Feb. 3, 2026

Tommaso Ciampa Jumps to AEW + Royce Keys Debuts at Royal Rumble | Takedown

Tommaso Ciampa Jumps to AEW + Royce Keys Debuts at Royal Rumble | Takedown

Is Tommaso Ciampa the missing piece for AEW? Paul and Garrett contrast his TNT title win with Royce Keys’ (Powerhouse Hobbs) WWE arrival. The duo also debates the CM Punk and Roman Reigns segment and predicts some of the WrestleMania 42 lineup. Subscribe for weekly wrestling insights!

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WEBVTT

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[SPEAKER_01]: All right, it's time for the takedown, Paul Fontaine and I here.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And we're gonna talk about a few things coming out of the Royal Rumble.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I did watch collisions, at least I watched the first hour of collisions, specifically to see how tomato champ looked against Mark Briscoe.

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[SPEAKER_01]: How he was presented, the win coming out of the gate and all that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Cause I wanted to do a comparing contrast

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[SPEAKER_01]: went over to the other side.

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[SPEAKER_01]: On Saturday, having their first appearance, or actually for Cheap of his first match for Will Hobbs, aka Royce Keys, it was his first appearance.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Of almost in the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, the other one was in a esport arena on AEW television.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, you know, when you do a comparing contrast, like

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[SPEAKER_01]: one of those things looks like to it, you know, to somebody who's not watching super duper closely, you see that derivative issue and you're like, oh man, it looks like there's a lot of people and there's a lot of glitz and glamour and production and, you know, the way that they produce that show is always kind of cool.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then on the other side, you're like,

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[SPEAKER_01]: Man, what do they do in this building?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Did they play laser tag?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what's going on in this building?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's the thing about that building that I just hate is, it just does not seem like a wrestling building.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It seems like something else that people do there.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like, the host kids' parties or something.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Um, but, you know, there are there were some positives to the Chiompathing as well compared to the Hobbes thing and I just wanted to talk about like the differences and I and it kind of makes me wonder how much more of this are we going to see in the future because as we've said, it's good for wrestling to see.

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[SPEAKER_01]: People going back and forth because it creates excitement, free agency is fantastic in all sports the NBA right now is going through this insane period where you know some some name players are on the block one of them.

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[SPEAKER_01]: uh... jaren jackson junior just got traded today and he's kind of a big name yanness is obviously one one that uh... he's kind of the big big fish that people are are looking at so all of the stuff creates news creates interest you may want to turn on

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[SPEAKER_01]: if you're a chiappa fan and you're not necessarily an AEW fan you may want to you may have wanted to turn on collision or maybe dynamite go wonder what how he looks on this show so i think all of that is positive yeah so oh yes as you say i know somebody that watch dynamite specifically because he heard about trumpa yeah he he he found it he and then he watched collision for the first time ever

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[SPEAKER_01]: It was the reason why I turned it on.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to see what he looked like.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I don't normally watch that show.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And then when you see some of the other matches on that show, it reminds me why I don't normally watch that show.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But it is, it's the B show, and that's what B shows are.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So let's kind of talk about the the keys thing first.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So Royce keys, you know, if you've been listening to the fight game podcast, you probably have a good sense of the Hobbes thing was happening.

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[SPEAKER_01]: He was probably going to be in the Royal Rumble.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like we didn't say like 100%, but it was pretty darn close.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I thought based on listening to John talk about it.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So he comes in, it's in two an audience that is not really going to know him very well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I thought that was the first mistake.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Now, in what to one extent, you do want to debut him big, debuting someone in the real rumble has historically meant something.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But there were two problems.

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[SPEAKER_01]: One was just that crowd.

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[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't, they didn't really know him and I think,

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[SPEAKER_01]: Michael Cole or at least whomever told Michael Cole to talk about the powerhouse hops thing.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think they knew that the TV audience, the people watching, we're going to know hops more than the live audience because they very, they hit it really hard on television.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, this is the guy who was in the other company and he used to go by the name of powerhouse hops.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So I thought that was really smart.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But it didn't offset for me kind of the lack of reaction that he got in Saudi Arabia because I was just like, I don't know if I would have done this.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I think there's a good reason why Chris Jericho did not come back here, not that they wouldn't have known him because they would have they would have immediately known him.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But just it wasn't it wasn't a 100% for home run idea being in front of this crowd.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So the second thing is

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yet Obafemi being the killer of all worlds.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so you couldn't do that with Hobbes as well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you know, you had Obafemi, and you had Brock Leser.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So Hobbes is already like underneath those two guys and then maybe Bronson Reed as well.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So he came in and it was almost like he was immediately slotted.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that's the other part that I didn't really like about his debut in the row or humble.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Now we'll have to see he was not on TV.

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[SPEAKER_01]: on Monday.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So we don't know what the creative is going to be for him quite yet, but maybe he's going to be on SmackDown.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It would make sense to me if he is on SmackDown.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So those were the two negative things for me.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But again, the positive is you're on the biggest stage in wrestling at the Royal Rumble, which is one of their biggest shows of the year.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So that

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[SPEAKER_00]: Well, first off, I guess I didn't hear the fight game podcast this week until after it the Royal Rumble.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So I was surprised because I, and for the very reason you talked about of why it wasn't a good idea to debut him there, that's why I didn't think they would.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so I was, I was fully expecting to see him for the first time on NXT, which, you know, maybe by the time people listen to this or watch this will have already happened.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and, you know, and it could, I guess suppose it could still happen, you know, just because he debuted in the rumble doesn't mean he won't be on NXT.

06:35.296 --> 06:41.203
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, if he was going to be on he could help, uh, he could help his boy Ricky Starks or or hurt him.

