platforms, I've only had stuff for WWE. 114 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:43,000 So yeah, we were spoiled at the WWE network and Peacock was horrible, there was always, still to this day, five years into it. 115 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:54,000 They're still buffering issues at times with stuff, I'm like, you guys have been doing this job for a long time, how have you not figured this out? And maybe they just gave up, maybe they just went, yeah, they're not coming back. 116 00:10:54,000 --> 00:11:05,000 Yeah, so in a little bit, it was kind of that way with the network at the end a little bit, like we know we're leaving, we're not putting a lot of bells and whistles on this thing. 117 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:34,000 But I'm hoping with, you know, ESPN that's been producing live sporting content for quite a while, like, hey, we're gonna draw this into a much bigger platform, because, you know, I'll get alerts on ESPN 2, that like, hey, you could jump into watch, you know, Binghamton University play Holy Cross in LaCross, if you want to, I've just never done it, but I'm hoping that their platform is more conducive to what fans of WWE want. 118 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,000 Their content to be set up like. 119 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:47,000 Yeah, well, I wanted to get to the UFC part, but I just figured on the conversation, I should bring this part up because I had some inroads, obviously, the ESPN. 120 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:59,000 I worked at ESPN for a little bit of time for ESPN radio. I was with an affiliate radio station for ESPN, and I knew some of the guys and girls that worked there and had great relationships with them. 121 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:11,000 One of those people that I knew is former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman, and we knew Coach pretty well. I've lost touch with him. Nice guy at the time as I met with him. 122 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,000 I'm friends with him on LinkedIn. 123 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,000 I think I am too, honestly. Maybe he's everyone. 124 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:35,000 I got the connection with you. Is there you or Bauer? He is a very arrogant and cocky guy, which I think he kind of like leans into that, but always very, very, very nice to me, really enjoyed Coach getting to know him and all that stuff. 125 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:53,000 And he helped push ESPN to start doing the WWE coverage in like the mid 2010s. To that point, ESPN really did not acknowledge, like, want to include anything related to WWE programming other than really the timely stuff of WrestleMania. 126 00:12:53,000 --> 00:13:21,000 I started really doing coverage and they have since pulled back from that. I knew the person who was actually overseen like WWE related content. And I felt like at one time, now that this is like all coming back to me that there may have been some discussions with the person who ran it because they knew my obsession with professional wrestling to see if I would be interested in getting involved down the line and it would not be like this talking head online or whatever, but maybe like writing news articles or whatever. 127 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:39,000 I think there may have been some discussions about that now that this is all coming back to me like Celine Dion once said. Nonetheless, it's like really strange to see here we are 15, 10, 15 years later. And ESPN will be the home now for WWE PLEs. 128 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:58,000 And they're talking about the coverage they're going to get and there's going to be specials on ESPN. Truthfully, I never thought I would see the day where a WWE show would be airing on ESPN. And there's been these discussions in and out over the years of where ESPN has been talking to WWE and WWE has been talking to ESPN about doing a show. 129 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:13,000 It just never felt like it was going to happen. ESPN has been a network for over 40 years and now it's happening. So it's going to be odd to see like Scott Phan Pelt doing a post or sports center after summer slam is done. 130 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:33,000 So it's cool, it's the right thing and it's a great, great deal for WWE. I mean, I'm no businessman, but obviously, but to pay 1.6 billion dollars for the WWE PLE rights, it's like 12, 10 to 12 shows a year, like that's insane. But here we are. 131 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:52,000 And we'll see what this means for future things with WWE and ESPN, which has me excited. In regards to the Pay-Per-View model, Dr. Trey, UFC announced earlier this week that they have signed a deal in the billions range as well. 132 00:14:52,000 --> 00:15:09,000 Maybe they were the one that was 1.6 and WWE is like 1.3. They will be carried, they're all of their pay-per-views moving forward. All the UFC major events, even the small ones, they're not going to be on ESPN plus that you got to pay for. They're not going to be on pay-per-view places for you to purchase. 133 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:29,000 They're going to be free for Paramount Plus subscribers, which is the old CBS All Access platform. UFC now, all their fights, if you pay the monthly subscription, which is like, I don't know, 12, 14, 16 bucks a month, who knows, the annual fee, which I actually have a Paramount Plus account as well that I share with my immediate family. 134 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:49,000 The UFC pay-per-views are going to be up there, and it's funny that this discussion really didn't happen after the WWE was deal was made, but I feel like now that the UFC deal has happened, and the WWE deal happened one week prior, or a couple days beforehand, the Pay-Per-View model is basically dead, Dr. Trey. 135 00:15:49,000 --> 00:16:04,000 I mean, there is zero reason nowadays for most people, which we'll get to that most people in just a little bit, to go to Pay-Per-View, to purchase a WWE show, a UFC fight, even boxing fights. 136 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:13,000 I'm not a big boxing fan, but I'm sure if anybody watches WWE, if I see, I can tell you the Canelo Crawford fight will be taking place of Temer-30, that Netflix. 137 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:27,000 We had the Jake Paul Mike Tyson fight on Netflix. I want to say there was like a Gina Carano fight on Netflix recently. Pay-Per-View model is dead, Dr. Trey. 138 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:41,000 Did you ever think, you and I are two guys that grew up on the Pay-Per-View model watching WWE, ECW, and W-A-TNA when it was on a weekly Wednesday Pay-Per-View show, TNA presently. 