WEBVTT - Forbidden Door Pre-Match Updates/NXT Tag Team 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Brian Alvarez and this is today's edition 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:08.160 of the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network. 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.280 By from San Francisco. I'm a sports Byline broadcasting network. 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.520 You are listening to Wrestling Observer Vibe with your hosts 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:26.000 Brian Alvarez and Mike semper vaut. Ready, Ready, let's get 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:31.440 it all. How's it going everybody? Brian Alvarez here on 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.920 Wrestling Observer Live. We are here every day Monday through Friday, 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.720 New Pacific three Eastern Sunday three Pacific, sixth Eastern. Well, 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.879 it's Friday here in this program, and you know what 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.400 that means. We've got a busy weekend coming up with 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.080 the a w New Japan Forbidden It Door pay per 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:52.800 view which is coming up on Sunday. And you, I'm sure, 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:59.240 dear listener will be stunned to hear there's another injury 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.200 that is that has afflicted this show. Toll me hero 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.920 is she is off the show. He has been replaced 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.840 in the All Atlantic four Way by Clark Conners. Who 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.280 is she he beat? So we'll go over the full 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.280 card for the show, and uh, I won't go over 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:18.119 everything I went over yesterday in The Brian Viney Show. 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.160 If you want to listen to the show Wrestling Observer 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:22.600 dot com, Video dot f W online dot com, you can. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.600 But the gist of it is, I went through this 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:30.680 card and based on what I know, whether it be 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:36.360 injuries or politics, or changes as a result of injuries 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:40.640 which changed other matches, if that makes sense. I think 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.680 every single solitary match on this show, with the exception 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.400 of thunder Rosa versus Tony Storm, was originally going to 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:54.120 be something else. Nine out of ten matches ended up 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:58.720 being changed from what they originally wanted to do. So anyway, 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.880 we'll go over that. We have got the a W 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.200 ratings which were up this week, and we've also got 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:08.480 an update on the SmackDown and Rampage numbers last week, which, 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:12.000 if you recall, Rampage was like so low and then 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.359 people were thinking maybe there was an issue at Nielsen, 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.480 and in fact, the good news is there was an 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:21.520 issue with Nielsen. It affected both SmackDown and Rampage. The 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.799 bad news is Rampage still today horrible number. So we'll 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:27.720 tell you about that here today. We've also got an 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:32.040 update on Stephanie McMahon SmackDown tonight New n x T 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:36.880 Tag Team Champions, A virgin is a title holder and 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:55.000 so much more. Back in a moment, Observer Live taking 0:02:55.120 --> 0:03:06.079 that you're listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Albarez 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:12.119 and Mike Semperviv on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network. Better 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.680 in the show, Bryan Albarez here Wrestling Observer Live, Mike 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:18.400 sumber Viv also Wrestling Observer dot Com, and Yes, a 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:22.480 she E has been pulled from Forbidden Door after suffering 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.160 a knee injury, and Bro, if you know anything about Ishi, 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.400 it's gotta be a bad knee injury to pull out 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.519 of a show. He'd been scheduled take part in the 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.760 a w All Atlantic title match featuring Pocmero and Malachi. 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.880 He will be replaced by Clark Conners, who was a 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.720 guy that he defeated in a tournament final on Tuesday 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.480 at the New Japan Road e Ent in Tokyo. You know, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.000 I'm a I'm a huge fan of Clark Connors. No, Clark, 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.560 he worked around here and uh he actually worked at 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.560 the pool that Vinnie's wife works at before he got 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:58.800 into wrestling. So I'm very very happy to see Clark Connors. Uh. 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.240 He did the uh elderly people water yoga and boy 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:08.160 do they like Clark Connors. But anyway, uh, he I'm 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:10.760 very happy to see him working this forbidden door show. 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.640 But man, this was an opportunity to go filthy Tom 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:18.320 in that four way and it didn't happen. But well, 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.920 he'll be in the g one right, will be, yes, sir? 