Jan. 15, 2026
Drew McIntyre Wins the WWE Title… Now What? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #831 – 1/15/26
On this episode of The Still Real to Us Show: - -- Drew McIntyre shocks WWE by capturing the WWE Championship, defeating Cody Rhodes in a brutal 3 Stages to Hell match with Jacob Fatu changing everything - -- WrestleMania 42 plans thrown into chaos...
On this episode of The Still Real to Us Show:
- -- Drew McIntyre shocks WWE by capturing the WWE Championship, defeating Cody Rhodes in a brutal 3 Stages to Hell match with Jacob Fatu changing everything
- -- WrestleMania 42 plans thrown into chaos as Cody vs. Roman is reportedly off — is Cody vs. Drew vs. Fatu the new direction and what does it mean for Roman Reigns?
- -- CM Punk’s alliance with “The Vision” heading into the Royal Rumble — is this the start of a massive WrestleMania run or something far more dangerous?
- -- The NXT men’s division gets a major reset, giving the brand a fresh, new-era feel
- -- Breaking down the latest NXT call-ups with Je’Von Evans on Raw, Trick Williams on SmackDown, and where Oba Femi should land next
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It's still real to be damaged!
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[Music]
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Welcome everybody! Welcome to this week's edition of the Show
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Episode 831 for January 15th, 2020.
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Welcome to this week's edition of AskRTU.
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I am one after the show, I am Jeff Packard, joined every single week like us
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along with Dr. Trey Franklin, Dr. Trey, and a new WWE Champion, my friend.
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Yeah, it is not hard to swallow. I'm so disappointed that a horse swagger
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never got to run with the WWE title, but...
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Well, Vince isn't around anymore, so his dad.
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Yeah, but that would have been nepotism because he was Vince's son.
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Yeah, talk about great storylines, huh?
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What's it made you go, man, I'm so happy to be a wrestling fan.
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Yeah, it's... I'll always say that is I literally just saw a video of
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horn swagger when he wrestled a Brit Baker and Adam Cole showed up.
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So that's why I got horn swagger on the brain right now.
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But yes, new WWE Champion, and I wasn't far off.
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He is from the United Kingdom, just not Ireland, but he's from Scotland.
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Yeah, it was a really fun episode to smack down this past Friday.
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Drew McAttire captures the WWE Champion Chip.
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Dr. Trey, I remember you, like, poetically comparing him to that Kevin Owens run.
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And what was it like?
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Basically, from my 2020 to 2023 word, always felt like Kevin Owens was on
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the precipice of winning the WWE Champion Chip,
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typically from Roman Reigns, and was always some sort of fodder as
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taking the L from Roman because he was on that historic run that he was on,
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holding the title for three, four years.
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Over a thousand days, the WWE Champion in the modern era is something we
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probably will never see again.
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And that's what Drew was. I mean, Drew was always knocking on the doorstep
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of becoming WWE Champion, no matter how good his character was.
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Especially as a heel over the last several years, it just always felt like
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Drew should get a run with the title, but he was being fed as the guy
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to make the baby face as look strong or whether it be CM Punk, whether it be
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Seth Rollins, whether it be Cody Rhodes, Damien Priest.
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The time that Drew held the title since the COVID era was for just what,
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a little over five minutes at WrestleMania 41 in Philadelphia or 40.
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It was WrestleMania 40.
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>> It was like five minutes and 34 seconds or something like that.
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>> Yep, defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, wins the world.
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Every way of championship drew and then Punk takes him out,
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Damien cash is in, which going back to those days, we predicted that as
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potentially happening. And then he leaves and doesn't hold the championship
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again up until now. There was some push in the fall of last year
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that Drew McIntyre should win the WWE Championship from both Cody Rhodes and
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Drew McIntyre reportedly around WrestleMania time and they did not go
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forward with that. Then we had this gap until now and it was basically like a huge
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moment in Drew McIntyre's career because if he walks out of three stages hell on
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SmackDown without winning the WWE Championship, I mean, there could be a near ride over in Europe.
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And I'm happy that he did. I'm happy that he won the championship.
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He's been such a good character. He's a guy that deserves the opportunity to
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be holding a championship in front of live crowds, especially over on the European
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tour that he's been doing in the last several weeks or so. I think he was in his
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hometown the next night after SmackDown on a house show. He'll be there this Friday.
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I believe they're in London. I want to say on Friday.
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I think they're in Wembley this weekend or Friday.
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Okay, okay. And then they're in Belfast for RAW on Monday. I think it's London on Friday on SmackDown.
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So he gets the win. It's very controversial, which we'll get to that point.
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But let's look at it here from the Drew McIntyre standpoint, Dr. Trey, as he
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finally captures the WWE Championship by defeating Cody Rhodes on SmackDown
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in a three stages of Hell match.
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Yeah, I mean, like I said, like I said, last time when he wrestled Cody the PLE, like he had to
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get one of these. Like you can only have him come up short so many times before he kind of
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becomes like just like an unbelievable, like he used to bump below bills in a lot of ways.
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Like if you have coming up short, you just never bought into it.
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Even heading into SmackDown. I'm like, I can't remember the last time a heel won a three stages
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of Hell match. Like that's typically a very baby face kind of winning situation because
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there's a lot of endurance. You have to outlast, you know, all that stuff. So
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the fact that they pulled the trigger and the timing of it was really great because I mean,
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I remember you and I sent here when he didn't win and clash at the castle, you know, against Roman.
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And we were like, why do you not pull the trigger there and get the biggest pop possible?
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Like this kind of fills that void a little bit. And it is kind of like, Drew's been arguably the
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best character in WWE the last five years. And even since turning heel, just even better.
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The fact that he's finally getting that payoff to be the champion heading into Royal Rumble season
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is a hell of an accomplishment. And just shows you like like, no, no, no, we actually do value you.
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We do think you're a top guy. We think we can put you out there on the circuit. We saw it a little
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bit during the COVID era, like the kind of via satellite type interviews he was doing back then. But
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this is a showcase for Drew McIntyre. The hey, we're going to give you the chance to kind of carry
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the ball for a little bit heading into Rumble season, possibly WrestleMania season. Let's see what
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you do with it. Yeah, I love that they're given this opportunity. And I love that it is kind of
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shaken up the WrestleMania stuff, which we'll get into a little bit more here momentarily.
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Do you feel like Drew is the best heel in WWE right now?
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As a wrestler heel, yes. I think that I still get say Paul, Paul Haymes the best heel in
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wrestling, but he's not in ring. So as an in-ring performer, I think it has to be Drew because he's the
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person that kind of knows what buttons to push with the crowd. And he has the believability factor
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to also kind of back it up in the ring. But that's something you and I have discussed
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months ago, which was there wasn't a lot of great heels in wrestling. Do you put, I mean maybe Logan
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Paul is second on that list of actually like being a true heel in ring performer because
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it's not Braun Breaker because Braun gets cheered too much. But Drew gets cheered too. I mean people
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do love Drew. Maybe I maybe have to go back. Maybe it might still be Gunther. Yeah, it's gotta be
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it's gotta be Gunther. It's gotta be Gunther Dom because it was Dom but Dom's getting cheered now also
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because he become kind of the cool heel. So I think Gunther is just maybe universally hated
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by most wrestling fans where like Drew is getting those cheers, Dom's starting to get a lot more
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cheers. It might be Gunther Logan Paul and then Drew. Let's take a look at the Cody Rhodes aspect of
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it because we're obviously glossing over the finish right now, which I want to get to here in
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the next bullet point basically. But the Cody Rhodes stuff. I felt like Dr. Trey even watching the show
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live, sitting down on like if Cody walks out of here with the victory and retains the title. I think
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he could be getting close to John Cena reverse baby face. You know, we hate you because you're
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you've been dominating WWE over the last year is the the white meat baby face that he would be
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getting like John Cena reactions, especially over in Europe because I think people wanted to see Drew
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win. I think for me character standpoint, I think this was the right move for Cody to lose the
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title because I prefer to him being someone that is chasing the champion, chip heading in the
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WrestleMania rather than being the champion. And I just felt like with him at the top for a little
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bit, it's just creatively. It's it's not as flourishing as I would like to see as as as a viewer. It felt
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very vanilla over the last several months with him as champion. So I just felt like even going into
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that match is like if they come out and Cody is still champion like this could be really, really bad
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both creatively because it's could be very predictable the direction they could be going with Cody
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because we saw the reports out about it and now that's influx, which we'll get to here in just a
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little bit as well. But even more so like I thought Cody was getting close to that 2000s 2010s
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era of John Cena that is just it's not a positive thing for the business.
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Well, I think it just kind of depends on where you fall in the demographic range because I know
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there's a lot of kids who love Cody Rose and love everything that the Cody Rose character stands
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for. But then as you get older and life kind of beats you up and you know things are not black and
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white. There's shades of gray. We tend to kind of you know root for the anti-heroes or the anti-
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establishment and we kind of turn our nose up at those kind of Cody Rose, John Cena, Paul Cogan,
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surfer sting type characters because like the good guys don't always win. And so I like that they
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mixed it up and changed it up a little bit. But you know you have to in order to stay a relevant
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top good guy you have to have obstacles to overcome and you can't win every fight like we would not
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be hyped up about Avengers Doomsday if we knew the good guys were always going to win in the end.
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Like we like those movies where hey it looks really dicey it looks really sketchy I don't know if
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I think he might win but there's those those real possibilities that he might not come out. That's
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why I like for me as I like having heel champions because we always get more in grossed into the baby
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face chasing that guy down as opposed to when we were kids and we love when we had the whole Cogan
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rains or the dust but baby faces typically don't have long rains as champion in the modern era.
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It's usually the heels that have the longer rains because that's how you make good guy stars is
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by chasing those villains down and finally conquering them. Yeah that's what we like to see as viewers
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is you want to see the chase you don't want to see you know the dominant villain being the baby face
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all the time. So I thought that was the right direction I thought that it was going to be a
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definite problem for WWE if they walked out of there with Cody Rhodes as champion because at so
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many levels I talked about the character stuff but also from a storyline standpoint it's like what do
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you do next with him because at this point in droves like the top heel on a Smackdown brand unless
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he sits idle up until Mania or he's being royal rumble and whoever walks out of the rumble is let's say a
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raw guy and they win the match and then they you know come over to Smackdown to challenge Cody there's
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been a lot of talk about Roman it just felt very easy to predict if Cody's Cody retain now without
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Cody retaining there is a layer that's been added here where it's it's extremely intriguing to
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enter us in hand in Mania season which again we will get to here in just a second the third point
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Dr. Trey in this entire thing is the Jacob Fattu factor. Fattu makes his return for Mindry was
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last shown on Smackdown being laid out behind the scenes I think he was set to face was he got a
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face Cody that night. I suppose face drew that was it. He's got a face drew yes and then that led to
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an in-prob to Cody and Drew match and I said at the time and and Kit Wilson was behind the scenes and
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he was he like viewed the whole thing take place with Jacob Fattu and that part hasn't come out yet
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on Smackdown he was like in the background like staring with the officials so he may have seen
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who actually attacked Jake Fattu I'm surprised they haven't pulled that lever yet or even teased it
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maybe they will this upcoming Friday or the following weeks that leads to the whole Fattu stuff
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but with that said you know I approached the idea like do you think there's a possibility that
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Cody was responsible because the way that Cody was acting was kind of quasi-healish like it was a
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baby face that was entering the heel zone and that's like how he treated it maybe that's a
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direction that they go I thought Fattu's here I'm like oh man is this it they're going to turn Cody
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Cody heel Cody was the one responsible Fattu enters ring takes out Cody no he attacks Drew
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because he probably thinks Drew is the one that took him out unless he knows for sure Drew took him out
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which we'll add a very nice layer to which is I hope the direction that they go that it's still a
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mystery this entire thing and then you know he he enters the ring and Cody's like what the hell are
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you doing he starts fighting Cody and then allows Drew McAttire to slide out the ring and win the WWE
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championship while Cody and Jacob are still brawling because Jacob Fattu is cost Cody Rhodes the WWE
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championship I really like that finished dr. Trey I thought it was different I thought it was intriguing
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I thought it was entertaining I thought it will it leads well to this Friday's edition of Smackdown
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to get more answers your thoughts on the finish and the return of Jacob Fattu on the Smackdown brand
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yeah I thought it was a really good job I was really excited to see Jacob Fattu back
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I took it that it was a really smart creative decision because if not that buys them time I'm sure
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they have a plan for where they want to go but in the meantime as this story is playing out you're
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kind of setting Jacob Fattu as that tweener character because you know most fans love Cody most fans
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hate Drew and then you got Jacob out there who the fans like but he just beat up Cody so Jacob
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and I'm not saying this as in a direct link but he can kind of be that stone cold character in the
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sense of you don't know who he's going to take out like you might be a good guy and catch you
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know some hands from him you might be a bad guy and catch some hands much like Austin did for a while
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where he was just stunning everybody didn't matter I mean you can have Jacob play the unhinged
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character really really well and it's believable and the fans can kind of ride that fence of I don't
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know where this is going but it's entertaining like maybe this does turn Cody heel and Jacob
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becomes a top baby face maybe it's revealed that it was Drew and Jacob slots in as the number two
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baby face so it's a really good way of kind of positioning it and kind of seeing how the crowd
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responds to know which direction you want to go with Drew and Cody coming out of this yeah there
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were reports circulating leading into Friday Smackdown that Jacob Fattu was due to return soon
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and that the belief was he was going to have very significant creative that was going to help him
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like elevate his game on the WWE roster I I think that this guy's a star I think there's a potential for
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him to win the WWE championship this year I had him down in my WrestleMania predictions is taking
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on Brock Lesnar putting him in a big match I think that is now off the table but I'm glad that
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Fattu is back I think he's very likable both as a baby face and as a heel I tend to lean more
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to the heel version of Jacob because it was just so damn dominant but I think you can totally get
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over as a baby face as well on the Smackdown brand which then takes us to the WrestleMania 42 plans
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now in Fluxeddoctor Trey it was reported after Survivor Series War games in November that we were
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basically getting foreshadowing from the WrestleMania matches and those foreshadowing matches were
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CM Punk vs Braun Breaker which has since happened at Barclays last week on RAW and Cody versus
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Roman 3 at WrestleMania 42 according to reports now after last week's title change it would appear
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that the Cody Roman match is now off the table for WrestleMania 42 I guess it could still happen
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maybe in a title match maybe in an on title match but if Cody and Roman is off the table Cody
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Roman 3 did WWE make the right call in your opinion?
