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.
Speaker 1: By from San Francisco. I'm a Sports Byeline Broadcasting Network.
Speaker 1: You are listening to Wrestling Observer Vibe with your hosts,
Speaker 1: Brian Alvarez and Mike semper vv. Are you ready? Are
Speaker 1: you ready? Let's get it all. Let's get it Mike
Speaker 1: simper Vv here with you for the next hour, talking
Speaker 1: professional wrestling and mixed martial arts, something we do every
Speaker 1: single day here on the Sports Byeline Broadcasting Network, and
Speaker 1: the Byeline is everywhere too. I heeart tune in Sports
Speaker 1: Byeline dot Com, over the air affiliate Sirius x um podcast,
Speaker 1: or video streaming on Twitch and YouTube. However you're joining
Speaker 1: me today, I just want to say thank you and
Speaker 1: special thank you for those of you listening over American
Speaker 1: four his radio on this Memorial Day weekend. The Big
Speaker 1: boss Man, Brian Alvarez is in Las Vegas as I speak,
Speaker 1: which means I can do this Blueberry Red Bull. Hopefully
Speaker 1: he's not hanging out with a great o'con because if
Speaker 1: he is, he'll have a lot of explaining to do
Speaker 1: once he gets home. Brian and Dave Meltzer and many
Speaker 1: others are in Vegas for the F four W Online
Speaker 1: Wrestling Observer Convention and of course a W double or nothing,
Speaker 1: And let me get a little bit of house cleaning
Speaker 1: out of the way. It's a jump here. Brian and
Speaker 1: Dave will be holding a Q and A Saturday morning,
Speaker 1: eleven a m Pacific at the Silver Nugget Casino in
Speaker 1: Las Vegas. The meet and greet is sold out, but
Speaker 1: there are tickets left for the Q and A, and
Speaker 1: I believe the dinner at Texas State Brazil or Tajas
Speaker 1: Dave Brazil uh the steak House. So for all the
Speaker 1: information on anything that has to do with the F
Speaker 1: four W Convention and the festivities this weekend, go to
Speaker 1: at F four W Convention on Twitter the hashtag They're
Speaker 1: gonna use his F four W con twenty two and
Speaker 1: I got a lot to get into today. SmackDown is
Speaker 1: tonight round a rousing against Raquel Rodriguez has been announced.
Speaker 1: There's a live rampage, which, depending on when you are
Speaker 1: listening to the feed of this show, has possibly already happened,
Speaker 1: and a ton of news, not the least of which
Speaker 1: is New Japan holding a press conference to discuss their
Speaker 1: very tense relationship that they're having right now with Coda Abushi.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot to get into. I thought today
Speaker 1: I was just going to be talking about double or
Speaker 1: Nothing and the best of the super juniors, but a
Speaker 1: bunch of news has popped up, a bunch of injury
Speaker 1: news to get into. Jeff Jared is packed with w
Speaker 1: W E and a whole lot more. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: get it all started when I get back from break.
Speaker 1: Wrestling Observer Live. You're listening to Wrestling Observer Live with
Speaker 1: Brian Alvarez and Mike semper Viv on the Sports Byeline
Speaker 1: Broadcasting Network. Welcome back to the show, Mike semper Viv
Speaker 1: Wrestling Observer Live. You know, we do this show for
Speaker 1: an hour at a time every day, but if you
Speaker 1: want us two seven, you can try to find us
Speaker 1: on Twitter at semper Viv. The timeline for this website
Speaker 1: is at w O n F four W the broadcasters
Speaker 1: at Sports Byline USA and if you love pro wrestling
Speaker 1: at mid Atlantic Pod. Brian Alvarez is not here, but
Speaker 1: his Twitter is at Brian Alvarez. I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: he has started tweeting out some of his adventures on
Speaker 1: his trip to Las Vegas, including trying to fend off
Speaker 1: Ed in San Antonio. And I'm gonna go through the
Speaker 1: double or Nothing card today and give some of my
Speaker 1: thoughts on what can happen. Is this is gonna be
Speaker 1: the last time you hear or see me until Monday,
Speaker 1: actually Tuesday, I think it is actually Tuesday. I think
Speaker 1: Sports Byline will be taking a nap on Monday. And
Speaker 1: I don't blame him on Memorial Day weekend, but if
Speaker 1: it is a replay, uh, then I'll be back on
Speaker 1: Tuesday alongside Brian and Saturday morning, Mr Jim Valley is
Speaker 1: going to be in this chair one pm Eastern time,
Speaker 1: ten am Pacific, and then andrews Arian will take it
Speaker 1: over on Sunday evening six pm Eastern, three pm Pacific,
Speaker 1: and he'll take you into the start of the pay
Speaker 1: per view. And I'll get to that a little later
Speaker 1: on because I woke up this morning to the news
Speaker 1: of a press conference New Japan was holding about Kota
Speaker 1: Obushi and Bushy Road president uh Toka two Kaki Kadani,
Speaker 1: a New Japan president. Kami Obari had this press conference
Speaker 1: it's been a bizarre public feud for those of you
Speaker 1: have been paying attention between the two sides. Two and
Speaker 1: a half weeks ago, a Bushi tweeted a message exchange
Speaker 1: between he and New Japan official Yasuki Kikuchi just remember
Speaker 1: that name, uh Kokuchi about a Bushi appearing at Taka
Speaker 1: mccanoshoes Just tap Out event in March. The comments a
Speaker 1: Bushy tweeted included New Japan's handling of his shoulder injury
Speaker 1: last October, where he felt pressure to perform, and Kikuchie
Speaker 1: suggestively asking if a Bushi wanted his release. Obari explained
Speaker 1: that New Japan's side of the events at this press conference,
Speaker 1: and the full transcript of this is up on New
Speaker 1: Japan's website. It's linked through Wrestling observer dot com. If
Speaker 1: you go up there too, I'm gonna give you an
Speaker 1: abbreviated version of it as much as I can, because
Speaker 1: I'm not going to spend the entire hour on the thing.
