Okada Is A Free Agent, RAW is Netflix and Royal Rumble Preview | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #728 – 1/25/24

0:00 It's still libited. Welcome everybody. Welcome to this week's edition. In this Still Real Dost Show Episumber seven and twenty eight one for January twenty fifth, twenty twenty four. Welcome to your WWE Royal Rumble pre and Prediction edition of apps R to you. I am one affter the show. I am chaff pet Peck joined every single week my cost only Doctor Trey Franklin Dtor Trey.

0:43 Welcome to the Road to Wrestle Madia forty my friend. Yeah, no detours, all gas, no break traving them from the other analogies. Uh, make sure you say the lead the passing lateness to the left, it's lowered traffic to the right. Make sure you merge properly. Zipper effect for merging. By the way, I'm already got car analogies here, Jeff. If there's a white line around your stop sign, it's stoptional. Ah, right, know that one. Know. I thought, at least live in California, briefly, I thought all stop signs were optional. Uh that is, Yeah, that is that's law. That's law. If there's a white line around the stop sign, yeah, it's stopped. I've literally had Please tell me that people have told me they did at California. Stop. Yeah, yeah, it's just rolling on through, keep rolling, rolling, rolling.

1:34 As Fred Durris once said, Welcome to this week's edition of SRTU. The Road to Wrestling. He forty has begun. Before we get into wrestling, let's get into what we talked about the beginning of the last week's show. Congratulations to the one and only Doctor Trey and his San Francisco forty nine ers now five and oher in the playoffs and the history of the story of the show against my team, the Green Bay Packers, Doctor Trey, I did not know that the Niners Packers in the playoffs was the most common game in the playoffs. I didn't know that. I was thinking Niners Cowboys or Steelers Raiders, but I didn't know that that was the tenth meeting or level.

2:15 I think it was the tenth yeah, because I think it was Niners relieving five fours and now at six four. Yeah. So I mean, once again, you guys own the farv Era. So that is true. We just get a little bit of payback here. But that I think I text you like again in the game, like you had me so nervous last week. It's always it's the same thing I do with work or everything else. I undersell it because it's like, oh, if they win, it's fantastic, but if they lose, I ready lowered my expectations and I was like, damn it, Jeff's using the reverse psychology on me. So now I'm all stressed out and nervous. I'm also very superstitious, so I typically don't watch nighter games until they get comfortably ahead. And wow. Of course, yeah, so first quarter and I I so you only watched the last minute in seven seconds. Yes, so I think I told you a few weeks ago. I have never ordered a jersey from any forty nine or quarterback ever, because you're talking about your Jordan Love jersey and everything else. My dad made me order. My dad got me a rock party jersey for Christmas.

3:23 Wow, And so I got one in and I had also I had ordered the wrong size, so Sammy Franklin has one in as well. And I wore my party jersey earlier in the week. And then I kept the game picks off and your Packers jump out in front, and I'm like, no, Jackson, the team shut the game off. So I followed it on CBS Sports game cast and didn't turn it on until McCaffrey score is touchdown at the end of the game. Wow wow wow wow. I mean I could not do that, but more power to you. Oh it was killing me. It was killing me. But yeah, well, I mean you walked away with a victory. I mean what was killing me was the fact that, like, green Bay had San Francisco on the ropes at least two to three times and did not execute. So green Bay season is over. Doctor, train your San Francisco forty nine ers. They'll they'll battle it out this Sunday Sunday night against the Detroit Lions, which would be a really fun game on Sunday night. Yeah, and I was, And it's funny. We were so my steps on Saturday or Sunday, we had Sammy Franklin's actual birthday party and the Packer or the Buccaneer Lions game was on, and I looked at Peyton, I'm like, I'm like, I don't know who to root for because I like both those teams. I like the Lions are scrappy and I like seeing the team that's always struggled kind of be well. But the Bucks have Baker Mayfield. It As an Oklahoma kid, I root for Bakers.

4:49 I didn't know who to kind of pull for in that game. But it's weird, like I don't have any like Barry Sanders is one of my favorite players of all time, so I'm like, I I don't have any animosity towards either of these teams. So I'm like, all right, well, the Lion's the one. I feel better for Detroit because I mean, dear god, they hadn't won the championships. There's what fifty one or fifty six something like that, So if they were playing to anybody else, I'd be pulling for the Lions. But I got to pull for my Niners and just put again. Oh of course, of course. I mean it's gotta be a fun one. Yeah. I really don't root against anyone anymore, like after my team's eliminated, unless it's like a rival team like the Chicago Bears, maybe the Minnesota Vikings, but even Detroit being in the same division.

5:36 I don't dislike Detroit at all. So I don't dislike the Niners even though they eliminated my Packers. Again, don't like the don't dislike the Detroit Lions. Don't dislike the Chiefs or the Ravens, so I guess I'm gonna have a very easy Sunday coming off of Saturday Nights royal rumble. But tip of the cap again here to Doctor Trey and his San Francisco forty nine ers forgetting victory once again here in the history of SRTU over my Green Bay Packers. But the future is bright for my Green Bay Packers. I'm excited and hopefully they can capitalize on it next season, which is three hundred and sixty five days plus from now, which really sucks to say outs out loud, but that's that's how it goes. I tell everybody. I was telling some people on Sunday morning. They were like, how you doing? Some folks that I saw and there was like, listen, I have come to the grips. Come to grips that I am a sports fan and I watch something that there is like a ninety percent chance every year that I'm going to be upset, frustrated, pissed off and like what am I doing by the end of the season. And that happens every year unless my team wins the championship, and it's like the most sick thing that I think a human can do to themselves is be a diehard sports fan, because it's it's like either the chance of happiness is like, so, yeah, this is what we do.

