Home For The Holidays Special!

Transcript

Teddy, not Sam wrestling, the rock is singing, Cody is crying. Sami Zayn is causing backlash. Jimmy and Jay is official, A.W. is full of star power and Shayna Baszler is fighting at Bloodsport. This is not Sam wrestling. Introducing your host from New York here is Sam Roberts. Well. Welcome to not Sam wrestling, hope everybody's doing good out there. What a time, what a week it has been. It has been absolutely packed as we head closer and closer and closer to the granddaddy of them all WrestleMania. Don't forget if you're going to be in Philadelphia to get your tickets to the Live, Not Sam wrestling podcast. Tickets are moving along quite nicely at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia. Be there or be square. It's always a good time when we do a live, not Sam wrestling podcast. Also want to thank everybody that took some time out this week to watch the Busted Open versus not Sam show the Dave LaGreca and I did kind of having a civilized culture debate, an elevated conversation, the likes of which you rarely see in this genre of professional wrestling discussing really? What made more sense, Cody Rhodes winning or Roman Reigns winning? So some of that you can see on the Not Sam wrestling YouTube channel, you can see even more on the Busted Open YouTube channel and on the Sirius XM app and all of that. But the reason that we can do shows like that? Is because every week interest is becoming elevated and elevated and elevated, I feel like more and more now I'm hearing from people that are are becoming aware. Of what specifically is going on in wrestling, and it's people that generally wouldn't. I was at my daughter's book fair over the week. On the weekend it was on Saturday because some parents of her friend were like, Yeah, we were at some sports bar on Friday night and Smackdown came on, which, by the way, just the fact that Smackdown is on at sports bars is a big enough deal. But they're like in and the rock comes out and he's wearing this Versace vest. I mean, what's the deal, boom? Gotcha. Gotcha. Locked in as we head towards WrestleMania, that's the conversation that the rock in this entire story is bringing, because what did they say? The Rock was there, but he's wearing this Versace vest. It's not just that The Rock's back. It's the story that's being told around The Rock being back. But what a promo this guy cuts. What a promo. This rocky my view cuts to start Smackdown I always love when the rock promo begins, either at the top of the show or the top of the second hour. I don't like a rock promo that closes the show because the rock likes to get out there, man. You could tell the rock likes to get out there. He likes to feel the crowd. He likes to figure out he doesn't ever overstay his welcome. But he also wants to make sure that they get their fill of the rock. And if he's feeling going in a certain direction, he goes there. And I would say nine point nine times out of 10. He's been proven to be correct. I mean, there's all those stories from back in the day of This Is Your Life Rock. The segment between mankind and the rock that was the top of the second hour on that episode of Rock. I think. But it ends up going like over 30 minutes. It was slotted to go like 12, so they're canceling stuff on the fly. Of course, they're getting screamed at when they get back. What are you guys doing, which we're trying to do a TV show? We're trying to run on schedule. But guess what? The segment was great, and when the ratings came back, it was one of the highest rated segments in the history of the show. So it's like, OK. I mean, it is what it is. And coming off of Smackdown, there was a lot to talk about, but that's the thing that has stuck with me. That's the video that I'm watching back on the WWE YouTube channel. And that's the video that the people that I know that might not watch week in and week out are definitely not missing from the very beginning. The Rock comes out now, and we didn't really talk about this last week, but The Rock's new the new visuals around The Rock's entrance, with the lightning bolts coming in because people noticed people noticed you guys are smart. I love how smart all of us wrestling fans are now. We noticed the details, and I feel like the more we noticed the details, the more the details are put in and there's a very nice relationship going back and forth these days. But ever since the rock turned heel, as the Rock himself has said, the eyes on the Brahma bull that light up the Tron when the rock comes to the ring, they're red now. People notice that, so they said, OK, let's go a step further. The lightning bolts that come in, it's such a cool look now when the rock is standing there and that giant Brahma Bull is behind him. Those eyes are red and the lightning bolts start striking down behind the rock. But then the thing happened. The thing happened, there have been requests for this thing ever since the rock turned ever since Las Vegas and that press conference, I think that's really when it started. Hollywood rock mentions of Hollywood Rock started going. The fact that the Rock was a villain at all left people going, We want Hollywood rock to be back there. Hollywood rock is, of course, what the Rock morphed into when he returned to the WWE in the early 2000s. This is when the WWE Universe were far less accepting of their superstars, leaving the sport and going off into Hollywood. The Rock has normalized that the idea that John Cena would leave and go do some movies come back, wrestle a couple of matches, leave do a couple movies. The idea that you know there would be a WWE studio. And The Miz would become a Marine like all this stuff. Was that a while back, it was like, you're either here wrestling fans were defensive for a while. You know, if you were a wrestling fan, it was like, this is the family. Don't end, you don't leave the family. And and it affected the rock. People started booing him when he came back. You sold out. You. You sold out is not a chant that you hear anymore, and I like that it's gone away because it never really made sense. But I think that I think that one of the reasons why the fans turned on the Rock in the early 2000s when he went to go make movies is because that's kind of what you did. You know, they say there was no tribalism. Tribalism is this new thing in wrestling. It's not a new thing. Tribalism was always around. It was just different ways of communicating. There wasn't Twitter. There was no tribalism on Twitter back in the day because there was no Twitter. But there was still tribalism. When you when when people found out that diesel and razor ramon were leaving, you sold out. You sold out. In Survivor Series 1997, when the WWE leaked the Bret hit Man Hart was going to be going to WCW. And this may very well be his last match in WWE. You sold out. You sold out. Because you you're leaving, so you're an enemy, that's not really the case anymore. You know, everybody is just kind of happy to see everybody prosper, it seems like to at least some degree. But that was what happened to The Rock. And so the rock leaned all the way into it and said, OK, if you want me to be this sellout, phony Hollywood actor that to, I'll be. And he changed everything, changed his look. Changed his presentation. That was when he started doing the rock concerts. And he changed his theme song. And that's the song that we got on Smackdown, it started power. Bah bah bah bah bah. You know that song that we all know and love? And then it just transitions into a Hollywood rock, and if you knew you knew and a lot of people in that audience knew because there was an instant reaction, the internet instantly reacted to it. I instantly reacted to it because it's happening. He's doing the thing, and the rock comes out with his Versace vest. I don't even know if it's actually Versace. Just, that's what we say. And the Hollywood rock music is playing, and he's coming out alone. And The Rock came out and, you know, we'll talk about this because there's questions as to the true healed, the true heal nature. Of The Rock, because when the rock came out, he's kind of kissing up to Memphis a little bit. He didn't call them crackhead KARENS. He didn't call them meth addicts. He didn't say that this was the the largest collection of trailer park trash that the Rock has ever seen now. He seemed happy to be back in Memphis. So happy as a matter of fact that you decided it was time to put on a rock concert and he gets out as musicians and they stand on the table playing the harmonica and everything. The he takes out his guitar. Well, no, he didn't take it, his guitar did now he played, he's saying it acapella. He's done his guitar before, but this time it was a cappella. And I felt like the content of the songs like again, it was like fans were clapping, did it and it