2025 SRTU Awards Show | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #828 – 12/25/25

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It's still real to be damaged in it!

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All right now let's get to the next category here.

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It is Breakout Star of the Year.

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Who broke out in 2025 in the World of Professional Wrestling?

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Recent winners and Dr. Trey and I have had the same winners in this category

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each year since 2022, starting with Sammy Zane in 2023.

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Sammy Zane in 2023, Dominic Mysterio and in 2024, Solo Sikoa.

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So let's see if we can make it four years straight after Trey

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where you and I both select the same Breakout Star of the Year.

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You went first with New Sword of the Year so I will follow up here going first

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with Breakout Star of the Year.

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I did not have difficulty picking this one.

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I must admit this person,

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a year ago had just signed with WWE, just came over following a match in A.W. and June

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against Mercedes-Monae and she was,

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let's just say the 1B to the 1A of Julia when the big signings happened.

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Everybody figured that Julia, Julia, Julia would become the big star in WWE

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and this person was going to be solid but it was all about Julia.

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I could make a Brady Bunch reference and Marsha Marsha Marsha but I think that would go over people's heads at this point.

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With that said, in this past year, this person won the NXT Women's North American Championship.

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The NXT Women's Championship and is our current World Heavyweight Women's World Champion on the Monday Night Raw brand.

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She has had a Breakout year, she is a viral sensation, her matches deliver, she is extremely fun to watch

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and I feel like she has really broken out this year.

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Dr. Trey, my pick for Breakout Star of the Year for 2025 is the one and only Stephanie Valkour.

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Yeah, it's hard to go against that pick but I am.

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I'm going to go against you this year.

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Stephanie had an amazing year and that's why she's in the running for my female performer of the year.

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But I don't know if any woman has had a run like that, I don't think there has been, I don't think there may never will be again.

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Just an incredible run, just top to bottom and for somebody, you're right, like she came in.

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I did not have high expectations for her, I saw the match with Mercedes-Bone and I'm like, "All right, she's a good wrestler."

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I just didn't know if she could find a niche, if she could find a gimmick.

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Her English isn't great so her promos aren't going to be as well versed to some other people.

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But she's managed to overcome those obstacles and had an amazing year.

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That's a fantastic pick but it also means for the first time in years you and I have disagreed on this one.

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So my pick, and it boggles my mind because it's the first year we kind of stopped covering AEW in a lot of ways.

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But my breakout star of the year is from AEW, I'm going with Kyle Fletcher.

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I just think from top to bottom the guys had an amazing year, super long run as the TNT champion has really changed his look,

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you know, his appearance, I mean the guy shaved his head in the middle of the ring last year to kind of get this character over.

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But has quickly established himself as arguably the best in-ring wrestler in the world today.

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This is somebody I knocked a couple years ago and all of a sudden, just like Dominic Messier, didn't have high expectations for him.

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And he's blown me out of the water. So my pick for 20-25 break out star of the year is Kyle Fletcher because I think this is the guy that AEW can build around and has become a new pillar of their company.

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Yeah, Dr. Trey, I love that pick.

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I think Kyle Fletcher to me would probably be number two in this category. He's had a great year.

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He's had a breakout year, great run as TNT champion in the continental classic right now. He actually ended last year in the final four of the continental classic had a great feud with Will Osprey.

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Cuts a good promo carries himself like a top star looks like a top star performs like a top star.

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This is a guy that could very well be in the category of male wrestler of the year in 2026.

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Similar to how like 70-25 core is in running for female wrestler the year not only this year, but it could be next year as well.

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I like to pick Dr. Trey. I'm with you here that Kyle Fletcher is certainly worthy of this award winning category.

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So congratulations to Stephanie Valkor from WWE receiving my breakout star of the year and to Kyle Fletcher of all the wrestling winning Dr. Trey's breakout star of the year.

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And now it's on to our next category which is moment of the year. Looking back at recent moments of the year in 2023 I selected CM Punk making his shock in return at WWE its Survivor Series War Game.

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Dr. Trey at Sami Zayn Kevin Owens winning the Undisputed Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 39 over the Usos.

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In 2024 I had Cody Rhodes finishing the story in winning the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40. Dr. Trey at Sting's last match in retirement A.W. Revolution.

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And I skipped over this but in 2022 I had Cody Rhodes returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and defeating Seth Rounds. Dr. Trey at Stone Cold Steve Austin returning to WrestleMania 38 and defeating Kevin Owens.

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Dr. Trey needless to say you and I have not had the same moment of the year in some time actually the last time was 2021 when you and I both selected CM Punk returning to professional wrestling at A.W. Rampage's first dance.

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So let's see do we keep the trend going of being opposite picks or what would be in line with the same moment of the year Dr. Trey what's a you.

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So this is where I took Jeff's pick Jeff Jeff Jeff's advice to heart and said it's all about the fields and you know my past winners are people either returning or retiring in this year's no different.

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So I'm just going back just a couple of weeks ago to Saraje's made event John Cena's final match against Gunther outstanding matchup John Cena tapping out you know leaving the arm bands leaving that stuff in the ring the emotional.

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Post match moment where the guys came out Cody and CM Punk celebrating with him it's all about the fields and this year a lot of it was about the John Cena farewell tour and so for my moment of the year it is John Cena is final farewell inside of WWE ring it's a nice made event.

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Yeah so I mean that's a pretty pretty big in the fields moment Dr. Trey and and you know when it comes to trends and when it comes to streaks you know streaks can be broken trends can end and you and I are in agreement here that our moment of the year involves John Cena however we are different in the aspect of what point of John Cena's 2025 farewell tour.

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We looked at as the moment of the year for me it was his heel turn at WWE elimination chamber back in late February.

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I know now looking back at it it may not be the moment that we stick out and and maybe love or beloved.

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But to me it was it was something I never thought we would ever see in the world of professional wrestling it was something that we were clamoring over for years in the history of the show so much show so that we band it from the show we can no longer talk about John Cena turning heel all that we need to and we can talk about CM Punk returning WWE either.