7:03 I guess this is why I watch profession and wrestling Doctor Trey. Yeah, I was about his earlier. I was like, you know, on the AFC side, you have the Chiefs and the Ravens. Those are the two teams that have beat the Niners in the Super Bowl the last two trips, and both of those games basically came down think the last couple of minutes in the fourth quarter. So I'm like, I'm still I'm already stressing out. If we get past Detroit, then I don't want to repeat at that. But you say that, and then wrestling fans are just as bad as sports fans because they will complain and bitch and moan about my guy's not getting a push, my guy's not winning the Rumble. Once again, if you're a fan of somebody in the Rumble coming up, there's thirty guys in there, only one person's getting the spot. So unless you're a fan of that guy, you're probably gonna watch end up watching the Rumble and be going yeah that it was okay, but I'm just really bummed down now, Doctor Trin.

7:55 I will make our first pl pay per view predictions towards the end of the show for the Royal Rumble, And let me just tell you right now, I'm looking at my computer screen and I have down for my notes for the Men's Royal Rumbo Match. I have three people that I've still not that I this is fantastic and this will be a theme on the show. I have no idea who's going to win the Men's mom Royal Rumbo Match, and it is literally going to be a game time decision. So more on that in a bit. The big news that took place towards the end of last week was, I believe Thursday night, it was announced by New Japan Pro Wrestling that one Kazitchka Okada will be leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling once his contract wraps up on January thirty first. He will have some dates in February working for New Japan, but he is going to be leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and awnwe will be looking for his services. This comes to us from Wrestling Inc. Quote. In the wake of this announcement, New Japan Pro Wrestling has also provided Okada's official statement about his upcoming exit from New Japan Pro Wrestling, I saying I have nothing but gratitude for having been part of New Japan Paro Wrestling since two thousand and seven, for New Japan bringing me from a nineteen year old kid off the plane in Mexico to the rain Maker I am today. Okada said thank you to the best of companies in New Japan par Wrestling, to the best of opponents that I've been able to face here, and to the best fans that have cheered and booed over the years. I promise to make it rain every match I have left, so keep watching.

9:22 Despite his impending entrying to the free agency market, Okada is still scheduled to be president at a trio of New Japan par Wrestling shows next month in February. After he completes his appearance at the New Beginning event in Osaka on February eleventh, the rain Maker will head to Saparro as the New Beginning series continues on February twenty third and twenty fourth. I believe at the February eleventh show he will be taken on Hiroshi Tanahashi. No word yet if he is wrestling on the shows on February twenty third and twenty fourth, and it is very well possible by then that he could be signed to one company. So it appears Okada is either aw or we bound will continue to peel this onion a bit, Doctor Trey. But on the initial port of Okada hitting free agency and leaving New Japan World Wrestling, I know I was shocked. It's something that we did discuss late last year, but nonetheless something that you just didn't really think was gonna happen until it actually happened. And now it's happening because it's Gookada will be a free agent and he will be coming to the United States. Doctor Trey, Yeah, I don't know if I was shocked by it, but it was a little surprising, to say the least. Like it's kind of one of those things where you kind of look at it and you go, well, you know, like comparing it to baseball, you get those you know, the Japanese players that accomplish everything in Japanese baseball and they want to test their merits against the best in America. And for somebody like Okada who's had a taste of Aw. He's got, you know, friends in WWE, there comes that time where you're like, Okay, I've

10:54 accomplished everything in Japan. I want you what would I do in the in the in the States, And so yeah, I guess he's taken his shot. So much like each Row back in the day, or Dice Kay or any deserved Japanese players have come over, He's gonna take a shot and see what he can do. And I'm really looking forward to seeing how the American audience responds to him, how he responds to American people, and how the rain Maker character translates over because I fully expect no matter where he goes, he's going to be the rain Maker. Because there's so where does AW and we stand there's a lot to peel back here from this past week. This comes to us from Wrestling Observer newsletter saying it was believed that AW has made the strongest first offer to Kazisco Okada, but no contract has been signed at press time. W W was of the belief that they have a strong shot at getting him, with the idea that they convinced him he had done all he could in Japan and because the economic differences in wrestling, the American scene is far more lucrative. More on this from I will Select earlier this month, AW had been very hopeful that they'd land because it's Gokata and ideas had been tossed around, but it's far too early to determine where he'll actually land.

12:09 WW sources has spoken to, had not yet heard of any talks involved in two sides, but expected that at least to be explored. WW weren't sure if he would want to make the move over. And then finally again from Dave Meltzer over at wrestlum Server Radio, saying quote, I've heard from people and talk to people who know him very well, who have talked to him in the last day or two, and he has not decided. It's not like a secret, he just hasn't decided yet. I know people in AW who think they've got him. I know people in AW who hope that they've got them, but don't think that they've got them. I know people in w who hope that they're going to get them and who believe that he wants a legacy, and it's kind of like that they're like, well, maybe we can pay him less but you could have your wrestle Ina moment and again what his goal is in life. You know for some people that means more. And either way, he's going to make great money. That comes to from Dave Meltzer. Some reports out there this week that have been refuted that he had signed with w He's gonna be going in NXT to start.