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a big time match and unless Jacob gets super red hot and this is something I wanted to bring up to you
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and boy like when you look at Smackdown like you have Cody and Drew and then it just felt like there's
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a huge drop off to the next level like there's really nobody else that you kind of feel like is on those
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guys as level like like RAW feels like really top heavy Smackdown feels really mid-card and
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I was trying to think about earlier I'm like okay if Drew is your top heel who's number two who's
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number three and I kept getting the solo as number two like I don't know where else people slot in as
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so like if if it's Cody and like to me it's like okay you knew Cody and Brock Cody and Roman
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Cody and you know if Randy Orton turns heel but where like I don't know where the
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Cody big match is coming from if it's not Roman Randy or Brock unless Jacob catches fire as a heel
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or a baby face and you go that route like I don't really know where else they go with a big time
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Cody match unless it's one of those other options yeah it felt like for a while Cody Randy
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was going to be a match that I was thinking at WrestleMania and it would be Randy turning
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heel because he so damn good as a heel even though I think a lot of people nowadays don't want to see
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Randy Orton as a heel because you couldn't make the case potentially he's in the twilight of his
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career maybe five more years left I know he wants to keep going for a while but he's in now I thought
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Randy and Cody would have been a very good title WrestleMania match I'm not upset that Cody Roman
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three is not happening I thought their matches have been very good I just think that there should be
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a little bit more space I think you really got to have people want it and then that that really puts
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a lot of like question marks around the Roman Reigns match for his direction dr. Trey where does
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this leave Roman right now like what do you do with Roman at WrestleMania do you have him deviate
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and it's him in punk does I mean there's still the Rollins factor there's been a lot of videos of
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Seth Rollins unfortunately celebrating the Chicago Bears fan with his shoulder looking pretty damn
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good he worked the Netflix Christmas football games I was watching he was working as like a like a
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host and a sideline reporter which was awesome to see for him I mean it appears Rollins could be
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back here very soon as well do you run it back with with punk Roman Rollins three or two is Rollins
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going to be back as a heel as a baby face as he looking towards the vision as his matches I mean there
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is a lot in play here right now with WrestleMania and that's why when we do the show like several weeks ago
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to preview the the upcoming year it is so damn hard nowadays to predict WrestleMania which is a good
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thing and even more so because you and I do that show we pre-record that way beforehand I mean it is
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pre Christmas and we're trying to figure out WrestleMania but I mean even as we sit here today January
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15th like it's hard to pick what the direction is because even though they've got an away from it on both
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the men and women's matches over the years for the titles you've got the rumble coming up and that's
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just a one-on-one match winner picks who they want to face as champion elimination chamber is the
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month after that in late February in Chicago and the winner of that is setting up another one-on-one match
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so it's not as easy being like oh they could just do a triple threat they could just do a fatal
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four-way with that said all directing back around to it the original question now to tray what do
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you do with Roman Reigns now so if you keep Roman involved with the vision stuff like we saw a
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survivor I would do Roman and Braun Breaker like I think if you that's if you want to keep
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Braun as a heal we really haven't seen we saw the suspension angle play out on a raw Monday night
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with Adam Pearce and Braun Breaker getting suspended but at some point you also get to like Braun Breaker
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is going to be a baby face but if you're keeping him as a heal through WrestleMania Braun Breaker Roman
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Reigns you know that'd be good match up you don't want to do Roman and Brock again you could go to
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Roman and punk because we saw that you know that moment in the ring you know a month or so ago where
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Roman's looking at Cody and punk he goes man that belt looks nice and both guys are like wait who
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are you talking about so you go and use that as the Easter egg to come back to Roman and punk I
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was thinking as we're talking like how cool would it be if we if if the whole plan is to divert us
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from Cody and Roman to go back to Cody and Roman and Roman is also the person who got in Jacob's
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head to send Jacob out there to cost Cody the title and then you get Jacob and Drew for the title
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but Cody and Roman three because Roman sent his cousin out to cost Cody the belt so there I mean
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there are ways of playing it but like to me those are the most obvious choices would either be Roman
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punk Roman Braun or Roman and Cody again I think Roman Braun Breaker is a match I'd love to say
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that would be number one I am fearful that the direction WWE wants to go you know we're talking
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about Trilogy's what have you is Roman Lesnar three at WrestleMania um there was Roman Lesnar
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at 31 Roman Lesnar at 38 in the biggest WrestleMania match of all time and then it would be this one
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no WrestleMania 34 the one that you were at as well so it would be Roman Brock four I think that
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could be a likely solution as well events was still at the helm I would say that would be the
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direction they would be going for sure but I prefer to see Roman Braun Breaker and I would love to
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see Braun Breaker get the victory obviously but part of me is thinking that number two is Roman
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and Brock again because they were teasing that at Survivor Series War games as well is it is it for
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you did you count the Summerslam match I'm only counting WrestleMania matches okay yeah yeah yeah no
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there's the Summerslam match that I was at were those two went out again and Roman walked out
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there with the championship and you were at 34 so you and I are lucky to have been part of this
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chapter of our lives but even to the that that point Dr. Trilogy Roman and Brock on on another level
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than they were even back at WrestleMania 38 and dare I say I think they're both better workers now
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than they were at WrestleMania 38 I mean you can say they're better workers but then I'd always
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go back to the John Cena Brock Lesnar match and be like was that a really good work it was that
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really a well-worked match for Brock but uh yeah I mean if Vince was still there he would just
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have like the crowd you know some double chant fight forever that would be the Vince thing for
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Roman and Brock like oh you guys just go out there and find it every WrestleMania from here
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until you die my Vince is getting better by the way and he's nowhere to be found so it loses
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luster but yeah like I it's it's this is probably the most confusing time for WrestleMania that we've
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had and maybe our entire history like a lot of matches we could kind of pick out six months ahead of
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time like I'm looking at the card now and I'm like I have no idea where they're going with anybody
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upgrade at the top of the card right now because you don't know when Rollins is coming back I'm
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pretty sure he's coming back as a baby face just because you just did the whole Austin theory
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stomping people to you know make people think it was Seth um I think we'll probably we might get
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Rollins if Rollins can make it back by WrestleMania we might get Rollins in theory at WrestleMania um
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I don't know what you do with Bronson Reed in that I don't know what you do with Logan Paul um
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if you do Braun and Roman that's a fantastic match but then do you do the Usos against like Logan
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Paul and Bronson Reed the tag belts like I don't like there's so many questions as to where you go with
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stuff um it it's really it's almost like like the old family guy joke of you're just throwing
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stuff in the wall and seeing what kind of comes out of it and then that's the story we're going with
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because it's just and not mentioned you still have LA night on the sidelines right now we don't
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know where LA night slots in all this heading into Royal Rumble season if he's going to be a baby
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face if he'll in it come back as he heal uh you have smackdowns only got maybe four top guys and
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the rest of the cards of mid card where is Sammy Zane slottings all of this trick Williams they're
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all on Smackdown like the it's it's a good like there is no pecking order really it's like on
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Smackdowns like top four guys and then just everybody else and it's a free for all to see who claims
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the next spot up yeah it's it's it's major in flux and you know I pitched the idea of Sammy
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winning the Rumble and Saudi Arabia I thought that would be good I like a Sammy run going into Mania
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trying to win the World Heavyweight Championship they tried touching upon that uh several times over
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the years it was like I remember I think fall last year uh he's talked about it heading into uh this
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past year even that he wanted to get in there and and win the World Championship finally because he always
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was someone that couldn't win the big one and they like go back and forth to that I think that
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would be a great storyline you bring up LA night uh as well I think it's time for him to catapult to
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the top of the card and get an opportunity as champion it's a tough job to have as a creative member
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of WWE according to reports they know what they want to do with those title matches and uh I
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guess we'll have well we certainly have a much better view of it in in about two to three weeks time
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once the Rumble passes uh I have at least one match under the books but the Roman stuff is is
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extremely intriguing what happens with him now um and then going back to the Smackdown brand
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doctor tray there's early reports right now that that match for the WWE Championship will be
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Drew versus Fat 2 versus Cody Rhodes somehow getting in an Attribute Threat Match which if that's
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the direction I'm here I'm for that right now because I prefer seeing a storyline build now early
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January that takes me to you know mid April or WrestleMania then waiting you know early February
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mid February for just a couple months I would love to see this thing play out uh until then with
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a lot of different twists and turns going back to big Drew going back to the WWE Championship
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do you want to see that being a Triple Threat match with Cody Drew in Fat 2 uh over the next several
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months heading into WrestleMania yeah because I think it's interesting I mean you have Drew's champion
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Fah 2 is the tweeter Cody on the chase again like fans love that stuff I mean like we love Cody
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in the chase we love Jacob being on hand do we like Drew being the mega villain so uh I'm for that
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which if you do that then you can always do the cool thing at Limitian Chamber and like let's say
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because I think my prediction was Roman winning the rumble uh so if Roman wins the rumble and you put
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Roman with punk brawn with Seth you do Cody and Jacob in the chamber and the chamber match ends with
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those two being taken out by Drew and there's no winner and then uh Nick all this comes out and
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declares that we're gonna triple threat match at Mania with all three of those guys and then you get
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basically a month and a half buildup of those three guys just beating the hell of each other leading
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into WrestleMania like I'm fine with that I think that would be a pretty good card yeah I would be
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as well I I don't know if I like the idea of like Drew taking out people in in huge matches like the
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elimination chamber uh I know you like clear you like clear cut winners but you know if you're
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storytelling and you know your end story is that triple threat how do you get to it in the easiest
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fashion is having the two guys at the end of the chamber not having a winner I I like fans in
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attendance especially with the ticket prices that they're paying today if they want to go to
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elimination chamber I like to see them get the most out of their dollar value rather than you know
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serving up as a storyline for WrestleMania to pay even more money to get to that's why that's
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that's why you put the men's chamber match on first and then you have the women's chamber match
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be the main event and whoever your woman is that you want to have the clear cut finished to challenge
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WrestleMania she wins in the main event at the chamber and the fans go home happy because then
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that first match can be your storyline match that second chamber match is your clear cut victor
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we got plenty of time to talk about elimination chamber for sure and maybe that's how it plays out
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but WrestleMania 42 plans currently in flux there is a direction creative knows what they want to do we
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don't know yet as fans maybe we're seeing seeds planted maybe we're not maybe those seeds will be
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planted in two weeks times three weeks times four weeks time but it is a very intriguing time to to
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see how the build to WrestleMania goes on and goes forward here it's some of my favorite time in
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the year because I really love the creative process that goes into the WrestleMania card being built
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so maybe we're seeing it play out right now or maybe we're not so more to come here in the coming
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weeks because what we do in our WrestleMania 42 roundup card roundup here soon which it's just
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wild it just felt like we we literally just did that speaking of storylines dr. Trey on raw this
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past Monday CM Punk said that the vision is behind him following his victory over Braun Breaker at
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the first raw of 2026 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and he is heading towards the royal rumble
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he will have a match in Belfast against Finn Baller for the Royal Way Championship this Monday in
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CM Punk what should CM Punk's path be right now because even though he says storyline wise the vision
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is behind him it feels like it's just beginning for him and the vision especially heading towards
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WrestleMania 42 what do you think the path is now for Punk as we move forward I still think you get
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a royal rumble match with Punk and Braun Breaker or something like that I don't it's funny that he
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said that because didn't Cody say the same thing about Drew McIntyre a couple months ago and then
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Drew didn't let it go and now Drew's champion so I think that's just kind of their way of saying like
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hey I'm moving on to something else and then when the vision jumps up again they get more heat on
