WEBVTT - My Fallout with Michelle McCool 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:09.000 What's up everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Wrestling 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.760 with Freddy. I appreciate you guys hanging with us for 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:15.600 this long no guests today, it's story time. Get ready, 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:18.279 welcome to the Federation and w WF stars right now 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.599 now stuffing up for the mic. The host of Wrestling 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:28.800 with Freddy Freddie Prince tune. Yeah, Today's episode is going 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.400 to be a little different. I've spoken a lot about 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.200 the things I've been proud of the things I thought 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:39.159 I did well, but we haven't spoken about any of 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:43.600 the mistakes. We haven't spoken about the learning process and 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:46.000 the hard lessons and things that I wish I could 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.040 have back. So today's episode is all about that. Today 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.920 we're gonna focus on one wrestler in particular, and that's 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.960 the former Diva's Champion Michelle McCool. A situation that I 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.920 had with her that I just really wish I could 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:00.960 have taken the whole thing. But I had been at 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:05.559 the company about four months, and in that amount of time, 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.520 I had written a few promos that the company really liked. 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.000 I started getting assignments that were larger than just hey, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.520 we need you to do a promo for Wrestler X 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.640 on Tuesday Night, which was our SmackDown episodes when we 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.440 would record them. And so I got tasked by Stephanie 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:27.080 McMahon to write uh Diva's story. They called it the 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.960 Diva's title, and the female wrestlers were divas then, which 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.560 I always thought was so stupid. So this was the 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.160 story I was writing, and she said, I we're signing 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:40.240 Awesome Coong, which was this female wrestler named Kias Stevens. 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:45.560 And to see her is to just be an awesome cong. 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:50.000 I mean, she's my height and she's huge. And when 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.200 she wrestled in t NA, she had an amazing story 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:57.600 with Gail Kim. It was where they would just throw 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:00.720 these matches together. Gayl could spin around, was small and 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:06.040 light and awesome calm. Kia Stevens could just be a 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:08.680 tree and and it was like watching a tire swing 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.480 swinging around her. It was. It was really cool. So 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.800 we had signed her and we had another wrestler named 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:19.160 Beth Phoenix. Beth Phoenix actually wrestled in high school on 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:25.480 the boys team. She lifted weights. She is buff jacked, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.600 not like shredded, like like like a Bruce Lee kind 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.840 of shred like a buff woman who could go in 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:38.400 there and pick up anybody and smash them. So those 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.840 two were the ones I was assigned to create a 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.480 WrestleMania match for. This was all the way back in 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.440 two thousand seven. Now, this wasn't a request from Vince 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.120 or from Kevin Dunn. This was a request from Stephanie McMahon, 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.800 who was working on the women's division and making it 0:02:55.880 --> 0:03:00.000 means something all the way back then with incredibly limited success. 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.120 But you can look at where it is now and 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.200 she's had her her thumb print on each and every 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.959 one of those those steps to the top, which is 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.720 where I feel they're at right now. So my WrestleMania 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.440 card was gonna be Awesome Kong, who they hadn't named 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.000 Karma yet, which was what they tried to debut her 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.960 as before she mysteriously left the company and the whole 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.800 thing went to pot. It was Beth Phoenix as the 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:29.519 baby face, and it was Awesome Kong as the heel. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.920 So how do you bring this woman in? Well, the 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.440 way they brought her in or tried to, were these 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.000 vignettes where you would just see this like Barbie Doll 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.360 and the head get ripped off, and the philosophy behind 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.160 it was here comes this monster who they were gonna 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.440 call Karma, hate all the pretty girls, and want to 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:51.880 destroy all the pretty girls because Barbie doesn't represent what 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.120 a real woman is. It's a it's a fraud, and 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.240 all these women have been deceived. And they took pieces 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.160 from my story when they actually tried did their vignettes, 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:03.840 but I never had any of the Barbie doll stuff 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.240 in there. This was more Kia could talk, so I 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.800 thought it would be good to to allow her to 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:11.600 tell her story. I like when heels tell their story 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.720 more than when baby faces do. I feel like baby 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.240 faces someone else should tell their story. Otherwise they're talking 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.960 about how great they are. But a he'll can give 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.520 you their philosophy and you can hate them for it, 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.160 or you can get behind it. And in this case, 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:27.799 I thought we could get a little bit of both. 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.360 So you have this woman who wants to destroy all 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.080 these perfect Barbie dolls. And and these are the girls 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.280 like the Kelly Kelly's that they had there, whose real 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.880 name is Barbie. Like her real name is Barbie born Barbie. 