Speaker 1: But goes like this. Kotabushi is a wrestler exclusively contracted
Speaker 1: to New Japan Pro Wrestling. As such, it is understood
Speaker 1: that in order to devote full attention to New Japan
Speaker 1: matches and associated events. He is required to inform and
Speaker 1: receive express permission from New Japan before outside appearances. On
Speaker 1: March fourth, in breach of the terms of his contract,
Speaker 1: Mr Obushi made an appearance seconding wrestlers at a just
Speaker 1: Halp Out event. Kokuchi is responsible for contacting various wrestlers
Speaker 1: contracted to New Japan, but he also has a long
Speaker 1: personal history with Mr Abushi that extends far more uh
Speaker 1: that extends far before him becoming exclusively contracted talent. Kikuchi
Speaker 1: contracted Mr Obushi in the belief that Mr Abushi's actions
Speaker 1: in breach of his contract were taken deliberately to persuade
Speaker 1: New Japan to terminate his agreement with him, perceiving this
Speaker 1: as a betrayal of personal trust established over a number
Speaker 1: of years between kukuk Kukuchi and Abushi. Kokuchi's messages were
Speaker 1: sent in an emotional state as a result. Not wanting
Speaker 1: to lose the services of Koda Obushi in such a
Speaker 1: manner and wanting to find out his true mental state
Speaker 1: and opinions on this matter, I arranged a meeting with
Speaker 1: Mr Abushi at his personal training facility on May On
Speaker 1: March thirty one A. Bari then would talk about the
Speaker 1: two working out together, how a Bush he had said
Speaker 1: his shoulder is not where he needs it to be
Speaker 1: to perform, and how impressed he was with a Bush
Speaker 1: he had as an athlete. And this is where Obari
Speaker 1: also determined that Abushi, by appearing on the Just Half
Speaker 1: Out show was not going to be in breach of
Speaker 1: his contract and only received a reprimand. Obari then went
Speaker 1: on to say, at the point of our meeting, I
Speaker 1: did not know the exact wording or particulars of Mr
Speaker 1: Abushi's text conversation with Kukuchi, and as a result did
Speaker 1: not offer a proper apology for the content of the conversation.
Speaker 1: Several weeks later, on May tenth, screenshots of the conversation
Speaker 1: were made public. I have since learned that those tweets
Speaker 1: were made when Mr Obushi was acting in a state
Speaker 1: of concern for his mother, with mental distress being caused
Speaker 1: by this situation. Mr Abushi told me that after discussing
Speaker 1: the details of the situation with his mother on May eighth,
Speaker 1: she attempted suicide on May nine and suffered a broken
Speaker 1: bone in her back as a result. A meeting was
Speaker 1: held on May tenth, including our company's legal staff in
Speaker 1: order to understand the particulars of the situation and to
Speaker 1: determine the best possible course of action for both New
Speaker 1: Japan Pro Wrestling and Mr Abushi. We determined that the
Speaker 1: said best course of action would be to directly meet
Speaker 1: with Mr Abushi to formally apologize and hear one another's
Speaker 1: opinions before making a public announcement should one be deemed necessary.
Speaker 1: At that point, Obari closed by saying that he and
Speaker 1: Kadani were able to meet with Abushi and said that
Speaker 1: both Abushi and Kikuchi would be reprimanded but remain with
Speaker 1: the company, and he apologized to the fans for their concerns.
Speaker 1: Sounds good, Not all of it was in the moment,
Speaker 1: because not long after the press conference ended, Kota Obushi
Speaker 1: tweeted that he was upset over the fact that the
Speaker 1: company initially glossed over the situation with his mother, which
Speaker 1: was the whole reason he began tweeting about all of
Speaker 1: this in the first place. So they had to go
Speaker 1: back and amend the statement that I just read. So
Speaker 1: I am sure Dave Meltzer is going to have more
Speaker 1: on this and the next show that he does with Brian.
Speaker 1: He writes about it in this week's newsletter, although obviously
Speaker 1: not this information, which came out after deadline today. NUSPAN
Speaker 1: very apologetic and obviously the olive branch to Kota obush
Speaker 1: he has been handed apparently was yesterday with the meeting
Speaker 1: with with a Bari, So we'll see what happens. This
Speaker 1: is a very important story because of the stardom the
Speaker 1: Koda Obushi had as over in Japan, his run with
Speaker 1: New Japan, his contract with them, and then also his
Speaker 1: relationship in the States with Kenny Omega, and how this
Speaker 1: could play into a New Japan a w relationship. There's
Speaker 1: all those professional things, as well as the fact that
Speaker 1: this has caused great mental stress on Kota A. Bushy,
Speaker 1: and he may not be in the best of mental
Speaker 1: states right now for a variety of reasons, not the
Speaker 1: least of which is his mother. Uh Dave Meltzer talked
Speaker 1: about on Wrestling Observer Radio not all that long ago
Speaker 1: about the fact that when you are an athlete at
Speaker 1: the level of Koda Bushy, when you are not able
Speaker 1: to train and you look at Koda Bushy, a guy
Speaker 1: who looks like he is carved out of stone, you know,
Speaker 1: the type of care he takes of his body, how
Speaker 1: he feels it's got to be driving him nuts. And
Speaker 1: the fact that could that Bushi is a character anyway
Speaker 1: and is quite the unique personality, you know. I I
Speaker 1: My biggest concern is his mental state right now, because again,
Speaker 1: this this whole situation with his mother is just it
Speaker 1: is a sad situation. But we'll have to see what
Speaker 1: happens going forward. Here a good sign at least from
Speaker 1: a public relations point of view, in my opinion, from
Speaker 1: New Japan to come out have this conversation after having
Speaker 1: a conversation with Koda Abushi and to make sure that
Speaker 1: the public knows that New Japan Pro Wrestling values the
Speaker 1: services and the mental health of Koda Obushi. So I'll
Speaker 1: just have to see what happens. You never have to
Speaker 1: wait and see what happens with Jeff Jarrett for too long,
Speaker 1: because at some point he is going to be involved
Speaker 1: in the wrestling business. And it has been reported today
Speaker 1: on Friday pw Insider that, according to multiple sources, the
Speaker 1: former six time w w E Intercontinental Champion, tag Team
Speaker 1: Champion in European Champion is coming home as a high
Speaker 1: level executive. That was the quote high level executive on
Speaker 1: the live of then side of the business. He's going
Speaker 1: to begin next week. The fifty four year old Jarrett
Speaker 1: is a two thousand and eighteen inductee into the w
Speaker 1: w E Hall of Fame and had returned to the
Speaker 1: company as a producer in January of two thousand and nineteen.
