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who get it done. Welcome

3:05

to the P.W. Torch Dailycast

3:07

Monday Best of Edition where

3:09

we flashed back five years

3:11

to the P.W. Torch live

3:13

cast with Greg Parks and

3:15

Brandon the Claire, an episode

3:17

of Wrestling Night in America,

3:19

one week after. Wrestlemania five

3:21

years ago when the COVID-era,

3:23

they break down W.W.E.E.'s decision

3:25

to return to live tapings.

3:27

They also talked about Russimania

3:29

fallout from Ron Smackdown. Reducing

3:31

the number of world titles

3:33

that it recognizes, PWAI, pro,

3:35

single-strated, is a long history

3:37

of curating which titles they

3:39

consider world titles, and they

3:41

talked about that history, and

3:43

more. So let's get to

3:45

it. This is the PWA

3:47

George Dailycast Best of Edition

3:49

for Monday, April 14th, 2025,

3:51

jumping back to the April

3:53

12th, 2020 episode. If

4:02

it's Sunday, it's wrestling night in

4:05

America here on p.w. torch dailycast.com

4:07

Good Sunday evening I am for

4:09

wrestling torch columnist Greg Parks here

4:11

with you for Sunday April 12th

4:13

2020 and This is wrestling night

4:15

in America as we are Every

4:18

Sunday night we are here on

4:20

p.w. torch daily cast.com 8 p.m.

4:22

Eastern you can find us on

4:24

most Sunday nights. Of course, there's

4:26

a pay-perview as was the case

4:28

last weekend. You might have heard

4:31

of it, WrestleMania. We go on

4:33

the air right after that show

4:35

goes off the air, talking all

4:37

about your reaction, your feedback from

4:39

that paper view. If you want

4:41

to call and talk, 515-605-9-345 is

4:43

the number to call, if you

4:46

would like to send us an

4:48

email. W-N-I-A live cast@gmail.com and we've

4:50

got five emails in the hopper

4:52

right now. And to handle that

4:54

business with me tonight, making a

4:56

second appearance here on Wrestling Night

4:59

in America, it is pwtorch.com contributor

5:01

Brandon, Brandon, thanks for joining me

5:03

here once again on Wrestling Night

5:05

in America. Happy to be here

5:07

Greg. And Brandon we start out

5:09

with the big news of the

5:12

week and that is WWE continuing

5:14

their live events beginning tomorrow despite

5:16

the state of Florida being on

5:18

a 30 day lockdown basically starting

5:20

back on April 1st and despite

5:22

the concerns of many and there

5:24

have been a wide range of

5:27

reactions online as you can imagine

5:29

from people who support the decision

5:31

by W.W.E. a lot of derision

5:33

out there from the critics of

5:35

W.W.E. and Vince McMahon for making

5:37

this decision. Wording of the statement

5:40

WUE issued ESPN says, quote, we

5:42

believe it is now more important

5:44

than ever to provide people with

5:46

a diversion from these hard times.

5:48

We are producing content on a

5:50

closed set with only essential personnel

5:53

and attendance following appropriate guidelines while

5:55

taking additional precautions to ensure the

5:57

health and well. of our performers

5:59

and staff. As a brand that

6:01

has been woven into the fabric

6:03

of society, W.W.E. and its superstars,

6:05

bring families together, and deliver a

6:08

sense of hope determination and perseverance.

6:10

End quote. That is the statement

6:12

W.W.E. released to E.S.P.N. on their

6:14

decision to go forward with taping.

6:16

So they're going to go live.

6:18

They had enough in the can

6:21

before Wrestlemania to get through the

6:23

post-Russelmania week. but I believe starting

6:25

tomorrow night they'll be back with

6:27

live tapings which you know some

6:29

might say okay well what's the

6:31

difference if they do it live

6:34

and if they do it taped

6:36

well you know you're flying people

6:38

in more frequently you are endangering

6:40

them to the virus a lot

6:42

more frequently, if that's the case.

6:44

You know, there are a whole

6:46

lot of other dominoes that tend

6:49

to fall when you do live

6:51

taping spread. And so, just your

6:53

initial reaction to WWE not only

6:55

forging ahead with providing content for

6:57

Fox in the USA Network in

6:59

the, you know, under the SmackDown

7:02

and Raw Umbrellas, but doing so

7:04

live. What did you think of

7:06

that decision? Yeah,

7:08

so there's been a lot of

7:10

sort of conflicting information over the

7:12

last few days. I was curious,

7:14

coverings back down for the torch.

7:17

I started writing about the show

7:19

on Friday and noticing that there

7:21

was a different vibe to the

7:23

show. And very quickly, I was

7:25

kind of looking during commercials to

7:27

see, hey, was this shot, you

7:29

know, back when they shot WrestleMania?

7:31

Was it in the can that

7:33

that far? And it appeared as

7:35

though it wasn't. And I don't

7:37

think that Friday show was live,

7:39

but from the information that I

7:41

could gather, it may have been

7:43

taped sometime during the week. And

7:45

I thought that made sense because

7:47

the show felt markedly different. And

7:49

in actuality, I thought that it

7:51

came off as the best show,

7:53

the best TV show that WWE

7:55

had put on during this. era

7:57

of performance center shows. As far

8:00

as the idea of them continuing

8:02

to do this and actually going

8:04

alive again, I'm not a fan

8:06

of the idea. On one hand,

8:08

I think that it's going to

8:10

make for better content. But I

8:12

don't really think that content is

8:14

king here in this particular scenario

8:16

to use a phrase that's used

8:18

in that world very often. content

8:20

usually is king but right now

8:22

the king should be you know

8:24

keeping their talent healthy and setting

8:26

a good example for other other

8:28

sports leagues and also for fans

8:30

watching at home I think I've

8:32

seen on Twitter throughout the week

8:34

a lot of a lot of

8:36

backlash to this and one of

8:38

the big points that I think

8:40

people from the torch were raising

8:43

was just that not only does

8:45

this this set a bad precedent

8:47

and set a bad example and

8:49

put their own talent at risk

8:51

but It does send the wrong

8:53

message to the fans too. It

8:55

sends the message that, hey, if

8:57

WWE says it's fine to go

8:59

out and gather and produce these

9:01

shows, then why isn't the NBA

9:03

doing it? Why isn't the NHL

9:05

doing it? Why isn't the NHL

9:07

doing it? Why aren't other major

9:09

sports doing it? Why aren't we

9:11

able to do it? And I

9:13

don't think that that's the message

9:15

that they should be sending, whether

9:17

they're intending to do that or

9:19

not. Yeah, this doesn't surprise me.

9:21

I mean, it kind of falls

9:24

in line with what, and how

9:26

Vince McMahon has operated. You know,

9:28

I know there are people speculating

9:30

or suggesting WEE just shut down.

9:32

And because they have, Lord knows,

9:34

they have the tape library to

9:36

throw stuff on or on Smackdown

9:38

during this time period. And, you

9:40

know, that's just never been Vince

9:42

McMahon's MO. When he has seen

9:44

an opportunity for... his brand to

9:46

be in. I think that's how

9:48

he sees this. He sees this

9:50

as an opportunity for his brand

9:52

to be the last one left

9:54

standing. Really, you know, there's no

9:56

other sports leagues going on. right

9:58

now. Most entertainment genres have shut

10:00

down for the time being and

10:02

they've found a way and an

10:04

AEW has done this as well,

10:07

but they've found a way to

10:09

keep that train moving forward and

10:11

McMahon and you know if there

10:13

are any supporters of this idea

10:15

within WUE I'm sure their idea

10:17

is look we're going to be

10:19

the ones that are going to

10:21

be talked about. we're going to

10:23

be the ones that are viewed

10:25

because there's no other options out

10:27

there for sports and or entertainment.

10:29

We've seen that not to be

10:31

the case with the ratings. I

10:33

mean, the lack of competition from,

10:35

you know, this is the time

10:37

of year where the NBA games

10:39

start to matter more, and those

10:41

are constant competitions for WWE on

10:43

Monday and Friday nights. And even

10:45

without that competition, WWE is not

10:48

seen an uptick in the ratings.

10:50

In fact, fallen both were on

10:52

smackdown recently so you know I

10:54

understand that W.W.E. and Vince may

10:56

be concerned about their contracts with

10:58

Fox and USA that you know

11:00

there's a certain amount of live

11:02

programming they have to provide every

11:04

year and then there's the other

11:06

discussion of well would Fox and

11:08

USA really try to get out

11:10

of this deal based on not

11:12

going live during an epidemic and

11:14

then there's thought of well you

11:16

know a Fox doesn't like the

11:18

early returns that they've seen for

11:20

smackdown in terms of viewership numbers

11:22

they may use that as a

11:24

loophole to get out so W.

11:26

E and Vincent Man may be

11:28

clinging tight to that contract in

11:31

an effort to keep that money

11:33

rolling in so there are just

11:35

a lot of tentacles to the

11:37

this thing and one we haven't

11:39

even talked about yet is WWEE

11:41

did confirm that one on-air talent,

11:43

no name has been released, but

11:45

it's tested positive for COVID-19. There

11:47

were claims that they had no

11:49

interaction with wrestlers during that time

11:51

period that they were positive. So,

11:53

you know, the thought was all

11:55

it takes is one wrestler to

11:57

test positive and they basically got

11:59

to shut the whole thing down.

12:01

They had an on-air talent apparently.

12:03

that did test positive though was

12:05

not enough to get things shut

12:07

down but I mean what's the

12:09

risk here Brandon I know you're

12:12

not a doctor or medical personnel

12:14

as far as I know or

12:16

anything like this but you know

12:18

the risk WEE is taking by

12:20

putting their shows out there and

12:22

you know if one wrestler gets

12:24

this virus I mean how do

12:26

they... Is that an automatic shutdown

12:28

in your mind? Or are they

12:30

going to be able to say,

12:32

no, he's only in contact with

12:34

these people, we can keep going

12:36

with this other side of the

12:38

roster? If you work in quality

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Granger, for the ones who get

16:06

it done. Well, I think you're

16:08

sort of seeing Vince play the

16:10

mental gymnastics that he needs to

16:12

in order to justify this already.

16:14

So, yeah, I think your second

16:16

option there is likely the strategy

16:18

that Vince would take if faced

16:20

with... That situation is the name

16:22

of the person who was infected

16:24

actually got out and we found

16:26

out that he was in fact

16:28

taking part in recent shows. I

16:30

know that there was talk that

16:32

the Ms. was showing symptoms and

16:34

that was the reason that he

16:36

was pulled from the WrestleMania card,

16:38

though he appeared on Smackdown this

16:41

week just fine, claiming it was

16:43

an injury. So of course we

16:45

don't know what actually happened there.

