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Friday, July 19: Wrestling Spotlight Weekly Champions MJF Is Back
to know what you're doing. Welcome into wrestling plotlights. It's weekly champions. And this week we're joined by a friend of the channel. A man behind Fountain City Pro wrestling. And you've seen him on the channel on the I 70 hot tag as well. Chase is joining us here and chase. Big week in wrestling again. I guess we'll start out. Fountain City Pro rescheduled. The event's going to take place. Beginning of September. Just a little bit better time. Get in through the summer. Yeah, September 6th. I think we'll get past the summer and the wedding months. And it'll be right after Labor Day weekend. So I think I think people will be. Ready to get out and see some more wrestling. Sure. I mean, it is tough to. Get things booked and arranged during the summer because you have vacations. You got all sorts of events and. You know, things just happened and then heck there was a bunch of. A bunch of horrible weather where quite a few of our wrestlers come from. So. Makes perfect sense. But Fountain City Pro is. Going to be. Active and. They are active right now because you can see them right here on the wrestling spotlight and also on the fired up network. And we're glad to have some Kansas City base pro wrestling on the channel. Of course, anybody watching the best place to watch both wrestling spotlight and fired up network. Is to download that true TV plus app totally free and you can get it on almost any app store out there. Amazon, Apple, Android, Google Chrome everywhere. They are huge weekend wrestling and I think may as well started out with Monday. I thought the ring general, the King General Gunther delivered one of the best. Promos from a heel that I've heard in years. Complete with the line saying that I'll just take this weight off of you. Just just give me the title. The Damien praised and you know I really kind of agreed with Gunther. What did you think of Gunther's performance? I thought it was great. I think that they had a little bit of a dynamic issue going into this week Gerald because. You know, a lot of people have been waiting and clamoring for Gunther to get this world title shot. And, you know, so I feel like that promo was really needed for Gunther to make the heel turn. But I didn't think that promo was needed for Damien. Damien has been over like Rover like I like to say the past few weeks. And I mean the baby face is coming. And when it does, I think it's going to be a big one. It's going to be a big face turn. Well, I think you're seeing you're seeing judgment day now essentially ready to fall apart, right? Because Rhea Ripley is back. Mommy kicked off the show and was met with Liv Morgan saying in a little bit of a double entendre that finally lives on top. And the fans are under present behind Rhea Ripley and they're 100% behind Damien Priest, which is going to leave. Dirty down. Finn Baller and JD McDonough and Carlito kind of hanging around on the outside looking in it seems. Yes. And, you know, it's probably time, right? Because I mean, judgment day has been going for quite a while. I mean, heck, when you think about it, they started with edge with Adam Copeland. And it was a magic, a magic, a dark arts faction. And now they're kind of personality, personality click, but you see the fractures for me. Yeah, it has definitely, and it's ran a good course too. I mean, they started, you know, they started off strong with, you know, obviously an alleged Hall of Famer like edge. You know, and they started, you know, edge and AJ Styles was such a strong way to start that off. And, you know, the course has gone or the group has ran its course of going through such a wild roller coaster, you know, going ups and downs. And, you know, there was, there was a time last year. Even where, you know, everybody asks, like, you know, hey, like, what's the future of judgment day look like? Like, why, like, why are they still here? And they've just, like I said, they've gone through such a roller coaster of ups and downs and, and, you know, where it looked like they were about done and they look like it was almost like the group was pointless. And now they're important again. They're in the main event. They're, they were holding all the titles at one point, just a month and a half ago. You know, so I think is that groups and stables and wrestling are meant to do, are meant to do a couple things, right? But one of them is to help elevate stars that are also in that group. And with this group going through somebody like having somebody like a Hall of Famer, a future Hall of Famer or Hall of Famer, sorry. And legend like Edge in the group, then you've got a guy like Finn Balor, who was the first universal champion, has been a main event in his own right. And you've got a guy like Damian Priest, who is obviously up and coming, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. It took Damian Priest a whole new levels. He's the world champion now. He runs Monday Night Raw. So I, I am okay with it being time, if you will. Yeah, well, and it elevated Dom Mysterio to because he was absolutely the hanger on to his dad. So Dom's on a different level, even though he's kind of a pathetic level, rear Ripley obviously got elevated on because now she is easily one of the top stars in WWE. Yep. And is a legitimate contender to the Women's Championship