did, it did dead. They're there and they were cheering and they were laughing at the jokes. And so it makes you go like, oh, I guess he's a babyface again, I guess that didn't really work, did it? But listen to what he's saying. And it's interesting because listen to what he's saying and what would the context be if the people that he was talking about? We're with him. You know, he was he literally said that Cody Rhodes, who is the most popular, you know, good guy wrestler in the WWE. The Rock said the Cody Rhodes exists on this planet. Because of the combined forces. Of drugs and cheap condoms. That's what the Rock said. That's your good guy. Drugs and cheap condoms gave us the American nightmare. That's what he said. He brought up he brought the Cody the Cody crybabies again. He called them the B-word as a matter of fact. Call him crybabies, he disrespected him. And then he said they can kiss the ass, is what he said of the final boss. Of course, referring to himself as the final boss, he would refer to himself a second time as the final boss, Elmer Romero. And the common to eat and say in Spanish and the comments, Wade Barrett and Corey Graves would both refer to The Rock as the final boss after The Rock's promo. Clearly, this is what the Rock is positioning himself, as Roman Reigns is the tribal chief, the rock is the final boss. And then after the song. The Rock picked up the mic and cut a traditional promo, and he did it right, right in tight with the camera. I like that it was right on top of that camera. He is talking down the barrel and. It was different, it was different for The Rock. Because it was mean. It was like not fun. It was mean. He's talking about Mama Rhodes. Cody Rhodes, mama, I want you in the front row. Cody Rhodes, mama. And he said, Cody Rhodes is not going to. He's not going to get a hand, Cody wrote first, he started talking about Cody Rhodes crying. He said You got to finally slap the rock, you slapped a taste out of the rock's mouth. And what's the next thing that you did the first chance that you got when you went on Monday Night Raw, what's the next thing he did? And he plays Cody Rhodes promo a little clip of it from Raw when Cody's getting welled up and he's getting emotional. And he said, you cried. You cried. That's what you do after you slap the rock, you cry. He mocked. Cody Rhodes for crying. This is toxic masculinity, we live in a world where crying is OK. We'll get to Cody Rhodes cry. He then. Painted a scenario, and he had started painting the scenario in one of his social media promos, which I love that these things happen. He got about a 10 minute promo in his gym on Friday afternoon, kind of talking about. Similar stuff, but after after bring it up Stardust on the big screen after doing all this stuff, then he got serious. No more fun. And he goes. He says, you're not going to hand a championship belt to your mom. No, no, no, you're going to. This is the only belt she's going to get, and he pulls out of a weight belt with the Brahma Bull on it, and he goes on to describe in detail. The whipping and the beating, the Rock is planning on giving Cody Rhodes on WrestleMania Saturday. And The Rock. Says that after that, that belt is covered in tears and sweat and your blood, Cody, that he's going to go to Mama Rhodes, he's going to make sure that she has a front row seat. He's going to hand her the belt full of her son's blood. And say. What can I say, except you're welcome. If you are a parent of a young child or a an early to mid dean, what a pop. The fact that the Rock actually cited Maui now Maui, this is important. Maui is lovable, Maui is charismatic. But ultimately, when we meet Maui. Maui is is is in Moana. I'm talking about, of course, Maui is a selfish guy. Maui is acting in complete self-interest. Maui is singing this song The Moana, and it's a captivating song. Did it? Did it? It did. Or did it? It did. What can I say? Besides, you're welcome. And then what does he do? He locks her in a cave and tries to steal her boat. You see, this is the Pied Piper over here. He's luring you into a false sense of security with his charisma. And what did The Rock do? Let's step out the rock Dwayne Johnson, the man who played, who voiced the character of Maui. What did he do on Smackdown? He told Memphis that he loved them. Finally, the rockets come back home. He laughed with them, he sang them a song, Charisma had everybody clap along. Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad while he sat there. Insulting the American nightmare. Doing the very thing. That that upset him, that Cody Rhodes did insulting the family of Cody Rhodes. And then talking about what he's going to do to disrespect this man's mother, but hey, it's OK. It's OK, it's OK. You're welcome. The Rock is here. When you say that the rock as a heel is not working. There's levels to this. There are layers going on. You understand the Rock is doing the same thing that Maui did. The Rock is luring Memphis and the people watching Smackdown at home into this false sense of security through song and charisma. Fun clips, jokes, rhythm, style. He makes it cool. And then once he's got you lured in, that's when he sails off with your boat. The Rock. Is a villain, not just because of what he's saying about Cody Rhodes, but because he's a complete phony. He's manipulating the audience into cheering for him. And then he's telling you that he's doing it by referencing Maui now. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But that's what I got, I got watching that like the Rock as everybody's cheering for him. That version of The Rock is the biggest scumbag on the show. Cody Rhodes has been busting his a*s for two years, going to every show, taking every picture, signing every autograph. Yeah, I'll be the best man at your wedding. Yeah, you can have Rio Ripley's chewed up gum. Yeah, I'm going to give you this table. Yeah, I'm going to do whatever you need me to do. Because I want you to have somebody that you can look up to, and once the rock doing, he's doing well, Maui would have done in Moana. The Rock. Is using his style, his coolness and his charisma and song important. To trick people into thinking it's OK, it's OK to boo Cody Rhodes and to mock him. For crying. As he reflects on his late father. Brilliant. To me, just absolutely brilliant storytelling. So what are we left with while we I do want to mention a shout out to trick Williams, who when the Rock took out his weight belt, the audience started chanting, Whoop that trick. What that trick? What that trick, which of course, comes from hustle and flow and everything and does have some. They were referencing what was going on in the promo, but also referencing. Trick Williams, and it felt very similar to me to the rock standing at Madison Square Garden at Survivor Series. When the audience started chanting for Zack Ryder. Kind of letting everybody know that right now, whether you want to go with it or not. Zack Ryder is the guy. The fact of the rock was in the ring hyping up the biggest story in wrestling right now, talking about Cody Rhodes, talking about Roman Reigns, talking about Seth Rollins. And Greg Williams comes up that bodes very well for Trek Williams. But the final boss thinks so, the rock. Referring to himself as the final boss, this is, of course, very significant because going forward, I wouldn't be surprised if he himself already owns the trademark on it. We'll probably see T-shirts by next week. I don't know what we're waiting for with the Cody Crybaby T-shirts, by the way. I know a lot of people that would have already ordered him. The fact that there aren't Cody Cry-Baby shirts. Just doesn't make any sense to me. But. I believe that we're going to get final boss rock shirts. I. Can only hope look, there is, as we talked about last week. There is a version of WrestleMania. Where Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins have their arms in the air. Cody Rhodes is the world champion. And we go off the air with a happy ending that is possible. I'm not sitting here and going like, that can't happen. That won't happen. That is more possible now than it has been throughout this entire build. But. There is also this version where Roman Reigns wins now, a lot of people are calling for the rock to turn on Roman Reigns, first of all. The rock helping Cody Rhodes at this point, it's like he literally insulted his mother on television. The Rock can help Cody Rhodes and go back to be like, Oh, it was all a ruse. But if you want me to believe. The Rock was insulting your mother on television, and that's OK because he was a double agent. That feels like you're taking some giant liberties in storytelling. You could also have Roman Reigns lose the title, and then the rock turns on Roman after WrestleMania to take Roman spot as the tribal chief. But when the Rock announces