06:41.757 --> 06:43.981
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, you don't want it like it helped them.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, that was what I initially thought, but then I thought, you know what, they need challenges for Ricky Saints.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, or whoever's going to be the champion.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, if him coming in as the top heel, or I guess he'd be the top baby face if he if he stopped Ricky Saints, I mean, that's what they really need right now.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have any top male baby faces in NXT.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, but that said, I mean, obviously, they're paying him a lot of money, and if they promised him a main roster spot, then, you know, SmackDown's the best place for him, in my opinion, as you said, so, you know, in that sense, I will say that I'm not disagreeing with anything you said, you know, for the reasons why, you know, it should have been obvious if that was a bad place to be him.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I was surprised when he was in there with some of the big guys,

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[SPEAKER_00]: he didn't look small like he like he definitely sizes up with all like I think I think he was in their same time as Brock at one point and I was and actually over to like I was surprised at how well both of those guys stood up next to Brock so he's a little shorter I got oba's actually taller than the brock he might be and and wider at at at the top of the hobs was definitely shorter but

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[SPEAKER_00]: just as thick as anybody like he's like biggie like he's got that but but bigger like so i think he's going to do okay um and but but it is a good point that you know like if you's debuted champa in a match where all the top a w stars were in all of a sudden he's not the top guy in the segment that he was in he's the 20th guy

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, or, you know, yeah, like the casino gauntlet or, you know, like how they like to they like to debut people most of kind of matches, you know, the that they haven't done it in a while, but that king of the what are the king of cable or whatever, like where they have the, you know, the multi man ladder maps, they've had the battle royal before the casino battle royal, you know, I think that's where Matt side del debuted one year, you know,

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[SPEAKER_00]: uh... i mean rick ricochet right rick yeah well that was a cino gauntlet rickestino gauntlet yeah and and i mean right there i mean he was wanted i you know whether people want to admit or not like he and and you know and rickchet don't get me wrong i love his work i i need look forward to seeing a segments every week he's a highlight of their programming

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[SPEAKER_00]: But he's a mid-carter and a great mid-carter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Don't get me wrong, and he's a mid-carter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You can put it into the main event to lose.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's fine.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's never going to be World Champion, but not everyone is.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Like five percent of the guys in that company maybe will get a sniff at the World Championship.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And so saying he's not a World Champion is not an indictment.

09:23.791 --> 09:40.433
[SPEAKER_01]: He's the one thing that he gets out of eight EW is just the freedom of expression, the freedom to do something different, rather than what WWE wanted him to do, which is to be the one guy to ping pong back and forth, you know, and be the guy that the heels throw around.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Right, the downside is, in my opinion, is that in WWE, he always had the best match on the show.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Here, he's often the most entertaining guy in the show.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So it's kind of funny that it worked that way.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like if WWE could have figured out how entertaining this guy could be, he might have been a huge star in WWE.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But you know what I just... A lot about it.

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[SPEAKER_01]: What's that?

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[SPEAKER_01]: The guy who stomped out, bra and breaker might have been ricochet.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Same build.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: He's working for both companies.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You put it out as a joke and I'm starting to wonder if it's not the truth appears.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, yeah, yeah, that shit.

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[SPEAKER_01]: He's a little he was a little.

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[SPEAKER_01]: to tall and not thick enough to be pierced to me like whomever was in that suit.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to tell though because you know like they can pad the suit and you can wear lifts or you could not wear lifts like I wouldn't you know my initial thought was man it sure looked a lot like Austin there he but it wasn't Austin there he like that's why I thought Grayson Waller because Grayson Waller's similar size is pretty lean and he was

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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, you might as well have thrown in the Roman Reigns post, but yeah, but back to Hobbes and Chumpa, like I, you know, and then like the other thing is like, yeah, the debuting him on that big stage may be also something that they promised him when they signed him, you know, like hey, we're going to debute the Royal Rumble.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's the biggest stage out there and Hobbes and his mind, you know, probably, hey, that's really cool.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I grew up watching the Royal Rumble.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It'd be really awesome to debuting the Royal Rumble, not really figuring out that, oh,

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I may not be now I will say like when I saw powerhouse Hobbs on the screen at first I was like, oh, wow awesome.

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[SPEAKER_00]: They, this was the room.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's not going to be right, skis and then right away and you almost heard that in the crowd like there was a bit of a pop powerhouse.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, rice teams.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know what was funny to me was a fight full put out a Twitter graphic that said 13 years ago.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it was on raw and I was like

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[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure that powerhouse Hobbes was probably an extra or at least attempting to be an extra because they don't take everybody, but he was probably an extra on every WWE TV that was in the Bay Area for the last part of our buddy, our buddy, teach machine has just done that like half dozen times.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's just the thing, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: Like Dave Dutra, like Dave Dutra, um, he was he was on like often, like that was a segment and Jay

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[SPEAKER_01]: With there was there was one with the rock in the shield the one time that that they did that and Dave Jutcher was like right there and so like like that time he did did he did a squash match with Braun Strowman and it was entertaining is hell.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, yeah, he just kind of looked like a little bronze.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, and yeah, you get a lot to those and

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[SPEAKER_00]: I, you know, you can't, I mean, you just look, it's one of those things, you know, like when you look at Chris that land or, you know, facing the Iconics for the WWE women's tag team titles on Raw, you know, like stuff like that, it's just, you know, it's fun to look back at, but it doesn't really mean anything.

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[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So let's switch gears to the Chiampa debut or the wrestling debut.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Fun match.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Perfect opponent.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: He won.

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[SPEAKER_01]: all of those things are positive.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I thought I thought the entrance and the the music and the graphic was really good too.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I thought he the his problem is that he just looks like an old guy.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, he was facing a guy who looks like an old guy.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's like you got two gray beards in the ring and you know, and the one guy on WWE now now this is this is another thing which I think most most like really clued in wrestling fans and who am I would consider smart wrestling fans don't care about this.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But

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[SPEAKER_01]: you have a guy who's like midcard for life in WWE coming over and being elevated maybe a little bit higher than that, maybe a lot higher than that.

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[SPEAKER_01]: That is one thing to kind of or but if you're AEW and you sign somebody from the other side, you sign them because you want you see value in them.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You want to use them.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: The WWE fan who is petty might say, Oh, look, they're, you know, this shows you the roster of WWE.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Cheyenne, but couldn't sniff anything, and now he already won a belt needed to be, but that's how you use somebody like the old day and a white thing, right?

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[SPEAKER_01]: He's like, you know, all these pride guys beating the UFC guys.

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[SPEAKER_01]: Well, guess what these pride guys are my guys now, they are UFC guys.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And so that's how you have to look at it, but I like the debut.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's just on that small stage.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, how many people were watching who who would just watch the real rumble like there's some stuff there, but I guess if you're Tony Khan, you can kind of book in, you know, in your little tunnel because

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[SPEAKER_01]: You're not going to counter program the Royal Rumble.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You're just going to do your thing and you're going to try and make sure that you do it correctly or you do it smartly or you do it in the entertaining fashion.