Speaker 1: That didn't last, but this year alone see the wall here,
Speaker 1: I got a one of these beautiful drawings here behind me.
Speaker 1: He appeared at g c w's Hammerstein show, as well
Speaker 1: as some other shows for g c W feuding with Fie,
Speaker 1: in addition to appearing as a as a referee in
Speaker 1: the n w A as well as making appearances for
Speaker 1: Triple A in Mexico. So, Jeff Jarrett cannot stay away
Speaker 1: for too long and you can never bury a Jarrett,
Speaker 1: certainly not Jeff Jarrett. So we got a lot more
Speaker 1: to get into, including SmackDown Tonight, a whole bunch of
Speaker 1: injury news, best of the super Juniors, and my thoughts
Speaker 1: on a w coming up. This Sunday, Wrestling was over alive,
Speaker 1: have vipe socks. You were listening to Wrestling Observer Live
Speaker 1: with Brian Albarez and Mike simper Viv on the Sports
Speaker 1: Byline Broadcasting Network. Back on the show, Mike simper Viv
Speaker 1: Here with your Wrestling Observer Live on this a e
Speaker 1: W double or Nothing weekend, the Big boss Man Brian
Speaker 1: Alvarez out in Las Vegas for all the festivities of
Speaker 1: not only that show, but everything taking place with the
Speaker 1: four W Slash Wrestling Observer Convention. As I mentioned earlier
Speaker 1: on go over to uh actually maybe deleted it now,
Speaker 1: but it's fur w uh con is the the the
Speaker 1: spot on Twitter hashtag f fort w Con twenty two
Speaker 1: is the hashtag everything, and it's going to be taking
Speaker 1: place there. I assume it's going to be the same
Speaker 1: thing on Instagram. I'm not popular enough to post on Instagram.
Speaker 1: Got too boring of a life to to bother with that,
Speaker 1: except for some pictures at the beach, which I can't
Speaker 1: go to right now because a massive amount of storms
Speaker 1: have rolled into Del Marva to just screw up this weekend.
Speaker 1: So nuts to that. But at least I'm not injured,
Speaker 1: you know, I've had him shaken off the effects of
Speaker 1: the COVID. But there was a slew of injury news
Speaker 1: that seemed to come out over the last forty eight
Speaker 1: hours here, according to Dave Meltzer in p W Insider,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna start with Zalina Vega, who's out of
Speaker 1: action right now. And you know, when the tag team
Speaker 1: titles got vacated by Sasha and Naomi walking out, the
Speaker 1: obvious idea for a lot of people was, well, put
Speaker 1: Carmela and Zalina back together. You kind of broke them
Speaker 1: up in a stupid manner anyway, So we put them
Speaker 1: back together and let them get a run of the
Speaker 1: tag team titles. And maybe they'll do that at some point,
Speaker 1: but it's not going to be right away, as Selena
Speaker 1: has suffered a in ring injury that required surgery. The
Speaker 1: injury hasn't been too disclosed, but p w i Insider
Speaker 1: wrote that she's expected to miss the next six to
Speaker 1: eight weeks. Vega has not wrestled since losing a match
Speaker 1: to Bianca bel Air on the April eleventh episode of Raw,
Speaker 1: although she interfered in bel Air's Women's Championship defense against
Speaker 1: Sonya Deville on April five. There has been talk about
Speaker 1: Vega receiving a push upon her return, as so sources
Speaker 1: have noted her willingness to do what is requested of her,
Speaker 1: and her hard work has been noticed behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: said p W insider HM. Dave Meltzer reported in the
Speaker 1: rest of Server newsletter that Omega will not be in
Speaker 1: town for this weekend's pay per view Kenny Omega went
Speaker 1: to a couple of tapings in the last few weeks
Speaker 1: to work backstage, but in hindsight, the travel was too
Speaker 1: early for the healing needed for his injuries, and he
Speaker 1: won't be in Las Vegas this week for the pay
Speaker 1: per view show, Meltzer wrote. It was reported in March
Speaker 1: that Omega was recovering from orthoscopic knee surgery and was
Speaker 1: scheduled for surgery to repair a sports ernia later that month.
Speaker 1: Meltzer goes on to write quote, Omega did say that
Speaker 1: the parts of his body that are healthy, he is
Speaker 1: able to train well and is pushing himself harder every week.