139 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:53,000 AEW, did you ever think we would see the day where the Pay-Per-View model, where we were paying $59.99, $49.99, way back of the day, $19.99, a show? What ever go away? 140 00:16:53,000 --> 00:17:03,000 I don't know if I would say that I thought I would, because there was talks, I mean, just a few years ago, Jeff, about putting the Super Bowl on Pay-Per-View. 141 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:17,000 So, I don't know if I ever thought that the model would change this much because of the fact that people were still looking into ways of quantifying and making the most amount of revenue off these events. 142 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:34,000 And I think a lot of people have learned, in a lot of ways, this is a crazy thought from gaming apps. Like those little apps you get on your phone, the little games you play, Pokemon Go, or whatever, the micro transactions makes more revenue than the large transactions. 143 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:48,000 Because people will look and go, "Yeah, I can spend $10 a month for this, or $15 a month, do I want to pay $60 because the four months worth of that cost." 144 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:57,000 So, it's made a lot of sense to like, "Hey, if we can monopolize this in a sense of these smaller transactions will actually generate more revenue." 145 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:14,000 So, it makes sense when you look at it on a monetary scale of, "Hey, we'll probably attract more casual viewers with a smaller number than we will make off the die-hard spending $50, $60 a month." 146 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:35,000 So, it makes a lot of sense, and it is kind of transcendent in changing the way we view pay-per-view models because I think you're absolutely right. I think that pay-per-view model is going away outside of like the few holdouts and those holdouts is basically because they haven't found to be up to this day. 147 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:45,000 I'm so amazed that AEW has not shifted their pay-per-views completely over to Macs, HBOMACs, I don't know what they call it now. They changed the name of that app every three months. 148 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:56,000 It's funny that you brought that up because that was going to be the segue here, the AEW stuff, because sorry to cut you off there, Dr. Trey, but like AEW's distribution strategy and positioning needs to change. 149 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:11,000 I am completely turned off in willing to pay $59.99 a month or $49.59 to watch for Ben and Doer on Amazon Prime. 150 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:28,000 That just is not cost-effective. And if AEW is doing 10 to 12 shows a year, you're looking at $250, $300 a year on AEW pay-per-views and the only thing that you get from that is the pay-per-view. 151 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:53,000 You don't get a content library, you don't get anything, and it sucks for AEW because they probably need that pay-per-view revenue to help them continue to grow and be profitable so that they could get to a platform someday like an HBOMACs where they are airing the PLE, the pay-per-view on HBO Macs for all the subscribers. 152 00:19:53,000 --> 00:20:03,000 I know there were discussions initially when they came to HBO Macs that the initial thought was you'd sign up for HBO Macs and then you could pay a certain price to purchase the pay-per-view. 153 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:17,000 And even then, I'm like, that does an interest me. The way these models are now, like if I'm a UFC fan, I could pay $139 a month to watch a year to watch all the UFC pay-per-views, sign me up. 154 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:29,000 I have WWE pay-per-views tied to my cable subscription or I'm paying $229, $39, $49, a year. If I did the annual subscription and watch this, sign me up. 155 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:38,000 Because you're getting more with it, you're getting ESPN shows, you're getting various different forms of content. 156 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:54,000 UFC, if you like CBS shows, MTV, Al the Paramount, Viacom shows, they're all right there. You know, AW just can't not stand alone, be like, yeah, pay $49, pay $59 and you're going to get forbidden door for four hours. 157 00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:03,000 Yeah, the math doesn't math because like you were saying earlier, like 50 bucks a month, well 50 bucks a month over just 10 months. 158 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:13,000 Let's say you just watch 10 out of 12, that's $500, where I can pay $250 and get the same amount of coverage from WWE plus all the ESPN stuff. 159 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:21,000 I do like the model they have on HBO Max, so I can go in and watch all the collisions, all the dynamites. If I miss a show, I can go back and watch it. 160 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:31,000 That part's fine, but I don't understand why if you're doing this model, why have you not added this content in for the PLEs, for forbidden door, things like that? 161 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:51,000 If you're HBO Max, why wouldn't you be asking for that? Now, AEW could be playing stubborn and going, well, what would WWE do? They have a show on Netflix, they have PLEs on ESPN, they have a show on the CW, they have a show on USA, and they're able to monetize that from so many different streams. 162 00:21:51,000 --> 00:22:10,000 And it might be just, you know, TN RSMEA, AEW is playing hard, like playing hardball with HBO Max a little bit, but at the same time your viewership on pay reviews at 50 bucks a month is not going to be what it is if you can get on another platform and your consumers are only paying 10 or 15. 163 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:31,000 Because that might also attract more casual viewers to increase your fanbase, so I don't understand the business strategy yet, and it might be just them playing hardball and just trying to see if they can find another home for their pay reviews or their PLEs, but right now they're kind of falling behind off the new business model. 164 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:46,000 And you know what's really odd about AEW too is that they have the infrastructure presently to have their own streaming platform where they have the ROH product, the watch ROH stuff is available. 165 00:22:46,000 --> 00:23:11,000 It's there, like AEW has all this content now, five plus years of pay reviews, five plus years have done on my shows, four years plus of ramp paid shows, two years, three years of collision shows, they have the secret shows that they filmed during like 2020, 2021. 