Speaker 1: Hey, this is Brian Alvarez and this is today's edition
Speaker 1: of the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network. Ready, Ready,
Speaker 1: let's get it all. How's it going, everybody? Brian Alvarez
Speaker 1: here on Wrestling Observer Live. We are here every day
Speaker 1: Monday through Friday, New Pacific three Eastern Sunday three Pacific
Speaker 1: sixth Eastern Friday here on this program. You know that
Speaker 1: means we got a lot to talk about here today,
Speaker 1: including is coming Sunday n x T two point oh
Speaker 1: War Games, and I have just learned breaking news here
Speaker 1: that land Storm will in fact be replacing Vinnie on
Speaker 1: Sunday to cover this show, so he has to watch
Speaker 1: n x T two point oh War Games and then
Speaker 1: it'll be myself and Lance and Craig all recapping the
Speaker 1: show afterwards. Only for our top tier subscriber us here
Speaker 1: on Twitch and YouTube. You have to be a subscriber
Speaker 1: to the video services to watch it live after the
Speaker 1: show goes out here. But we have the line up
Speaker 1: for the show here today. We can tell you about
Speaker 1: that obviously, Rampage and SmackDown tonight. We've got notes on
Speaker 1: the top Salaries in w w E, which was written
Speaker 1: about in this week's Wrestling Observer newsletter, who's making five
Speaker 1: million dollars a year to a headline at w w
Speaker 1: E shows. We'll talk about the dynamite numbers, not great numbers.
Speaker 1: Last week, the dynamite numbers were better than I expected.
Speaker 1: This week, the dynamite numbers worse than I expected, So
Speaker 1: we'll tell you about those here. We've also got an
Speaker 1: update on Clark Conners, who tested positive for COVID. He
Speaker 1: was expected to be at Comic Con uh this coming weekend,
Speaker 1: and uh he will not be there, but we'll tell
Speaker 1: you about it. That and w w E postponing a
Speaker 1: tour of Canada, and pretty much whatever else is on
Speaker 1: your mind. We were schedule today to be joined by
Speaker 1: Jervis Cotton Belly, but unfortunately after booking the show, he
Speaker 1: was unable to make it here today, so we're gonna
Speaker 1: schedule him for next week. We've got a lot of
Speaker 1: big guests coming up, Jervis dan Housen, who will be
Speaker 1: on the show Tuesday alongside Oreo of the Orca My God.
Speaker 1: So much coming up, and we'll talk about all of
Speaker 1: that more after the break. Four to five seven eight
Speaker 1: zero seven, five six six If you'd like to send
Speaker 1: a text message then to seven eight zero seven five
Speaker 1: six EXCEMP for VV will join us after the break
Speaker 1: and we will be back in at just a moment.
Speaker 1: Stick around, everybody, Wrestling Observer Live, come day, coming come Monday,
Speaker 1: back in the show. Bring eber Is here Wrestling Observer Live.
Speaker 1: My Semper Viv also of Wrestling Observer dot Com. All
Speaker 1: we do is just get constant of breaking news and
Speaker 1: information here on this program. So as we went on
Speaker 1: the air, I learned that Lance will be stepping in
Speaker 1: for Vinny this coming Sunday for the War Games show.
Speaker 1: We can talk about that line up here in a second.
Speaker 1: Although just completely vanished off my notes, but I'll figure
Speaker 1: it out. So there's that. And then also we just
Speaker 1: learned that Jervis Cotton Belly will not be able to
Speaker 1: do the show here today, but we learned during the
Speaker 1: break that he will be replaced today on this show.
Speaker 1: I hear that you're you're leaving early, Mike, Is that right?
Speaker 1: I am. I'm skipping out of here early today. Boss.
Speaker 1: I've had enough of this week. Well you know what
Speaker 1: you're missing our interview with Gabriel Kid. Oh yep, too bad. Buddy.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be on the show coming up in the
Speaker 1: final segment of the show, talking New Japan and plenty
Speaker 1: of other things as well. So we've got questions, you
Speaker 1: can text or email them to me, and we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk to him about lots of different things that's coming
Speaker 1: up later on in the show. In this week's Wrestling
Speaker 1: Observer newsletter, day Els reported w w E Universal champion
Speaker 1: Roman Reigns and former champion Brock Lesner are currently the
Speaker 1: heads of the company table. When it comes to annual
Speaker 1: contract value. Molta reported both men make more than five
Speaker 1: million dollars a year, which we knew about brock Lesner.
Speaker 1: We knew that brock was making in excess of five
Speaker 1: million a year, but Roman Reigns also up there five
Speaker 1: million per year guaranteed deals. Another unnamed talent is around
Speaker 1: four million, and he had to quote a lot of
Speaker 1: the top talent is now a two million and some
Speaker 1: at three million. If you recall. It's uh, this is
Speaker 1: just the way life works. So when when a w
Speaker 1: was kicking off, w w E went on this big
Speaker 1: deal where they started offering to pay everybody double and
Speaker 1: there were a lot of people that were making around
Speaker 1: one million downside, and so the top talent ended up
Speaker 1: making as noted here, one person at four, a lot
Speaker 1: of top talent at two, some of them are at three.
Speaker 1: It's probably not hard to figure out who these individuals
Speaker 1: likely are. I mean, just look at the show. Find
Speaker 1: out who never does jobs as always protected. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Let me make this clear, I don't know. And then
Speaker 1: the person who was making four million dollars is Randy Orton.
