- And then Sean Ross Sapp. ♪ Fight, fool, I've come ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ - What's up, you guys? Sean Ross Sapp, welcome to Fightful. It is July 24th, 2020 for AKA Jimmy Van's birthday. My God, the man is pushing 60 and his internet shows it right now. Jimmy, how you doing? - Ah, this is the first time I felt old, John. I had a milestone today. Other milestones that I've hit, I didn't really feel old, I feel old today. - Like 1060, what a-- - What a special birthday for you. - Yeah, I got to warn you, so you know this, I am no longer living in a big city. I live in a rural town now. That means I have satellite internet and there are currently thunderstorms happening here. So if my video was grainy, that is the reason. I no longer have big city internet. - So how does that get rectified? By the way, guys, thumbs up, subscribe, send in super chats, humper chats, let us know what you want to talk about. And listen, just send us super chats for Jimmy's birthday, like two LT Cole photo did. Look at that. - It's great, it's great, it's great. - You know what I'm right now. You know what I'm turning today, right? - Ah, 50. - I'm 50. - Yeah, Jimmy Van's-- - Isn't that crazy? - Yeah. - That's crazy. When I turn 30, no problem, when I turn 40, no problem. 50 feels old, man. I feel old today. - It is, it is old, Jimmy. - Thank you. - Thank you. - You don't have that much longer here and we're gonna sell-- - You're a sweetheart of a human being, Sean Rossat. Sweetheart of a human being. - And fortunately, we have you here. The one time a month that you come to work. Yes, the one time, well that's because it takes me longer to get to my desk now, Sean. - That's true, that is true. - When you're walking crooked, it's harder to do it. You know, I left my cane in the other room, so. - Yeah. Well, you need to make sure that you got that. Anakin says, did Jimmy pull a real life green acres? Happy birthday. - Yes, I kind of did. So I'm living on a three acre property now. I've got a stream running through my property. I've got a pond full of fish on my property. - Okay. - And someday, Sean Rossat, when it actually gets finished, I will have you come out. - So I had a couple of Toronto friends guilting me about never coming up there anymore. And I was like, it hasn't called for it the last year or two, but how far are you from Toronto? - Depending on the traffic, 40 minute drive? - That's not bad at all. - It's not bad. Now, if you're going downtown, because the wrestling events are downtown, that's a solid hour, easily. - Yeah, yeah, listen to that downtown. And full disclosure, here's some like, you know, a little behind the scenes. Sean and his wife were supposed to come here for Money in the Bank. And I had said to him, you know, come to Toronto for Money in the Bank and then come to my new house and spend a night up here and we'll do some content up here. If you saw the condition of this property right now, it's a complete shit show. And so I told Sean. - It can't be worse than the crack houses you put me up in when I stay in Toronto. So that's true. That's true. It's better than the homeless shelters and hostels. - Here's a funny story for you guys. I had never stayed in like a five star hotel ever until Jimmy brought me to Toronto and he wanted to show off the city. And I think after two stays, I said, Jimmy, please start booking three or four star hotels. And he's like, why? And I said, because there are no fridges or microwaves in five star hotels because they assume you are so rich that you are just going to get room service. And that wasn't covered in the Jimmy Van coverage of the room. So I was like, cut it out, give me something else. Isn't that amazing? - So here's the lesson we've learned. So the next time that Sean is here, you're familiar with TripAdvisor, right? You don't TripAdvisor. So the next time that Sean is here, I'm gonna go on TripAdvisor, but I'm gonna reverse it so that you can sort by one star instead of by four plus. And whatever's top of the list for one star, that's what Sean Ross Sapp is gonna get. And if it says anything like, you know, there's some rodent issues. I'm like, he's from Kentucky. - Let me tell you, buddy. It can't compare to what I spent on Cleveland. The nerve of this city. You could buy a house for the amount they're charging rooms for now. It's insane. - What's the drive for you? Not far, right? Five, six hours. - Oh, it's still that far. - Quite a bit, yeah. - Oh, okay. - If you remember when I did the haircut, I had to take a bus up there, 'cause I was like, I'm not driving up that hour. But yeah, Bridget Hewlett, who's always so generous to us, it's happy birthday, Jimmy. You're not old. I'm gonna be 55 this year. Well, Bridget, let me just clarify. You are not old. You're not old, Bridget. Jimmy is. I just wanna make that abundantly clear. Chris says, "Is Jimmy now the Roman reigns a fightful?" Yeah. I would say so. Not being acknowledged. But it would be so funny. - Oh, my God. - Where was the-- - The tribal chief, though. I don't know. - Where was the first place you had booked us at in Toronto? It was somewhere, the Shangri-La. That's what it was. - Was it Shangri-La? Was it? I thought it was like the W or-- - Yes. So let me tell you, we rolled in there and we felt so out of place. I was like McCully Culkin and Home Alone 2, tipping people with Libra Stripe gum and stuff like that. - Awesome, awesome, awesome. - And then the last guy didn't want the gum, the last guy didn't