166 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:40,000 That it's never air that Tony Khan is like sad on and said that this will be part of like a streaming platform at some point, and then it you air your PLEs you air your pay reviews it's they have that infrastructure, I don't think they're going to move AEW stuff there obviously because HBO max, but something's going to give here because AEW is getting lost behind I'm a fan that enjoys AEW stuff, but if I want to see the storylines play out on pay per view, 167 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:58,000 I don't want to pay 49 or 59 bucks because I'm comparing it to what I'm getting right now from WWE which has always been the case the last couple years, but even more so when AEW took a dip I'm like, there's really no reason for me to even watch these pay per views now or even you know put the money out to watch these shows based on the poor product. 168 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:13,000 So they got to find something they got to see if they get an on HBO max, I don't think it should be an additional cost just get people to HBO max obviously that is out of their fingers to make that happen, but AEW needs a pivot and I think they need a pivot really really soon dr. Try. 169 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:29,000 Yeah, because I think you and I are very similar in this where like if we're interested in AEW paper be we're not showing up the money for it, there are other platforms where we can not ethically watch it, I'm trying to figure out the point. 170 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:44,000 You know, there's other avenues to watch you without having to pay for it, but if I could get it on one of my streaming services and I'm not paying extra for it like I am with WWE, I probably sink my teeth more into it. 171 00:24:44,000 --> 00:25:00,000 But just when you look at like AEW in a lot of ways they've changed the business model for WWE when it comes to how you present your product, how you shoot your product, giving the guys more downtime things like that, so very positive things. 172 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:18,000 And it just feels like their stubborn not to change when WWE jumps ahead of them in something else and it may be they've tried to change but they just don't have the offers available, but it also does seem like at times they're just a little too stubborn to change until it's kind of forced upon them. 173 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:28,000 So in this round the pendulum of discussed I will call it is towards AW where it's like come on get with the program here or you're going to lose some people. 174 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:37,000 I will say if I if I had to pay 30 bucks a month because I cut my cords I will be a little pissed off at WWE. 175 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:38,000 Oh yeah, 100 bucks. 176 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:45,000 Yeah, I mean 100% yeah, like you have direct TV. I like everything we do is stream is Netflix. 177 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:53,000 Like I'm excited about the Paramount Plus stuff because I'm like cool I can actually get back into UFC. I haven't watched UFC in probably 10 years. 178 00:25:53,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Yeah, but if it's on my if it's on my Paramount Plus and it's a Saturday night and I'm bored, hey I'll jump in and watch a fight and see if I can't find somebody I gravitate towards. 179 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:16,000 Like that's a great but if I go look I've already got who Disney Plus and I have access to ESPN 2 but now you're telling me in addition to my subscription to this I got paid 30 bucks a month more. 180 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:32,000 Then I'll be irritated but right now it's it's that's where that whole question of how this stuff actually works is where I'm a little bit leery on but yeah AEW is behind the curve on moving their PLEs but if I got paid 30 bucks a month more for ESPN. 181 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:45,000 And just to be on and even then like I saw somebody say like yeah you have to be linked to some kind of streaming service so I'm like I don't know how to do this stuff and I'm old and I don't like to me. 182 00:26:45,000 --> 00:27:00,000 Yeah, it well it's like still very very murky even even now or it's like essentially we won't have any idea until August 23rd when this ESPN direct to consumer product launches where who in how and when will have access. 183 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:24,000 I guess the only benefit for us russing fans after trade is we've got like four months to find this all out because the first PLA from what I believe will be the Royal Rumble which is in late January early February now so even then we've got like five months to see if how this will all play out because I'm with you because I didn't have direct TV which I believe will be part of my subscription. 184 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:34,000 I would be right there with you I'd be pissed I'm like man I got to pay like 20 249 bucks a year now for this shit when I already have ESPN as part of my television package. 185 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:52,000 I don't this is the only reason why I'm doing this is for PLEs so there's not a lot of great information about it out there yet but nonetheless I still think AEW needs to change their pay-per-view model because even at 49.59 bucks a month I'm not willing to spend that for for Bittendor. 186 00:27:52,000 --> 00:28:21,000 I think really the only show I was willing to spend that for was all in Texas because it's like the WrestleMania all the other ones I'm not doing it for dynasty I'm not doing it for full gear like we've got to change things up here so what I say before the pendulum of discuss it kind of goes in this direction towards AEW but it will swing back towards the WWE side because there's some things going on right now that I personally not a real big fan of Dr. Dre so what we're seeing right now is the WWE AEW behind the scenes rival. 187 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:36,000 Re is certainly heating up and going back to all in Texas weekend WWE did the counter program in the Saturday nights main event and NXT's show there I can't remember what show that was back in July I want to say heatwave but it's the one that's coming up. 188 00:28:36,000 --> 00:29:05,000 Anyway it was not a good day for WWE because AW out did them that day and everything was beneficial towards AEW really in 2025 for the most part the momentum and progression of AEW has been on upward trajectory which is very nice to see very solid show each week they seem a lot more organized and cohesive. 189 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:21,000 So I'm not focusing on storylines and well put matches and it's going back to the days of when we really joined AEW where they had several years where they were discombobulated so props to AEW and they're seeing it in their viewership. 