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:27.440 So another injury and uh, as I noted earlier here today, yesterday, 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:29.760 it was like seven of the matches had been changed 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.760 as a result of injury or whatever. But I did 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.800 a tally yesterday and uh, whether it be injury, politics, 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.159 or someone being moved because of an injury and needed 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.599 to be replaced in a match. By my account, nine 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.359 of the ten matches, for sure we're changed from what 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.600 was originally planned. The only one that I think had 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.919 been planned from the beginning and is taking place as 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.480 planned provided none of these two get hurt is thunder 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.320 Rosa and Tony Storm for the a W World Women's Idole. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:05.440 Every single other match was changed for one reason or 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:09.839 another from what they had originally planned, which is insane 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.839 when you actually think about it. We've got moxy Tona Hashi. 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.160 As we're all well aware, j White, Okada Hangman and 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:21.120 Adam Cole. We've got Malachi, Pack Mero and Clark Conners 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.880 for the All Atlantic title, Thunder Rosa, Tony Storm, Jeff 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.360 Cobb and Great o'con versus f tr versus Rapongi Vice winner, 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.320 take all R O H and I W G P 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:36.080 Tag team titles, will Osbury, Orange, Cassidy, Jericho, Suzuki, Sammy Versti, 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.320 Kingston Wheeler. You didn't showed Amino, Zach Saberg Jr. Versus 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.640 the Mystery Man whoever that might be, Young Bucks, Fantasma 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:47.840 and Hikolao versus Sting, Darby Shingo and Harromu Takahashi. And 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:49.800 then to buy in his Max Castor and the Gun 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:54.599 Club versus the l A Do Joe. So that is 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:56.920 the lineup for the show. I still think it's gonna 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.080 be excellent show Bell to Bell, but I know a 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.680 lot of people are disappointed. Some people are claiming they're 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:04.880 not going to buy it. It's kind of funny because 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:06.960 whenever people go I don't like it, I'm not gonna 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.680 buy it. I ever believe that, because I've heard that 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.159 a thousand times, and then we end up getting numbers 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.560 and it's like the number of people that actually said 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:16.760 that they didn't buy it is low. It's like they 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.480 either weren't going to buy it in the first place, 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.880 or you know, the people that actually legitimately change their minds, 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.080 it's usually very very few people. But it was funny 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.599 and people go like, well, I expect it to be great, 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.680 but I didn't like the build. What so you're gonna 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.200 skip out on the show that you know is going 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:38.320 to be great because you don't know how They don't 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.240 like how they got to the show that's going to 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.159 be great. That was one that was a weird one, 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:47.600 but whatever. I think most of those people that would 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.080 say that are going to buy the show anyway. You know. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.679 I think the only time the build hurts is any 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.520 casual fan that is not a die hard New Japan 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:00.800 and slash a W Pro Wrestling and if they only 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.080 follow a W yeah, the building will matter to them. 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:08.479 But most of the people that are frustrated or probably 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.920 expressing that opinion, and I don't know, your timeline tends 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.239 to be a little bit more toxic than mine. Uh yeah, 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:18.320 I mean I don't believe those people at all. They're 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.880 absolutely gonna watch the show. What if she's not going 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:22.920 to be there, so all of a sudden, you're not 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.880 gonna watch the show. No? Is Okada in the dream 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.600 match that you want him to be in? Is Tanahashi? 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.760 Is whoever? Maybe not? Is that really going to stop 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.160 you from watching the show? No, Because you know, whoever 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:39.400 Zach Saber Jr. Faces could be. Say it's cesar Oh, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.040 say it's Gargano, Say it's whoever it is, It's probably 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.320 gonna be pretty great. You know, you look up and 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.880 down and you go, Is Cassidy the guy I would 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.240 have wanted to face will Osprey? Probably not, But you 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.960 know what, the match itself is probably gonna be pretty great. 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:58.560 Same goes for for Tanahashi and Moxley. I would have 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:00.840 loved for it to be punk, but this is the 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.440 handword dealt. And I think by the time Sunday Night 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.880 is over with, they're going to be people who some 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.600 people don't know, like a Clark Connors because for the 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.200 most part, people don't know who the hell Clark Honnors is. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:14.280 People listening to this show may but there's a lot 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:16.520 of wrestling fans that don't, and I think they're gonna 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.600 see him. They're gonna see l Fantasmo, They're gonna see 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:21.760 some of these other guys, and they're going to be 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:24.600 really surprised, and they're going to want to see those 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.160 guys more in a w and mixing it up and again, 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.560 this is step one on what hopefully is going to 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.559 be a long path of working together between these two groups. 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:38.439 By the way, for this guy that says, I know Tonash, 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:40.719 she stands less than zero percent chance of winning, will 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.199 I watch it? Yes, I would not say that at all. 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:46.079 I don't think he's got zero percent chance of winning 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:50.200 or less at all. It's not necessarily predicting him, but 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:55.480 that is not a by the way, after everyone's freaked out, 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:57.920 hold on. That's one of the interesting things too, and 0:08:58.080 --> 0:08:59.679 we can get into it later on. If we go 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.760 up and down this card where the one thing that's 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.880 for sure is you don't know in some of these 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.280 cases who is actually going to come out the winner. 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:09.640 I mean, there's a lot of question. You know, you 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.560 may think, Okay, this person is going to this side 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.200 is gonna win, but you don't know who's gonna take 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.040 the fall. And I think there's a lot of stories 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.720 that could be developed for both companies coming out of 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.760 this show. So last week, everybody's freaking out about these 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:27.440 numbers and Dynamite Wednesday eight seventy eight thousand viewers, up 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:31.080 fifteen point four percent from last week, number one on 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.120 cable with an o point three one, which was up 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.000 ten point seven percent from last week. This was up 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.040 against the Stanley Cup Finals, which did four point six 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.400 million viewers and a one point three one at eighteen 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:48.040 to forty nine up in every demo category except males 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.200 twelve to thirty four, which declined. Biggest increases were young 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.640 women females twelve to thirty four up a hundred percent, 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.199 eighteen and forty nine forty three point eight percent. So, UH, 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.680 numbers good, so we can move on from that one. 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:07.440 But due to a reporting error with Nielsen, because these 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.640 numbers on Friday, I mean it was a bizarre. SmackDown 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:14.839 was sky high, Rampage was like depths of the Earth, 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.559 and it turns out that there was a reporting error 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:25.840 at Nielsen which affected both shows. So SmackDown, UH as 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.880 opposed to doing two point to nine million viewers, they 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:32.800 did two point three eight nine million, which means that 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.000 Roman Reigns Riddle Match that did two point eight million. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:40.240 It probably did actually almost three million viewers for Roman 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:44.320 Reigns versus Riddle, the same riddle that they squashed on 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:47.320 Monday with Omas and beat him up twice in one show. 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:54.200 The Rampage Show actually ended up doing three hundred and 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:59.040 sixty nine thousand viewers, which was up twelve percent from 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.560 what we reported at last week. That's the good news. 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.800 The bad news is in its normal time slot, still 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.920 by far the lowest viewership ever in the history of Rampage. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.199 That did allow it to beat two of the shows 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.199 that were preempted, but this in no way turned the 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.480 Rampage number into a good number, still at a point 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.480 one two at eighteen and forty nine, which I guess 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.160 is good because before it was a point one. Oh, 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.760 this is at least a point one too, But that 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.360 is also the lowest demo number the show has ever 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:36.840 done in its regular time slot. But it did beat 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.200 some shows that were preempted. But there's minimal spin you 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.240 can put on that that that makes it as it 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.520 was a holy number. Yeah, the only spin you can 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:47.800 put on it is, you know, this is better than 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.080 some of the times they've been preempted and put somewhere else, 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.840 but they only went up, you know, thirty eight thousand 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.920 viewers in this when in SmackDown went up nine hundred thousands. 