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But here we are once it actually happens just like CM Punk's return to WWE John Cena finally turns heel and we went on this ride and I do hope that people take a look back at it and go that he actually was was pretty good as a heel I I enjoyed it at at points I thought the quick switch back to baby face which we had predicted at the time probably needed to happen at some point was not great and we wish the John Cena maybe had another year or two.

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I had another year or two left before turning back baby face I wish they did this a year or two ago heading into the farewell tour.

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But none needless to say doctor try for me John Cena turning heel at WWE elimination chamber was my moment of the year which was a feel of like my jaw dropping on the floor your John Cena moment was like I'm all in my feels completely so both was going with John Cena just different points in the year doctor try.

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Which I mean leads to tell you that maybe the John Cena retirement tour was a success because that was my moment number two and the only reason I think it got moment number two was because the fallout didn't really match what we had hoped for we had hoped for more interaction with the road that was the last time we saw John Cena and the rock in the ring together.

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Which you know when that moment happened you thought would be kind of crazy and thank God it's also the last time we saw Travis Scott in a WWE ring after that as well.

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So that's the only reason why I dropped it to number two was just because the payoff wasn't as good.

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So it just like I said it just got it goes a show that the John Cena tour was actually successful if it basically capture the number one and number two moments of the year in 2025 for professional wrestling.

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So there you go congratulations to John Cena on winning our moment of the year two different points of the year turning heel at WWE elimination chamber for me and then his farewell at Saturday nights made event John Cena's final match for Dr. Dre.

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And now that takes us to our event of the year which event stood out above all the rest as our favorite wrestling show of 2025.

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Dr. Dre and I have selected the same show since 2021 starting with AW All Out in 2021, WrestleMania 38 in 2022, WrestleMania 39 in 2023 and WrestleMania 40 in 2024.

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Dr. Dre you and I have a four year street going overall and a three year street going when it comes to WrestleMania.

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Well does WrestleMania 41 make it to your list of event of the year?

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Does it make my list of event of the year?

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We shall find out as I will go first in this category, Dr. Dre.

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And for me when I look back at all the shows of the year and I look back at our rating system and I take a look and I go okay what show did I rate the highest.

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We did only event ratings this year for the WWE shows.

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We did one for NXT stand and deliver but what about the rest was there a W show that stood out?

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Was it could there have been a Saturday at its made event?

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Could there have been a Raw or Smackdown or NXT TV that I enjoyed better?

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And when I look back at it I gave this show a 4.5 and a 4.4 because it is two different shows on the same weekend.

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And I'm keeping my street going, Dr. Dre.

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As I selected the WWE WrestleMania 41 as my event of the year.

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Dr. Dre where do you stand with the event of the year for 2025?

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This is really hard because I have three events basically in my mind rate is even though one event we didn't actually rate because it was an AEW show.

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I have gone back and forth on this even while we're doing this show as to where I'm ranked with these.

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And I'm going to agree with you, I'm going to say with you I think WrestleMania was the biggest event of the year.

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There wasn't any, I don't think WrestleMania this year was as good as the previous two years, which is why the gap.

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I think the last two years WrestleMania kind of ran away from everybody else.

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This year kind of came back to Earth.

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But I mean I had AEW all in Texas and crowd jewel right there with WrestleMania.

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But just for the year, magnitude, star power, everything else.

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WrestleMania this year was also my event of the year.

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Yeah, I'm with you.

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I had a tough time picking WrestleMania 41 this past year because I loved 38, 39 and 40 so much.

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You and I talked about it as a trifecta.

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I was looking at various different shows.

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I enjoyed WWE night of champions in Saudi Arabia.

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I enjoyed Crown Jewel and Perth.

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But yeah, I enjoyed the Royal Rumble even in the Indy elimination chamber in Toronto was a highly rated show from both you and I, Dr. Trey.

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But when you look back at it, WrestleMania 41 stood out.

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I did not see any AW shows, TNA shows that this stood out to take the trophy in this one.

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And yeah, I mean that's now four straight years that WrestleMania has dominated this category, Dr. Trey.

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Yeah, it's weird.

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There are times during this run I really wanted to pick something else because I don't like when people go,

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"Oh, you guys are WWE hovers or whatever."

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Now AEW all in Texas was a fantastic show.

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Like Crown Jewel Perth was a really fun show with no low points.

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But when you look at just the sheer, like I said, the magnitude, like everything that goes into a WrestleMania,

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there are so many things that can go wrong.

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And although this show may not have been as good as 38, 39 and 40, it still stands out as to what a wrestling event should be.

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So it's really hard to be contrarian and go against it just for the sake of going against it.

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But I will say, like there's competition on the horizon.

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Like some of these other shows we've done this year have been really good.

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So you're hoping that 2026 is another banner year for pro wrestling and either AEW kind of keeps stepping up.

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NXT keeps stepping up.

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TNA gets some tracks would be on AMC.

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So there's some rivals to this becoming a five year repeat in 2026 if the way the projections are going.

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Yeah, so keep in mind here folks, we will be previewing 2026 for the World of Professional Wrestling on next week's edition of Show on New Year's Day.

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So stay tuned for that because I'm with you, Dr. Trey.

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I do think that there is a lot of competition coming for event of the year next year.

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With that said, let's get to the next category here which is feud of the year.

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This is one of my favorites that we do each year is feud.

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That's what the professional wrestling to me is all about is such a good feud.

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It gets you entertained and ingrained in everything that is going on in that world of professional wrestling.

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Looking back at recent winners in 2022, I had seen Punk vs MJF, Dr. Trey Cody Rhodes with his versus Seth Rollins.

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In 2023, I had Swarth Strickland and Hangman on a page.

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Dr. Trey had Sammy Zand, Kevin Owens in the bloodline.

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And in 2024, both Dr. Trey and I had CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre.

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Dr. Trey, why don't you start first here with your 2025 feud of the year?

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You know, it's funny when I was looking at this.

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I was like, man, really all I need to do is basically go back through our past winners and pick two guys.

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And go, if these guys ever lock up or ever really get a program going, it's going to be really good.