Speaker 1: Other parts, the healing is slow. He has said to
Speaker 1: be resigned to the fact that physically he will never
Speaker 1: be one, but he's looking at reversing some of the
Speaker 1: physical damage and being able to return, and this time
Speaker 1: off in fixing up his different injuries would extend his
Speaker 1: time as an effective pro wrestler. It's a lot of
Speaker 1: words to say that Kenny is going to do whatever
Speaker 1: he can to try to rest and reverse the effects
Speaker 1: of his injuries so he can keep on in this
Speaker 1: crazy business. Omega has not performed since dropping the a
Speaker 1: W World Championship to Hangman Page at full Gear on
Speaker 1: November two, thousand and twenty one. So Kenny Omega still
Speaker 1: on the comeback trail and all the best to aws
Speaker 1: lay Helo Hirsch, who revealed Thursday that she tough suffered
Speaker 1: a torn a c L last month. It's gonna put
Speaker 1: her on the shelf for a few months obviously. The
Speaker 1: injury happened during a match that the Ship was being
Speaker 1: taped for Dark Elevation on April six against Christina Marie.
Speaker 1: She injured the knee on a moonsault out of the
Speaker 1: corner when she landed, and the match was stopped and
Speaker 1: of course never aired. Prior to the injury, hersh defeated
Speaker 1: Red Velvet on the March twenty three episode of Dynamite.
Speaker 1: There was a post match angle angle where Chris stat
Speaker 1: Landers saved Red Velvet when Hirsch would not let go
Speaker 1: of an armbar. Hirsch also defeated Ella Envy on the
Speaker 1: April fourth edition of Dark Elevation. So all the best
Speaker 1: to her a w ratings news because you gotta have
Speaker 1: a show with ratings, folks. Wednesday's Double or Nothing Go
Speaker 1: Home edition of Dynamite averaged nine thousand viewers on TBS,
Speaker 1: up point eight percent from last week, best audience for
Speaker 1: the show since April. Dynamite finished six on cable in
Speaker 1: the eighteen to forty nine demo, drawing a point three
Speaker 1: five in that category, up six point one percent from
Speaker 1: last week and also the best number for the show
Speaker 1: since April. Dynamite was the top show on cable not
Speaker 1: related to the NBA or the NHL IS playoff coverage
Speaker 1: continues to just dominate the cable charts. ESPN average six
Speaker 1: point four million viewers and t NT one point four
Speaker 1: million viewers for the Celtics Heat and St. Louis Blues
Speaker 1: Colorado Avalanche games respectively. There So it is uh, it's
Speaker 1: still a lot to deal with. And when we talk
Speaker 1: about Double or Nothing a little later on, I'll remind
Speaker 1: you of a story from yesterday about how Tony Khan
Speaker 1: is dealing with the Eastern Conference Finals between Boston and Miami.
Speaker 1: If there happens to be a Game seven on Sunday
Speaker 1: and Rampage is tonight. That's the final TV obviously before
Speaker 1: Double or Nothing, except for the special hype episode, which
Speaker 1: is going to be airing the the special. I'm sure
Speaker 1: there's Double or Nothing special airing, right I'm not looking
Speaker 1: at the chat right now, so somebody can let me
Speaker 1: know that one. But if that doesn't air, this is
Speaker 1: going to be the last thing you see in its
Speaker 1: entirety before Sunday. It's going to air at six thirty
Speaker 1: pm Eastern Time, three thirty on the West Coast. So
Speaker 1: if you're listening to this on the West coast speed,
Speaker 1: I won't spoil you because it hasn't aired on the
Speaker 1: East Coast yet and it's it's already aired for you,
Speaker 1: so you've already spoiled yourself for something like that. But
Speaker 1: the Young Bucks are gonna be wrestling Matt Brian Danielson
Speaker 1: is going to be wrestling Matt Sidell. William Regal is
Speaker 1: going to be on commentary for the match, going to
Speaker 1: be obviously playing into the fact that Danielson is hurt
Speaker 1: after his leg got stuck between the ring and the
Speaker 1: UH and the Ramp a couple of weeks ago. The
Speaker 1: Jericho Appreciations Society went after this past Wednesday, So facing
Speaker 1: a high flyer and Matt sidell Uh surely is going
Speaker 1: to play into some of the story going on here
Speaker 1: with Brian Danielson t NT Champion Scorpio Sky be giving
Speaker 1: a new custom made championship belt by Dan Lambert, and
Speaker 1: wherever Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page and Dan Lambert are,
Speaker 1: you can probably place a pretty good bet on Tai
Speaker 1: County and Sammy Guevara and of course now Frankie Kazarian
Speaker 1: being somewhere close by. I hope they do not add
Speaker 1: that match. And I can't believe they're going to add
Speaker 1: that match to Sunday's show, any match between a mixed
Speaker 1: tag or anything that's going to take place with Page
Speaker 1: Vans and being involved in that mix too. I hope
Speaker 1: they hold that off for l A at the Forum.