13:05 There was I believe it was a Japanese outlet sources in w who said that that was a surprise to them. It seemed to me that when this story first broke, Doctor Trey that it was like a slam dunk that AW was going to sign him. It's eerly reminiscent to the Will Osprey stuff where WW did come into the discussion as a possibility. I would say the percentage chance of Okata going to WWE is higher than Osprey. I mean full disclosure here. I would prefer to see Okada in WE because I think it would be something new and different, something we haven't seen. We have seen Ocada in AW. We have seen New japan Stars crossover to AW, and it's not much of a crossover. I think Okada in WWE would be very intriguing and interesting. But my expectation is that he still ends up in AW. Doctor Trey. Yeah. I mean, if we are doing percentages, I'm probably sixty five thirty five that he ends up in AW. I. I just I don't want to see him go there. I And you know, our fans might call me the ww homer or whatever, but the AW roster is so loaded, and you know, you and I have talked about this off air many times. They really have not elevated anybody who came into their company from outside AW. Like you can say they've elevated MJF and Darby a little bit, but really nobody has come in from WWE's in a better position now than they were when they came in. And so for somebody like Okata who may struggle a little bit getting over with an American audience, to me,

14:41 ww' is a better fit because I think his character is more entertainment style than in RING and I'm not knocking his entering ability by far. I just think he's the most Him and Tan of Hashi, we're probably the most flamboyant characters in New Japan, and I think their styles lend better to the WWE style than say, you know, even you know the Aboushis and the Kansas and everybody else has come over in the past. Yeah. Again, to me, it's just a matter of seeing something different. I truly don't think Okada coming to AW is anything different. It's a new Japan in the United States, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a comforting blanket for him. He has wrestled in AW multiple times. There was the report out there that he came over in October. I think he worked like a dynamite. It was actually the one where Brian Danielson hurt his eye taking the rain Maker.

15:31 It was during that match. I think maybe Ocat attacked with Orange Cassidy. He wanted to see what it was like working for AW. So obviously they have the edge in all this, and that is where I expect him to land. But it is the intriguing opportunity of Okada in we that entices me as a wrestling fan. It's like I would I would love to see this happen because I don't know what it would be like. It would be bigger than when Knackamra came over in twenty sixteen. It would be bigger than when aj Styles came over in twenty sixteen. It would be ww's biggots, non former WE talent free agent signing since aj Styles and Knockamore from eight years ago.

16:15 In my opinion, I mean, this would be a massive get and it's one that I would love to see in the WW ring. I would love to see perform under the WA banner, perform at WrestleMania, and I would want to see how successful he is because he could kind of change the perception of how Japanese wrestlers are booked, especially under the Triple H era, and how they're presented on WE television going forward, and it would be really, really different and intriguing, and that's why I want to see it. I wouldn't be upset off Okada signs with AW. I just would prefer to see him sign with WW, because again, it would be something different. I did predict at the first show of the year Knockamore versus Okada at WrestleMania forty this year that obviously he still has a true possibility of happening. This is this is big Doctor Trey. I felt that the will Ospray free agency from late twenty twenty three was the biggest name on the market and a big game changer. I'm starting to feel like Okada because I never thought he would become a free agent, would be a bigger get than Ospray for whoever sciences services. Yeah, I agree. I think I think Okada has more name value in you know, the Asian community than maybe than will Osprey did.

17:36 I also think Ocata is just a better entertainer than Ospray. Osprey might be a better entering performer, but for what WW likes to do and for how they present their talents. And you know, there were rumors years ago about an XT Japan and an XT UK and we've seen how global they're trying to go. It just makes more sense in the long term. If you want to really hit that marketplace hard, you need somebody to go up against a knock a Ray. You know. I don't want to use gender Mahal as an example, but that was their big push when they were trying to get an idiomore was the Gender Mahal great colleiges of And we've seen them do this every time they go to a market where they wait. In the UK, they went out and signed the biggest restaur in the in the European market, which was goodther So this is kind of their mo by doing this, And I just think that out of everybody they could get for to really integrate into that area even more, it would be Okada. I don't know about you, but I did. I saw that reported by him going to NXC that I can't see them standing Ocatta to the NXC either. I was thinking of the AJ Styles tree bit like if you're gonna pap um up pop up up on a big stage right away. So, uh, he's got way more name value than just even shins K. He has more name value right now than what k had in twenty s so it makes a lot of sense.

19:00 Yeah, if he's coming to the United States, he's performed and signing with w W, he's performing at Wrestlemaning and Wrestleman. He's forty this year, and it's like either kaz Ocado's taken on either AJ Styles or shinsk in that spot. So that's where I feel like it's I just can't see them bringing them in and he's like, Okay, you're gonna go to performance stand in the liver, you know what I mean? Like that would be a waste. So I I guess prediction wise, we both think he goes AW, but hope he goes WA. Is that fair right now? Yeah? I mean he's got I mean, I know him and shins K are good friends, Him and Oscar are friendly eo. But really, I mean he's competed against a lot of the guys in aew and then he knows a lot of them from their time in New Japan. But you know, he also knows aj and Finn, you know, and you know and Cody from their time in New Japan as well. So I still tend to lean if you're going to move to the States, you want to go so where we're you're familiar, at least in with AW, he has that familiarity. But it just kind of depends on what his ultimate goals are and if it's you'll perform on the biggest stage, which we saw how much the biggest stage can you know make you know, with TV rights EWD still the biggest stage you go jump on, speaking of which is going to become a very expensive to become a wrestling fan come January twenty twenty five, as we continue to monitor the because it's go Kada story here, I'm sure in the coming weeks, his free agency, but this story Doctor Trey was massive. It broke on Tuesday morning