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And for this year is exactly that.

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Two of our past winners for me coming out as a few of the we're here.

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So I'm going to WWE and I'm going CM Punk, Seth Rollins.

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Like those two guys are the epitome of what storytelling and professional wrestling is.

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That's why they've been past winners with past rivalries.

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This year, I mean, that rival was really good.

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It drew CM Punk's wife out of retirement to get involved in this.

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And this feud would still be going probably if Seth had not gotten injured.

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So my feud of 2025, CM Punk and Seth Rollins.

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Yeah, Dr. Trey, that is my winner for a few of the years as well.

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CM Punk vs Seth Rollins.

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So for back to back years, you and I now have the same feud of the year.

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And for me, since 2022 now, three of the last four years of my feud of the year has involved one CM Punk.

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This has been a dream feud.

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This is one that even when Punk was on the sidelines, even when Punk was in AEW, this was something fans wanted to see.

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They wanted to see CM Punk vs Seth Rollins so much so that when CM Punk returned to the company in 2023, everybody was like,

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"The first thing is, it's got to be Seth Rollins." Seth Rollins notably like lost his mind, lost his cool, freaked out during war games.

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Drew McAter also left the ring reportedly.

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There were people that weren't happy about it. They didn't know about it.

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It was really blurring the lines of, is this real or is this real or a shoot brother?

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So nobody truly knew.

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Then Seth Rollins gets hurt.

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So that feud gets on, our punk gets hurt.

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And so the feud gets on ice, where Punk gets injured in the rumble, which then lead by Drew McAter, which leads to a great feud, our feud of the year last year with Drew McAter in 2024.

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And then Punk and Rollins go at it.

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And they finally intertwine at the first show of the year on Netflix, on Raw.

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And that carries itself over to WrestleMania.

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Rollins gets hurt, then caches in on Punk at Summerslam, showing that he wasn't actually hurt.

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And then unfortunately the feud went on pause again with Seth Rollins getting hurt.

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So there's a very decent possibility to try that maybe Punk and Rollins rekindle in 2026 as well.

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Because I'm not necessarily sure that Rollins returns as a babyface despite his exit from the vision.

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So we shall see, but you and I both picking the same feud of the year once again, a dream feud at one time that became reality, CM Punk versus Seth Rollins.

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Yeah, and it just goes back to where we're saying earlier, like the story telling.

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Like it may be long term that they blur the line between working shoots.

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You know, the story of the fact that like CM Punk was a mentor to Rollins.

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And then when he left wrestling, he kind of cut ties with Seth.

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And then when Punk comes back to wrestling, he's bashing WWE and Seth takes it personal.

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It's the point now where we hear stories where like these guys actually get along now again.

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Like you went from like teacher student to like we really hate each other.

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We really wish the worst on each other to now like these guys actually have dinner together like as couples, you know, like Seth and Becky are hanging out with AJ and and Punk like out in these towns and stuff.

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It's like it's crazy how the world of the fashion wrestling really works.

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But you know, arguably two of the best storytellers in the ring and showing their emotion and showing, you know, blurring those lines where we're like, man, like these guys are just really, really good at making you buy in and believe.

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So naturally pairing them up, you should get that same kind of firework magic out of it.

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And you know, for all intensive purposes they did. And if Seth, I mean, if Seth does come back as a baby face, it leads into tension with CM Punk.

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And you might get this rivalry again at late 2026 or early 2027.

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And if both guys are healthy, this might be a few to the year again down the line.

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Yeah, I totally agree with you. So there you go. Our few to the year is one CM Punk and Seth Rollins.

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And now let's get to our match of the year. I would be surprised. I'm going to preface this by saying if Dr. Trayn I have the same match of the year.

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In 2022, we both had Steve Austin, Kevin Owens and a holds bar match from WrestleMania 38.

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In 2023, I'd read Ripley and Charlotte Flair from WrestleMania 39, Dr. Trayn, it's Worf Strickland and Hangman at the page from A.W. full gear.

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And then last year you and I both had the same feud of the year, or excuse me, match the year as CM Punk versus Drew McAhtier and Hell of the Cell match from WWE Bad Blood.

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Dr. Trayn, I will start with my 2025 match of the year followed by you. Looking back at my favorite matches of the year, looking back at my matches of the Knights from PLEs and then some other matches that weren't captured in the PLE pay-per-view recaps that we do throughout the year.

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And one thing stood out the most to me, my favorite matches of the year had one particular person in it and that was John Cena.

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John Cena will be a recipient once again of a match of the year, which is something I never thought I would see in the history of the show.

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And there was a period of time where Punk, excuse me, Cena was a winner of this award each year for three years in 2011, 12 and 13 when he took on CM Punk in 11, rock in 2012, and then CM Punk again in 2013.

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And if you would ask me years ago, do you ever think that you'll hand out a John Cena match of the year against this particular person, I would tell you that you're crazy, but I am.

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So you go back to WWE Night of Champions and for me, it was all the feels, right? I tested that earlier to you, Dr. Trayn, before we went into the show.

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It has to be all the feels, and for me, it was John Cena versus CM Punk from WWE Night of Champions. I selected these two in 2011 from the Money in the Bank match that year, and then in 2013 in a match from Monday Night Raw back in February 2013.

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And here I am in 2025, what's old is new and what's new is old. As John Cena versus CM Punk from WWE Night of Champions is my match of the year, I will preface this by saying that a very close second was of course John Cena versus AJ Styles from WWE Night of Champions.

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AJ Styles from WWE Crown Jewel because I felt like that was a love letter to professional wrestling. So that's why I picked Dr. Trayn, well I was all in the feels on this one, Cena Punk Night of Champions, my match of the year, what is your selection for match of the year?

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CM and you're right, we disagree on match of the year, but we do have the wrestler right, and you just said mine. We just inverted our top two picks. You went with Cena and Punk, and for me, my match of the year was from Crown Jewel in October, AJ Styles and John Cena.

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And you said it's every right, it's about being in the feels, it's about that love letter to professional wrestling, it's about paying homage to everybody they've worked with in a lot of ways.