any day. So yeah, definitely worked. And then let me ask you about another group that's been coming around and they've. Crossed over to the mainstream, they were featured on the Pat McAfee show as well. How you feel about the why it's six. I think I think it's awesome. Because, you know, there's so many different aspects of professional wrestling, right? You know, what happens inside the squared circle, the art form that, you know, they do in there. And then also the entertainment side of it and whatnot. And you go back and you think of somebody like Bray Wyatt, who didn't have a lot of, you know, your, you know, dare I say, you know, Dave Meltzer, you know, wrestling observer five star matches. But, but somebody like Bray left a, you know, left a lasting impression on the business because of his character and entertainment work. So it's, it's cool to see them kind of continue it. And then also, you know, obviously it's his brother, you know, and family. And we've seen, you know, through documentaries and then kind of pull the, trying to peel the curtain back and show us real life of how that has affected Bo Dallas and, you know, and the whole rotunda family. So it's cool, man. I like it. And it kind of leaves you that like that little bit of an impact that, you know, some of those stuff that, you know, especially when I was younger, it was the undertaker. And, and all that stuff you kind of miss, not miss, but you don't have that aspect in wrestling anymore, because wrestling, you know, wrestling has trying to take a, you know, such a serious tone now. You don't have a lot of like, you know, kind of characters and stories like that. So it is kind of cool to see them kind of, you know, continue that Bray Wyatt esque, you know, style and, and further it more. And it looks like it looks like Bo is having fun. And that's awesome because, you know, I'm a, I was a big huge NXT, you know, fan of, you know, 2012, 2013, and on NXT fan and, you know, Bo Dallas played such a huge, huge role in that of putting guys like, you know, Seth Rollins over and making him look great and putting guys like Biggie Langston and, and then Adrian Neville, you know, when, when Bo Dallas left and dropped the title to Adrian Neville and went to, went to the main roster. You know, all those things that Bo didn't NXT, I was so excited for him to make that step up to the main roster and, and it just didn't feel like they were doing, doing him any justice. And, you know, it kind of just didn't feel like the creative was clicking with the, with the character. And so it's, it's a, like I said, it's, it's awesome to see him finally get an opportunity to kind of show what he can do and hopefully show more of that. Well, and what's good too is there's a, there's a symmetry, right, because Triple H was running NXT at that time. So they know what he can do. And you and I talked when we were talking about on a previous episode, how you look at putting together a fountain city show and how it's above fame. You want to have a little bit of different styles for everyone, not every match needs to be a five star banger. You can have different looks, different styles, and it is good that they're approaching that. The actual confrontation with Chad Gabel now, finally team we've been looking forward for months with the creep brothers and Chad playing kind of the buffoon said, Hey, I know who uncle how he is. I mean, I'm just like, yeah, everybody does he's been doing sports, great interviews. But the, the way bubble Dallas was in the ring getting beaten down and kind of laughing it off. I sort of got Raven feel when it was what about Raven and the flock and Raven was perfectly fine getting beaten down. That's when he was happy. So there's, there's definitely some throwbacks and it's not necessarily going to be a. Magical character like the fiend he can be. He can be this cult leader and the broken toys, which is more like Raven and the flock. Yeah, it was, it was like a, it was like swamp. You know, swamp a Bray Wyatt when Bray Wyatt first showed up, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't all, you know, different mystic magic stuff or whatever you know, it was, it was a different form of things and you're right. It's awesome how they can. And I love love love that callback Gerald, you know, you know, when Raven used to Raven used to laugh when he'd get beat down and, you know, I love that I didn't even didn't even remember that until you mentioned it. So that's awesome. I just the hysterical laughing as he was getting beat up. It just just brought me back to that. Now that's a long time ago. That was a whole WCW, Raven. Yeah. But, you know, that was, that was a good, a good move and I think it is a way to get these guys involved the video that they showed this continuing theme of the VHS tapes with Eric Rowan who was Eric red beard for a while and he dug it on the indie scenes. He mentioned how his brother died. That's Brodie Lee. And then obviously Bray so they're, they're bringing in some human elements too. So if you're a real hardcore wrestling fan, you knew who he was talking about as soon as he said. His brother because they were the tag partners back in the old Wyatt family. Yep. So just bringing you along, making the making the story matter a little bit. One other thing I wanted to hit. Yeah, go ahead. No, I was just gonna say I love how they love how I'm hoping that they're going to take an opportunity to interview everybody under the mask. Because that that's going to get it super interesting and it's going to add different elements to it. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, it'll be interesting to see if we hear something from Dexter Loomis because he's never really talked much. So, by saying anything, he'll be saying something. Well, hey, the other match that I thought was well done is obviously leaning into SummerSlam. The Intercontinental title. Sami Zayn, Helia Dragunov, and Braun Breaker. How do you feel about that? How do you think that's going to work out coming up here pretty soon in Cleveland at SummerSlam? I, you know, one of the things that I always, you know, thought to myself was, you know, let Gunther's Intercontinental title reign, right? And how long it was. And, you know, it's not just Gunther, it's anybody with a long title reign. The issue is, is after it ends, where do you go from there? And not taking anything away from Sami Zayn, right? I mean, because he's Sami Zayn. But, you know, you're kind of, at what point, at what point do you, do we stop denying Braun Breaker, this gigantic shove that he is, that he not only deserves, but he also, it looks like the kids going to just take it, right, Gerald? Yeah, he's rolling. He's, he's undeniable, you know, no matter what they do with him. I mean, you know, does he need the Intercontinental championship? No, but, I mean, how do you put him in a match for, for a championship right now? And he's so hot and let him lose. So I, you know, I'm kind of, I'm kind of like, not bummed, but I'm kind of like, oh, you know, man, I hate to see Sami lose, but at the same time, again, how do you, how do you, how do you not put the title on Braun Breaker right now? Yeah, I mean, you're, you're kind of looking at here, another throwback to WCW. You're looking at a guy who has all of the skills of his dad and also his uncle, the Steiner brothers. And it's in one package. I mean, he is just an amazing worker. I've got a chance to see him in person at the NXT event or in WrestleMania weekend. And yeah, he was extremely impressive. And that was in a high flying tag team match. So not only can he wrestle power style. He can do literally anything. The guy is the, the total package in the ring. There's no doubt about that. So I'll have something on raw that I want to get back to later, but let's go over to NXT. How are you feeling about the TNA, the NXT? Cross over, and obviously it's benefited Jordan Grace and Joe Henry to a huge degree. But how are you feeling about the connection between the two? I love it. I mean, it's, it is, it is something that wrestling has lacked since, you know, since before the Monday Night Wars. You know, in the middle, in the middle 90s when ECW first started and Vince, Vince was able to kind of do that thing with Paul and ECW, you know, sitting King over there to work and get me and, you know, have a few of their guys on the show. You know, back then it wasn't, it wasn't the right time, right? You know, like back then it was nobody back then appreciated that. And then in the, during the Monday Night Wars, it was, it was about business. I mean, it was, you know, like, like, hey, we're trying to put each other out of business here. We're trying to end, we're trying to end one company's reign and, and cost people their jobs and stuff like that. So the, the opportunity to work together was not, not even on the table. Then WWE is the only show in town after they purchased WCW and ECW goes out of business and, you know, and, and I think we could have confident, you know, very confidently said from 2005 to 2020. I mean, one, 22, you know, given the, given the, you know, who was running WWE and making those decisions, I think we could confidently say that it would never have happened. And the, you know, the partnership right now with, with TNA, it, it's amazing. It's like, look, as a wrestling fan, how can you not be excited? Sure. Because I mean, you can look at, especially with Ethan Page, just winning the championship, all ego, fresh to winning the NXT championship from his appearance on one of our partner promotions, glory pro wrestling out of St. Louis. Yeah, he wins the title and now he can take it back to TNA, where he was a multiple time tag champion with the walking weapon Josh Alexander. So you have all these crossover potentials available. And you're going to be able to elevate both brands, which you mentioned that say the dark ages right from when WCW went under, there was a huge, huge decline in the amount of pro wrestling that happened in, in the US. Vince McMahon won, but in a way, he almost lost a little bit by winning because the interest level, the passion, really kind of dropped down. And, you know, I talked with, we have former WCW, Crockett promotions wrestler, Sonny, the Man Eagle, Kane on regularly, and he talked about how work just dried up. And he was working with the Russian bear Ivan Coloff, so I mean, you figure, okay, hey, you're, you're under Ivan Coloff, you're going to be able to get jobs and his offer from the WWE was, leave your day job, fly up here and we'll give you a tryout. And by the way, we're going to pay you nothing. And that happened to lots of wrestlers. Now, you're seeing all these matches start bubbling up and the WWE's not only working with TNA, they're working with GCW. AJ Styles made his return to