himself as the final boss, I just can't get the idea out of my head of Roman Reigns turning on the rock. Yes, it does make sense. We're eventually going to get a Roman Reigns babyface. I believe he's too good. And it would make sense that as good of a heel as the rock is. The Roman is a babyface trying to take out this final boss would be amazing. But what if that's not happening yet? What if it's not time for that yet? What if Roman Reigns keeps the title at WrestleMania? What do you think Roman Reigns thinks about the Rock calling himself the final boss? What do you think Roman Reigns feels about Paul Heyman making Roman Reigns stay in the ring instead of going home because the rock is coming to the ring a couple of weeks ago? What do you think Roman Reigns thinks about all the YouTube commentators? They are discussing whether or not the rock is taking Roman Reigns spotlight. What do you think Roman Reigns thinks about the fact that that character, The Rock? Thinks that this is all about him. And many, including people who were once fully with the idea of this is all about you, Roman, whatever you need, my tribal chief. Are now kind of going. The rocks coming, I can't believe it, the rocks coming. I can't get the idea out of my head. That Roman Reigns could keep the title and then the following Smackdown. They advertise, you know, I title a championship ceremony for the tribal chief. And that's when Roman Reigns decides it's time to time to recalibrate the bloodline and remind everybody. Who the top dog is. And they take out the rock. And that could comment like, you know, if Jimmy loses to Jay at WrestleMania, for example, what's Jimmy going to do to get back in the good graces of Roman Reigns? Maybe he's got to take out the rock. Maybe he kicks the rock first and then Roman Reigns starts going to town on the rock. Maybe when everybody thinks solar Sakawa is going to turn on Roman solo spikes, the rock. What if Roman says? Jimi, you're out. And rock, I think it's time to recalibrate. Who the top dog is. Sakawa spikes the rock, the rock goes down, the beat down happens. Paul Heyman is looking horrified because he doesn't know what to do. And then we move in, then that's it, and then we have to find out where the bloodline lies. Maybe we. Yeah, and then when we do eventually have the rock vs. Roman Reigns, now the rock is going to come back to get vengeance against somebody who may or may not still be the WWE Universal Champion at that point. But with the Rock calling himself the final boss. There are those that see that as the Rock saying, No, Roman, I'm the man and the rock is going to turn on Roman. I can't help but hope it goes the other way. That Roman resents the fact that the Rock thinks that he's the final boss and Roman takes out the rock. That's what I'd like to see. So I told you The Rock was talking about Cody's promo on Raw, and this was something that a lot of people were talking about Cody Rhodes crying on on Monday night, Monday Night Raw. Now I do want to say. They did the sit down interview between Michael Cole and Cody Rhodes. Michael Hall said, What do you want to talk about? I did do that gag, by the way, when, when and you can see it on the Not Sam wrestling YouTube channel. When Cody Rhodes premiered his documentary, I hosted the Q&A with Cody following the doc and I said, What do you want to talk about? I did the gag and he was right. It's hard not to do it when you're in the moment. But there were there were a couple of really good points. In that segment, one specifically was when Michael Cole says, How can you trust Seth Rollins after everything that's happened? How can you trust Seth Rollins bringing to light like this is something. We've talked about on the podcast, this is something that many conversations have been had about this, that Seth Rollins has every reason in the world to betray Cody Rhodes. When we think Seth Rollins said, I'll be your shield, the first thing we think about is the fact that he betrayed Roman Reigns in the shield. And that he wants to get that victory over Roman himself, every partner is ever had, he's turned on. So why wouldn't he also turn on Cody? Michael Cole bringing that all the way forward, I thought, was great because. It like those are again, those moments that don't insult our intelligence. When it's like, this is what everybody's thinking anyway, so let's not pretend it's not. If you got the opportunity to have a sit down conversation in kayfabe with Cody Rhodes, what are you going to ask him? Why isn't anybody asking him about? The risk of Seth Rollins, the fact that Seth is the one who accepted the match, the fact that all this has been going on, so I thought that was I thought that was really, really good. Cody, of course, brought up the old head podcasters. Now. I'm a big head podcaster, I'm not an old head podcaster, but it was interesting Cody brought up old head podcasters and saying that the the you know, why is he getting emotional? Why is he wearing a suit? Why isn't it doing it this way? Why isn't he doing it that way? And what did I see? All they had podcasters making comments about Cody crying. Making comments about Cody wearing a suit, it was very interesting that part of that is also, you know, kind of bringing that forward, of course. Cody accused me of doing something I would just do it. It's good for business. But I think I think a couple of things. Number one, I like that Cody was emotional. I like the Cody got choked up. I like that he got welled up. I liked it, Cody. When he cuts those impassioned promos. He doesn't talk about what I'm going to do to you, what you did to me. He talks about why for him, he needs this. He basically explained what this story is and why it's so important. And then it goes beyond Cody at this point that it's Cody's family. It's Cody's fans that have come through this with him. You know, it's about everyone and this journey. And he acknowledges, almost without saying it, the investment that fans have made in this, but then he also talks about. That is real for his family and all of a sudden. As I was watching that promo, I felt like before Monday. A lot of the attention was on the tag match. It was no longer about Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. It was about Cody and Seth versus Roman and Rock. Because especially with The Rock. How do you distract from that tag match in any way, shape or form, but. Once I saw that promo, once Cody broke down, why the story was important, not what the story was about, why the story was important. All of a sudden, you realize that Saturday is just a means to an end. Saturday at one point was about Cody getting his hands on the rock, he got his hands on the rock now. Saturday is about. Putting himself in the position on Sunday where he actually can finish the story because if he wins on Saturday, there's no bloodline interference on Sunday. I thought it was great. I also love that it is the polar opposite. Of the Rocks promo. That this is why. Cody gets the response that Cody gets. Because Cody is bringing you in close. And Cody is just being himself, Cody is not being character. Cody is not using any tricks. Cody is just, Hey, you felt this way before too, haven't you? Yes, I have. Well, then come with me on this ride. This is for all of us. The Rock is the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment. Roman Reigns is this larger than life, unconquerable, insurmountable foe. Cody is us. Cody is is just a guy. Who happens to have put his entire life into this and has worked harder than anybody else to get better than anybody else and just wants the opportunity. In a fair way to get what he thinks he should get. And that's what I took. And I thought that the Cody promo was super effective. I also thought that the Seth drew interaction. Was finally super effective, I think Seth has been running on all cylinders building up to this. His mic work leading up to WrestleMania in the last month has been some of the best stuff he has ever done. And I like that that that. We got that reaction from Drew McIntyre that when Seth specifically said of all the things that I'm worried about, of all the concerns that I have leading towards WrestleMania, you're on the bottom of the list. And it screwed up Drew's head. There was a reaction, there was a back and forth with just as much good work as Drew has been doing, as righteous as that character has been. The fact that South was able to finally hit him back with one right across the eyes and keep it moving. That moment was great. I still think there's going to be a great story to tell when you realize that Seth has not. Put the work into preparing for Drew McIntyre that he should have. I hope that's the story, am I? Who knows, but. Yeah, I thought it was I thought it was something really, really cool. Speaking of cool stuff, I think there