Speaker 1: There just does not need to be another match added
Speaker 1: to that show. There's already ten matches for Sunday and
Speaker 1: that is more than enough. Also tonight, of course, Ruby
Speaker 1: Soho Chris stat Lander Owen Heart Foundation Tournament semifinal match
Speaker 1: with the winner going on to face Britt Baker on Sunday. So,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned, we'll get into that a little bit
Speaker 1: more later on cult Cabana's future appears to be with
Speaker 1: Ring of Honor is Dave Rahmeltzer reported the Wrestling Observer
Speaker 1: newsletter that Cabana has signed a new contract, which is
Speaker 1: something that the Young Bucks pushed for. But rather than
Speaker 1: continuing to perform in a e W Cabannah is expected
Speaker 1: to be part of a relaunched R O H brand
Speaker 1: if and when that happens, and this maybe do Dave
Speaker 1: writes to the longstanding issues that exist between Cabanah and
Speaker 1: CM Punk, which has not been mentioned directly by Adam Page,
Speaker 1: but one who has known the situation with CM Punk
Speaker 1: and some of his co workers and his friendships in
Speaker 1: this case with Cold Cabana. Again part of the things
Speaker 1: that I think they wanted to weave into the Adam
Speaker 1: Page story that I don't know if they made clear
Speaker 1: enough to maybe the average viewer who doesn't know about
Speaker 1: a lot of the backstage shenanigans they go on in
Speaker 1: relationships that go on involved in pro wrestling. But Dave
Speaker 1: writes that quote this may be in some form related
Speaker 1: to his issues with Cmpunk Cabana was signed to a
Speaker 1: new contract, and well, just going ahead and reading what
Speaker 1: they had already mentioned there already mentioned, but the issues
Speaker 1: with punking Cabanah stem from the fact that w W
Speaker 1: E Dr Chris Ahman filed a lawsuit against the pair
Speaker 1: in two thousand and eighteen, and UH Cabanda filing suit
Speaker 1: against Punk, saying that Punk would cover Cabanah's legal portion
Speaker 1: of the proceedings because the conversation that Punking Cabanah had
Speaker 1: which led to him monsuing them took place on Cold
Speaker 1: Cabanah's podcast. So UH Cabanna and Punk and the Pound
Speaker 1: ended up filing a countersuit off of that as well,
Speaker 1: and the two sides settled that out of court in
Speaker 1: September of two thousand and nineteen, but obviously four years
Speaker 1: later there are still issues there. So Cabandas appeared on
Speaker 1: a couple of R O H shows so far so
Speaker 1: again maybe if if again, I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: if you want to directly mention Cabana and and see
Speaker 1: him punking in or do I think either one of
Speaker 1: those guys would have want that said directly on a
Speaker 1: W television I think some of the hinting again, probably
Speaker 1: could have been a lot better for this match coming
Speaker 1: up between CM Punk and Hangman outam Page, and that
Speaker 1: World Championship match takes place Sunday, double or nothing. I
Speaker 1: think Hangman Page retains the title. I do, as I
Speaker 1: I stutter along there, I think I do, at least
Speaker 1: maybe I was starting because as part of me thinks
Speaker 1: c M punc should win that title. And in fact,
Speaker 1: I think CM punk would be a very strong champion
Speaker 1: right now, and I think him winning would be a
Speaker 1: really good thing for the company. Is it good first
Speaker 1: Hangman outam Page? No? Is it a bad thing for
Speaker 1: the company of Hangman outam Page retains the title? No,
Speaker 1: not at all, And in fact you can build to
Speaker 1: a second match. In fact, you can build maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit towards c him Punk being annoyed maybe by
Speaker 1: some of the things that Hangman outam Page is saying
Speaker 1: about him, and maybe taking a harder look at the
Speaker 1: locker room some of the people that may have been
Speaker 1: nice to him and shook his hand and looked him
Speaker 1: in the eye, Uh he got there, maybe saying some
Speaker 1: things behind his back or when he's not around some
Speaker 1: of the people that hang Man out of Page maybe
Speaker 1: talking about maybe that's a good way to get to
Speaker 1: a second match between the two, and I think that's
Speaker 1: the direction I would go with that. I I really
Speaker 1: really do, because I think Hayman out of Page needs
Speaker 1: more as a champion. I do, and I know his
Speaker 1: work inside the ring is always strong. He's been a
Speaker 1: strong in ring world champion. That's cool, but I still
Speaker 1: don't think when you think about Kenny Omega, when you
Speaker 1: think about uh, Chris Jericho, John Moxley, C M Punk,
Speaker 1: Bryan Danielson, when you think of that star power when
Speaker 1: you think of champions, I don't think he's there yet.
Speaker 1: And that's okay, they really really is. But I think
Speaker 1: a good win over CM Punk in a great match,
Speaker 1: which I expect him to have, I think that's going
Speaker 1: to go a long way for him. And I think
Speaker 1: continuing this feud between the two, I think that's a
Speaker 1: great idea too. So I know we're pushing up against
Speaker 1: break here. So I will go through the rest of
Speaker 1: the card when we get back, as well as some
Speaker 1: other events taking place this weekend, and my thoughts on
Speaker 1: the New Japan Best of the super Juniors which will
Speaker 1: be coming up as well. My name is Mike sepper Viv.
Speaker 1: This is Wrestling Observer Live. You're listening to Wrestling Observer
Speaker 1: Live with Brian Albarez and Mike Semperviv on the Sports
Speaker 1: Byline Broadcasting Network. Mike semper Viv back on the show
Speaker 1: Wrestling Observer dot Com Wrestlings Ever Live too. You can
Speaker 1: find it at Wrestling Observer dot com or you should
Speaker 1: be a member. Twelve nine a month gets you everything,
Speaker 1: including the Wrestling Observative newsletter which I cited, and get
Speaker 1: that news from David Meltzer directly, the source himself has
Speaker 1: opposed to everybody else who just cuts some pace and
Speaker 1: gets everything wrong and then puts it up on their
Speaker 1: timelines and screws everything up and then drives Brian into
Speaker 1: a big tizzy on this show when somebody's in the
Speaker 1: chat and says something that was reported by Dave which
Speaker 1: Brian knows not to be true, and then he freaks
Speaker 1: out and yells for a long time. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. He's in Vegas though, double or nothing,
Speaker 1: And I mentioned what I already mentioned what I thought
Speaker 1: about the a W World Heavyweight Championship match between Hangman
Speaker 1: out of page and see I'm Punk. I think Hangman
Speaker 1: out on Page should hold onto the belt right now.
Speaker 1: I you know, in a perfect world, Hangman Page would
Speaker 1: already be at a level that I would want him
Speaker 1: to be at, which is in that upper echelon that
Speaker 1: I spoke of, and see Him Punk could have that
Speaker 1: belt because he is He's their biggest star. I mean
Speaker 1: you could argue him or Bryan Danielson. I think it's
Speaker 1: it's see him Punk. And obviously it's no shade on
Speaker 1: m J F or anybody else who's on that roster,
Speaker 1: but see him Punk is a is a legitimate mover
Speaker 1: here and I think he'd be a great world champion.