20:34 on social media. As w RAW will be streaming on Netflix starting in January twenty twenty five. This report comes to us from ESPN dot Com. Ww's flag chap flagship weekly program Raw will stream live Monday nights on Netflix beginning in January twenty twenty five. The deal announced Tuesday is worth more than five billion with a B over ten years. Raw originated on USA Network in nineteen ninety three before shifting a TNN the Nashville Network in two thousand. Roberts turned to USA in two thousand and five and had been has been a three hour program since twenty twelve, which is mind boggling SmackDown, which is broadcast on Fox on Friday nights, will shift to USA in October part of a five year deal worth approximately one point four billion with a B. As part of wwa's deal with Netflix. These streamer plans that developed scripted television films from the wrestling promotions intellectual property. In its relatively short history, Netflix as engineer phenomenal track record for storytelling, said w president Nick Cohn. We believe Netflix is one of the world's leading Entertainment Brands is the ideal long term home for Raw's live, loyal, and ever growing fan base. Wwa's monthly premium live events are currently streamed on Peacock, part of NBC Universal, USA Network's parent company.

21:48 W and UFC are part of TKO Group Holding's, Inc. A publicly traded company. They also recently added Dwayne the Rock Johnson to the board of directors this past week. But Doctor tre Hey WWE Raw will be on Netflix starting January twenty twenty five. I don't know about you, but that is one of the streaming services I don't have an annual subscription or a subscription in general with, so I guess I'll be adding another fifteen eighteen twenty bucks to my bill. Your thoughts here on this monumental shift for WE programming. I think it's a good move long term for the company, because as we all get older, we all like I don't like I know, I cut my cable satellite ties about two years ago now, So I mean I haven't been able to watch Raw live in quite a while because I don't have the USA Network anymore. But I do have Netflix and Peacock and Hulu and everything else that wt' has been a part of since then, so, but people are going more to streaming services for their content. So for something like WWE, it makes a lot of sense because there is a large group of people that already have Netflix. For Netflix, it's fantastic because it's so much more programming they can do. So I think it's a good move for both companies. And I also love the fact for professional wrestling is when people tell me that wrestling's down, I'm like, well, WW got one point five billion for four years, and they just basically doubled that revenue to get to you know,

23:22 basically two billion a year, well a little lesson double bit two billion a year for the next ten years or no, sorry it was it, No, half a billion, half a billion for for Fox. You're saying this EA be SmackDown. They got what one billion for four years on Fox? H No, that's USA Networks. So SmackDown got one point four billion for five years. Yes, so that's three hundred million a year right roughly, and now they're gonna be at five billion for ten years. So they go they're gonna get half a million dollar or half a billion a year, So they almost doubled their revenue their TV deal for for just off what they got off Smacktown. So I just long term wise, it shows that people are willing to invest in your product for content if it's a good product and it has a long track record. So it always amazes me when I hear about other wrestling companies having a hard time finding a home, and I'm like, yeah, because w's you know, kind of monopolize everything in a sense because everybody's competing for their product, And do you really want to be playing B, plan C, play and D for somebody else, Like, oh, we missed out on WWE, Well they got a half, they got a half a billion a year. Yeah, we'll give you a few fifty you know, we'll give you thirty million a year. So it's a huge difference in those those numbers. But if somebody's gonna give you a half a billion a year for just one show, and then that's not even the library yet, that's just one show in the PLS, that just shows you how much PL's outside of the US. In the US, it'll still be on Peacock

24:55 until twenty twenty six. Oh yeah, and so they still have to bid on the pl They still have to give W four for plees and the library content. Then at that point as well, Yeah, if they want to make a full shift over to Netflix, which I know as a consumer of WWE, I would appreciate more. Now, did you say you have a Netflix subscription, Doctor Trey? Yeah, I do. Okay, so I don't I have Peacock. I play pay the annual fee, which is like one hundred and twenty bucks or something right now, which is a steal at the end of the day. Actually, as we record this, my wife is watching some sort of Peacock streaming show with Paris Hilton on it in our living room, so she yes, that's right, that's hot. I mean, anybody that is listening to the show for after two thousand and five is like, why are they saying that? Why are two grown men saying that right now? But I guess just google why Paras Hilton says that. But yeah, I mean this is already on top of so like for my own personal bills, So I have the Peacock. I'll have that for another annual fee that I'll do, which I'm sure will go up. I pay my monthly streaming so I could watch television shows and DV out so I could watch SmackDown in October and my Yankee Games or what have you, so I could watch regular television. And then I'm gonna have Netflix and Disney Plus and Paramount Plus and all this other stuff. Before I know it, all the reasons why we went to streaming to cost cut is now completely out of the door.

26:25 And yeah, I mean I was looking at Netflix subscriptions to be like, well, should I buy it now? Should I get an annual subscription? And they don't offer that, which I didn't realize. And if I want the really good stuff, it's twenty two bucks. If I want like the ten eightp no ads, it's fifteen bucks a month. Yeah, I'm at the twenty two level with Netflix. And a lot of it was I was wanting to get rid of Netflix for a while. But there's a few shows that the kids watch on there, like Samy it'ss Everything. He comes home, walks into my bedroom and turned on Netflix, and he watches a lot of the kids shows on Netflix. They've been my Sun loves a few of the shows on there. Then the wife was all about Discovery and Paramount and me, I'm like, I really don't care, Like I'm happy to watch the Roku channel that I pay a Roka job, pay nine bucks a month for that, but it gives me my you know, local channels plus all their other stuff they have, so you watch the Impact Wrestling or now TNA Wrestling channel. I every time I go to put it on, Sammy yells at me because that means I'm turning off Flippy. Okay, fair enough, and we who we know who? Where's the pants are in that house?

