Cena vs. Orton: The Greatest Rivalry Ever? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #795 – 05/08/25

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It's still real to me, damn it!

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What are we doing?

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Welcome everybody!

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Welcome to this week's "A Listen to Still Real" show,

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Episode number 795 from May 8, 2025.

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Welcome to your WWE Backlast preview and predictions edition of "S"

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RTU.

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I am one half the show, I am Jeff Peckin.

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Typically join most weeks by the one of the way, Dr. Franklin.

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Dr. Trey couldn't be here this week, so this is a solo show edition of "SRTU" my friends.

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Welcome one and all, welcome to this week's edition of "SRTU" never fear.

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We do have Dr. Trey's Backlash predictions that we will cover later on in the show,

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but this is a solo edition of "SRTU" Dr. Trey having a little bit of a family emergency.

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Prior to recording this week, everybody is fine, he just could not get the opportunity to sit down and talk with you fine.

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Folks, he will be back next week as we recap and review everything from WWE Backlash.

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Hope everybody enjoyed last week's special edition of "SRTU" as we gave you our Ultimate Resmaniac card.

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Took a little bit of a break following the rest of my new season.

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It is a grind for us wrestling podcasters out there,

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so it was nice to take a little bit of a time off.

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For about a week, recalibrate a little bit, then look towards this post-Russellmania 41 World that we now live in.

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And we're jumping right into it with PLE this Saturday with Backlash.

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I got to be honest, I'm not a huge fan that WWE is doing this.

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I really think that they should space things out.

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I would be totally fine if they did one in late May, or just jump to money in the bank.

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Doing one two weeks after WWE Resmaniac?

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Like, what are we doing?

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That, to me, is unnecessary.

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You know, it's, give it a little bit of time to breathe.

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I mean, they do a period of time where, in November, they will run Seriah Series War games,

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and then, well, the special they did the Saturday Night's Man event in there,

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but they won't run another PLE until World Rumble.

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And that is nearly two months.

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The most, it's about two months in between, and it's like, what do we, you know, that, to me,

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it gives it a lot of time to breathe.

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It helps build up towards one of the biggest PLEs of the year.

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I know WWE is gangbusters right now, and now that's, you know,

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Phil is many arenas as possible, you have people tune into a PLE on a Saturday Night as much as possible.

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The paper for you, game is change in WWE's eyes, but it's like, what are we doing?

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Like, just, maybe use this time to just build up to what's happened post-Rasimani and not shotgun a PLE for the most part?

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Because even when you look at the card, it's a card that screams shotgun for the most part.

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And we'll run through the card, five matches announced.

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The one thing that is bringing me to the excitement level for Backlash outside of just being a wrestling fan in general,

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obviously is the John Cena Randy Orton match.

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We had predicted St. Louis Mazzurri that this would be the show that they would probably run the Cena Orton match.

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And this is what they've gone forward with.

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And I think, to me, that's another reason why I would have liked to see this PLE in between

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WrestleMania and Monday the Bank get a little bit more breathing room because I don't think we're getting a good opportunity to truly understand what we will be seeing this Saturday.

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There's been a lot of nostalgia, a lot of good video packages and these are things that I think WWE could have cap it on for weeks and weeks and really build to this and make it really a nice build for what is going to be the last time between John Cena or Andy Orton in a ring.

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Because quite honestly, when you look at the history of rivalries in World of R Us Entertainment, I don't think that there has ever been a rivalry that is paralleled nearly 20 plus years in WWE like the John Cena Randy Orton feud has.

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It is the few that basically captures that post WWE Attitude Era, the Ruthis Aggression Era, whatever you want to call it, the coming out of Steve Austin and the Rock and Triple H and Undertaker, the Attitude Era.

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As I said, it was John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista that were the flag bears and Batista eventually went away in the late 2010s or early 2010s but it was Randy Orton and John Cena that remained constant at all time.

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And it always felt like it was those three guys seeing a Batista Orton that were running the show when Batista left and really cemented the importance of Randy Orton.

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And they ran so many times the John Cena Randy Orton matches and it would feel like every year there would be a John Cena Randy Orton match.

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There were times where it was like ran into the ground where you couldn't appreciate it as a fan but when they would come back years later, circle back around or what they're doing this Saturday, then you kind of like have the opportunity to really appreciate everything that they did.