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.280 They called her Babs, I think was her nickname. She's 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.120 super cool. This was gonna be like her first victim 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.560 was Kelly Kelly, and as she sort of started to 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:54.120 come through and destroy all of the girls that weren't 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.360 really going to compete for the championship. These could be 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:00.960 squash matches for her. We'd be holding act the first 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.240 challenge that she was really gonna have, which was an 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.840 Italian Nightheart, and Daddy was going to give it a 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:10.279 good go. But Naddy would eventually lose to her as well, 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:14.240 which brings us to Gail Kim, who had the history 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.520 with her in t NA, and the company had also 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.480 just signed and this was gonna be the first test 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.360 that our awesome Kong had and Gail would get some 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.880 serious offense off but eventually would fall, and that's when 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:32.039 Kong would call out for Michelle McCool, the Diva's Champion, 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.000 I want to say Women's champions, that's what she was. 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.159 She would call her out and say, I'm coming for 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.000 that title. I'm writing this story up and all I've 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.520 been told is, hey write me this WrestleMania story. And 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.839 it's not just for Kia and Beth, it's you know, 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:46.880 I want you to include all of our divas in there. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:48.919 So that's kind of why you get the long back story. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:50.800 So I write this up and I give it to 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:54.440 Steph and she really likes it, and Freebird really likes it, 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.800 and it goes all the way to the top. It 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:03.480 goes to Vince and uh, it's approved, but not my 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.039 The WrestleMania match is not guaranteed. That's the goal, right, 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.560 So I have Michelle losing the Diva's Championship at the 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.440 Royal Rumble, which happens a few months, just a few months, 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.000 but a couple of months before WrestleMania, and I have 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.720 her losing with Dignity, and I have her given us 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.279 a real match. I said this at the beginning of 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.000 the podcast. I had been in the company maybe four months, 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:29.120 maybe four months. I didn't realize the belt meant so 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:32.480 much to so many different people. It didn't mean that 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:36.039 much to others. If they had the the Intercontinental title belt, 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.000 they weren't really in on when they were going to 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.640 lose it or not. It was it was the company 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.120 that decided that. Same with the United States title, same 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.520 with the tag team titles. And I'm green as all hell, 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.600 I'm a complete rookie. I have no idea the politics 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:53.719 of it. Michelle never came to the promo class, so 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.440 I didn't really know Michelle at all. And I go 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.960 to work. We're on the road and somewhere in the area, 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:04.320 you know, backstage, and Michelle says, Stephanie said, you wanted 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.760 to talk to me about the women's storyline. And we 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.400 sit down at a like a cafeteria table that's where 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.720 we work, where everybody's eating. So we're off to the side, 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.080 and I start pitching it to her what it was 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.880 gonna be, which was it wasn't right on my part. 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.080 I get to the Royal Rumble and I explained to 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.920 her that she'll be you know, the suggestion is that 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.040 she drops the title at the Royal Rumble, and then 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.240 I keep telling the story of where it finishes, because 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.880 she deserves to know the whole story. And it gets 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:37.640 all the way to WrestleMania, which would be Beth and Kia, 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:43.360 and her face just goes pale. All the color just 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.600 drops right out of or just literally right out of 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:50.880 her skin. And right away I know I've done something terrible. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.440 I just don't know what it is yet because I 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.760 didn't This is hindsight, right, and I was in the moment, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.720 so I look I go what what, what's wrong? What's wrong? 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.960 And her eyes well up and I'm like, oh my god, 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:07.440 what did what did I do? What did I do? 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.120 And she said I didn't. I didn't think i'd be 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.200 losing the belt before WrestleMania, and I didn't. Again, I 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:20.680 didn't understand how much that title men to her because 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.800 the only other sort of interaction I had was on 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.480 the men's side with the I C in the U 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.480 S belts, which got traded quite frequently, although not when 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.679 it was on M v P. So I just didn't. 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:34.319 I didn't think it was a big deal, I said. 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.200 I said, Yeah, I was. I was asked to make 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.640 Kia Stevens and Beth Phoenix for WrestleMania, and this was 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.800 the best way I thought I thought we could get there. 