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We saw every move in the book, I mean John Cena hit an end of days, like paying homage to Baron Corbin of all people, you know, skull crushing fanalities, you know, I mean just every thing that they get, I mean, Scorpion Death Drops, like just everything they could possibly pull out in this match.

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Not to mention John Cena's handwritten introduction for AJ Styles that he gave to Alicia Taylor, not getting it cleared by anybody, you know, anybody in WWE, Alicia never sought until John handed it to her, and just the professionalism and the respect that Alicia Taylor had by just going, alright this is what John wants me to do, this is what we're reading.

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Just beautiful, beautiful story, but you're absolutely right, like this year alone, like we talked about a couple of weeks ago, like Cena really outside of the Brock Lesnar match, everybody kind of universally doesn't like Cena didn't have a bad match in 2025, every match he had, you could tell he was putting everything into it, and that's why arguably he's in the top two matches of the year for us.

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For me, my pick is Cena and AJ, but you can't go wrong with Cena and Punk at night of champions either, so just inverting our picks one and two, I think for each of us, got us to this point.

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Dr. Trayf, I told you a year ago that our match of the year was going to involve John Cena and one of us would pick Cena and Punk the other would pick AJ Styles, would you think that I was crazy?

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Um, crazy no, because I kind of thought that Cena wouldn't half-ass this, I figured Cena would at least have one or two really great matches because if nothing else, Cena can put together a match that will get you invested in it.

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So I don't think I would have said you were crazy, I just would have said it was probably a little bit unlikely, but I did think you would have at least one or two great matches this year, I just didn't think it'd be six.

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Yeah, no, I mean Cena delivered this year, it was a lot of fun, and yeah, we'll see if the momentum continues for John Cena here in just a little bit with some other categories that he could be aligned with.

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So match of the year, John Cena, congratulations on winning both with two different dance partners in one CM Punk and AJ Styles.

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Uh, this next category is, is going to be an interesting one. It is tag team of the year.

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Uh, this Dr. Trayf is, is something I, I really struggled with because I did not feel like a tag team really broke away like they had had in the past.

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Uh, recent winners of this award in 2022, you and I both had the Usos in 2023. I had Sammy Zane and Kevin Owens, you had FTR.

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And last year, you and I both had Nathan Frazier and Axiom, also known as Fraxiom. Dr. Trayf, let's start with you. Who is your 2025 tag team of the year?

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So you're absolutely right. Like nobody really jumps off the page and just took ownership of this. Like it kind of came down to quality of work, um, storytelling, you know, character driven stuff.

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Like I really love the new day heel turn and what they've done, but just body of work wasn't that great. I guess I've looked at some other tag teams and I went, you know what?

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I, what's old is new again. And the team I enjoyed watching the most this year and a little bit was because of a nostalgia.

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But my tag team of the year for 2025, I'm going to TNA. I am picking Matt and Jeff, the Hardy boys or the Hardees or brother Nero and broken Matt, whichever incarnation you want to look at.

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I mean, they had a hell of a year in TNA, multiple time tag team champions. They broke through the door and went to NXT and won the NXT tag team championships, although briefly for like a week.

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But for just, it's a little bit of their longevity. It's a little bit of their, their ability to kind of keep evolving.

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But this year alone, they had a hell of a year and I think in for quality of work throughout the entire year, I'm going to Matt and Jeff, the Hardy boys for my tag team of the year.

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Dr. Trey, I love that pick. That is a great selection. I think that they had a great year overall. I always feel a little bit weird about selecting anything TNA myself because I don't watch them on a weekly basis.

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It's like just watching clips, stuff that I see on NXT, YouTube videos, that type of stuff. It's unfortunately never watching like front of back shows because Thursdays is the one night of the week it feels like now that there is no professional wrestling going on.

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While I love the selection and they are very deserving and I think that this is the first time they've ever won this award in the history of our shows.

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So we started hand this out in 2016 and quickly looking, I don't see anything in regards to handing this award out whatsoever to the Hardies, which is wild to think.

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But then again, these are folks that they were not wrestling as a tag team for the most part over the last several years.

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So great selection there by Dr. Trey, selecting the Hardy boys. For me, my tag team of the year, oddly enough, is a tag team that held absolutely no tag team gold in 2025, which is odd.

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And maybe goes against completely everything that I feel about in this award, like you should ever run as tag team champions. But when I look back at all the tag teams that I found very entertaining and enjoyed watching, the Hardy boys that Dr. Trey selected was certainly one of them.

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For me, the other one that I found to be most entertaining and enjoyed watching was Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Box.

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They are my pick for the 2025 tag team of the year from AW. They did not have a run as AW tag team champions. However, the founding father stuff, the run that they had as a tag team in various big deal matches, the broke bucks, then turning babyface.

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I felt like they had an amazing years of tag team and they never held tag team gold once unless they get this like fluky victory over FTR while we've already pre-recorded a couple shows during the holidays.

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So Dr. Trey, I wasn't fully confident in this, but I stand by it because I really enjoy their year. I'm going with Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Box is my tag team of the year.

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Yeah, I like that pick as well. And that's kind of what I was saying earlier. There really isn't a tag team that just had an amazing year that kind of transcends everybody else.

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And when you're talking about the Young Box, it's similar in a way to what New Day is doing in WW. It's more about care driven, it's more storyline driven.

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It's more about developing a new look and a new persona. So they had an amazing year start to finish because it was all about it wasn't about wins and losses, it wasn't about championships, it was just about putting them in a different light.

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And from where they start out the year, the founding fathers to basically being broken destitute to where they're at now. It's pretty incredible. So a hell of a pick on your part as well, picking the Young Box as your tag team of the year.

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All right, there you go. Our tag team the year for me, it was Matt and Jeff, or excuse me, for Dr. Shraight was Matt and Jeff Hardy from TNA. And for myself, it was Matt and Nick Jackson from All Elite Wrestling.

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And now it's time to hand out our female wrestler of the year dating back to 2022. Dr. Shraight and I both had Bianca Belair. In 2023, we both had Rio Ripley.