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them to me the storyline is not going to die until Rawlings comes back because I'm fully
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envisioning at some point CM Punk and Seth Rawlings are going to have to team up against people in the
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vision and that's going to be great storytelling so I think you kind of play with some of the other
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characters until you decide to ramp up the visioning again the Finn Baller and Belfast that might
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cause a riot if Finn doesn't win in Belfast because the Irish fans are not known for being very
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polite I mean they were ECW arena before ECW arena so but I think that's a good way of kind of continuing
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the storyline on and then maybe you get some crossover from the Judgment Day getting upset if
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somebody from the vision interferes in that match and costs Finn the title because
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we haven't seen a baby face Judgment Day yet really so there's a way of playing with that and
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then leading into playing into Dom's popularity and then you might get vision and Judgment Day for
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a little bit until we get to more towards WrestleMania season. Yeah I would I love that we're seeing this
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match with Punk and Finn Baller on Monday night I love that Finn's got this opportunity I wish
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he was getting this opportunity more often I hope this is not just a homecoming thing for Finn
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because I think Finn should be a main event player and in the discussion of world titles
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the punk direction right now is is is you know really interesting to watch because it's not as
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cut and dry as it was and maybe that's the whole point of what WWE is trying to do there is the
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thing in the background right now where Braun Breaker was suspended by Adam Pierce and the last thing
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interaction they had together was Paul Heyman walking away and saying that you had hit your hands on
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him first we could see a situation that is similar to to Drew and Nick Aldous or the force was made for
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Drew McAhtar to get his title match where Braun Breaker now gets that title match at maybe rumble
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or at a later date or maybe it's something I would love to see it play out not as predictable where
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let's just say that Heyman forces to avoid legal action that they gave Braun Breaker the number
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30 entry at the Royal Rumble or something along those lines like I'd like to see something different
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so I don't think punk is done with the vision I think the vision is who he feuds with for now until
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after WrestleMania that is the direction and he goes it will be something to watch for though
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on the direction of that because if they do separate the two they do continue to separate and
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widen the gap between punk and vision interactions it makes you wonder how close Seth Rollins is
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I could see a scenario with Seth is involved with them punk is away from the vision he's focused on
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someone else maybe he is setting up a match with Sammie's Ain't a WrestleMania maybe he is
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setting up a match with LA Knight at WrestleMania and that's the direction they go for that period of
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time and then eventually we get to the Seth and and punk having a tag to one another with one
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another against the vision where you know enemies the enemy of my enemy is my friend situation takes place
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so yeah the punk stuff is is not very clear right now which is a good thing again I don't think we
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should have predictable WrestleMania matches in January and I think that we should have the
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opportunity to sit here and go I wonder if they're going to go this way I want to figure out
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going to go that way so see a punk's direction heading into Royal Rumble is one to watch and we'll
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see where things go this Monday's he takes on Finn Balor in a title match in Belfast Ireland
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we have to say something Dr. Trey yeah just before we move on I was going to ask you this as well
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is Finn Balor in that Drew McIntyre era or area where it's like Finn's has some title shots
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over the last year and hasn't come through we saw that weird promo was about three weeks ago with
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Byron and Finn up in the balcony and Finn's like I'm coming for all the gold like and we saw reports
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that hey Finn might really get pushed this year are we trending that if Finn doesn't come through
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00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:33,840
shortly he's kind of going to be locked in is that like non believable challenger type thing where
377
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,720
like yeah Finn's a great wrestler but we know they're never going to title on him like is he in that
378
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:46,480
range and he was one of the triple age guys building NXT like I kind of wonder like if he doesn't get
379
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:54,640
this where does Finn go long term in WWE is he always going to be kind of upper mid card at best
380
00:36:54,640 --> 00:37:00,080
at this point I don't think Finn's there yet because Finn has been in the tag division for like
381
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:06,640
the last year with JD McDonough he is like a background player he is a mid card upper mid card the way
382
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:14,240
he is booked I think if they continue to push him upwards he will enter that face where if he becomes
383
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:18,960
as good as Drew and Kevin Owens were as a character we all know we know he could do it in rainwise
384
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:27,520
then as a heel that then he needs to find that moment like Drew I don't think he's there yet
385
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:33,440
just because the type of creative he has had has not been one where it's comparable to Drew
386
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:40,480
where Drew has had multiple chances for a world title as completely failed and is like just
387
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:46,640
obsessed with becoming WWE champion and Drew Finn's not there yet but he certainly could be for sure
388
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:53,040
okay yeah because I mean like to have I mean this is kind of like it is in a weird way
389
00:37:54,000 --> 00:38:01,760
Drew losing at clash at the castle like this is Finn challenging for the title in his hometown basically
390
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:08,400
I mean Belfaz is only like 45 minutes from Brooks County or Brooks Windsor County Ireland or whatever
391
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:14,160
they say he's from like it's not that far away and so like when you put this kind of position if
392
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:19,520
he loses back at lead to storytelling within the judgment day of like Dom you know still being
393
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:25,040
double champ and you know Finn guy getting pushed down like there's some good storyline coming out
394
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:30,240
but also like I mean every time we see Finn in a big match in a singles match he hasn't come
395
00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:36,240
through in quite a while and that's why I'm kind of wondering like maybe they shock us all and
396
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:42,400
Finn walks out with the belt because Braun interferes in the match that would be extremely shocking
397
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:48,080
I mean you want to talk about like WrestleMania in flux like presently like there there was
398
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:53,280
there was like a 50 50 split that like Drew McIntyre walks out of there is WWE champion like I
399
00:38:53,280 --> 00:39:00,080
I think it is like 80 20 yeah yeah yeah if Finn wins this match I'd be like holy crap like what do they
400
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:05,840
what do we do now I mean that could is this the opening for L.A.9 now is then punk solely just going
401
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:12,080
after the vision without a championship involved and Finn is the transition champion to guy like L.A.9
402
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:16,480
like those are the discussions that we're having it would be nice again I like creative that's putting
403
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:21,040
things upside down in WWE rather than being very very predictable I thought that they've been very
404
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:28,320
vanilla very easy to predict over the last let's say 12 to 15 months they got away from that 2002
405
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:35,200
to 2000 early 2024 run that they were on creatively when when Triple H took over where it wasn't
406
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:41,520
as predictable and it was very very fun to watch as a fan now it's become a little bit more predictable
407
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:50,000
to an extent or some creative has been more like let me just try to get some buzz and stuff for unreal
408
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:56,480
or stuff for you know YouTube and Twitter and X for these these viral clips whether it be our
409
00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:02,720
truth returning as a heel and I'm Ron killings now to just can be completely forgotten about now or
410
00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:09,120
seen as heel turn or the knee issue with the Seth Rollins like they went to go do more viral
411
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:14,320
shit than stuff that actually matters long term for the company I was saying we were talking about
412
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:21,600
predictable I did go undefeated my last two PLE predictions like I got I nail survivor series and
413
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:26,800
I think the NXT show like I went I didn't miss a match the last two PLE because they got in kind of
414
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:33,680
predictable so I'm with you I like them shaking up stuff but we haven't really seen that big shocking
415
00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:43,120
like you said Drew and Cody is 50 50 we haven't seen that big shocking upside down win out of nowhere
416
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:50,080
and quite some time and this would be a great chance to do it especially if Finn wins and we get
417
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:55,680
Dominic and Finn like Dom's jealous of Finn because Finn's got the big belt and even though Dom has
418
00:40:55,680 --> 00:41:01,840
two it's not that one like it's one of those things where like you can shake up all of WWE if you
419
00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:08,320
had the gust of pull the trigger on this and really make WrestleMania completely unpredictable going
420
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:14,080
into the last three months it the Drew title change definitely is close I would say it's still
421
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:19,280
surprising it happened given it was Cody close to WrestleMania that type of stuff if this was
422
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:23,760
September I'd be like yeah this is definitely happening but being that it's close to WrestleMania
423
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,360
I was like will they do it will they pull the trigger and they did it's not like this jog to the floor
424
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:35,680
moment but it was certainly surprising that they finally pulled the trigger there so lots to discuss
425
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:41,520
in regards to the at least on the men's side of the main roster here of where things are going
426
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:47,440
with the titles heading into Mania season and that's a good thing that's we we like to see that we
427
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:54,080
like to see good creative creative that isn't predictable taking place right now in WWE
428
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:59,440
speaking of the men's division dr. Tre if we go down to the NXT crew right now
429
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:05,760
there feels like I was watching Tuesday night's edition of NXT there feels like there is a huge
430
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:12,880
roster shake up going on in NXT right now it is giving me 2.0 vibes when they launched there is no
431
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:19,120
clear cut star at the moment you have a lot of established names that are now working with not so
432
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:26,880
established names we saw Ricky Starks or Ricky Saints taking claim to be the guy to be the next NXT
433
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:32,880
men's champion there's going to be a six person NXT championship ladder match taking place in
434
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:37,680
early February I think it was like the second or third Ricky Saints is already the match you've got
435
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:44,240
miles born that wants to go in there Keanu Carter who I don't want to evolve he comes out of nowhere
436
00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:50,000
and lays claim is like being the next dominant oba femey brawn breaker those types of likes of
437
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,480
a guy's that came out of nowhere we've seen that creative happen out of NXT over the last five
438
00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:01,200
years as someone that's going to be in this match and dominate it's it's like a total crapshoot
439
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:07,120
right now of where this men's division is going to go I eventually think guys like Saints and
440
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:12,240
even Ethan Page on the North American side are going to find themselves facing up to Raw or
441
00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:17,840
Smackdown over the next three to six months which then leaves us no true quote established names you've
442
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:24,000
got Tony DeAngelo that's out there laying people out wanting the run of the NXT championship finally
443
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,960
he is an established name but the men's division like I'm watching like this could be either
444
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:34,160
a lot of fun or be this could be some rough times ahead for the NXT brand because the women's
445
00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:39,280
division is just dominating on so many different levels your thoughts here right now Dr. Trays you
446
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:46,560
look at the men's division of NXT yeah I mean it's funny like we've talked about this for almost
447
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:53,200
the entire history of NXT like it goes through cycles it like the women's division we stacked
448
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:58,240
the tag team division is solid the men's division is weak and then it'll cycle out the tag team
449
00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:03,360
division stacked the men's division solid the women's division is weak it goes to a cycle and I
450
00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:10,640
feel like we're in one right now where like the women's division is base is carrying the show the tag team
451
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:16,320
division is eh and now the men's division with Oba Femi vacating the title is like completely
452
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:20,880
in flux because like you mentioned like I'd love to see Ethan Page get another run he's one of my
453
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:26,000
favorite people to watch Ricky Stain's good you still got Joe Henry floating around as well I don't
454
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:31,680
know who Kiana Carter is I don't know who Ilya Le Croix or LaFlora Le Croix or whatever his name is
455
00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:37,680
I don't know that is you know you had Jasper Troy got this big push and then now he's the speed
456
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:45,760
champion but he's kind of in the background Tony D I don't think Tony D will ever be a main roster
457
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:51,120
guy if he is he's gonna be kind of like middle of the card I just don't see world champion when I see
458
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:58,160
Tony D so like you have a couple of guys you can build off of but yeah I don't know who I don't know
459
00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:06,240
if it's bad as nsc 2.0 but that men's division yeah it's it's struggling really really hard right now
460
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:13,680
is that a good thing or a bad thing if it's struggling I would say it's actually it's it's a land it's
461
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:18,720
the uh what's the old smackdown edge the land of opportunity yep like who's gonna jump out and catch
462
00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:24,400
fire it's never a bad thing when things are in flux because that's when they get really creative
463
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:30,560
and they try different stuff and people try different things there was a point um right about time
464
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:35,440
that brawn breaker came out that nxt was kind of weak in the men's division like right after Adam
465
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:40,880
Cole and all those guys left were like okay well who's left like it was kind of flux and that's when
466
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:44,960
the brawn breakers started jumping out at you that's when the Carmelo Hays is started jumping out
467
00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:50,800
the Ilya dragon offs don't there like that's when those guys kind of took hold and but right
468
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:55,200
before that you didn't know who was gonna be the guy that broke out we all thought hey at one point
469
00:45:55,200 --> 00:46:02,960
we all thought Tyler bait was gonna be the the the focal point of nxt and nxt uk and then that now he's
470
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:11,040
Hispanic or something so you don't really know who's gonna be that guy that breaks out and that
471
00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:17,360
ww also goes hey not only is he good in this setting but he can be good on the main roster as well
472
00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:24,160
and be a bankable star the main roster so it's you know this is when guys can really just shoot their shot
473
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:30,720
and go all out and kind of see who lands and lands on top well this is all happening dr.