Speaker 1: But I think we still have a lot more story
Speaker 1: to go with he and Hangman out on Page, and
Speaker 1: I see Page holding onto the idole. There is one
Speaker 1: buy in match, which is Hook and Dan Housen against
Speaker 1: Tony Nice and Smart Mark Sterling that will take place
Speaker 1: on the pre show, and this is another reason I
Speaker 1: think they're going to go ahead and hold off on
Speaker 1: Scorpio Sky and Page van Zan against Tai and I
Speaker 1: would assume Ethan Page against Thy Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio
Speaker 1: Sky and they're gonna hold that off for Los Angeles
Speaker 1: is be The reason why is because Cohn noted that
Speaker 1: he cut back the time on the pre show UH
Speaker 1: to thirty minutes beginning at seven thirty, which really only
Speaker 1: leaves time for one match and seemingly would give me
Speaker 1: the idea that you don't want to overload the crowd
Speaker 1: and overload the viewer who would be watching twelve matches.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? You know again, it's ten
Speaker 1: matches is a lot, and a w packs a lot
Speaker 1: into all their matches. This show is looking to run
Speaker 1: along anyway, not the least of reasons being because they
Speaker 1: are going to hold off on the main event that
Speaker 1: I just talked about until possibly after the Boston Miami
Speaker 1: game ends. If there is a NBA game coming up
Speaker 1: on Sunday, they are going to hold off on the
Speaker 1: start of that match until the basketball came is over.
Speaker 1: So it could be a long night. And that's another
Speaker 1: reason to not go ahead and add any match with
Speaker 1: Scorpio Sky, that is for sure. But Hook and Dan
Speaker 1: Housing surely going to get a quick and easy victory
Speaker 1: over Tony Nice and smart Mark Sterling. Maybe not easy, obviously,
Speaker 1: you gotta let Nice and Sterling get some heat and
Speaker 1: of course do that all on Dan Housing. They better
Speaker 1: not get any heat at all on Hook who only
Speaker 1: needs to save today here and not have any of
Speaker 1: his hair go out of place and make it to
Speaker 1: the back as a hero that he is for everybody
Speaker 1: out there. A w Women's World Championship thunder Rosa and
Speaker 1: Serena deeb. I have a feeling this is going to be,
Speaker 1: unfortunately the match with probably the least crowd heat, but
Speaker 1: will be one of the best matches to take place
Speaker 1: in the ring. I think thunder Rose's title reign has
Speaker 1: not gone off very well so far. I just think
Speaker 1: they've had some missteps, the stuff that happened with Vicky
Speaker 1: Guerrero and Nila Rose and that whole deal, and she
Speaker 1: just she just has not been where she should be
Speaker 1: in the ring and how she is presented at a
Speaker 1: level the way she was before she won the championship.
Speaker 1: And I hope they can turn that around. I'm sure
Speaker 1: she and Serena Deep can have a great, great match
Speaker 1: inside the ring, so I hope uh they do, and
Speaker 1: I hope the fans take to it as well too.
Speaker 1: There's a lot, like I mentioned, there's a lot on
Speaker 1: this show, and there's gonna be points where the fans
Speaker 1: come down and unfortunately for thunder Rose and Serena Deep,
Speaker 1: I have a feeling that that's one of the matches
Speaker 1: where that could happen. Hopefully I'm wrong, but we'll see
Speaker 1: a w World Tag Team Championship Jungle Boy and Lucasaurus
Speaker 1: alongside Christian Cage against Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks again,
Speaker 1: Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland. I'm a lot more interested
Speaker 1: in this match after the three way between Jungle Boy,
Speaker 1: Ricky Starks and Swerve on Wednesday night. That kind of
Speaker 1: jazz me back into this match and actually caring a
Speaker 1: little bit more about this match. I gotta be honest
Speaker 1: the heavyweight side of this, I'm only really interested in
Speaker 1: Powerhouse Hobbs out of these three guys. So I'm sure
Speaker 1: we're gonna get a lot of that. I mean a
Speaker 1: lot of crazy double team maneuvers, guys flying everywhere. Lucastaurus
Speaker 1: and Keith Lee obviously for their size, they love to fly,
Speaker 1: you know, fly as much as they can. That tornio
Speaker 1: by Keith Lee on Wednesday night was a we don't
Speaker 1: need to be seen A whole lot more of that,
Speaker 1: and I damn see you damn sure. I don't need
Speaker 1: to see Powerhouse Hobs coming off the top rope. But
Speaker 1: I think all these three teams together are gonna be
Speaker 1: thrown at all at the wall, and it's probably gonna
Speaker 1: be To me, it's tough because the House of Black
Speaker 1: against the Death Triangle is probably gonna be of the
Speaker 1: tag matches. You know that that's probably gonna be the
Speaker 1: best one inside the ring. But this has the opportunity
Speaker 1: to be a show stealer in some ways. I mean,
Speaker 1: with all again, with all this great stuff that that
Speaker 1: six man, uh that the three way for the tag
Speaker 1: titles may end up kind of stealing some of the
Speaker 1: spotlight from somebody. Jake Cargo and Anna J. I expect
Speaker 1: this to be relatively short. I know Jade has already
Speaker 1: gone through Antaj relatively quickly for the TBS Championship. That
Speaker 1: would probably in antag talking about the fact she's learned
Speaker 1: a lot from the veterans and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: Maybe you know, they they add a couple more minutes
Speaker 1: onto it, but I think the shorter the better this way.