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And in 2024, we both had live Morgan. In fact, we have picked the same selection every year since 2022. The last time we did not was in 2021 when I selected Bianca Belair and Dr. Tray selected Dr. Britt Baker.

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DMD, remember her folks. Now it is time to hand out our female wrestler of the year. And let's see if we can make it four years straight.

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Dr. Tray, I talked about this a lot over the year where I was like, hey, Stephanie Valkor, I think she's in contention here for Breakouts R the Year. Could she also be the female wrestler of the year? And we debated this a lot and kind of went back and forth on it and said, maybe yes, no.

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Well, I am doing the unthinkable here and I am going with Stephanie Valkor as my female wrestler of the year. She won Breakouts R earlier in the show. I felt like she obviously had a Breakout year.

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But when you look back again at everything that she accomplished as a female wrestler, I don't think anybody did it better. Again, NXT Women's North American Championship.

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NXT Women's Champion. Women's World Champion on the RAW brand. Virole moments, great matches. Over character, one of the most popular in WWE right now. Dr. Tray, an amazing year for her. I gave Stephanie Valkor my female wrestler of the year.

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Yeah, it's weird when you actually go from January until now. You ever see those stock market grass where they have like four stocks and they're all going up and down and you see one will pass one and then drop below.

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I kind of felt that way with this. For me, earlier in the year, I'm like, man, this is Tony Storm's year. And then it's the Mercedes Monatio. And then you got EO Sky and you got Stephanie Valkor.

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And you got Chelsea Green had some great moments this year. You're like, wow, like what you had said, was it last week about the state of women's wrestling being so strong.

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It was kind of that way with this category where you're like, man, it could be really one out of any five of those at any given moment through the year. But when it came time for end of the year from beginning to end, Jeff, I can't disagree with you.

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I nobody has had a more impactful year in women's wrestling than Stephanie Valkor just the old adage of the rocket ship being strapped to their back. Like that was Stephanie Valkor. Like ever since you know she came on the scene.

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You know, she is just being gold. So for my female wrestler of the year, I have Stephanie Valkor as well.

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Again, going back to something earlier on in the show fights when I had said like if I told you a year ago, would you believe this that John Cena would be in match of the year.

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Do you think January one of this year if it was like, Hey, you and Jeff last show of the year are going to be picking Stephanie Valkor as your female wrestler the year. Would you believe it?

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Oh, yeah, I would have said no way. I mean, you look at the star power of the women's division when you look at the reas the beyond because the Jade cargels Tiffany Stratton at that point was having an amazing year.

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The Tony storms, Mariah May/Blake Monroe, Mercedes, I'm gonna like Stephanie was even like you said earlier Stephanie wasn't even the top choice out of the class she came in with because we all thought it would be Julia over Stephanie and W.

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It was the same way because Julia got the women's title before Stephanie. So if you had said that Stephanie was your pick, I would be like maybe she's 10th. Maybe she fishes the top 10, not number one, just an amazing run for Stephanie Valkor and arguably every man's favorite move in professional wrestling her version of the devil's kiss.

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And as you say that everybody is thinking about poker tea. So there you go. Congratulations to Stephanie Valkor our female wrestler of the year. And now let's get to our male wrestler of the year who from the world of professional wrestling in the male gender was the wrestler of the year dating back to 2022.

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And I both had Roman Reigns in 2023. I had Seth Freakin wronged Dr. Trey at MJF in 2024. I had Cody Rhodes Dr. Trey had drew a Macatire and now we hand out the 2025 version of male wrestler of the year. Dr. Trey I went first for the female wrestler of the year. Now it's your turn to start with the male wrestler of the year.

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Looking back at 2025, who was the male wrestler of the year? This one on one hand was kind of hard, but then when I sat down and kind of laid everything out from me, there kind of became a clear cut winner. Like I was looking at a bunch of different people trying to narrow the field down and it kind of came down to just like who had the best year, who had like the most moments, who had the most championships, who had everything that you kind of want in a year.

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And Jeff, I'm going John Cena for 2025. Like we I said it earlier to show he did not outside the Brock Lesnar match did not have a bad match. He put over the young talent.

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He had incredible moments, whether it was him turning heel or his retirement match, the matches with punk, the matches with Organ, the match with AJ.

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I mean, he had matches with Logan Paul, Dominic, Mysterio, like he was all over the place. Broke Rick Flair's record, beginning at 17 time World Champion, got an inner continental title win during this run.

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What I have like to have more than 35 dates, absolutely, but you know, arguably had the two biggest moments in professional wrestling this year with him turning heel and him retiring.

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I just can't think of anybody who had a more standout year where people were taking notice than John Cena this year. So for 2025, I'm picking John Cena.

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Yeah, Dr. Trey, I think for the first time since 2022, you and I are going to have the same winner here because I went with John Cena as my real male wrestler of the year as well.

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And it's a lot of what you said, maybe the best stories, the best matches, the person who generated the most emotion, good and bad throughout the entire year was John Cena.

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And this is not like a, we're handing this out as a lifetime achievement award. He earned it. I think John Cena was the best wrestler of the year from the males.

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And it was not even close, quite honestly, maybe the closest one was Seth Freakin Rollins and and he got injured.

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But for me, it was, it was John Cena for most of the year and it stayed that way to the very end here in the last show of the year.

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So you and I both going with John Cena as the male wrestler of the year and it's one of those things Dr. Trey that again, it's like what I've ever thought that John Cena would be the male wrestler of the year on the show.

355
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I, I didn't because I never thought he would do like nearly close to a full year. I know he did like 36 appearances or less than 40.

356
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And which is still not a lot, but it was enough where he delivered and put on an enjoyable year. So both you and I go with John Cena as male wrestler of the year, Dr. Trey. It's pretty surprising.

357
00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:39,800
Yeah, no, and maybe it also shows like a little bit in like, you know, injuries played a role because you know you mentioned Seth Rollins. I was thinking CM Punk, hangman page had a great year in AEW.

358
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But you know kind of felt like a little bit short.