16:47

Perhaps he was just feeling under

16:49

the weather and tested negative. We

16:51

don't have that information as far

16:53

as I know. So yeah, I

16:55

think I think Vince would probably

16:57

just bulldoze ahead with the thought

16:59

that, you know, the exposure was

17:01

limited. We know who that wrestler

17:03

came in contact with and were

17:05

able to mitigate the situation. I

17:07

don't know that short of Fox

17:09

or USA. for the sake of

17:11

their reputation in the sense of

17:13

airing this product that could be

17:15

viewed as irresponsible and reckless right

17:17

now, short of them saying we

17:19

don't want live content right now,

17:21

I don't know that there's anything

17:23

that will stop Vince from trucking

17:26

on. Yeah, and that's exactly what

17:28

happened with the UFC and Dana

17:30

White had purchased this island that

17:32

he was going to Have these

17:34

fights on and finally Disney stepped

17:36

in and said no, that's not

17:38

going to happen So I think

17:40

you're right short of and I'm

17:42

sure Vince didn't go to Fox

17:44

and say hey You know, I

17:46

know we have this caveat in

17:48

our deal where we can only

17:50

have three tapes here, but you

17:52

know Can we work something out

17:54

to where we can? I'm sure

17:56

he did not go to Fox

17:58

and do that. I'm sure he

18:00

kind of stuck his fingers in

18:02

his ears and say, you know,

18:04

we're just going to plow ahead

18:06

and do what we need to

18:08

do. So yeah, that's that's the

18:11

topic. Sure. Sort of the idea.

18:13

Yeah, it's sort of the idea

18:15

that he doesn't want to acknowledge

18:17

the exemplary circumstance. In other words,

18:19

he views the contract as the

18:21

contract is and doesn't. you know

18:23

if he if he doesn't ask

18:25

for permission then he doesn't feel

18:27

the need to actually go through

18:29

with it so i mean it's

18:31

it's it's it's it's not something

18:33

if you're if you're a long-time

18:35

viewer of the every we and

18:37

and a long-time student of the

18:39

way that Vince McMahon runs his

18:41

company this isn't surprising no not

18:43

at all and in fact i'm

18:45

surprised at the number of people

18:47

who are surprised by this honestly

18:49

You know, the number of people

18:51

who have followed this business and

18:54

have followed W.W.E. and Vince McMahon

18:56

for 20, 30 years and people

18:58

are kind of, you know, taken

19:00

a back by this and I'm

19:02

thinking, well, what did you expect?

19:04

You know, the breadcrumbs are all

19:06

there in terms of Vince's career

19:08

and what he's done and things

19:10

like that and the decisions he's

19:12

made. So, yeah, that's not surprising.

19:14

Let's take a bit of a

19:16

left turn here. WrestleMania fallout. We

19:18

continue or about a week removed

19:20

from Wrestlemania as we sit here

19:22

tonight. Still a lot of discussion

19:24

about some of the things, the

19:26

decisions made, booking decisions, and some

19:28

of the matches that took place

19:30

at WrestleMania. I want to go

19:32

to an email that I got

19:34

before we go to the phones.

19:36

and this is from louis from

19:39

new jersey he sent this uh...

19:41

last week and and i didn't

19:43

get to it because he actually

19:45

sent to my personal email which

19:47

uh... you know it's great i

19:49

don't mind questions being sent there

19:51

but i would prefer if there

19:53

are questions for wrestling night in

19:55

america remember wnia live cast@gmail.com is

19:57

where you want to send them

19:59

i can get to him in

20:01

a more timely fashion that way

20:03

so i was going through the

20:05

emails uh... on that Gmail account

20:07

during the show and of course

20:09

I missed this one because this

20:11

was sent during the show to

20:13

or after the before the show

20:15

to my my personal account. So

20:17

this is a question from Louise.

20:19

He says very simply it came

20:21

off like Ria was giving it

20:24

100% while Charlotte was phoning it

20:26

in. What were your thoughts? Watching

20:28

Charlotte flare versus Ria Ripley did

20:30

you get that sense that that

20:32

Ria had it kind of turned

20:34

up a little bit but Charlotte

20:36

wasn't giving that effort? No, for

20:38

the most part, if there's one

20:40

thing that I can't criticize WrestleMania

20:42

for, I think there's a lot

20:44

to criticize about those shows, it

20:46

was the level of effort from

20:48

from all the talent. I thought

20:50

everybody kind of put their best

20:52

foot forward and that includes Charlotte

20:54

who I do often think kind

20:56

of flies under the radar for

20:58

kind of... kind of working a

21:00

little low-key, so to speak. I

21:02

often find that she doesn't seem

21:04

all that motivated. And I don't

21:07

necessarily always blame that on her

21:09

because the last eight to ten

21:11

months of her booking has just

21:13

been really, really poor. But no,

21:15

I thought it was a solid

21:17

match. I thought it was one

21:19

of the better matches on night

21:21

two. I did think it was

21:23

a little long, especially being the

21:25

opener. But no, I thought both

21:27

women worked hard. Yeah, I agree.

21:29

I didn't get that sense at

21:31

all from from that match that

21:33

that Charlotte was dogging it in

21:35

any way And you know, again,

21:37

I agree with you that I

21:39

thought it was one of the

21:41

stronger matches of night two You

21:43

know, this was a big step

21:45

up in competition for Rippley to

21:47

not only be have one of

21:49

her first main roster matches, but

21:52

to have it against someone like

21:54

Charlotte Flair who is One of

21:56

the top dogs of the women's

21:58

division in W.W.E. So, you know,

22:00

a lot of pressure on Rhea

22:02

and if Charlotte really wanted to...

22:04

make Ria look bad or whatever

22:06

the reason that Louise felt that

22:08

Charlotte wasn't giving it at all,

22:10

she could have really done it

22:12

in a lot more obvious fashion

22:14

than putting on a three and

22:16

a half four star match with

22:18

Ria in my opinion as to

22:20

what it was. So yeah I'm

22:22

with you there I thought it

22:24

was a strong match I didn't

22:26

get that sense at all either.

22:28

Really impressed with and to be

22:30

honest you know both there there's

22:32

some Similarities to Ria's situation in

22:34

her match with Charlotte and Shana

22:37

Baseler with Becky Lynch and you

22:39

know it was a big Statement

22:41

match for both of these women

22:43

in their first big singles matches

22:45

on the main roster first WrestleMania's

22:47

I thought both there were different

22:49

matches for sure, but I thought

22:51

both came out ahead and I

22:53

think both Have some positive and

22:55

I'm going to use this word

22:57

but they've got some positive momentum

22:59

building in their favor as far

23:01

as how they're viewed probably within

23:03

W.W.E. and by the fan base.

23:05

So, you know, that's one of

23:07

the positives, I think, to take

23:09

out of the two nights of

23:11

WrestleMania. We'll go to the phones

23:13

here, 515-605-9-3-4, and we start with

23:15

Ryan from Cumberland, Maryland. Ryan, you

23:17

are on Wrestling Night in America.

23:19

What's your first question for us

23:22

tonight? How

23:24

in W.C.W. there was a graveyard

23:26

match and I know Jeremy Bordash

23:28

used to work for W.C.W. So

23:30

is there any correlation with that?

23:32

Yeah, maybe. You know, I think,

23:34

you know, you're talking Borash's involvement

23:37

would have been more heavy toward

23:39

the latter days of W.C.W. when

23:41

they didn't really get much right,

23:43

I would say, but... For the

23:45

most part, I think the consensus

23:47

seems to be that the graveyard

23:49

match was pretty well done and

23:52

I think the credit has gone

23:54

to the... XT Department for handling

23:56

that. And I would believe that

23:58

Borash would be involved in that

24:00

grouping. So, you know, it wouldn't

24:02

surprise me if he had something

24:05

to do with it. But yeah,

24:07

I don't know. Brandon, what was

24:09

your impression of the graveyard match

24:11

at WrestleMania? I thought it was

24:13

really well done. It's not typically

24:15

my vision for wrestling and I...

24:17

I struggled with it in ways

24:20

because I was still adjusting to

24:22

the being Russell Media and this

24:24

being the main event of Night

24:26

One. In hindsight, I think I

24:28

like it a little better than

24:30

I actually did as it was

24:33

playing out, but I do think

24:35

it was probably the best use

24:37

of the undertaker at this stage

24:39

of his career and under these

24:41

circumstances. AJ Stiles, I think AJ

24:43

Stiles would have been a great

24:45

actual opponent for taker in the

24:48

ring. just because of the movement

24:50

he can create and in the

24:52

days since we've heard how much

24:54

respect taker has for styles uh...

24:56

saying you know he could get

24:58

a four-star match out of a

25:01

brand what he was quoted as

25:03

saying sometime this week so uh...

25:05

it's obvious that taker has a

25:07

ton of respect for styles and

25:09

i think that styles could have

25:11

gotten a really good actual match

25:13

out of him but that would

25:16

have been in in the confines

25:18

of an actual show with with

25:20

fans in the arena i don't

25:22

think that you want to put

25:24

taker ring with no bells and

25:26

whistles on a you know a

25:29

fanless show in the performance center

25:31

so i understand why they did

25:33

what they did and and inside

25:35

i like it better than then

25:37

how it came off originally but

25:39

i could tell right from the

25:41

get-go even if i wasn't totally

25:44

into it myself you know how

25:46

much work went into it and

25:48

also just the manpower that it

25:50

likely took with a small crew

25:52

to pull something like that off

25:54

on relatively short notice. And I

25:57

think it was... Just seeing some

25:59

tweets here and there, some congratulatory

26:01

tweets throughout the week, I think

26:03

it was just primarily that NxT

26:05

crew, a pretty small crew, I

26:07

saw some names pulled out in

26:09

particular. I don't know how high

26:12

it went up in NxT, if

26:14

Triple H was involved in any

26:16

way, or if Borash was even

26:18

in that department, but it seemed

26:20

like it was a pretty tight-knit

26:22

crew that put it together and

26:25

not really a lot of names

26:27

that we recognized. Yeah. For

26:29

the ones who get it done, the

26:31

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28:01

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28:03

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28:09

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28:11

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See you in the Paradise. For

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the most important part is the

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best partner is the one who

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29:18

because we have professional great supplies

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day pickup and next day delivery

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on most orders. But most importantly,

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29:33

Call, clickgranger.com or just stop by.

29:35

Granger for the ones who get

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stop. by Granger for the ones

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Company, S-S-I, and it's operating company,

30:38

6,000 American Parkway, Madison, Wisconsin. Yeah,

30:40

second question, would it surprise you

30:42

if this man attempted to buy

30:44

an island like, you know, away

30:46

from doing, up to that odd.