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Because they carried the flag for WWE for a long time until, I don't know, we got to this Roman Reigns Seth Rollins era of WWE that you've seen since the mid 2000s to now and now they're really carrying the show like they are.

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And you have to come to a point, right? The older I get as a wrestling fan, the more I tend to try to appreciate the moments and the matches that I see because the people that you grew up on,

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you may not see Russell ever again. I was thinking about this when it came to the John Cena Randy Orton stuff being announced. And this is how I compared it is.

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I remember sitting on my couch in my living room watching wrestling any 38 live, Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Kevin Owens.

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And there was multiple times where I'm like, I can't believe this is happening. And as weird as it may sound or cliches it may sound, I was really just trying to live in the moment.

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Like I'm watching Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestle in what year was it then? 2022 and I never thought I would see this again.

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That the last time I saw Steve Austin wrestle was WrestleMania 19. I said the story before I watched that match from the WWE headquarters in Stanford Connecticut.

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I was blessed with that opportunity to do so. Did not know it at the time that it was Steve Austin's last match.

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And you just always wondered for those 20, near 20 years, would he ever get back in the ring again? And then from finally do it, you just kind of lived in the moment.

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And that's how I kind of compare what's going on with John Cena, Randy Orton stuff this Saturday. It's like, let's just live in the moment a little bit because this is what they're billing.

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And it's professional wrestling. They are billing. This is the last time these two will go at it. Do we really ever believe that? No. But I think this one, it's legit.

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I think Cena has said, I believe him, he's not going to wrestle again after this year. This is it for him. And Randy Orton will continue on for, I think he said in a recent interview, wants to do it for another five years.

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So when you look at these two guys coming in around the same time, and I think it was like 2002 that they both came in board WWE and then have carried the company in and out for multiple different periods, good periods, bad periods, dark periods, brighter periods.

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They've always been the constant. And for a lot of the younger crowd that are listening, if you're 25, 26, 27, 28, you're probably nostalgic this weekend.

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I at 38 years old, nearly 39, not as a, as a nostalgic because these were guys that were wrestling when I was in my, my sophomore year of high school.

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But it still has that resonating feeling that I have when I would watch Hulk Hogan in the rock wrestle, WrestleMania 18, because I never thought I would see that and I grew up on Hogan or watching the great wrestle one more time.

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Even when like Bret Hart wrestled at WrestleMania 26, I was like, this is a really special moment. I don't know how many more of these are going to get an opportunity to see.

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And you just want to kind of take it all in. I felt the same way when Shawn Michaels retired, WrestleMania 26, and we do not count that.

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Was it Crown Jewel, Saudi Arabia and match DX versus the Brothers Discrash destruction, which may be one of the worst wrestling matches of all time.

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So as you sit down and you watch CNN or in this weekend, just take it all in as a wrestling fan. Just be like, this is a really cool moment.

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I don't think we'll ever see this again because you can make the argument that the John Cena Randy Orn rivalry may be the greatest in WWE history.

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And for those that are scoffing and they're maybe jumping to like for me, I was like really right, you know, trying to figure out like what rivalries were better than this.

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For me, like Austin Rock is up there as a rivalry that I would put on the same level playing field.

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Shawn Michaels Bret Hart, same level playing field and a lot of that has to do with the stuff that happened behind the scenes, rather than the stuff that we saw on the screen, which is unfortunate that sometimes the behind the scene stuff with those two guys when they were intertwined, overshadowed the great stuff that they were doing in the ring.

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And it's like, okay, so what other feuds are there that really stood out to me. And it's hard.

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Because most feuds and rivalries don't last forever. Undertaker Shawn Michaels, was that a rivalry? No, I think that was just kind of built on respect. Undertaker Triple H, rivalry, no, I think that was just built on respect. Those are two guys we wanted to see towards the end.

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So it's rare that you get these moments, right? This is Hogan Piper, this is Flair Steamboat, Flair Sting, Rock Hogan, Bret Shawn. This is Cena Orton, and this has been going on for 20 years.

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And not a lot of rivalries have been able to do that, say that, accomplish that, and make people still want to watch.

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And in times where maybe two rivals got back in the ring at a later point in their careers, those matches were not up to snub. This match on Saturday, I fully expect because these guys are still in great shape, will be up to snub.