359
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Kyle Fletcher, like I mentioned earlier had a great year. There are a few guys, but I don't know if anybody had, you know, the momentum throughout the entire year and you go back to, you know, the rumble, the elimination chamber and then just, I mean, he had a great match of Sammy Zayn that got cut short by Brock Lesnar.

360
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But just overall from start to finish from January to December, nobody was putting on better matches. Nobody was getting you more invested in the storytelling than John's.

361
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I mean, hell, the match with our truth was short, but it made an impact emotionally on everybody. So yeah, from top from start to finished, you know, throughout the entire year, nobody had a better year than John Cena.

362
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So there you go. Congratulations to John Cena, both of our 2025 male wrestler of the year. And now that gets us to the wrestling promotion of the year.

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Dr. Trey and I have picked the same winner for this award every year since it's been introduced in 2019 when we picked NXT in 2020 AEW in 2021.

364
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And SmackDown and for 22, 23, 24, it was Monday Night Raw. We do break up the WWE shows as brands as part of the wrestling promotion of the year.

365
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And let's see if that trend continues, Dr. Trey, because I had a tough time. This is the one I met at the beginning of the show where I was going to select something that I don't watch regularly as the wrestling promotion of the year and I was going to pick TNA.

366
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But I don't think that's, I think that's like a nice award to give out, even though I don't watch TNA and I think that's the wrong thing to do.

367
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I thought AEW and NXT had some really good years, a really good year of like a comeback and really rejuvenated and getting back to those levels that they were in 19 and 20 when they had won wrestling promotion of the year.

368
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And I thought SmackDown had a down year, which I guess WWE is acknowledging that they had a down year for this SmackDown brand, so they have to add a third hour starting like is it next week or two weeks from now, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I digress.

369
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With that being said, for me at the end of the day, when I look back at wrestling promotion of the year, my favorite show to watch, my favorite brand of show to watch is still WWE Raw.

370
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So for me, for the fourth straight year, I am going with a red brand in WWE, Dr. Trey, and I am picking Raw.

371
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What say you, what is your wrestling promotion of the year?

372
00:57:10,800 --> 00:57:27,800
So we're disagreeing for the first time in forever, like we're actually disagreeing and it's not by much, like you're right, like to me, excuse me, wrestling kind of, I don't say it kind of evened out a little bit like I was getting joy out of every show.

373
00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:37,800
Yeah, SmackDown was out of all the ones you named off SmackDown would probably be in the lowest one on my total poll, but I got joy from watching TNA, AEW Raw, NXT.

374
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So for me, my promotion of the year, I'm going to NXT. I think NXT had a really, really great year, some really great storytelling.

375
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This is where I kind of cheat code a little bit and say, hey, the crossover TNA has been great.

376
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Getting the Joe Henry's, the Jordan Grace's, the Leon Slater's, the Hardies.

377
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We saw Matt Cardona in NXT this year, which led to him appearing on in the John Cena tournament.

378
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Just from storytelling, in-ring, everything else. For me, promotion of the year, I got to take the upset. I'm taking NXT for my promotion of the year.

379
00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:30,800
Wow, that's crazy, man. I felt like they had a great year. I really do. And there was a period of time I felt like that we would never give them that award again when they were in that 2.0 era.

380
00:58:30,800 --> 00:58:35,800
So I'm really happy to see that they are getting acknowledged for having a very strong year. And they are a fun show to watch.

381
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The Women's Division there is as equally as fun as the Women's Division that you see on Raw and SmackDown.

382
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The Men's Division has really improved. They have some really good characters. The secondary titles, whether it's the Women's or the Men's North American Championship or a lot of fun.

383
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And of all the brands in WWE, they seem to be doing tag team wrestling the best. At least acknowledging tag team wrestling in general here for the general part of the entire year.

384
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:10,800
So I go with WWE Raw, Dr. Trey goes with WWE NXT. And for the very first time since we launched the award in 2019, we have a different wrestling promotion of the year.

385
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Let's recap now, Dr. Trey. Before we get to the SRTU wrestler of the year, our new story of the year was for me, Hulk Hogan passing away.

386
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Dr. Trey had wrestling and changing platforms to air their content. Breakouts started the year. I had Stephanie Vaakor, Dr. Trey had Kyle Fletcher.

387
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Moment of the year, I had John Cena turning heel at WWE elimination chamber. Dr. Trey had John Cena's farewell at Saturday night to make event John Cena's final match.

388
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A event of the year, we both had WWE WrestleMania 41. Few to the year, we both had CM Punk vs Seth Rollins. Match of the year, I had John Cena vs CM Punk from WWE United Champions.

389
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Dr. Trey had John Cena vs AJ Styles from WWE Crown Jewel. Tag team of the year are the Young Bucks, Matt Nick Jackson, Dr. Trey are the Hardy Boys, Jeff and Matt Hardy.

390
00:59:56,800 --> 01:00:06,800
Female wrestler of the year, both of us had Stephanie Vaakor, Male wrestler of the year, both of us had John Cena. And as we just discussed, wrestling promotion of the year, I WWE Raw, Dr. Trey had WWE NXT.

391
01:00:06,800 --> 01:00:14,800
Before we get to SRTU wrestler of the year, Dr. Trey, any thoughts on all of the award winners that we've handed out thus far?

392
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:26,800
No, I just think it shows once again the depth and professional wrestling that you can have differentiating viewpoints and still have solid selections. I don't think anything was completely off the radar.

393
01:00:26,800 --> 01:00:36,800
A lot of the picks that we had that were different, that were different. The other person had that one highly ranked too.

394
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:50,800
So it just goes to show it, it's kind of like what is your flavor of choice? What's your favorite food on the buffet? Are you more in the storytelling? Are you more into the entering action? Where do you fall into on that stuff?

395
01:00:50,800 --> 01:01:10,800
The depth of talent in professional wrestling is as high as it's ever been. So it just goes to show it like, you know, you and I have been doing this show together for 14 years and you and I can watch the same show and get slightly differing viewpoints and slightly differing things on it. But overall, I think still the state of professional wrestling is in good health.