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.199 Is is there a problem? She's not here to to 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:47.680 give her side of the story, So I'm not gonna 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:49.840 say all the all the stuff that she said, but 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:54.079 she was, she was upset in hindsight, rightfully, So let 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.199 me kind of paint a bit of a picture of 0:08:56.240 --> 0:09:00.520 the women's division. Back then, they did not have anywhere 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.679 near the respect that they have today. And I mean 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:07.240 that in every sense of the word. They weren't treated fairly, 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:12.040 their matches were not treated fairly, their characters were not 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.959 treated fairly. Nothing about it, well, hey, life's not fair. No, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.200 it was beyond that. It was simply there was no 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:24.599 opportunity period. I never forget about the Mullahs or the 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:29.760 Leta and and Trish generation, like they all they all 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.800 unlocked the door for these next generations. But Michelle fell 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:38.720 in this void in between Lida and Trish and in 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:43.640 between the Bella Revolution that happened, where there was just 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:48.440 nothing there and everything that was written for her and 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:50.559 everyone else, at least when I was there, on the 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:54.920 women's side, was just a brick wall, constantly running into 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.199 a brick wall and planning matches that you know, we're 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.400 gonna get cut matches that were promised to not promised, 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.319 but promised to them. Hey, you're gonna have ten minutes 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:05.080 at the pay per view, and then it would get 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.400 cut down to five minutes, and then after the production 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.440 meeting it was just the dark match that didn't even 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:13.000 make it to the pay per view. So they were struggling. 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.680 Michelle was getting five minutes to tell a story in 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.760 the ring. That's with her entrance that was one minute, 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:21.960 and her opponent's entrance that was one minute. So now 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:26.040 they have three minutes to have a wrestling match three minutes. 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:30.360 That's crazy, that's crazy. And she was good. She was 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:34.120 somebody who constantly tried to bring reality to her to 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.439 her matches. She tried to bring in real mm a 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:40.120 with heel hooks and jiu jitsu submissions. She she had 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.080 a passion for that, as did her husband, the Undertaker. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.880 So she was constantly battling in a in a time 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:51.080 where the company just didn't blink. They just didn't blink 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:55.280 when it came to the women's division. So so here 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.880 I am with the champion and she's crying because of me, 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.880 because I didn't talk to her first to say, hey, 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.679 we're thinking about taking the title off of you at 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.680 the Royal Rumble so that we can get this other Matt. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.120 I mean, that just sounds horrible even saying it now. 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.720 So I screwed up. I screwed up. I should have 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.760 before I got the story approved, I probably should have 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:20.680 shown it to although when you hear the end of 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:22.480 the story, it probably wouldn't got it would have gotten 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.840 killed even sooner. I don't know what the right move 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:31.120 was here, but I know that I screwed up and 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:38.000 she deserved better than that. She's probably the most underserved champion, 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:42.360 the at least women's champion the company's had as far 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:55.040 as resources available and resources used. I don't know what 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:57.800 to do. And while I'm talking to her, I worked 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.199 out a way story wise with her to turn WrestleMania 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:06.480 into a triple threat between Beth Phoenix, Kia Stevens awesome 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:11.240 cong Burma, choose your favorite, and and Beth Phoenix. I 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:14.040 haven't even gotten this match approved by by Free Bird 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.360 or anyone, but I'm trying to. I'm just trying to 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:21.080 help right or not backpedal. I'm trying to move forward. 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:23.960 I'm trying the front pedal. I take it back to 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.360 to Michael and the Bellas. You gotta remember we're just debuting, 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.400 so i'd quosed. I just did this documentary for Annie 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.000 about the Bellas and their debut and sort of their 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:39.080 contribution to the business. And I don't know who all 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.320 they had on there. Hopefully they got Finley because he 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.000 was sort of the champion for all the women wrestlers 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:46.839 back then and when they were called up. I mean, 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:48.560 this was the guy that was trying to let them 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.560 do the same techniques and moves that the men do 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.960 every single production meeting. Hopefully they get free Bird on there, 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.319 because he was the one that ran into the room 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.680 when we were about to lose him because Breebella called 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.319 John Larneitas and I was like, look, our contracts are up. 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:08.360 You put us on TV or we're gone, and John 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.480 larn It is called Freebird ands like, you're gonna find 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:12.440 a way to get the Twins on television right now, 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.520 and Freebird runs in the writer's room. He's like, we 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.320 got twins, we gotta get him on TV. And all 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.760 the writers are like, what, we're not even am I 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.200 allowed to watch the fc W tapes you said, I wasn't. 