190 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:49,000 So last week was over 700,000 viewers which was like one of the first times since I think September 2024 it was one of the highest viewed shows which is amazing collision on Saturday night was over 400,000 viewers which they usually sit around the 300,000 sometimes even the high twos range on a Saturday night in the summertime which shows you there's some good momentum people are interested in the AEW product which is great to see. 191 00:29:49,000 --> 00:30:01,000 This is where some of the things now while all the good stuff that's going on with the product itself now there's some more stuff that's making me go you know just leave AEW alone. 192 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:14,000 According to reports this week WWE is set to announce a PLE that will be taking place on September the 20th in Indianapolis in the in a not originally announced on the calendar was on originally placed on the schedule. 193 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:29,000 So why are they doing that? AEW is just announced a couple months ago AEW all out in Toronto which is one of their biggest shows of the year it comes off of all in for Ben and door will be taking place in Toronto that same day. 194 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:47,000 The further checkmate that WWE is doing on this is that the reporting reports they will be announcing John Cena vs Brock Lesnar to headline that PLE to separate people obviously from wanting to go check out the WWE show versus what AEW will be doing on all out in Toronto. 195 00:30:47,000 --> 00:31:01,000 And then I saw the new story on Thursday morning WWE according reports which is Dave Meltzer we know how Meltzer can be WWE is reportedly pushing for TNA to be seen as the number two promotion since they can control TNA. 196 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:06,000 It's part of a full court press to box out Tony Khan. 197 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:19,000 The TNA part is not a shock. Dr. Train I actually talk about pretty recently TNA is starting like surpass AEW in some places as the number two in the United States. 198 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:28,000 And I would say AEW has reclaimed that spot but there's a lot of good buzz and momentum for TNA so this not a surprise the WWE in TNA were pushing for that spot. 199 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:42,000 None the less Dr. Train I am somebody who has completely criticized and chastised AEW over the last couple years because they were very poor and they were doing some dumb stuff they were way too focused on WWE. 200 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:50,000 I'm now swinging over to protect AEW on this one because I feel the same exact way of what WWE is now doing AEW. 201 00:31:50,000 --> 00:32:00,000 WWE's creative has definitely improved in recent months as well but I don't like WWE's aggressive approach to annihilating some wrestling fans here. 202 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:11,000 I think this is absolute bullshit I get that it's business but there is enough room for everybody and quite frankly when AEW is really good WWE is really good. 203 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:22,000 When AEW is not so good WWE is not so good so they push each other to be better AEW pushes WWE to be better and WWE pushes AEW to be better. 204 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:28,000 That's what we want is wrestling fans those are the people that benefit of this all is us wrestling fans. 205 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:35,000 Where do you stand on this? Talk about the direction how you feel from an AEW product perspective do you feel like there's good momentum? 206 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:43,000 Do you think that they're growing well and then what is your thoughts on WWE trying to put a full court press on AEW's product? 207 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:52,000 I mean I think the product has been better like we talked about it a few weeks ago from all in like I thought all in was the best show of that weekend. 208 00:32:52,000 --> 00:33:05,000 I think they're like you said they're on an upward momentum run right now the shows are much better this much more cohesion there's less pot shots being taken by AEW towards WWE. 209 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:17,000 And I'm excited for I mean to do a big show in Toronto for all out that's you know in a lot of ways it's another one of WWE's cornerstone areas. 210 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:45,000 You remember a few years ago there was a whole talk that like W trying to box AEW from going into Masses Square Garden you know like there are certain home turf WWE doesn't like being stepped on in this Toronto has always been one of them back when I was a kid growing up they did a lot of big like a lot of Titan taping Tuesday night Titan tapings were done in Toronto which was one of my favorite venues to watch and then all the big summer slams and everything else have come to the Roger Center. 211 00:33:45,000 --> 00:34:14,000 That's enough that it's one of their backyard so I feel like this is a not just a shot at AEW but it's also shot at the city of Toronto like look you guys want to run big shows this is our area you're letting those guys come in fine we'll just counter program you and then stick it to you guys into ways so I'm not a huge fan of it because I agree like I mean I we've seen the NFL do this with college football we've seen them do this with the NBA. 212 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:40,000 You know the NFL running games on Christmas day Christmas day was always an NBA thing like I hate when companies do this because I understand it from a business model sense but from a fan perspective like me I got to choose between watching Packers Chiefs or watching Nick Celtics like that's a tricky choice you know now same thing here like do I want to watch all out or do I want to watch Sina Lesnar. 213 00:34:40,000 --> 00:35:01,000 The upside is is that most fans know hey I can watch the replay of this unnamed PLE for WWE of the next day is still watch AEW live if I so choose to but it is just it's it's bully mentality and I thought we were still be a star not the bully mentality. 214 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:29,000 Yes yes those days how can we forget um yeah I mean going back to our initial start here is you and I are both subscribers to some sort of way of watching WWE PLE's and if I want to watch a live show of all out puts on a car that you're like oh man this is this is really really intriguing and interesting I may be more inclined to watch all out live and watch the WPLE on Sunday morning. 215 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:39,000 Um rather than watch it Saturday night or I may watch it Sunday night when the NFL football slides over so yeah I'm not a fan of the aggressive approach. 