Speaker 1: But if I found out that the guy that was
Speaker 1: making four million dollars is Randy Orton, I would not
Speaker 1: be the least bit surprised. You're you're two and three million.
Speaker 1: I mean, watch the show, it's your Charlotte Flares, and
Speaker 1: you know the folks that are getting main event pushes regularly,
Speaker 1: always there in the in the year, Becky Lynch for example.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're making plenty of money. But the problem
Speaker 1: here is that they started offering these these deals two
Speaker 1: more than just the tippy top talent. So essentially, if
Speaker 1: if you were a great example would be um, uh,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, the point is
Speaker 1: if you were lower on the tone and pole, you
Speaker 1: were also suddenly making twice as much money as you
Speaker 1: were making before. And the problem is when a w
Speaker 1: ends up doing fine and you're not putting them out
Speaker 1: of business, and there's no chance of putting them out
Speaker 1: of business, and you're paying all of these these lower
Speaker 1: tier guys double what they were making, and not just guys,
Speaker 1: but women as well well. Then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you know, the story of the year is they've cut
Speaker 1: eighty five talents or whatever the number is. So it was,
Speaker 1: it was as usual, and it's not the talent's fault
Speaker 1: because you know, they're not gonna offer you. Hey, you
Speaker 1: were making uh, you know, to fifty. Now we're gonna
Speaker 1: pay you five. Take it or leave it. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: taking it. Well Now, all a sudden, you're making five
Speaker 1: dollars and they're looking at their little budget right here
Speaker 1: and oh, I'm sorry, you gotta go. We ain't paying
Speaker 1: you five hundred thousand dollars. And we haven't seen any yet.
Speaker 1: But I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if their individuals
Speaker 1: that got cut and uh, they end up coming back
Speaker 1: for less than they were making. I mean, it's inevitable
Speaker 1: that's gonna happen with some of them at some point.
Speaker 1: But Anyway, that's the story. So as usual, life's not
Speaker 1: fair if you're if you're a Randy Ortons, they're gonna
Speaker 1: double your contract. You're making a preposterous amount of money
Speaker 1: compared to you know, what you used to be making.
Speaker 1: But they ain't cutting you because they don't want you
Speaker 1: to go to a W If you're a whoever, you know,
Speaker 1: they're not worried. I mean, I don't know what the
Speaker 1: whole situation was with Nia Jacks, but she was clearly
Speaker 1: making more than they wanted to pay her, and so
Speaker 1: they weren't concerned about her going to too n x
Speaker 1: T and so she ended up getting cut along with
Speaker 1: eighty five other people over the last year. So that's
Speaker 1: life in w W E. And it doesn't really trickle down,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying that trickle down economics is
Speaker 1: a has always been, uh that propos issue for most
Speaker 1: of us who are waiting on that money to come
Speaker 1: trickling down. But happy for the people at the top
Speaker 1: of the food chain, that's for sure. Happy for the
Speaker 1: people that did make out because of a W and
Speaker 1: I mean Randy Orton, Becky, Charlotte Raines, Lesner, you know
Speaker 1: whoever else is up there. Awesome, that's awesome. We've seen
Speaker 1: the cuts happen where they have buyers remorse good brothers.
Speaker 1: The greatest example of that, I think one of the
Speaker 1: more high profile examples of that you talked about. It
Speaker 1: was another one. They had seven hundred fifty thou dollars
Speaker 1: was their new deals, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: they realize we're paying these guys seven or fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: They cut them well and think about that too, and
Speaker 1: this is not and I love you know, Carl Anderson
Speaker 1: goes back a long way. I'm cool with that, but
Speaker 1: like seven thousand dollars a year, you know, they they
Speaker 1: were losing their minds. Drake Maverick left, came back. He's
Speaker 1: kind of got a weird situation because I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, with his index tea contract and all that
Speaker 1: sort of stuff. You know, did he come back for less?
Speaker 1: I bet you probably would if they offered him less. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I I don't know. I I don't know
Speaker 1: what you can really say other than they're gonna only
Speaker 1: take care of a certain group because they only look
Speaker 1: at a certain group as being valuable, and where they
Speaker 1: have made mistakes are Sure you've let bray Y go
Speaker 1: and he hasn't made an impact yet. Sure you let
Speaker 1: braun Stroman go and he hasn't gone anywhere yet. But
Speaker 1: it's not going to be those guys who hurt you.
Speaker 1: You know, Daniel Bryan left in a different way. You
Speaker 1: want different challenges, But it won't be those guys. It's
Speaker 1: going to be the other people. And I don't want
Speaker 1: to say the two point ohs, but like you see
Speaker 1: where they're at with just a little bit of effort.
Speaker 1: I don't know how long it's gonna last. I don't
Speaker 1: think they'll ever get to a level of an FDR.