27:30 Some more news on this deal from Brandon Thurston, who tweeted the following on x He wrote, Netflix has the option to cancel the ten year deal with w WI after just five years, and has the option to extend the deal for an additional ten years, according to a filing from TKO, meaning the w Netflix term could end up being five years, ten years, or twenty years, whichever Netflix chooses. The company discloses the value of the deal over ten years would be in excess of five billion as reported, so this could very well be the home for WWE RAW for a very long time. Doctor try. I mean ten years is a long time. If it gets extended in additional ten years, meaning twenty years, it'll be twenty twenty, forty four and will be knocking on the door of wrestling. He is sixty and this will still be a weekly wrestling podcast where Doctor Try and I are talking about our hip replacement that we just received as we get older and older.

28:30 But this is a very big deal, Doctor Trying. I think the days of Raw being on your regular television programming is ceasing at this point. Yeah, and so a couple other things I thought about with this is you're not going to see ratings reports for Raw anymore. True, So when people tell you that the ratings are down, you can't you can't tell that, So you have you have to look at streaming numbers, which is something that ww's been talking about for years anyway, to offset those ratings numbers. The other thing I thought about with this is both these companies had to have long term game plans because if I'm WWE and I'm going to a streaming service, We've already seen HBO Max get shuffled and redone and bought out and rebranded and all that stuff. Disney Plus after their Dinitial launch has lost a lot of viewers. So Netflix had to have a really good game plan in mind for long term success. For w to sign that potential option deal. On the back end, at the same time, they had to show aw how they planned to grow because otherwise that deal is getting cut shortened five years. So that means both companies had really good strategic, long term plans for this to be successful and well thought out for them to come to this kind of agreement with those option years available. The same you and I look at sports and we get guys that get player options and club options and mutual options and things like that, and it's like, Okay, you have to have a good game plan in mind in order for those options you'll be exercised with they're mutually

30:02 beneficial. And then finally, the last thing in regards to the story, WWE's current deal with NBCU has Raw airing on USA until October twenty twenty four. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, exactly where Raw will air between the end of that deal and the beginning of the Netflix deal is still being determined. This according to Variety doctor Trey, that would be funny if Raw has nowhere to go for a couple months and then they just kind of reboot during the Netflix era. I would imagine, I mean, they're going to have a deal in place with SmackDown already airing on USA Network again, I would be shocked that if Raw has nowhere to go after October twenty twenty four, that it doesn't stay on the USA network for another two months, eight weeks? What have you? Yeah, and then not to mention, like like I said earlier, they have deals with Hulu, they have deals with YouTube, so they have outlets to put their show on for just those two months. And then you know, if you're NBC Universal and Raw or WWE is a big part of your Peacock deal as well, you don't want to burn that bridge and'd be like, all right, guys, October's here, get the hell out. No, no, no, we still got another part of your brand here. We still got your pls. Airy got our network for another couple of months after that deal. So you're going to work something out that once again as Buccy beneficial for both companies. Switching gears here, the face of Monday Night Raw right now is the World heavyweight Champion Seth Freaking Rollins. He was injured in his match with Ginger Mahaal on

31:33 last week's edition of Monday Night Raw, and we had all speculated what was going to be going on with him, what was the injury, how would he miss wrestle Mania. There's a lot of costs of concern. Rollins came out on Raw announced that an MRI show that he suffered a Grade two MCL tear and a partially torn medial meniscus in his left knee. In the same promo exchange Doctor tru with gunther Who, which was a surprise and is all of a sudden climbing the charts of someone who may be winning the Rumble this Saturday, he said that he is not going to be coming off of television and will not be dropping the championship and will be performing at WrestleMania forty in all intents and purposes. And there's more clarity this story here that I'll cover in just a second. But it definitely seems like we as wrestling fans, dodged a major bullet by not losing Seth Freaking Rollins. We did, and of course Seth Freakings Rollins did, which is good news all around, because we definitely want one of the best wrestlers on the planet performing at the biggest show of the year. Yeah, and you know, I had flashbacks to I can't remember what year was, but when he tore his ACL that match with Kaine and hadn't missed Wrestlmania. It was November of god like twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. He was the champion and he had to drop the championship and it screwed up the whole entire Survivor series, which was right around the corner. Yep. So I had flashbacks to that. But so I have a partial tear of my meniscus. I've had it since two thousand and four,

33:07 so it's it's one of the things like the partial tear in your meniscus is usually they will tell you that it's actually stronger with the partial tear than it would be for them to actually go in and repair it, which is crazy, but that's actual science. The MCL tear. Thank god it was the MCL, because the MCL is the one that runs over the middle of your knee. If it was an ACL or a PCL, like you and I with again, sports fans, ACL tears, you're out for a year. Again. Pcls are usually about nine months. Well, look at what happened with Charlotte Flair. Oh yeah, I mean she's out. She's out a year. Yeah, Dakota Kai is dealing with that. I mean, ww's had a Yeah, we just lost coor Jade. The women seem to have the ACL tears right now more than the men do so, which yeah, I've seen as a problem. Yeah, So I'm just I'm thankful for Seth. That's the MCL one. I Am gonna be interesting how he performs when it's time. Does you perform with the MCL's here, because it does kind of loosen your knee up, but the stability in your knee is based on your pcls and your acos. Your MCL just kind of hold your knee gap in place, which is still kind of important. But this is the first time like the doctor portion of your name is coming out. Doctor Treuit.