want the gum, but then you'd pulled out the water cache and said, "Oh, okay, well, that's how you feel." That's how I was rolling in. A reminder, guys, get in your super chats, get in your humper chats. We've been interviewing-- - Somebody said, "How old is Sean?" How old are you now, Sean? - I don't like to disclose personal information on this show. I ain't doing that. I've had people trying to guess my birth date, my social security number, ain't doing any of that bullshit anymore. - Your social-- - What? - Oh, my, Jimmy, every month I get an update from the people that actually got a thing that threw out what I do my taxes with. I get like at least three people trying to hack my shit a month, at least three different people. - Wow, did you hear about the guy-- - I'm like, "Is that people doing that?" So I ain't providing any personal information to anybody anymore. - Did you hear about the guy that was convinced that he was talking to Liv Morgan on the internet? - Yeah, I sure did, I sure did. - And the person in Nigeria made a fake New Jersey driver's license for her with a real name on it? - Yeah. - Like-- - Yeah, I mean-- - It's crazy news, man. - There was also the person who attacked Seth Rollins. That was happening as well. I mean, listen, Shahza got her stuff hacked earlier this year. I believe, I think, gosh, there are, I mean, there's a number of wrestlers that I've actually put in touch with people to recover their stuff. But like, listen, man, people are strange. Me and my wife both had people trying to attempt to hack our stuff fairly recently and just not interested in providing that information. - Well, what's more strange is that that particular guy went for it. He actually believed in his heart. He was talking to Liv Morgan. - I saw that, I saw that. Oh, Jimmy, if you would have up until about six months ago when I started to get those alerts, there were, I think, seven Sean Ross Sapp Facebook accounts. - Wow. - I don't have a Sean, I've got a business page, that's it. I don't have a Sean Ross Sapp Facebook account. That's just, so if you're talking to a Sean Ross Sapp on there, unless it's my one business account associated with Fightful, you ain't talking to me, period. There are, I mean, we've had to shut down at least 10 fake SRS Twitter pages. There were four or five Instagram pages. - Right. - No, no deal. Hey, listen, guys, I should have said this before. I'm posting a Malachi and Buddy update on Fightful Select after this. I don't waste your super chat on that. It says, indicates that, or Abu from Restle Peirce indicates that Malachi and Keith Lee's deal or those are up relatively soon. Have you heard the same? There's a lot more to Malachi's and listen, I hesitate to report anything about him because we saw a situation a couple of years ago that where Tony Khan went on the radio, on the radio and said, we got five more years on him and he said, oh, dirt sheets are misrepresenting my contract. I'm like, bro, Tony said it on the radio, man, right? But Keith Lee, his deal, people I talked too close to him didn't even know because of possible injury time. No update on Ricky Starks, AEW status that I've heard. He hadn't been planned for TV as of late, but I hope they get him in there. I think he and Jack Perry at All In would have been really, really good, sort of like scapegoat versus scapegoat. I think that could have been-- - Yeah, I remember there was talk about that. Yeah, yeah. Speaking of Liv Morgan, remember the last time we do this podcast and I said to you, Dominic Mysterio is the luckiest bastard in wrestling 'cause he's in a storyline with Rhea and Liv? Liv Morgan was incredible on Raw this week, doing her role and looking the way she looked. And I kept looking at Dom going, how in the hell did Dom and that was here? 'Cause Rhea Ripley is a beautiful woman too. How did Dominic Mysterio walk ass backwards into that position? Good for him, good for him. I mean, he has risen to the occasion, I think as a performer as well. And if you wanna rise to the occasion, use Fitbod. Fitbod.me/ppv, you wanna check this out. This is gonna take your workouts to a new level. 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"Yuck." - Yeah, I don't like it at all. So I'll say this just at high level, but you're not a hockey fan, Sean. So back, I think it was 2010. There was a player in the Chicago Blackhawks organization who was sexually abused. Oh, and there goes my phone. And Scotty Stan Bowman was the general manager of the Blackhawks. He was aware of it after the fact, apparently didn't do anything about it. And the person who allegedly committed the assault went on to work as a coach in the high school system and engaged in more sexual assault activity. And the general manager had not put a stop to it. So the oilers just hired him. He had to be away from hockey for a couple of years as punishment by the NHL. He was reinstated. The oilers hired him as general manager today. I don't like it, not just for that reason, but he's another one of these guys. You know how sometimes you see executives in sports? They had a good track record like a decade ago, but what have they done a decade since in terms of success? And he's another one. He hasn't had any success in about the 10 seasons, but they brought him in. Didn't like it. Not a fan of it. - Crazy 101 says contract status on Ricochet, Shane Taylor, Keith Lee. Working on the last two, Ricochet, I would believe that he's signed by now. He's no longer under contract to WWE, however. Darren says, "Any update on a story from last week that WWE talent can keep their names when they leave?" Yeah, there's a free post on Fightful Select. I am gonna try to break it down as simply as possible. No, they are not allowed to keep their names if it was a name that WWE created. If it is their real name, Chelsea Green, John Cena, WWE might try to keep them from using that. It ain't gonna work. It will never work. It has never worked. Even Dijak was like, "Oh yeah, somebody tried to tell me I couldn't use just Dijak." Yes, he can. That's his real name. That's his last name, period. He can't use Dijakovic. He can't use T-Bar. - What about like an AJ Styles? 