396
01:01:10,800 --> 01:01:23,800
Yeah, Dr. Trey, I agree with you. Professional wrestling is in good hands right now. It is very healthy. It's it's despite a year where we had a lot of different award winners and difficulty picking award winners. It's not very cut and dry.

397
01:01:23,800 --> 01:01:33,800
It is still very healthy and that is not me getting choked up. That is just me dealing with seasonal allergies, which is what I call 365 days a year.

398
01:01:33,800 --> 01:01:45,800
With that said, Dr. Trey, let's get to the MVP award that we hand out. That is our SRTU wrestler of the year dating back to the very first show in 2010.

399
01:01:45,800 --> 01:01:53,800
I selected the Miz Eric Ardua, the former host selected Chris Shericho in 2011. I selected CM Punk, the former host Eric Ardua, the selected Randy Orton.

400
01:01:53,800 --> 01:02:03,800
And then in 2012, Dr. Trey joined us for the whole way through we both selected CM Punk. In 2013, we both selected Dana Bryan. In 2014 and 2015, we both selected Seth Rollins.

401
01:02:03,800 --> 01:02:14,800
In 2016 and 2017, we both selected AJ Styles. In 2018, I selected Ketio Omega, Dr. Trey selected Tomaso Champa. In 2019, I selected Adam Cole, Dr. Trey selected Becky Lynch.

402
01:02:14,800 --> 01:02:23,800
In 2020, we both selected Drew McIntyre. In 2021, we both selected Roman Reigns. In 2022, I selected Roman Reigns, Dr. Trey selected the Bloodline.

403
01:02:23,800 --> 01:02:37,800
In 2023, we both selected Rio Ripley. And last year, I selected Cody Rhodes and Dr. Trey selected Drew McIntyre. With that said, it is now time to hand out our SRTU Award.

404
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:49,800
So, wrestler of the year award, Dr. Trey, I went first with wrestling promotion of the year. So let's start with you. Who is your 2025 wrestler of the year?

405
01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:56,800
Yeah, so it's weird when you're listening to those names because I'm like, damn, every single one of those guys is still an active wrestler.

406
01:02:56,800 --> 01:03:11,800
Like, nobody's retired off our list. Like, nobody's gone away. And even though some guys may be farther down the totem pole, like a Tomaso Champa, like all these guys are still out there slinging away, which shows you once again, wrestling isn't good hand. It's in great health.

407
01:03:11,800 --> 01:03:20,800
That being said, my 2025 wrestler of the year is somebody who's leaving professional wrestling.

408
01:03:20,800 --> 01:03:28,800
To me, this was the year of John Cena. And it's kind of hard for me, like as much as I love Stephanie Baccor in the year she had.

409
01:03:28,800 --> 01:03:36,800
Like, she, you know, she had moments where you forgot that she was the champion of times. And Cena's been on the focal point of the show the entire year.

410
01:03:36,800 --> 01:03:41,800
He's had great matches. He's had great storytelling. He's had great moments.

411
01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:49,800
And this is not the lifetime achievement award. Because if you go back to those early days of SRTU, I was not a huge John Cena fan of the early days.

412
01:03:49,800 --> 01:04:02,800
This is literally like the guy just went out and kicked ass and brought it every single moment he had knowing this was his final run. So for 2025, my performer, the year is John Cena.

413
01:04:02,800 --> 01:04:09,800
Yeah, Dr. Tran, I'm going to get right to it as well. My 2025 SRT wrestler, the year is John Cena as well.

414
01:04:09,800 --> 01:04:15,800
This is the first time you and I have selected the same winner since 2023, two years ago when you and I selected Rhea Ripley.

415
01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:24,800
Again, this is not like a lifetime achievement award. This is not a legacy award. This is someone who really earned it and had a great year.

416
01:04:24,800 --> 01:04:32,800
I don't want to repeat everything that I said from male wrestler of the year. So it's going to be quasi repetitive here. But he had the best year out of everyone.

417
01:04:32,800 --> 01:04:41,800
It was entertaining. Great matches. A rollercoaster of emotions. Both good, bad, shocking and everything in between. And it was a ton of fun.

418
01:04:41,800 --> 01:04:55,800
And it's amazing that in the history of this show, John Cena never won the award once from myself, from Dr. Tray, or even when Eric Ardjoula was doing the show back in the early 2010 and 11 run of SRT.

419
01:04:55,800 --> 01:05:06,800
So he had never won this award. And this is when he was on top and delivering as well. And it's when he's leaving professional wrestling that when he gets this award finally and it's poetic in a way, Dr. Tray.

420
01:05:06,800 --> 01:05:19,800
I love saying that word a lot when it comes to John Cena 2025. And I think it's the best way to kind of close it off in 2025 overall on our last show here is that John Cena winning our SRT wrestler of the year is poetic.

421
01:05:19,800 --> 01:05:39,800
It's it's just and he earned it and he deserved it. He had the best best year of any wrestler in professional wrestling this past year. And it was a joy to watch. And it's fun that you and I both gave this award to him. I'm glad we're on the same page here as you and I both give John Cena our SRT wrestler of the year. Dr. Tray.

422
01:05:39,800 --> 01:06:04,800
Yeah, it's it's funny like when when I got into the wrestling business myself back in 2014. I I wanted to do everything. I want to be everywhere and then you know the older guys just hit me down and go less is more or less is more or less is more and is something I had to learn and teach the younger guys now like, Hey, you can do all the fancy moves, but sometimes it's just about getting the audience to really feel the emotion and you don't have to do as much work and.

423
01:06:04,800 --> 01:06:23,800
You know, there was part of me that thought Cena would kind of go out and just kind of throw it in for you know, throwing the throw the towel, but just kind of ballpark it in how you want to phrase it as far as like, you know, just you know, work your way through a get through the year and you know, send the people out. You might have a couple of good.

424
01:06:23,800 --> 01:06:38,800
The dude brought it every single show he was on this year, even the Brock Lesnar match, which I've trashed repeatedly on this show tonight. He put his effort in like he went out and did it and we talk about like going out on your shield or going out on your own terms.