34:25 That's unbelievable. It's not just a clever gimmick. I actually know some shit. Unbelievable. He did say at a holiday and last night, Doctor Trey. This reminds me. You bring up a great point when he got injured in November heading into that year's WrestleMania. I remember the one where he got hurt like four or five weeks before Wrestlmingia leading into the WrestleMania thirty three match with Triple H. Remember, like Samoa Joe came out from the side and he injured his knee and everyone's like, how's he gonna wrestle? And then he wrestled Triple H and like his knee was clearly heavily protected, and he did he gutted it out and it was he did the best he could. And but you know, obviously kind of hurt that entire build in that match in general. I mean, this guy has definitely had some tough, tough moments heading around to WrestleMania season. But it seems like, according to reports here because he was on a podcast with Daniel Cormier and ESPN has has this quote from him, it doesn't seem like it may be as bad as it was said on television this past Monday, As Seth Roland said the following on ESPN, dodged a bullet. The ACL is intact. So anybody who knows anything about ligaments and the knee, the ACL is the big one.

35:39 That one is good. The MCL will heal with time. We'll get it in there to do some stuff, check out the PRP and do some rehab. I'm hoping to be back at full strengthen around a month. Around a month is kind of is like kind of my timeline, and we'll see what happens. We're going to take it day to day. I'd like to be back in a month. I don't want to walk into WrestleMania that be my first match in two to three months, whatever it is, that's not gonna be good for me. So it seems like there's a lot more confidence that he will be performing at WrestleMania. He did keep it a little bit of a gray area where it is day to day and they do want to see how he adjusts and obviously heals, but he seems confident in his ability to perform Doctor Troy at WrestleMania forty. Yeah, and I'm glad you said that because I actually did not read that report. So it makes my doctor's skills look even better. But if he can perform and be safe, like great, you want set at WrestleMania, whether it's you know, him winning a match, him losing the match, whatever. But you know, this guy is a workhorse. This guy wrestles all the freaking time. And you know he talked about during that rival is shinsk the legitimate injury that he has in his back. Now he's got the kN issues. If anybody deserves some time off after WrestleMania, it's going to be Seth. And you know, we talk about the show sometimes taking time off to heal and recover is actually good for the character because now you're not shoved down our throats for a while.

37:06 You make that absence makes the hard grow fonder approach. So I kind of expect Seth after WrestleMania to take some time off to kind of heal and recover and you know, go home, just be dead. Be dead for a while. So there you go. Yeah, I mean, I guess he's legitimately walking around with a broken back like that was not a storyline with Chins Kay knockemore that he has been fighting hurt for some time, an injury that he suffered when he first I think, either before or after won the World Heavyweight Championship. Seth, for Rollins, has always been a workhorse and has worked his tail off to give the fans his best. And you know, you just commend his toughness and his ability to put his performances and wanting to do what's right for the fans above his own health. So I hope everything works out for him, and I hope that in a month's time he has wrestled maybe a couple of matches on Monday Night Raw. We're looking full steam ahead to Wrestlemaning forty and are confident and are in the clear that he will be okay to perform at the biggest show of the year. With that said, we have the first kickoff to the biggest show of the Wrestlemaning forty, Doctor Trey, The Road to Wrestlemanning forty takes place. It starts this Saturday with the WWE Royal Rumble preview predictions that we will do here this Saturday from Tropic Canna Field in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Tropic Canna Field, which was a part of the Thunderdome era. There actually was a Royal Rumble held there.

38:35 The twenty twenty one Royal Rumble was held there, which is which is mind boggling to think. I think that was won by Edge and Bianca bel Air that year. Also, Doctor Trey and I have both been to Tropic Canna Field at the same time watching a Yankees Tampa bay Rays game back in twenty seventeen. So oh En didn't get shot because that neighborhood around Tropic Cana was not good when you and I were there. No, no, it was not a beautiful area, but no, yeah, it's surround by a lot of weird stuff. Had a great grilled cheese that night, if I remember correctly, I think we got grilled cheeses there and watch some baseball. Very weird place to watch a baseball game. First time I had ever been in a dome. It felt like I was in an ice skating rink.

39:20 But here we are. Doutch Trade is going to be hosting The Royal Rumble this Saturday, and I kind of dig it because it was part of a very bad time in the world, the Pandemic era professional wrestling, and it's nice to see that they're going to be able to fill that up with fans and kind of give a little bit of a hat tip to that period of time as well. So as it stands right now, there have only been four matches announced for this show on Saturday night, which I kind of dig give a lot of time to the Rumble matches themselves, as there should be the first match on here Doctor Trey is Logan Paul defending the w United States Championship against Kevin Owens. I am looking forward to this one. I do expect Logan Paul to continue to be the United States Champion and have him win this match against Kevin Owens. And I just have a feeling that he will win this match. Thanked to somehow from Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. Yeah, see, I thought that too, but then Waller in Theory seem to be having some issues, so I don't know how that comes into play.

40:15 But this one, I think was my WrestleMania US title match prediction, and they jumped it early. So that being said, I guess we'll go with your thought process, which is Logan Paul goes into WrestleMania with the US title, because I'm taking Logan Paul to retain as well with some chacknery to say the least. Next match here is the fatal four way match for the w WE Undisputed the Undisputed WA Universal Championship as Roman reigns defense against Randy Or and aj Styles and La Knight Doctor Trey. Who do you like in this one? You know, every time I hear you talk about alternative booking. It gets my head all all all fuzzied, and then I want to make weird random choices. But that'd means said, I'm going, I gotta go with Roman reins. I think you put it, you put aj Or Eli Ni this match to take a loss, that we can always hold up Randy Orton and him for something else. So I'll take Roman reigns to retain because I think you and I talked about it off air that if Roman wins at the Rumble, he jumps all the way up to like second all time and longest rains, which is a huge beat. Yeah, I think he makes it to if he makes it past this and WrestleMania, if he makes it to next WrestleMania, he'll pass back Wand and Hogan, if I believe I'm correct.