Speaker 1: But oh yeah, FTR. You know that they're gonna die
Speaker 1: by people like that leaving because they don't want wrestlers
Speaker 1: with experience. They don't want certain things that a w
Speaker 1: absolutely put the value on. So that's where they're really
Speaker 1: going to hurt from some of this stuff. And there
Speaker 1: are going to be people they go back to w
Speaker 1: W because they can't go anywhere else. And I don't
Speaker 1: want to say that like Nia Jacks for example, And
Speaker 1: I said this about bron Stroman. I can see him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he can be an impact, he can be in some
Speaker 1: other places, but like because of his skill set, because
Speaker 1: of you know, his dexterity or lack thereof. As he
Speaker 1: continues to get older, it's like, in some ways w
Speaker 1: w E is the best spot for him. So even
Speaker 1: if he does take a little bit of a pay cut,
Speaker 1: it's still maybe the best bet for him for a
Speaker 1: guy like him. And I think that's the same way
Speaker 1: with Nia Jacks. But again, they're gonna pay people what
Speaker 1: they want to pay them. Are people still criminally under
Speaker 1: paid in that company absolutely for the amount of money
Speaker 1: they bring in. But this is this is how it
Speaker 1: goes again there, in my mind, their mistake of not
Speaker 1: seeing value right now in a certain type performer, which
Speaker 1: tends to be the experience independent wrestling fan, you know,
Speaker 1: in the wrestling fan. They don't want those guys. They're
Speaker 1: not putting a value on that. That's where they're really
Speaker 1: gonna hurt. And at some point those people are gonna
Speaker 1: make money. You gonna w W because they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to because you know next in line. Well, well we'll
Speaker 1: see how that works out. Wednesday's Dynamite Interstitty one thousand viewers,
Speaker 1: down four point one percent from Thanksgiving Eve lows audience
Speaker 1: for Dynamite at a Wednesday since May nine, third on
Speaker 1: Cable point three one, which was the lowest demo since
Speaker 1: May nineteen. Demo categories all of that information here. Fact
Speaker 1: of the matter is this not a great number in
Speaker 1: terms of viewership last week. Last week, I was expecting
Speaker 1: them to do around one and instead they did significantly
Speaker 1: better than that for the first time ever on Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: Eve this week. I I know there's no chance in
Speaker 1: the show isn't up from last week, but in fact
Speaker 1: it was down. Now, I know the sky's falling is always,
Speaker 1: but it's not. They were third on cable, so that's good,
Speaker 1: but that is a lower number than expected. Backing them
Speaker 1: up with morebs were live back in the show. Brian
Speaker 1: albare is here Wrestling Observer Alive. Mike Subberviv also a
Speaker 1: Wrestling Observer dot Com. A couple of things. If you
Speaker 1: ahead of my Twitter at Brian Alvarez at the top
Speaker 1: there sticky, it is the link to our final Whale
Speaker 1: Scout co host auction. And once this one is done,
Speaker 1: they are done for the year and it ends tomorrow.
Speaker 1: So if you have any interest whatsoever in h participating,
Speaker 1: then now is a chance to uh check that out
Speaker 1: top of my Twitter at Brian Alvarez put in your
Speaker 1: bid winning bid gets to co host with myself, Vinny Craig, Granny,
Speaker 1: whatever Brianny Vinny show you want and if within reason,
Speaker 1: I will let you review the show that you want
Speaker 1: as well. How much for Granny to put on the
Speaker 1: work out but not allowed, Dude, we'd never get her
Speaker 1: out of it. Discuss that could be the entire Christmas
Speaker 1: special Actually would be trying to get her in and
Speaker 1: out of the Oreo outfit, which would be I mean,
Speaker 1: you can't say that it wouldn't be hilarious, horrible you
Speaker 1: you why don't you do the craigline the other day
Speaker 1: when he talked about the next time Granny falls down,
Speaker 1: poor attempt at comedy. Craig was disgusting. I'd also like
Speaker 1: to note, speaking of hospitals, that Lance here tweeted no
Speaker 1: show today with myself. Wife had emergency surgery. They just
Speaker 1: got home from the hospital a few hours ago. He's
Speaker 1: watched no wrestling. Well, I have the free time today.
Speaker 1: She is home in recovering. Obviously, best wishes to Lance
Speaker 1: and his wife and he will be taking the day
Speaker 1: off today. But we'll be back Sunday for war games.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine? Oh boy, I still I'm I'm going
Speaker 1: to watch war games. I promise you I will watch
Speaker 1: war games. And I hate to say that I have
Speaker 1: a good with the some of the experience level in
Speaker 1: this match. I am very much looking forward to how
Speaker 1: it's laid out, what some of these folks do in
Speaker 1: this match, what some of the big spots are, and
Speaker 1: it's going to be It's gonna be interesting, I think,
Speaker 1: and I wonder, you know, again, they they have made
Speaker 1: the bar pretty high for war games, and I know
Speaker 1: everything is out the window now with the new regime.
Speaker 1: Nothing that happened before matters. Although and we've heard those
Speaker 1: stories about Vince. You know, Vince watched the show and
Speaker 1: he really liked all that nonsense. Whatever. It could be
Speaker 1: completely different layout in scenario and all that sort of
Speaker 1: stuff tonight. But the bar has been raised pretty high
Speaker 1: for war games there as far as spots and as
Speaker 1: far as you know what they do in those matches.
Speaker 1: So it is interesting to me. It's a very intriguing
Speaker 1: line up here for the very first take over the
Speaker 1: two point oh era. For instance, you're gonna make poor
Speaker 1: Lance watch the n x T two point o pay
Speaker 1: per view after the week he's had hold on a minute.