Japan. He was in a pro wrestling Noah ring. And he hosts guy made her returns, he was in a Marigold match. So you're seeing lots of interactivity along with, you know, obviously forbidden door just happening and you strong ties with new Japan strong ties with CMLL. Yeah, it is. It's great to see. Yeah, as a wrestling fan as a consumer, you know, you, you want to see that type of stuff because, you know, it's just, it's just how, how the thing or how things have evolved and things have changed, you know, it. It's not a, it's, it's not an even level playing field. You know, like it was and, you know, it's not as cut, it's not as cutthroat. We want to see these. We want to see these connections and it's, it's awesome that the companies are willing to come together and say, Hey, let's, let's do this for the fans. Yeah, and there's still a little bit of cutthroatedness because the other news that came out of NXT recently Stephanie Vacor, the former new Japan strong women's champion, the former CMLL champion had her match against Mercedes Monet and forbidden door. It was being rumored that she had gotten contract offers from AEW and WWE. AEW's contract offer was going to take place after her CMLL contract ran out. And then obviously she'd keep working with both promotions. WWE is, as it turns out, was now because they wanted her to be in their Mexican house show. And she took now. Yeah, left CMLL, left New Japan, didn't drop either title. Wow, I dropped the New Japan top but didn't drop the CMLL title. She was gone. Is that a good move? Is it just something that's kind of just going to blow under and it won't be a big deal down the road? You know, I don't think, here's what I think, Gerald. I think that it won't be a big deal to some people. Obviously there's going to be people that are, you know, very upset about it. But they'll get over it. You know, I, we like to think it's not cut through it right now, right? But I'm sure there's been things that have gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about, that don't get reported on very much, that still makes this business kind of cutthroat and you're going to see things like that. It's just, it's business. I mean, you know, people quit jobs and get hired every single day. And I promise you that some of the people that quit those jobs didn't give two week notices or letters of resignation. In major league sports, it happens. I mean, look at the Atlanta Falcons had to give up a draft pick because it came out that they were clearly, and they didn't even challenge it, negotiating with her cousins before free agency started. Yeah. He was gone from the Vikings before he could even be allowed to talk to a team. Yeah, it does happen. And God knows we see it in major college sports now where everything's unrestricted free agency. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And it's, it's crazy to even use that word with, with college college. Yeah. So now to ask as a, in your promoter hat. Did she make the right move long term for her career. Because there was talk, there were post online saying, wow, this is the best women's division ever in wrestling. Stephanie Beckcourt. She's going to make it the best ever. I don't know how much the WWE fan knows who she is. And if she's not presented as a superstar, she's not Mercedes Monet coming into a EW with everyone in the wrestling universe. No. Okay. Wow. That's Sasha Banks. She's a big deal. If you didn't see Forbidden Door, the odds of you having watched CMLL are near none. Right. I mean, triple A is relatively hard to watch in the US. CMLL is even harder to watch in the US. I don't know if it's that big of a deal for it. I think she may be in the long run, have missed being presented as a bigger star in a W and is just going to kind of fall, fall into the shuffle in the WWE because they do have a huge roster. They do. But one of the things to think about with that huge roster is that roster is getting ready to shift. Becky Lynch didn't renew a contract. Charlotte Flares, Charlotte Flares already done so much in WWE. You know, there's, there might not be a whole lot left for Charlotte Flair to do. You know, so that that ground that ground work, you know, Bailey Bailey is getting older. You know, and then now, you know, live in Rhea and all those people are being presented as your big stars. You got some people who were going to be presented as big stars, but didn't quite pick it up. So to speak, you know, Zoey Starks. She sells plenty of time, but I mean, you know, Shayna Baszler kind of had her time. So I mean, you can tell that there's a shift and as Sean is building up NXT, especially with the the stack at NXT that he has to kind of go next. You know, we just saw Tiffany Stratton. So I don't, I don't think she would get lost in the shuffle. I think that if WWE really wants to. WWE knows what the, you know, obviously they know what they're doing. They're gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna build her or build her as, as, as what they need to to make her be the star that they want her to be. With a pan out, I don't know. I think that I wouldn't, I wouldn't argue with you about the AEW part, Gerald, because I agree with you on it. The only thing I would say is that I think she could get lost in the shuffle and AEW just as easy as she could have WWE. Of course she could. Yeah. Yeah. I think that if I think if they brought her in, I mean, my