'Cause he had that before he went there. - Yes, absolutely. If you established it before, AJ Styles, Adam Cole, Ethan Page, anybody like that, they can use their name like that. Asuka, she got her name in WWE. She would have to go back to Kana or something like that. They are not, like Jinder Mahal is not allowed to go use Jinder Mahal. He was allowed to use Maharaja 'cause it wasn't trademarked. So it is absolutely not true for a good example. Randy Orton, real name, he can use that. I think a prime example is Cody Rhodes. His real name was Cody Runnels. He had never been Cody Rhodes outside of WWE. So when he left, he could just be Cody 'cause that was his real name. Then they eventually gave it back to him. Meanwhile, his wife was allowed to be Brandy Rhodes because she wasn't Brandy Rhodes in WWE. She was Eden Styles. So no, absolutely not. If they created the name within WWE, can't use it unless it's a part of your real name. There are some exceptions. Ruby Riot was able to use Ruby Soho. I'm not exactly sure how that one went down, but I'll work to find out more on that. How much would the deal have to be for AEW to be profitable? We don't have that access to their financials, Jimmy, but what are you thinking? Brandon Thurston crunched the numbers a while back. And I can't quote him because I don't remember the exact numbers. However, I think they had to be a little north of 100 million a year to be break even, a little north of 100 million a year. And I still think they're gonna end up in the 150 range in that range of year. So whatever they get, they're gonna be profitable. Or at the very least, they're gonna break it. Ms. Kate Fabe says, "Happy birthday, Jimmy. "Thanks for your steadfast faith and effort in what we do "and never being too busy to listen." - Thank you, Kate. Big fan of yours, I think she knows that. - I outlined to Jim and Ika, a friend of ours who does a podcast. She was like, well, how did you get to a point to where you went from basically being recruited to work somewhere to working in ownership? And I said, I worked for the one person in this line of work who allowed that to happen. And that was it, and that was Jimmy. There are zero people that I would have worked with. I've gotten a lot of nice offers over the years. Zero of those would have allowed me to work myself into a point of ownership just based on services rendered. So I can very much speak to that of what Kate says. But enough saying nice things about Jimmy. I've said enough-- - I'm sure it's got you sweating, too. It's got to sweat. - Oh God, ugh. WBD and AEW, that's on your list, Jimmy. Emily says, "Any updates on John Moxley's status? "I don't have any Emily, but I'm working on it today "and tomorrow actually." But Jimmy, WBD, AEW, there was a lot of, a lot of hokey-pokey regarding that. - Hokey-pokey. - Tony came out. Tony came out and effectively confirmed the story that we had reported. It isn't being announced imminently. He is meeting with David Zazlov this weekend, or not, I don't know about this weekend. Over the upcoming week in Paris, that was confirmed as well. - I'll let that-- - How you feelin' about this? - So this all starts, I guess, with the reason that I think that this came up again this week as a top news stories because the NBA writes. So one of brothers' discovery, on behalf of TNT, they're gonna match Amazon Prime's offer for the third package, NBA package. And it's gonna be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 20.9 billion over 11 years, starting with the 25-26 season. The NBA doesn't have to accept it. They can stick with Amazon Prime. And as a matter of fact, I've read from a lot of analysts that believe that they are gonna stick with Amazon Prime and not go with Warner Brothers. But regardless, they had the right to at least match and they did. So this came up in wrestling, 'cause what happened, Sean? The WWE tribalists are like, "Oh, if a Warner Brothers son's the NBA, "that is it for AEW. "AEW is not getting a new contract." Completely unrelated, we've talked about this before. I don't think that has anything to do with anything. The numbers that AEW is talking about, like I said, maybe 150 million a year, is nothing compared to what Warner Brothers would be paying for the rights for the NBA, which would be like 1.9 billion, Sean, a season, 1.9 billion a season. Now, 150 million is a drop in the bucket. I don't think it has anything to do with it. I think they are gonna resign. And not only did you, I think you broke news for Fightful Select. I'm not gonna put words in your mouth, but something to the effect that they think a deal is coming or whatever. - Yeah. - Tony Khan himself told comicbook.com. He said, "It's been a really productive renewal negotiation, "and I'm really excited about it." I think all signs point to a renewal. It