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And those are those moments where just take a step back. And I think it's kind of controversial to be like, Cena Orton is maybe the greatest rivalry of all time, if not one of the greatest rivalries in WWE history of all time.

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Because of just the longevity of it. And it's just time to appreciate it this Saturday because we will never see it again. I wish they had more time to build this.

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I wish Cena was on television more as I record this. It's before Friday night SmackDown when Cena is supposed to be back on there.

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I'd love the video packages this week, but I just wanted to see more coming into it because I think this feud really deserved it.

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And it certainly still tickets to St. Louis, Missouri. And if it's the last time that these two go at it, it's been a great run. There's been ups. There's certainly been downs with the feuds.

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Most importantly, sometimes they ran out a little bit too much, but most importantly, folks, as you sit down this Saturday, you put on backlash, you watch it live Saturday night, you watch it on Sunday, Monday, whenever you tune in to watch the Cena Orton match, just enjoy it.

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Oh, too often we sit here. We critique five star four star 3.3, 2.2, whatever we want to do for our rating systems. And I think these are the one of those moments where you could just take a step back and enjoy what's going on because this is a closing of a chapter.

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And this is where the John Cena farewell tour now feels real because they are saying that for the last time, John Cena versus Randiorn is happening and it just so happens to be for the WWE championship in 2025, which is absurd to think.

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And 10 years ago, me would be very upset that this is happening 10 years later, it's like these guys have really shown us why they were important professional wrestling. Renasots men at points in their career, the United States Open Challenge of John Cena was some of my favorite stuff that he's ever done.

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Randi Orton's run from like, WrestleMania 30 onwards, I think has been maybe the best of his career and he hasn't held the championship.

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I think at all during that, maybe, I don't know, he held the title after at WrestleMania 33 after defeating Brey Y and maybe had one more run in there.

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But this is like potentially the best Randy we've ever seen. And it seems like both guys are a really good place personally, professionally, physically, mentally.

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And there are peace with their careers. So they don't have anything to prove this Saturday night. They're not trying to move the ball forward for the company.

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This is kind of just an ode to everything that they've done, everything that this rivalry has brought professional wrestling.

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They're almost paying tribute to it. This Saturday night as they close out this major chapter in both their careers because, I mean, think about it.

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Who else in John Cena's career has been a big rival than Randi Orton? I don't think anybody. Who in Randi Orton's career has been a big rival than John Cena?

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I think some people may say edge, I think that's a good call, but it's still nowhere near what John Cena was to Randi Orton.

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And maybe Triple H gets thrown in there for Randi Orton as well. But again, I think he and John Cena were the face of the company, carried it through some really good times and then some really bad times.

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And this is again an ode and attribute to everything they've done for professional wrestling.

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As you sit down this Saturday, I implore you all as wrestling fans when you watch backlash, whenever you watch backlash, just take it all in because this is a really important time for professional wrestling.

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And this is again really the first time that John Cena farewell tour has felt real. So I'm very, very excited for the match on Saturday. And I'm happy that it's happened. And my only drawback is like I wish we had more of a bill towards this because I think it would be phenomenal.

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And they could, you know, rely a little bit more on the history between these two and really, really exploit and show the importance of this feud and its impact on WWE and professional wrestling as a whole.

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And make it that much of a bigger deal than like a two week build or maybe three was it three week build at this point? Yeah, three week build. So I think there was three smack downs in there because.

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Or an arcade od, Cena on raw after many, many, and then maybe was two weeks. I don't know. As you get older, you lose track of time as well. But anyway, just enjoy what's taking place this Saturday between John Cena and Randi Orton at backlash in St. Louis, Missouri.

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In other WWE news, unfortunately, there were several releases. Some of those released, well, the releases include Braun Strowman, Dakota Kai, Shannon Bayzler, Quarjay, Gigi Dolan, Eddie Thorpe, Katie Carter, Katana Chan, Shakar Jackson,

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Javier Bernal, Joe Coffee, Mark Coffee, Wolfgang, Oral Menta, Riley Osborne, and Danny Palmer. So let's run through the list here. Braun Strowman, former World Heavyweight Champion, Universal Champion, excuse me, getting released for the second time.

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I saw a report at their Bill Aptor reporting that the, I think Meltzer and Alvarez reported this as well was that the contract, the salary that they're paying Braun Strowman wasn't, they weren't getting a good return of investment.

