WEBVTT - RAW on Netflix 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Brian Alvarez and this is today's edition 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:06.640 of the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network. 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:16.440 Bye from San Francisco. I'm a sports byline broadcasting network. 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.840 You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with your hosts 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:25.200 Brian Alvarez and Mike sempervv Right, you ready, You're ready, 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:26.720 Let's get it on now. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.280 How's it going everybody? Brian Alvarez here on or Wrestling 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.960 Observer Live. We are here every day Monday through Friday, 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.839 New Pacific three Eastern Sundays, three Pacific six Eastern Saturday 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.800 Mornings with Jim Valley, Today Pacific one Eastern Sundays with 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.640 andrews Arian. And it is Tuesday here on the show. 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.600 And you know what that means. Well, we got a 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.920 lot to talk about. I don't want to be joined 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:56.160 today by Lancestorm. Lance watched Raw last night. It's on 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:59.360 Netflix now and so we're gonna talk about Raw on 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:04.960 Netflix as well as NXT tonight, which will feature an 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:11.440 appearance from the Rock. You heard that right, The Rock. 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:19.000 The Rock is on NXT in a building set up 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:23.440 for let me see what I got here. It's like 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:25.520 I can't even believe this. Really, It's not even like 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.600 they're running a thirteen thousand seat building that's all sold out. 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.319 It's like, I don't know a few thousand people there, 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.440 but The Rock is gonna be there. So anyway, I'll 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.920 find that here later, somebody texted me. But the point 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.640 is the Rock is on NXC. He may as well 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:46.120 be somewhere because I don't want to say it's as 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:51.520 bad as when Eric Bischoff signed with WWE and the 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.560 first thing he did was come out and hug Vince McMahon. Man, 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.640 let me tell you, when Rock showed up on that show, 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:00.400 it was like, this is the easiest, this is the 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:05.880 easiest storyline. With the Rock in the Ulafalla and solo, 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:12.960 his brother shows up and hugs his two rivals. There's 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.000 like two matches. There's two matches for the Rock at 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:21.720 Wrestle Media. There's Roman Reigns and there's Cody Rhodes. He 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.359 has been feuding with both, and he came out and 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:29.799 he hugged them. I don't know, man, I could talk 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.480 about this for weeks, but anyway, we'll get Lansan got 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:34.760 a lot to get into. Back in the moment, it 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:51.720 was over life. 0:02:53.720 --> 0:03:03.880 Sometimes I am an American veteran. I'm proud to have 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:07.600 served this country. Helping veterans is something all Americans can 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:11.520 participate in, and it's as simple as donating an old 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:13.840 car that you have sitting around. When you call the 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.920 Veteran Car Donation Program, they'll explain how their program works, 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.240 and then a range of time they can come and 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.240 pick up your vehicle for free, running or not, it 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.919 doesn't matter. 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That's vaxassist 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:30.839 dot com sponsored Byfeizer. 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.479 You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.200 and Mike simperviv on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network. 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.720 Are the show, Bryan Alvarez here, Wrestling Observer Live, Lancestorm 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:54.760 joining us here today. First off, Lance, are you doing 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:57.760 I'm doing all right, all right, because I'm gonna need 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.560 a moment here, all right. First hop since seems to 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:02.800 be confused, I'll say this again. I mentioned this like 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.039 fifty times on this actual show yesterday. The prediction show 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:12.960 is tomorrow Wednesday, Okay. The Prediction show is Wednesday, So 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.160 get your prediction ready and be ready to call tomorrow, 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:24.640 not today, Wednesday, okay, And also on Wednesday, Max, please 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:29.599 also Wednesday. A couple of hours afterwards to Pacific five eastern. 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:34.520 We will be debuting after Dark Radio on Sports Byeline. 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:38.080 That will kick off Wednesday at two Pacific five eastern. 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.920 So a very very big day on Byline. We got 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.000 the one of the biggest shows we do all year, 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.440 the Prediction show that'll be at noon Pacific three Eastern 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.920 and after Dark Radio will be at two Pacific five Eastern. 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.359 And also, yes, for the fifty fifth time, as I 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.120 mentioned this countless times yesterday, after Dark Radio will be 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:02.200 just like this show twitch you Tube. It'll be on 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:08.919 whatever tune in radio all at all? Right, yes, Byeline, 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:14.960 it's on Byeline. Okay, gotta talk about the Rock, sure, okay, listen. 