just depends on how much. - Yes, I mean, I've had a lot of really interesting talks with people in WBD since last year. And there were people there last year who had said, "Yeah, we've been deep in negotiations "for a long time. "It's been an ongoing dialogue." They talk every Monday as well. Like to update one another on the creative plans and synergy and all that. Because WBD loves the crossover because they're smart enough to realize that not everybody that does talks or that watches wrestling watches their other shows and they can get some crossover there. However, there were a couple of sort of premonitions over late last year up until the spring that ended up coming true for people I talked to. So if you remember, there was a lot of discussion regarding WBD meeting with WWE. And back then, WBD told me, well, of course we're meeting with them. There are international business partners with TNT Sports. Like, why wouldn't we meet with them? They're like, well, meet with anybody that's reasonable and we think can help our network. But they had even said then, well, we don't expect WBD to announce the raw rights until well into 2024 because it's not a great landscape in 2023 for people who hold those rights and are selling the product, so to speak. So they expected that to happen well within 2024. And that did happen. It happened that way. And now we got the Netflix deal coming up. They said that they didn't expect anything to be finalized until like summer of this year at the very least and then they had you with AEW. And they said, well, there's not a big rush. There's still an exclusivity window, which I do believe is up now. But they're like, we like working together. They like working with us. We like working with them. They had mentioned that the possibility of pay per views on Macs had been broached last year. That's where our report that there had been deep conversations came from was because WBD had mentioned that. And their belief was that Tony and AEW wanted to sort of sell them collectively and then see what kind of offer they could get and then maybe shop individually to see what the individual numbers might be. I don't know where they stand on that now, but I mean, I know the relationship is very good. I've not had the same type of things that I'll get out of networks. Like back in the day, Destination America would bury TNA all the time and like Comet would bury ROH all the time. I had Fox burying WWE at one point. I don't get that out of WBD and AEW. There've been a couple instances that they weren't maybe happy with or thrilled with, but ultimately it's one of those situations where they both believe that a deal will get done. - I mean, you got to remember too. I don't recall what it is that they're getting paid right now because collision I haven't heard what the number was when they added collision, but I think it's under 100 million a year that they're getting. And dynamite is always, you know, now with the political stuff, it's been a little bit lower in the rankings, but normally dynamites top three. So to have a show top three on cable and you're paying under 100 million is pretty damn good. And that includes collision and rampage and they do the specials and whatever. So I think it's been, even, you know, I know that Eric Bischoff and others have talked about, well, it's, you know, Ad rates, Ad rates, Ad rates, you still want to have something to bring eyeballs to your show so that you can then promote other shows, you know what I mean? Raw has been a loss leader, I think, SmackDown's been a loss leader, but they use it to get other stuff over. So there's definitely value there. And here's a question for you. Since the S.O.C.B.D. window is up, have you heard anything about any interest elsewhere? - I mean, outside of the CW being interested in ROH in a while, I don't know that people have had really the room to, most of the people I talk to in TV just assume they will resign with WBD. - Right, right. Okay, okay, yeah. Let's move on. I want to talk about some potential WWE departures. The three that came up this week, Bobby Lashley, MVP and Tamina. We had updates on them on Fightful Selection. What's the latest on those three? - Bobby Lashley is expected to leave WWE. His deal is expected to be up in within the month. I'll say that so somebody doesn't sort of snipe that. But I would expect him to get a AEW interest. There's not a lot of things that he can't do that he used to be able to do. He's still physically capable. MVP is a little bit different because he's got issues with Chris Jericho, obviously. Tamina, she's expected to stay within the WWE family. I don't know in what capacity, but I mean, she's had like a decade of main roster money. - I can't help but feel like the hurt business was a lost opportunity. I missed opportunity. Like I know, Shelton Benjamin was released in September of last year, but this man was still in charge then. Vince resigned the end of January of this year and Shelton still hadn't signed anywhere. So I felt like there was an opportunity to bring him back and reassemble the hurt business and granted Lashley had dealt with injuries this year. What are your thoughts as to why Triple H didn't circle back on that group when he did circle back on other talents that had been released under Vincent Man's leadership? Why do you think Hunter decided not to go with them? Because Lashley has not done a lot creatively. Sad Dragon Alexander has been buried. He's done nothing creatively. MVP hasn't