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Essentially, as him as a full-time wrestler, then I think Bill Aptor recently came out and said that they look at him more now as a part-time star, which Braun is okay with, is run as a full-timer.

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Is it gonna, is it one that's gonna be anymore at this point? You know Braun Strowman suffered a really bad hamstring injury.

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I think the last time we saw him on WWE television, he was really favorin as well. And I saw some reports on just how bad the injury is.

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I haven't seen that to verify it, so I don't want to say anything, but it's pretty significant. And it's, he's basically never gonna be the performer that he was ever again because of that injury.

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And, you know, there's a lot of miles on those tires and, and I guess he and WWE according to reports that Bill Aptor are saying, have come to an agreement that, you know, they want to use him later in the year and short-term programs, help somebody get over.

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That's when Braun Strowman will return and he's fine with it and they left on, on good graces, which is great.

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Because at one time, if you're a long time listener of the show, I was fully in on Braun Strowman to be, you know, a major player in WWE.

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And he had those moments, he had those opportunities to shine most notably during the pandemic era. But I think injuries caught up to him.

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And, you know, he got slowed down and it wasn't something that WWE felt like that they could really capitalize on as a full-timer, former moving forward.

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But nonetheless, disappointing and for Braun Strowman that are getting released.

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The Dakota Kai being released is a major bummer to me. I have been a big fan of Dakota Kai since the first time I saw her on the May Young Classic on WWE television.

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I was not, did not know of her work, previous two coming to WWE and I've just always been impressed with her ability in the ring.

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And injuries definitely caught up with her, which you have two torn ACLs. She's been on the shelf here and there from time to time.

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But just such a talented worker. I was so happy a couple months ago when I think she made the finals of the Women's Intercontinental Championship tournament against the Liberalki area because I really felt like Dakota Kai could be someone that could really benefit from a championship like that.

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There were ports out there that a lot of organizations are very interested in her and as they should be Dakota Kai was released once before brought back to be part of damage control during that first run.

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Of Triple H taking over creative around summer of summer of 2022, I believe. And yeah, just overall I was, that was one that was the most surprising to me was Dakota Kai being released because I just think she's so talented.

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And as unfortunate that she's not continuing WWE moving forward.

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The next name here again, long time list of the show, you know during that annex here of Shane and Basin, I was a huge fan of hers.

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I thought she was going to be a major player in the company, essentially she had that elimination, timber victory in February 2020 where she eliminated all five other women.

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The most talented performance in elimination, her history went on to take Becky Lynch on a restaurant in 36 in the pandemic era, which is probably often forgotten about.

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And then really never got things going the NXT Shane of Bay so that we saw did not parallel to the main roster of Ron smack down which is unfortunate.

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She's highly talented, but they just were not using her well.

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So I think she's obviously another person, another name that will benefit from being out on the independent circuit or in another wrestling promotion because I do think she's very talented.

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And can be a massive appeal and weapon as one of the top women in the brand because whatever brand she signs with because she's legitimately a badass.

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Core Jade and GG Dolan were huge surprises more core than GG.

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I always felt like Core Jade was on the tip of being one of the faces the women's division of NXT than an injury would happen or she would disappear for a little bit.

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It was mostly injuries I think again she tore ACL twice. And I just, you know, most recently I thought that they were setting it up where core Jade was going to be the one that took out Roxanne Perez in her final match in NXT and allow core J to then move forward.

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As one of the top female acts on the NXT brand and that obviously did not come to fruition. So Core J was a massive surprise.

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GG Dolan, it just kind of felt like she was floundering a little bit NXT for a while. She's too good to be working in tag teams and that's no shot at Taden Paxley, Taden Paxley is very talented as well.

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But there was a period of time when you look back at the fatal attraction days of JC Jane.

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Mandy Rose and GG Dolan and GG Dolan was like the most popular person in that group that was dominating NXT time and it looked like she was always on the verge of breaking out and it just unfortunately never happened.

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So she's an on the one I think is greener pastures sometimes are great for some people and I think the people I just named Dakota Kai Shane and Bayes are core Jade and GG Dolan are people that can can really benefit that from that whether it be a TNA MLWA W they will benefit from a new place.

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Any thought was disappointed because I think he was getting over as a heel towards the end of 2024 in the early stages of 2025 on NXT.