Speaker 1: I made an offer to Lance. Lance is the one
Speaker 1: that said that he would do it, and Lance is
Speaker 1: getting paid, So no one's being forced to watch this
Speaker 1: show against their will. That maybe Mike. So we got
Speaker 1: Raquel Eo, Cora, Jade, Kaylee Ray against a Kodakai toxic
Speaker 1: attraction that's Mandy G G and j C. Jane. So
Speaker 1: these War Games are four on four matches this year,
Speaker 1: and baby Faces have the advantage in the women's match.
Speaker 1: That should be really exciting. And the last time that
Speaker 1: we had a match that was stunt match with Green Workers.
Speaker 1: It was a few weeks ago. There was a ladder
Speaker 1: match or something like that, and I was petrified that
Speaker 1: someone's gonna get killed, and uh, someone actually did get
Speaker 1: badly injured, but it was Zoe Stark, who I was
Speaker 1: not expecting to be one of the people that got injured.
Speaker 1: So we're back to do in some War Games match
Speaker 1: and somebody as I'm sure we're gonna have to come
Speaker 1: off the top of that cage and there's gonna be
Speaker 1: gimmicks and weapons. So I just say a prayer before
Speaker 1: that particular match. Cameron Grimes Duke Hudson is hair versus hair.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, we got imperiod versus Kyle O'Reilly and Von
Speaker 1: Wagner for the tag team titles, Joe Gacy facing Roderick Strong.
Speaker 1: And then we've got the Old versus New although they're
Speaker 1: calling it Team Black and Gold versus Team two point oh,
Speaker 1: but it's the Millionaire's Club versus the New Blood. Chompa Gargano,
Speaker 1: Pete done in l a Night Again, Spraun Breaker, Carmelo, Hayes,
Speaker 1: Grace and Waller, and Tony Angelo, and also happened some
Speaker 1: of the creativity with some of these names. You remember
Speaker 1: when the Survivor series was actually good and you had
Speaker 1: like Sergeant Snipers and you actually had some a little
Speaker 1: bit of punasha these names, For heaven's sakes, it's it's
Speaker 1: just it's black and gold. Are they gonna put on
Speaker 1: shirts to like they do on the main roster. Are
Speaker 1: we going to have to have like black because we've
Speaker 1: mixed up baby face and heels here. You can't convince
Speaker 1: me l A. Knight is a baby face. He is not.
Speaker 1: I know that he's working on that side. I know
Speaker 1: he's footing with somebody on the other side. But how
Speaker 1: is L. A. Knight a baby face? Now we've seen
Speaker 1: this in wrestling for you, Breaker is obviously a baby face. Well,
Speaker 1: but he's on the heel team that's clearly a baby face.
Speaker 1: They bark at him, they chant his name, they cheer
Speaker 1: for everything he does. Just wait till the Royal Rumbo
Speaker 1: when he comes out baby face. Just wait, and it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting to see who he throws out and who
Speaker 1: he gets thrown out by. And I know you saying, Mike,
Speaker 1: how are you so sure that he's going to be
Speaker 1: in the Royal Wumble? Come on, He's going to be
Speaker 1: in the Royal Rumble. And if anything, Walter will be
Speaker 1: the one that chops him out of there. It won't
Speaker 1: be somebody that you even see every week. I'm almost this,
Speaker 1: I'm already seeing into the future on this. How is
Speaker 1: Broun Breaker not going to be in the Royal Wumble?
Speaker 1: Be insane for him not to be. For instance, I
Speaker 1: hope Knight leaves. He's too talented. Bro, That guy just signed.
Speaker 1: He's been there like less than a year, hasn't he?
Speaker 1: And no offense to anybody with L. A. Knight? L
Speaker 1: A Knight went through that system. Once he reimagined himself
Speaker 1: in it was an impact. And then I don't know
Speaker 1: if he did he did n w A for a while.
Speaker 1: To like him just being back there, you know, I
Speaker 1: I to me, he's not being wasted at all. To me,
Speaker 1: like that's a great example of that's almost the best
Speaker 1: place for him. He can talk his ass off. Is
Speaker 1: he good in the ring? He is, okay, it's just
Speaker 1: there's he's missing a component that puts him somewhere where
Speaker 1: his his talking is. And I know people get tired
Speaker 1: of the catchphrases and all that, but look, if you
Speaker 1: threw some of that out, the guy is very good.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure he can mix up his game if
Speaker 1: he wanted to. But this is what they have him doing.
Speaker 1: This is what has worked for him. So I don't
Speaker 1: blame him for doing a stick but he can talk
Speaker 1: his ass off and to me, w w E he
Speaker 1: should be very happy where he's at. And I'm not
Speaker 1: saying what you should be happy because he's signed there,
Speaker 1: but like that to me is like the perfect place
Speaker 1: where l A Night. Am I wrong? Do? I think
Speaker 1: he's actually overshot his target by making it there A
Speaker 1: second time and being a feature piece. I want to
Speaker 1: wear wrong. I will hold on. I gotta, I gotta
Speaker 1: make sure we get this in. But Clark Connor was
Speaker 1: supposed to be on the show today, Clark Connors and
Speaker 1: he has COVID and uh, he's supposed to be on
Speaker 1: our show. He's supposed to be on this show today.