216 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:58,000 I understand the business we've talked about it before where WWE was really trying to push AEW into a really bad spot especially when they were really really and bleeding pretty badly but AEW is put their head down and they're just marching forward I don't hear Tony Khan talking about WWE. 217 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:05,000 I don't want to hear Tony Khan talking about WWE. I don't want WWE to make these moves. I don't like when WWE makes these moves. 218 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:13,000 You want to do on the show on the 20th AEW more power to you salute WWE do your show on the 27th of the 13th the week before the week after. 219 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:27,000 Like we don't need this it's it's all professional wrestling it's all good stop with the counter programming bullshit so because it's putting them in a bad spot I think it's making people more sympathetic to AEW which is something I think the last two to three years. 220 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:47,000 I don't think you would have saw for the most part I think WWE was a little bit more like what AEW is doing just head down doing their own thing you didn't hear them comment about AEW in the news and you still don't but their actions are speaking louder than words WWE's that is and it's just a really bad look especially when AEW is not saying anything and they're just trying to put on a good show each and every week. 221 00:36:47,000 --> 00:37:16,000 One person who has not or will probably not be on AEW all out Dr. Dre or two people who won't be at AEW all out is one carrying cross and scarlet because according reports their contract expired over the weekend I believe on Sunday they are reportedly free agents and carrying cross to an interview with aerial halani said he's heard from every major wrestling company with the exception of AEW because AEW probably thinks it's a work. 222 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:30,000 And he came out and said it is absolutely not a work he is no longer employed his wife scarlet no longer employed with WWE they are free to sign anywhere they want and show up on any television programming whenever they want at this point. 223 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:44,000 There's a little bit of there's multi layer approach here Dr. Dre because one you and I are both of the fans of what carrying cross has done over the last like nine to 12 months his character has really really been good. 224 00:37:44,000 --> 00:38:04,000 The second part here is this is like nowhere near the outcry the outrage the fan support that our truth got several months ago when it was reportedly saying that he was going to be let go release his contract was going to expire from WWE which is a shame. 225 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:24,000 This past Monday on raw I thought we were going to get a bunch of we want cross chance unless don't we dub them out during the live broadcast did not hear it I know the reports out there that they confiscated some of the cross signs but I don't think it was enough because people were still chanting we want truth when this all happened. 226 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:44,000 There is obviously the layer of the storyline that will get to but your thoughts Dr. Dre carrying cross scarlet free agents are you disappointed shocked surprise by the lack of reaction from the Monday night raw raw crowd in Quebec City this past Monday. 227 00:38:44,000 --> 00:39:08,000 I mean it's quite back I mean Canada can't I'm saying like Canada is kind of like bizarre a world in a lot of ways like sometimes they to hear for people were like what what you like why you guys so hyped on shockers show this week like it just it doesn't make sense sometimes it'll be a more of a test when they get back to the states this week and to see kind of what happens. 228 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:37,000 But from a perspective of being a recipe for them I'm absolutely disappointed I thought cross was one of those entertaining people we were seeing on TV and for them to if his story is a shoot then for them to wait until the last minute and then produce an offer and then not offers wife like I'm completely dumbfounded is a point like we love seeing organic you know movements in wrestling and seeing the cross movement where. 229 00:39:37,000 --> 00:40:06,000 Fans are buying the merch they're getting into his promos and he's one of most social media viewed and performers on their programming I don't know why they wouldn't do this it feels a little bit like you know the old sack writer stuff where somebody got over on their own and the company's mad about it like you only get over please say you get over so I've had to so I'm still I don't know I'm still 50 50 on works you until he takes a booking. 230 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:35,000 For a promotion that is not w w affiliated like if he goes and works for Josh Barnett's blood sport what we've seen I mean they've already got the like I think Eric from the Viking Raiders is booked on a show coming up like if he goes and does a show for like wrestling revolver or GCW okay I'll buy in that this whole thing to shoot but otherwise why would you not be taking bookings right now when you're the hottest you ever been. 231 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:50,000 Because so far I haven't seen anything announced by him being booked anywhere since last weekend well he did say that he hopes that he in w we can work things out and that he he and scarlet's goal is to return to the company. 232 00:40:50,000 --> 00:41:08,000 Yes which is a really weird negotiation tactic because I think he said in his interview as well on the reports were circulating about this that w we made an offer on Thursday he wanted some time to go and take a look at it and they only give him 24 hours and then they resend to the offer I think is in a recent interview. 233 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:37,000 So I mean to go out there and say yeah I want to go back to w we want to go back to w we I think takes a lot of negotiating power out of it the entire thing and also takes out of any future bookings for MLW TNA even AW if he's outright saying yeah I want to go back to w we from they worked shoot perspective there's a lot to unpack here once again I saw Dave Meltzer report on this. 234 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:54,000 And there's a lot of speculation that this is a work and and I went off about it last weekend I'm going to go off on about again but fucking Meltzer talked about distrust if if carrying cross and scarlet they are working us and this is a storyline and this was all fake. 235 00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:00,000 Meltzer said like how much distrust this is towards the fans and the other employees of the company. 236 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:22,000 Have we fucking forgot where professional wrestling came from I mean Jim Duggan hacksaw Jim Duggan and I believe the iron chic got arrested in the 80s I think they like got high and like broke windows in a restaurant if I'm over the story correctly. 