is some very interesting stuff happening over on the other side of the fence in a world so big business went down on Wednesday. On Monday, we had this amazing promo from Cody on Wednesday. We had big business on Friday. We had the rock leading us into Smackdown with Song. This is how hot this is, how great this is. What an embarrassment of riches that we as wrestling fans have right now. So big business, the thing that we all thought was going to happen happened. The show opens much like it did those years ago in Chicago, with the cult of personality playing. The new song starts playing, but then you instantly see C, e o c e o, and we already know what this is. Here comes Mercedes money, Mercedes, Monet, Manet. Is all elite, the former Sasha Banks joins A.W. She is finally, this is something that people have been waiting for for a long time, seeing the former Sasha Banks now Mercedes on national television. In-character, ready to tell stories once more. And I thought that her. Her introductory promo. Was exactly what it should have been. Hey. Did you miss me? I'm here. Let's rock and roll. Just a hello. I'm giving you a chance to see me. I got dollar signs in my hair. I'm ready to rock and roll. I want to fight everybody. We've seen that a lot, both in A.W. and WWE to tell you the truth. But. At a point, unless you're coming back for a specific reason. Let me know now we also saw her again. Come out at the end of the night where she ended up saving Willow Nightingale, who I think a lot of people assumed would be one of her first foes because Willow, of course, was responsible for the injury. The Mercedes out of action for many months. But instead, she helped Willow and fought off Julia Hart and Sky Blue. Now. OK, so a lot going on there, first of all, I think that. And I know that it's not AWG footage necessarily. But I do think and maybe this is very WWE of me, but I do think that the ADA does not do a great job of bringing everybody in. The idea that everybody watching Mercedes money on A.W. knew what happened between her and Willow Nightingale, I think, is misguided. The reason that you signed somebody like that is to get new eyes on the product, whether they be eyes that see her as a big name celebrity, you know that she the day after the show, she was on the news in Boston. She was sitting front row at the Celtics game. And if the idea is that she's sitting front row, the Celtics game looking like a big ask star and people want to see, Oh, what's this all about this A.W. thing? Let me turn it on. Well, then we can't program everything for hard cause that are watching New Japan shows from Los Angeles and now that Willow Nightingale, you know, injured or that that Mercedes was injured during that tournament match with Willow Nightingale. I think that that and you know, the commentator said it, but. You know, and maybe this is next week. Have Mercedes talk about it? Have Mercedes talk about the fact that I was out of action for this many months? Because of this and that, and this is how I feel about it. And this is what I'm going to do about it. This is what I'm not going to do about it or this is where I land on it. You know, like, like like let's let's bring everybody on board for whatever that story is because I don't even know what the story is yet like, what direction are you going to go in that in with that? You know, like get like because if you're going to do it as a main event segment and have this this stare down between Willow and Mercedes happen. For some of us, it was like, oh, they're going for it. And for others, it was like, Oh, I wonder what that's all about. You know, like, let's really bring everybody in. I think till it does make sense to me. If the idea is that she's going to be a good guy. And go, because right now, both of the women's champions are villains. Julia Hart and Toni Storm. Obviously, it would make sense to see Mercedes and Toni Storm in Mercedes fight for the A.W. Women's Championship. But realistically speaking. The A.W. Women's Championship is on a Tony Storm right now. Toni Storm is not a good first big match for Mercedes in this incarnation because Toni Storm is like this over-the-top character and is also kind of beloved like. You want to see Mercedes get serious. It's the first time you've seen her in a big match in years. We can't really get serious if we're also like enjoying the idea that the entrance is in black and white and Tony's making the over-the-top faces. So I do think that the TVs Championship makes a little more sense, I mean, honestly, I don't think it would have been the dumbest thing in the world to have Deonna Purrazzo beat Toni Storm at the pay per view and then have Mercedes go after Deonna Purrazzo because Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mercedes. That's more of that first Championship match that you want to see from Mercedes. I also don't think that Toni Storm really needs to have the title on her right now. It's almost like one of those things, like what happened when you put the title on the field. Not that The Fiend and the Toni Storm character are anything alike, but realistically, when you have a character that's that rich and is is popular just for being a character. The title can sometimes complicate things. And to an extent, I feel like that's happening with Toni Storm. As is evident by the fact that it doesn't really make sense for Toni Storm vs. Mercedes, it feels to me anyway like a mismatch. You might feel differently about that. So if the idea is that she's going to go after the TBS Championship, I mean, I think that you're going to end up with Sky Blue and Julia Hart versus Mercedes and Willow at some point and at that point. I've always I was always a fan of Sasha Banks as a bad guy. I thought Sasha Banks as a villain was one of the best things. You know, I loved it. But with Mercedes back for the first time. I also feel like fans kind of want to cheer her. Maybe Willow turns on Mercedes, but then Willow doesn't have a title, but you could just still have a grudge match. I don't know. I do think that it's paramount that you start telling big stories. With Mercedes, I think that you want big stories and big matches with this person because you want her to maintain that star power. That's the whole point. What you want is kind of what WWE did with Cody Rhodes. You want her to be bigger and A.W. than she ever was in WWE, and if you can get Mercedes to be bigger than Sasha Banks was, then A.W. as a company is going to get even bigger. But in order to do that, it's got to be compelling matches and compelling stories has to be. It's good timing because there's a lot going on in A.W. right now, as you were talking about, I think last week, ocorre being in is real good timing along with Mercedes and and Okada being a villain is cool. I feel like and this is a positive thing. A.W. started and I think gained a lot of traction because they were an alternative to WWE at a time when people wanted an alternative. People wanted an alternative, and A.W. provided that. Unfortunately for them. A lot less people feel the need for an alternative to WWE now. I find in my travels the people that I talk to, it would seem that less people need an alternative to WWE then have in a very long time, which means. That you don't have the necessity for A.W. that you want it now. I think A.W. being around is an incredibly great thing for the business and for everybody in the business. And I want them to succeed. Eric Bischoff says on his podcast, There's better, there's better than less than or different from. And I think that at a point. A lot of fans were like, I watch A.W. because it's better. Well, now I don't know if it's better. Some people like it better. But WWE is really good right now. So instead, I think the move is to be different from and how do you be different from? I almost feel like. As I'm watching these matches get built up, as I'm watching, as I'm looking at the roster and seeing what you're capable of, as I'm watching the way they did Sting's final match, the way they did Osprey or, you know, they're building the Osprey. And and Bryan Danielson. You could see. A W. Almost become this like Americanized version of 2016 2017 New Japan Pro Wrestling, which I think would be really, really great. I think it would be really great for pay per view numbers, and I think it would be like awesome as new wrestling fans come in. And people become I think WWE is bringing in new hardcore wrestling fans, and I'm seeing that every single week when I read the emails on this podcast. Once you become a hardcore wrestling fan, once WWE gets you in the door. Because of the spectacle and the story. There's a large percentage of those people that might go, Hey, also, what do you do it on Wednesdays? Because there's this show where they have some cool stories, but really they have this