Speaker 1: Well he can't do it because he has COVID. So
Speaker 1: it's a long story. But anyway, we were microphones are
Speaker 1: a really good that you got trying to uh, we
Speaker 1: were trying to book him. Anyway, let's get to the point, Mike,
Speaker 1: he's got COVID, so I want to wish the best
Speaker 1: to him. He is vaccinated. He hopes it will pass quickly.
Speaker 1: But we'll get him back here on the show soon.
Speaker 1: So actually, this has been a rough day for for guests.
Speaker 1: We first we lost Clark, and then we replaced him
Speaker 1: with Jervis, and then we lost Jervis. So I'm only
Speaker 1: I'm only hoping here that everything is okay with Gabriel
Speaker 1: Kid for the next four minutes, really, and we'll have
Speaker 1: him on. Clark was supposed to be at comic Con
Speaker 1: this weekend, the l A Comic Con and obviously had
Speaker 1: to pull out of that, but they are having a
Speaker 1: meet and greet. There's a new Japan booth at Comic
Speaker 1: Con and there's a meet and greet Friday, December three,
Speaker 1: and there will be a panel discussion with j White
Speaker 1: and Fred Rosser on Saturday December four, and Gabriel Kid
Speaker 1: not only taking the place of Clark on this show
Speaker 1: but also at Comic Con. So that is the update.
Speaker 1: They're White and Fred war osso sounds awesome as a
Speaker 1: panel and as a match, well, we'll get the match.
Speaker 1: I'm sure at some point maybe the panel will turn
Speaker 1: into a match, or they'll shoot an for a match. Also,
Speaker 1: very quickly, WWBS postponed the tour of Canada scheduled to
Speaker 1: take place in January. Two four show tours, set to
Speaker 1: include an episode of SmackDown, an episode of Raw, and
Speaker 1: two house shows. They have been rescheduled. These were all
Speaker 1: scheduled to take place January twenty three and twenty four,
Speaker 1: the live Raw scheduled. They've actually rescheduled all of these
Speaker 1: already for October and September next year. So I thought
Speaker 1: it was because of the Winter Olympics and hockey. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I thought Okay, there might be facing hockey competition on
Speaker 1: those nights, and I honestly thought that was it. And
Speaker 1: I know hockey doesn't begin until February, so I have
Speaker 1: no idea if this has got what this actually has
Speaker 1: to do with, but I would think it move. I
Speaker 1: would think it's so it's not ticket sales, as Dave noted,
Speaker 1: because the advances are good, and so I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that it is something travel related and you can
Speaker 1: all probably all figure out what that would likely be.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that's why, but if if the if
Speaker 1: the shows are booked, the advances are good, but you're
Speaker 1: not gonna go to and from Canada, it seems self
Speaker 1: explanatory to me. And I know people are probably saying
Speaker 1: right now, well, what has changed? Nothing, but something very
Speaker 1: well may change, So maybe they're just hadging their bets
Speaker 1: that way. Actually some stuff has changed. Patrick here, by
Speaker 1: the way, says no wonder they have problems selling tickets
Speaker 1: to w w E shows. A mid level seat for
Speaker 1: a house show in Baltimore is one hundred and forty dollars.
Speaker 1: Wait what now? A mid level seat for a house
Speaker 1: show in Baltimore is one forty dollars So if you're
Speaker 1: going to take your family, Mike, and you wanted to
Speaker 1: get mid level seats, that would cost you five hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty dollars, not counting parking and merch. Well, first
Speaker 1: of all, Brian, I do nothing mid okay. Number two,
Speaker 1: I've been to the Baltimore Arena slash Civic Center, whatever
Speaker 1: the hell they're calling it now, Royal Farms Arena, the
Speaker 1: Chicken Box whatever, man any worth it. It's it's just
Speaker 1: there's no way A hundred and forty dollars for that that.
Speaker 1: I cannot believe that. That's got to be What is
Speaker 1: the high how is that? What is the low end?
Speaker 1: I mean the low ends usually fifteen bucks amid? I mean,
Speaker 1: how are they staggering the seats where you jump to
Speaker 1: that kind of number for a mid range seat? That's insane.
Speaker 1: I got to go to a break. Mike's out of here,
Speaker 1: will see him next week. Gabriel Kid joins us after
Speaker 1: the break, resting up Ember Live, moving begging the show,
Speaker 1: Bright now Bare is here, Wrestling Observer alive. Very happy
Speaker 1: today to be joined by Gabriel Kid. We got a
Speaker 1: lot of talk about here today. How you doing? You know,
Speaker 1: we have a I don't know if he's a friend
Speaker 1: or not, but I like to say mutual friend because
Speaker 1: you guys worked together, Filthy Tom Lawler. You're aware of him.
Speaker 1: I'm aware of him. I didn't speak to him too much.
Speaker 1: He's a Yeah, he's on a different team to me.
Speaker 1: But he's a putting sort of fell, isn't he at
Speaker 1: those Giants years? You know? Say that again? Sorry, it's
Speaker 1: kind of an off putting fella. Yeah, I think so. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's not too not too kind really, but very good wrestler. Well,
Speaker 1: the reason I bring this up is because we were
Speaker 1: having a discussion on the show and we were talking
Speaker 1: about New Japan Strong and uh, we were talking about you,
Speaker 1: and uh, he kept calling you Gabe kid. And for
Speaker 1: my whole lifetime, every time I've heard of you, it's
Speaker 1: been Gabriel kid. So can you clear up? What do
Speaker 1: you prefer? That's a question. Well, you know, I already
Speaker 1: I picked Gabriel because I think it's it's the full
Speaker 1: version of my name and it's proper, and I think
Speaker 1: that's how I want to be presented, you know, But
Speaker 1: all my friends call me Gabe. The only person that
Speaker 1: I know that caused me Gabriel is my grandma and
Speaker 1: my mom when she's angry at me. But you know
Speaker 1: I don't mind either. Oh man. So so technically is
Speaker 1: it now? Should I be calling you Gabe kid? Now?