474
00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:34,880
tre because there have been some call ups here very significant call ups when it comes to the men's
475
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:40,400
division trick Williams now on the Smackdown brand javad Evans now on the raw brand and of course
476
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:45,920
on last week's edition of nxt oba femmy gets the victory really on slater leaves it out in the ring
477
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:51,920
leaves it vacant relic which is it which is leading to the eventual six pack challenge ladder match for
478
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:58,080
the in the vacant nxt championship that'll take place in early February your thoughts on javad
479
00:46:58,080 --> 00:47:03,520
Evans signing with raw trick Williams signing with Smackdown and then where do you think oba femmy
480
00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:08,160
oba femmy lands because that is a factor that was like in the back of my mind when we were talking
481
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:14,080
about all these wrestle many matches like could we see oba femmy playing a factor either on the raw
482
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:18,960
brand side with the world of weight championship or even on the Smackdown side with the WWE
483
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:24,080
championship your thoughts on the two signings and then we're oba femmy eventually lands i think
484
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:28,960
trick going to Smackdowns good because a it puts i mean Carmelo Hayes is one of his best friends
485
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:33,680
so at least it puts somebody on that roster that he's super tight with to help him kind of grow on
486
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:39,280
that brand and like we're saying Smackdowns kind of i don't want to say they're starving for stars
487
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:44,800
but that that show feels very very flat for a while so getting a little injection of new blood in
488
00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:53,200
their role will always help you know ilya coming back was a big help as well i don't know if i'm a fan
489
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:58,400
of the javad Evans going to raw because it just kind of feels like he's going to get lost in the
490
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:06,080
shuffle for a while he might be the new version of Evan born like in on a raw we're like you love to
491
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:12,400
see his matches but like is he beating anybody at the top of the card do you think like javad Evans
492
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,960
could be like just on paper like looking at going he's not beating Gunther we saw that match
493
00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:23,440
he's not beating uh you know jay loose so anytime soon he's probably not beating la nai he's not
494
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:28,320
beating bronzen or eater bron breaker like it's gonna like anytime he wins you're gonna be like
495
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:33,920
oh wow that was crazy on Smackdown i think you can see javad Evans beating Carmelo Hayes
496
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,480
and being us champion and that's believable so i'm worried about that move and then also the
497
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:44,000
fact they had to sign his contract during a commercial break is just kind of disrespectful
498
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:51,040
i would have liked to see javad and triq and oba all go to Smackdown because i think that would
499
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:55,200
have injected some life into it and then if you needed to move some people around your mid card
500
00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:01,360
guys back over to raw you could do that um because we saw oba and kody at saryas made event you could
501
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:08,000
inject oba into that kody jay kofatu drew mac entire mix and i don't think any of us would bat
502
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,960
an eye because oba looks the part and we all know he can perform in the ring so even the casual if
503
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:18,480
you were like oh damn that guy's big he moves good yeah i can tell you see him being a top guy so
504
00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:23,760
i would have liked all of them go to Smackdown i am worried about javad getting lost in the shuffle
505
00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:30,720
under all i disagree and javad i really think he is he is gonna be a major player and i could see
506
00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:36,080
him involved on like the intercontinental championship stuff with like tomas terriol moving forward
507
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:43,200
yeah i mean and but that's my worries like on on on raw i feel like he's always gonna be kind of in
508
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:48,320
the middle like he needs he needs to add a little size this is the the will osprey conversation you
509
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:52,640
and i had like eight years ago if will could put on some size he could be a main event guide he did
510
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:58,240
but javad is only 22 i think you could have put javad on Smackdown and he could have factored
511
00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:05,280
into the upper mid card lower made event range faster than he can on Monday night raw well i think
512
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:11,440
something but go ahead doctor i say it might be that this is the kind of their way of testing i mean
513
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:17,040
the kids only i mean javad's 21 22 years old so it's kind of might be a way of like hey let's see if
514
00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:25,360
you can swim with the big fish because putting him on a very veteran heavy side might be a great
515
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:31,200
learning tool for him as well so then you know in a year if they do the draft and he ends up on Smackdown
516
00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:36,560
we're like okay yeah i can see javad now being a main event player i just don't see him being a main event
517
00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:43,520
guy on raw anytime soon i think his path to main event was we would have been faster on Smackdown i
518
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:50,640
i think he's gonna be a big time star for the company without a doubt i i don't feel like he
519
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:55,680
should have been on in NXT one more year i think he should have gotten a run with the championship i mean
520
00:50:55,680 --> 00:51:02,880
i mean yeah i would have loved if they were going to put oba up on the main roster and the plan was
521
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:08,320
New Year's evil then they should have stuck with javad Evans versus oba femey for New Year's evil
522
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:13,600
and let javad finally beat him and javad is the NXT champion for a period of time and stand
523
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:19,040
to deliver during the WrestleMania season he's NXT champion he's holding it for a while and then
524
00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:24,560
maybe he gets that call up in the summer you know the word was anybody who basically performed on
525
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:29,280
the john cnc and saturday night's main event show was gonna get an immediate call up well soul ruka
526
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:35,520
is still in NXT right now and she's someone that i also feel like should remain an xd for a period of
527
00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:42,000
time because you should give her a run as NXT women's champion and oba and trick have been tested
528
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:47,680
like it's time elevate them put them up there even lash legend um i think lash legend is a very
529
00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:54,400
just looking at recent call up from NXT she is the perfect example of somebody who uh doesn't
530
00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:02,400
work out well in NXT but just has the makings of a main roster player even when she's in NXT and that's
531
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:08,800
how she plays out nia jacks was that way Alexa bliss was that way um and i think lash legend falls into
532
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:13,840
that same category but i would have kept javad Evans in NXT for a little bit especially during the
533
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:18,640
transition period and let him run with the championship for a while let him let him you know feud with
534
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:26,720
ricky saints um let oba put him over on his way out of NXT but clearly they want to elevate javad
535
00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:34,800
Evans um and yeah it it'll be be interesting where oba fami ends up i i i'm always with you right
536
00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:40,880
because raw is always super studded for the last 25 years that they've been doing the draft they've
537
00:52:40,880 --> 00:52:45,760
been doing the brand separation is always felt like smackdown has been the underdog they add the extra
538
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:49,440
hour to smack down so you know that there's some time to fill some void that they need to fill
539
00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:55,680
but there's also wrestlers on the smackdown brand that we're not getting a lot of run on smackdown
540
00:52:55,680 --> 00:53:00,960
because they were you know basically an hour and 20 minutes of actual airtime each and every week
541
00:53:00,960 --> 00:53:05,360
i mean gaming priests announced her black would be in and out on on smackdown and now they could be
542
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:09,760
a little bit more featured players the up and comers like kit wilson i think there's a lot of potential
543
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:14,960
there for him um but yeah i'm always with you like they should always end up on smackdown because
544
00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:20,240
they could get lost on raw especially when they come from NXT uh with that said i think oba should get
545
00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:26,960
the call to raw i think oba is someone that could be feuding with punk feuding with roman or feuding
546
00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:33,440
with brock lesnar heading in a restaurant and out to tray the word on him is that their eyes opened
547
00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:38,640
up oddly enough in that match with Cody Rhodes at saturday night's main event where they were like
548
00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:44,800
oh crap we've got something here if if that was at the reaction of people in wwe after watching oba
549
00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:51,520
feme over the last 12 to 18 months when he had his right running NXT uh he is good on the microphone
550
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:57,280
he is a great character presence and he is a good in ring worker so i don't know what they weren't
551
00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:04,160
watching up until now but oba feme could be that he could have that brock lesnar run where you
552
00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:09,600
get debuting debuting april and you're debuting to be champion in four months time after that so i
553
00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:19,360
think oba ends up on raw i just because for me i go back to the obw class of 2000 with cina
554
00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:26,240
batista lesnar and ordin and for the most part you remember early on they always kept cina and batista
555
00:54:26,240 --> 00:54:31,840
on opposite shows and i look at it right now and go and you got brawn breaker on one show
556
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:36,320
you want to keep oba on the other show because otherwise if they're both heels are going to cross pass
557
00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:41,200
that they're on the same show so keep them separate for a while to build up in the fans minds like
558
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:46,960
once again i want to see oba and brawn go brawn breaker go at it and then you make that moves where
559
00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:51,440
they're both on the same show and you can set that up so i would just keep them separate for a while
560
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:57,120
to build up that anticipation for them becoming the perennial main eventers that we know they're going
561
00:54:57,120 --> 00:55:05,200
to come and then have that big match at a wrestlemania 44 45 and then then it's off to the races for
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the next 10 years yeah it's intriguing times for NXT intriguing times for rons smack down with these
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additions and it's fun to watch i love seeing this stuff taking place when they do these runs and
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because you know hopefully a year or two years so now you can look back and go hey remember
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that those call ups remember how the men's division looked and how they've kind of refreshed the brand
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because that is basically the cycle NXT goes through during each and every time period it's
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definitely a chapter that's ended on the men's side of NXT with that said dr. Tray let's close
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up shop on episode number 831 for jaynor 15th 2026 in a couple plugs and sponsor the way you can
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sports over at patreon.com/srtupodcast that remains free that remains your number one spot to
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receive this podcast at free and available once it is a release to everybody out there you can
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also download the show over at realguymedia.com wrestlechat and add on x or the still real
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a show feed on apple spotify wherever you download this podcast don't forget to rate review and
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subscribe you can follow us individually on x for myself at srtu Jeff and for dr. Tray Franklin
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00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:17,840
at the dr. Tray and of course don't forget to fall show on x at srtu podcast with that being said
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00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:23,360
what is going on the wonderful world of dr. Tray Franklin this week well like Jeff said you can
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00:56:23,360 --> 00:56:29,360
follow me on x at the dr. Tray you can find me on instagram and facebook dr. Tray Franklin when
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00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:33,760
you're on facebook be sure to check out rock and city championship wrestling we just had the rock and
578
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:40,240
city rumble two weeks ago we have a big show coming this weekend but i will not be there
579
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because as i told Jeff off air this is sammy franklin's birthday weekend so sammy frank will be
580
00:56:46,160 --> 00:56:51,440
turning seven so we're going to be having a blowout big party forum so i'll have to mr. rocket
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00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:55,680
city show but hey if you're not going to send money for sammy franklin's birthday go check out your
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00:56:55,680 --> 00:57:02,720
local independent wrestling show where you two can go find the next kiana carter uh kiana reaves kiana
583
00:57:02,720 --> 00:57:10,320
ilio luflore like go find the next guy that'll be on nxc that jeff and i go who is that damn he's good
584
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:15,360
i didn't see that coming so go go find those guys go support local independent wrestling because
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00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:20,640
that's your bread and butter that's where wrestle mania 49 is coming from is that little local gym
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00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:26,960
right down the ruff from your house so there you go support all the great things that support sRTU
587
00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:31,360
and once again thank you for making us part of it your week thank you for downloading the show thank you
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00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:36,800
for supporting us again if you want to continue to support us go to patreon.com/srtupodcast sign
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up for free that is the way that we are tracking all of our listeners how many people tune in each
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and every week on the still real to us show so we're pleading everybody to go there please sign up
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for free and uh show your support to sRTU uh would that be in said dr tre that'll do it for this
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week's dish to the show we'll back next week we'll get you closer to the royal rumble and everything
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00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:02,080
else that is going on the world of professional wrestling look back at maximum carnage from aew and
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a whole lot more so until next week for dr trey franklin i am jeff pack this has been this to release show
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,560
It's still real to be damaged!