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[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I saw that as I thought this was a good debut.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It didn't tell me that champ is going to be the biggest star in the company.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But it told me that he's going to have some value on that TV show.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I mean, I think that most AW fans and certainly the company itself doesn't look at it traditionally like that like, oh, we're taking a guy that has been on, you know, WWE television for, you know, the last, you know, I'd say four years since he came to the main roster.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he was a big deal in NXT and yeah,

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[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, in WWE, definitely a midcard, or I mean, sets in success, tagging champion everyone like that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's just how WWE showcases their tag team vision.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That's the timing.

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[SPEAKER_01]: The moment carders.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But, I mean, by that token, the way that their fans look at it, and the way that that AEW itself looks at it, is that guy was misused.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So in that sense, they almost raw-ry W because we're taking a guide that WWE should have been doing something with.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And we made, we're making him into something, same with Bobby Lashley when he comes over.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like he was doing nothing in WWE in their minds, short management is actually a better example of that.

16:15.237 --> 16:26.968
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, and then he comes in and I mean, honestly, hasn't really done much in a W when you really look at it, but he's been having great matches and he's been doing something as opposed to in WWE, did nothing.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, in that sense, like, yeah, it's not an indictment of, oh, a W must be easy because these guys can come out of the, you know, WWE low card or mid card and come walk right in to be stars in in WWE or in a W. And on the flip side,

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think WWE actually has that other mindset sometimes and the fans as well.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So when a guy like Hobbs comes in, if he wasn't a tippy top main event or we got a, you know, you got, we got to put you in your place.

16:57.020 --> 17:03.167
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to tell you, hey, you know what, you're not above Roman Reigns, you're not above Brock Lesnar, you're not above even Obofemi.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to be in this level and if you do well, we might move you up.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And the fans look at it the same way.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He comes in.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This is what he is.

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[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Cool.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like, and, and Rusev has experienced that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Malachi blocks experience that.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Ray Fett for that.

17:19.146 --> 17:20.408
[SPEAKER_00]: Poor dude, Rusev man.

17:20.688 --> 17:23.152
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, that poor dude got paid a lot of money.

17:23.192 --> 17:24.394
[SPEAKER_00]: Do 10 seconds of work.

17:25.150 --> 17:28.494
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, don't I guess if you look at it from that perspective.

17:28.534 --> 17:34.542
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, he's he's the highest paid video game professional of all the great Phoenix apparently.

17:34.582 --> 17:39.729
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you see those Rob Viper who you Goed me and now I see his stuff all the time now for some reason.

17:40.590 --> 17:44.695
[SPEAKER_00]: He says that Ray Phoenix was apparently thrilled just that he got to be in it

17:44.675 --> 17:45.396
[SPEAKER_00]: just to be in it.

17:45.576 --> 17:46.358
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

17:46.378 --> 17:53.308
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, can we not just put him with Penta so he could at least Penta could bring him up a little bit.

17:53.508 --> 17:55.031
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's got to happen, right?

17:55.471 --> 17:56.393
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, there was one point.

17:56.433 --> 17:59.578
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it was on the rumble where they showed like it was right away.

17:59.598 --> 18:04.445
[SPEAKER_00]: They showed Penta and then they scanned over and it was kind of mask and I was like, oh, yeah, it's the luchibor.

18:04.465 --> 18:07.189
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, no, that's dragon.

18:07.169 --> 18:10.176
[SPEAKER_00]: And then my buddy who is with why isn't that just ready Phoenix.

18:10.577 --> 18:12.200
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.

18:12.220 --> 18:12.762
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I know.

18:12.782 --> 18:14.866
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's so weird the way that we're doing it.

18:14.906 --> 18:18.314
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I was like, you know, they want to build this while moment.

18:18.434 --> 18:20.098
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure to reunite them.

18:20.635 --> 18:25.984
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but you're bearing one guy and so that Marvin is going to mean less and yes, exactly.

18:26.004 --> 18:45.715
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because Panthers not going to stay hot and I mean, he's not even as hot as he was when he got there, but he's still, you know, he's still doing okay, but, you know, like, and Ray Phoenix is not getting any hotter despite having good matches when he's given the chance to like, you know, he had a really nice match with Carmelo A's, but, you know, it's he's not he's got zero momentum right now.

18:46.167 --> 18:47.129
[SPEAKER_01]: Back to the Rousseff.

18:47.150 --> 18:48.493
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

18:48.754 --> 19:01.206
[SPEAKER_01]: I was thinking about it because I was seeing how CJ Perry is on the TMZ wrestling podcast with that kid who grew up coming to my house and watching wrestling, a Branson.

19:01.807 --> 19:02.910
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was thinking like,

19:04.173 --> 19:26.518
[SPEAKER_01]: the part of the roots have act is her like she's she's how he got heat and so with without her he's like he's just rusev and and that can't be great because he'd like why would anyone care to cheer or boo him especially how he's being booked now if he came in as a killer then of course but if he's just like in the middle

19:26.498 --> 19:32.585
[SPEAKER_01]: You just see him as in the middle and there's no reason to boo or cheer him because he's just going out there and wrestling matches.

19:32.605 --> 19:39.252
[SPEAKER_01]: So I I just wish that they brought him back with her because it seems like she still wants to be part of the business.

19:39.372 --> 19:43.217
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that it doesn't seem like she didn't want to be part of the the act.

19:45.499 --> 19:45.719
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

19:46.420 --> 19:46.941
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

19:46.961 --> 19:47.341
[SPEAKER_00]: The other.

19:47.361 --> 19:49.844
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he could fall out.

19:51.246 --> 19:53.468
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

19:55.523 --> 20:07.163
[SPEAKER_01]: So the the other thing coming out of the the rumble to fall out, uh, obviously Roman Reigns wins and I did not want him to win, but I understand why he won the rumble.

20:07.263 --> 20:09.947
[SPEAKER_01]: He's set on a collision course with CM Punk.

20:10.428 --> 20:11.770
[SPEAKER_01]: Live Morgan on the other side.

20:14.355 --> 20:16.298
[SPEAKER_01]: And she's she's a good winner.

20:16.378 --> 20:21.767
[SPEAKER_01]: I just don't see what they have set up for her as all that interesting, uh, at least on the

20:22.102 --> 20:32.260
[SPEAKER_01]: but punk and Roman, the segment that shut down or that closed down raw, I saw a lot of people really fired up about it.

20:33.002 --> 20:34.124
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the right match.