Speaker 1: You can call me Gabriel kid. You know that's how
Speaker 1: I present myself to the world. So I'll take Gabriel. Well,
Speaker 1: you can go. You can call me whatever you want.
Speaker 1: I'm easy. I didn't mind. Sure. So what is what
Speaker 1: has been going on in in life? I mean, there's
Speaker 1: there's been you You've resurfaced here and there's obviously been
Speaker 1: a pandemic and kind of take us through the last
Speaker 1: two years of your life. Yeah, there's been a pretty
Speaker 1: crazy two years. So I joined New Japan Pro Wrestling
Speaker 1: in the l A Dojo in September two thousand and nineteen,
Speaker 1: and did I went over to Japan for the Young
Speaker 1: Lions Cup. I didn't wrestle it. I just supported the
Speaker 1: boys and started Young Lion duties. And then I came
Speaker 1: back to America and I was at the l A
Speaker 1: dojo for three months at the back end of two
Speaker 1: thousand and nineteen, and then two thousand and twenty, I
Speaker 1: was they Shibatsan wanted me to go to Japan to debut.
Speaker 1: So I was going to be there for four months
Speaker 1: and then go back home see my family and then
Speaker 1: move out to l A properly. But then, yeah, the
Speaker 1: pandemic happened, so I kind of just stayed in Japan
Speaker 1: from January to May this year. So are you what
Speaker 1: is the status as far as as New Japan Strong.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got some some various dates coming up.
Speaker 1: I mean, are you are you under contract to New
Speaker 1: Japan and largely gonna be doing Strong tapings and then
Speaker 1: whatever else is is happening in the meantime. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: I don't think it's already been you know, announced officially really,
Speaker 1: but I'm not you know, I've graduated the Young Lion system.
Speaker 1: I've had that conversation with Shabatisan, and I'm on my
Speaker 1: excursion in the United States. Now. This is like, so
Speaker 1: I rested on the UK scene for a bit and
Speaker 1: then went to Japan for a year and a half,
Speaker 1: and I've never wrestled in America until recently, sir. I'm
Speaker 1: on excursion in the States and I'm doing some independent
Speaker 1: shows and New Japan Strong too. Yeah. One of the
Speaker 1: most recent matches I saw with you was with the
Speaker 1: Zack Saber Jr. I think it was in the New
Speaker 1: Japan Cup and just a fantastic match. And the next
Speaker 1: match that I'm aware of you doing, apparently is with
Speaker 1: Eddie Kingston, which is a completely different kind of match.
Speaker 1: In the match that you had was Zack Saber Jr.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on on Eddie? You know, I
Speaker 1: love Eddie to be honest, and I've said this publicly before,
Speaker 1: and you know I say a thousand times over and
Speaker 1: you know what he's done right now and just like
Speaker 1: the past year, you know, because I had a conversation
Speaker 1: with him in two thousand and nineteen in England and
Speaker 1: he was thinking about stopping and he had some stuff
Speaker 1: going on and he was thinking about stopping wrestling and
Speaker 1: I just said to him, I pulled him aside of
Speaker 1: that show and I just said, please, don't like give
Speaker 1: up on this because we need more people like you.
Speaker 1: And you know, he's a real inspiration. He's I think,
Speaker 1: you know, he's inspired a generation of young wrestlers without
Speaker 1: even knowing I feel, and you know, I really look
Speaker 1: up to him. But when I'm standing in the ring
Speaker 1: and I'm looking at him, I'm not. You know, we're
Speaker 1: not friends anymore. It's it's good time, you know. And
Speaker 1: I've had six months off and I I'm not coming
Speaker 1: back just to slow down again, sir. You are are
Speaker 1: doing the show today, and originally, like a long time ago,
Speaker 1: you're actually the third guest that was scheduled here for
Speaker 1: today because of various situations. And uh, the first one
Speaker 1: was gonna be Clark Clark Conners and he ended up
Speaker 1: getting COVID and uh then I mean, so you've replaced
Speaker 1: him here on the show today and we're actually here
Speaker 1: to talk about what you're replacing him on this weekend,
Speaker 1: which is the the comic Con in in l A.
Speaker 1: And uh, I have read on the internet. I want
Speaker 1: you to tell me if this is true, because if
Speaker 1: it's on the internet, it's usually not true. But I
Speaker 1: want to I want to clarify this. Is it true
Speaker 1: that you were reading an issue of Fighting Spirit magazine
Speaker 1: when you were like compelled to get into this business?
Speaker 1: Is that true? Yeah, that's true. Okay. It's weird because
Speaker 1: I've I've met Brian after and we've like spoke about it,
Speaker 1: and because he did a piece on me a few
Speaker 1: years back, like four years ago. On the one to
Speaker 1: watch section, and I told him that story, and it's
Speaker 1: kind of funny how things come full circle. You know. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm really old. I'm forty six years old,
Speaker 1: so you know this this new generation of of guys
Speaker 1: like you and I look up the stuff and it's
Speaker 1: like this guy was born the year I graduated high school.