personal opinion, I think if they brought her in, she could have some really big matches right up front, you know, put her against Mercedes, put her against Brit, you know, put her against anybody. Like I said, she has a couple of marquee matches. But then, you know, they, does she become the next Serena Deeb? Does she, does she kind of get flushed around? You know, I mean, is she willo Nightingale, we watched willo Nightingale get, you know, get, get a rocket strap to her and then, you know, when somebody like Mercedes Monet shows up, they kind of kind of diffused the rocket a little bit. So, I don't know, I think that's kind of the tricky thing about, about the women's side of wrestling right now is because, you know, it is, it is so touch and go. You know, you can, you can look at somebody like Rhea Ripley, and you know, like that person like, hey, she's going to be a star, you know, but then you take somebody who is on your hardcore wrestling level and. And, you know, you kind of wonder, okay, can they, can they make her a superstar for everybody? I think that, regardless of like, you know, I guess the language barrier, they've done a fantastic job with Oscar and he'll Skye. So, I don't know, that's a, that's a very good subject to bring up Gerald and I, I kind of wonder, I'm kind of anxious to see what they do with her, you know, do they, do they stick her on NXT for a short period of time or is she an NXT regular for a little while? Yeah, that's, it's very interesting. Yeah, hard to say. Now, she did say her dream was always to go to WWE because that's what she saw on TV and Chile growing up. So, fair. And we're going to have another interesting high price free agent edition showing up soon in NXT and Julia. She's been out with an injury since right after she signed with that broken wrist. So, definitely a lot of talent coming to the head in NXT. So, it'll be interesting. It's going to be a hard time for Roxy, the prodigy, the women's champion, Roxanne Perez. Well, she, she's bound, she's bound to be a star on the main roster. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you made a good point because they do have an aging top roster because, I mean, heck, the four horse woman, minus Ronda Rousey, they're, they're still there. So, it is, it's getting close, right? Yeah. And, and by Revakiria, already in the main roster. So, you're going to see some, some more young talent, I think, coming up to join Tiffany Stratton and. Yeah, yeah. It's a matter of time before, you know, soul Ruka gets, gets called up and some of the other women, you know, the, the one that, and I forget her name, Lola, the one that just fought. Well, Roxanne Perez, yep. She's going to be a star. You know, I, I think, I, I think that, that crop that they have in NXT right now is like, right around the Royal Rumble time, you'll see those, you'll see those girls start coming up and, and they're going to do great things on the main roster. Yeah. And I think Lash Legend is going to get her shot, too, because if you want to get somebody to match up physically with Jay Kargill, she's at, I mean, that's a lady who body slammed Otis. Yep. That's hard to do. Right. Let's move over to aEW. It was episode number 250. They are solidly getting ready to head and get on the boat and start the trip to London for all in. They kicked it off with a one hour Broadway match, MJF against Will Ospre and, man, if you were questioning whether MJF can go in the ring, he did it. He went move for move with the aerial assassin. I thought it was a great way to kick it off. Yes. And I love it when, when AEW gets into those, they get into these like, I don't know exactly what to call it because I wouldn't say it's like a funk. But when people start to question if AEW can bring it, AEW turns it on. And I just love it when they do because then they'll put on shows like this where they'll give us, you know, an opener like that and put it on. I, you know, I've always thought the, I've always thought the argument of if MJF can go and the ring was just silly. You know, I think that's, I think that that's an easy cop out for people to say, you know, for, for people that don't like to admit that he's one of the best in the game right now, as far as all around. On the, on the mic, you know, in the ring, his presence, his look, you know, of course, you know, you're, you're old school, you're old school guys would probably like for him to be a little bit taller. You know, somebody, I'm sure somebody out there's upset because he's not six foot four, six foot five, you know, fine. But as far as, as far as everything else. I think the kids got it. And I love, love watching him just in the ring in the, like I said, his promos. Sometimes I've enjoyed some of his in ring stuff, you know, last year, a couple years ago, yeah, it was a few years ago. It was times getting away from me. But, you know, him and, him and Darby Allen had that match. And he, you know, the, the joke was at the end, he won the match with the head, with a headlock takeover. And, you know, go back and watch matches like that. And then, of course, you know, if you, if you followed him on the independent scene, you, you knew he could work in the ring as well. You know, so I, I've, I've always thought that that that argument was silly. On the other side of that, though, Gerald. Can you put, is there very many people right now that you could put in inside those