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:26.360 So and the Rock was like a bad guy last year, right, 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.800 a horrible person and great at it. He was an 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:42.960 incredible heel feuding with Cody and Roman. And after WrestleMania 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.880 he had that big confrontation with Cody teasing that they're 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:51.520 going to have this match where he gave him a gift, 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.880 a mystery gift. He put it in his hand, whispered 0:07:54.880 --> 0:08:01.760 something in his ear and left the final boss The Rock. Well, 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:07.400 they debuted on Netflix. They booked Roman Reigns versus Solo 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:12.440 Socoa for the beads and I guess they're not beads. 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.760 They look like beads, but they're flowers, the ulafaulla. And 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:21.000 I mean, I'm not just mad because like I had 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:25.120 an idea they didn't do. But like this is idiot proof. 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:30.800 You do a match for the ulafaulla. Roman wins, but 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:35.400 like before he can put on the ulafaula, Rock attacks him, 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.480 takes the ulafaula and then we got Roman reigns in 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.120 the Rock all set up and it's like so easy, 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.840 and then it actually gets worse. Did you guys know 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:51.840 that the Rock did a social media post like the 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.720 day before or the day of raw? Are you guys 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.720 aware of this? He said that he had been named 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:03.559 a Samoan Heitch Chief twenty years ago. He said, after 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:08.720 twenty years of proudly carrying our culture with me around 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.559 the world, I can't wait to soon return back home 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.160 to Samoa. I already have chills thinking about it. Until then, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.760 I'll come back home to WWE tomorrow night as we 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.760 make history on Netflix and begin a new and exciting era. 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:28.640 Tomorrow Night is dedicated to my grandfather, the High Chief 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:33.720 Peter Myvia, my grandmother Leah MYV and my dad Rocky 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:39.800 Soulman Johnson, and my ancestors who have all paid the way. 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:47.439 I read that and I was like, dude, like, there's 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:52.520 a match for the ulafalla to determine who will be 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:57.439 the tribal chief. Rock has just done a video about 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:05.160 his ancestry. Hello, So then this dude shows up and 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:10.839 the first thing he does is he puts over Cody 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:15.120 and he makes some jokes and Cody laughs. Then he 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:19.679 hugs him and he goes through the crowd again. Then 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:24.280 they do the match for the Ulafalla. Roman wins and 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.760 as he's celebrating before the beads get put around his neck, 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:34.160 here comes the Rock. I'm like, okay, obviously, well the 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.320 Rock gets this ulafalla and he looks at Roman Reigns 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.360 and you can hear the crowd like this is the thing. 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.679 You can hear the crowd buzzing. The crowd knew this 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:51.640 as well. And then he puts the ulafalla around Roman 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:54.160 Reign's neck. Do you realize that Dave has been talking 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.760 about how important this ulafalla is to the storyline for 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.360 like a year now and how it's this giant thing 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.520 and this big match and everybody cares about it. Well, dude, 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.679 he put the beads around this guy's neck and the 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.600 crowd didn't even pop like you could hear, and they 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:16.640 went what And then he hugged him and yes, I'm 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:18.680 sure at some point, the Rock probably is going to 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:23.959 turn on Roman Reigns. But dude, what was this raw? 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:29.079 This was like a raw to get all of these 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.800 fans that allegedly are like lapsed, the alleged lapsed fans, 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.040 the casual fans who are flipping like, so what's on Netflix? Oh, 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.880 it's raw. The idea here is to get these people 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:45.560 invested in WWE. So like, I don't care if he 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.480 attacks him tonight. I don't care if he attacks him 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.200 at the end of the month. I don't care when 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.040 the dude attacks him. Like, this was the show to 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:59.760 shoot the Angle, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.600 It's like that was the night. And so all of 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.360 these imaginary lapsed fans or you know, we've never watched 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.760 wrestling in since the eighties or whatever, see what's going on? 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.200 What did they see? Well, they saw that The Rock 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:16.240 is the best friend of Roman Reigns and Cody, Like, 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:20.280 I'm baffled. It's a classic example of there was an 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.600 easy way to do this, and let's think of a 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.920 more complicated way. Let's swerve the people first, and then 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:29.920 we'll shoot the Angle down the road. When like all 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.520 those people that tuned in for this show, they ain't 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.880 gonna be there. Do you guys remember SmackDown's debut on Fox? 