30:49

You know, that would be the

30:51

next step in the super villainification

30:53

of Vince McMahon, would be to

30:55

buy an island. I think he's

30:57

got just about every other space

30:59

on that super villain bingo card

31:01

covered. I don't know how much

31:03

it costs to buy a small

31:05

island, so it's hard to say,

31:07

but you know, the fact that

31:10

WUE is going ahead basically defying

31:12

orders or maybe they've got some

31:14

under the table permission from the

31:16

state of Florida or from, you

31:18

know, whatever county, Hillsborough County or

31:20

whatever County Tampa is in, or

31:22

Orlando where they're running the performance

31:24

center. You know, maybe they've got

31:26

permission from that county to run

31:28

it, I don't know. But as

31:31

long as they're still able to

31:33

run shows, you know, Dana White

31:35

bought the island because no one

31:37

would let him run shows. You

31:39

know, he still wanted to run

31:41

him and Vince is still able

31:43

to run them. So, Brad, I

31:45

don't see that happening yet. Maybe

31:47

one day. Maybe one day. Yeah,

31:51

when I saw the news that

31:53

Data White was purchasing an island,

31:55

my first thought was that Vince

31:57

was going to be upset and

32:00

he beat him to it. that

32:02

he beat him for that idea.

32:04

But I think overall you're right.

32:06

Right now there's no reason to

32:09

do it, but if Florida says

32:11

no more, don't put it past

32:13

him. Yep. And Ryan your third

32:16

question for us. Yeah, third question

32:18

with the dark side of the

32:20

ring featuring the bra forl. If

32:22

that was on the main roster

32:25

he would you see winning now

32:27

in 2020? You know, I did

32:29

a column and I don't know

32:31

how long ago, maybe a year

32:34

ago, in the Torch newsletter where

32:36

I looked at a potential modern

32:38

day brawl for all. So if

32:41

you are, that's going to be

32:43

my hook. If you are not

32:45

a subscriber to the torch and

32:47

you want my answer on that,

32:50

go via P-W-torch-v-I-P-I-P-N-4.com, go back in

32:52

the archives, find my brawl for

32:54

all article, and maybe I'll even

32:56

pull it up and give you

32:59

the date here while we're on

33:01

the air so that you can

33:03

find it a little easier. But

33:05

I did do a modern day

33:08

brawl for all potential lineup, and

33:10

I'm going to stick to that.

33:12

Brandon, what do you think? Modern,

33:15

date, brawl, for all, amongst WWEs,

33:17

roster, who takes it? I don't

33:19

have anything to add here. It's

33:21

been, I didn't, I haven't seen

33:24

the Dark's, that Dark's Side of

33:26

the Ring episode yet. I actually,

33:28

I would like to, I've only

33:30

seen the Benoit episode this year,

33:33

just up for this season so

33:35

far, which I thought was, was,

33:37

I mean, incredibly fascinating, also, you

33:40

know, obviously, very, very, very heartbreaking,

33:42

I do plan to check it

33:44

out for sure. So I'm abstaining

33:46

from the folk. Oh, well you've

33:49

disappointed Ryan. He gets no answer

33:51

from this unless he's able to

33:53

go back in the archives of

33:55

the Torch newsletter. So Ryan, nevertheless,

33:58

thank you for the phone call

34:00

this week and look forward to

34:02

hearing from you again soon. because

34:04

that would be cheating because he

34:07

is an XD. Well I may

34:09

have included an XD. I'd have

34:11

to go back and look and

34:14

see exactly how I did it.

34:16

So I'll try to do that

34:18

again before this show is over

34:20

and get somebody at least a

34:23

date or a newsletter number of

34:25

the issue that you can find

34:27

that in. So anyway Ryan thank

34:29

you again for the call. Speaking

34:32

of NxT, Brandon, some big NxT

34:34

news happening on Wednesday night, it

34:36

was two major matches that were

34:39

scheduled for the pre-Russelmania takeover show,

34:41

with that being canceled, they... opted

34:43

instead to stretch out those matches

34:45

over several weeks of NxT television

34:48

and we got two of the

34:50

biggest matches this past Wednesday night

34:52

or Eo Shirei, won the latter

34:54

match to determine the number one

34:57

contender to the NxT women's title

34:59

currently held by Charlotte Flair and

35:01

Johnny Gargano defeating Tamas Champa with

35:03

an assist from Candis Larre. So,

35:06

you know, Brandon... Tell

35:08

me, let's talk about Eosharai first.

35:10

Eosharai, Charlotte Flair, is this going

35:12

to be heel-on-heel match, do you

35:14

think? Or, you know, is this

35:16

going to be another Charlotte Flair

35:18

baby-faced turn? Are they going to

35:20

be able to make her baby

35:23

face in NXT, when she's sort

35:25

of the outsider who's coming in

35:27

and invading, I mean, do you

35:29

think they do a heel-on-heel match

35:31

here? I don't know if... See,

35:33

here's the thing. If it were,

35:35

if it were main roster, you

35:37

could pretty much just assume that

35:39

they're going to throw the match

35:41

out there and Charlotte is going

35:43

to be who she is, be

35:45

that full-on heel or somewhere in

35:47

between. Because if you think about

35:49

it, Charlotte never really officially turns

35:51

heel again. She just sort of

35:54

is. And that's sort of what

35:56

I was alluding to early. when

35:58

I talked about Charlotte's shortcomings over

36:00

the last 10 months or so,

36:02

much of that is due to

36:04

her booking. And I think that

36:06

of all the women, and you

36:08

could point to a lot of

36:10

women on the roster, have been

36:12

handled very poorly over the last

36:14

year, but I think Charlotte ranks

36:16

near the top of that list.

36:18

And that's not to say that

36:20

she's not treated well in the

36:22

sense that she's always on the

36:24

show, she's always booked, she's usually

36:27

booked a win. It's that... We

36:29

still don't really have a grasp

36:31

of who the Charlotte character is.

36:33

We've never really had a grasp

36:35

of who the Charlotte character is.

36:37

And I mean, her rate of

36:39

turn at this point is going

36:41

to put her in big show

36:43

territory before too long. And that's

36:45

really unfortunate for someone that talented

36:47

and for someone who is that

36:49

representative and put at the forefront

36:51

of the women's division the way

36:53

that she is. She's sort of

36:55

a heel. and and i guess

36:57

that's kind of the character that

37:00

she's been playing an nx t

37:02

just de facto because of the

37:04

character that rea ripply plays against

37:06

the oshirai who's who's definitely a

37:08

much clearer heel i don't know

37:10

if they try to transition Charlotte

37:12

into just being the arrogant champion

37:14

who isn't necessarily talking down to

37:16

the rest of the roster and

37:18

talking down to the fans but

37:20

rather is focusing sort of her

37:22

vitriol and her her her shots

37:24

specifically at the oshurai that may

37:26

be the route to go and

37:28

that may be the route that

37:30

that you know someone like triple

37:33

H takes or they could pull

37:35

on Turner again which I just

37:37

don't I just don't think is

37:39

the right move I think You

37:41

got to pick a direction for

37:43

Charlotte and stick with it for

37:45

a year or two at least.

37:47

I guess I wave her on

37:49

the side of them just kind

37:51

of keeping her in the in

37:53

the general field that she's been

37:55

in for the last couple of

37:57

months. But it also I think

37:59

that also changes if you hold

38:01

off this match for the next

38:04

the next couple of months and

38:06

wait until they're potentially in front

38:08

of audiences Because I think an

38:10

Nx T audience is going to

38:12

naturally gravitate toward the ocean ride

38:14

Despite her being looked like a

38:16

heel. They've already really liked her

38:18

sort of you know the sort

38:20

of dark badass character. So I

38:22

think it I think it depends

38:24

on a number of circumstances What

38:27

do you think of the decision to go

38:29

with Sharai here? There were other women in

38:31

that match who, you know, would have been

38:33

really good choices to face Charlotte Flau. The

38:35

NxT women's division is very deep. Is there

38:38

someone right now? I think we can both

38:40

agree that E.O. Sharai is talented and deserves

38:42

an NxT title shot. You know, I don't

38:44

think there's any arguing with that, but is

38:46

there anyone who you think maybe is hotter

38:49

than her right now and should have gotten

38:51

that spot or, you know, do you quibble

38:53

with the decision to go with Sharai here

38:55

or do you think that was the right

38:57

choice? No,

38:59

I think it was the right choice

39:02

for right now. I think that they've

39:04

got other they've got other they've got

39:06

other women waiting in the wings. I

39:09

think, you know, Dakota Kai is sort

39:11

of working her way into a viable

39:13

position to be a title challenger. And

39:16

my initial thought would have been Candace

39:18

L'ray. I think an undersized Candace L'R

39:20

against a fully heel shark. It could

39:23

be a really, really good story to

39:25

tell, but of course they had other

39:27

plans for Candace later on the night.

39:30

So yeah. Thanks for downloading today's show.

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40:11

Yeah, I like the choice of

40:13

Yocharai. It's a little unconventional, but

40:15

she's been doing great work. And,

40:17

you know, since the heel turn,

40:19

she's managed to keep her head

40:21

above water without being in the

40:23

title hunt lately, which is very

40:25

tough to do in NXT, especially

40:27

in the women's division when there's

40:30

so much focus on the... Women's

40:32

title is kind of like the

40:34

main roster. There's so much focus

40:36

on the women's title and there's

40:38

not always a lot of undercard

40:40

stuff. There is here and there.

40:42

You know, they did the Dakota

40:44

Kitegan Knox thing. They've done some

40:46

other things with the women there.

40:48

But if you don't really have

40:50

a strong program, it's tough to...

40:52

still stay hot, especially with the

40:54

two hours of weekly TV they

40:56

have, and that's it. And Eosharai

40:59

has done that. You know, she

41:01

hasn't lost any of that M

41:03

word that I'm not going to

41:05

say, because WWE uses it too

41:07

much, and I don't want to

41:09

use it too much, but she

41:11

hasn't lost much of that in

41:13

this run. So, yeah, I think

41:15

that that's an interesting choice. I'm

41:17

interested to see where they go

41:19

with it. Johnny Gargano, helping him

41:21

out of the arena. A couple

41:23

things here. This match was shot

41:25

in a similar fashion to the

41:28

boneyard match in the Firefly Fun

41:30

House match in that it had

41:32

a cinematic feel. You know, you

41:34

had the cuts, you had the

41:36

edits, you had things like that

41:38

to it. Where does this match

41:40

in your mind stack up with

41:42

those other two Wrestlemania matches that

41:44

were shot in a similar way?