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:25.839 Like everybody was so confused, and it was all because 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:29.040 of Brie and Nikki. But Bree is like behind the 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:33.480 scenes jaws of the two of them, right, like whatever 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:36.439 the killer whale one was, orca that one that's Nikki 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.200 because she's more hardcore like in the ring, but in life, 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:44.760 Breeze like, nah, dude, I will cut you. So that's 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.960 why they accomplished all they accomplished. But before the Bella's 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.040 and before the women were getting commercial breaks and ten 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.439 fifteen twenty minute Oh I'm sorry, here's an Iron Woman 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.040 match for you between I think it was Sasha Banks 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.640 and Bailey like that. Sick that all happens because the 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:06.120 Bella's had a reality show called Total Divas and Total 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.199 Bella's and it was getting higher ratings than Monday in Hira. 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.520 So they started bringing their storylines or creating storylines on 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:17.280 their reality show and allowing those to motivate the matches, 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:21.560 which was such a sick, next level business move, Bribella, 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.000 thank you very much. But before they existed, Michelle McCool 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.640 was having to hold down this fort. It was all 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:35.280 on her shoulders. And here comes this jerk writer from 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:38.840 l A who doesn't know where at all and has 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.920 been there not even half a year, and he's gonna 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.080 take it all away at the Royal Rumble and there's 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:47.320 gonna be a Women's WrestleMania match, and and she's not 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.720 going to be in it. When she's been holding the 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.920 fort for this not even PG brand that she's been 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.640 forced to hold. It was borderline g rating the storylines 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.280 that she was doing. She had to put up with 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.120 a lot, and I think I'm just thinking out loud now, 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.560 but I think maybe that might not have been the 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.880 biggest slap in the face, but it was the straw 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.840 that broke the camel's back, so to speak. Or maybe 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.240 it was just a tremendous slap and and and I 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.240 was an idiot. I mean that's how I feel now 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:20.320 looking back at it. There's an aftermath. I talked to 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:24.080 Beth and she is gung ho as all as all hell. 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.640 I mean, it's the storyline of storylines. We had two versions, 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.200 one where she overcomes all these odds, all these obstacles 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.800 and she gets kiss Stevens up in the glam Slam, 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:39.320 and we talked can you get her up? Can you 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:40.800 get everything? And she's like, oh, yeah, I can get 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.120 her up, don't worry. And she could. I mean she 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.840 could deadlift a million pounds. So it wasn't it wasn't. 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.560 That wasn't an issue. And the other was Kia needed 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.760 to win and we were gonna have a healed champion, 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.680 and she was going to destroy the Diva's Championship and 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.560 turn it into the Women's Championship, which is what she 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:01.800 wanted to do, which then would obviously turned her baby face. 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.440 Beth is super gung ho for it. Kia's all in. 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.600 I even had them do a promo like off of 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.120 each other, which was going to be a part of 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.320 the story. I think I touched on in another episode 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:19.200 where Kia is just circling Beth just like a like 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.560 a lion about to play with its food, but instead 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:26.440 of trying to kill it, it tries to covet the gazelle, 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.080 so to speak, Beth being the figure of gazelle. So 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.040 instead of saying I'm gonna destroy you, she says, no, no, no, no, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:37.360 I want you to join me because you're just like me. 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.480 You're not these little you know, Barbie doll bar And 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.000 this was all her freestyling. This is I didn't even 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:44.920 write this. This was just let me yeah, let me 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.920 give props. Like Kia just off the dome was like yo, 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.800 I got this, and she's just walking this circle. She's like, 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.160 I want you to join me. All I said was trigger. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.600 That's all. That was the only note that I gave her. 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.480 And she starts going in on how beautiful Beth is 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:04.080 and it's not sexual, but it could be borderline sexual, right, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.920 but it's more just impressed and you're gonna shower them 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.640 with compliments so they know you're not their enemy, even 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:13.800 though you're really just gonna stab him in the back. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.679 And she walked around her three times, nice and slow. 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.440 I mean it was like a Shakespearean play. And this 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.760 is in front of all her peers, like all the 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.280 other wrestlers are sitting in there, misses in there. I 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.600 think he had this guy named Alex something was his 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:30.760 like protege coming up for medics. Every everyone was in there. 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:33.880 We were like thirty deep at that point, and she's 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.760 just no fear. This was her well, by the way, 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:41.199 her very first promo class kids like, she was, Oh, Hi, 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.720 nice to meet you. Don't worry, baby, I got this. 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.119 And I'm like, oh, it's got step part right on. 