ropes with Will Osprey that wouldn't look really good. Now, Osprey is tremendous. And I think we're going to see a rematch for this title at Wembley Stadium and since they already have been shadowing it for shadowing it. I think Osprey wins with the Tiger Driver 91 because he had the match one and he stopped himself because he went, he used to move, which one of the criticisms of a W has been, hey, they don't tell stories. Well, since Jennifer Pepperman has arrived and she is a soap opera producer in her past, the stories have been there. And this story dates back to E.W. Dynasty in St. Louis, where Brian Danielson had to get carded out after the Tiger Driver and Osprey said, I'm not going to do that move anymore. And it's been mentioned, hey, you're going to cost yourself a match because you're going to hesitate. You got to break it out. This time he did cost himself the match. So I think you're setting up that finish already to the match and all in where Osprey gets to win a title in his home country. Yeah. How do you feel about, how do you feel about the other long term story in E.W. with Mariah Mae turning on Timeless Tony Storm and coming out last night as Timeless Tony Storm. I loved it. I thought it was, it got me by surprise. I mean, I didn't expect it. Didn't expect it to happen. You know, obviously, I'm sure, you know, the honeymoon had to end at some time, right? You know, her and her and Tony Storm have just been doing great work and, and it had to end at some time, but I just wasn't expecting it. And it gave me, you know, it gave me a really great feeling because, you know, you mentioned like the long term term storytelling and A.W. has faced criticism in the past for not doing a lot of long term storytelling or, or, you know, storytelling in general, which is silly, but, you know, I think this is kind of like a, like a nod to it. And this is kind of like A.W.'s way of saying, Hey, look, we can, and we can do it pretty well too because, like I said, that the Mariah Mae and Tony Storm story has been really good. Yeah, I've been really impressed. We talked last week on weekly champions about how Luther has been a big part of it too. He's actually been really entertaining. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. That's going to be one of your main events at all in. And then obviously we're going to see Mercedes Monet, the CEO, going up against Dr. Brett Baker, DMD for that TBS title. Yeah, which, you know, there's a lot of great talent that you can put with Mercedes Monet. And man, what a way to kick it off. You know, they'll have plenty of time and there's plenty of people in A.W. for Mercedes Monet to face. So I don't have a problem with them immediately going to Brett Baker. I think that I think if you want to win people over on the decision to pay Mercedes Monet and bring her in, I think you do it by shutting everybody up and letting her work with Dr. Brett Baker, who's fantastic. So both are fantastic. So I mean, it's just going to be a highlight of both women. And like I said, it'll be an opportunity for them to say, yeah, you know, Mercedes Monet was worth that. Well, and I enjoyed Nightly Rose biting down on Mercedes hands because she wasn't applying to lock John the right position. Yeah. You know, not being a dentist. She doesn't know where the nerves are. So exactly as well. Final match of the night, they kind of set up a lot in God's, their version of War Games, which is coming up next week. It's going to be another hour long match and always a crazy match. Swerve and Acada. That, that should be a match at some point for the world championship and because okay, I was the longest reigning I WGP champion. Why not he's more than a legitimate contender for the world title. Absolutely. And I think you're, you're going to see that coming up at some point. Do you think Swerve holds on to the title long term, or do we get a short run with Brian Danielson champion. I think that I think we get a long run and I think, you know, don't know how much merit there was to it, but you know, I saw something where, you know, where we're one of the wrestling talking heads. You know, said that, you know, it was Osprey's idea to put Swerve over because, you know, they wanted Swerve, they wanted Swerve to be seen as a legitimate champion. And I think that when the time comes when he faces Brian, I think Brian's going to do the same thing for him. And I think that, you know, I think AW did a fantastic job with the slow build of Isaiah Swerve Strickland. And I think that I think that they got something really good on their hands with him. And I think they know that and I think they're going to, they're going to take some opportunities to build him up and make him look like their world champion and their star so I think he's going to hold it for a while. I'll say this, Gerald, I don't think he's going to lose it in 2024. Okay, I'd like to see that because you can actually tie back to an MLW run that both Swerve and MJF have. Yeah, absolutely. Which they've alluded to before when MJF talked about driving on the road with them. Yep. So, it would be great to see as we head in. And then let's just hit Smackdown because we are going to see, and you got to think it's coming up at SummerSlam, right? The return of the true Tribal Chief, the head of the table, Roman Reigns. Yeah, because Solaceco has just gone overboard and Roman Reigns is going to come back