41:46

They're also drastically different. I mean,

41:48

obviously, Gargano and Champlace. Was presented

41:50

more more as an actual fight

41:52

more as a closer to a

41:54

wrestling match than any of the

41:57

other than the other two I

41:59

think that it In terms of

42:01

in terms of presentation, I thought

42:03

it was more or less on

42:05

par with the other two and

42:07

we can, you know, we can

42:09

also get into the the Firefly

42:11

Fun House match, which I think

42:13

if given, if given the choice

42:15

between the three, I think I

42:17

would vote as my favorite, but

42:19

I also understand why it's as

42:21

divisive as it is. Gargano and

42:23

Champa felt, it felt like a

42:26

proper, I don't want to say

42:28

a, It felt like a proper

42:30

close to their story under the

42:32

current circumstances. I'm a little disappointed

42:34

that they didn't get their big

42:36

official blow-off match in front of

42:38

a crowd. I think it could

42:40

have been really special. I think

42:42

both of those guys deserve it.

42:44

I've made the case to wait

42:46

before on the post shows that

42:48

I think that when we look

42:50

back at Johnny Gargano versus Tomasso-Champa,

42:52

it's going to be one of

42:55

the best... feuds under the W.W.E.

42:57

umbrella, main roster or N.X.T. of

42:59

the last 10 years and maybe

43:01

more. I think that that feud

43:03

and the way that it's been

43:05

woven throughout both of their careers

43:07

for the last three years in

43:09

and out, W.W.E. just doesn't tell

43:11

those stories very often. And for

43:13

them to have told this one

43:15

as successfully as they did, I'm

43:17

not saying every step or every

43:19

chapter was was a home run.

43:21

But overall, I think it's hard

43:24

to compete with the level of

43:26

storytelling that those two have had

43:28

over the last three years. So

43:30

I felt a little bit of

43:32

disappointment watching them go through this

43:34

match and do it with no

43:36

fans there and do it the

43:38

way that it had to be

43:40

done. Very similar to the disappointment

43:42

I felt watching Russell Maybe. Just

43:44

kind of a natural reaction to,

43:46

you're watching these guys have these...

43:48

what are supposed to be huge

43:50

matches and they just don't feel

43:53

huge because of the circumstances. So

43:55

I wish that... uh... they maybe

43:57

put up had put a pause

43:59

on it and held it held

44:01

it off until they were in

44:03

front of a live audience again

44:05

but i get it there we

44:07

don't know when that's going to

44:09

be and we you know that

44:11

the storyline wise they had to

44:13

move on so i get why

44:15

they did it i liked it

44:17

for what it was i thought

44:19

it was a fitting conclusion given

44:22

the circumstances and i i i i

44:24

thought overall it it held up to

44:26

the other two Yeah, and I

44:28

think one of the main complaints

44:30

about the Firefly Funhouse match and

44:32

the Bonyard matches, they weren't, more

44:34

so the Firefly Funhouse match, they

44:36

weren't matches. They weren't fights, they

44:38

were many movies, and I think

44:41

you're right that Gargano versus Chapa

44:43

could have... that was a fight, you

44:45

know, and I think it was

44:47

smart that they did it a

44:49

different way because we had just

44:51

saw Edge versus Randy Orton at

44:53

WrestleMania which was fought in a

44:55

similar fashion similar sort of blood

44:57

feud that you know went all

44:59

over the place and and that

45:01

was not all that well received.

45:03

So at least this was something

45:06

different but the same. I guess

45:08

that's what I'm saying. They presented

45:10

the same idea, the same concept

45:12

of a, you know, last man

45:14

standing type of match where they brawl

45:16

all over the place, but having shot

45:18

it cinematically, at least it was presented

45:20

in a different manner. And to some

45:23

people, maybe that doesn't matter. You know,

45:25

to some people, it's still too similar,

45:27

but... I think that was the one

45:29

thing that's had going for it,

45:31

is that it was a match

45:33

and that it was, and really,

45:35

you know, without a crowd, you

45:37

can experiment with that kind of

45:39

stuff. You know, that's not the

45:41

kind of match they may have

45:43

done in front of a live

45:45

crowd. So that's another thing to

45:47

think about. The very end when

45:49

Candace Luray and Johnny Gargano were

45:52

walking out, we saw if you stopped your

45:54

TV and paused it. You could see

45:56

Killer Cross and Scarlet Bordeaux or what would

45:58

appear to be those two... in a

46:00

car in the background. We

46:03

saw what appeared to be

46:05

Killer Cross interrupting AAA segment

46:07

with Gargano and Champa a

46:09

couple weeks ago. There was

46:12

really no follow-up done to

46:14

that. What part does Killer

46:16

Cross play in the immediate

46:19

future for either Champa or

46:21

Gargano? I guess it depends on

46:23

what role they want him in.

46:25

If he's coming in as a

46:27

heel, then... I would imagine he

46:29

goes for Champa and if he's

46:31

coming into the baby face, then

46:33

I guess he gets Gargano. But

46:35

it seems clear that that's the

46:38

first program for him one way

46:40

or another. It's just a matter

46:42

of what his designation is. I

46:44

thought that the promo that interrupted

46:46

the triple H segment with Champa

46:48

and Gargano had him coming off

46:50

much more like he alike. So that

46:52

would say to me. uh... that that champa

46:54

is is the way that he's gonna go

46:56

but uh... but who knows yeah as a

46:58

character and i i was

47:00

really impressed with his run in impact

47:03

wrestling i mean he's He exudes heel,

47:05

you know, so I'm hoping to see

47:07

him come in. I'm hoping to see

47:09

him, you know, potentially shoot right to

47:12

the top and face a Tamasa Tampa

47:14

and then have Gargana move on to

47:16

someone else. So there's some real potential

47:19

there, I think, for that. I want

47:21

to go to the emails again before

47:23

we move back to the calls and

47:26

this one is from Scott. He says,

47:28

even Greg, now that WWE is starting

47:30

qualifying matches for money in the bank,

47:32

I'm giving you my choices for both

47:35

men's and women's matches. For the ladies,

47:37

Sasha Banks with Bailey Champion, it will

47:39

be a fun ride doing Sasha Stabs

47:41

Bailey in the back and takes the

47:44

title. For the men, it's AJ Stiles.

47:46

I don't think AJ has won the

47:48

briefcase before plus. After getting buried alive

47:50

by Undertaker, he needs a fresh start.

47:53

What do you think? Thank you, thank

47:55

you. Thank I think the idea of

47:57

Sasha winning is a stronger idea than

48:00

A.J. winning or the stronger potential to

48:02

happen. I think it would be, I

48:04

think it's, it's a nice, it would

48:06

be a nice way to rehabilitate A.J.

48:08

Styles to have him win the Money

48:11

in the Bank Championship. I think that

48:13

would be, I wouldn't be against that.

48:15

But yeah, you know, the T's started

48:17

with Sasha and Bailey at Wrestleania. And

48:20

now, you know, it could be full-fledged

48:22

a month from now at Money in

48:24

the Bank. But for the men's side,

48:26

I mean, it truly is really wide

48:29

open, I think. I don't have a

48:31

really good feel. And granted, we're a

48:33

month away from the paper view, but

48:35

I don't really have a really good

48:38

feel for who might win it. I

48:40

mean, there are tons of guys who

48:42

you could make a very good case

48:44

for winning that brief case. Brandon, do

48:47

you have any kind of six

48:49

cents right now as we're sitting

48:51

here on April 12th? win it

48:53

or in lieu of that who

48:55

you think should win for the

48:57

men's side? Who I think

48:59

and who I want would

49:01

be Alistair Black. I think

49:04

that Alistair Black has been

49:06

a featured player on main

49:08

roster TV for the last

49:10

several weeks. He's sort of

49:13

been my personal NVP in

49:15

these performance center shows because

49:17

He has the type of

49:20

offense that can come off

49:22

well with no audience present

49:24

because he's just so crisp

49:27

and so clean and his

49:29

kicks and his offense are

49:31

unique and they're able to

49:33

sound real, look real, feel

49:36

real. So I think Black has

49:38

been a huge, huge upside

49:40

to these shows. I think that

49:42

they got him on the WrestleMania

49:44

card for a reason. That match

49:46

with Bobby Lashley really had no

49:48

reason to happen other than to

49:50

get Black on the show and

49:52

get him a win. He's been

49:55

featured weekly at this point. I think

49:57

Black is the way to go and I think

49:59

you tell the... story of him earning wins

50:01

and defeating bigger challenges

50:03

and then eventually taking

50:05

on you know whoever the champion may

50:08

be at that point I assume Drew

50:10

McIntyre is is going to be a

50:12

long-term champion I hope are I don't

50:14

necessarily see the same for Braun Stroman

50:16

but either way I think Alice are

50:18

black working his way up the roster

50:21

with the potential of facing one of

50:23

these two giants is a really good

50:25

story to tell and you just tell

50:27

the story that hey it doesn't matter

50:29

how big you are that black mass

50:31

will talk you out for a shot.

50:34

So I think that is that's a

50:36

really cool story that they can tell

50:38

and well to be in that position

50:40

right now. That's sort of my pick if

50:43

they go with the up and comer

50:45

but if they're looking for because

50:47

you know money in the bank

50:49

usually goes one of. You either

50:51

put it on that up in

50:53

Comer Guy or you get it

50:55

on an established talent who either

50:57

had the briefcase before or had

50:59

the title before as a means

51:02

of transitioning the title to that

51:04

guy and perhaps just to get on

51:06

to another guy. With that idea in

51:08

mind, I could see something like, man,

51:10

I could even see like, I

51:13

don't even want to speak it

51:15

into existence, but I could see

51:17

something like Randy Morton. Orton, it

51:20

feels like Orton is always lingering

51:22

around the briefcase. Shamis is a

51:24

possibility. They reintroduced him on TV

51:26

this week, and it seems like

51:29

they want to get him back

51:31

up and running in a more

51:33

prominent position. So I would think

51:35

that Shamis is certainly a

51:37

possibility. Other than that, I don't

51:40

know if there's many guys that

51:42

stand out right now, especially knowing

51:44

that. We're working with somewhat of a

51:46

limited roster going forward because we haven't

51:48

been seeing the full roster. So I

51:50

guess you have to also throw in

51:52

maybe like Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens in

51:54

there, but they don't really seem like

51:57

they're hot enough to put the briefcase

51:59

on. searching

52:02

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52:06

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52:31

at P.W. Boom. Yeah,

52:34

Shamus is an interesting guy to me

52:36

because I think it was Pat McNeil

52:39

who brought it up on the WrestleMania

52:41

preview show here on Wrestling Night America

52:43

that Shamus would be a potential contender

52:45

before they had officially announced Braun Stroman

52:48

to face Goldberg or WrestleMania. Shamus would

52:50

have been a contender for that spot.

52:52

And I was thinking, you know, the

52:55

way they had built him up on

52:57

Smackdown, returning, getting some wins over Shortie

52:59

Gable, and just looking dominant, you

53:01

know, if you want to continue to...

53:04

have him shoot up the card as

53:06

he comes back and makes his return.

