WEBVTT - Roman Reigns Challengers/Stephanie McMahon News 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Brian Alvarez and this is today's edition 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:09.720 of the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network. Ready, Ready, 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:15.120 let's get it all. How's it going, everybody, Brian Alvarez 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:18.800 here on Wrestling Observer Live. We're here every day Monday 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:23.160 through Friday, New Pacific, three Eastern Sunday three Pacific, sixth Eastern. Well, 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:25.639 it's Friday here on this program, and you know what 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.520 that means. We got a lot of news we'll talk 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:32.640 about here today, and by the grace of the Good Lord, 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.920 none of it is about Sasha and Naomi. No update 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.319 today whatsoever, So we can talk about other things. And 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.120 there's plenty of things to talk about today. We got news, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.320 not the least of which obviously, is the departure of 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:52.199 Stephanie McMahon from w w E. She is taking a 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:57.400 leave of absence, and we'll give you some details on that. 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.360 And what details we don't give you, well, I guess 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:02.040 we can ask Dave Meltzer about it, because he will 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.440 be on the show in the second segment of the 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.560 program today talking about all of the biggest news in 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.319 the newst edition of the Wrestlings. A guess probably means 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:12.680 we will have to talk about Sasha Naomi here today, 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:18.319 but also in the final segment of the show, we 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:21.200 will be joined by j Bradley, one half of the 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:27.520 fixers at Tag Team, along with Wrecking Ball Logurski. I 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.440 believe may have once feud with Bruno Sammartino. But anyway, 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:32.880 we got a lot of fun stuff to get into today. 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:37.240 So all the news we got the A W Dynamite 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.920 ratings show did very well. We have got to look 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:45.200 at who the next likely challengers are for Roman reigns, 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.000 because you know, we ain't got none, but the three 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.640 challengers spoiler here are pretty much the three challengers that 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:56.840 we've been talking about four weeks now as potential challengers 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.480 for Roman. Rais Rick Flair talked about criticism of his 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:06.120 scheduled match at Star Cast five or Is. He essentially said, 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.560 it's not about the money, and I'm not sure anybody 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.440 actually I thought he was only doing it for the money. 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:17.800 I think the criticism was more you have a pacemaker 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:19.959 and you want to wrestle at seventy three. But anyway, 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:21.200 he talks about that, we got a lot of stuff 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:22.880 to get into. Mikes and Pervid join us after the 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:27.200 break lots of folks joining the program today, O kaick 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:46.000 it off after the break Observer Live back in the show, 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.000 Bran Albert is here Wrestling Observer Live, Mikes and Burvivi 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:54.200 also Wrestling Observer dot Com. Thank god, stephan even command 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:56.760 is taking leave of absence so I don't have to 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.120 open the show talk about Sasha Naomi today. Oh, come on. 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.040 In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer newsletter, Dave 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:08.040 Meltzer provided an update on Stephanie McMahon's leave of absence 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.280 from w w E, which she announced yesterday and which 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.680 in fact cut most people in the company off guard. 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.360 She announced Thursday she's taking a leave of absence from 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:20.519 quote the majority of her responsibilities with w w E. 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:22.760 She wrote she looks forward to returning to the company 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.880 after taking this time away to focus on her family. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.239 Melts reports he leave of absence was one Stephanie's choice 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.560 and had been coming for some time, even though the 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:36.000 announcement was a surprise to most, he wrote, this came 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.360 out of nowhere. Most talent and those in the office 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.720 and creative didn't know about it until they heard that 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.160 she tweeted it. There were definitely a few people who 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.760 knew and knew the background, but they weren't saying much past. 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.920 There is more to it, but the basic reason given, 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.280 we're not inaccurate. The part about leaving a focus on 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:57.360 her family is definitely part of it. Was obviously a 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.240 tough year with Paula Veck being out for so long, 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:01.840 and she had to pick up a lot of the 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.000 responsibilities and obviously had to deal from a family standpoint 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.200 with his health issues. Is back in the office full 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.280 time now, so he's in the office full time, but 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.280 she's taking a leave of absence. There's no time frame 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.719 for return. We are told she is returning. All kinds 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.200 of speculation has transpired. You know what I need this 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:25.279 week is more speculation. The only thing we were told 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.600 directly and that this was her choice. This has been 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.279 coming for some time, not something that happened out of nowhere, 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.840 even though it would appear because ovitually nobody knew anything 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.799 except a few who had kept it totally quiet until 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:39.200 just before she released the info. But she was on 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.640 four store pressure. It was her choice. As far as 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:43.920 what it