as a super over babyface while doing nothing since losing the World Championship. Yeah, no, I'm very excited to hear that. Because, you know, just how amazing is that he didn't have to do anything except lose. And he hasn't had to make an appearance. There's no bin via satellite. There's no nothing. I mean, we haven't heard or seen Roman Reigns since he walked out of the ring with Paul Heyman at WrestleMania 40. And you're right. When his music hits at the end of SummerSlam, after the match is over with, that's my prediction. They're going to do like a surprise return like they did with Brock against Roman. They did with Cena. They're going to have Roman himself when he came back. Yep. Exactly. Wreck everyone and leave shirt with Paul Heyman, his first appearance. It was a surprise appearance at a pay for you. Yep. He, right after the dust settles, his music will hit. And that crowd in Cleveland is going to blow. Well, there's no roof, but they're going to, they're going to erupt. So acknowledge him. Yes. Could he? Could Roman come out and save Cody's title? Because he respects Cody and doesn't respect Salah. I could definitely see that. Like I said, I, I was hoping that maybe Roman would have came back at Money in the Bank. That was my prediction. I was hoping that a, I was hoping he would make the return then. And then we would get solo versus Roman at SummerSlam. But I, I think, I mean, you know, obviously you've seen, you know, you've seen people talk about on the internet and fans wishing on the internet. And I, I think that, that prediction might come true. I think there might be some form. I don't know if it's going to be exactly what fans think it's going to be. But I think there will be some form of, you know, some Owen Dynasty versus some Owen Dynasty in War games that Survivor Series. You know, if, if, if we're, you know, because I, I don't know if you bring Roman Reigns back. And then, um, and then you have them wrestle, you know, do you have them wrestle solo one-on-one for the tribal chief at the next pay-per-view right after SummerSlam, which is. I think so. You know, what is it? Is it, is it clash at the castle after that one? Uh, no, I think it is, uh, bad blood. Bad blood in Atlanta. Yeah. But, you know, maybe, I mean, he's got his, he's got his gang of blackies now too with. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, maybe, maybe I could be, maybe I could be wrong. I mean, cause they're, they're, they're throwing up this, they're throwing up this bad blood, like PLE. I mean, they're, they're putting a lot of, you know, a lot of stuff behind it, that commercial with Cody and, and, uh, the rapper. I forgot his name and, um, it's going to be in the Mercedes dome. So. Yeah. That's going to be a big event. Yeah, it's going to be a big event. So I mean, I, I could see them doing Roman, Roman versus solo one on one at that event. Um, you know, I thought maybe we were going to get like some paybacks or some, uh, you know, one of those smaller PLEs that they do. Um, and I was like, well, I couldn't see them bringing enrollment in for that. But. If they're going to, if they're going to wait, if the next PLE after summer slam is bad blood in the Mercedes dome. Um, yeah. I definitely see that. Could be a, could be a huge one. And, uh, just again, from having been in the building for WrestleMania, uh, Roman was already super over with the fans because as popular as Cody was and as much as everybody wanted Cody to win. There were plenty of chairs for Roman Reigns. There were plenty of people acknowledging him throughout the show. So, yeah, he'll, he'll be just fine. Well, hey, let's, uh, let's just say one more question and we'll go to weekly champions. Does it concern you that the amount of actual in-ring action in the WWE is creeping back down towards its historic averages this week total in-ring action on Monday Night Raw in three hours was 49 and a half minutes. Will Osprey MJF in the match behind me there? They went 59 minutes 57 seconds themselves. Is that a problem or is a WWE do what they do well? I, you know, it's hard for me to say it's a problem. You know, I mean, I mean, because. You know, I hate getting into ratings and stuff like that, but, you know, I mean, if it, if it was a huge problem is it would WWE be on a decline? I think they would, but are they on a decline right now? You know, I think that. I would be, I wouldn't be shocked, Gerald, to say that Fox could, Fox could probably say that they made a huge mistake this time next year by not renewing SmackDown's contract. And with WWE going to Netflix and stuff like that, I think, you know, it's just, it's really hard just because, you know, I think as wrestling fans, you're going to like whatever you want, right? Some guys are just going to, some guys are never going to watch AW. They're never going to give AW a chance. They think everybody that wrestles for AW user, you know, not a main event star until they come to WWE. And it's the same thing with WWE. There's going to be some WWE fans that are never going to turn on AW because they think they think that, you know, it's just a cheap knockoff of WWE. And then there's going to be guys like you and me that enjoy both. And, you know, inside guys like you and me, there's going to be guys that like watching the 15, the 50 minute, you know, clinics, classics that MJF and Will Osprey are going to put on. And then there's wrestling