roster full of people doing awesome matches. The matches have to have meaning, meaning don't get me wrong. But it's okay. To have a little less story and a little more great match, that's OK. If that becomes the calling card of your promotion, that's OK, you can't have no story. If you have no story, then it's like, I mean, what are we watching? Is now becomes an exhibition. It's a stunt show like it makes no sense. But you have a little less story than WWE does, but a little more action, a little more fast paced, a little more athleticism. Well, now we're on to something different. And I think that's a spot, a sweet spot that A.W. can find itself in, especially. When you get a Mercedes, when you get an Okada, when you get a will osprey. I've been watching Will Ospreay and what he's been doing in A.W. from his match at Revolution to what he did at the press conference after revolution, the way he talked to the media, the. Promo he cut on dynamite. I mean. I don't know how many American wrestling fans realize the level of superstar that this guy is. Will Ospreay has the potential not only because I think the word out on Ospreay, not I mean, to the hardcore fans, they're like, Yeah, we've already known how good he is, and that's true. But I think there's a lot of people who knew Will Ospreay as a guy who has great matches. Because they don't want they weren't watching the new Japan product religiously. When a match would catch somebody's attention, oh, you got to see this match, you got to see that match. OK, I'll watch that. It's like when A.W. first started, there were a lot of people. Who just knew Kenny Omega from having good matches in New Japan? I remember this match, I remember that match. They didn't know the stories that he's told. They didn't know about, you know, the the long legendary years long. Story with, you know, Kota Ibushi and all this stuff, because because that's not how they were watching, and that's to be expected. And I think the same thing with Will Ospreay, I don't think a lot of people realized. How good Will Ospreay is on a microphone. How good Will Ospreay is at telling stories, how charming he is in interviews. I mean, I'm watching him and after three weeks, it is so clear to me. Bet the farm put everything on Osprey. That dude needs to be the face of your company. And I mean to me. I thought that by the end of the experiment of MJF as a babyface, it wasn't working anymore. I don't know when MJF is coming back, but the idea of a babyface MJF returning to feud with a villainous Adam Cole. It does not appeal to me at this point. What does appeal to me? Is a baby faced Will Ospreay? Being the one to conquer Samoa, Joe, and at some point you want to get swerve in there and I don't know when that point is because I don't want swerve to win the title, just to lose it to Will Ospreay. But it's so clear to me that right now, Will Ospreay needs to be the face of that company. A thousand percent Will Ospreay needs to be the face of that company. And maybe you find, you know, a way to put. The continental crown or some other title on swerve and swerve can elevate that crown to the point that we we that he becomes so undeniable, it's absurd and swerve needs to be the face of the company because I think he will get there. But right now, today, Will Ospreay needs to be the face of the company today. And maybe at the end of the year, maybe you keep MJF out for an entire year. But I would love because Will Ospreay will be so over as a babyface that it will allow MJF to come back and be a villain again. The idea of Will Ospreay reaching the height of popularity as a good guy in A.W.. Only four MJF after a year of being gone to come back and try to snatch it away. That's one of the reasons I think MJF had to become a good guy. He was more popular than anybody else. They weren't booing MJF anymore. He they liked him. The fans liked him better than they liked anybody else. I think Will Ospreay the same way. To a different degree, but like how? The only person. Like The Rock. Is doing all this stuff about Cody Rhodes, and he's getting cheered, but that's OK, because Cody Rhodes is so popular that once he's standing face to face with the rock, people will cheer. Cody Rhodes, I have no question about that. I think. MJF, it has it became very difficult for a good guy to face him because people were going to cheer MJF. Bryan Danielson could do it because people love Bryan Danielson. Will Ospreay could be that good guy. Will Ospreay could be that ultra good guy that MJF comes back to destroy. And the idea of MJF and, well, Osprey being that yin and yang. Again, going back to the Batman and Joker, Superman and Lex Luthor. To me, I would I would absolutely love to see it. Now when we talk about heroes, villains, fan reactions, we got to talk about the fan reaction that Sami Zayn got, you know, WWE. WWE has been doing everything they can to get everybody over, and that's what you're supposed to do, that that's that's part of this thing. Everybody should be getting over if you're doing things right. Everybody. Should be getting over in their own ways. But the Chad Gable Sami Zayn situation is a complicated one because. Sami Zayn spent weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks building this story about how he didn't have this path to WrestleMania and WrestleMania 39 got brought up and he was in the main event and he was so hot and he was up here. And what do I have to do to get there? And Gunther was laughing at him and everything, but at the same time that this story was being told. The Chad Gable story was being told, and the Chad Gable story is somebody that people have really grown to love. The one guy who beat Gunther by countout. And the guy who has to fight for his family watched his little daughter cry. So. I thought that for what it was, it was very well done because it left. At the end of that gauntlet match, it left you going, it could be either of these two. And I from the beginning figured it would be Sami Zayn, I thought it should be Sami Zayn, I was like, Yes, Sami Zayn is the one. What I didn't realize was how many people? Thought the opposite. How many people thought it should be Chad Gable and Mike maybe thought it was going to be Chad Gable, 'cause Sami Zayn was met with a ton of backlash from people who thought it should be Chad Gable. And I get it. You know, Chad Gable has excelled in every role that he's been in. We've seen him have to deal with a lot. We all lived through Shorty G. Nobody likes Shorty. Nobody likes Shorty G for two reasons. Number one. What's to like about Shorty G. It's you're taking an Olympic level athlete, but because he's not as tall as other people, you're putting him in baggy shorts and calling him Shorty G, that's terrible. Number two. We watched him go, go, go through it, we we we watched him grow, we saw the potential there. We saw what this could be, and it was being squandered. And we watched this guy go through it. And then there's Alpha Academy thing. And because of Chad Gable and Otis and Maxine Dupree, everybody associated and tozawa, Akira Tozawa, everyone associated with Alpha Academy is popular. And we watched this guy perform the way he performed in that Gunther match in front of his family. Pulling on our heartstrings. But maybe most importantly, Chad Gable is a guy who hasn't had the innovative WrestleMania. Chad Gable is a guy who's never had that moment. The story of Sami Zayn. Getting. His moment back and finding his momentum again. It's important. But to a lot of people, the idea that Chad Gable finally has a moment is a bigger story now for me. I do think that the Sami Zayn moment is a bigger moment. Will he be Gunther? I don't know. I mean, at this point, it's almost like. I don't think they'll make it a triple threat, and I hope that they don't, because the United States Championship match is already a triple threat. But it's almost like, do you do? Sami Zayn loses. Chad Gable against Gunther at WrestleMania Backlash. Chad Gable beats Gunther. Sami Zayn turns and faces Chad Gable. But I don't know. Sami Zayn is such a good babyface. Sami Zayn doesn't have to turn to face Chad Gable, or maybe you just go, No, we got maybe there's another plan for Chad Gable. I don't know, but I think it's very interesting and I'm interested to watch what's done to make sure that Sami is OK coming out of this. We had a bunch of WrestleMania matches made this week, actually, so we got Sami Zayn vs. Gunther, the six pack ladder match was announced. Austere AJ Styles vs. I was going to say Austin Theory, but AJ Styles vs. L.A. Night was announced, which is a great spot, especially for L.A. night to just have an old fashioned one on one grudge match. Nobody taken that attention away. That's a pretty good spot at WrestleMania. Triple threat United States Championship match Logan