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.679 So people, it's whatever obvious, no, but as far as yeah, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:04.199 but it goes up. You know, they went up to 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.839 nearly two point four million people from two point to 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:10.280 nine and again because of that percentage, you know, yeah, 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:14.559 it just unfortunately doesn't go open up for rampage at all. 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:17.320 In was it a one week aberration. The show has 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.840 been on the decline anyway. They are hamstrung by the 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.120 fact that there are days that they don't want to 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.560 run on in issues that they have the Tony Khan, 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.280 either as a gentleman's agreement with or there's some other 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.320 deeper reason that he doesn't want to run on certain 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.960 days up against certain shows. But they're hurting themselves that 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:35.959 way because you've got to get that show off of 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.200 Friday at ten. I don't know where you can put it, 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:42.120 what you can do, but Friday attend stinks. I'm on 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:48.640 an observer live condy day. Come come Friday to day 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:57.959 that streaking ring. Maybe I I think it's me that 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:12.959 there's something that track, But imagine you were listening to 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.000 Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez and Mike Semperviv on 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:22.560 the Sports Byline Broadcasting net work. Back in the show, 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.640 Brian Alvarez here Wrestling Observer Live, Mike Simperviva also Wrestling 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:33.040 Observer dot Com. Okay, everyone's talking about Tona Hashi. What 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.679 percentage chance do I think the tonah she has of winning? Bro, 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:38.680 I don't know, And you know what I would do. 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:43.680 I would say why. I'll tell you why because what 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:50.319 was the originally scheduled match. It was CM Punk versus 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:54.080 Hiroshi Tanahashi for the a W title, Right, that was 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:58.480 the original match. Yes, CM Punk got hurt and he 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:05.920 was removed from that match. Okay, so Tony clearly wanted 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:10.440 to see see M Punk versus Hiroshi Tanahashi for the 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:14.679 a W title. Well, now he can't because ce HM 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:20.520 Punk got hurt unless you either bring back Tanahashi later 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.920 when c HM Punk ends up champion again or Tanashi 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:29.440 wins the title see M Punk comes back and it 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.440 all out. You do the match he wanted to do 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.640 in the first place. It couldn't do see M Punk 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.120 versus Hiroshi Tanahashi for the a W title and see 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:43.400 him Punk wins, So it's not like this has happened 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:47.080 before where something throws a monkey wrench in Tony's plans 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.960 and he swerves to get back to where he was 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.680 going originally. So if he really wanted to do that match, 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:58.280 then Tanahashi wins the interim title, and when Punk comes back, 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.160 you do Punk a Tanahashi the originally planned match, and 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.160 then Punk gets to win. Now I explained that, well, 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.320 why did I say? Well, the other half of that 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.080 is that if CM Punk would have wrestled Hiroshi Tanahashi 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.360 Forbidden Door, I don't think Tanahashi is winning. He was 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:20.480 going to lose at Forbidden Door, so that's the other 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:24.560 fifty percent. He wasn't scheduled to win, so he's probably 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:28.840 maybe not gonna win this time. But for anybody thinking 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.960 that tanah she has zero chance of winning the a 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:35.480 W title. If you look at history and the way 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:37.680 that Tony has handled issues where he could have put 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.200 together a match he wanted to do, he does his 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.520 little swerve to get back to the match he wanted 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.080 to do in the first place. So don't think there's 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.160 zero chance. I haven't actually gone and looked at the 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:55.880 at the schedule for G one, but hold on, everyone 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.280 is doing six matches and not eight, okay, And I 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:04.240 was told that there's only one Wednesday where Hiroshi Tanahashi 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.280 is working a G one match, which means, with the 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:11.240 exception of one Wednesday, he is a vail. It would 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:13.640 be a tough flight there and back. But he could 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:19.040 appear every Wednesday except one during the G one, So 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:23.120 it's not impossible that he could win this title. It's 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.480 not impossible, but it's kindly unlikely because of the G one. 