Speaker 1: And then the Fighting Spirit thing was interesting because I
Speaker 1: wrote for Fighting Spirit Magazine, like in the very beginning
Speaker 1: when that magazine began. So to see that, like you
Speaker 1: were a kid reading Fighting Spirit magazine, which is what
Speaker 1: guy into the business, it's just it blows my mind.
Speaker 1: And and not always in the in the best way.
Speaker 1: Oh sorry, that's all right, But I mean you've gone
Speaker 1: help being born, yeah, from from reading Fighting Spirit magazine too.
Speaker 1: Now you are signed with New Japan and you're you're
Speaker 1: a Comic Con booth coming up this weekend. And you know,
Speaker 1: we had another viewer here that says they remember you
Speaker 1: from or was it here I first watched Gabriel Kid
Speaker 1: on wcp W. Very happy for him, like Diver Sitt
Speaker 1: And just think about how far you have come from
Speaker 1: reading that Fighting Spirit magazine. Yeah, yeah, I do quite
Speaker 1: a lot, actually, especially in the past couple of months,
Speaker 1: I've kind of learned how to take a step back
Speaker 1: and be like, because when you're chasing something, you're just
Speaker 1: constantly thinking about the next thing, you know, and you're
Speaker 1: constantly like looking forward and trying to reach where you're
Speaker 1: trying to go, and you know, it's real easy to
Speaker 1: get lost of what you're actually doing in like the
Speaker 1: prison movement. But I've been very like I was in
Speaker 1: South Carolina res at me and I took a step
Speaker 1: outside my hotel room in the morning and I just
Speaker 1: kind of like took a breath of fresh air and
Speaker 1: was like, this is what I always wanted to do.
Speaker 1: You know, this is what I always I said to myself,
Speaker 1: You've gotta work hard for this, and now I'm, you know,
Speaker 1: living it. So I do do that quite a lot.
Speaker 1: I always like to ask people the question, I mean,
Speaker 1: when you were reading that Fighting Spirit magazine or whatever
Speaker 1: you're early dreams of wrestling were. I mean, when was
Speaker 1: the first time that it hit you, Like you showed
Speaker 1: up at a building and you saw the lineup, or
Speaker 1: you know, the bell rang and you were looking across
Speaker 1: the ring from so and so. I mean, what was
Speaker 1: the first thing that really blew your mind in this
Speaker 1: business where you just cannot believe that you actually were
Speaker 1: doing this. So November two thousand and sixteen, I was
Speaker 1: scheduled to wrestle Doug Williams in my hometown on the
Speaker 1: pre show of an I pay per view for w
Speaker 1: c PW What Culture Pro Wrestling, and I was supposed
Speaker 1: to which at the time for me, it was a
Speaker 1: really big match. You know. Doug was h he had
Speaker 1: just started picking up like bookings around this time, and
Speaker 1: I was really excited for it. And I got to
Speaker 1: the building and someone had missed a flight and the
Speaker 1: premier comes up to me, and the guy who was
Speaker 1: running the whole thing was like, okay, your match has
Speaker 1: changed and I was like, oh no, I was really
Speaker 1: you know, I want to test myself with this one.
Speaker 1: And they were like, yeah, you're going on with Johnny
Speaker 1: Munda instead. That's the former John Morrison. Yes, And that
Speaker 1: was that was in my hometown, you know, so all
Speaker 1: my friends were there and I kind of came out
Speaker 1: and got this big reaction and it was this you know,
Speaker 1: it's about one thousand, five hundred people in there, and yeah,
Speaker 1: that's when I was like, oh, this is different or
Speaker 1: anything else I've done before. You know, we had a
Speaker 1: Hammerstone was on the show about a week or two ago,
Speaker 1: and he was talking about how, you know, it's been
Speaker 1: recently that he's been doing shows and and he can
Speaker 1: go to a building and now he no longer feels like,
Speaker 1: my god, something could go terribly wrong because he's been
Speaker 1: doing it long enough, and now he feels comfortable that
Speaker 1: regardless of who the opponent is or what type of match,
Speaker 1: now he feels like, you know, I can get through this.
Speaker 1: When did you start feeling that way in the sense
Speaker 1: that you know, there's not that fear, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: who am I going to be in the ring with?
Speaker 1: Am I gonna be able to work with this person?
Speaker 1: When did you start feeling comfortable? Um? Honestly, I mean
Speaker 1: I've always been pretty confident in my ability, especially the
Speaker 1: past few years, you know, really got into like self
Speaker 1: belief and kind of really getting into a good mindset.
Speaker 1: But not until recently, you know, because I took six
Speaker 1: months off and I was getting ready to come back,
Speaker 1: and I was you know, there's always that battle in
Speaker 1: your mind, like am I going to be there? Am
Speaker 1: I not going to be there? Like? But then I
Speaker 1: was like, no, I've done this for ten years, you know.
Speaker 1: I just said to myself, I've done this for ten years.