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.600 Does anyone remember when SmackDown debut on Fox? The first night? 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.319 How many viewers they had? Do you remember? Lance? 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.480 It was three plus million. 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:51.080 Four million viewers for the debut? Four million? Do you 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.240 know how many people watched Week two two and a 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.720 half It was like two point two million? Okay, half 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.559 the people that tuned in that first show didn't watch 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.240 the second show. Do you guys remember what Dynamite did 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.960 on their debut? It was like one point four one 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.720 point five million. The next week it was like eight. Okay, 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:19.040 whenever you have a debut, you're gonna lose half the 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:23.040 viewers every time. It happens. It happened with aw it 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.800 happened with SmackDown on Fox, and whatever they did on Netflix. 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.520 They're gonna have half of that next week. So you 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:31.600 can tell me all you want. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:32.240 You're a mark. 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:36.000 Obviously he's gonna attack the guy. Why are you listen? 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.319 I mean, you're probably right, but this was the show 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:44.280 to do it, not week two. So anyway, I don't care. 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.120 They're still gonna do well at WrestleMania. But like That 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.960 was your Eric Bischoff, Huggs Vince McMahon moment when he 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.439 first signs with WW It's like, why would you ever 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.400 do that? Why? I don't get it. 0:13:58.040 --> 0:13:59.920 My take wasn't that they're just gonna do it later. 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.400 My take was Rock always wanted to be a babyface 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.719 and he's trying again, or that. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.920 There's not gonna be a match. That was other people's takeaway, 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.960 like he's not doing mania, So like whatever they're doing, 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.800 that's the message people got out of it. Either he 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:16.280 blew off the two feuds or he's not doing mania. 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:18.440 Is that the message you want to send to the 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.960 biggest possible audience you're gonna get on Netflix? Not to me? 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.080 Nope, that's what they did. 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:27.920 Well, what do you think about this show? 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:33.560 Production wise? It was very very impressive, Like I haven't 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:38.520 watched Raw in ages, and I thought the show open 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.160 video package on the you know, the screen hung around 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.400 the ring was really great. The building looked impressive. But 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:53.720 I found the show really slow and really long, and 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:58.200 as someone who hasn't watched in a long time, there 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:04.280 was no angle, nothing really compelling to insist I watch 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:08.680 next week, Like I watched for three hours there was 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.360 four matches and yes, don't believe any angles. 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:17.000 Yes, well you know I I talked about this on 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.880 the show last night and my good friend Paul Fontaine. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.200 I like Paul a lot, but you know, Paul said, 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:29.000 I'll actually find it right here. He goes, he goes, 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.000 what are you talking about? They didn't promote anything for 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:32.760 next week? And he had like a list of matches 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:36.400 that they went over for next week. And the list 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.320 of matches was I mean, it was like a bunch 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.320 of matches that they'd been building up for a while, 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.560 and like nobody involved in the matches from for next 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.840 week were even on the show. It's like, how is 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.520 that going to get new people who tuned in excited 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.960 to watch the show next week when you've advertised a 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:56.880 bunch of matches of people that weren't even on the show, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.440 Like you should have had things on the show to 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:01.880 shoot a goals so people tune in for the next 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.560 week's show, not a standalone show anyway. Whatever. Back in 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:06.440 the moment, Observer Live. 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:24.160 You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:27.840 and Mike simper Vivi on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network. 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:37.120 I have more to say, so listen. So does Max apparently. Yeah, 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.600 so here's here's a thing. I'll meet you for sequal. 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:41.640 You take care, old Max. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:41.880 There. 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:46.800 So the thing to me is this, okay, like, what 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.200 what's what's the point of the raw debut on Netflix. 