20:34.284 --> 20:36.368
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the one that they've been saving.

20:36.388 --> 20:39.233
[SPEAKER_01]: I just don't feel like

20:39.213 --> 20:42.338
[SPEAKER_01]: that's the one that they've been building toward and I think we know that.

20:43.159 --> 21:01.508
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's almost like they were creating the beef right then and there on television and they're trying to make it up as it as it went because I was poking holes in a lot of things, but of course like, you know, I know that I know a lot of their story, but it couldn't get it out of my mind that

21:03.226 --> 21:06.591
[SPEAKER_01]: This is like an unreal storyline.

21:06.651 --> 21:15.363
[SPEAKER_01]: They're going to be able to tell all the backstory on unreal as to what was the shoot, shoot, stuff, and what was the work stuff.

21:15.423 --> 21:17.646
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just like, I didn't want to think about it like that.

21:17.686 --> 21:20.910
[SPEAKER_01]: But now because we have unreal, that was the first thing I thought about.

21:20.950 --> 21:24.455
[SPEAKER_01]: But first, what did you think about their back and forth?

21:24.635 --> 21:31.765
[SPEAKER_01]: And second, does it feel like this is like the giant main event for WrestleMania?

21:32.183 --> 21:36.950
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I thought that the back and forth had its moments.

21:38.472 --> 21:39.754
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't great.

21:40.415 --> 21:42.198
[SPEAKER_00]: It closed really, really strong.

21:43.159 --> 21:45.703
[SPEAKER_00]: I really do like the way Roman closed it.

21:46.705 --> 21:52.633
[SPEAKER_00]: I will say, I'll push back a little bit on what you said about like not being, about this kind of almost being the start of the setup.

21:52.954 --> 21:54.336
[SPEAKER_00]: They set this up last year.

21:54.356 --> 22:01.887
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, at this time last year, I think if you would have asked most people, they would have said, next year's WrestleMania is gonna be

22:01.867 --> 22:06.775
[SPEAKER_00]: based on what they did at WrestleMania and on the raw after WrestleMania.

22:07.416 --> 22:13.907
[SPEAKER_00]: But that said, they pivoted at some point over the year and clearly as of six months ago that wasn't the plan.

22:14.508 --> 22:17.052
[SPEAKER_00]: And even two months ago, I don't think that was the plan.

22:17.814 --> 22:25.326
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, because they were building to Cody and Roman again, and then they realized, okay, we're not going to do that.

22:25.306 --> 22:32.295
[SPEAKER_00]: And I definitely think we're going to be seeing that conversation play out on Unreal either season three season four whatever it is.

22:32.680 --> 22:51.139
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, but but I will say like I do like the story, it does feel like a big time may event to me, um, and that's not even necessarily because of what they did, although like I said I did like the way Roman closed, um, but I do like I look back and I was like, can these guys ever even wrestled?

22:51.539 --> 22:57.625
[SPEAKER_00]: They only wrestled one time in a singles match was 12 years ago on on Raw.

22:57.605 --> 23:09.609
[SPEAKER_00]: and it was the main event of the old school raw and punk had the new age outlaws in his corner and Roman Reigns had Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in his corner and Roman Reigns won.

23:10.170 --> 23:13.116
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was 12 years ago, it was January 6th.

23:13.096 --> 23:18.308
[SPEAKER_00]: famous date, but not that January 6th, you know, 2014.

23:19.049 --> 23:26.626
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and now, you know, so I mean, it might as well be a brand new match, like, you know, it's never happened when they've both been, you know, at the level they are now.

23:26.766 --> 23:28.430
[SPEAKER_00]: So to me, that's big.

23:29.011 --> 23:29.873
[SPEAKER_00]: And,

23:29.853 --> 23:46.984
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm sure it's going to headline Sunday night and, you know, and for all the reasons I said, I do, I did see how some people reacted to the mentions of Drew McIntyre and I think that's overblown number one, Drew's a heal number two like the way punk was dissing him.

23:46.964 --> 23:48.926
[SPEAKER_00]: was more in character than anything else.

23:49.327 --> 23:50.948
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they have a long-running feud.

23:51.569 --> 24:02.721
[SPEAKER_00]: Roman I thought was maybe a little too dismissive of Drew, you know, like I beat that guy for years, and then punk almost had to bring it back to, well, you know, you had to help with your cousins and all this.

24:02.761 --> 24:12.111
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was almost like punk was protecting Drew in some ways, because maybe he realized, uh, maybe he shouldn't be bearing the champion of the other brand right now.

24:12.412 --> 24:14.696
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, you know, a lot of that was in character.

24:14.836 --> 24:18.823
[SPEAKER_00]: So, and I'm sure Drew's going to have a comeback, you know, at for all that.

24:18.983 --> 24:23.651
[SPEAKER_00]: So I usually lay both of these dudes out on TV is probably probably.

24:23.812 --> 24:33.188
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I'm sure in Cody is probably going to bring it back to that too, like a, you know, we're the main event, you know, like Cody is going to want to be the main event.

24:33.168 --> 24:40.215
[SPEAKER_00]: whether or not he actually is, he's going to look at his matches the main event and he's going to try to get there in the promo.

24:40.315 --> 24:53.368
[SPEAKER_00]: So the fact that it's a three-way alone, I think puts it below the punk Roman match because punk Roman, two of the three biggest stars in the company in a one-on-one match, that's the WrestleMania main event.

24:53.388 --> 24:53.688
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.

24:53.789 --> 25:02.297
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there isn't a bigger match

25:02.632 --> 25:17.133
[SPEAKER_01]: when you're going to call back to things that happened in real life, which is punk leaving the company and doing that podcast, you cannot then K-Fade the rest of the thing.

25:17.975 --> 25:20.759
[SPEAKER_01]: Roman Reigns was not a top guy when punk left.

25:20.799 --> 25:22.902
[SPEAKER_01]: He was on the ascent.

25:23.303 --> 25:40.755
[SPEAKER_01]: but he wasn't the the main guy yet like he was still like he didn't you know I mean they tried and tried and tried but he hadn't really he didn't really come into his own until you know the the the most recent you know last year for years where he really ascended as like the top yeah like 2020 when he hooked up with him

25:40.735 --> 25:41.536
[SPEAKER_01]: in 2014?

25:41.777 --> 25:42.358
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on.

25:42.778 --> 25:43.079
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

25:43.439 --> 25:44.962
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, like, they were trying.