237 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:51,000 And okay no big deal they got arrested well it was because one was a super baby face the other was a super heel and they were feuding with one another and nearly in the words of people back then and even the old school folks today quote destroyed the business that is what professional wrestling is built on folks one of my favorite stories of all time and it hasn't been able to be replicated since because I don't think it could be pulled. 238 00:42:51,000 --> 00:43:13,000 And I don't think it could be pulled off today is the Brian Pillman loose cannon storyline he was a loose cannon WCW he got the company to release him from his contract he showed up in ECW shortly thereafter shows up in WWE amazing mastermind ahead of his time stuff for Brian Pillman fast forward 10 15 years later 239 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:30,000 C.M. punk 2011 is he walking out or is he staying is he taking the WWE championship with him it blurred the lines of reality he had not signed a contract all that stuff and it made you really wonder and I loved it I ate it up it was great. 240 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:59,000 What's the problem with doing that again we're in a different world right now and I truly think doctor tray that WWE right now is booking their stuff specifically for the next round of unreal episodes that I think will take place in early 2026 and you've heard a little bit of of skull about about this that the unreal cameras were behind the scenes at Somerslan this past couple weeks ago and they were specifically filming Seth Rollins. 241 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:28,000 I think the Seth Rollins storyline happened because of unreal which is great this is awesome outside the box creative if it turns out that scarlet and carrying cross we're working us this entire time if he pops up in an MLW which you probably won't because WWE and MLW don't get along with one other if he pops up in TNA pops up at GCW and I'm not sign I'm not sign I'm not sign and all the reports it's just a very clotinist or close knit circle. 242 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:45,000 Knit Circle that they're actually still with the company somewhere to the Seth Rollins injury and it turns out that it gives us great television and an ascense carrying cross and scarlet to the next atmosphere and professional wrestling who gives a shit I don't understand 243 00:44:45,000 --> 00:45:13,000 Meltzer or anybody else on the internet bitching about distrust in an entertainment form where we're supposed to completely forget reality this is like me going to a magic show and being like this is bullshit I can't you didn't really cut yourself you you didn't cut yourself in the middle you lied to me you you fucking lie to me like like I didn't know I was going to a magic show 244 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:27,000 we go to wrestling shows because we know that is it is removing all reality from it we know that the world that they live in and operate in isn't real 245 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:35,000 it's it it it it Shamus and Rusev our pals breaking news they are actually buddies okay they're friends 246 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:51,000 Shamus was the best man at Rusev's wedding yes I don't think there was a legit falling out the new day still talk to big e-fokes like just enjoy what you see in I saw the distrust thing and it made me blow a fucking gas get dr 247 00:45:51,000 --> 00:46:07,000 I'm like even for Meltzer to say that because is reporting is getting screwed up who gives a shit like that's the point of it it's okay to be worked I sorry the distrust thing like hearing it again completely blew my mind 248 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:16,000 and we don't know if this is a worker or shoot I'm I'm thinking that this is all legit that he is legitimately scarlet and carrying across our legit no longer with the company 249 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:27,000 and if they come back in two weeks time for weeks time it's because they wanted to go back and deputy was able to work out a deal and then they're capitalizing on this entire thing to make a destroy line 250 00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:38,000 but like distrust to the fans and the employees in the back that's the point of wrestling folks end of rent I feel like I should be on ESPN 251 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:47,000 I'm right now going this is like two out of three weeks of red ass Jeff I love it I love usually I'm the one getting fired 252 00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:58,000 I love when you're in my head now I'm picturing you at a magic show yelling out you didn't really cut her in half she's still I'm you didn't murder her 253 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:02,000 what the hell is wrong with you I want my money back yeah how dare you lie to me 254 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:10,000 this is like the people that go online and read spoilers about the movie and then go out and review the movie and say nothing surprised me 255 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:27,000 well because you read about what was going to happen what you saw like you saw the bells whistles to me like yeah like if it's if it's if it's a work great good on them you got over on the population that tries to know everything 256 00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:38,000 like that's exactly what it a lot of it has spun out from the art truth stuff they saw what happened there they went hey let's see if we can make a good storyline out of this 257 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:48,000 bring him back into the fold and the crowd lead up it worked hey let's do it with Seth hey we might be with with Karen and Scarlett if it plays out right 258 00:47:48,000 --> 00:48:03,000 because in my head if I'm carrying cross look at my disappointed they haven't made me a good enough offer absolutely but if a w comes in and goes hey we will pay you one million dollars to come to our show and we'll just give you a live microphone and you can do whatever you want 259 00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:15,000 why would you not jump on that yeah you know like it like why would you not be striking while you're the hottest you have ever been you don't have the sun a long term commitment to any company out there 260 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:26,000 you can just do it on you know one off appearances and make a ton of money and we're not seeing that being done that's why I still believe this is still about 50/50 261 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:36,000 that being said for people who haven't go oh well that's just creating distrust first of all the entire business has been built on distrust 262 00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:51,000 you mentioned I was a kid when the dug in Irish chic thing happened and both guys got suspended because