41:31 Yeah, I think that's how. I think one of Hogan's reigns definitely back when and I think one of Hogan's rains he would surpass the Bruno reign was like eight years, so I mean it's always possible, but uh, that would be something. I think these two first, these first two matches are the easier ones to predict. Now that I'm saying that you know both of them will lose, but I too, am going to take Roman reigns to retain the undisputed Universal Championship on Saturday night at the Rumble. The next two matches are are going to be tough. These are tough to choose. It's the Women's Royal Rumble Match and the Men's Royal Rumble Match. I dig that it's not as predictable that as it has been in the past. There have been years that Doctor Trey and I have sat here and are like, yeah, I think it's going to be blah blah blah, and they end up winning the match. There are some years where it is unpredictable, but we kind of have an idea of who it may be. When it comes to both these matches, I truly don't know, and I had to like really think it out and go and look forward towards the elimination chamber and how they would handle the next Championship match to kind of figure out, like, okay, who would win the Rumble match. So, starting with the Women's Royal Rumble Match, my prediction is that Bailey wins the match, which may be a surprise. I think a lot of people are thinking Becky Lynch wins it, decides to choose use Rhea Ripley. But I'm gonna go with Bailey

43:02 because I think it makes better creative sense for the next couple months to like build up who is Bailey going to choose, because obviously Damage Control is going to push her to go after Rhea Ripley, and let's just say, and she's like, I think she's calling herself like the mommy hunter right now, which may be a little bit too dirty for my liking or PG for w's liking, But nonetheless, let's just say that, you know, she wins the rumble, they're pushing her to go take on Rhea Ripley, and she overhears the rest of Damage Control saying like, we know that she couldn't beat you, you know, to EO Sky. You know this plan is working perfectly. She'll probably lose to Ria Ripley and then we'll be done with her.

43:49 And then Bailey turns babyface and decides to choose EO Sky. I don't see a situation where if it is going to be Bailey versus EO Sky at Russell Manny forty, that Bailey earns that right at the Elimination Chamber because it's like, why would she enter that match to take on EO Sky in the first place. So that's how I rationalized decision, Doctor Trey, and I'm going to go with Bailey to win the Women's Royal Rumble match. You almost had me convinced. You almost had me, and then I remembered they did the same thing with Batista. Batista it was an evolution that he won the Rumble. He heard over her flare in Triple H getting him to go challenge the champion on SmackDown, and he turned around and challenged Triple H. So you almost had me convinced, Jeff. So I'm going to go with my number one choice for this whole thing, which was going to be Becky Lynch.

44:42 So I'm gonna take Becky. I assume that Bailey is going to lose based on something Damage Control does, and then she'll started questioning him. They'll turn on her, take her out of action for a little bit. She'll return Elimination Chamber in a modified hugger role to then challenge EO. So I will take Becky Lynch winning the Rumble. Jeff, you almost had me. Yeah, No, I know, we've seen that play out before. It would be a nod to the Russel Mating twenty storyline with Batista. But yeah, I just was like, Okay, how would this play out? So I dipped into the old pool of the Batista storyline from Estumating twenty one. So Doctor goes with Becky Lynch, I go with Bailey, and now it's the men's royal rumble match Doctor Trey, which I literally, as we sit here, have no idea which direction I'm gonna go yet, So I guess take it away, my friend. So you said you had it down to three, I have mine at four. I have about three or four.

45:37 I have, yeah, three or four. So I mean, I think for most people it comes down and I mean two of them are a little bit long shots. I think it comes down to Punk and Cody. As much as I want to say realistically it's somebody else, I think it comes down to those two guys, and Ugh, I think I'm gonna go with Punk just because he's been kind of a model citizen since he came back. I think this sets up a good way to kind of keep seth off TV, because it's not set that they're they're friendly ish, right, now like they're they don't like each other, but they're kind of on the same side. So I think this way you're gonna have kind of have Punk protect Seth, so to speak, and they can just cut promos leading up to their match, and then that way, everybody else gets dumped into the elimination Chamber match to see who challenges Roman. So I will take see him Punk winning the Rumble this year. Yeah. Uh, he is one of my four names, so I have see him Punk, Cody Rhodes, Gunther, and the Rock were those your fore names? Yeah, but I see I see brock Lesnar entering the Rumble and eliminating Gunner because I know as we went into the recording tonight, there's a lot of reports out there right now that the direction is gunn Thro is a favorite to win the Rumble and to challenge Seth Rong. Hence the promo they did that Cody versus Cmpunk is a WrestleMania forty match on paper right now, which is part of the reason why they did

47:09 their promo on Monday, and then Rock and Roman would be the other match as well. And while I could totally understand that, I think that the booking that they did on Monday is to get us off the beaten path a little bit. So I would be surprised if those are the matches that they were leaked like this because w has been so tight lipped. I've gone back and forth CM Punk Cody Rhods, CM Punk Cody Rhodes. At the end of the day, one of the things that we talked about is if they go forward with The Rock versus Roman Reigns, how do they get there and does that mean The Rock is wrestling Elimination Chamber in that number one contenders match.