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.320 I watched the show. I didn't mind the show. I 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.320 mean it was it felt very long. But I didn't 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:58.120 watch it and go this show is is terrible. But 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.320 I did look at it as are we gonna hook 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.720 any new viewers with this show? Because if you look 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:07.639 at the success of WWE, and you can see it 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.240 watching the show. I mean these fans, I mean seventeen 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.000 thousand people. It was the highest and this is true, 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.800 it was the highest gate ever for an arena show 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.560 in the history of WWE. I mean they sold seventeen 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:23.120 thousand tickets at sky high prices for this show and 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:28.080 sold the place out. And you know, these fans, they're fans. 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.959 Whatever you personally, listener think of the show. Their fans 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.159 are eating this up, okay, And they have regained a 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.439 lot of fans that they lost in you know, the 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.879 twenty tens, and you know, up through twenty nineteen and 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:46.080 early twenty twenties, and how have they done that. They 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.640 didn't bring those fans back front with like one off 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:53.800 shows featuring old people. They got those fans back because 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.359 the weekly episodic storytelling is a thousand times better than 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:00.240 it was five years ago. Okay, So to me, if 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.080 you have a show like this where the idea is 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.840 we are gonna have a ton of new eyeballs on tonight, 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:10.760 to me, it's like, well, highlight what you've been doing well, 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:16.720 which is episodic storytelling and shooting angles. So Paul here 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:18.919 says there's no hook for next week. They did a 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.520 whole three minute segment running down the card for next week, 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.880 the finals of the Women's Intercontinental title tournament, Seamus versus Kaiser, 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.159 Gable versus e lucid Or who's probably Penta, and Damien 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.159 Priest versus Finn Valor in a street fight, and he 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.800 is correct, they did run all of that down. However, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.879 those matches mean something to you if you are a 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:43.159 regular raw viewer watching the show every week. Okay, but 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:48.000 the idea here is we've got new people tuning in 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:52.160 or lapsed fans giving us another shot. Okay, So of 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.879 the lineup next week, the finals of the intercontinal women's 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.359 title tournament. We saw neither of the women on this show. 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:04.159 They may no appearances Seamous versus Kaiser, We saw neither 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.520 of these men on the show. They made no appearance. 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.280 Gable and a Luchador. We saw Gable on the show, 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.359 but all he said was I want a lucchador, and 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.159 they didn't tell you who the luchador was. Now we know. 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.720 But if you're a lapse viewer, a new viewer, et cetera, 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.200 you have absolutely no idea who this person is going 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:24.719 to be. You may not even know them when they 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.439 show up. And Damien Price versus Finnbller Street Fight, we 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:30.920 saw neither of these people on the show. They made 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:35.439 no appearances whatsoever. So if you're a new viewer, what 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:40.080 does any of that mean to you? Absolutely nothing. Instead, 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:44.160 you saw a show where Rock Blue off his feud 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.879 with Cody, they're friends, Rock Blue off his feud with Roman, 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.600 they're friends. All of the other matches had clean finishes. 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:54.680 They blew off all of those matches. It's like, what 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:58.680 is the incentive for a non fan or a new 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:01.800 fan or a lapsed fan to tune in next week? 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:07.040 Because of drone shots? Or great production. That is not 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.680 what brought people back. Even when WWE was at its worst, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.000 they still had great production except for all the camera cuts. 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.399 So that was my issue with the show. They shot 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.960 this like a one off tune in one time and 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:23.720 then go back to whatever you're doing, as opposed to, hey, 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:25.920 you should start watching this. We got some good stuff 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:26.320 going on. 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:31.480 And I would also state too that announcing all of 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.760 those matches, I believe we're done. At times where I 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.679 was like forwarding through, like I'm hitting that ten second 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.760 ahead thing because it's like they'll show celebrities in the crowd. 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:43.920 I'm like, I don't care, and then they'll show oh, 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.280 it's Kofey and Xavier standing in the crowd talking, but 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.960 it's like whatever, it's just more talking. 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:50.440 I was. 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:54.560 Skipping the vast majority of that because it was like 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:57.919 I just couldn't wait that long between matches. I was 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:03.560 just getting bored with just seeing people stand there. 