425
01:06:38,800 --> 01:06:53,800
It is hard to say that this man did not go out on his own terms and it was there's some storytelling that might have been flaw was a couple things that we wish had done differently. Absolutely, but you're trying to cram in a bunch of stuff into a limited amount of days and he earned this award.

426
01:06:53,800 --> 01:07:06,800
He brought it every single night gave every game of the fans everything he had during this tour. So for somebody to say it's a lifetime achievement award or you know, something like that is it's no.

427
01:07:06,800 --> 01:07:16,800
The guy went out and did his work and put in the effort and earned that right to stand on top of our mountain for 2025.

428
01:07:16,800 --> 01:07:25,800
I could not say it and better Dr. Trey, congratulations to John Cena our 2025 SRT you wrestler the year. Congratulations to all of our other award winners as well.

429
01:07:25,800 --> 01:07:35,800
It's amazing that this is the 16th annual SRT award show special for 2025. I said to Dr. Trey before we hit record. I was like I remember just doing this like last year.

430
01:07:35,800 --> 01:07:48,800
Here we are again. So we get through like 52 weeks of the year and here we are wrapping up 2025 with our award show once again with that said let's close up shop on this week's edition the show we'll get a couple plugs in spots of the way.

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You could support us at patreon.com/srtupodcast. We are free all month long. You could sign up as a free member and get all the content available to you for free over at our patreon page patreon.com.

432
01:07:58,800 --> 01:08:07,800
So that's our TU podcast we're asking all of our listeners to please go there please go there sign up that way we can see how big our community is in the world of SRT we're not asking you to pay.

433
01:08:07,800 --> 01:08:16,800
We're just asking to go there support sign up as we evolve in 2026 and use that platform as a way to communicate with all of our great listeners.

434
01:08:16,800 --> 01:08:20,800
So if you enjoy this show go there sign up for free please we really appreciate it.

435
01:08:20,800 --> 01:08:28,800
You can download the show every Thursday or Friday at realguymedia.com/restlchatnet on x and still real though show feed on Apple Spotify for wherever you download this podcast.

436
01:08:28,800 --> 01:08:38,800
Give us a rate review and subscribe on all those platforms that helps us out greatly you could fall into individually on X for myself at SRT U Jeff and for Dr. Frank Land at D.

437
01:08:38,800 --> 01:08:55,800
And of course the follow show on S on X at SRT U podcast before I hand it over to Dr. Trey just real quick to send all of our thank you for 2025 thank you to all of you for downloading subscribing and being there all throughout the year to support SRT U we greatly appreciate it.

438
01:08:55,800 --> 01:09:03,800
Thank you to the one and only Dr. Trey Franklin for joining us every single week and take your time out of his busy schedule to do the show with me each and every week.

439
01:09:03,800 --> 01:09:17,800
Thank you to all of our families mine Dr. Trey's for allowing us to sit here for a week once a week for an hour to talk about professional wrestling and our love professional wrestling thank you to all of our families both mine again and Dr. Trey's of course.

440
01:09:17,800 --> 01:09:26,800
And it's been a great year it's been a fun year to really recap look back on in 2025 and we appreciate all of you for being there for us.

441
01:09:26,800 --> 01:09:36,800
So with that being said let's hand it over here to Dr. Trey for what is going on the wonderful world of Dr. Trey Franklin and his 2025 thank you for this week.

442
01:09:36,800 --> 01:09:47,800
Well like Jeff said you can follow me on X at the Dr. Trey you can find me on Facebook and Instagram Dr. Trey Franklin when you're on Facebook that's where you can see all about me.

443
01:09:47,800 --> 01:10:03,800
If you want to know who I want to thank it's all the people you see on my Facebook page so like my wife Jeff's wife we have two women in our lives have put up with us doing a podcast every single week Jeff's with his wife for him like almost a decade now I've been with mine for around a decade.

444
01:10:03,800 --> 01:10:14,800
So the fact that they put up with us doing this we have to say big thank you so those guys to those ladies otherwise Jeff and I would be lonely sitting in our parents basements talking about wrestling.

445
01:10:14,800 --> 01:10:29,800
Thank you to all the listeners who reach out to us chime in help support the show give us extra things to talk about we're hoping then 2026 the Patreon page will be even bigger with more personalized content for listeners as well.

446
01:10:29,800 --> 01:10:41,800
So big thank you to them big thank you to Jeff Jeff puts up with my crazy schedule as much as anybody does crazy stuff comes up Jeff runs solo that's because he's a true professional in every sense of the word.

447
01:10:41,800 --> 01:10:57,800
And it's amazing that I've said this many times the fact that we've been together for 14 years doing this show is a testament to the the patients that Jeff has for me and our crazy schedule so big shout out to him.

448
01:10:57,800 --> 01:11:10,800
But also you're going on Facebook page and explore hey go check out rock a city championship wrestling because we have the rock a city rumble coming up here in just a couple weeks as we get into rumble season you'll see rumbles popping up all over the country.

449
01:11:10,800 --> 01:11:18,800
It is like the indie promoters fantasy where he can just go and have 30 people show up at his show and stick him in a ring and let him fight it out.

450
01:11:18,800 --> 01:11:32,800
So get out there support your local independent wrestling scene just as much as you support us where you can find the next step to the core devil's kissing people all over the place and pay a lot less money for that than you would for all the streaming platforms you see or do it on.

451
01:11:32,800 --> 01:12:00,800
Yeah there you go support all the great things that support SRT you and once again thank you to all of you for supporting us each and every week 2025 is in the books we will be back next week to wrap up the holiday program is scheduled on New Year's Day for our 2026 wrestling preview special I go back listen to our recap of 2025 from last week show if you've missed it and also listening back to our bold predictions and rest of any 41 card predictions from the first show of this year as well.

452
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Enjoy the holidays enjoy Christmas and until next year in 2026 for Dr. Dre Franklin I am Jeff Pack this has been the still real touch show we greatly thank you for all of your support.