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.200 And I think if you wanted, if you were a 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.040 gambler that way and say I'm gonna put money on Tnahashi, 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.440 I think then you also must look at the odds 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:41.000 on the Okada match, because if you look at J White, Okada, 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:47.160 Page and uh Adam Cole, you have three aid W guys, 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.560 but two aid W guys, J White and Okada. And 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.080 if you're going to switch the belt and actually have 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.600 Tanahashi hold onto the a W title throughout the G one, 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.440 you know, leading into I don't I don't know when 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:02.800 all out is, but you know, if you're gonna have 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.720 that happen, then go ahead and actually swap the belts. 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:09.359 And have Hangman Page pull off a big upset so 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:10.959 he could have a big match when he goes over 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:16.119 to Japan. I think again, I I know what you're saying, 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.640 and I see that. I just see. This is where 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.119 politics start to dribble back in. And you know the 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.240 importance of those titles, which while G One is going on, 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.399 you wouldn't think would be important and doesn't Most fans 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.240 would go, Okay, I can displace this and and put 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.000 it in this part of my mind. But I don't 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.320 know if the companies necessarily want that to be the case. 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.119 And well, he has traveled back and forth with Tanahashi. 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:43.560 I think that is asking. That's asking a lot. Well, 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.160 he doesn't have to be there for every show, certainly, 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:48.680 I mean he doesn't have to do every single Wednesday 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:50.720 that he's available. He could do a couple of videos, 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.800 but he could appear, He's not My point is he 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.960 is not for sure off a w for six weeks. 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.520 If he's in the G One, he could make appearances. 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.280 He could defend the title on Dynamite. And here's the 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:09.200 thing with the G One. Virtually every single time there 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:12.960 is somebody that beats the I W G P heavyweight 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.479 champion during G one to set up a match post 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.320 G one, I think the champion, I think the i 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.400 w g P champion needs to work the g one. 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.840 So you could have j White retained the title. You 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.840 could have Ocada win the title from j White. Maybe 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.000 maybe the whole reason that j White won the title 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:34.600 was so Ocatta Ocada could win it back on Forbidden Door. 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.520 But if you're talking about politics, if Tanahashi wins the 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.920 a W title, the swap does not need to be 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.359 an a W guy winning the i w GP heavyweight title. 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:50.160 F TR can win the i W g P tag 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.200 team titles. So the new japan belts that come over 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.200 here are the world tag team titles and the a 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.520 W title that goes over there but also stays here 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.359 because ton she could work shows would be the i 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.280 w U or the a W championship. So you can 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:09.639 make this work with the g one and with a 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.720 political both sides get one belt. You could do that. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.000 I still believe that Moxy is probably gonna win despite 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.760 everything I just said, but I'm just pointing out it 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.160 is not beyond the realm of possibility that Hiroshitanashi wins 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.600 the au W title. It's not less than zero percent 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.920 at all. No, not not not at all, not at all. 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.000 And I if I had to put money on it, 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:33.480 I'm probably putting it on Moxley, and I'm putting it 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.400 on j White as well to getting I can see 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.520 more of j Y trying to start his own group 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:41.600 for having We're you know, the Bullet Club storyline being 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:45.400 involved because of Cole and Page all involved in that too, 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:49.600 and Okada somehow getting screwed out of this because I 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.680 just now that you've taken an off Ocata and put 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.840 it on White. To me, now it's the build for 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.880 Okada and he can win it back before January four. 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.000 But I can see a story and I can see 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:07.080 possibly where that title stays out of his grasp until 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:10.080 the end of the year, until those January four shows. 