they broke that wall like I remember as a kid growing up in Oklahoma and you would hear stories about how the freebirds and Ted D. B. O. C. 263 00:48:51,000 --> 00:49:01,000 were really good friends even though on screen they're trying to murder each other like legitimately trying to blind junkyard dog those guys were all friends 264 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:12,000 you know but you could not cross that line like the entire business is been built on smoking mirrors it is a life back it's a magic show with stunt men 265 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:26,000 that's what we love and for people to go like oh well since you're not telling me the truth of how all your tricks work now I don't trust you never trust them they are literally called Cardi because of carnival workers 266 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:33,000 who literally are trying to screw you out of your money by playing games you cannot win that's what the entire business was built upon 267 00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:45,000 and for people of now like this is part of that society we live in where it's like it's not fair or it's not for me or I'm being excluded or you're not telling me all the inner workings of stuff 268 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:53,000 that's not what this is about if you want that you have to use a paramount plus and guess what Dana White's carny 269 00:49:53,000 --> 00:50:02,000 white creates storylines Dana White creates intrigue not all the fighters hate each other both of those guys are friends but if you want the more more truthful stuff 270 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:10,000 1299 paramount plus you go out you have to see if you want to be entertained and surprised that's why you come to pro wrestling 271 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:19,000 so for them to sit for people like Meltzer or any of Sean Ross Sapp or any of those guys is to play the distressed card or all that stuff is just complete and utter bullshit 272 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:31,000 and then makes me go they don't know wrestling which makes me trust them less the best worst thing that happened in the last my entire time as a wrestling fan was it is the dirt sheets 273 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:38,000 because there is a lot of good information out there I read them every day I'm not going to sit here and say I don't but there's been plenty of times where I was like 274 00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:46,000 man I wonder if I just stopped and unplugged from those websites and I just started watching wrestling as as fun again 275 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:56,000 because I missed those days where it was like I didn't know what was going on and I haven't done it obviously but I do like when we get surprises and whether 276 00:50:56,000 --> 00:51:06,000 how you feel about him returning or not returning the Brock Lesnar thing was like a really like eye opening as I watch it live surprise like holy shit they're doing this 277 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:19,000 the Rollins storyline was like half surprise because we didn't really know if he was going to do it or not see a punks return w e amazing surprise like we live for those moments 278 00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:29,000 and it's like the best worst thing because you get some really good intel and discussions and you can kind of see what is going on behind the scenes and in the world of a professional wrestling 279 00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:48,000 and in the same time it does take some spoilers away and takes the wind out of the sales out of the viewing side of things so yeah I just thought the whole distrust thing I was like this is so lame like why are they doing this this is this is professional wrestling folks so we'll see what the carrying cross and scarlet contract with w e or any other company goes moving forward 280 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:56,000 it's a very very intriguing situation we'll see if it's a work or shoot I'm leaning towards shoot right now 281 00:51:56,000 --> 00:52:15,000 and then lastly dr. Tray a storyline that I wish never happened is the rock and Travis Scott getting involved with john seen a hill turn and some you know and also the stuff with Cody roads we talked about the john scene a baby face turn a couple weeks ago last week actually on the field 282 00:52:15,000 --> 00:52:37,000 it's a long time ago and the big reason why they pivoted is because the fall and I will Travis Scott that had been reported and the rock probably won't be on television don't we television anytime soon Paul Heyman had interview with area Hollani shortly thereafter and discussed that said that the plan storyline involving the rock and Travis Scott ultimately fell apart 283 00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:57,000 so it killed any momentum for what was going on with john seen in Cody roads maybe it was going to be the rock and Travis Scott taking on john seen in Cody roads at some point I think it would eventually have led to a baby face return for john seen a Heyman who is quasi part of the creative team acknowledges that that angle was completely scrapped 284 00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:22,000 is this a learning lesson for w e dr. Tray probably not to go with Dwayne and friends because I'm the biggest fan of the rock you'll see and I know you've said on the show multiple times you're a big fan of the rock not a big fan of dwayne Johnson I like both people but the rock getting involved with storyline stuff does screw things up every single time it feels like he gets involved 285 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:46,000 in the 2040 nearly got completely screwed up until WWE made an amazing play to save it and gave us a great two night event this now had a extremely memorable moment now it's definitely not going to be comparable to the holocogan turn at bash the beach in 1996 because everything that happened afterwards with that story at bash the beach 96 286 00:53:46,000 --> 00:54:06,000 and it will remember with the scene of stuff from the elimination chair on words is it was cool but the way it ended was really failed and and stupid ultimately should do we try to get out of the rock and said celebrity business when it comes to major storylines 287 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:12,000 I don't think they'll be able to when it comes to the rock but is this a learning lesson for the company moving forward 288 00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:34,000 I think it was like look we kind of have to act we asked to dwayne Johnson because he has on the board directors and he does have a large influence on the population but when it comes to bringing in like hip-hop guys, rap stars I mean I'm not counting jelly rollin that because he's to be a different kind of person 289 00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:48,000 