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So that was a surprise.

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Would have liked to see them given the ball at a more because I think he was really, really actually despised by the fan base in NXT, which is a great thing.

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Kidding quarter, Katana, Kidding Carter and Katana chance very talented, but they weren't really doing much on television lately.

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So unfortunately not much of a surprise Katana chance is extremely talented and go back to the May on classic.

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I mean they were talking her up as as a female version of Rey Mysterio, we just really got that opportunity to see that take place.

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Jacara Jackson was part of metaphor and the metaphor recently broke up and then gets released a couple days later just like Oral Mensa who was released.

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Jacara Jackson very talented, enjoyed her stuff with Lash Legend.

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I don't know if the in-ring work was there per se, but she certainly had a character and yeah worst case scenario she came off as someone that would make a great valet or a great manager someday if the whole in-ring stuff did not play out.

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Javier Bernal for those of you watching NXT level up like myself, you're one of those sickos in the world. He is very talented.

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It seemed like he could get over had a great theme song.

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Forever reason never correlated on to NXT television, which is unfortunate.

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All three members of Galas, Joe Coffee, Mark Coffee Wolfgang.

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There's like a love hate for me on the NXT UK brand.

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I never really got sold to Joe Coffee as one of the top heels of the brand, but as time went on as the act that those three guys did, especially in those early days of NXT 2.0, I think about the feuds that they had with like breaks and gents and it was enjoyable.

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They were enjoyable trio, but it just seems like that they plateaued in NXT and I think most recently they were being used on evolve, which is not a good sign.

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Ormets are very talented. Again, someone that I do at NXT UK once, Noam Dorwin away, they try to give or own opportunity.

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Feed it with Ethan Page for a little bit and then basically is disappeared, which is unfortunate for him.

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Riley Orsborn, born was a very talented high flyer for Chase U. I enjoy it as work.

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It just never seemed like that they could get behind him.

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So it's funny because those in the 2000s era of WWE, like a high flyer like Riley Orsborn, I think would be very successful in the company.

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Danny Palmer had some injuries and I guess based on her last match she was injured and then she is an outs online that she is retiring for professional wrestling.

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So all the best of her and her next steps in professional wrestling.

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And then lastly, Shotzi Blackheart or Shotzi in WWE was it was revealed that her contract will not be renewed.

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That is a huge bummer, another name. I put up there with Dakota Kai, Shayna Bayes, her core Jade, Gigi Dolan types.

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That I felt like Shotzi could have been a major star in the company.

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And I think they gave her opportunities and then an injury would happen and then opportunities were taken away from her and then she kind of got lost in the shuffle.

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I really hope she gets on the independent circuit like Dakota Kai does and really truly succeeds in making WWE their words that they put her out on and allowed her to be released.

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So those were the releases or people who are not being renewed.

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It's definitely an interesting time for the WWE roster because we've seen this influx of AW talent most recently with Penta, Ray Phoenix.

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And then the returning Rusev and Allerso Black to the company.

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And there's some rumblings that may be on her way to WWE at some point when her contract runs out of AW.

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You know, they just recently signed Jordan Grace, Julian, Stephanie Falkour on the brand.

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The WWE roster is very competitive right now.

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There are people coming on the N.I.

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What is it? The evolve deals, those ID deals.

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They've got people signed at N.I.L. And you just can't keep everybody.

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And unfortunately, that's the things that I've learned here as we've podcasted all these years.

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As much as I would love to have all the people I just named remain on the WWE roster, have a job, have an opportunity to watch the meet you every week of an opportunity to grow, blossom as characters, have a feud here, a great PLE match there.

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It just is impossible.

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It's such a competitive world in WWE right now that you have to be on your A game in all times.

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And I'm not saying any of these people are, but if you fall out of flavor with the creative, which most of these people did,

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it's tough to scratch and crawl your way back.

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And I'm sure there's names that people are thinking of right now that are kind of just floundering a little bit in WWE, where you think if there's another round of cuts that those names could be up there, and that's not something you want to see.

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Because you never want to see anybody lose a job, but it's just such a competitive world in World of R Us Entertainment right now.

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It's good for us wrestling fans, it's good that the professional wrestlers have these opportunities, but they got to seize that opportunity.