25:45.002 --> 25:48.688
[SPEAKER_01]: It didn't make your life harder because punk left.

25:48.708 --> 25:50.251
[SPEAKER_01]: It opened up a spot for you.

25:50.571 --> 25:51.332
[SPEAKER_01]: It is what happened.

25:51.633 --> 26:00.607
[SPEAKER_01]: Which is what he was also trying to elude to in that Pat McAfee thing where he was like, when I give people a chance to step into my shoes or whatever.

26:00.668 --> 26:02.811
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that's like, I hate that stuff.

26:02.791 --> 26:06.495
[SPEAKER_01]: And I hate it even more when people buy into it.

26:06.515 --> 26:09.478
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like, oh, he's, you know, he's trying to, he's telling some truth.

26:09.538 --> 26:10.519
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, no, he's not.

26:10.599 --> 26:11.900
[SPEAKER_01]: He's paying the character.

26:11.961 --> 26:14.844
[SPEAKER_01]: He's telling this entire thing is in storyline.

26:15.104 --> 26:15.945
[SPEAKER_01]: And we saw it play out.

26:16.005 --> 26:21.250
[SPEAKER_01]: He utilized the McAfee thing so that they could tell this story on Monday night.

26:21.951 --> 26:26.496
[SPEAKER_01]: So that thing, I don't like it when you call back to something real and then you cave-a-bit.

26:27.316 --> 26:31.701
[SPEAKER_01]: And the other thing is, and I hope that they tie this together,

26:32.626 --> 27:01.317
[SPEAKER_01]: The shield is created for punk yeah, well, he mentioned that he did mention that so when you say I hate you it's like okay, I know because you guys were feuding over you know, which who Paul him and loved more and your both baby faces and he's a he'll kiss ass so I don't know why that bothers you guys anymore

27:01.988 --> 27:10.860
[SPEAKER_01]: was when punk said, you followed in my footsteps, because I was the champion, I had Hamon, and then you used that as the playbook that was yourself over.

27:10.900 --> 27:15.006
[SPEAKER_01]: That was the best part of the whole thing, and I just didn't buy anything else.

27:15.567 --> 27:18.852
[SPEAKER_00]: So I, I mean, I thought the best fine was the end.

27:19.032 --> 27:25.361
[SPEAKER_00]: When, you know, he said, like, I'm not, I'm not, I don't want to fight you, because you're, you're the champion of the main brand.

27:25.401 --> 27:28.485
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to fight you, because you're, you're, I want to fight you, because I hate your guts.

27:28.465 --> 27:30.309
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I love, why does he hate him?

27:30.570 --> 27:31.131
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't care.

27:31.171 --> 27:31.933
[SPEAKER_00]: He hates him.

27:31.953 --> 27:32.253
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.

27:32.293 --> 27:33.135
[SPEAKER_00]: That's all I need to know.

27:33.215 --> 27:34.378
[SPEAKER_00]: I want people to hate each other.

27:34.438 --> 27:35.260
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Mike Misannon.

27:35.701 --> 27:40.571
[SPEAKER_00]: I want, I want to go back to when people hate each other, not when they want to have a good match.

27:40.591 --> 27:45.582
[SPEAKER_00]: I, well, Mike, Mike won me over when he said that on SmackDown a couple weeks ago.

27:45.602 --> 27:47.807
[SPEAKER_00]: I will repeat that line.

27:47.787 --> 27:52.900
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care.

27:53.061 --> 27:53.582
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't care.

27:53.622 --> 28:00.119
[SPEAKER_00]: He's Mike was acting as being a goof, most of his career, but when he said that, he won me over.

28:00.540 --> 28:01.502
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a Mike fan.

28:02.926 --> 28:03.788
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want.

28:05.118 --> 28:06.180
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to know why.

28:06.460 --> 28:08.182
[SPEAKER_01]: Why does Roman hate the empunk?

28:08.202 --> 28:09.044
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's there.

28:09.164 --> 28:12.849
[SPEAKER_00]: There are some what I think they have cross paths to hear.

28:12.989 --> 28:13.630
[SPEAKER_00]: He hinted at it.

28:13.750 --> 28:15.953
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, and yeah, he's got it not just hinted.

28:15.974 --> 28:16.574
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got to say it.

28:16.655 --> 28:17.736
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, he left.

28:18.397 --> 28:19.839
[SPEAKER_00]: He left the company high and dry.

28:19.859 --> 28:22.543
[SPEAKER_00]: He held Roman down.

28:22.743 --> 28:23.424
[SPEAKER_00]: He can say that.

28:24.045 --> 28:27.490
[SPEAKER_00]: And he comes back when we're at our peak and tries to take credit for everything.

28:28.111 --> 28:29.453
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why he hates him.

28:29.473 --> 28:34.500
[SPEAKER_00]: He's hate them for the same reasons that Seth Rollins

28:35.375 --> 28:52.818
[SPEAKER_01]: Is a little bit of like a market confusion don't you think like a little bit of like a we're running the same playbook here that we've been seeing it like it's kind of tired like punk is a WWE guy he's he's been in WWE longer than he was in a WWE.

28:53.278 --> 28:54.540
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, punk yeah yeah yeah yeah.

28:55.381 --> 28:59.847
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, now yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so I yeah that that's the part where.

29:00.552 --> 29:05.059
[SPEAKER_01]: I think, you know, we could have done a little bit better of telling that story and laying it out.

29:05.120 --> 29:12.892
[SPEAKER_01]: But like I said, in our discord, they have two months left, two and a half months left to continue telling this story.

29:12.952 --> 29:17.239
[SPEAKER_01]: So I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt that way.

29:17.780 --> 29:24.872
[SPEAKER_01]: But this, you know what this felt to me, more than this like great story for a main event.

29:26.978 --> 29:38.235
[SPEAKER_01]: It felt like the years of WrestleMania where they would come out and they would point at the sign and they would go, this is the match and it's like triplet you're an undertaker.

29:38.615 --> 29:38.715
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

29:38.735 --> 29:39.617
[SPEAKER_01]: Why are they wrestling?

29:39.637 --> 29:41.900
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, just because it's the biggest match that we have.

29:41.920 --> 29:45.325
[SPEAKER_01]: There's no reason other than that, which is fine.

29:45.862 --> 29:51.068
[SPEAKER_01]: But then they tried to throw this story together, and I just didn't buy the story.