really done anything except for whenever they decide to put an almost on television. So why do you think Hunter decided not to circle back on that group? - I wish I had a good answer for that because they have looked for answers for that for a very, very long time and never got those answers. It was one that everybody there was on board with from Lashley even if he was getting a big push. He wanted to do that. They felt like there was more gas in the tank. And they, I can tell you that at least people involved were optimistic that under Triple H they might have more of an opportunity to succeed with Triple H and it just didn't happen. There were like some glimmers of hope and some teases and stuff like that. But that's a very good question that I don't think that anybody ever really got the answer to. - I thought that was a great put your phone on silent. - Yeah, like I thought I did and it just keeps on ringing. - Mine. - I'm a popular guy, Sean. I loved it when Lashley was the world champion. Cedric and Shelton were the tag team champions. It was kind of a four horsemen type of feel. And Cedric Alexander, I don't want to discredit what he's done since because they hardly ever use him. But you could see when he was like this kind of youngish heel teaming with Shelton Alexander, you could see the light in his eyes. And I don't really see that with, you know, these days. Like I feel like they're really missed out there, but it's unfortunate. It is what it is, I guess. - It is. - SummerSlam, I want to ask you some questions. So SummerSlam is next weekend in Cleveland. You already mentioned that you're going up and apparently staying in a really expensive hotel. - So good for you. - I mean, not a great hotel, but it is very expensive, yes. - But a expensive one. What do you think about the decision to make Seth Rollins, a special guest referee for Drew McIntyre, get CM Punk? - I love it. I can't wait to see what he wears. - As a referee. - He's going to have the most extra referee shirt in the history of the planet. - Maybe it'll be like, you know, the back will be cut out of it or something like that. - Yeah. - To me, obviously it fits the story and it gives Rollins a spot on the card. Part of me, maybe the old school than me, wanted to see it be a clean match because it's their first singles match. But at the same time, it gives, it gives me SummerSlam 97 vibes, right? SummerSlam 97, this is where I show my age. Brett Hart, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels was the guest referee and Shawn Michaels inadvertently cost The Undertaker the match because he swung a chair at Brett Hart who was his adversary. Brett moved, he hit Taker, and then he begrudgingly counted the pin for Brett. Do you think that they're doing this to explain a CM Punk loss? Do you think they're doing this because, you know, Rollins is going to inadvertently cost Punk the match leading to a program with those two so that McIntyre and Punk can kind of be separated for a while? - Yeah, I mean, I think the big money was in the one-on-one match, right? Like, that's the big one. Without the title, anything like that. Like, it's, the money is in that. So you have to do that. But I mean, also, it was easy to forget because of how well Punk and Drew built this in absence that Rollins was originally involved in all of this and that was the original issue was Punk and Rollins. So I think him getting involved there makes an awful lot of sense, especially if he's not going to be in the title picture. But I do think it's good that they're doing the one-on-one match because there's a lot of juice there. But also involving Rollins, I know a lot of people are like, oh, why are we, come on, that's what, he started this few to year and a half ago during an interview with Nick Halsman. But, man, yeah, I think there's that. - Another summer slam question for you. Do you think Roman Reigns finally returns at summer slam? - I do, I do, I can't report that he is, but yeah. - So, solo Sequoia obviously is getting a title shot against Cody Rhodes. I'm sure there's going to be a beat down at some point, either during the match or after the match. Can you imagine the picture, Sean, of Roman Reigns making the save for Cody Rhodes? Can you imagine that? That would be something. - Yeah, and I wonder 'cause people often forget, Roman is a free agent right now. He is a free agent, technically, within-- - Oh, you mean like in terms of, yes. - Okay. - Yes, so that is one that I'm like, okay, maybe he could pop up on Raw as well and recruit Sami Zayn and Jey Uso, who just beat the tag team champions by the way, yes, very interesting. - Do you think there's any scenario, and I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, do you think there's any scenario in which, you know, things have died down a bit maybe, do you think there's scenario where they bring back Brock Lesnar? And I think there's any scenario where they end up doing, say, survivor series and one of the teams includes Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar together on the same team. Do you think there's any possibility of that? Or do you think that Brock-- - Should they Lesnar? - Yeah, Brock, yeah. - Hell no, no, absolutely not Lesnar, no. They gotta, no, there's a lawsuit paused right now with that. Absolutely not, no. I don't think that Brock's coming back anytime soon. - Okay, okay. I mean, he's getting close with himself. - He is getting close to 50 himself, and listen, based on the terms of that