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[Music]
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Welcome everybody! Welcome to this week's edition of the Show
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Episode 831 for January 15th, 2020.
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Welcome to this week's edition of AskRTU.
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I am one after the show, I am Jeff Packard, joined every single week like us
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along with Dr. Trey Franklin, Dr. Trey, and a new WWE Champion, my friend.
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Yeah, it is not hard to swallow. I'm so disappointed that a horse swagger
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never got to run with the WWE title, but...
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Well, Vince isn't around anymore, so his dad.
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Yeah, but that would have been nepotism because he was Vince's son.
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Yeah, talk about great storylines, huh?
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What's it made you go, man, I'm so happy to be a wrestling fan.
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Yeah, it's... I'll always say that is I literally just saw a video of
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horn swagger when he wrestled a Brit Baker and Adam Cole showed up.
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So that's why I got horn swagger on the brain right now.
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But yes, new WWE Champion, and I wasn't far off.
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He is from the United Kingdom, just not Ireland, but he's from Scotland.
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Yeah, it was a really fun episode to smack down this past Friday.
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Drew McAttire captures the WWE Champion Chip.
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Dr. Trey, I remember you, like, poetically comparing him to that Kevin Owens run.
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And what was it like?
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Basically, from my 2020 to 2023 word, always felt like Kevin Owens was on
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the precipice of winning the WWE Champion Chip,
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typically from Roman Reigns, and was always some sort of fodder as
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taking the L from Roman because he was on that historic run that he was on,
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holding the title for three, four years.
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Over a thousand days, the WWE Champion in the modern era is something we
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probably will never see again.
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And that's what Drew was. I mean, Drew was always knocking on the doorstep
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of becoming WWE Champion, no matter how good his character was.
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Especially as a heel over the last several years, it just always felt like
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Drew should get a run with the title, but he was being fed as the guy
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to make the baby face as look strong or whether it be CM Punk, whether it be
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Seth Rollins, whether it be Cody Rhodes, Damien Priest.
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The time that Drew held the title since the COVID era was for just what,
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a little over five minutes at WrestleMania 41 in Philadelphia or 40.
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It was WrestleMania 40.
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>> It was like five minutes and 34 seconds or something like that.
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>> Yep, defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, wins the world.
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Every way of championship drew and then Punk takes him out,
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Damien cash is in, which going back to those days, we predicted that as
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potentially happening. And then he leaves and doesn't hold the championship
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again up until now. There was some push in the fall of last year
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that Drew McIntyre should win the WWE Championship from both Cody Rhodes and
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Drew McIntyre reportedly around WrestleMania time and they did not go
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forward with that. Then we had this gap until now and it was basically like a huge
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moment in Drew McIntyre's career because if he walks out of three stages hell on
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SmackDown without winning the WWE Championship, I mean, there could be a near ride over in Europe.
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And I'm happy that he did. I'm happy that he won the championship.
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He's been such a good character. He's a guy that deserves the opportunity to
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be holding a championship in front of live crowds, especially over on the European
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tour that he's been doing in the last several weeks or so. I think he was in his
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hometown the next night after SmackDown on a house show. He'll be there this Friday.
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I believe they're in London. I want to say on Friday.
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I think they're in Wembley this weekend or Friday.
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Okay, okay. And then they're in Belfast for RAW on Monday. I think it's London on Friday on SmackDown.
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So he gets the win. It's very controversial, which we'll get to that point.
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But let's look at it here from the Drew McIntyre standpoint, Dr. Trey, as he
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finally captures the WWE Championship by defeating Cody Rhodes on SmackDown
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in a three stages of Hell match.
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Yeah, I mean, like I said, like I said, last time when he wrestled Cody the PLE, like he had to
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get one of these. Like you can only have him come up short so many times before he kind of
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becomes like just like an unbelievable, like he used to bump below bills in a lot of ways.
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Like if you have coming up short, you just never bought into it.
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Even heading into SmackDown. I'm like, I can't remember the last time a heel won a three stages
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of Hell match. Like that's typically a very baby face kind of winning situation because
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there's a lot of endurance. You have to outlast, you know, all that stuff. So
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the fact that they pulled the trigger and the timing of it was really great because I mean,
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I remember you and I sent here when he didn't win and clash at the castle, you know, against Roman.
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And we were like, why do you not pull the trigger there and get the biggest pop possible?
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Like this kind of fills that void a little bit. And it is kind of like, Drew's been arguably the
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best character in WWE the last five years. And even since turning heel, just even better.
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The fact that he's finally getting that payoff to be the champion heading into Royal Rumble season
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is a hell of an accomplishment. And just shows you like like, no, no, no, we actually do value you.
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We do think you're a top guy. We think we can put you out there on the circuit. We saw it a little
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bit during the COVID era, like the kind of via satellite type interviews he was doing back then. But
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this is a showcase for Drew McIntyre. The hey, we're going to give you the chance to kind of carry
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the ball for a little bit heading into Rumble season, possibly WrestleMania season. Let's see what
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you do with it. Yeah, I love that they're given this opportunity. And I love that it is kind of
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shaken up the WrestleMania stuff, which we'll get into a little bit more here momentarily.
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Do you feel like Drew is the best heel in WWE right now?
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As a wrestler heel, yes. I think that I still get say Paul, Paul Haymes the best heel in
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wrestling, but he's not in ring. So as an in-ring performer, I think it has to be Drew because he's the
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person that kind of knows what buttons to push with the crowd. And he has the believability factor
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to also kind of back it up in the ring. But that's something you and I have discussed
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months ago, which was there wasn't a lot of great heels in wrestling. Do you put, I mean maybe Logan
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Paul is second on that list of actually like being a true heel in ring performer because
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it's not Braun Breaker because Braun gets cheered too much. But Drew gets cheered too. I mean people
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do love Drew. Maybe I maybe have to go back. Maybe it might still be Gunther. Yeah, it's gotta be
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it's gotta be Gunther. It's gotta be Gunther Dom because it was Dom but Dom's getting cheered now also
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because he become kind of the cool heel. So I think Gunther is just maybe universally hated
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by most wrestling fans where like Drew is getting those cheers, Dom's starting to get a lot more
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cheers. It might be Gunther Logan Paul and then Drew. Let's take a look at the Cody Rhodes aspect of
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it because we're obviously glossing over the finish right now, which I want to get to here in
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the next bullet point basically. But the Cody Rhodes stuff. I felt like Dr. Trey even watching the show
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live, sitting down on like if Cody walks out of here with the victory and retains the title. I think
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he could be getting close to John Cena reverse baby face. You know, we hate you because you're
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you've been dominating WWE over the last year is the the white meat baby face that he would be
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getting like John Cena reactions, especially over in Europe because I think people wanted to see Drew
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win. I think for me character standpoint, I think this was the right move for Cody to lose the
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title because I prefer to him being someone that is chasing the champion, chip heading in the
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WrestleMania rather than being the champion. And I just felt like with him at the top for a little
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bit, it's just creatively. It's it's not as flourishing as I would like to see as as as a viewer. It felt
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very vanilla over the last several months with him as champion. So I just felt like even going into
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that match is like if they come out and Cody is still champion like this could be really, really bad
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both creatively because it's could be very predictable the direction they could be going with Cody
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because we saw the reports out about it and now that's influx, which we'll get to here in just a
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little bit as well. But even more so like I thought Cody was getting close to that 2000s 2010s
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era of John Cena that is just it's not a positive thing for the business.
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Well, I think it just kind of depends on where you fall in the demographic range because I know
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there's a lot of kids who love Cody Rose and love everything that the Cody Rose character stands
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for. But then as you get older and life kind of beats you up and you know things are not black and
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white. There's shades of gray. We tend to kind of you know root for the anti-heroes or the anti-
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establishment and we kind of turn our nose up at those kind of Cody Rose, John Cena, Paul Cogan,
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surfer sting type characters because like the good guys don't always win. And so I like that they
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mixed it up and changed it up a little bit. But you know you have to in order to stay a relevant
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top good guy you have to have obstacles to overcome and you can't win every fight like we would not
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be hyped up about Avengers Doomsday if we knew the good guys were always going to win in the end.
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Like we like those movies where hey it looks really dicey it looks really sketchy I don't know if
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I think he might win but there's those those real possibilities that he might not come out. That's
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why I like for me as I like having heel champions because we always get more in grossed into the baby
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face chasing that guy down as opposed to when we were kids and we love when we had the whole Cogan
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rains or the dust but baby faces typically don't have long rains as champion in the modern era.
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It's usually the heels that have the longer rains because that's how you make good guy stars is
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by chasing those villains down and finally conquering them. Yeah that's what we like to see as viewers
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is you want to see the chase you don't want to see you know the dominant villain being the baby face
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all the time. So I thought that was the right direction I thought that it was going to be a
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definite problem for WWE if they walked out of there with Cody Rhodes as champion because at so
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many levels I talked about the character stuff but also from a storyline standpoint it's like what do
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you do next with him because at this point in droves like the top heel on a Smackdown brand unless
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he sits idle up until Mania or he's being royal rumble and whoever walks out of the rumble is let's say a
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raw guy and they win the match and then they you know come over to Smackdown to challenge Cody there's
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been a lot of talk about Roman it just felt very easy to predict if Cody's Cody retain now without
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Cody retaining there is a layer that's been added here where it's it's extremely intriguing to
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enter us in hand in Mania season which again we will get to here in just a second the third point
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Dr. Trey in this entire thing is the Jacob Fattu factor. Fattu makes his return for Mindry was
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last shown on Smackdown being laid out behind the scenes I think he was set to face was he got a
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face Cody that night. I suppose face drew that was it. He's got a face drew yes and then that led to
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an in-prob to Cody and Drew match and I said at the time and and Kit Wilson was behind the scenes and
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he was he like viewed the whole thing take place with Jacob Fattu and that part hasn't come out yet
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on Smackdown he was like in the background like staring with the officials so he may have seen
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who actually attacked Jake Fattu I'm surprised they haven't pulled that lever yet or even teased it
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maybe they will this upcoming Friday or the following weeks that leads to the whole Fattu stuff
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but with that said you know I approached the idea like do you think there's a possibility that
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Cody was responsible because the way that Cody was acting was kind of quasi-healish like it was a
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baby face that was entering the heel zone and that's like how he treated it maybe that's a
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direction that they go I thought Fattu's here I'm like oh man is this it they're going to turn Cody
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Cody heel Cody was the one responsible Fattu enters ring takes out Cody no he attacks Drew
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because he probably thinks Drew is the one that took him out unless he knows for sure Drew took him out
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which we'll add a very nice layer to which is I hope the direction that they go that it's still a
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mystery this entire thing and then you know he he enters the ring and Cody's like what the hell are
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you doing he starts fighting Cody and then allows Drew McAttire to slide out the ring and win the WWE
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championship while Cody and Jacob are still brawling because Jacob Fattu is cost Cody Rhodes the WWE
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championship I really like that finished dr. Trey I thought it was different I thought it was intriguing
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I thought it was entertaining I thought it will it leads well to this Friday's edition of Smackdown
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to get more answers your thoughts on the finish and the return of Jacob Fattu on the Smackdown brand
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yeah I thought it was a really good job I was really excited to see Jacob Fattu back
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I took it that it was a really smart creative decision because if not that buys them time I'm sure
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they have a plan for where they want to go but in the meantime as this story is playing out you're
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kind of setting Jacob Fattu as that tweener character because you know most fans love Cody most fans
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hate Drew and then you got Jacob out there who the fans like but he just beat up Cody so Jacob
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and I'm not saying this as in a direct link but he can kind of be that stone cold character in the
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sense of you don't know who he's going to take out like you might be a good guy and catch you
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know some hands from him you might be a bad guy and catch some hands much like Austin did for a while
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where he was just stunning everybody didn't matter I mean you can have Jacob play the unhinged
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character really really well and it's believable and the fans can kind of ride that fence of I don't
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know where this is going but it's entertaining like maybe this does turn Cody heel and Jacob
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becomes a top baby face maybe it's revealed that it was Drew and Jacob slots in as the number two
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baby face so it's a really good way of kind of positioning it and kind of seeing how the crowd
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responds to know which direction you want to go with Drew and Cody coming out of this yeah there
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were reports circulating leading into Friday Smackdown that Jacob Fattu was due to return soon
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and that the belief was he was going to have very significant creative that was going to help him
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like elevate his game on the WWE roster I I think that this guy's a star I think there's a potential for
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him to win the WWE championship this year I had him down in my WrestleMania predictions is taking
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on Brock Lesnar putting him in a big match I think that is now off the table but I'm glad that
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Fattu is back I think he's very likable both as a baby face and as a heel I tend to lean more
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to the heel version of Jacob because it was just so damn dominant but I think you can totally get
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over as a baby face as well on the Smackdown brand which then takes us to the WrestleMania 42 plans
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now in Fluxeddoctor Trey it was reported after Survivor Series War games in November that we were
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basically getting foreshadowing from the WrestleMania matches and those foreshadowing matches were
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CM Punk vs Braun Breaker which has since happened at Barclays last week on RAW and Cody versus
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Roman 3 at WrestleMania 42 according to reports now after last week's title change it would appear
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that the Cody Roman match is now off the table for WrestleMania 42 I guess it could still happen
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maybe in a title match maybe in an on title match but if Cody and Roman is off the table Cody
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Roman 3 did WWE make the right call in your opinion?