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And I don't know how you do that with the characters and getting driven by creative and battling these new signies here, new signies there.

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It's tough. My heart goes out to them, but there's this major influx on the WWE roster right now where things are really taking over.

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And it's not what it used to be, it's highly competitive and you've got outshined. But the people I just name, they get all signed to TNA Wrestling tomorrow.

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Their TNA Wrestling just got better. They all get signed MLW tomorrow, their MLW just got better.

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They get all signed to AW. They'll probably be used for a little bit and put on the shelf and then may not be used at all.

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And yes, that is a direct shot at AW, but at least they have a place to go. So it's very, very unfortunate.

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This AW influx into WWE is really intriguing because these are some major names and major players in the company, Penta Ray Phoenix, Alcer Black, Rusev All Wrestling and WWE All Leaving AW in the last year.

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Names that were mainstays for the most part with the exception of Rusev/Miro who would come and go as he please. I think Alcer Black is wrestling now more matches, single matches in WWE recently.

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And that's just one that he did and able to AW in the last eight months. And then Penta Ray Phoenix or extremely talented, you know, with Ray on the shelf.

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They really didn't use the lucha brothers all that much, especially once they realized that the lucha brothers are going to be going to WWE.

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So highly competitive roster right now, tough to keep everybody, you can't make everybody happy, but yeah, it was a tough week to hear these releases and hopefully they get back on their feet a little bit sooner, sooner rather than later.

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All right, with that said, let's get to our WWE backlash preview and predictions for this Saturday from the Empire Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

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And the first match here, we've had Dominic Mysterio defend the Intercontinental Championship against Penta, both Dr. Train I have Dominic Mysterio in this one.

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I had a tough time calling this one because I really felt like if there was an opportunity for Penta to turn on Dom and give the title to Penta who is Red Hot right now, now would be the time to do it.

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But I think it's really difficult to get the Intercontinental Championship off of Dominic Mysterio right now because he is super over, the crowd is enjoying his stuff, they're enjoying Penta as well.

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I think the longer he has the championship the better, I would also like to see a finish where Finn tries and air quotes to have Dom lose, but it ultimately actually backsfires on him and he helps Dom win.

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And they all celebrate his judge of day and all that stuff because obviously something is brewing there because we saw behind the scenes.

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If you had an eagle eye on raw this past Monday, you would see Finn ball in the background talking it up with Roxanne press in the backstage area. So kind of wonder what's going on there is Finn going to be doing his own offshoot edition of the Judgement Day.

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Roxanne press will be a great addition for the Judgement Day.

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So both Dr. Train I taking Dominic Mysterio to retain the Intercontinental Championship in this one.

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Next one is a fatal four way match for the WWE United States Champion, Chip is Jacob about two defense against LA night, Damien Priest and Drew McIntyre.

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We both have Jacob fought two in this one. This is interesting because you start to you're starting to see on smack down this past week where Anna Pierce call out so let's echo as trying to screw over Jacob fought two, fought two is kind of getting a little bit aware of it as well.

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And you're wondering like, okay, win again, this is like the Domic Mysterio situation. Could they use this match as an opportunity to get the championship off of the World Cup.

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Off of Jacob fought two to start a feud with Soloskova. I mean they could put the title on LA night in LA night and I could go off again and feud with somebody differently with the United States Championship.

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Or could Damien Priest or Drew McIntyre capture the title and then that belt is in the middle of their feud.

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I could see any of those playing out. I think the most likely is still keeping the championship on Jacob fought two because I think if you keep the United States Championship on fought two for a long time.

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I would give them a Gunther like Intercontinental title reign like run here with the United States Championship. I think it helps build the excitement, a lore and growth of Jacob fought two over time.

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So that's why I'm taking him Jack Jacob fought two in this one. I really want to see him hold on to the championship for a really long time.

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I'd love to see a Gunther like I see title runs I mentioned before.

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And speaking of Gunther, he'll be taking on Pat McAfee this Saturday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. We both have Gunther in this one.

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Pat is a hell of an athlete. I fully expect that this is going to be competitive match. I think if anybody watched his stuff if a man XT or if you haven't, go out and check it out.

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Pat McAfee can wrestle. I think the last time we saw him wrestle was WrestleMania 38.

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I think it was 38 against Austin Theory. I don't think he's wrestled since then. So for him to wrestle Gunther and they've always kind of had like this quasi weird tension between one and um.