lawsuit, maybe he would want to start using Nord. - I have long talked with you guys about the content that you can access with NordVPN.com/fightful, but it doesn't just stop at Pro Wrestling. You can get MMA-emboxing pay-per-views at a much more affordable price when you change your virtual location with just one click using NordVPN.com/fightful. It doesn't stop there either, football games. Man, if you want to check out those out-of-market football games, you don't have to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars. You can get NordVPN.com/fightful and just change your virtual location. How about baseball games? They make it harder than ever to actually watch baseball games. It is a task not with NordVPN.com/fightful. They got everything you need in addition to all the threat protection and security that comes with NordVPN. But if you want that content, NordVPN.com/fightful is right for you. Check it out, guys. nordvpn.com/fightful. 2LT Cole Photo says, "Working on a Jimmy cartoon after Sean and Denise." Oh, okay. Yeah, he did the great ones that we saw with Alex and Kate. - I saw that. That's going on a T-shirt. He did that? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Very, very talented. Very talented. - Yeah, he's fantastic. Do I think more matches are added to SummerSlam? Maybe one, but they've already got seven. They've already got seven matches and that's quite a bit. - Yeah, that's usually around what they want. Yeah. One other SummerSlam question for you. So Cleveland is Logan Paul's hometown, right? But LA Knight, I feel like he's overdue. Do you think LA Knight beats Logan Paul in Logan Paul's hometown for the US title? - Yeah, I do actually. - I do. - I couldn't help. Not that one necessarily means anything, but you know, Cody Rhodes has his new podcast 'cause you had to change the title of the show you do whenever I'm not here 'cause he's got his new podcast. He just started it and LA Knight was like a second guest. - Well, I'll say this, we didn't have to change it. He didn't ask us to. I was just like, you know-- - It makes an awful lot of sense. We've moved off of that for two years. We could, it's his. It was always gonna be his if he wanted it. So we might as well change it. - Well, when I saw that LA Knight was a second guest, not that one means anything, but I thought, you know, there's something there. So I hope he wins that title. That'll be a big moment for him. You know, I'll give him his career. - That'll be a big moment. I hope he does. - All right, ref shirt is 100% normal, except for the fact that it is a crop top. Let's get through these super chats and I think. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead, go ahead. - Tony P says, I'm curious about what happens post blood and guts if the elite win, what's next for this takeover story 'cause it's now directionless. If team AEW win it, do the takeover story end or does it continue with a new direction? Well, if you want a new direction, now I'm just kidding, but here's the thing. I'm like, if John Moxley were a part of this team or Brian Danielson, even Jeff Jarrett, I feel like there'd be more emotion than the acclaimed. I'm like, damn, I feel like the elite should continue to win it, even though I don't think that was in the plans. How are you feeling? - So when they first did the whole thing, you know, Tony Con takes the Spike Powell driver and Jack Perry comes back. Remember we talked about on this podcast, I applauded them for trying something different. You know, I applauded them for trying something new and trying this storyline. To me, it was a little bit hokey that the elite are EVPs and Tony can't fire them in storyline. But I applauded that they did it. Where they lost me is when Tony returned. Like for example, when Roderick Strong asked for the title shot. Do you remember that? He just goes backstage and he kind of cuts off. Chris Daniels goes right to Tony Con. They lost me there. They lost me when you could see, okay, Tony Con's still there, still backstage like always. But going about his business, like the elite thing doesn't really mean, like they lost me there. And so to me, if the elite do win, which I think they will, if they do win, they need better direction for this story because to me, it's just not an interesting, if I'm being honest, like they've lost me with the believability. That's just me personally. - Is Lashley still hurt? Could they technically extend? - That's a tough word. - It's a tough word. - If he, yeah, I know what he means, but that can be a tough one these days and they haven't been extending some of them. It's a case by case basis. Like if they don't feel they can get the amount that they are paying him out of him in the ring, then they might not. Ken Russo says Jimmy left Toronto after Kendrick, got their boy, Kendrick Lamar did. - Drake's not my boy. Not my boy. Anakin says, find it hard to believe AEW will abandon the pay-per-view model when it's been so successful and profitable. What do you guys think? Well, if AEW gets paid to do that, then yes, they absolutely will. If they get offered a dollar more than what they think they are gonna make on a pay-per-view model, and it's more available to more people, then it's gonna be a net positive. I often bring up what WWE did, Jimmy. They were very smart about how they did it. They cannibalized their own pay-per-view service, but what they did was they made it more available to more people, they chopped the price off, and then they re-licensed their