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a big time match and unless Jacob gets super red hot and this is something I wanted to bring up to you
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and boy like when you look at Smackdown like you have Cody and Drew and then it just felt like there's
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a huge drop off to the next level like there's really nobody else that you kind of feel like is on those
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guys as level like like RAW feels like really top heavy Smackdown feels really mid-card and
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I was trying to think about earlier I'm like okay if Drew is your top heel who's number two who's
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number three and I kept getting the solo as number two like I don't know where else people slot in as
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so like if if it's Cody and like to me it's like okay you knew Cody and Brock Cody and Roman
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Cody and you know if Randy Orton turns heel but where like I don't know where the
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Cody big match is coming from if it's not Roman Randy or Brock unless Jacob catches fire as a heel
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or a baby face and you go that route like I don't really know where else they go with a big time
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Cody match unless it's one of those other options yeah it felt like for a while Cody Randy
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was going to be a match that I was thinking at WrestleMania and it would be Randy turning
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heel because he so damn good as a heel even though I think a lot of people nowadays don't want to see
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Randy Orton as a heel because you couldn't make the case potentially he's in the twilight of his
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career maybe five more years left I know he wants to keep going for a while but he's in now I thought
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Randy and Cody would have been a very good title WrestleMania match I'm not upset that Cody Roman
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three is not happening I thought their matches have been very good I just think that there should be
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a little bit more space I think you really got to have people want it and then that that really puts
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a lot of like question marks around the Roman Reigns match for his direction dr. Trey where does
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this leave Roman right now like what do you do with Roman at WrestleMania do you have him deviate
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and it's him in punk does I mean there's still the Rollins factor there's been a lot of videos of
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Seth Rollins unfortunately celebrating the Chicago Bears fan with his shoulder looking pretty damn
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good he worked the Netflix Christmas football games I was watching he was working as like a like a
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host and a sideline reporter which was awesome to see for him I mean it appears Rollins could be
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back here very soon as well do you run it back with with punk Roman Rollins three or two is Rollins
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going to be back as a heel as a baby face as he looking towards the vision as his matches I mean there
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is a lot in play here right now with WrestleMania and that's why when we do the show like several weeks ago
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to preview the the upcoming year it is so damn hard nowadays to predict WrestleMania which is a good
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thing and even more so because you and I do that show we pre-record that way beforehand I mean it is
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pre Christmas and we're trying to figure out WrestleMania but I mean even as we sit here today January
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15th like it's hard to pick what the direction is because even though they've got an away from it on both
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the men and women's matches over the years for the titles you've got the rumble coming up and that's
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just a one-on-one match winner picks who they want to face as champion elimination chamber is the
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month after that in late February in Chicago and the winner of that is setting up another one-on-one match
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so it's not as easy being like oh they could just do a triple threat they could just do a fatal
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four-way with that said all directing back around to it the original question now to tray what do
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you do with Roman Reigns now so if you keep Roman involved with the vision stuff like we saw a
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survivor I would do Roman and Braun Breaker like I think if you that's if you want to keep
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Braun as a heal we really haven't seen we saw the suspension angle play out on a raw Monday night
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with Adam Pearce and Braun Breaker getting suspended but at some point you also get to like Braun Breaker
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is going to be a baby face but if you're keeping him as a heal through WrestleMania Braun Breaker Roman
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Reigns you know that'd be good match up you don't want to do Roman and Brock again you could go to
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Roman and punk because we saw that you know that moment in the ring you know a month or so ago where
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Roman's looking at Cody and punk he goes man that belt looks nice and both guys are like wait who
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are you talking about so you go and use that as the Easter egg to come back to Roman and punk I
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was thinking as we're talking like how cool would it be if we if if the whole plan is to divert us
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from Cody and Roman to go back to Cody and Roman and Roman is also the person who got in Jacob's
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head to send Jacob out there to cost Cody the title and then you get Jacob and Drew for the title
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but Cody and Roman three because Roman sent his cousin out to cost Cody the belt so there I mean
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there are ways of playing it but like to me those are the most obvious choices would either be Roman
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punk Roman Braun or Roman and Cody again I think Roman Braun Breaker is a match I'd love to say
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that would be number one I am fearful that the direction WWE wants to go you know we're talking
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about Trilogy's what have you is Roman Lesnar three at WrestleMania um there was Roman Lesnar
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at 31 Roman Lesnar at 38 in the biggest WrestleMania match of all time and then it would be this one
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no WrestleMania 34 the one that you were at as well so it would be Roman Brock four I think that
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could be a likely solution as well events was still at the helm I would say that would be the
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direction they would be going for sure but I prefer to see Roman Braun Breaker and I would love to
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see Braun Breaker get the victory obviously but part of me is thinking that number two is Roman
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and Brock again because they were teasing that at Survivor Series War games as well is it is it for
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you did you count the Summerslam match I'm only counting WrestleMania matches okay yeah yeah yeah no
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there's the Summerslam match that I was at were those two went out again and Roman walked out
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there with the championship and you were at 34 so you and I are lucky to have been part of this
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chapter of our lives but even to the that that point Dr. Trilogy Roman and Brock on on another level
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than they were even back at WrestleMania 38 and dare I say I think they're both better workers now
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than they were at WrestleMania 38 I mean you can say they're better workers but then I'd always
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go back to the John Cena Brock Lesnar match and be like was that a really good work it was that
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really a well-worked match for Brock but uh yeah I mean if Vince was still there he would just
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have like the crowd you know some double chant fight forever that would be the Vince thing for
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Roman and Brock like oh you guys just go out there and find it every WrestleMania from here
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until you die my Vince is getting better by the way and he's nowhere to be found so it loses
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luster but yeah like I it's it's this is probably the most confusing time for WrestleMania that we've
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had and maybe our entire history like a lot of matches we could kind of pick out six months ahead of
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time like I'm looking at the card now and I'm like I have no idea where they're going with anybody
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upgrade at the top of the card right now because you don't know when Rollins is coming back I'm
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pretty sure he's coming back as a baby face just because you just did the whole Austin theory
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stomping people to you know make people think it was Seth um I think we'll probably we might get
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Rollins if Rollins can make it back by WrestleMania we might get Rollins in theory at WrestleMania um
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I don't know what you do with Bronson Reed in that I don't know what you do with Logan Paul um
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if you do Braun and Roman that's a fantastic match but then do you do the Usos against like Logan
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Paul and Bronson Reed the tag belts like I don't like there's so many questions as to where you go with
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stuff um it it's really it's almost like like the old family guy joke of you're just throwing
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stuff in the wall and seeing what kind of comes out of it and then that's the story we're going with
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because it's just and not mentioned you still have LA night on the sidelines right now we don't
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know where LA night slots in all this heading into Royal Rumble season if he's going to be a baby
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face if he'll in it come back as he heal uh you have smackdowns only got maybe four top guys and
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the rest of the cards of mid card where is Sammy Zane slottings all of this trick Williams they're
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all on Smackdown like the it's it's a good like there is no pecking order really it's like on
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Smackdowns like top four guys and then just everybody else and it's a free for all to see who claims
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the next spot up yeah it's it's it's major in flux and you know I pitched the idea of Sammy
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winning the Rumble and Saudi Arabia I thought that would be good I like a Sammy run going into Mania
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trying to win the World Heavyweight Championship they tried touching upon that uh several times over
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the years it was like I remember I think fall last year uh he's talked about it heading into uh this
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past year even that he wanted to get in there and and win the World Championship finally because he always
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was someone that couldn't win the big one and they like go back and forth to that I think that
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would be a great storyline you bring up LA night uh as well I think it's time for him to catapult to
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the top of the card and get an opportunity as champion it's a tough job to have as a creative member
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of WWE according to reports they know what they want to do with those title matches and uh I
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guess we'll have well we certainly have a much better view of it in in about two to three weeks time
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once the Rumble passes uh I have at least one match under the books but the Roman stuff is is
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extremely intriguing what happens with him now um and then going back to the Smackdown brand
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doctor tray there's early reports right now that that match for the WWE Championship will be
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Drew versus Fat 2 versus Cody Rhodes somehow getting in an Attribute Threat Match which if that's
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the direction I'm here I'm for that right now because I prefer seeing a storyline build now early
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January that takes me to you know mid April or WrestleMania then waiting you know early February
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mid February for just a couple months I would love to see this thing play out uh until then with
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a lot of different twists and turns going back to big Drew going back to the WWE Championship
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do you want to see that being a Triple Threat match with Cody Drew in Fat 2 uh over the next several
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months heading into WrestleMania yeah because I think it's interesting I mean you have Drew's champion
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Fah 2 is the tweeter Cody on the chase again like fans love that stuff I mean like we love Cody
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in the chase we love Jacob being on hand do we like Drew being the mega villain so uh I'm for that
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which if you do that then you can always do the cool thing at Limitian Chamber and like let's say
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because I think my prediction was Roman winning the rumble uh so if Roman wins the rumble and you put
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Roman with punk brawn with Seth you do Cody and Jacob in the chamber and the chamber match ends with
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those two being taken out by Drew and there's no winner and then uh Nick all this comes out and
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declares that we're gonna triple threat match at Mania with all three of those guys and then you get
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basically a month and a half buildup of those three guys just beating the hell of each other leading
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into WrestleMania like I'm fine with that I think that would be a pretty good card yeah I would be
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as well I I don't know if I like the idea of like Drew taking out people in in huge matches like the
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elimination chamber uh I know you like clear you like clear cut winners but you know if you're
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storytelling and you know your end story is that triple threat how do you get to it in the easiest
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fashion is having the two guys at the end of the chamber not having a winner I I like fans in
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attendance especially with the ticket prices that they're paying today if they want to go to
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elimination chamber I like to see them get the most out of their dollar value rather than you know
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serving up as a storyline for WrestleMania to pay even more money to get to that's why that's
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that's why you put the men's chamber match on first and then you have the women's chamber match
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be the main event and whoever your woman is that you want to have the clear cut finished to challenge
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WrestleMania she wins in the main event at the chamber and the fans go home happy because then
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that first match can be your storyline match that second chamber match is your clear cut victor
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we got plenty of time to talk about elimination chamber for sure and maybe that's how it plays out
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but WrestleMania 42 plans currently in flux there is a direction creative knows what they want to do we
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don't know yet as fans maybe we're seeing seeds planted maybe we're not maybe those seeds will be
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planted in two weeks times three weeks times four weeks time but it is a very intriguing time to to
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see how the build to WrestleMania goes on and goes forward here it's some of my favorite time in
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the year because I really love the creative process that goes into the WrestleMania card being built
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so maybe we're seeing it play out right now or maybe we're not so more to come here in the coming
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weeks because what we do in our WrestleMania 42 roundup card roundup here soon which it's just
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wild it just felt like we we literally just did that speaking of storylines dr. Trey on raw this
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past Monday CM Punk said that the vision is behind him following his victory over Braun Breaker at
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the first raw of 2026 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and he is heading towards the royal rumble
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he will have a match in Belfast against Finn Baller for the Royal Way Championship this Monday in
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CM Punk what should CM Punk's path be right now because even though he says storyline wise the vision
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is behind him it feels like it's just beginning for him and the vision especially heading towards
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WrestleMania 42 what do you think the path is now for Punk as we move forward I still think you get
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a royal rumble match with Punk and Braun Breaker or something like that I don't it's funny that he
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said that because didn't Cody say the same thing about Drew McIntyre a couple months ago and then
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Drew didn't let it go and now Drew's champion so I think that's just kind of their way of saying like
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hey I'm moving on to something else and then when the vision jumps up again they get more heat on
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them to me the storyline is not going to die until Rawlings comes back because I'm fully