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One another is pretty big. Sometimes it's very comical now obviously with storyline purposes. It's big and I don't think it's coincidence that WrestleVotes has shared on their show has tweeted out today that the name Goldberg is starting to get some traction behind the scenes under doing creative.

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And I think Goldberg potentially plays a role in this one and it can go one of two ways. Goldberg, well the reason why let me backtrack here is because Gunther is rumored to be the last opponent for.

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For Bill Goldberg in this retirement match.

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So Goldberg can it can just get up in one of two ways right Gunther beats the living hell out of Pat McAfee beats him down and one two three gets the victory.

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He beats a crap out of him Pat McAfee doesn't do raw this Monday when Pat eventually returns he says he's not coming alone. He's a guy to avenge his loss of avenge what's going on.

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And that is one Bill Goldberg you got the NFL tie right. Pat McAfee former puncher for the Indianapolis Colts.

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Bill Goldberg I think a former defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons. They work together and that leads us to Gunther versus Bill Goldberg.

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And that's why I actually think ultimately this match leads to that. I can also see a situation where Bill Goldberg somehow gets involved.

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Costs Gunther the match and helps Pat McAfee get the victory. Like that could be a scenario no matter what the scenario is I think this match on Saturday is leading to the eventual return of Bill Goldberg.

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And I think that match should take place at Summerslam. I can't see take a place at the into a dome at money the bank right now I think it deserves a football statement.

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I think you put it in that life Summerslam week and then you let Bill Goldberg go out that way. I think that's the right thing to do for Bill Goldberg's Hall of Fame career.

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Next bad shares live without curious take it on Becky Lynch for the WWE women's are on the continental championship.

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Yeah, being chip. I think this is a situation that we saw play out recently with Chelsea Green getting the United States championship removed and put in on Selena Veya which I was not a fan of that move.

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However, I think it's time to get the I see title off of a Lyra help elevate that championship a little bit more and then basically do the booking that they did in NXT with Lyra and Becky Lynch and carry that over here on to the main roster.

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And then I think that's what Becky wants to do on the main roster she did in NXT and I think that's what's going to carry over here soon as well.

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So I'm taking Becky Lynch as a doctor trade to win the Intercontinental Championship for a little bit longer helps build up her resume.

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And then finally we talked about it here at the top of the show John Cena defends the atmosphere of the WWE Championship against Rainy Jordan both Dr. Trenon and I in this one have John Cena.

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This is an easy one to call because I think you don't take the title off Cena right now. I mean that defeats the whole purpose of the storyline thinking he holds onto the championship for the majority of the year towards the end of his final run with the company.

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It's final couple matches with the company final couple appearances with the company. So that's what I think takes place. I think the only thing that can be discussed on this one outside of that is.

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Is there any involvement with Cody Rhodes Cody Rhodes just been some reports out there there's been some pitches made that should Cody return this Saturday at backlash I don't think he should I think you keep him off a little bit longer and allow some more time to breathe and make the hard grow fond of for the fan base because I think he was.

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He was running into those booze again that he saw an AW and I don't think that's a good thing for one Cody Rhodes here during the John Cena farewell tour.

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I would not bring him back I think this matches a great nostalgia act I hope it's a classic hope it's one that we can look back on fondly and again everybody is sit down and you walk to match on Saturday just sit back relax and enjoy the show legitimately just enjoy the show because this is the last time we will see two greats in one of the greatest rival reason WWE history go at it one last time in WWE so again both John Cena are our picks here for WWE backlash and that is our WWE backlash preview and predictions.

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We will recap the show all on next week's edition of SRT on May the 15th and yeah that will that will do it for this week edition of the show it's a little bit shorter than normal it doesn't help it's just a solo act.

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But you know we get through we hope you get through backlash this Saturday and then we'll recap it all and Dr. will back here on next week's edition of show so with that said let's get a couple plugs and spots out of the way.

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If you download the show every Thursday or Friday at realguymedia.com, wrestle chat net on X and a so real the show feed on Apple spot of our wherever you download the podcast don't forget to rate rate review and subscribe to as the algorithm is king for us to keep playing the charts on those podcast platforms.

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You can fall into the video on X for myself at SRT you Jeff would bring up a straight frankly a the doctor tray.