53:08

I mean that's one way to do

53:11

it. So I would continue to think

53:13

along that train of thought with

53:15

him as a money in the

53:17

bank contender. He'd seem fresh because

53:19

he's been out of action for

53:22

so long. So yeah, a lot of

53:24

guys who could potentially win the money

53:26

in the bank letter match for the

53:29

men. My

53:31

primary concern with someone like Shamus

53:34

is just that I every time

53:36

I'm actually I'm actually a pretty

53:38

big fan of Shamus and his

53:40

work, but it seems like every

53:43

time he winds up in a

53:45

main event position it goes really

53:47

poorly. Yeah. He seems like a

53:49

guy who is well suited in the

53:51

midcard to upper midcard or even

53:53

in the tag division with a

53:55

guy like Cizarro. I love that team.

53:58

I thought that Shamus would good

54:00

when he was about at

54:02

the United States intercontinental level

54:04

and every single time they've

54:06

they've leaped frog him into

54:08

the main event it's felt unnatural

54:10

and forced and it never failed

54:13

he winds up falling back down the

54:15

car. Yeah yeah I mean we'll have to

54:17

see you know he earned a lot of

54:19

praise for his work in that tag team

54:21

with Cicero that might make WWE we want to

54:23

take another look at him at the top of

54:25

the card and right now to be honest smackdown

54:27

and you know from covering the show i mean

54:29

their top of the card is not Very heavy,

54:31

you know, they're not a top heavy

54:33

show Especially if Roman Reigns is going

54:35

to continue to be out for for

54:37

a while and you know That leaves

54:39

another big hole at the top of

54:41

the card. So they could see Shamest

54:44

and they could say you know He's

54:46

had experience as a main eventer we

54:48

can trust him He seems like a

54:50

fresh face right now because a he's

54:52

been away from the main events for

54:54

so long and b he's been out

54:56

with injury for so long They may

54:58

decide to take a chance on up

55:00

so Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like I said,

55:02

the field is pretty wide open.

55:04

The field is pretty wide

55:06

open. The field is pretty wide

55:09

open and we sit here right

55:11

now, but we'll have to see.

55:13

Back to the phones now, the

55:16

1011 area code, I believe.

55:18

This is Craig from Toledo.

55:20

Craig, is that you? Yes, sir it

55:22

is. How are you, Greg and

55:24

Brandon? Doing well. What's

55:26

on your mind tonight? APW

55:29

has been shut down for,

55:31

you know, longer than us

55:33

in America have. And they've

55:35

been really active in

55:38

putting together some stuff for

55:40

like they've had Kevin Kelly

55:42

dubbing English commentary over older

55:45

stuff. And I think that's

55:47

really cool. But one of

55:49

the coolest things is all

55:52

the pictures they keep putting

55:54

up of the LIGA all

55:57

together with all their titles

55:59

and so... Sonata is sitting on

56:01

the side with nothing. And

56:03

I'm wondering if this is the

56:06

time, because they've been teasing

56:08

like little breakups for the

56:10

last few years. Is this

56:12

the time? Sonata is just

56:15

like, I'm out. Yeah, and I think,

56:17

look, I like Sonata more than

56:19

I think some people do. He's

56:22

really impressed me any time. He's

56:24

had major singles matches. I think

56:26

he's come through. very strongly. You

56:28

know, the question kind has always

56:31

been personally, can he break through

56:33

as a personality, you know, and

56:35

really... show that charismatic side to

56:38

the point where he's a top

56:40

guy. And can he do it?

56:42

Can he do the in-ring stuff

56:45

consistently as a top guy? Because

56:47

if you watch Hokata, if you

56:49

watch Tanahashi, you know, they were consistent

56:51

as all get out in their major

56:53

matches. Not so much in the tag

56:56

matches, but you know, in the major

56:58

matches they were asked to do. And

57:00

I think there's some question about Sinata

57:02

as far as that goes as well.

57:04

So yeah, I'm an advocate for that.

57:07

be something different? With New Japan and

57:09

ghetto, booking things out long term and

57:11

having long term plans in place, you

57:13

wonder how much this time off is

57:15

going to affect those plans? Are there

57:17

changes being made? Are there rewrites? Are

57:19

they just kind of going to reset

57:22

from where they left off when they

57:24

start back up again? So Brandon, it's

57:26

going to be interesting to see not

57:28

only what happens with Sinata in New

57:30

Japan, but when they do get started,

57:32

you know, are they going to try

57:34

to come back with, you know, this

57:37

isn't... W-W-E-W-W-They've been running shows and

57:39

they've been advancing storylines throughout

57:41

this whole process, they're really

57:43

kind of restarting when they

57:45

get back to it, whenever

57:47

that might be. So it'll be interesting

57:49

to see if they come out with

57:51

a bang on that first show, again,

57:54

whenever that might be, to kind of

57:56

grab fans' attentions again and get them

57:58

back in the new Japan mode. Yeah,

58:01

I don't follow I don't follow

58:03

new Japan super super closely I'm

58:05

familiar with the talent and obviously

58:08

familiar with with Gato's booking structure

58:10

and just the way that they

58:12

the way that they run their

58:15

business and and I think they've

58:17

earned the the trust of fans

58:19

far far more than most American

58:21

promotions have and I think that

58:24

you know if if if if any if any

58:26

company is going to be able to

58:28

pick up right where they left off

58:30

i think that i would trust it

58:32

to be new japan i i'm certainly

58:35

curious to see you know if they

58:37

sort of fast track some plans if

58:39

that means maybe throwing something by the

58:41

way side like it like something for

58:43

sonata for example or if it means

58:46

just sticking to the plan and and

58:48

pushing things out six months or a

58:50

year or whatever the case may be

58:52

i'm not sure uh... maybe maybe if

58:54

you know greg if you if you

58:56

are a closer follower of new japan

58:59

you may have a better uh... sort

59:01

of grasp as to what kind of

59:03

uh... what kind of prediction you can

59:06

make with regard to what you

59:08

think data was more likely to

59:10

do or if he's if he's

59:12

more likely to push out his

59:14

plans or sort of scrap the

59:16

plans and and sort of get to

59:18

where he wanted to be at, say,

59:20

you know, January of next year, for

59:22

Russell Kingdom. I don't have a sense

59:25

one way or the other, but it's

59:27

interesting. Yeah, just based on

59:29

his... booking style, you kind of think they're

59:31

just going to pick up where they left

59:33

off. I don't see Gado hot-shotting anything to

59:35

get to where he wanted to go, just

59:38

to have things in place, you know, I

59:40

think. Certainly tweaks and adjustments are probably being

59:42

made right now, but I don't see them

59:44

jumping ahead too far or anything like that.

59:47

I think, you know, slow and steady has

59:49

always kind of won the race for new

59:51

Japan and I think they'll continue in that

59:53

direction. Anytime

59:56

you're watching W.W.E. Raw or Smackdown

59:58

or A.E.W. Dynamite in particular, send

1:00:00

us an email if you've got thoughts

1:00:03

on the show or a topic you

1:00:05

want us to address or a question

1:00:07

for us. Wade Keller podcast at pwtorch.com

1:00:09

Wade Keller podcast at p.w.torch.com If

1:00:11

there's anything else going on in

1:00:14

pro wrestling that you want us

1:00:16

to address on our main podcast

1:00:18

during our mail bag segments that

1:00:21

same email applies Wade Keller podcast

1:00:23

at p.w torch.com We invite that

1:00:25

interaction Let us know what you

1:00:28

think of what we're saying and

1:00:30

let us know what you want

1:00:32

us to talk about and ask

1:00:34

us specific questions Wade

1:00:36

Keller podcast at p.w torch.com

1:00:39

The early 90s steroid sex

1:00:41

scandals Trash most

1:00:43

of wrestling all the wrestling

1:00:46

got smeared Even though it

1:00:48

was mainly a WWF thing

1:00:50

and They're coming up on

1:00:52

that on the VIP retro

1:00:55

radio stuff. So if you

1:00:57

want to go VIP now

1:00:59

is a good time to do

1:01:01

that, but I'm wondering if

1:01:03

the Folly and I know

1:01:06

a W is far from innocent

1:01:08

and all this and I think

1:01:10

they've even they've even been more

1:01:12

egregious in a lot of the

1:01:14

stuff they've been doing as far

1:01:16

as social distancing and stuff like

1:01:18

that But they have all their

1:01:20

taping in the book apparently until

1:01:22

like the end of May and

1:01:24

they're not doing any live stuff

1:01:26

it but W W is

1:01:28

in the limelight right now for

1:01:31

making this decision. Do you

1:01:33

think that'll smear AW on the

1:01:36

way in all of wrestling like

1:01:38

Indies and stuff like that in

1:01:40

this climate with all the

1:01:42

information we have right now

1:01:44

as compared to the early

1:01:46

90s when we basically

1:01:49

had like a couple magazines or newsletters?

1:01:51

I don't think that will be

1:01:53

the case for a couple reasons.

1:01:55

First of all, I think the

1:01:57

people who are hip to what

1:02:00

what's going on, know this is a

1:02:02

WWE thing and not an AEW thing.

1:02:04

And by that I mean, you know,

1:02:06

the analysts on Twitter and things like

1:02:08

that. But to a larger point, you

1:02:10

know, the mainstream, because that's kind of

1:02:13

Craig what you were referencing as far

1:02:15

as the early 90s and the mainstream

1:02:17

sort of smearing wrestling with a broad

1:02:19

brush, despite many of the problems, at

1:02:21

least that were... public coming from WWF

1:02:23

side, I don't think so. And I

1:02:26

don't think it's going to happen for

1:02:28

the sole reason that no one seems

1:02:30

to be paying attention to this. You

1:02:32

know, I don't see this as a

1:02:34

big of story. You know, it's not

1:02:37

being reported on the nightly news, network

1:02:39

nightly news like the sex scandals were

1:02:41

and the steroid scandals were. I think

1:02:43

there are... comparisons

1:02:46

you can make to those kind

1:02:48

of actions by those within W.W.

1:02:50

and you know Vince McMahon and

1:02:52

covering up the steroids and you

1:02:54

know to a certain extent covering

1:02:56

up some of the things that

1:02:58

were going on in the tawdry things

1:03:01

that were going on at the time

1:03:03

or allegedly covering them up and then

1:03:05

you know what's going on today? Obviously

1:03:08

two very different situations but

1:03:10

it could cast W.W.E. in

1:03:12

a poor light reputation wise.

1:03:14

But I don't think that's

1:03:16

really a concern for Vince

1:03:19

McMahon. It's very rarely ever

1:03:21

been a concern for him.

1:03:23

How the public sees him only

1:03:25

that the dollars keep rolling in.