pay-per-views and library and made way more than they were gonna make anyway. So, yeah. - Yeah, I think it's nice from a business perspective to know what kind of money you're gonna be making, like to know what your revenue's gonna look like, to not have to live and die, not that they, and in the media rights area, you don't really anyway, but you don't have to live and die by what your buy rate's gonna be. And so, I don't recall what it is that AEW makes on average in a year, 'cause you have to remember, they split the revenue with the distributor. I don't remember what they took in, what they take in in a year. I think it's somewhere in the three to four million range that they take in a pay-per-view revenue. If one of those discoveries says, look, we'll give you a five mil, we'll give you a seven mil, whatever it is for the pay-per-view rights, why would they say no? You don't have to worry about the buy rate anymore, you know what I mean? - Yeah. - When Tony Khan is at the scrum, and people are asking him, how are the buys trending? It doesn't really matter, does it? - No. - So, I think they would do that in a second if the numbers make sense. - Dilo says, happy birthday, Jimmy Van, with the WBD deal being a match. Is there any way where technically Amazon could take it to court and get the rights still? - Well, I mean, the line of thinking is that MBA is gonna likely decline WBD's offer, and then we could see maybe a legal battle go on. - Yeah, I don't think so. So, contractually, I believe the MBA has the decision. And so, if they choose to go with Amazon Prime, they go with Amazon Prime, if they do, I don't think Warner Brothers is gonna file suit, because I believe that's the MBA's decision. Like I said, I've read some analysts, you know, previews or predictions, thinking that Prime is gonna get it. But if Warner Brothers, if they accept the Warner Brothers offer, I think that's just how it is. It just, Amazon has to accept it. - K775 says, who debuts on NXT first, Stephanie Vicure or Julia? You think it could be next week after Roxanne's match? I think, I'm gonna say Julia, just 'cause she got signed first, but Jimmy, we didn't hear a lot from you after the Stephanie Vicure thing. How are you feeling about that signing? - It was very unique to me that this girl comes in. She immediately, and I understand that there's some personal issues with her that we don't need to go into, but she immediately leaves her home base. And then like a week later, kind of returns to her home base with WWE and performs. That was unique, man, that was unique. It was almost like Lex Luger, you know, leaving WWE and then he's on Nitro the next Monday. It was unique how that worked out. One of the things I was gonna mention on my list today was the strength of the NXT Women's Division, the Women's roster, because presumably Stephanie Vicure and Julia are both going to NXT. And there's another new signing that Fightless Select reported, Delta Brady from Australia, who rear Ripley when she was in Australia, put over Delta Brady. - Yes, she did. - And now she is headed to NXT. Look at that roster. So they've already got Roxanne Perez and Cora G. Both of them are main roster ready, those two. They got Last Legend, Lola Weiss, Nikita Lyon, Sol Ruka, Kalani Jordan, Wendy Chu. I really like Ariana Grace. She's Chelsea Greenish in her personality. Did I really like her? - Did I tell you about the near-fightful connection we had there with Ariana Grace? - Yes, so- - What's that? - Once upon a time, I thought Denise was very close to leaving for WWE. So I was very quietly looking for a fill-in Raw hosts and Ariana Grace was one of the people that hit me up. And that was the only person I got back to, but before we could really kick off talks, Denise said, let me know. No, I don't think I'm gonna be taking that. But now I'm like, I just wish I would have followed up and brought her on in any capacity. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - How funny she is in general, but she's doing it right for herself now. - She is, she's really good. Like she's got her dad's comedic timing. She's got it. - And do you remember when I talked to Santino but doing Rob reviews? - Yeah. - Remember that? - We talked to a lot of people. If you remember, we reached out to a ton of people. - Yeah, there were several, we just decided to do what we did. - Yeah, Santino was one of them that I talked to at the time, but Ariana Grace, I think very highly of her. She's got that comedic timing. She's got that entertainment aspect. She's really, really good. But what do you think about the stacked division that they built in NXT? And now to that group I've already mentioned, they're adding Julia, they're adding Stephanie Vacker and they're adding Delta Brady. It's just a stacked division. - It's very good. Naturally, some of those are going to emerge and go to Raw and SmackDown as they, as they start to bring people up and cycle people out and all that stuff as well. But yeah, I love what they've done because they're adding an experience to people that are inexperienced, which is very, very important. And that, you can't just have a bunch of people that are completely green working with each other. You need to work in Delta, Julia, Stephanie Vacker, even Roxanne, who's been all over the world before she came there. So I think it's a very smart method. And I remember all the people that were claiming, "Oh, they don't build stars, they don't build stars." You have to give, first