Speaker 1: I know exactly what I'm doing. I've done it a
Speaker 1: thousand times, and for the past year and a half,
Speaker 1: I've done it at the top level, you know, in
Speaker 1: Japan with the best wrestlers in the world. So just
Speaker 1: kind of, you know, I feel I'm confident in my
Speaker 1: ability now, you know. But I'm it almost feels like
Speaker 1: I'm starting again in the sense of I've got that
Speaker 1: hunger that I had when I was first starting out,
Speaker 1: when I first got to New Japan, And it's almost
Speaker 1: that that like six months has kind of given me
Speaker 1: a reset, you know. And now I'm just in a
Speaker 1: different mindset and I'm just ready to go, go, go,
Speaker 1: And yeah, I feel the most comfortable I've ever felt.
Speaker 1: And yeah, really looking forward to the future. So who
Speaker 1: in New Japan as you as you look at the
Speaker 1: roster and who's available in America right now? I mean,
Speaker 1: is there in anybody that you're particularly interested in getting
Speaker 1: in the ring with here soon? I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm always looking at my next opponent. I try not
Speaker 1: to look past my next opponent I think that's you know,
Speaker 1: the longer I've been in it, the more I've come
Speaker 1: to understand that. But I think it'd be silly, you know,
Speaker 1: not not to, you know, go for the best, because
Speaker 1: I need to be in the ring with people who
Speaker 1: are better than me and people who have been where
Speaker 1: I want to be. And you know, I think the
Speaker 1: first answer is always going to be Hiroshi Tanahashi, you know,
Speaker 1: the absolutely know, the ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling
Speaker 1: inspired a generation of Japanese wrestlers, and you know, it's
Speaker 1: still innovating, and he was really good to me my
Speaker 1: time in the dojo. But you know, I've always been
Speaker 1: here to be at the top ever since I came
Speaker 1: to New Japan. And it's going to be a day
Speaker 1: when I stepped in the ring and Horoshi you tanna
Speaker 1: as she is going to be looking at me in
Speaker 1: the eye, and I have to be I have to
Speaker 1: know that I have to beat him, you know, And
Speaker 1: I'm just every day I think about this, and I
Speaker 1: trained for the moments like that, so that will happen
Speaker 1: one day in front of a big crowd in a
Speaker 1: big arena for big steaks, and I look forward to
Speaker 1: that day very quickly here if you look at the
Speaker 1: ton of Hashis and the Ayokadas, I mean, these are
Speaker 1: these are names that are in the running. When people
Speaker 1: talk about the greatest restorer they've ever seen, Who is
Speaker 1: the greatest wrestler that you have ever seen? Question? The
Speaker 1: greatest rest I've ever seen? I mean, there are so
Speaker 1: many components that go into it. But if I had
Speaker 1: to go off, you know, if you asked me out
Speaker 1: a question right now, I think I'd have to say,
Speaker 1: you know, it's hard not to say cats you're Shibata,
Speaker 1: you know, because he essentially stopped at his peak. And
Speaker 1: you know, even just recently he had a five minute
Speaker 1: grappling exhibition. Was Zach Savi j hold that hold that thought,
Speaker 1: we'll get him more of this. Half of the break
Speaker 1: swn by Everybody Observer Live. You were listening to Wrestling
Speaker 1: Observer Live with Brian Alvarez and Mike semper viv on
Speaker 1: the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network. Back in the show, Brian
Speaker 1: Evera is here Wrestling Observer Alive. Gabriel Kid joining us
Speaker 1: here today. The Comic Con coming up in l A
Speaker 1: and we've got a panel discussion coming up tomorrow at
Speaker 1: ten thirty a, M. J. White, Gabriel Kid, and Fred
Speaker 1: Rosser are part of that panel, and then there is
Speaker 1: a meet and greed over the next three days. Tonight,
Speaker 1: uh six eight pm, it'll be Gabriel and Saturday from
Speaker 1: one to three J. White Sunday. One of three is
Speaker 1: Fred Rosser. So you can check that out at the
Speaker 1: l A Comic Con. And I want to make sure
Speaker 1: we get a chance to get some plugs in here
Speaker 1: today for your stuff, Gabriel, some up coming matches, you'll
Speaker 1: be doing all the New Japan's Strong tapings. What else
Speaker 1: is coming up? And how can people find out more
Speaker 1: about you? I got the Strong taping in Hollywood on
Speaker 1: the ninth of December, and on the eighties, I'll be
Speaker 1: in North Carolina for p w X, and yeah, just
Speaker 1: shout out my team l A Dojo, all my boys,
Speaker 1: and just two thousand twenty two is going to be
Speaker 1: a big year for the l A Dojo. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'll our work speak for itself. But I'm on Twitter
Speaker 1: and Instagram Gabriel Kid Underscore and uh yeah, that's pretty
Speaker 1: much it. There you go at Gabriel Kid Underscore on
Speaker 1: at Twitter, So check that out and best of luck
Speaker 1: this weekend, have fun of the comic con and best
Speaker 1: of look with all the future matches. Well, I do
Speaker 1: think it'll be a big year for the newch Pan
Speaker 1: Deligo because it was a big year last year in
Speaker 1: the middle of a pandemic, so next year it should
Speaker 1: be even better. But thanks again, and of course thanks
Speaker 1: for doing this on short notice here today, and thanks
Speaker 1: everybody for listening. We're out of time. We'll talk to
Speaker 1: you next time. Wrestling Observer Live. You have been listening
Speaker 1: to the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side
Speaker 1: Network