Paul, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, which I think we saw coming and a big one. Jay Ouzo vs. Jimmy USO, it's official. Giarrusso comes to the ring on Monday, makes the challenge, and Jimmy Ouzo accepts I love Jimmy Russo's promo on Smackdown. I raised you, I raised you. Big Brother got you. Big Brother got you. He started talking about when this bloodline, the whole bloodline thing, first started. It does make you wonder. Are we going to harken back to the beginning of the bloodline? Are we going to talk about where the whole thing started? You know, is Jimmy going to bring up the fact? That he had to have James back from the beginning. Are we going to get some guy because I still feel as though. We haven't really had an explanation as to why Jimmy turned on Roman and then turned on Jay to go back to Roman. We haven't really gotten that explained to us. Are we going to get a little of that? Or are we going to go all the way back and have Jimmy talk about the fact that? He had to go into the hell in a cell and help him, he had to go to India like all of it, everything. That Jimmy had to do to help Jay. Is Jay going to bring up the fact that Jimmy became the right hand man and brought Jay in and that Jay never wanted to be in the bloodline to begin with? I don't know. There's a lot there this rivalry can go back to before The Usos were even the undisputed tag team champions. It can go back to the very beginning. Of the bloodline and what that dynamic was between those two. But I do hope. Do we take full advantage of the fact that are some rich storytelling going on in there? And it's really interesting because I have always been on board and I think I said it on this podcast months ago that I'm not into. I wasn't into the idea of The Usos splitting. I wasn't into the idea of Jimmy versus Jay. I love The Usos as a tag team, but now I love Jay Russo is a singles babyface. I think he's so great, I want to see a title on him, I want to see the world title on him. Don't forget. And maybe plans change, but Jews, so did say he wants to have singles gold by the end of the year. So but yeah, so you know, I think. I think you've got a real opportunity to tell some cool stories with Jimmy versus Jay. Speaking of cool, and I think you'll think it's pretty cool. Speaking of cool, it was announced this week. That WrestleMania weekend, you know, there's always a lot of shows that piggyback off of what the WWE is doing for WrestleMania. One of that shows is this one, not Sam Wrestling coming to Philadelphia Wednesday night of WrestleMania Week there April 3rd Helium Comedy Club 8pm show. You can go to not CinemaCon to get tickets to that show right now. But gee, CW game changer wrestling. I'm a big fan of them. I always get the not Sam logo printed on their ring mat. They do the collective every year, which is a group, a grouping of shows put on by different, sometimes different promotions, sometimes different people. And they basically just run whatever it is a dozen shows over the course of three or four days, and they're running shows all day. And one of those shows is Blood is Blood Sport, which Josh Barnett puts on. Bloodsport is kind of this. The ropes are down off the ring, and it's this kind of hybrid may pro wrestling thing, it's kind of what raw underground I think wanted to be. So the announcement was made on. Friday or Saturday that Shayna Baszler from the WWE was going to be competing at Bloodsport. That a WWE Superstar WrestleMania weekend was stepping off the main roster. And going into the 90s. To compete at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport and I guess, you know, people wondered if this was WWE and working together or are we going to see like when we saw WWE and CW working together, when we saw WWE and us W-A working together, when we saw WWE in AAA working together, like, is this going to be one of those things? But it seems like this is more. Josh Barnett. Reaching out to Triple H and going, how great would it be? Can we have Shayna Baszler on this show and Triple H granting Shayna the the ability to say yes if that's something that she wants to do, which is amazing. It's so great. It's so good for wrestling. It's so good for the show. It's so good for Shayna Baszler. And hopefully she goes and beat someone's a*s at Bloodsport. Cause I was thinking to that, like, Triple H is the guy. The book Shayna Baszler as this unstoppable beast in next. So if the idea is that she goes to Bloodsport to remind everybody who she is and what she's capable of? Could be pretty good. I think. I think that it could be good for everybody involved, so hopefully hopefully we see even more of that. I mean, it goes back to Chad Gable. I think seeing Chad Gable at a blood sport would be an awesome, awesome thing, really cool, but who knows if we will. But it is. It's it's very, very exciting. I think WrestleMania Weekend is going to be a very exciting weekend. I'm interested to see what you think you can email us, not Sam wrestling at gmail.com, not Sam wrestling at Gmail dot com. Let's go back. Usually I start with the emails that have come in. Most recently, I'm going to go back to an email that came in last week, last Sunday, right after I recorded, I guess, Shammo writes in. I might be coming from a position of being a stan, but I truly believe iOS should retain a WrestleMania. She's been the champion since August 5th, and nothing significant has come of the rain. I think for it to be the star she should be and this heel version of damage control to be a real threat, she should win at WrestleMania, her beating Bayley. When everyone wants Bayley to win the heat, she needs, well, I don't think that it would do as much for Io as you think it would because she would win. It would be damage control winning. It wouldn't be EO winning. I mean. The Kodak High is kind of looked at, I would say Oscars is the biggest star in damage control. Dakota Kai is being portrayed as kind of, you know, the center point of damage control right now right now. So, you know, I would I would have to disagree with you. Lindsay writes in Sam, Thank you for walking me off ledges and coddling me through heartbreak that to these podcasts are all about our feelings. Your perspective in patients is remarkable and appreciated. Tell that to my wife. When the day came that we were forced to move forward without Vince making decisions, I wondered who the universe is going to hate now. He was always the best bad guy when anything went wrong. Blame Vince. I wondered who would be that vacuum the fall guy now the people will not want to hate Triple H. My speculation is our new corporate bad guy in our future is the rock. This is bigger than this. Then this story for what he is planning, I believe it's very possible. And it was that. Imagine the rock randomly showing up, ruining matches and scheduling crap ones. That's risky. Because you don't want. What you don't want in wrestling is to put on a bad product to get heat on the authority figure. It's better to have a baby to baby face the authority figure by putting on a good product. But it is nice when things go wrong for there to be somebody to blame. And you're right, when WrestleMania started getting wonky and people didn't like that, Cody wasn't going to be able to finish the story. Nobody blamed Triple H. They blame the rock, even when Cody lost at WrestleMania last year. Most fans that I talked to were like, Oh no, no, that wasn't a Triple H thing. That was somebody else. Joey writes in. What's the haps, Sam? Longtime listener first time e-mailing I've been listening to you since back in the Katie Linendoll days she rules, by the way. Yes, she does. I've always really enjoyed all your fresh takes and commentaries on pro wrestling and love seeing you on kickoff shows you represent us fans better than anyone. I really appreciate that you should see me on the bump and raw talk. Well, I'm going to take a stab my first fantasy book and curious to what you think you've given Jade Cargill's bad a*s performance at the Royal Rumble and Tiffany Stratton stealing the show a women's elimination chamber. I honestly think putting these two in a program would really be something WWE could cook a great meal with. I don't know if that's the phrase. Both are new to the roster. Both have made significant impacts early on, and I think both of their respective characters could create some great chemistry. I'm probably speculating wildly. I know the rules. While I hope you're speculating wildly, that's rule number two. But I can see these two repelling each other to mega stardom down the road as opponents, similar to Brett Sean. Well, we'll see. Also, I vote yes to having let them cook be the fourth rule, I appreciate that, Jacqui. I don't think that that should happen now. You know, right now both Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton are building. You don't want them to build at the expense of each other. Meaning if you put them together now and Jade Cargill comes out of the story on top, that's a big loss for Tiffany Cargill. For Tiffany Cargill, for Tiffany Stratton to take this early on. I think that you want to find stuff for each of them to do, to let them build and build and build. And then if they are building and if they are getting better and better and better, then have the superpowers meet. Courtney writes in. First time emailer, let's see. I was wondering what you think of my idea on Jimmy Russo's involvement in the bloodline going forward. I have a scenario I can't get out of my head where Jimmy would lose to his brother Jay on night one. See the errors of his ways and actually be the one to stab Roman in the back in the Bloodline Rules match on night two, costing him the universal title. And that stipulation means only blood members can be at ringside. Jimmy, of course, could be involved. Jimmy could continue to simply play the third failed a rock and roll and going forward, but Jimmy being the one to screw Roman would elevate him to a whole new level. After all, the entire lyrics to Jimmy's theme song are that he's done putting family first. I don't think that's likely to. Here's the problem with that whole thing is that you would think that that would lead to Jimmy USO vs. Roman Reigns. But if we've already watched Jimmy Ouzo lose to Jews, so. Then he's not exactly a credible threat to Roman Reigns, which means that coming out of that. Jimmy is going to look bad because Roman Reigns is either going to kick his a*s or whatever, it's just. The where do we go next from that? Doesn't work for me. TJ writes in first time emailer, I've been watching the pod since 2022, I love watching the pod. That's good. It's been about. I don't even think we were putting the whole pot on YouTube in 2022. It's been about a year and a half since the rebrand, and the title still haven't been updated. I would really like to see all gold version of those titles back. Also, what are your top five WrestleMania stages slash sets in no particular order? 39. Uh. 34 30. Thirty three. And. Trying to think, is there any earlier ones, but not really. I guess WrestleMania nine make it nostalgic. Oliver writes in Love the Pod had a quick thing to ask. I'm currently writing a five page essay for my history class in high school. Nice. And I magically got my teacher to allow me to write said essay on the cultural impact of Hulkamania. Love it ! My question is, besides the cartoon growing the business mania 3's pay per view berate, for example, in importance to American culture during his prime. Is there anything Big I missing regarding Hulkamania is cultural impact? Well, I think the idea of. I think. What's interesting is in the 1980s, bigger was better. Right, everything is just bigger, more, more, more and more, you know, be great if this was even bigger. You know, it would be great if I was richer, you know, it'd be great if my car went faster. Everything was it was just bigger. Is better, bigger is better, bigger is better. And you saw that even with kids like, you know, all the cartoon characters were Thundercats, where he met with these big bulging biceps and everything. But the. But the idea was that the bigger is better, and that's the way it's supposed to be in America. And. Hulkamania fit that mold completely. Because Hulk Hogan was the ultimate superhero come to life. Hulk Hogan fought for America. He waved the American flag everywhere that he went, but he didn't. He wasn't looked at as a superhero. He wasn't looked at as this is a creation like this is not something you can be like. You know, like the rock is not looked at as anything you should aspire to be like because he's special. Roman Reigns, same thing. Hulk Hogan. Twenty four inch pythons, six foot, whatever tears his shirt off muscles everywhere. And you know how that happened? He trained. He said it said his prayers. And he ate his vitamins is a very unique time because the idea was, not only is this over-the-top character something we're all admiring, but we're all aspiring to be it. And there's this idea that every kid is growing up going. I can be just like that when the fact is you can't. But in the 1980s that went along with where they think, where the culture was. So I think that there's something there, something in the in the idea that Hulk Hogan was larger than life, but his value system was that you too can be larger than life if you're of high moral standing. And. Work hard and eat right. Interesting. Sid writes in I Love What You Do. Just get back into wrestling, and thanks for helping everyone navigate this crazy road to WrestleMania. We appreciate you. Congrats on your new baby, I appreciate you, man. I wish you could just let me live in the illusion that Cody is winning on night two. Look, I've tried to put that back into the show last two weeks. I've brought up how it could happen. Do you see Seth losing to Drew on night to? Yes. I can see them using an injury angle with Seth perhaps walking into the match of the bomb. Ah, yes. You know, I could see even if Cody wins. I could see Seth and Cody standing victoriously at the end of the night. Even though sat loss to Drew. And it would drive Drew even more crazy. He's the champion, why is your arm in the air at the end of the night? Cody writes in Not Cody Rhodes. Hey, Sam, big fan, been listening for a few years now. Here's what I'm thinking. If The Rock vs. John Cena WrestleMania 28. Right. Yeah. I don't know what you're right to do, this email makes no sense. Michael writes in I feel that I'm the only one who is extremely irritated when a WWE wrestler goes from a WWE championship reign or pursuit and then wins or pursues a lower championship, i.e. the U.S. or the title. Don't get me wrong. The U.S. of the title have prestige, of course, but they are lower on the totem pole than the Universal World Heavyweight Championship. There are so many existing examples of this happening in wrestling in today's wrestling that it's ridiculous. From my recollection, this was not so common in the 90s or 2000s, which I grew up watching. Can you explain the rationale for this so that I stop being so irritated by this? Well. I mean. I'm not sure that you're. Accurate. You know, I. What? I mean, you're talking about Sami Zayn, I. First of all, I think all titles have been elevated. I think that that at the moment. Gunther has elevated the intercontinental title quite a bit. WWE has done a good job elevating championships, but also in the 90s and 2000s. People just leave, they go to a different promotion or something, I don't I think you're going to have to email me back with some specific examples of this. I think this is an odd irritation. Travis writes in Love the show and hope all is well. It is more than, well, wanted to give you my predictions on the main events. OK, Rock and Roman win the tag match. Yeah, for sure. Seth loses to drew after bloodline interference. Possibly. Cody fights off the bloodline and all their shenanigans and a bloodline rules match just to be screwed by alluring south route. You just gave me, I don't ride in with my predictions. I those are the. You just set up what I've already set up on the show. What? Cornelius writes, Do you ever get backlash from superstars because of something you've said or your opinion? If so, please tell them they're for entertainment purposes. I. That's serious backlash. People have been comments, but not serious backlash. Mrs. Weiss writes in. Mr Roberts, longtime first time I would love for WWE to work with free agents and other companies, they do they sign them. What percentage of chance do you think this would ever happen? I mean, what are you talking about? Happen, and do you think you would see the signs? Or would it be a total surprise? I don't know what you're talking about. They signed free agents all the time. I am dreaming the WWE one day would have one time appearances from time to time, for example. It would be awesome if the next year marks could show marks WWE. The reason Mox isn't in WWE is because he got an A.W. contract. Marks is not a free agent. He's in A.W.. Someone like CNN could show up as a guest commentator at AIW. So you're saying the contract shouldn't exist or someone like Kenny Omega working in multiple companies doing? Premium live event appearances I would love for TNA to get, so I mean. Also, David and I got hooked on that. Yeah. Listen, listen. People have contracts, I mean, if you just want contracts to not exist anymore, that's something, but none of those people you just mentioned are free agents. They're signed to other organizations. Uh, Sean writes in. Hello, Sam, thanks for doing the podcast every Monday, it's my regular background audio for the start of the work week. Passive