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:12.000 But but who knows. We got a long way to go, 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.840 and Sunday we gotta get out of the way first, 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:16.960 and there's enough matches that we can go through without 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.520 having the fantasy book out too much. This makes observer 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:24.040 Dave Meltz reported the decision to appoint Stephanie as the 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:31.800 interim w w E CEO and chairwoman, not the Women's chairman, 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.199 you're working too art for that one was done by 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.760 a special committee of the company's board that did not 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:43.440 include her family members or Nick Cohn. As Friday, w 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:45.920 W announced Stephanie this is the greatest story of all time. 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:49.160 W w E announced that Stephanie would replace her father, 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:53.119 Vince on an interim basis as company CEO and chair woman, 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:57.720 as a special committee investigation is underway regarding alleged misconduct 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:00.080 related to a three million dollar hush fund given to 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.159 a former employee Slash love Interest. While he made that 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.400 move voluntarily, he still remains head of Creative and made 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.919 brief appearances on both last Friday's SmackDown and Monday's. Brian 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.639 Gowertz had an idea on Twitter. He said, if he 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:15.920 had any say in this, he'd have Vince come out 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.639 and do a shorter and shorter appearance on every single 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.120 show from here on out, just a surprise appearance where 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:23.040 like plugs w W E shop and then throws the 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.320 mike and leaves. And I would not rule out another 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:28.719 appearance by Vince on Friday. After the numbers they had 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:32.520 this past week, They've wrote. Stephanie McMahon being put in 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.240 power was said to be based on a decision of 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:37.720 a special committee, which would be the eight members of 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:40.400 the board that were not Nick, con Vince McMahon, Stephanie 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:44.280 or Paul leavec Regarding an unflattering story that I can't 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:47.159 even keep a straight face. Regarding an unflattering story that 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.120 came out in Business Insider about Stephanie taking a leave 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.720 of absence in May, Meltzer wrote that quote of the 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:55.200 side of the company that buried her on the way out, 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.400 None of that came from the members of the special committee, 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:02.480 but from others in the Penny. So the point of 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:04.320 all of this is, do you remember when we were 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.720 pointing out, well, she left and then first they buried 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.639 her privately, and then they buried her publicly, and then 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:15.120 they just brought her back. Well, that's the simplistic way 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:19.400 of looking at it. What happened was she left, they 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:24.720 buried her privately, they buried her publicly, and then the 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:29.199 board that didn't bury her brought her back. So, man, 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:31.280 if they find out some of the folks that were 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:37.520 burying Stephanie McMahon and now she's back, this is incredible. 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:40.360 Who do you think those folks were that buried Stephanie well, 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:43.080 I mean, I know, I mean, it's not like a 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:46.119 big secret, but it's one of those things were like, 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:51.160 you know, they were clearly instructed to get word out. 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:54.639 Now who instructed them that? I don't know that. I 0:22:54.640 --> 0:22:57.520 don't know who who is it, but you know there's 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:01.120 people that the people that actually got the word out, 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:03.720 This would be a case of of killing the messenger. 0:23:04.640 --> 0:23:10.720 But I mean, so then why what what was what 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:13.920 would have been? What was the benefit then in doing that? 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:18.040 Knowing that he's she is still Vince McMahon's daughter, knowing 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:21.399 that there is still power to be wielded by a 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:23.080 woman who's going to be on the board of that 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:26.920 company until the end of time or unless she pulls 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:31.720 a Shane, What was the benefit? What was what was 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:33.680 the goal of it? Other than to try to kick 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.000 dirt on somebody that very likely would have been back 0:23:37.119 --> 0:23:40.720 in some form after taking this time off that Dave 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:45.120 says she did voluntarily. So what what was the end 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:48.639 for these folks? Well, so we talked about this the 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:51.680 other day. The the best theory that anyone has given 0:23:51.720 --> 0:23:56.120