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And of course don't forget to follow show on X at SRT podcast one last thing I want to mention your folks is we've been really towing with this I've been really towing with us I should say so this is episode number 795.

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We are coming up on our 800th episode next month and we're in a bit of a cross wrote here because I think the podcasting game has changed we're getting older family life work life it's harder to sit here and do the podcast each and every week but we want to continue doing we want to continue grow the community.

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And we want to give you guys some really good content and one of the things that I threw out there heading to wrestle any weekend.

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Was the idea of like a subscription based model something on let's say patreon.

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And you would get the show ad free you would get the moment it was done being recorded it would be up on that patreon page wherever we go for a platform offer the subscribers I don't think it would be an astronomical fee in my mind I was thinking like $99 a month even.

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Nothing crazy to something to support the show and then also give us an opportunity to do some other types of shows bring back SRT you watch maybe do some interviews gets people that are resting friends of ours and interview them and get their thoughts of professional rest of the whole maybe do some recap shows after raw smackdown AW done my collision.

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What have you NXT wraps up and have those shows outside of this but we want to do more we want to do community want to give an opportunity for people to talk to other rest and fans enjoy the show and make the show better and help us put a little bit of financial backing into it to make it better maybe make it on on a YouTube basis.

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Or as a YouTube show and give us the opportunity to develop from there but you know we've been doing the show for 15 years it'll be 800 straight weeks soon of episodes we've not missed an episode of this entire time right a bit of a crossroads I think we need to get with some of the changes that are going on the podcasting world so.

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I leave you with this.

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I want you to think about what we're saying here I want you to tell us your thoughts would you be on board with us what would you support what would you like to see with the show would you be a subscriber when you respond on Facebook dot com slash story of the show hit us up on X add

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us or do podcast and let us know give us a rating or review make a comment on the show let us know if you want to continue to support the shows we move forward because we would love to have you and we love to take that next step forward and we hope that we have all of your support is

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so there's a little bit of homework for our great listeners here on this week's edition of SRT you enjoy the weekend enjoy WWE backlash we will be back next week Dr trail we backs next week and we will help you get through everything that happened in WWE back

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the week after review all for you and get you through everything to place the most special lesson so until next week for Dr. Fred I am Jeff Beck thank you for downloading this has been the story of show

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open home the most pose that is true strong pulls it off where I like it a shoes yeah better be where is it y'all look in there please and jump walk into the ring this time I really fail

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I'm a lot of new to a little wrong fact we will never be close well is always be flat actually see shop but who's checking he even knows where the hippas knows that

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the guy he really want to know what he want to do I said over there I was there I was one that I picked on the way all of your pretenders were you better beware take this

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yeah I'm sorry I had a snake all the worry had paint on his face I have to do it and I do by phone we're still like this man you don't need no more

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I got a lot of friends I got a lot of phones I've been clicking in the boots where I be bouncing up the road lots of people talking

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you know you gotta have a tell you want to make that though who was that sitting over there I was

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♫ Flew him吹 in an epic on the way

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♫ Oh, where'd I go? ♫

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♫ I hold God's hands, I beg your pardon, we'll be with you ♫

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♫ Survive the shame cry, survive the struggle I've been in, only drive the finest God

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♫ And that's the final dynamic, give him justice, don't better than a wish country

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♫ Give him a young man's success by the length of his melody ♫

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♫ Woo! ♫

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♫ ♫ ♫

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♫ ♫ ♫

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♫ Bro, let's wear a style bouffard, and I get it, but it's never seen better

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♫ Absolutely not commercial fly, I'm not dancing, I'm not looking, he's stealing, stealing, selling the home

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♫ Such a man, he can be only one, hey! ♫

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♫ Woo! Who's that? I shouldn't know that, I'm a hero, spouting that thing on the way

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♫ Woo! Woo! ♫

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♫ Oh, sorry, it's not in the hand, I'll do your ten, where you'll never be away

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♫ Woo! ♫

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♫ Woo! ♫

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♫ Woo! ♫

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♫ Woo! ♫

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♫ Woo! ♫

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♫ Come on, sing it a whole, and it's just for the future! ♫

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♫ ♫ ♫

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♫ ♫

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♫ ♫ ♫

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♫ ♫ ♫

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♫ ♫ ♫

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♫ Woo! ♫