Speaker 1: I think Anna J losing a match as long as
Speaker 1: she doesn't embarrass herself or get embarrassed in any way,
Speaker 1: you know, losing a short matches and the worst idea
Speaker 1: in the world and the that's where Jade Cargo obviously
Speaker 1: shines the best. So hopefully this ends up being a
Speaker 1: quick one with Jade picking up the victory. She continues
Speaker 1: on with the TBS Championship Young Bucks and the Hearties.
Speaker 1: This is a match that, in hindsight, with that being
Speaker 1: they should have done right off the bat with the
Speaker 1: heart He's getting back together in a w I just
Speaker 1: they Jeff and Matt looked like the I'm not saying
Speaker 1: the road has owned them, although part of you know,
Speaker 1: part of the bill to this whole thing has been
Speaker 1: we have taken you know, we were raised the same way.
Speaker 1: We took two divergent paths, uh in the wrestling business
Speaker 1: because the wrestling business was different back then. But all
Speaker 1: of that time, all of the bumps everything. Look, Jeff
Speaker 1: and and Matt, they have given all they they need
Speaker 1: to give to this business. They owe it nothing, They
Speaker 1: own all of the viewers nothing here and uh they
Speaker 1: don't know the Young Bucks anything either here in this match.
Speaker 1: But I think with the what the Young Bucks standards are,
Speaker 1: you know, and what their fans expect o their matches.
Speaker 1: This may end up being a little bit disappointing because
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how much the Hearties can do with
Speaker 1: all the best intentions in the world. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how this match is gonna be, but I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how much I want to see what the
Speaker 1: heart He's after this, to be real honest with you,
Speaker 1: because in the times that I've seen them leading into this,
Speaker 1: you know, Jeff landing like a sack of flower on everybody,
Speaker 1: you know, falling off the top shelf when it comes
Speaker 1: to with Swanton's and and just Matt has had a
Speaker 1: lot of rough ghosts of it at times in a
Speaker 1: w I I would hope this is shorter rather than longer,
Speaker 1: but I know it's a dream match for the young Bucks,
Speaker 1: so we'll have to see what happens. As I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: death triangle against House of Black, this is on paper,
Speaker 1: I want to call it a show stealer, but we
Speaker 1: haven't seen much of Pok or anything like that recently,
Speaker 1: and they have not with everything else going on. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that they've you know, this is kind of
Speaker 1: fallen behind a little bit as far as the promotion
Speaker 1: of matches goes on this show, and I guess by
Speaker 1: that definition it could steal the show. But I expect
Speaker 1: fully on paper, when you look at the guys involved
Speaker 1: in this, this is gonna be a hot, hot match.
Speaker 1: So my expectations are high for this. I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be one of the best matches of the night.
Speaker 1: And House the Black is undefeated so far. We haven't
Speaker 1: seen Pock for a while. They can use that as
Speaker 1: part of the story if he ends up being the
Speaker 1: one who takes the loss. But I think the House
Speaker 1: of Black comes out victorious. Anarchy in the arena, the
Speaker 1: Jericho Appreciation Society against Eddie Kingston, Santana Ortiz, John Moxley,
Speaker 1: and Brian Danielson. It's gonna be entertaining. I can guarantee
Speaker 1: that with the people that are involved in it, there's
Speaker 1: going to be a high level of violence, enough comedy,
Speaker 1: hopefully not too much comedy, but I think there's going
Speaker 1: to be some again with when you have Danielson and
Speaker 1: Jericho and Kingston and Moxley and Regal being involved and
Speaker 1: setting up these matches, and and that's no shading at
Speaker 1: anybody else. Daniel Garcia or Santana Ortiz, any of those guys.
Speaker 1: When you have those brains together to put together a match,
Speaker 1: I hopefully they don't overdo it, but I think he
Speaker 1: could end up being really, really fun. Jericho's gotta get
Speaker 1: his come up, and maybe it's maybe it's way of
Speaker 1: a fireball. You you never know if he's gonna take
Speaker 1: some time off or something like that. I don't know Fazz,
Speaker 1: he's got a summer touring schedule or anything like that.
Speaker 1: But Eddie Kingston has got to get revenge on Chris Jericho.
Speaker 1: And I will bet if Brian Danielson is not injured,
Speaker 1: which I don't believe that he really is too badly injured.
Speaker 1: Maybe a bruise on that ankle or something like that.
Speaker 1: I I think that will play into some things too,
Speaker 1: as he stomped somebody into the ground during the match.
Speaker 1: But Eddie Kingston, Santana Ortiz, Moxley and Danielson I think
Speaker 1: get the victory there. M JF and worthlow wardlow talked
Speaker 1: to The New York Post about m JF and this
Speaker 1: is what he said. When you look at Max from
Speaker 1: a business aspect, he's an absolute genius. He is one
Speaker 1: of the hardest working, most demanding individuals I have ever seen.
Speaker 1: The aspect of him is truly amazing and truly impressive. Now,
Speaker 1: with that said, as a person, he's the scum of
Speaker 1: the earth. I love when people have shoot or promos,
Speaker 1: especially with that may end up in the media. I
Speaker 1: love these things. I love the fact that the New
Speaker 1: York Post, which is a rag is even covering wrestling
Speaker 1: with how they've thought about it for so many years here.
Speaker 1: But as Wardlow continues, I've seen him disrespect people the
Speaker 1: unimaginable levels. If you think the things he says on
Speaker 1: TV in front of millions of people is bad, you
Speaker 1: should hear the things he says on a private jetdan
Speaker 1: a Limo when it's just a few of the boys.
Speaker 1: He's not a good person. He also went on to
Speaker 1: say that he does have some unfinished business over the
Speaker 1: t n T title and the fact that Max MJF
Speaker 1: screwed him out of that title. He believes once things
Speaker 1: are all done and through with Max and he gets
Speaker 1: a victory coming up on Sunday, he's gonna have to
Speaker 1: bring some peace to his mind over that t NT championship.