listening when talking about the Cody Roman WWE in general. You often say that having Cody lose at WrestleMania. Would just make all of them get bigger constantly because they've proven it before. But as far as the Cody Roman story goes, last year's loss was a lot easier for people to swallow because it was early on and they didn't have multiple years invested into it. It was the right call. But we also know that you dangle the payoff without giving it for too long. People do actually cool off as the greatest example of this. We have the we over sustain. This is already dumb. Which WC have you chose after months of heels? OK. Starrcade 97, Hogan beating Stengle, Hogan didn't beat Sting, but then WCW were never able to maintain the hype that didn't happen at Starrcade 97, which WCW chose after months of heels, beating babyfaces on the regular to extend past Arcade 97 with Hogan beating Sting. Shawn, what are you talking about? But then WCW were never able to maintain the hype for either Sting or the NWA. We also know that Cody has lost a last chance stipulation before in A.W., and he called off for the rest of his time in the company. How do you know Roman and Cody will only get bigger if Cody loses rather than repeating the mistakes of WCW or A.W.? Neither of those two contexts have anything to do with what we're dealing with now. Sting one at Starrcade 97. The reason the that finish was terrible is because the finish was terrible. In. Covered staying. For what was supposed to be a fast count. Nick Patrick counted at a very reasonable speed to three and then Bret Hart came and restarted the match. Sting then won the match. So the idea was Sting wins, and Hogan still looks strong. The finish was terrible, Sting won and it cooled off both of them because the finish was so bad. But Hogan did not win that match. Second of all the A.W. thing. Cody did not cool off. Because he lost a last chance stipulation in A.W.. Cody cooled off in A.W. because there was not cohesiveness with what he was doing and what else was going on in A.W.. It was called the Cody verse. Most of Cody cooling off was like. He was in that weird like pseudo heal thing where he was coming off as a heel but saying he was never going to be a heel, but it was making people boo him. And it just got complicated. But. It's I mean, he lost his last chance stipulation in A.W. like within. Three months in the company being in business or something like that. I don't know, I don't have it in front of me, but very quickly there wasn't this build of, Oh, I want him to be champion, I want him to be champion. Oh, he lost and he lost the step. Now he's cooled off. That didn't happen, either. Neither of those two things have anything to do with this. Last year's WrestleMania is much more closely related to this year's WrestleMania than either of those two things that you presented and you could say. Last year, it was easier for people to swallow because it was early on and they didn't have multiple years invested into this. It was the right call. Yeah, everybody's finally admitting that now, but they did not last year. Everybody was furious last year. Furious. OK, so like, let's not. Clearly, you have a revisionist history thing going on because you say things that aren't true. But that wasn't how people felt after last year's WrestleMania. WWE has the money in the bank. They have the Royal Rumble. If you want Cody to win the title later this year, all you have to do is put the briefcase on him. If Cody wins money in the bank stipulation, that's a stipulation breaker right there. All you have to do is Wait, what is this April? May, June, July. Three months later, Cody climbs the ladder, gets the briefcase. Challengers Roman at SummerSlam a month after money in the bank. I just solved your problem. Russell writes in given the recent events, we obviously won't be seeing Lesnar in the Hall of Fame this year. No, excusing anything he's alleged that involved with. But do you feel like enough time he will eventually be inducted? I have no unos who knows. These are like, I mean, speculating wildly is one thing. I'm going to get to more of the e-mails that were sent recently. Let's go to. Pranav from India love that from India. I'm 32 and I've been watching wrestling since I was seven, and I'm a huge fan of your show. Thank you, ma'am. I have a finish for night one, and I want your opinion on it. I agree with all of us thinking rock and roll and winning night one makes sense, but what if Seth pins Roman at night one? That way, you can get his w over Roman before Cody. The next day he loses to drew. It won't hurt him that much unless losing both. Well, both. I well. So Cody vs. Romney will be bloodline free. I feel like this finish also justified because last year, Cody said to Roman J is going to leave you. Jimi itself will leave you. Paul becomes an advocate, and then he says, a man without a family, a Roman without a with no more reigns achieve without a tribe. OK, so you're saying that when Cody said, I'm going to take everything from you. That technically, if he wins. Yeah. I just don't see it. And then what you have. Cody, take everything from Roman and then beat him. You know, it's kind of interesting the way you set it up because of Cody's words, but. It's not it doesn't make no sense. I'll say that. Uh, I'm going to go to another one, this is a long one. See if they're quick ones, OK? LoopPay, I've really enjoyed the television graphics of the different superstars WWE has been using going to commercials. It reminds me of the old Saturday night's main event shows where every superstar had their own individual. Graphic your thoughts? I've been enjoying them too. I love. I love the change LoopPay writes in. I was recently watching an old next show with Bayley, and I had forgotten about her interaction with the young female fan. Then I was checking the list of guests for WrestleCon, and it says Izzy is going to be there. Which made me wonder since Izzy will be in Philadelphia, would WWE use her for WrestleMania to bring Hugger Bayley back? Remember, everything counts. Bailey hugging NZ again. It does not make sense. I'm not mad at it. Matthew Wright said What do you think should be the opening match for WrestleMania? I got tickets tonight. One Hoping it's Jay vs. Jimmy. Is the opener? The opening match, Jay versus Jimmy. I mean, it's a lot of bloodline. It would make sense for it to be the opening match. I don't know. I don't know. I'll have to think about that when the whole card is revealed, will fantasy book a whole thing? All right, I'm looking for some quick ones, Avery. Sam just wanted to know what your thoughts are. Chad Gable already told you. Jay writes in with Nick Aldis making the match official for WrestleMania XL, I can't help but think that time and setting couldn't be more perfect to bring back a match that hasn't been seen in decades. What are your thoughts of changing the US title match from a standard triple threat to a three way dance? They don't do Three-Way dances in WWE. It changes the whole reason for being. I think it requires two guys to get pinned. Yeah, I would say no, I'd say it's a no no for me dog. OK, there's going to be the last one. Zachary writes in OK, he sent us email three times, so he wants this email, right? So this is a good last email. Nick Aldis recently referred to this current time period in WWE as the Renaissance era. I whole wholly agree that we are in the midst of a rebirth, a more compelling, mature and coherent storyline. So I love the name. What say you? P.S. As a Delaware native, I'm only twenty five minutes from Philadelphia, so see you at the helium on the third, my friend. I appreciate that my man. The Renaissance era. I don't know, I think. For me, Renaissance is too reflective on what came before it, because it rebirth has a lot to do with what came before it. I don't know what this hour is going to be called. I'd call it the emergency podcast era. That's probably the best name for it. The not Sam era, I think, could be fun. People would be into it. Pretty cool, guys. I appreciate you all. Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel. Hit like comment. I have a new video project that's coming out we put together. I'll tell you now if you're if you've listened or watched all the way to the end of the podcast, we've put together clips. Of all the interviews that I've done with Cody Rhodes to try to tell kind of the story of his career is going back from dashing to Stardust. Leaving WWE coming back to WWE and all the way to this year, and it's a pretty cool video, so we're going to put that up on the Not Sam wrestling YouTube channel this week. Make sure you check it out if you're listening on Apple. Don't forget to leave a rating and review Spotify. Leave a rating and review if you can, and we'll see you very soon here. I'm not Sam wrestling.