1:03:27

And that's kind of how he

1:03:29

seems to have settled in. And

1:03:32

the fact is, you know, with

1:03:34

so much going on and so

1:03:36

much mainstream media attention being paid

1:03:38

to... you know how to slow this thing

1:03:40

down and this virus down and everybody

1:03:42

being so concerned with it and rightfully

1:03:45

so I think W. E. Is to

1:03:47

a certain extent flying under the radar

1:03:49

and as far as mainstream press Brandon

1:03:51

in a way that they weren't in

1:03:53

the early 90s. Yeah for sure my first my

1:03:55

first my first comment was going to

1:03:57

be they're flying under the radar and

1:04:00

are going to be able to

1:04:02

continue to do so. There just

1:04:04

isn't enough space on news coverage,

1:04:06

be that, you know, the nightly

1:04:08

news that, you know, most, most

1:04:10

Americans are probably watching more now

1:04:12

than they have in a long

1:04:14

time or the wall-to-wall cable news

1:04:16

networks. There just isn't space for

1:04:18

this kind of thing. There's too

1:04:20

much happening. There's too much to

1:04:22

be concerned with and the time that's

1:04:24

not being filled with telling people. how

1:04:27

to prep and how to deal and

1:04:29

how not to go too crazy and

1:04:31

what to expect going forward the

1:04:34

remainder of the time is

1:04:36

spent on on light-hearted segments

1:04:38

trying to make you forget

1:04:40

for a minute so there

1:04:42

just isn't room to talk

1:04:44

about this and I think

1:04:46

that's gonna stay I think

1:04:48

it's gonna stay that way

1:04:50

through throughout the course unless

1:04:52

we just become so immune

1:04:54

to COVID-19 coverage that they're fishing

1:04:57

for other stories and I just

1:04:59

don't see that happening. I think

1:05:01

the wrestling world is still very

1:05:03

much existing in its own bubble

1:05:05

and you may get some some

1:05:08

people here and there who are

1:05:10

outside the wrestling world journalists who

1:05:12

might step in and say a

1:05:14

little something here or there but

1:05:17

by and large I think this

1:05:19

is the wrestling world policing itself

1:05:21

and not really getting anywhere. And

1:05:23

Craig back to you for your

1:05:26

final point for us tonight. And

1:05:28

I'm so glad you guys like

1:05:30

led down this road because that

1:05:32

was my third point and I

1:05:34

disagree. I think that that statement

1:05:36

they made at the end of

1:05:39

their little statement where they said

1:05:41

they were part of the fabric

1:05:43

of America is going to bite

1:05:45

him in the ass because

1:05:47

there are actually fabrics

1:05:49

of America that aren't playing

1:05:52

right now. like opening days that

1:05:54

didn't happen you know championships

1:05:56

that matter that aren't happening

1:05:58

and there are people there

1:06:00

are all of sports media I

1:06:03

don't know if you guys listen

1:06:05

to a lot of sports like

1:06:07

talk radio shows stuff like that

1:06:10

they have been ESPN put on

1:06:12

WWE Wrestlemania just because they

1:06:14

were starved for content and

1:06:16

I think that they're gonna

1:06:19

be so starved for content

1:06:21

they're gonna latch on to

1:06:23

this they're gonna say and and

1:06:26

then also those other organizations, NFL

1:06:28

and MOB, NBA and stuff like

1:06:30

that. I always forget Angel, even

1:06:33

though it's my favorite sport. They're

1:06:35

going to latch on to it

1:06:37

and say, wait a minute, they

1:06:39

can play, but we can't. Yeah, I

1:06:42

don't think that's going to happen.

1:06:44

I don't think they're going to

1:06:46

say that. You know, it's not

1:06:48

a time for finger pointing, and

1:06:50

I think that major sports know

1:06:52

that they're not going to win

1:06:54

any... arguments by punching down at

1:06:57

WWE? Which is... No, no, no.

1:06:59

No. Greg, you got to understand

1:07:01

what I'm saying. I'm not saying

1:07:03

they're saying we want to play

1:07:06

because they're playing. I'm saying we

1:07:08

want to play because they're

1:07:10

playing. I'm saying we can't

1:07:12

play. They can't play. Well,

1:07:14

again, I don't think they're

1:07:16

even going to get into

1:07:18

that argument. There's no reason

1:07:21

to even acknowledge WWE. Why, why

1:07:23

would they even do that? the

1:07:25

media. The sports media, I

1:07:27

think the sports media, it's, there's,

1:07:29

WWE, and I understand that it's

1:07:31

been on ESPN and things like

1:07:33

that, but the, the WUE is so

1:07:35

far off the sports media radar, I

1:07:38

think it would take, you know,

1:07:40

and maybe there's some expose that's

1:07:42

going to, you know, be printed

1:07:44

on the athletic and it's going

1:07:46

to take off, but, you know,

1:07:48

if they're partnering with ESPN, you

1:07:50

know, isn't going to question these

1:07:52

decisions. most visible voices in sports

1:07:54

media are. So ESPN is going

1:07:56

to be hands-off. Fox Sports isn't

1:07:58

going to question. And that's where

1:08:01

the second most loudest voices in

1:08:03

sports media are because Fox has

1:08:05

the deal with the W.W.E. and

1:08:08

they do W.W.E. backstage. So it's

1:08:10

not going to come from either

1:08:12

of those two entities. So I

1:08:15

don't think if it doesn't come

1:08:17

from either of those two it's

1:08:20

going to reach a snowball effect

1:08:22

enough to really have any major

1:08:24

impact on how people view W.

1:08:28

But you saw Dana White, I'm sorry,

1:08:30

Brandon, you saw Dana White get

1:08:32

crushed last week, right? Yeah. And

1:08:34

you've seen that WUE? They have

1:08:36

a bigger partnership. No, no, no,

1:08:38

no, they have a bigger partnership

1:08:41

with ESPN than WWA does. Yeah,

1:08:43

and that's why ESPN stepped in

1:08:45

and asked him not to do

1:08:47

it. Because ESPN's not running, you

1:08:49

know, WWA's live shows. They're running

1:08:51

tape shows. So they have no

1:08:53

real reason to step in and

1:08:55

say, hey, don't do this. because

1:08:57

it's not airing on ESPN's platform

1:08:59

the way UFC was. And like

1:09:01

it or not, UFC is seen as

1:09:03

a sport much more than WUE is.

1:09:05

It's covered in much more detail than

1:09:08

WUE is by many more legitimate sites

1:09:10

and legitimate writers than WUE is. So

1:09:12

yeah, it's going to get a lot

1:09:14

more. And I think the craziness of

1:09:16

Dana White buying in his own island.

1:09:18

uh... to do these fights contributed to

1:09:20

the press u f c got on

1:09:22

this let's let's not forget that like

1:09:24

if if data white had tried to

1:09:27

buy his own island or had bought

1:09:29

it as far as i know i

1:09:31

don't think this would be getting the

1:09:33

press they would be getting but

1:09:35

because of that whole crazy situation

1:09:37

yeah it's getting blown up branded jump

1:09:39

in with uh... what you want to say

1:09:41

there well so i i think that

1:09:43

in order for in order for the

1:09:46

sports media to grab onto it you're

1:09:48

going to have to have some sort

1:09:50

of reporter expose come out from an

1:09:53

independent journalist or an independent source who

1:09:55

doesn't have any from W. E. E.

1:09:57

at all. And I say that because

1:09:59

You look at a place like

1:10:02

ESPN, like yes, they don't

1:10:04

have a direct deal in

1:10:06

place with WWME, but they

1:10:08

do like to have their

1:10:10

talent on there. They do

1:10:12

like to use their tape

1:10:14

shows, their old Wrestlemenias for

1:10:16

content while they're struggling right

1:10:18

now. They have had a pretty

1:10:21

good relationship with them in the

1:10:23

past, with them in the past.

1:10:25

That rosy position that they have with

1:10:28

them goes away when this when this

1:10:30

sort of dissipates whenever that may

1:10:32

be You have to look the same

1:10:34

kind of deal with Fox Sports

1:10:36

Fox Sports is already in bed

1:10:38

with W. W. E. They don't

1:10:41

want to undermine their cash cow

1:10:43

You have NBC Sports, part of

1:10:45

NBC Universal, which owns the USA

1:10:47

Network, they don't want to undermine

1:10:50

their cash cow. So at that

1:10:52

point, you're looking at independent sites

1:10:54

like Leacher Report, CBS News, CBS

1:10:56

Sports, something like that. And then

1:10:58

you think, okay, well, all of

1:11:01

those sites end up, thing, exclusives

1:11:03

during Wrestlemania season for Hall of Fame

1:11:05

announcement. So W.W.E. has really put

1:11:07

themselves in dead in one way or

1:11:10

another with all of the major sports

1:11:12

networks. So that's why I say like

1:11:14

it's going to take some sort of

1:11:16

independent source or a company that

1:11:18

doesn't care about their relationship

1:11:20

with W. E. Or just isn't making

1:11:22

enough money off of their relationship with

1:11:25

W. E. To be the one to

1:11:27

blow the whistle. And I don't know

1:11:29

if there's going to be one of

1:11:31

those one of those networks. It's certainly

1:11:33

possible that there is. But I think

1:11:36

that's that's sort of my thought process

1:11:38

in thinking that it won't happen.

1:11:40

Craig. All right, well, I'm actually

1:11:42

throw it back to you

1:11:45

Greg because I think you

1:11:47

might be a gambling

1:11:49

man You might be a

1:11:52

gambling man, and I I

1:11:54

want to bet you By May

1:11:56

1st there will be no such

1:11:58

thing as live backdowns and

1:12:00

Ross. And the bet is that

1:12:03

the winner, the loser of the

1:12:05

bet has to wear gloves for

1:12:07

an entire month. So I'm not a

1:12:09

betting man, unfortunately, Craig,

1:12:11

so I will not take your

1:12:14

bet. I don't, I'd have to

1:12:16

look over my PW torch contract

1:12:18

because I'm not sure it even

1:12:21

allows betting with, with, uh, with

1:12:23

colors of the live cast. So

1:12:25

I don't want to, uh, accidentally

1:12:27

avoid my contract. That weight Keller

1:12:30

is a shrewd one. Don't let

1:12:32

him lull you into thinking he's

1:12:34

not. So... It's on the record

1:12:37

though. I challenged you. If all

1:12:39

the legal documents come in, that

1:12:41

excessive challenge, unless you're a

1:12:43

big old wuss. Well, I...

1:12:45

You don't want to wear

1:12:48

gloves during month. I've been

1:12:50

called worse, Craig, so I'm

1:12:52

an adult so I can

1:12:54

handle it. As always Craig,

1:12:56

thank you for the call,

1:12:58

appreciate hearing from you this

1:13:00

week. Love you guys, thank you.