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envisioning at some point CM Punk and Seth Rawlings are going to have to team up against people in the
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vision and that's going to be great storytelling so I think you kind of play with some of the other
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characters until you decide to ramp up the visioning again the Finn Baller and Belfast that might
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cause a riot if Finn doesn't win in Belfast because the Irish fans are not known for being very
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polite I mean they were ECW arena before ECW arena so but I think that's a good way of kind of continuing
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the storyline on and then maybe you get some crossover from the Judgment Day getting upset if
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somebody from the vision interferes in that match and costs Finn the title because
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we haven't seen a baby face Judgment Day yet really so there's a way of playing with that and
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then leading into playing into Dom's popularity and then you might get vision and Judgment Day for
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a little bit until we get to more towards WrestleMania season. Yeah I would I love that we're seeing this
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match with Punk and Finn Baller on Monday night I love that Finn's got this opportunity I wish
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he was getting this opportunity more often I hope this is not just a homecoming thing for Finn
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because I think Finn should be a main event player and in the discussion of world titles
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the punk direction right now is is is you know really interesting to watch because it's not as
349
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,680
cut and dry as it was and maybe that's the whole point of what WWE is trying to do there is the
350
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:56,240
thing in the background right now where Braun Breaker was suspended by Adam Pierce and the last thing
351
00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:01,600
interaction they had together was Paul Heyman walking away and saying that you had hit your hands on
352
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:08,080
him first we could see a situation that is similar to to Drew and Nick Aldous or the force was made for
353
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:14,720
Drew McAhtar to get his title match where Braun Breaker now gets that title match at maybe rumble
354
00:34:14,720 --> 00:34:21,040
or at a later date or maybe it's something I would love to see it play out not as predictable where
355
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:28,160
let's just say that Heyman forces to avoid legal action that they gave Braun Breaker the number
356
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:33,760
30 entry at the Royal Rumble or something along those lines like I'd like to see something different
357
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:43,200
so I don't think punk is done with the vision I think the vision is who he feuds with for now until
358
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:50,320
after WrestleMania that is the direction and he goes it will be something to watch for though
359
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,600
on the direction of that because if they do separate the two they do continue to separate and
360
00:34:55,600 --> 00:35:01,280
widen the gap between punk and vision interactions it makes you wonder how close Seth Rollins is
361
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:07,760
I could see a scenario with Seth is involved with them punk is away from the vision he's focused on
362
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,920
someone else maybe he is setting up a match with Sammie's Ain't a WrestleMania maybe he is
363
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,320
setting up a match with LA Knight at WrestleMania and that's the direction they go for that period of
364
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:21,040
time and then eventually we get to the Seth and and punk having a tag to one another with one
365
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:27,280
another against the vision where you know enemies the enemy of my enemy is my friend situation takes place
366
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:35,920
so yeah the punk stuff is is not very clear right now which is a good thing again I don't think we
367
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:40,320
should have predictable WrestleMania matches in January and I think that we should have the
368
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,880
opportunity to sit here and go I wonder if they're going to go this way I want to figure out
369
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:51,120
going to go that way so see a punk's direction heading into Royal Rumble is one to watch and we'll
370
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,760
see where things go this Monday's he takes on Finn Balor in a title match in Belfast Ireland
371
00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:00,080
we have to say something Dr. Trey yeah just before we move on I was going to ask you this as well
372
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:07,040
is Finn Balor in that Drew McIntyre era or area where it's like Finn's has some title shots
373
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:14,400
over the last year and hasn't come through we saw that weird promo was about three weeks ago with
374
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:20,720
Byron and Finn up in the balcony and Finn's like I'm coming for all the gold like and we saw reports
375
00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:27,120
that hey Finn might really get pushed this year are we trending that if Finn doesn't come through
376
00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:33,840
shortly he's kind of going to be locked in is that like non believable challenger type thing where
377
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,720
like yeah Finn's a great wrestler but we know they're never going to title on him like is he in that
378
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:46,480
range and he was one of the triple age guys building NXT like I kind of wonder like if he doesn't get
379
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:54,640
this where does Finn go long term in WWE is he always going to be kind of upper mid card at best
380
00:36:54,640 --> 00:37:00,080
at this point I don't think Finn's there yet because Finn has been in the tag division for like
381
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:06,640
the last year with JD McDonough he is like a background player he is a mid card upper mid card the way
382
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:14,240
he is booked I think if they continue to push him upwards he will enter that face where if he becomes
383
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:18,960
as good as Drew and Kevin Owens were as a character we all know we know he could do it in rainwise
384
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:27,520
then as a heel that then he needs to find that moment like Drew I don't think he's there yet
385
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:33,440
just because the type of creative he has had has not been one where it's comparable to Drew
386
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:40,480
where Drew has had multiple chances for a world title as completely failed and is like just
387
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:46,640
obsessed with becoming WWE champion and Drew Finn's not there yet but he certainly could be for sure
388
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:53,040
okay yeah because I mean like to have I mean this is kind of like it is in a weird way
389
00:37:54,000 --> 00:38:01,760
Drew losing at clash at the castle like this is Finn challenging for the title in his hometown basically
390
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:08,400
I mean Belfaz is only like 45 minutes from Brooks County or Brooks Windsor County Ireland or whatever
391
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:14,160
they say he's from like it's not that far away and so like when you put this kind of position if
392
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:19,520
he loses back at lead to storytelling within the judgment day of like Dom you know still being
393
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:25,040
double champ and you know Finn guy getting pushed down like there's some good storyline coming out
394
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:30,240
but also like I mean every time we see Finn in a big match in a singles match he hasn't come
395
00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:36,240
through in quite a while and that's why I'm kind of wondering like maybe they shock us all and
396
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:42,400
Finn walks out with the belt because Braun interferes in the match that would be extremely shocking
397
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:48,080
I mean you want to talk about like WrestleMania in flux like presently like there there was
398
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:53,280
there was like a 50 50 split that like Drew McIntyre walks out of there is WWE champion like I
399
00:38:53,280 --> 00:39:00,080
I think it is like 80 20 yeah yeah yeah if Finn wins this match I'd be like holy crap like what do they
400
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:05,840
what do we do now I mean that could is this the opening for L.A.9 now is then punk solely just going
401
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:12,080
after the vision without a championship involved and Finn is the transition champion to guy like L.A.9
402
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:16,480
like those are the discussions that we're having it would be nice again I like creative that's putting
403
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:21,040
things upside down in WWE rather than being very very predictable I thought that they've been very
404
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:28,320
vanilla very easy to predict over the last let's say 12 to 15 months they got away from that 2002
405
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:35,200
to 2000 early 2024 run that they were on creatively when when Triple H took over where it wasn't
406
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:41,520
as predictable and it was very very fun to watch as a fan now it's become a little bit more predictable
407
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:50,000
to an extent or some creative has been more like let me just try to get some buzz and stuff for unreal
408
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:56,480
or stuff for you know YouTube and Twitter and X for these these viral clips whether it be our
409
00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:02,720
truth returning as a heel and I'm Ron killings now to just can be completely forgotten about now or
410
00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:09,120
seen as heel turn or the knee issue with the Seth Rollins like they went to go do more viral
411
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:14,320
shit than stuff that actually matters long term for the company I was saying we were talking about
412
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:21,600
predictable I did go undefeated my last two PLE predictions like I got I nail survivor series and
413
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:26,800
I think the NXT show like I went I didn't miss a match the last two PLE because they got in kind of
414
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:33,680
predictable so I'm with you I like them shaking up stuff but we haven't really seen that big shocking
415
00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:43,120
like you said Drew and Cody is 50 50 we haven't seen that big shocking upside down win out of nowhere
416
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:50,080
and quite some time and this would be a great chance to do it especially if Finn wins and we get
417
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:55,680
Dominic and Finn like Dom's jealous of Finn because Finn's got the big belt and even though Dom has
418
00:40:55,680 --> 00:41:01,840
two it's not that one like it's one of those things where like you can shake up all of WWE if you
419
00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:08,320
had the gust of pull the trigger on this and really make WrestleMania completely unpredictable going
420
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:14,080
into the last three months it the Drew title change definitely is close I would say it's still
421
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:19,280
surprising it happened given it was Cody close to WrestleMania that type of stuff if this was
422
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:23,760
September I'd be like yeah this is definitely happening but being that it's close to WrestleMania
423
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,360
I was like will they do it will they pull the trigger and they did it's not like this jog to the floor
424
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:35,680
moment but it was certainly surprising that they finally pulled the trigger there so lots to discuss
425
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:41,520
in regards to the at least on the men's side of the main roster here of where things are going
426
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:47,440
with the titles heading into Mania season and that's a good thing that's we we like to see that we
427
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:54,080
like to see good creative creative that isn't predictable taking place right now in WWE
428
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:59,440
speaking of the men's division dr. Tre if we go down to the NXT crew right now
429
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:05,760
there feels like I was watching Tuesday night's edition of NXT there feels like there is a huge
430
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:12,880
roster shake up going on in NXT right now it is giving me 2.0 vibes when they launched there is no
431
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:19,120
clear cut star at the moment you have a lot of established names that are now working with not so
432
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:26,880
established names we saw Ricky Starks or Ricky Saints taking claim to be the guy to be the next NXT
433
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:32,880
men's champion there's going to be a six person NXT championship ladder match taking place in
434
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:37,680
early February I think it was like the second or third Ricky Saints is already the match you've got
435
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:44,240
miles born that wants to go in there Keanu Carter who I don't want to evolve he comes out of nowhere
436
00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:50,000
and lays claim is like being the next dominant oba femey brawn breaker those types of likes of
437
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,480
a guy's that came out of nowhere we've seen that creative happen out of NXT over the last five
438
00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:01,200
years as someone that's going to be in this match and dominate it's it's like a total crapshoot
439
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:07,120
right now of where this men's division is going to go I eventually think guys like Saints and
440
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:12,240
even Ethan Page on the North American side are going to find themselves facing up to Raw or
441
00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:17,840
Smackdown over the next three to six months which then leaves us no true quote established names you've
442
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:24,000
got Tony DeAngelo that's out there laying people out wanting the run of the NXT championship finally
443
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,960
he is an established name but the men's division like I'm watching like this could be either
444
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:34,160
a lot of fun or be this could be some rough times ahead for the NXT brand because the women's
445
00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:39,280
division is just dominating on so many different levels your thoughts here right now Dr. Trays you
446
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:46,560
look at the men's division of NXT yeah I mean it's funny like we've talked about this for almost
447
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:53,200
the entire history of NXT like it goes through cycles it like the women's division we stacked
448
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:58,240
the tag team division is solid the men's division is weak and then it'll cycle out the tag team
449
00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:03,360
division stacked the men's division solid the women's division is weak it goes to a cycle and I
450
00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:10,640
feel like we're in one right now where like the women's division is base is carrying the show the tag team
451
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:16,320
division is eh and now the men's division with Oba Femi vacating the title is like completely
452
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:20,880
in flux because like you mentioned like I'd love to see Ethan Page get another run he's one of my
453
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:26,000
favorite people to watch Ricky Stain's good you still got Joe Henry floating around as well I don't
454
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:31,680
know who Kiana Carter is I don't know who Ilya Le Croix or LaFlora Le Croix or whatever his name is
455
00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:37,680
I don't know that is you know you had Jasper Troy got this big push and then now he's the speed
456
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:45,760
champion but he's kind of in the background Tony D I don't think Tony D will ever be a main roster
457
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:51,120
guy if he is he's gonna be kind of like middle of the card I just don't see world champion when I see
458
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:58,160
Tony D so like you have a couple of guys you can build off of but yeah I don't know who I don't know
459
00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:06,240
if it's bad as nsc 2.0 but that men's division yeah it's it's struggling really really hard right now
460
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:13,680
is that a good thing or a bad thing if it's struggling I would say it's actually it's it's a land it's
461
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:18,720
the uh what's the old smackdown edge the land of opportunity yep like who's gonna jump out and catch
462
00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:24,400
fire it's never a bad thing when things are in flux because that's when they get really creative
463
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:30,560
and they try different stuff and people try different things there was a point um right about time
464
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:35,440
that brawn breaker came out that nxt was kind of weak in the men's division like right after Adam
465
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:40,880
Cole and all those guys left were like okay well who's left like it was kind of flux and that's when
466
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:44,960
the brawn breakers started jumping out at you that's when the Carmelo Hays is started jumping out
467
00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:50,800
the Ilya dragon offs don't there like that's when those guys kind of took hold and but right
468
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:55,200
before that you didn't know who was gonna be the guy that broke out we all thought hey at one point
469
00:45:55,200 --> 00:46:02,960
we all thought Tyler bait was gonna be the the the focal point of nxt and nxt uk and then that now he's
470
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:11,040
Hispanic or something so you don't really know who's gonna be that guy that breaks out and that
471
00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:17,360
ww also goes hey not only is he good in this setting but he can be good on the main roster as well
472
00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:24,160
and be a bankable star the main roster so it's you know this is when guys can really just shoot their shot
473
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:30,720
and go all out and kind of see who lands and lands on top well this is all happening dr.