47:54 Possibly. We've heard Perth Australia wants them to be there. However, I think the easiest way for that to happen is for The Rock to win the Royal Rumble this Saturday night, So Buzzer Beater game time decision. I was probably gonna go with cmpunk as well, but I'm going to go with the Rock because I feel like that they can get to who will be taking on seth Rollins via the Elimination Chamber match in Perth, Australia. They have announced Cmpunk for that show and that's maybe how CM punk gets to that. I still feel like right now, Doctor Trey. We do have Rock, Roman, seth CM Punk, and what we do with Cody right now is anybody's guests. Maybe he gets added in that triple threat match which has been rumored as well with the Rock and Roman reigns. As much as I want he Brock and Gunther, you could do Cody and Gunther and Cody be the one to take the icy off Gunther. You could do that. I would love to see Brock Gunther as well. The cool thing about this again is that we are entering this royal Rumbo pay per view, have no idea.

49:01 It's been a very long time where it has felt like this, and by a week from today, as you and I sit here and record this, I think we will have a very good idea what some of the matches will be for WRESTLEMANI will certainly have idea for at least one match who will be an opponent in a wrestlem AI forty championship match. But I think that this is gonna be one of those old school rumbles where, like you had pointed out, maybe Rock returns, he eliminates gunthor that leads to their match at wressel Many forty. You see, like sprinkles of potential matches all throughout this Rumbo match, which will be very excited. I'm very excited for this show. I'm very excited for the Rumbo matches. This is my favorite match matches to watch all year long. It's the most fun I have sitting on the couch as a wrestling fan and really getting into it. And I know a lot of wrestling fans feel the same. So enjoy the show this Saturday.

49:52 Before we get our plugs and sponsors, Doctor Trey, we did have a big reveal on our Facebook page which is available right now as we record this. People hopefully have seen this after they before they have downloaded this week's edition in the podcast. But what is tradition here the now? Did he turn five this past week? Yep? He turned five. Yep. Let's get old, folks, the five year old Sammy Young Sammy Franklin made his annual predictions for both the Women's and Men's Royal Rumble official predictions, and then he gave his non unofficial predictions, which he typically does, which I'll let you you know, explain a little bit. You know, obviously direct people to the to the videos. But my favorite thing is that for some reason, the buff bag well ww theme song is just playing underneath the entire time.

50:40 Well, I mean, Sammy is buff and he is the stuff, so I thought the music was appropriate. So yeah, you can go to our Facebook page Facebook cut dot com. Slash is still real to this show and Sammy's picks her up. There. They are in two parts if you're listening to the show. First, watch the video for the women's Rumble, because we were going to do one big, long video and then Sammy, being the uh Kevin Dunn of my life, decided to cut the video off and so we had to do it in two parts. But so what we do is we take everybody who's on the WT roster or who is an actual free agent not signed to anybody, out of all his wrestling figures, who put them in a ring. He picks out who he thinks is going to win based on wit booking. We do the same thing for the men, and then we take all his wrestling figures. And I think I even threw in the Incredible Hulk in some stretchy dragon guy into his pile and basically said, Okay, Sammy, if you were booking the Rumble, who would you have win and then he makes his picks, not as I mean, I think the women's pick, who was maybe not as strong as the men's pick, but him going off the books again for picking the men's rum a winner this year was pretty great. His women's pick I was kind of sad because I believe the person has just announced their retirement from entering competition. So but you can go to our Facebook page at facebook dot com slash is Still Real to a show and check out Sammy's pigs for the Rumble this year. So there you go. Go check out those videos. Hopefully you've seen them before you

52:10 downloaded this week since the podcast. If not, go there now and check out one of my favorite traditional things we do here on SRTU, the annual Sammy Franklin Royal Rumble Predictions. With that said, let's get a couple plugs and sponsors out of the way. You can download show every Thursday or Friday at Real Guide Radio dot com, Russell chatnet on x and the Still Route the Show iTunes feed. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to help us climb the charts on iTunes. You could follow us individually on X for myself at SRTU Jeff and for Doctor Trey Franklin at the Doctor Trey and of course don't forget to follow the show on x at SRTU podcast. With that being said, was going on the Oneful World of Doctor Trey Franklin this week. Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on X at the Doctor Trey. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram Doctor Trey Franklin.

52:53 When you're on Facebook, be sure to check out Rocket State Championship Wrestling and Spartan Championship Wrestling, the two shows I work with here the Lovely State of Alabama. We have a couple of big shows coming up as we get closer and closer to Wrestling Con five six. I forgot. I always track the numbers. I know Sammy's five, so I think Wrestling Con is six coming up, because yeah, Wrestling Con won. My lovely wife was pregnant with Sammy, so I think it will be six coming up. But that's just a few months down the road. I think that comes up in late May, so be sure to keep an eye out there. You go check out all the videos and pictures everything else from those shows that I work with here in Alabama, So you go support all the great things at Support the Still wrote this show and join us next week on January thirty first, as we will be recapping and reviewing everything that took place at wrestle excuse Me at Royal Rumble twenty twenty four. Excuse me, that'd be Thursday, February first, will be the next week's edition of SRTU, so it'll be recapping, viewing Royal Rumble, and looking towards the Road to Wrestle forty all on next week's edition of SRTU. It is the most fun time of the year and it kicks off this Saturday, and we are going to be your home for Road to WrestleMania forty coverage throughout, joined Doctor Trey and I as we cover our fourteenth WRESTLEMANI in the history of the Still Real the show, fifteenth overall in my history of podcasting. So it's gonna be a lot of fun. Really

54:24 looking forward to this Saturday show. And professional wrestling continues to be red hot right now, which is only making things great for US wrestling fans. So until next week, thank you for making a part of your week, Thank you for downloading, thank you for supporting, and for doctor Trey Franklin for Young Sammy Franklin. Happy fifth birthday to him. I am Jeff Peck and this is this still real, this show