29:51.108 --> 29:57.074
[SPEAKER_01]: And that is, you know, I think Adam and our teenagers in their discord said, well, it's because you know too much.

29:57.094 --> 29:58.396
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, that's definitely part of it.

29:58.576 --> 30:00.438
[SPEAKER_01]: But I do want to give it to Benifer the dad.

30:00.458 --> 30:03.461
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm completely open to this thing winning me over.

30:03.861 --> 30:08.446
[SPEAKER_01]: I just didn't buy a lot of the BS and I want to be sucked in.

30:09.287 --> 30:11.169
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, it's on a rare occasion.

30:11.209 --> 30:12.651
[SPEAKER_01]: I can still get sucked in in that way.

30:12.691 --> 30:15.514
[SPEAKER_01]: But that one, it didn't do it for me necessarily.

30:15.494 --> 30:22.682
[SPEAKER_00]: And I totally get that, and when I say that, it feels like a WrestleMania main event, again, that's got nothing to do with the story.

30:23.103 --> 30:31.433
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't, I mean, you said in our private conversation that you thought that I probably liked the promo segment more than you did.

30:32.033 --> 30:34.096
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know, maybe I did, maybe I didn't.

30:34.176 --> 30:39.883
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if I'm given the impression I thought it was great, I definitely, you know, it was like a Brian and Dave freaking loved it.

30:39.903 --> 30:42.666
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, did I haven't,

30:42.798 --> 30:46.463
[SPEAKER_01]: I haven't heard the overall raw review, but I did hear the part where they loved it.

30:46.483 --> 30:48.745
[SPEAKER_00]: And not that I was given it like a six out of ten.

30:49.046 --> 30:50.047
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it was fine.

30:50.327 --> 30:51.929
[SPEAKER_00]: It definitely could have been better.

30:53.111 --> 30:56.776
[SPEAKER_00]: But I will say like I am excited for the match.

30:56.796 --> 31:01.481
[SPEAKER_00]: Only I mean literally all you have to do is tell me it's Roman Reigns and CM Punk.

31:01.602 --> 31:02.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's it.

31:02.122 --> 31:03.083
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I'm excited about.

31:03.464 --> 31:07.489
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's kind of like when it was Cody and the rock.

31:07.469 --> 31:15.662
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, when they announced that, then they gave you a story to make you care about it even more, which was like cherry on top of the cake, but they didn't even need to do that.

31:15.882 --> 31:24.656
[SPEAKER_00]: Like they could have just said Cody and Roe, Cody and Punk and I are Cody and Rock and I'm in, you know, like I don't need any more, but they actually gave me good story.

31:24.936 --> 31:28.922
[SPEAKER_00]: Here, you know, they're going to try and maybe I will, maybe I won't.

31:29.623 --> 31:34.050
[SPEAKER_00]: The key is don't make me less interested in it and they've done that before.

31:34.030 --> 31:43.951
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like, and the famous example that one is Vincent Brett, you know, and, and you know, and there's probably a few I, oh, orton and triple H was was another one.

31:44.732 --> 31:51.246
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and then I'm sure there's been no other Jericho and triple H. I could triple H, triple H, triple H, triple H.

31:51.226 --> 31:53.430
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, with Stephanie's dog.

31:53.811 --> 32:02.927
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, coffee and yeah, but yeah, but yeah, I'm so I again, I think this was an okay start on the road to WrestleMania.

32:03.107 --> 32:06.092
[SPEAKER_00]: We still got I mean, let's two and a half months like that.

32:06.112 --> 32:06.373
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

32:06.733 --> 32:13.285
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, what else is set up because to me Drew Cody and Fatu.

32:14.243 --> 32:18.266
[SPEAKER_01]: is not night two or night one, Russ, many, many meant to me.

32:18.647 --> 32:20.168
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's going to be good.

32:20.468 --> 32:28.495
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because I think Fatu is a great wildcard, but we've seen Cody and Drew for the good, a good part of all last year, so it's not fresh in any way.

32:29.056 --> 32:37.803
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point, like that's probably penciled in as the night one main event, but I think there's definitely room for something else to take that spot.

32:38.443 --> 32:43.828
[SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's, I don't think it's Stephanie and Liv,

32:43.808 --> 33:06.880
[SPEAKER_00]: you know like they they got to leave that open jade i don't know who's she's gonna face if Bianca is ready it should be her but um if not it's definitely can't be Jordan Grace Charlotte maybe maybe I like I maybe something with EO and Rhea defending their titles like that to me could be big you know like and but they're setting up the bell is though

33:06.860 --> 33:07.601
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, God.

33:07.741 --> 33:09.363
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that's just for elimination chamber.

33:09.463 --> 33:11.765
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I, you know, I hope that's not a WrestleMania.

33:11.805 --> 33:15.069
[SPEAKER_00]: The bellows are like we were the original tag team.

33:15.169 --> 33:16.330
[SPEAKER_00]: We need the timing.

33:16.370 --> 33:20.955
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it could be Gunther and Ray for Ray's career.

33:21.776 --> 33:24.158
[SPEAKER_00]: That could be a main event of WrestleMania night one.

33:26.360 --> 33:35.550
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I, I, but they, you know, they'd have to work to get there, but

33:36.847 --> 33:42.823
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sold on, uh, if it's not, if it was,

33:43.411 --> 33:46.976
[SPEAKER_01]: Gunther and Brock that would be different, but I just do, but they're both heels.

33:47.056 --> 33:50.942
[SPEAKER_00]: So it doesn't have really, I think, I think Brock is going to be facing, oh, by.

33:51.263 --> 33:52.485
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's what it looks like.

33:52.505 --> 34:03.641
[SPEAKER_01]: They set up at WrestleMania, which by and of itself does not have enough stakes to be a main event because we don't know, oh, the enough yet or the WWE fan base is no oba enough yet.

34:04.062 --> 34:06.185
[SPEAKER_01]: There's no like tangible thing there.

34:06.265 --> 34:07.427
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just a big man.

34:07.407 --> 34:09.932
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there's no, there's no obvious match though.

34:09.992 --> 34:13.960
[SPEAKER_00]: So I mean, by default, I think you would have to say, Cody, just because he's the biggest star.

34:14.802 --> 34:18.589
[SPEAKER_00]: That now, I will say, like, that does feel like a big match.

34:18.670 --> 34:21.636
[SPEAKER_00]: Like the interactions between all three of them have been great.