474
00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:34,880
tre because there have been some call ups here very significant call ups when it comes to the men's
475
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:40,400
division trick Williams now on the Smackdown brand javad Evans now on the raw brand and of course
476
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:45,920
on last week's edition of nxt oba femmy gets the victory really on slater leaves it out in the ring
477
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:51,920
leaves it vacant relic which is it which is leading to the eventual six pack challenge ladder match for
478
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:58,080
the in the vacant nxt championship that'll take place in early February your thoughts on javad
479
00:46:58,080 --> 00:47:03,520
Evans signing with raw trick Williams signing with Smackdown and then where do you think oba femmy
480
00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:08,160
oba femmy lands because that is a factor that was like in the back of my mind when we were talking
481
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:14,080
about all these wrestle many matches like could we see oba femmy playing a factor either on the raw
482
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:18,960
brand side with the world of weight championship or even on the Smackdown side with the WWE
483
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:24,080
championship your thoughts on the two signings and then we're oba femmy eventually lands i think
484
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:28,960
trick going to Smackdowns good because a it puts i mean Carmelo Hayes is one of his best friends
485
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:33,680
so at least it puts somebody on that roster that he's super tight with to help him kind of grow on
486
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:39,280
that brand and like we're saying Smackdowns kind of i don't want to say they're starving for stars
487
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:44,800
but that that show feels very very flat for a while so getting a little injection of new blood in
488
00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:53,200
their role will always help you know ilya coming back was a big help as well i don't know if i'm a fan
489
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:58,400
of the javad Evans going to raw because it just kind of feels like he's going to get lost in the
490
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:06,080
shuffle for a while he might be the new version of Evan born like in on a raw we're like you love to
491
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:12,400
see his matches but like is he beating anybody at the top of the card do you think like javad Evans
492
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,960
could be like just on paper like looking at going he's not beating Gunther we saw that match
493
00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:23,440
he's not beating uh you know jay loose so anytime soon he's probably not beating la nai he's not
494
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:28,320
beating bronzen or eater bron breaker like it's gonna like anytime he wins you're gonna be like
495
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:33,920
oh wow that was crazy on Smackdown i think you can see javad Evans beating Carmelo Hayes
496
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,480
and being us champion and that's believable so i'm worried about that move and then also the
497
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:44,000
fact they had to sign his contract during a commercial break is just kind of disrespectful
498
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:51,040
i would have liked to see javad and triq and oba all go to Smackdown because i think that would
499
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:55,200
have injected some life into it and then if you needed to move some people around your mid card
500
00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:01,360
guys back over to raw you could do that um because we saw oba and kody at saryas made event you could
501
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:08,000
inject oba into that kody jay kofatu drew mac entire mix and i don't think any of us would bat
502
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,960
an eye because oba looks the part and we all know he can perform in the ring so even the casual if
503
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:18,480
you were like oh damn that guy's big he moves good yeah i can tell you see him being a top guy so
504
00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:23,760
i would have liked all of them go to Smackdown i am worried about javad getting lost in the shuffle
505
00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:30,720
under all i disagree and javad i really think he is he is gonna be a major player and i could see
506
00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:36,080
him involved on like the intercontinental championship stuff with like tomas terriol moving forward
507
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:43,200
yeah i mean and but that's my worries like on on on raw i feel like he's always gonna be kind of in
508
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:48,320
the middle like he needs he needs to add a little size this is the the will osprey conversation you
509
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:52,640
and i had like eight years ago if will could put on some size he could be a main event guide he did
510
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:58,240
but javad is only 22 i think you could have put javad on Smackdown and he could have factored
511
00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:05,280
into the upper mid card lower made event range faster than he can on Monday night raw well i think
512
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:11,440
something but go ahead doctor i say it might be that this is the kind of their way of testing i mean
513
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:17,040
the kids only i mean javad's 21 22 years old so it's kind of might be a way of like hey let's see if
514
00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:25,360
you can swim with the big fish because putting him on a very veteran heavy side might be a great
515
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:31,200
learning tool for him as well so then you know in a year if they do the draft and he ends up on Smackdown
516
00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:36,560
we're like okay yeah i can see javad now being a main event player i just don't see him being a main event
517
00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:43,520
guy on raw anytime soon i think his path to main event was we would have been faster on Smackdown i
518
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:50,640
i think he's gonna be a big time star for the company without a doubt i i don't feel like he
519
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:55,680
should have been on in NXT one more year i think he should have gotten a run with the championship i mean
520
00:50:55,680 --> 00:51:02,880
i mean yeah i would have loved if they were going to put oba up on the main roster and the plan was
521
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:08,320
New Year's evil then they should have stuck with javad Evans versus oba femey for New Year's evil
522
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:13,600
and let javad finally beat him and javad is the NXT champion for a period of time and stand
523
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:19,040
to deliver during the WrestleMania season he's NXT champion he's holding it for a while and then
524
00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:24,560
maybe he gets that call up in the summer you know the word was anybody who basically performed on
525
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:29,280
the john cnc and saturday night's main event show was gonna get an immediate call up well soul ruka
526
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:35,520
is still in NXT right now and she's someone that i also feel like should remain an xd for a period of
527
00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:42,000
time because you should give her a run as NXT women's champion and oba and trick have been tested
528
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:47,680
like it's time elevate them put them up there even lash legend um i think lash legend is a very
529
00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:54,400
just looking at recent call up from NXT she is the perfect example of somebody who uh doesn't
530
00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:02,400
work out well in NXT but just has the makings of a main roster player even when she's in NXT and that's
531
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:08,800
how she plays out nia jacks was that way Alexa bliss was that way um and i think lash legend falls into
532
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:13,840
that same category but i would have kept javad Evans in NXT for a little bit especially during the
533
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:18,640
transition period and let him run with the championship for a while let him let him you know feud with
534
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:26,720
ricky saints um let oba put him over on his way out of NXT but clearly they want to elevate javad
535
00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:34,800
Evans um and yeah it it'll be be interesting where oba fami ends up i i i'm always with you right
536
00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:40,880
because raw is always super studded for the last 25 years that they've been doing the draft they've
537
00:52:40,880 --> 00:52:45,760
been doing the brand separation is always felt like smackdown has been the underdog they add the extra
538
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:49,440
hour to smack down so you know that there's some time to fill some void that they need to fill
539
00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:55,680
but there's also wrestlers on the smackdown brand that we're not getting a lot of run on smackdown
540
00:52:55,680 --> 00:53:00,960
because they were you know basically an hour and 20 minutes of actual airtime each and every week
541
00:53:00,960 --> 00:53:05,360
i mean gaming priests announced her black would be in and out on on smackdown and now they could be
542
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:09,760
a little bit more featured players the up and comers like kit wilson i think there's a lot of potential
543
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:14,960
there for him um but yeah i'm always with you like they should always end up on smackdown because
544
00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:20,240
they could get lost on raw especially when they come from NXT uh with that said i think oba should get
545
00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:26,960
the call to raw i think oba is someone that could be feuding with punk feuding with roman or feuding
546
00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:33,440
with brock lesnar heading in a restaurant and out to tray the word on him is that their eyes opened
547
00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:38,640
up oddly enough in that match with Cody Rhodes at saturday night's main event where they were like
548
00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:44,800
oh crap we've got something here if if that was at the reaction of people in wwe after watching oba
549
00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:51,520
feme over the last 12 to 18 months when he had his right running NXT uh he is good on the microphone
550
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:57,280
he is a great character presence and he is a good in ring worker so i don't know what they weren't
551
00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:04,160
watching up until now but oba feme could be that he could have that brock lesnar run where you
552
00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:09,600
get debuting debuting april and you're debuting to be champion in four months time after that so i
553
00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:19,360
think oba ends up on raw i just because for me i go back to the obw class of 2000 with cina
554
00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:26,240
batista lesnar and ordin and for the most part you remember early on they always kept cina and batista
555
00:54:26,240 --> 00:54:31,840
on opposite shows and i look at it right now and go and you got brawn breaker on one show
556
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:36,320
you want to keep oba on the other show because otherwise if they're both heels are going to cross pass
557
00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:41,200
that they're on the same show so keep them separate for a while to build up in the fans minds like
558
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:46,960
once again i want to see oba and brawn go brawn breaker go at it and then you make that moves where
559
00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:51,440
they're both on the same show and you can set that up so i would just keep them separate for a while
560
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:57,120
to build up that anticipation for them becoming the perennial main eventers that we know they're going
561
00:54:57,120 --> 00:55:05,200
to come and then have that big match at a wrestlemania 44 45 and then then it's off to the races for
562
00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:12,320
the next 10 years yeah it's intriguing times for NXT intriguing times for rons smack down with these
563
00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:19,520
additions and it's fun to watch i love seeing this stuff taking place when they do these runs and
564
00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:22,800
because you know hopefully a year or two years so now you can look back and go hey remember
565
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:27,120
that those call ups remember how the men's division looked and how they've kind of refreshed the brand
566
00:55:27,120 --> 00:55:33,200
because that is basically the cycle NXT goes through during each and every time period it's
567
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:38,720
definitely a chapter that's ended on the men's side of NXT with that said dr. Tray let's close
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00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:45,120
up shop on episode number 831 for jaynor 15th 2026 in a couple plugs and sponsor the way you can
569
00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:51,680
sports over at patreon.com/srtupodcast that remains free that remains your number one spot to
570
00:55:51,680 --> 00:55:58,320
receive this podcast at free and available once it is a release to everybody out there you can
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also download the show over at realguymedia.com wrestlechat and add on x or the still real
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a show feed on apple spotify wherever you download this podcast don't forget to rate review and
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subscribe you can follow us individually on x for myself at srtu Jeff and for dr. Tray Franklin
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00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:17,840
at the dr. Tray and of course don't forget to fall show on x at srtu podcast with that being said
575
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:23,360
what is going on the wonderful world of dr. Tray Franklin this week well like Jeff said you can
576
00:56:23,360 --> 00:56:29,360
follow me on x at the dr. Tray you can find me on instagram and facebook dr. Tray Franklin when
577
00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:33,760
you're on facebook be sure to check out rock and city championship wrestling we just had the rock and
578
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:40,240
city rumble two weeks ago we have a big show coming this weekend but i will not be there
579
00:56:40,240 --> 00:56:46,160
because as i told Jeff off air this is sammy franklin's birthday weekend so sammy frank will be
580
00:56:46,160 --> 00:56:51,440
turning seven so we're going to be having a blowout big party forum so i'll have to mr. rocket
581
00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:55,680
city show but hey if you're not going to send money for sammy franklin's birthday go check out your
582
00:56:55,680 --> 00:57:02,720
local independent wrestling show where you two can go find the next kiana carter uh kiana reaves kiana
583
00:57:02,720 --> 00:57:10,320
ilio luflore like go find the next guy that'll be on nxc that jeff and i go who is that damn he's good
584
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:15,360
i didn't see that coming so go go find those guys go support local independent wrestling because
585
00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:20,640
that's your bread and butter that's where wrestle mania 49 is coming from is that little local gym
586
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:26,960
right down the ruff from your house so there you go support all the great things that support sRTU
587
00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:31,360
and once again thank you for making us part of it your week thank you for downloading the show thank you
588
00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:36,800
for supporting us again if you want to continue to support us go to patreon.com/srtupodcast sign
589
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up for free that is the way that we are tracking all of our listeners how many people tune in each
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and every week on the still real to us show so we're pleading everybody to go there please sign up
591
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for free and uh show your support to sRTU uh would that be in said dr tre that'll do it for this
592
00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:57,200
week's dish to the show we'll back next week we'll get you closer to the royal rumble and everything
593
00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:02,080
else that is going on the world of professional wrestling look back at maximum carnage from aew and
594
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:09,840
a whole lot more so until next week for dr trey franklin i am jeff pack this has been this to release show