fans that are going to, that are okay with the 48 minutes of wrestling that they got because they got to see the drama unfold between Rhea Ripley and Dom and Liv on Monday Night Rawls. So I don't know, man. It's hard to say, you know, I think that, you know, I think where I'm at in my life, Gerald, I love that there's just, I mean, you can watch wrestling almost every single night of the week, if you really wanted to, you know. And then you got guys like my cohost Josh, Josh doesn't even watch mainstream wrestling. He only watches independent wrestling, you know, I mean, so you've got a, you've got a whole different dynamic for people like that, you know, I don't know. I love it though. I love it. I think that I think it would be really cool if WWE just said, you know, this week we only have 48 minutes of in-ring wrestling. Next week, let's make it an hour and 48 minutes or two hours and 48 minutes, you know, that would be cool. But yeah, I think it was an aberration more than anything because you're not going to have hour-long matches on AEW every week. And you're not going to have all the all the in-ring promotion segments that they had on WWE, which I don't have a problem with them because honestly, hey, we talked about three of the in-ring promos promo comments. So they were well done. It's fine. Exactly. It's just an interesting dichotomy that people are putting out online and everybody's going to their partners, right? Yeah, but, you know, I mean, well, it's because they tell stories. Exactly. You know, if, I think even without the 50-minute match on, on AEW, I think most of the time, I would guess I could be wrong. You know, like I said, I don't look into this stuff, but I would probably take a good guess and say that AEW probably has, you know, longer matches compared to segments against WWE's programming every single week. They do. They would be very shocked. Yeah, I would be very shocked if somebody said, yeah, I would be super shocked if somebody came to me and said, actually, this week on WWE, they had more wrestling than they did than they did on AEW. I would find that very weird, you know. But yeah, what a time, man. What a time. Yeah. Well, hey, let's go ahead and break out the wrestling spotlight championship here. And Chase, who's your champion of the week? Anyone in the world that pro wrestling? You know, my champion of the week, I guess, would have to go to, would have to go to the two gentlemen sitting behind you. You know, I, you know, I am a wrestling fan and I like, I like just about everything, Gerald, but at the end of the day, I still love the art that has performed inside those ropes. And, and I thought that was really good, really good artistry that those two put on. So. Yeah, and, you know, I'm going to give it to aEW in general. That was episode number 250. So when there's all the stream of criticisms that both companies get, honestly, I mean, a WWE, there's, there's more negative comments every week than there are positives. Pump the brakes a little bit and realize that aEW has been going for five years. Yep. They are never going to catch up to WWE. WWE had a 50 year head start. And the fact that they were able to put on that kind of show and on any given day, they can say, Hey, you know what? Let's just go pay per view style and we're going to give it away for free. Let's go. And they have a roster that can do that any given week. That's, that's pretty impressive. And it's great for wrestling fans. It is. It's, it's fantastic. Like I said, it's, it's a great time to be alive for a wrestling fan. You know, I'm sure there was guys who were just as passionate about it as you and me in the 90s that were like, you know, man, I really wish that I could watch wrestling more than once a week. And now there's so much at our fingertips between online streaming and weekly shows. You literally could watch nothing but wrestling now. So. Yeah. And you could do it really easily because 24/7, you can tune into wrestling spotlight on sports. And you can watch it all the time. That's right. I know that I know what you're saying, though, because I mean, you could actually watch. W.W.M. Monday. You want to end W.A.N. Tuesday. You want to next to you on Tuesday. E.W. Wednesday. Impact. T.N.A. on Thursday. New Japan on Thursday. Friday. You have Smackdown Saturday. You have collision. And then Sundays. Sundays a day of rest, I guess. Yep. That is. Once every blue moon, you get a pay-per-view. Yeah. You can tune into wrestling spotlight on Sunday. Well, hey, for this weekly champion, we'll go ahead and wrap it up. Chase, thanks for joining us. And again, that Fountain City Pro show, it's going to be on September 6th. And it's at the. It's at the home of Fountain City Pro, right? That is correct. Home of Fountain City Pro. Ball of Incentre and Olathe, Kansas. That's wonderful. Olathe. And if you already had a ticket, you don't have to rebuy it. You're good, right? Correct. Correct. Awesome. Well, hey, we're looking forward to Fountain City Pro. Wrestling Spotlight on the road to all-in. We'll be there live in London with coverage. And just stay tuned to the fired-up Network and Wrestling Spotlight for more sports and entertainment. Right here, get that true TV plus app and you can watch it right on your phone, right on your computer or your TV. All free. Chase, thanks for joining us. Have a great week and we'll see you here in the ring. [BLANK_AUDIO]