means for the future, that at this point 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.080 would be all speculation. She was the public face of 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.039 the company had been pushed by the company to be 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.960 positioned as one of the leading female sports executives in 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.120 the country. Company President Nick con will be taking over 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:01.080 her duties and those who reported to her will now 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:06.400 be reporting to him. Stephanie besides being chief brand officer, 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.000 what if Brandy is available to take that job over 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.800 for a while member of the company's board of directors, 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.159 and aside from Vince, was the only original McMahon family 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.160 member still working for the company. She owns two point 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.160 five percent of the company, which would be valued at 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.080 this point. That was yesterday. Yesterday it was a hundred 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.640 sixteen million dollars who knows about today. In a role 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.560 as Chief Brand Officers, she's responsible for ensuring w w 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:36.880 e's global brand strength and growth. Although let's be honest, 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:44.760 Stephanie McMahon was not responsible for ensuring the global strength 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:50.880 and growth of w w E. Many many people are 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:54.440 responsible for that. But best wishes to her. Hopefully everything 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.960 works out great and she can return soon. At the 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.960 update on Stephanie mc man, it's gonna be a nutty 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.640 day now. It sounds like you gotta beef with the sources. Man, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.599 What are you talking about? They were they report things. 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.000 That's where the speculation comes in. And now I'm talking 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.599 about speculation from these fans, it runs rampant. I'm turning 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.200 into a w w E heel. These fans are driving 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:22.320 me out of my mind, you know, maybe out of 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.280 her mind right now. When you have three kids, you know, 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.280 all only a couple of years apart, and she's had 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.080 a long year, and that's something that a lot of people, 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.320 you know, they talked about triple HP and out and everything, 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:36.240 and Stephanie continuing on and how this affected n XD 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.720 and all this stuff. But it's you know, because we 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.039 sometimes don't put it in, don't think about this of 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.520 this is a family with three young kids twelve, fourteen, 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.640 and sixteen years old, that it's tough and this may 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.359 be the best time to try to take a break, 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.839 because I would assume Stephanie Man, even though she's got 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.200 a lot of options outside w w E, is going 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.360 to be back inside w w E until that company 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.560 is sold and you know, until I mean, I don't 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.440 know when you're you're scheduled to take a break again 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.920 in a in a business that's relentless, with a focus 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.640 like her father, that is relentless it is every day, 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:15.880 every moment, you know, spent thinking about wrestling and trying 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.200 to drive the business forward. When are you going to 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.640 take another break again? So maybe with what happened with 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.120 Triple H it was a stein to stop and go, hey, 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.640 you know, appreciate what you got right now, Slow up, 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:30.880 he's back to work. Let's ease off the pedal here 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:32.800 a little bit and take some time before we go 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.520 back and and kick this thing back into year again. 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.320 And you're obviously in safe hands. No matter what anybody 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.360 wants to say about Nick kN being the reaper of 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:43.200 the McMahon family and forcing people out and all that 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:45.880 other nonsense. I mean, my god, he's a great businessman. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.720 He's been fantastic for that company. They obviously worked together 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.040 great to get the TV deals through. They hire them 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:56.320 from CIA or where William Morris wherever exactly he was from, 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.040 and he's been nothing but a success for them. So 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.040 it's Vince mc ants company. Nikkoon is doing great for them. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.720 If there's a time to step back, this is certainly 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:10.440 a good time to do it. You know. I I uh, 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.200 I made a big mistake yesterday. I broke my own rule. 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.920 I I went and I read some of the comments 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:24.080 on yesterday's Observer live on on YouTube. What a stupid 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.920 thing to do? How was it? Well, you know, normally, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.760 like you know, I'll argue with people and everything like that, 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.680 but it's rare that I really get irritated. But man, 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:37.000 somebody on there made some comment about you had mentioned, well, 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:42.640 how come there's not the fury over Tony Storm? And 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:47.520 this guy goes, well, it's because she's white, and dude, 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:52.040 I was like, bro, on the list of differences in 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.439 the two situations, the color of their skin is at 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:59.880 the bottom. Okay, Like yes, Tony Storm decided she did 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.200 want to do this anymore and she went home. Okay, 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.120 you guys realized that like she was putting. We talked 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.040 about the storyline actually where they wanted to rip her 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.240 shirt off and everything like that, which they didn't do. 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:12.120 They ended up doing the pie in the face or whatever. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:16.080 But like she endured that storyline. She was put in 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:20.080 a feud with Charlotte Flair for the title. She lost 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.280 a match or she I can't remember what the first 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:23.719 match was, but they had one match and it was 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.640 d Q ending, and then they built up to a 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.120 championship match on TV where she was gonna go in 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.720 and she was gonna do the job. Okay, now, if 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.120 Tony Storm had showed up in the building and then 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.040 fifteen minutes into the show, when she was told that 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:44.600 she needed to do a job, she quit and walked out. Well, 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:48.840 you'd you'd be close to what happened with with Sasha 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.520 and Naomi, but she didn't. She showed up the building, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.199 she was told she had to do the job, She 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.800 went into the ring, she did the match, she did 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.560 the job. She literally finished out the entire storyline. It 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.520 was done. And then afterwards, when the show was over, 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:12.480 she went home. And and and so the conclusion you've 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.080 come to, why why there is there is you know, 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.280 a different reaction to what you know Sasha Naomi did 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.680 when they showed up at the building, were given us, 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.000 given a one month storyline. And I don't even get 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:25.720 into this thing about how you know there were no 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.160 plans after Helen his Cell given it. There are no 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.080 There were no plans for them Monday, and they were 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:36.800 given plans. But apparently having no plans after Helen his 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:41.240 Cell is worse than having no plans right now. But anyway, 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.520 they showed up and they were they were Actually they 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.000 weren't even told they were doing a job. Naomi was 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.520 gonna win, and they decided We're gonna walk out at 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:54.280 the beginning of the show and just leave now. Somehow 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:57.160 some of you see this as the same thing. How 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:02.000 and then when it's obviously not the same thing. Literally, 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:03.719 all you can come up with is to why the 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:09.240 reaction is different. Is well, Tony Storm is white get out? 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:14.000 Do you understand though, why people of color, especially women, 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:18.680 may have a distinct different opinion on some of this 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:23.160 matter and may factor in other things, uh, to to 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.120 have the reaction that they do. Can you see why 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.120 some people with the history of w W, how people 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.840 are treated, even again, even if Sasha has been up 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.880 strappers in the past, do you see why they may 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.959 be looking at this, seeing Naomi doing this and having 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.120 a certain feeling or feeling a certain way. I I 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.080 find it difficult that you can't understand why there may 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:50.319 be some cynicism over the reports they came out. Not cynicism, 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:56.920 This is trolling somebody. Okay, serious, you're battling, You're trying. 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:01.559 There is disingenuous people out there that will use anything 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.199 that is true. But there are again, two things can 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.280 be true, and how somebody looks at something, I mean 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.720 they there is a reason that some people are looking 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:12.559 at this in the way that they are, and looking 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:14.600 at it with a side I with it and not 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.920 just jumping right in and seeing what w W. How 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.640 they responded when they've never responded like that before. They 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:22.720 built it into their show on Monday when they didn't 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:24.960 have to. They made the big deal out of this. 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.640 So again, they walked out at the beginning of the show. 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:33.640 They walked out five minutes into the show. They quit 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.000 in the middle line did you bring this up back 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:49.160 at a moment? Observer begging the show. Bright alb is 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.600 here Wrestling Observer Live Mix, umber Viv also Wrestling Observer 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.760 dot Com. Day. Let's talk about Stephanie or something. What 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.760 do you want to talk about? Well, what's up? She's 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.000 taking a leap of absence um to spend more time 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.480 with her family and other reasons which I'm not exactly 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:10.000 fully clear of, but that's the public reason. And she'll 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.640 be back some time, and that's about it. She's not 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.680 gone forever, but I don't but there is no date 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.280 for her return either. But Triple Ah is going to 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.319 continue to work full time in the office. Yes, he's 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.840 still working full time in the office. Yes, well, I 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:27.400 guess we'll see what happens here. But would would you 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:33.559 describe what she did as uh more a figurehead rule? 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:36.679 I mean, how big, how big issues is gonna be 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.360 her leaving and everyone had taken up her in in 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.480 in what's I mean? She was the public face of 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.760 the company in the sense that like if they had 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.040 you know, like uh, um, let's just say like somebody, 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.320 somebody wants a w W person to uh you know, 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:52.400 do a symposium or something, she would be the one 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.120 that they would send. You know, she would do the 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:58.160 buzzwords and everything like that. Um, you know, it's very 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.840 you know, public relations with key people and everything, you know, 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.280 keep in touch moves, you know, things like that. I mean, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.120 creative wise, she had nothing to do with creative at all. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.640 You know. Sometimes like you know, and obviously you know 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:12.920 in the past she ran creative, but that's years and 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.680 years ago. Sometimes when people go Stephanie Mcanhn blah blah 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:17.640 blah creative and it's like that was a very valid 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.240 point ten years ago. But she is I mean, like 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:23.760 you know, she has like literally nothing to do with 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.800 creative So it's not in that sense. I don't think 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.360 you'll be seeing any changes. But you know, as far 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:31.320 as if you were, um, you know, one of the 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.840 main sponsors or a media person or something like that, 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:38.880 you know, it's a it's probably the person in the 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:43.800 company who may have been your contact point. Yeah, alright, 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.320 so obviously knew she of the observers up. If you 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.920 want to read more about Stephanie, it is in the 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.360 Observer Wrestling Observer at dot com and uh and a 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:56.440 ton about Sasha Banks and Naomi. We're trying to avoid 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.960 that topic here today. Is there anything new this morning? 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.960 If there's no, just say no and we'll move on. Absolutely, 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.280 there's nothing new this morning on it that that isn't 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.000 in the issue. And I guess if you if you 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:08.840 haven't read the issue, there's a ton in the issue. 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.080 But but since I wrote the issue, I don't I 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.520 know nothing since since last night. Okay, So the Roman 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:19.800 reigns needs opponents even though he's not around. Well, he 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:21.800 doesn't need opponents because he's gonna be working three shows 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.600 this summer. So yeah, he's gonna be working three shows 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.320 this sung. You know, maybe maybe maybe, maybe a TV 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.200 or a house show two but three three big shows? Yeah? Right, 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:34.000 so who do we got to? The obvious? Riddle? Riddle, 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:37.320 Orton and Drew McIntyre the leading candidates right now. Yeah, 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.760 it's great, great idea to pin Riddle in that six man. Well, 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:42.520 I'm not sure we're not gonna see him pinning again 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.320 a couple of times. You're probably right about that. So 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.800 what is what is roman schedule for this summer? And 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.400 is there any discussion about splitting these belts up so 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:52.280 we actually have a champion again, which I never thought 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:55.000 I would say, because I advocated putting the championships together. 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.720 But I expect the champion to then leave. Yeah, well 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:00.560 everyone expected, you know, I mean, like the whole thing 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.560 was just they're eventually gonna have two champions. But um, 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.840 I don't know when. But his schedule was July twond 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:08.520 you know. I mean, he's gonna work TVs to build 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:11.240 up these shows. But his three big matches July second, Vegas, 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:14.840 July thirty in Nashville, and September three in Cardiff, you know, 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.760 the three stadium shows. Um. I don't think he's gonna 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.680 be doing any pay per views besides those. Um, he's 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:24.720 not in Chicago. Um, and after that, you know, I 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.800 wouldn't be surprised to people Survivor series and then uh, 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:30.960 you know, um, we'll see what happens. You know, obviously 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.000 in a world rumble and Wrestleman, he'll be all over. 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:38.520 We were talking about the XFL and Saudi shows. Help 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.760 he worked the Saudie shows, would you know? Almost for sure? Yes, 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:46.440 we were talking about the XFL deal, the new TV 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.720 deal and the season kicking off and everything like that, 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.840 and uh, I gotta thinking, I don't know what your 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:55.000 thoughts are, but you know, Rock's got a very very 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.560 busy filming schedule. Yes he does, but he's also got 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.360 the kickoff of the XFL, so to speak, which is 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.320 going to be very time consuming. Yes, And so my 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:09.600 my thought was, you know, is it possible that he 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.600 is going to do zero movie commitments for the first 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:18.880 quarter of which would allow him to do WrestleMania without 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:21.679 having to worry about movie commitments and also have the 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.200 time to help launch the first season of the XFL. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.400 So actually, the timing for doing a WrestleMania match would 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.720 be excellent this year because he has two different projects 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:35.120 which would require him to uh uh, take time off 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.080 from movies. Well, I'm sure at this point he doesn't 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.400 know anyway, you know what I mean. It's like it's 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.439 like ideas will come to him if and you know, 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.000 depending on what the projects are that he has to do. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:47.840 I mean, WrestleMania is not going to be number one 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.480 on his priority list. Um, if he's got some big 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.240 blockbuster movie thing coming up for a new TV show, 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.520 he's got a film, he's got young Rock, you know, 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.760 things like that. I mean, um, thankfully the travel isn't 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:00.760 so bad. I mean, the travel tuation is so bad, 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.040 like last year when you know, he wanted to do 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.080 a show but he was in Australia and he couldn't 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.720 go back and forth. But um, I mean, you know 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.119 it's always you know, until January, it's you know, if 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.639 he's gonna do WrestleMania against Roman Reigns or not, that's 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.840 you know, until January, it's just a hypothetical. You know, 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.639 in January, I'll have a better idea. But now you know, 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.840 it's six months from really knowing if he'll be able 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.600 to do it. I I'm still skeptically he's gonna do 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:31.680 this match. But if if he if he doesn't What 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:35.359 in the world do they have for WrestleMania next year? Well, 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:37.679 I mean a lot of times in July they have 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.280 no idea what they're gonna be doing a WrestleMania next year. 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.560 But well, I mean, even if you have no idea, 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:46.040 what idea could you come up with? You got you 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:50.480 gotta get somebody. Really, you've crushed everybody. Braun Breaker wins 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.960 the Rumble braun Breaker Gable Steveson. I don't know. I mean, 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.400 it's like, you know, you know, I mean, maybe there's 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.240 another celebrity that we haven't thought about the like, can't 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:02.800 even come up with a name bad Bunny to push 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:08.560 this movie and his new action role. Right, yeah, yeah, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:17.200 this seems to be a Cody I mean right, yeah, 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.000 I think it's it's it's more likely Cody than Braun 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.119 I should be um, yeah, yeah, I would say, I 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.160 would say, if it's not Rock, I would say Cody 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.200 is the favorite. Yeah, which means you have to protect 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.280 Cody and make sure that he is untouchable for them 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.439 get out of here. Would be ridiculous. I'm just saying 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.080 it would be. Well, if it was I mean he should, 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.119 but if it was me, I would I would make 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:44.160 him untouchable, but that's gonna be very challenging for people 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:46.760 who thrive on booking to do that. I mean, he 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:48.959 could lose. He could lose if it's done the right 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.040 way a couple of times, you know, but I wouldn't 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:55.120 want to do Actually, maybe once, but you know, well, 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:57.160 I mean we've we're gonna find out a lot in 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:00.280 a couple of weeks because it'll be the third Seth 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.679 rollins Cody match, and Cody has won both of the 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:08.840 other matches. So in a fifty company, I mean, he's 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:12.680 either losing or we're gonna get a very rare guy 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:15.760 wins all three matches against top star, which I think 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.440 they should do. It's like I think Seth I make 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:22.520 any difference whatsoever for him. I think that there's no 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.200 argument for Seth winning this match. I don't think there's 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.040 an argument. There's no logical argument. But the argument would be, well, 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:30.680 Cody beat him twice, so he's that's not that's not 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.080 that's not a valid argument. It's not a valid argument. 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.199 Telling you what their argument would be because they're all 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.360 about yeah, but the thing is the thing the thing 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:41.720 is is that without a doubt, Cody going for the 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.560 championship is something that they're going to do. Okay, so 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.840 until they get there, Seth Rollan shouldn't beating him. I 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:52.399 mean afterwards, like let's say Cody gets his run whatever, um, 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:55.439 Seth can beat him then. But now, no, no, I 0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:58.000 mean it doesn't make it. I can't. I cannot come 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.680 with a valid argument to beat before or he gets 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:04.560 a championship match. Well, if it's just a matter of 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:06.840 he gets beat by a better man because it's not 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.280 a gimmick match, you don't give Seth and out that way, 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:11.760 then what do you do with Seth? Then? What Seth? 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:16.159 Seth's next step on that rock? He works with somebody 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.360 else that's been in that positions, like Kevin Owens. Those 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:20.639 guys that are kind of recycled, they work with other people, 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:24.399 you know, I mean Seths not wrestling Roman Cody is. 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.399 So Cody should win. Well, let me ask you this, 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.040 since we're talking about the lack of depth on the roster, 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:31.679 and they always go back to what they know. A 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:33.800 guy that they can always go back to that people 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:36.320 really believe in, is Kevin Owens. Is there a way 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:38.520 that even though we've seen things a zillion times with 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.679 Kevin Owens and pretty much everybody except for Cody. Is 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:44.199 there a way to always bring Kevin Owens back like 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.760 Lazarus in case you need him to be a World 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:50.400 championship contender for a pay per view? They could do it. Yeah, 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.240 they could eat somebody up. Um. It would be tough, 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:55.560 but you know, I mean, the brand draws anyway. It 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.040 doesn't even matter the matches that much. If you call 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.440 it WrestleMania, people are gonna buy ticket. So yes, Kevin's 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:04.879 very talented and they you know, I wouldn't think you 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.800 would be high on the list, but I don't think 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:09.679