1:13:05

Are you a nostalgic wrestling fan? Do

1:13:08

you want to hear about shows

1:13:10

you haven't seen in 10, 20,

1:13:12

maybe even 30 years? Well, I

1:13:14

have the show for you. I'm

1:13:16

Pwtorch.com, contributor Frank Petiani, and since

1:13:18

December of 2020, I've hosted pro

1:13:20

wrestling then and now. Together with

1:13:22

a rotating chair of co-hosts, we

1:13:25

go back and review old shows

1:13:27

from top to bottom. Talk about

1:13:29

where the wrestlers were at the

1:13:31

time and compare what's taking place

1:13:33

now to what took place then.

1:13:35

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1:13:52

and sign up for him.

1:13:54

Brandon, for the record, yes.

1:13:56

If there was a situation

1:13:59

where a report did come out.

1:14:01

I would actually err on the side

1:14:03

of wanting that to happen so long

1:14:05

as it doesn't hurt pro wrestling as

1:14:08

a whole in the long term. But

1:14:10

if an article or a

1:14:12

reporter knabs onto this story and

1:14:14

all that it does is force

1:14:16

WEE to suspend operation for a

1:14:18

little bit while this gets sorted

1:14:20

out, then I would be I

1:14:22

would be all for it. I

1:14:24

would prefer that they did. kind

1:14:26

of you know go into hibernation for

1:14:28

a bit here while we get this

1:14:30

whole thing sorted out. And who knows?

1:14:33

But I certainly don't want to see

1:14:35

it hurt the company long term. Yeah,

1:14:37

and who knows? I mean, these journalists need

1:14:39

content to churn out while there's

1:14:41

no sports. They may run out

1:14:43

of, you know, running their tenth

1:14:45

predicted depth chart for the St.

1:14:48

Louis Cardinals during this downtime. They

1:14:50

may decide, you know, hey. Let's look

1:14:52

for something else to write about and

1:14:54

they may come across what WWE is

1:14:56

doing. So, I mean, there's always a

1:14:59

possibility as small of a possibility as

1:15:01

I think that might be. On

1:15:03

raw this week, Brandon, we had

1:15:05

Nia Jacks making her illustrious return

1:15:07

Bianca Bel Air, officially debuting as

1:15:09

part of the raw roster. The

1:15:11

big show, challenged Drew McIntyre

1:15:13

post-restlemania. We saw that in

1:15:16

the main event slot and we

1:15:18

saw Ricochet and Cedric Alexander as

1:15:20

a tag team. I want to talk

1:15:22

about the returns and debuts. Jack's

1:15:24

Bel Air was on WrestleMania, but

1:15:27

we also had the forgotten sons

1:15:29

on Smackdown. So this was not

1:15:31

the usual post-restlemania raws and Smackdown's

1:15:33

full of pomp and circumstance. We

1:15:35

did have some debuts, but it

1:15:38

was much more muted than it

1:15:40

has been in the past. A

1:15:42

team like the Forgotten Sons or

1:15:44

a return like Naya Jacks, do

1:15:46

you think it helps? Is weird as

1:15:48

this sounds? Do you think it helps

1:15:51

debuting in front or returning in front

1:15:53

of no audience? So that, you know,

1:15:55

if you're the forgotten sons and you're

1:15:58

making your debut and the fans... turn

1:16:00

on you out of the gate, your

1:16:02

DOA. And I don't mean the disciples

1:16:04

of Apocalypse. In some ways, maybe I

1:16:06

do. But you know, your push is

1:16:08

done right then. So this gives them

1:16:10

time to build up some credibility on

1:16:12

the main roster and sort of lucking

1:16:15

out going to Smackdown where they have

1:16:17

some very good tag teams to play

1:16:19

off of in the USO's in the

1:16:21

new day as far as the baby

1:16:23

face teams there. So they could be

1:16:25

made to look good before the fans

1:16:27

return. I mean is that... in a

1:16:29

weird way an advantage for some of

1:16:32

these wrestlers? I think this

1:16:34

was the best case scenario

1:16:37

for the forgotten sons and

1:16:39

I won't say worst case

1:16:41

but not not great for

1:16:43

Bianca Bel Air. She would

1:16:45

have been over. Sons were

1:16:47

very... yeah for sure. Bianca

1:16:49

Bel Air would have been

1:16:51

over huge with... post-restlemania

1:16:54

crowd that would have been a

1:16:56

very very big very successful debut

1:16:59

for her now whether or not

1:17:01

that would have worked uh... long-term

1:17:03

who knows i mean we've seen

1:17:06

we've seen talent who was incredibly

1:17:08

over on night one fizzle out

1:17:10

within within weeks after restlemania but

1:17:12

Belair seems driven, she seems determined,

1:17:15

she seems hungry, so no reason

1:17:17

to, you know, suspect that she

1:17:19

wouldn't be successful. So I feel

1:17:22

for her, I think that that

1:17:24

would have been a much bigger,

1:17:26

much better debut on a post-restlemania

1:17:29

raw in front of an audience.

1:17:31

For the Forgotten Sons, this couldn't

1:17:33

be better for them because they

1:17:36

are with no audience to... expose themselves expose

1:17:38

their characters to the to the crowds before

1:17:40

the crowds get a hold of them and

1:17:42

I think if the crowds were able to

1:17:44

get a hold of them right away they

1:17:47

they like you said could very well be

1:17:49

dead in the water because forgotten sons was

1:17:51

not a successful gimmick in an XT the

1:17:53

crowd did not take to them at any

1:17:56

point I don't think they had any memorable

1:17:58

matches I don't think they was really

1:18:00

anything about that gimmick that screamed, this

1:18:02

team needs to go to the main

1:18:04

roster right now. So in one sense,

1:18:06

I like that they moved them up

1:18:08

because it was clear that there was

1:18:10

nothing for them to do on an

1:18:13

XT and a team like that can

1:18:15

also can often get a fresh look

1:18:17

on the main roster and become useful.

1:18:19

I think we've seen that with some

1:18:21

acts in the past that didn't quite

1:18:23

click on an XT. And I think it

1:18:25

is highly beneficial for them to be

1:18:27

able to get some exposure on these

1:18:30

no-crowd shows before being put in front

1:18:32

of a live audience because I don't

1:18:34

think, I think if you had thrown

1:18:36

that team out there in front of

1:18:38

a post-restlemania crowd expecting a big debut

1:18:41

or a big return on Smackdown, they

1:18:43

would have been dead in the water

1:18:45

right out of the gate. Cedric

1:18:47

and Alexander and Ricochet as

1:18:50

a tag team. This was

1:18:52

discussed by the announcers as

1:18:54

if they're going forward as

1:18:57

a full-time tag team. What's

1:18:59

your take on the potential

1:19:02

of Cedric and Ricochet as

1:19:04

a tag team? I don't like

1:19:06

the pairing out of the gate.

1:19:08

I'm a person who generally has

1:19:10

a, I want to say like,

1:19:12

I sort of have negative opinions

1:19:14

out of the gate of,

1:19:16

two wrestlers thrown together for no real

1:19:19

reason and put an attack here. Now

1:19:21

that's two ways I can continue to

1:19:23

feel that they don't really belong

1:19:25

together or I can become a

1:19:28

huge fan like something like Shamison

1:19:30

Cesaro for example. So I'm

1:19:32

certainly willing to give it a chance.

1:19:34

It's two very very athletic guys who

1:19:37

are not being utilized correctly on

1:19:39

the roster and right now that's

1:19:41

their only connection. So I need

1:19:44

to see more and I need

1:19:46

to develop into more than 200

1:19:48

utilized guys who weren't doing anything.

1:19:51

Yeah, I'm kind of cautiously optimistic.

1:19:53

It gets them out of that

1:19:56

jobber to the stars position where

1:19:58

they kind of work. where they

1:20:00

weren't really doing anything but losing

1:20:02

each and every week and their

1:20:04

stock was dropping significantly. At least

1:20:06

in the short term, they'll have

1:20:09

some wins to get them over

1:20:11

as a tag team to establish

1:20:13

their tag team, bona fide so

1:20:15

to speak. So that's one thing

1:20:17

they have going for them, that

1:20:19

they'll be moved away. I think.

1:20:21

You know the downside obviously is that

1:20:23

the tag team is kind of

1:20:25

a no no go nowhere division

1:20:27

especially on raw There just isn't

1:20:29

really an upside to that division

1:20:32

as much as there is to

1:20:34

smackdown So they're kind of stuck

1:20:36

Being you know potentially the highest

1:20:38

they could go is big fish

1:20:40

in a small pond And and

1:20:42

that's not necessarily a great way

1:20:44

to go, but it's Sort of

1:20:47

better than the alternative, which is,

1:20:49

you know, running around chasing the

1:20:51

24-7 title, I guess. So they've

1:20:53

got that going for them. So

1:20:55

cautiously optimistic, I fully anticipate

1:20:58

being proven wrong on this

1:21:00

one. But the final segment

1:21:03

on raw, big show, challenging

1:21:05

Drew McIntyre post-restrestlemania. So the deal

1:21:07

here was, as it was presented,

1:21:09

Drew McIntyre was being interviewed

1:21:12

in the ring. after his

1:21:14

WrestleMania match and Big Show

1:21:16

came out and challenged him. This was

1:21:18

all shown on raw and Big Show

1:21:20

challenged him to a match right then

1:21:23

and there. The match took place, Drew

1:21:25

McIntyre beat him. A lot of plot

1:21:27

holes seemingly with this whole idea, Brandon.

1:21:29

But there were others that thought, hey,

1:21:32

you know, it continues to get Drew

1:21:34

McIntyre over. Not only does he beat

1:21:36

Brock Lesnar, but he beats Big Show

1:21:38

in the same night. It cemented him

1:21:40

as a top guy in W.W.E. and

1:21:43

on raw. And the fans will take

1:21:45

notice of that. What side did you

1:21:47

fall on on this segment? Yeah, so

1:21:49

I was kind of debating this with

1:21:51

a couple people. I think Zach and

1:21:53

Frank Bo from The Torch on Twitter.

1:21:55

we were trying to figure out you

1:21:57

know what was the what was the

1:21:59

reasoning for having it fall as a

1:22:01

throwback segment to the night before under

1:22:04

the WrestleMania banner. And the conclusion that

1:22:06

I reached, which I, I, I, maybe

1:22:08

it's not right, but my assumption was

1:22:11

simply that, uh, that they only had

1:22:13

show and McIntyre for those, for,

1:22:15

for, for whatever days that they

1:22:17

were taking WrestleMania, and they didn't

1:22:19

want to simply change out the

1:22:21

graphics and put raw there because

1:22:23

then the Wrestlemania sign would have

1:22:25

still been in the crowd to

1:22:27

the crowd to the left. So I

1:22:30

think they may be thought, well, we just

1:22:32

got to go with it as it is

1:22:34

and we've got to present it this way.