34:22.377 --> 34:23.880
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I think I would too.

34:24.974 --> 34:27.097
[SPEAKER_01]: I like Fatu and Drew.

34:27.117 --> 34:29.320
[SPEAKER_01]: I like Cody and Fatu.

34:29.340 --> 34:33.866
[SPEAKER_01]: I just have seen enough of Cody and Drew to last a lifetime, right?

34:33.926 --> 34:34.707
[SPEAKER_00]: Fair enough, fair enough.

34:34.727 --> 34:43.399
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's been, well, I kind of budded in on WrestleMania, because when they said all that hasn't been done, and whatever, and I'm like, hey, that's been done a lot.

34:43.800 --> 34:45.582
[SPEAKER_00]: Just not at WrestleMania.

34:45.562 --> 34:50.489
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, it's like yeah, so I yeah, we definitely don't need Cody and Drew and a one on one.

34:50.829 --> 34:51.770
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess we got it.

34:51.810 --> 34:56.757
[SPEAKER_00]: And then what about the Sami Zain thing like he seems to be a stout.

34:57.318 --> 34:57.839
[SPEAKER_00]: He's dead.

34:58.680 --> 35:08.633
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I don't I mean, that dead, but I mean, if he if I didn't see him again for six months, I probably when you remember, you know, like he felt so cold at the end of that match, like

35:08.613 --> 35:18.747
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel bad for him in a way because I will say, and I tried to get this in on Wrestling Observer Radio, but it's hard to get in enough with Dave, let alone Dave and Brian.

35:19.247 --> 35:27.158
[SPEAKER_00]: But when Sammy came out, from the second he started his entrance, I just wasn't feeling it.

35:27.719 --> 35:33.827
[SPEAKER_00]: And we had a prediction show last week, and I predicted Sammy's going to win, and a lot of people

35:33.807 --> 35:37.636
[SPEAKER_00]: And as soon as that, they came out, I was like, he's not winning.

35:38.177 --> 35:44.631
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fans, either they didn't believe in him or they sensed it too, because they were not into him at all.

35:44.831 --> 35:46.054
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I shouldn't say it at all.

35:46.094 --> 35:48.600
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, they nearly cheered like a regular baby face.

35:48.961 --> 35:52.288
[SPEAKER_00]: But he didn't feel like the hometown hero trying to win the belt.

35:52.268 --> 36:10.969
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like this felt more like, you know, raw second match on a random Monday, you know, like it was that and it was not even competitive, like I just, you know, if he's if he's lucky he'll be in the under the giant battle royale, like I there, there's one match.

36:12.552 --> 36:14.096
[SPEAKER_01]: which we don't know if it's gonna happen or not.

36:14.778 --> 36:22.938
[SPEAKER_01]: That could actually, if it doesn't headline, it's gonna be one of the top matches on one of the nights, which is Bronbreaker and Seth.

36:23.680 --> 36:28.492
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, if it happens, yeah, Seth, we don't know if Seth is clear, right?

36:28.512 --> 36:29.093
[SPEAKER_01]: Now,

36:30.592 --> 36:42.587
[SPEAKER_01]: it also depends on what you think of this Adam Pierce thing because what it looks like it's setting up for is for Seth to come back as a baby face and maybe save Adam Pierce from getting killed.

36:43.949 --> 36:55.603
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but the way that they're portraying Brock Brown Brinker right now is that Adam Pierce is ahead of the game with him and he is

36:56.360 --> 36:57.662
[SPEAKER_01]: manipulating him.

36:57.722 --> 37:05.394
[SPEAKER_01]: And every time Bron Breaker is like, I'm going to kill you, Adam Pierce is like, no, you're not.

37:05.634 --> 37:12.004
[SPEAKER_01]: And then he doesn't speak out to be careful with this because this is what I'm not a Breaker if they're not careful.

37:12.084 --> 37:16.371
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Pierce is coming off like a bit of an asshole right now.

37:16.391 --> 37:16.852
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

37:17.032 --> 37:21.439
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, if they are set unless they're setting it up for

37:22.195 --> 37:25.238
[SPEAKER_01]: like I can't imagine Adam Pearce is going to be a heal GM.

37:25.318 --> 37:40.415
[SPEAKER_01]: That just doesn't seem right, but like the interest is in Seth, you know, getting revenge on brawn breaker, not necessarily Seth saving Adam Pearce or, you know, coming to his rescue.

37:40.575 --> 37:42.237
[SPEAKER_01]: Like there's something weird.

37:42.277 --> 37:48.203
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't understand why he's the focus right now unless Adam Pearce is actually going to rustle a match.

37:48.183 --> 37:57.119
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's I'm thinking I think it's going to I think he is and I think it's going to be Braun Breaker and Adam Pierce, not at WrestleMania, but maybe at elimination shame.

37:57.179 --> 38:04.993
[SPEAKER_00]: I can chamber and then maybe that's where the third day of Seth Rawland's maybe he costs Braun the match and then that, you know, like Braun just.

38:04.973 --> 38:06.015
[SPEAKER_00]: That sets him off.

38:06.055 --> 38:09.240
[SPEAKER_00]: He goes over the deep end because he just lost the match to Adam Pierce.

38:09.560 --> 38:12.926
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe he takes out Adam Pierce afterwards.

38:12.946 --> 38:16.391
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like, and then Seth comes in and you know, they do that match.

38:17.113 --> 38:21.700
[SPEAKER_00]: You have nick all this running things on Roth for a while to Adam Pierce recovers.

38:21.680 --> 38:23.743
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you could do something like that.

38:23.863 --> 38:25.886
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, so that would be a big match.

38:25.926 --> 38:30.632
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if it's a night one main event, but it's too bad.

38:30.672 --> 38:32.154
[SPEAKER_00]: There isn't a woman's match.

38:32.174 --> 38:34.637
[SPEAKER_00]: That's hot enough to to be because this would be the year.

38:35.739 --> 38:51.400
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't see it right now.

38:52.932 --> 38:58.678
[SPEAKER_01]: a someone who looks at kind of fairness and how the men in the women are booked.

39:00.460 --> 39:06.787
[SPEAKER_01]: All of these old guys on the single side, they're still all in like big time programs.

39:07.388 --> 39:13.995
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, all of the women who are stars and are aging up a little bit, they're not in big stuff.

39:14.235 --> 39:16.377
[SPEAKER_01]: Like Becky, like what do you do?