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:07.720 Oh there was a lot of standing, and yes they 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.640 did show some of these people standing in the crowd, 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:14.520 but that is not shooting an angle or getting over 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:18.160 the characters, or getting over the rivalry or doing whatever 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:21.280 to make sure that you want to watch next week, 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:24.399 so very quickly, he can give some thoughts on this 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:27.800 as we go through the show, Lance. So it opened 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.639 up with, you know, Hunter did a promo, and then 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:34.840 Rock came out and Rock did a big promo being 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:38.040 a total babyface, and then he put over Cody Rhodes, 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:41.000 and then he put over Roman Reigns, and then he 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:43.520 hugged Cody in the crowd, and then he said he 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:47.879 would be watching the next match. This took about twenty minutes, 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.160 although ironically, of all the shows, the show where they 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:54.840 have no time constraints, they could have gone nine hours 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:57.040 if they wanted. This may have been the first time 0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:00.680 in history Rock actually hit his timeque so that was ironic. 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:06.240 Then we had Roman and solo tribal rules. I said 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:08.280 to Dave that this was like a WrestleMania main event. 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:10.400 He said it was not. But let me tell you something. 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:16.080 Everybody go back and watch the Rock and Cody Rhoades 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:21.399 at WrestleMania in the main event. It was literally the 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:26.680 exact same match. It was slow early and then eighty 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:29.240 five million people ran in and then they went to 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.959 the finish. This match was exactly like the WrestleMania main 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:35.800 event with Cody and Roman reigns. But it was with 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:39.439 Solo Soca and it wasn't a bad match. It was 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.119 boring early, but like the people did get in all 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:44.359 the run ins, they did get into the near falls, 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:47.440 they did chant this is awesome. They chanted for Cody 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:48.840 to come out. Then they hit his music and he 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:52.040 went crazy. All of the baby faces did big dives, 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:55.359 and then Roman ends up spearing Solo and pinning him 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:57.600 clean in the middle of the ring. And then Yes, 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:00.719 the Rock came out. He put the ula far around 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:03.680 the neck of the of Roman Reigns. He hugged him 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:08.000 and that was that. Glad that feud's all blown off. 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:10.480 Well, the thing is like, I haven't been watching and 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:13.320 I didn't watch Mania last year, so I really wasn't 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:17.119 aware of the previous angle, and this just felt like 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:22.560 the return much like Taker and Hogan. It's just like 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:24.840 a guy from the past came down endorsed the guy 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:29.080 from the future. Yay, great seeing you again. Nostalgia at Rock, Like, 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:31.639 that's more what it felt like to me as someone 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:35.119 who wasn't aware of all of the story of the 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:40.440 Roman bloodline with Rock, it just felt like Rock returned, 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.680 did a celebrity cameo appearance and endorsed the current guy 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:46.239 and left. That's what it felt like to me, not 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:48.160 being aware of the previous angle. 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:51.040 And that's what it felt like to everybody watching this 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:54.560 show for the first time or coming back. Wow, he 0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:57.359 likes that guy. Hey, at least this time when the 0:23:57.480 --> 0:24:00.960 Rock acknowledged Roman reigns, fans didn't boom out of the 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:04.080 building like they did about six years ago. We had 0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:06.440 all the celebs in the crowd. Then John Cena comes out. 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:09.600 This guy does a nine hour promo and the gist 0:24:09.600 --> 0:24:12.560 of it is he's beginning his final run. He has 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:15.120 not won a match, he claimed in two thousand, four 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:18.920 hundred and forty six days, which is true, but also 0:24:19.080 --> 0:24:22.560 not true. It's all semantics. He actually has not won 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:27.560 a televised singles match in twy four hundred and forty 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:31.320 six days. The last time he won a televised singles 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:35.040 match was Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:39.359 was like twenty eighteen. However, he has won many televised 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:42.160 matches in multi person matches, and he's won many singles 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:44.760 matches on the road. But he's pretending he can't win. 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:48.040 Therefore he could never win that seventeenth title. But then 0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:51.400 he remembers, well, golly, there's a Royal Rumble coming up, 0:24:52.119 --> 0:24:54.960 maybe I should enter. So he is in the Royal 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:58.760 Rumble and he will never give up and that's that. 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:01.919 But he said the Royal Rumble's basically a lottery. Like 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:05.840 to me, it's like, oh, it just it tells the narrative, 0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:09.359 which I've complained about before, Like fans love the Royal Rumble, 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:12.320 but it's like you're saying that the most important match 0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:14.879 of the year is just a lottery crapshoot that this 0:25:14.960 --> 0:25:18.520 guy that hasn't won a match in six years could earn. 0:25:18.760 --> 0:25:21.880