1:22:36

It was a little awkward. It came off

1:22:38

a little strange, but I mean, you know, a

1:22:41

lot of things have come off strange in

1:22:43

this month or so at the PC. So

1:22:45

for sure, it was what it was. It's

1:22:47

a good clean win for McIntire. I'm

1:22:49

all for that. I'm always going

1:22:51

to be a proponent of giving

1:22:54

Drew McIntire strong clean wins

1:22:56

now that he's the champion. uh...

1:22:58

especially over legacy acts uh... i think

1:23:00

too often uh... legacy acts are brought in

1:23:02

to be put over current generation talent so

1:23:04

anytime you get to see a guy like

1:23:07

the big show put over a guy like

1:23:09

mac entire strong i think that's a net

1:23:11

positive uh... was a little strange to

1:23:13

see big show just show up out of any

1:23:15

out of nowhere but hey when you got got

1:23:17

when you what when you're when you're in a

1:23:20

situation like this and you've got a body in

1:23:22

the building i guess you you you use it

1:23:24

so yeah It was what it was. It was

1:23:26

a, I thought the math was better than

1:23:29

it really had any right to

1:23:31

be. I thought it was better

1:23:33

than the math for Lesnar, which

1:23:35

is sort of saying a lot.

1:23:37

So net positive for me, but

1:23:39

definitely a little awkward. You

1:23:47

don't have to wait for the Wait Killer

1:23:49

Pro Wrestling Post show to find out what

1:23:51

I thought of Monday Night Raw and Smackdown

1:23:54

each week. You can check out my reports

1:23:56

that are updated live throughout raw and Smackdown

1:23:58

at p.w.torch.com by written reports. We'll tell you

1:24:00

what's happening in detail in case you

1:24:03

miss the show and it'll also analyze

1:24:05

key segments and give my random thoughts

1:24:07

and quips on what I am watching

1:24:10

as it airs So check it out

1:24:12

every Monday night and Tuesday night at

1:24:14

p.w torch.com That also applies to W.

1:24:16

E pay previews I cover those live

1:24:19

at pw torch.com with a detailed written

1:24:21

report with star ratings and of course

1:24:23

you can find other TV reports from

1:24:25

other contributors to pw torch such as

1:24:28

nxt roh impact wrestling and more check

1:24:30

it out pw torch.com

1:24:32

your first stop for

1:24:35

t.v. and pay-per-view written

1:24:37

reports and we go

1:24:40

back to the emails before

1:24:42

we go back to the

1:24:44

phones this one is from

1:24:47

via p member Pranil he

1:24:49

says Do you agree with

1:24:51

Pro Wrestling Illustrated only recognizing

1:24:53

the WWE Universal Championship, WWE

1:24:55

Championship, AEW World Championship, and

1:24:58

the IWS Heavyweight Championship, would

1:25:00

you include any other world

1:25:02

titles on the list? I

1:25:04

kind of get why some

1:25:06

promotions are omitted from the

1:25:08

list. I'd personally include the

1:25:11

MLW World Heavyweight Championship, the

1:25:13

Ring of Honor World Championship, and

1:25:15

the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship. I would

1:25:17

argue that as long as there is

1:25:19

an NWA World's heavyweight champion it should

1:25:21

be recognized at the top with the

1:25:24

others. I consider that championship to be

1:25:26

the holy grail of professional wrestling and

1:25:28

Nick Aldis carries it as such. What

1:25:30

do you think? I and this kind of

1:25:32

got some buzz on Twitter earlier in the

1:25:35

week pw i announcing that they were only

1:25:37

going to recognize those four major titles as

1:25:39

world championships and you had you know guys

1:25:41

coming out of the woodwork for all these

1:25:43

independent and smaller promotions saying hey this isn't

1:25:46

fair hey why is this the case and

1:25:48

so there were a lot of unhappy wrestlers

1:25:50

on Twitter when that news broke but to

1:25:52

be honest like to me Brandon and correct

1:25:55

me if I'm wrong or I'm looking at

1:25:57

this the wrong way but there's a pretty

1:25:59

steep drop-off. from those four championships

1:26:02

and the companies that they are

1:26:04

in to whatever would be the

1:26:06

next tier, whether you consider MLW,

1:26:08

ROH, Impact Wrestling, even the NWA.

1:26:11

I mean, you know, as far

1:26:13

as their reach on YouTube. And

1:26:15

I don't know what went into

1:26:17

PWA's decision. I don't know if

1:26:19

they had any criteria that they

1:26:21

used. for these and for making

1:26:24

the cutoff where they made it,

1:26:26

but to be honest, I don't

1:26:28

really have a problem with the

1:26:30

decision PMI made there. Yeah, I

1:26:32

don't really have a strong

1:26:34

enough opinion to argue it,

1:26:36

to argue against their decision.

1:26:38

I think if there's one

1:26:41

omission that seems most glaring

1:26:43

to me, it's the NXC

1:26:45

championship. I mean, next year is

1:26:47

now a national promotion on national

1:26:49

American television and it's treated as

1:26:52

a third brand for W.W.E. So,

1:26:54

I mean, that's my, that's the

1:26:56

most glaring omission to me. I

1:26:59

mean, especially if you want, again,

1:27:01

like you were saying, I don't

1:27:04

know their criteria, but if you

1:27:06

want to talk about, you know, if

1:27:08

you want to raise the, if you want

1:27:10

to raise the point about

1:27:13

the NWA championship being excluded.

1:27:15

uh... then perhaps they're not considering lineage because

1:27:17

obviously if you're talking lineage then the

1:27:20

nw a title has the strongest of

1:27:22

any yeah but uh... on the basis

1:27:24

of lineage i would think you'd want

1:27:26

to include the nx t title simply

1:27:29

because so many current w w roster

1:27:31

members who have held the world and

1:27:33

universal titles are former nx t champions

1:27:35

so that has an impressive lineage as

1:27:38

well but uh... i guess i don't

1:27:40

have an opinion strong enough one way

1:27:42

or the other I'm less inclined to

1:27:45

consider the impact title, the ROH

1:27:47

title, the MLW title as

1:27:49

being omissions as much as

1:27:51

the NXT title, and I

1:27:53

guess certainly, if we're considering

1:27:56

lineage, then the NWA. Yep.

1:27:58

All right, let's cool. back

1:28:00

to the phones 305 erico this

1:28:02

is DJ from Miami DJ welcome

1:28:05

to the show and what's your

1:28:07

first thought for us tonight

1:28:09

okay I got a couple things I

1:28:11

guess okay well I mean I assume

1:28:13

you did you called in and wanted

1:28:16

to talk so that's why I put

1:28:18

you on the air so let us

1:28:20

know what I mean I mean I'm

1:28:23

not too excited you know it's like

1:28:25

okay you know so now that somebody

1:28:27

else got it going into like we

1:28:29

were talking about last week now that's

1:28:32

somebody else got it like do you

1:28:34

think like i understand that they did

1:28:36

do all the taping but there still

1:28:38

have to work are they still gonna

1:28:40

work on production all this stuff because

1:28:42

whoever had it wasn't a talent it

1:28:45

was somebody you know I don't know

1:28:47

did they ever say who was a

1:28:49

cameraman or whoever got it but I

1:28:51

mean If somebody got it, then do

1:28:53

you think anybody else has it because

1:28:56

they haven't been tested or do you

1:28:58

think Vince will eventually buy tests

1:29:00

for all these guys or what

1:29:02

do you think he's forcing him

1:29:04

to get tested or what do

1:29:06

you think? I'm talking about the

1:29:08

testing. So what do you think

1:29:10

about that? That's my first thing.

1:29:12

Well, from what was what I

1:29:14

read, it was called on-air talent.

1:29:16

So I don't think a cameraman

1:29:18

would be considered on-air talent. It

1:29:20

sounded like it was either an

1:29:22

interviewer or an announcer. And so, you

1:29:24

know, the way it had been worded

1:29:27

by WUE, I believe, was that they

1:29:29

weren't really around any of the wrestlers

1:29:31

once they got it. And they were

1:29:33

quarantined and they were kept away from

1:29:35

everybody. So... The way it sounds is

1:29:38

that no one was really at risk,

1:29:40

although we can only take WWEs word

1:29:42

for it, I don't know that Vince

1:29:44

McMahon can buy tests. I don't know

1:29:47

if as a private citizen he can

1:29:49

do that, or if it has to

1:29:51

come from any kind of medical facility,

1:29:53

would have to be providing those.

1:29:55

But I know that they were

1:29:58

taking people's temperatures before they... They

1:30:00

entered the performance center trying

1:30:02

to keep people away from each

1:30:04

other as much as possible. You

1:30:07

know, when you're in that environment,

1:30:09

Brandon, there's still only so much

1:30:11

you can do when ultimately you're

1:30:14

sending two to four wrestlers out

1:30:16

there to fight in a ring

1:30:18

where sweat is flying, where there's

1:30:20

potential for blood flying, there's saliva

1:30:23

flying, and you know, you can only

1:30:25

prevent the risk so much. when

1:30:27

the bottom line is guys are

1:30:29

going out there in wrestling? Yeah,

1:30:32

there's an inherent risk

1:30:35

in this no matter what. I

1:30:37

don't know if Vince has

1:30:39

an ability to require tests

1:30:41

for all of his wrestlers,

1:30:43

but here's the thing. The

1:30:45

test is only good for

1:30:47

the show that they're performing

1:30:50

on. So if they are

1:30:52

working, you know, every week

1:30:54

and flying home in between.

1:30:56

Well then they need to be tested

1:30:59

the next time they come into the

1:31:01

building because that's a whole week of

1:31:03

additional exposure. And for a lot of

1:31:06

these guys they may be traveling by

1:31:08

plane so that's even more risky. I

1:31:10

don't think that the testing each challenge

1:31:12

seems feasible just because I mean you're

1:31:15

literally talking having to test them multiple

1:31:17

times over. There's an inherent risk and

1:31:19

I don't think that there's any way

1:31:21

around that risk. You can attempt

1:31:24

to mitigate it as much

1:31:26

as possible and you can

1:31:29

use all the corporate buzzwords

1:31:31

in the press releases and

1:31:33

statements, CESBN, about the working

1:31:36

environment you're attempting to create,

1:31:38

but the risk is there and

1:31:40

there's no way to remove it at

1:31:42

the end of the day. Yeah. I just

1:31:45

hope that you know now that the you

1:31:47

know the taping is done like do you

1:31:49

know what else they're going to do or

1:31:52

do you think that this time hey now

1:31:54

that you get a free to get the

1:31:56

test then I'll go to my second question.

1:31:58

Well the taping are done. because they're

1:32:00

going to be taping live from

1:32:02

here on out. So that's the

1:32:05

other thing about taping live is