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.879 And she killed it. And she protects Beth in that 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.040 moment because Beth wasn't the strongest on the mic. So 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.800 Beth is in this segment that would get over huge, 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.520 at least in my mind, would and all she's having 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.120 to do is look strong and be the baby face 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:03.919 hell no, and then get her at the very end 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.520 with like yo, like whatever her line would sound good 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.320 coming out of her mouth, whether it's that's not gonna 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.400 happen or I'll never join you, or you know, bet 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:15.960 or just a punch in the face, maybe Batista style, 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:20.440 you never know. So we had all this and I'm 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.560 feeling good man and I talked to her about a 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:24.960 triple threat and that's like, yeah, the more than Mary. 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.040 She just wants everyone to get paid, right, So she's like, 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.600 am making it making an eight an eight woman madagine, 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.359 everybody can get their check. And Kei is down like 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:35.960 she she's ready to go. She's gonna be She's gonna 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:40.040 probably be the champion. So we shoot that episode that night, 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:44.399 that's smack Down, and I get to work. Wednesday was 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.600 our travel day back. I get to work on the 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:52.879 travel day. She's always lovely. So we we land in 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:57.200 White Plains. I go into the Stanford office and I'm 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.600 about an hour into my day. I'm trying to like 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.879 sneak a promo off to Brian Kendrick so he can 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.480 kind of get a head start on it. And uh, 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:08.920 and this guy Ezekiel Jackson, they called him, his real 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.040 name is Rickland. Michael goes, uh, Bretty, let me talk 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:15.920 to you, all right, go into his office. He shows 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:24.359 he shows me this. He goes, he says, you probably 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.560 got some crazy fans, right, I said, yes, you know, 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.240 I've had my fair share. He goes, let me fucking 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.640 show you something. He opens a drawer. He goes, look 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.359 at this ship I got, and he holds up a 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:40.320 picture and it's this big leg with a tattoo of 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:43.879 him on the leg. And I go, what, man, what 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:46.119 do you what are you showing? He goes that's me. 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:49.159 I go, well, no, but did you get that too 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.560 that tattoo? Goes funck No, that's just on some crazy fucker, 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.680 and I just started I die laughing, right, and so 0:19:56.000 --> 0:20:00.520 I'm disarmed now and he crosses his arm and leans 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.480 over the desk. The dude is a lifelong pro wrestler. 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.600 He's not management, right, but he's trying to be a manager. 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.919 After about six months, he and I were just cool, 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:13.480 like he would go, Freddie that sucked or Freddy that 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.399 was good, and it was just real shorthand with us 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:18.400 at that point. But this was when he was still 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:21.320 trying to be super professional. He crossed his hands and goes, Freddy, 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:25.639 there's a problem with your diva's storyline and we need 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.159 to talk about it. I said, what what, what's the problem. 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:31.600 He goes it's gone. I said, what do you mean 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:35.080 it's gone? Man? And he goes, it's gone. I said, 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:38.879 what happened? He goes, well, Michelle said that you and 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:43.160 her talk and she didn't really like the story, so 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:47.960 it's gone. I said, I did. I was I supposed 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:49.639 This is when I first said, was I supposed to 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:52.399 ask her? Like? Oh? This? He goes Freddy. She talked 0:20:52.400 --> 0:21:04.760 to undertaker. Undertaker, talk to Vince. The story's gone. Now. 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:07.959 Probably the color in my face dropped, right. I don't know. 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:11.960 I wasn't looking at myself, but this had never really 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:16.360 happened to me before. Like I it wasn't getting chastised, 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.480 but it was like, hey, your idea is gone. Be 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:26.159 you screwed up so bad that this person wasn't comfortable 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:30.720 telling you that this wasn't gonna happen. They went and 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.440 spoke to someone else to make sure this wasn't gonna happen. 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:38.040 Like she didn't feel comfortable being open and honest with 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:41.880 me in that moment, or or down that down that road, 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:47.280 and again in in hindsight, yeah, I get it. She 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:50.880 she had to do that. She had to protect the 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:54.080 foundation that she had laid down, regardless of what you 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:58.080 think of that championship run. That's not on her. She 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.280 doesn't get to pick when the studio is too afraid 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:05.679 to say the word asked on TV, they're not afraid 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:07.960 to show one, but they won't let you say it 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:11.920 because of stockholders or because we were changing from one 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.000 channel to the next. So it was a thankless job. 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:19.440 And here I come in just sort of reckon someone's dream. 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:24.800 You know, it's not it's not on me, but it's 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:29.920 not something that I'm proud of the way I presented 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:33.800 it to her. The I should ask more questions. I 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:37.960 think it was reasonable for me to assume that that 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:40.600 championship meant a lot more to her than just a 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:44.159 part of a storyline. I think that's if that was 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:47.560 her expectation. I think that's reasonable. But yeah, man, I 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:52.119 screwed up. I screwed up, and I didn't I didn't 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:54.679 like that feeling. Man. It was tough working with the 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.280