Speaker 1: So could we see Wardlow jump from m JF and
Speaker 1: dealing with all his cronies to dealing with Scorpio Sky
Speaker 1: and Dan Lambert and all of his cronies. M may
Speaker 1: not be the worst idea. It was still Wordlow will
Speaker 1: still be the biggest baby face that roster. I think
Speaker 1: if that happens. Uh, even if it doesn't happen, he's
Speaker 1: still gonna be the biggest baby face on that roster
Speaker 1: unless you defeat him on Sunday, which they cannot do.
Speaker 1: There's no reason to get cute about this. It's old
Speaker 1: pro wrestling booking one oh one. We've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of it in this feud. Anyway, It's really really simple.
Speaker 1: M JF and all of his cronies do everything they
Speaker 1: possibly can, do everything they can, every gimmick, the powder raising,
Speaker 1: the cage, whatever it is that they decide that they
Speaker 1: want to do. But Warlow overcomes all of it, and
Speaker 1: he finally gets his revenge and he stands gloriously over
Speaker 1: m JF. A freeman to sign a contract with a
Speaker 1: w if you do almost anything else, I just why why?
Speaker 1: And I'm going to need convincing on how that can work,
Speaker 1: And to be honest with you, I'm not sure I
Speaker 1: want to hear it. Wardlow gets the victory that leads
Speaker 1: me to the owen Hart Cup final matches Samoa Joe
Speaker 1: and Adam Cole Britt Baker against the winner of Ruby
Speaker 1: Soho and Chris stat Lander tonight on Rampage. I think
Speaker 1: Chris stat Lander is going to take the victory over
Speaker 1: Ruby Soho, which will continue Ruby Soho maybe getting uh
Speaker 1: shade thrown at her by Red Velvet and Jay Cargo
Speaker 1: about Hey, look, we handed you the notebook. We gave
Speaker 1: this to you on how to beat Chris stat Lander,
Speaker 1: and you threw it away, said this was a new
Speaker 1: Chris stat Lander. Maybe it wasn't a new Chris stat
Speaker 1: Lander and you lost to her. That's what I think
Speaker 1: is going to happen in that match, because I believe
Speaker 1: it's going to be Britt Baker winning, and I know
Speaker 1: everybody's gonna want Adam Cole to win and stand next
Speaker 1: to Britt Baker his girlfriend as glorious champions, but I
Speaker 1: don't believe it. I think Samo Joe is gonna win
Speaker 1: the men's side. A couple more notes. When we get
Speaker 1: back from Break Wrestling, observe alive, do it anyway? Having sex?
Speaker 1: Nobody see us, the Windows got Lamest, gonna be good, Lord,
Speaker 1: Mike Simber, Babe, Restlings over Live, a lot of stuff
Speaker 1: that I didn't even get into on this show. So
Speaker 1: much going on Best of the Super Junior's Nuche Band.
Speaker 1: There are three shows left to take place, ten matches
Speaker 1: on each show. Very few people have been eliminated so far,
Speaker 1: although that will change coming up basically tomorrow morning. On
Speaker 1: the East Coast time, uh A s Austin from Impact
Speaker 1: actually leads Blockade with ten points. El Desperado a big
Speaker 1: log jam and block be Any number of people could
Speaker 1: go ahead and take the victory there. But some of
Speaker 1: the best matches that I have seen have happened recently
Speaker 1: Robbie Eagles and l Phantasmo, Horomo Takahashi and Yo over
Speaker 1: the last two nights I think have been the two
Speaker 1: best matches in this tournament so far, and there have
Speaker 1: been a whole lot of good ones, only a handful
Speaker 1: of ones that Ari can sider. You know, four stars
Speaker 1: are excellent, but those are definitely two of them. Desperado
Speaker 1: and Lindemann from the Night seven. El Fantasm has been great,
Speaker 1: will or you'd have been great. El Desperado is one
Speaker 1: of the best professional wrestlers in the world, let alone
Speaker 1: in the junior heavyweight division, and with all of those
Speaker 1: guys that they have there with show with with unfortunately
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of shenanigans with him, but with
Speaker 1: with Yo and some of the other talent that they
Speaker 1: have hro move once he does become a full time
Speaker 1: heavyweight will not be missed in that division. And with
Speaker 1: the success of Ace Austin, with the success of Alexane,
Speaker 1: with Chris Bay, I'm sure still due to come over
Speaker 1: with lots of guys as things open up coming into
Speaker 1: New Japan, we can still still see some incredible matches
Speaker 1: amongst the junior heavyweights in that division. So a lot,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot taking place, and I should
Speaker 1: mention this. I have to mention this. Ed in San
Speaker 1: Antonio his show taking place at the Silver Nugget directly
Speaker 1: after the finish of David Bryant's Q and A tomorrow
Speaker 1: gonna be around noon Pacific time, Miranda alas A, Christie James,
Speaker 1: Debbie Milenko against Billy Starks, Brittany Blake against Maddie Renkowski,
Speaker 1: Ali Catch will be there. Veta Scott will be there.
Speaker 1: A whole bunch of people will be there, and you
Speaker 1: should be there too if you're in Las Vegas. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned F for w Cohn on Twitter, the hashtag
Speaker 1: F for w CON twenty two, go ahead and use
Speaker 1: that as a as a run out of breath. Here
Speaker 1: the perfect time for this show too. And thank you
Speaker 1: to producer Jared, Thank you to producer Daniel. My name
Speaker 1: is Mike semperviv and I will talk to you again
Speaker 1: after a while. You have been listening to the Wrestling
Speaker 1: Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network