39:16.457 --> 39:18.940
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what, Becky and AJ Lee could be a main event.

39:20.017 --> 39:21.340
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if it could make an event.

39:21.400 --> 39:22.943
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it could be a very important match.

39:22.983 --> 39:23.885
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a grudge.

39:23.905 --> 39:24.907
[SPEAKER_01]: People love AJ.

39:24.928 --> 39:28.255
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but she's not that good of a wrestler right now.

39:28.415 --> 39:35.410
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's not going to hold up in terms of mat quality, but in terms of marquee value it might and there may be some.

39:35.390 --> 39:38.234
[SPEAKER_00]: Some, I don't know what the word is.

39:38.875 --> 39:48.610
[SPEAKER_00]: Poetry, that's a bad word, but like to the husband and wife, main eventing both nights of WrestleMania, you know, like that might be something that they promised or even.

39:50.072 --> 39:50.853
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't know.

39:50.873 --> 39:57.583
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, to think of Becky, Charlotte, Bailey,

39:57.563 --> 40:13.547
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they're all making the secondary stuff right now, which is kind of interesting because the reason to be put in secondary stuff is because you have the scent of newer stars.

40:14.236 --> 40:17.900
[SPEAKER_01]: But even Rhea, Rhea's an attack team, EO is an attack team.

40:18.180 --> 40:19.602
[SPEAKER_01]: Asuka is an attack team.

40:19.982 --> 40:24.487
[SPEAKER_01]: If you split up those tag teams, then you have like some really compelling stuff.

40:24.507 --> 40:25.809
[SPEAKER_01]: But they just didn't set it up.

40:25.869 --> 40:30.514
[SPEAKER_00]: I do think Rhea ended up in two and Rhea and Liv could be a night one main event.

40:30.794 --> 40:35.520
[SPEAKER_01]: But they set it up in two and a half months and maybe there is going to be something there in the elimination.

40:35.540 --> 40:37.662
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it just doesn't seem like there are any.

40:37.642 --> 40:50.280
[SPEAKER_00]: Threads, or there's not any fingerprints to anything big in left and let's reeniel lose the tag team titles and then you know, and then and then you go to maybe go to elimination chamber and reowins the raw title in WrestleMania.

40:50.320 --> 40:54.426
[SPEAKER_00]: Then now I've said that takes you to reenlive and I think reenlive could mean event.

40:54.706 --> 40:57.270
[SPEAKER_00]: I 100% believe in that so.

40:58.870 --> 41:00.417
[SPEAKER_01]: Dominic involved as well.

41:00.557 --> 41:00.798
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

41:00.818 --> 41:01.039
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

41:01.180 --> 41:01.421
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

41:02.224 --> 41:02.325
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

41:02.345 --> 41:02.988
[SPEAKER_01]: That was on a poll.

41:03.731 --> 41:06.583
[SPEAKER_01]: That was a fun exercise to kind of dig through us.

41:06.603 --> 41:08.290
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I was, you know, I was.

41:08.945 --> 41:10.387
[SPEAKER_01]: coming out of row room.

41:10.407 --> 41:12.529
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I was like, okay, I don't feel anything big.

41:13.070 --> 41:18.877
[SPEAKER_01]: I knew Punk and in a Roman were going to do something and I came out of that going like, okay, that's okay, but what else?

41:19.038 --> 41:31.493
[SPEAKER_01]: And still after talking with you about this, like, you know what I did is I just went to our our WWE draft that me and Kila and Scott and John did and I was looking at like all the people that we picked.

41:32.350 --> 41:33.812
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not missing anybody, man.

41:34.112 --> 41:37.697
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, if we believe are like the top stars, they're all there.

41:37.877 --> 41:41.942
[SPEAKER_01]: They're just in stuff that is not super interesting.

41:41.982 --> 41:44.806
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, maybe trick in Randy Orton or something.

41:44.826 --> 41:45.186
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

41:45.527 --> 41:52.756
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they have lots of, they have lots of people to put into spots, but nothing just really seems all that compelling.

41:52.796 --> 42:00.265
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like Owen Brock could end up being something that people are super excited to see by the time that happens.

42:00.245 --> 42:04.271
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not gonna be a mean event, but it's gonna be an eight minute match.

42:04.973 --> 42:09.239
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, and the hell the eight minute match give remind me of that Rick and match.

42:09.260 --> 42:10.582
[SPEAKER_00]: We had a new Japan yesterday.

42:10.682 --> 42:14.087
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god Archie Jackson and Fulton Olink.

42:14.268 --> 42:17.332
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, man, that was great How long was that match?

42:17.793 --> 42:22.641
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like 14 minutes, maybe okay, and but a lot of it was like

42:23.195 --> 42:28.043
[SPEAKER_00]: them running into each other like bulls, I'm after watch that.

42:28.263 --> 42:29.465
[SPEAKER_00]: It was so much fun.

42:30.347 --> 42:38.179
[SPEAKER_01]: By the way, I have TNA plus or not TNA plus AMC plus for the next four days, I think.

42:38.500 --> 42:41.845
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, well, last week's impact wasn't too bad.

42:42.128 --> 42:45.653
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I was going to say, do I attempt to click through the impact show?

42:45.673 --> 42:46.534
[SPEAKER_00]: Just watch the main event.

42:46.554 --> 42:48.036
[SPEAKER_00]: The main event was was really good.

42:48.216 --> 42:50.739
[SPEAKER_00]: AJ Francis and Rich Swan and like a hardcore match.

42:51.120 --> 42:53.263
[SPEAKER_00]: It was really, I, you know, like hardcore matches that much.

42:53.323 --> 42:59.391
[SPEAKER_00]: But AJ Francis is like a good big man and he sells really well for and makes making him great.

42:59.571 --> 43:01.233
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't know slid or tripped.

43:01.253 --> 43:02.515
[SPEAKER_00]: He is really good.

43:03.096 --> 43:06.019
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, if you don't believe me, ask my Gilbert.

43:06.220 --> 43:08.743
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he, he's very underrated.

43:08.723 --> 43:12.375
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, he, he, I wonder if he's on their radar to come back at all.

43:13.258 --> 43:18.294
[SPEAKER_00]: I had the bottom in NXT and didn't really do much with them, so I don't know.

43:18.314 --> 43:19.618
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, that's going to be it from here.

43:19.678 --> 43:24.353
[SPEAKER_01]: For Paul, I'm WGC when we see you piece out.