like it just every time they've done it it's kind of fall on its face and then you know bringing in guys who don't know wrestling to get involved in wrestling it's never good 290 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:58,000 dwayne Johnson as much as I love the rock I don't know if any really successful outside ventures outside the movie industry that he's done 291 00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:12,000 like the ufl has not been a great success you know the the terror like all of his like brands out there that he gets involved with haven't been great his time in dc you know the dc 292 00:55:12,000 --> 00:55:20,000 you as black Adam fell on his face the point where like James gun showed everything relating to waiting jobs and afterwards 293 00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:36,000 it is what he's like yeah he's got a big influence people love him but a lot of his outside ventures don't really work out well so I'm hoping that we can learn from this and go hey we really only want people to come into this who actually love this business 294 00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:46,000 and are going to put the time and effort in like a logon paul like a bad bunny like a jelly roll that are really here for the benefit of us and not the benefit of themselves 295 00:55:46,000 --> 00:56:06,000 yeah that's that's the way we should be looking at these things right is is putting the product ahead of what the rock thinks hopefully this is learning less than dr trade because I think that it did really spoil a lot of things 296 00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:14,000 and now this is he's kind of like two for two I think w created really salvage the situation if you go back to that documentary the rock says he was involved in as well I'm sure he was 297 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:28,000 but yeah I mean this is a situation where they're like we're going to do this and they abandon w and leave them trying to scratch and claw out of a bad situation that they may not have wanted to do 298 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:38,000 I will say the the john seen our truth thing from smack that was pretty good so I'm not a big fan of baby face turned it feels like oh it almost feels like a fever dream 299 00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:50,000 like did that really happen did we really get like five months of john seen it as a heal or was that just high on tear you know tearment yana or whatever that rocks fuck 300 00:56:50,000 --> 00:57:00,000 I think yeah I don't I don't know tequila yeah yeah so like that but it just it feels weird now that we're like okay now we got john see john seen it back as a baby face 301 00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:12,000 but you know it's kind of like paying no attention to all the things I said the last five months my bad I really do love you guys but I did love the little bit with art truth 302 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:18,000 and you were john see is going man art truth you said you were going to ruin the wrestling that was crazy that part was a good little play on it 303 00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:22,000 so it got to give you back in a good mood about the whole baby face turn 304 00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:38,000 you think there's any way the rock is john seen this final opponent is it possible we didn't think we were getting rock lesser yeah so I guess I guess anything is possible but then just those the rock put over john seen it or it is john see it 305 00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:48,000 I think I guess I don't know I still want one more radio or match that would be cool but they could say that this was like third in a lifetime 306 00:57:48,000 --> 00:58:00,000 once in a lifetime twice in a lifetime now it's third in a lifetime because that's what they build that match back at wrist one once once twice three times a scene 307 00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:08,000 yes yes and I love you I love you all right with that said let's close up shop on this week's edition of SRT you could 308 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:24,000 support the show over at patreon.com/srtupodgasket the show add free along with so many more exclusives that are out right now SRT you classics we're going to have any 309 00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:32,000 and every type of show that's available to you right now we have our viewers choice show we're asking people to pick topics 310 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:40,000 so dr.tranel will be recording that soon we'll have our interview my interview with CM Punk from almost 10 plus years ago now 311 00:58:40,000 --> 00:58:50,000 we'll be up there to download later this month and of course you get the show add free and immediately when it comes to download over at patreon.com/srtupodgask 312 00:58:50,000 --> 00:59:00,000 you could download the show each and every week at realguymedia.com, russchatnet.on.x or the still real show feed on Apple Spotify or wherever you download this podcast 313 00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:10,000 don't forget to rate review subscribe that helps us out greatly on all those podcast platforms you could fall into the video on X or myself at SRT you Jeff 314 00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:16,000 and for dr.tray Franklin a deed out to tray and of course don't forget the fall show on X at SRT you podcast 315 00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:20,000 with that being said what is going on in the wonderful world of dr.tray Franklin this week 316 00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:26,000 well like Jeff said you can follow me on the X at the dr.tray you can find me on instagram and facebook 317 00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:34,000 dr.tray Franklin when you're on facebook be sure check out rocketsy championship wrestling they have a really big show coming up this Saturday 318 00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:44,000 unfortunately i'll be out of town but those guys have been killing it for weeks the Sean shocker Evans tournament that went on on the second was amazing 319 00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:48,000 has some great times the most important to get out there and check out your local independent wrestling scene 320 00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:54,000 you too can find a guy who dresses like trap the sky and does nothing about wrestling and will punch your biggest star in the face for free 321 00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:58,000 there you go support all the great things that support SRT you 322 00:59:58,000 --> 01:00:08,000 and thank you for downloading and being part of us each and every week until next week for dr.tray Franklin 323 01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:12,000 i am Jeff Pek this has been the still real us show