off, it's a developmental territory that is unimpeded now. You're not going to have Vincent Land screwing everything up, just at one a whim, or saying, "Hey, Johnny, go down there "and fire a bunch of people for no reason." Now, granted, you're going to have people that you got a shit or get off the pot with, but there were situations as recently as last year where people who were planned to be champions were fired. So my only complaint with NXT, and we've talked about this before that it might change when the CW deal starts, I'd like to see them in different venues. I'd like to see them get out of the PC because there's a lot of sameness when you watch that show, a lot of sameness with the venues. So I'd like to see that, but otherwise they're really, they're really rocking in NXT. I think they're doing well, they have, I know the guy like Trick Williams, he could be called up tomorrow 'cause he's doing really, really well. So yeah, they're doing good. All right, it's a piece. You always, you always transition like, I got super cats and hungry. I got so much shot, so much. - Go ahead. - I know you have enough money, but I don't, Jimmy. - Prayer Hudson said- - If I told you what this house is costing me, Sean, I might need a hard time job soon. - Well, listen, I'm trying to get a new one too. Bear Hudson says there've been rumors of talent trying to get AJ Lee to come back any chance we see that. It would have to be a herd decision. Based on everything that I heard from or about CM Punk was that he didn't want to push that on her, anything like that. I honestly thought at one point that Britt Baker might be able to promo her out of retirement, but I don't think so. - I mean, she's still listening in bucks. - Will Ocado or Bucks defend their titles before all in, they should, 'cause I don't want to see Bucks and acclaimed at all in. I don't think anybody's there for that. - Thoughts about AEW and Southland Conference relationship. Cool way to get in the smaller markets. I haven't heard shit about that. I don't even have a frame of reference. - Southland Conference? - Let me look into that. - Okay, I just saw that. Yeah, they're presenting the title belts to some of the winners of the Southland Conference tournaments across multiple sports this year. That's a smart idea. Just get your title belt featured as much as possible. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I don't know about getting into smaller markets due to that. I mean, they get into whatever market they want. It's a matter of renting the venue and going there. But I don't think that will necessarily affect anything, but also, but I mean, having your title belt featured prominently is important. Bill says congrats to Tony Shavani on his Hall of Fame induction. You gotta lump in my throat, hearing his daughter speak so proudly of him. Indeed, I mean, a warm welcoming voice for years. So congrats to him. Tony says they need to pivot or kill the story at this point. Where does Adam fit in after? 'Cause we will see him and Okada next from the storytelling. Will Adam be a pure heel or heelish tweener going forward after this? They need to focus. If you mean Adam Cole, I think Adam Cole will come back and probably be a bit of a tweener. He's gonna get a big pop when he comes back. I don't think they need to pivot the elite story. I do feel like they probably need to win tonight again based on the roster associated with Team AEW. I just, I liked that Swerve's involved and maybe he wills that team to victory and you keep him as that top guy, but I don't know. Do WWE wrestlers get frustrated with the lack of wrestling on Raw and SmackDown? Not that I've heard they used to, but not these days. You still, I mean, you get like 15 minute matches on Raw here and there. Brendan says, Sean, love your work. Getting back into TNA as of late. Are they looking to sign any free agents or have they signed anyone new? I mean, I believe that some of their contracts might end up being altered a little bit based on what they used to be. I mean, we reported that they allowed Jordan Grace to amend her deal to take a few months off of it. Unless you're paying her way less, I can't imagine why they would do that unless they needed to. I had always been told expect new people to pop up at each taping, so we'll see. - Can I ask you about a rumor that I heard? - Sure, sure. So I still have some connections to the local independents here in Canada. I heard that TNA told Montreal Independent Wrestlers, they could be on the pre-show if they sold tickets or gave away tickets or something. - Yep, that's true. - You hear anything about that? - Yep, that's absolutely true. - Do you know of anyone, 'cause I don't know the Montreal scene, is there anybody notable that you know of that worked the pre-show from the Montreal Independence? - Gosh, no, but the guy who won the Battle Royal, supposedly because he sold them with tickets had been retired a while. I'm working to find out who was in that Battle Royal. Joel, I know was there, but I'm not exactly sure how that worked. - Okay. - Ryan says, "Shawn, a boo of Russell Pierce "is indicating punk is trying to restructure his deal, "says he wants to be there forever, have you heard anything?" Well, a lot of it depends on how they restructure his deal because I know WWE will have protections in that deal in the event that something happens, you know? Like they, and they've gotten one match out of them so far, so they aren't gonna be dumb about it, but so far it is smooth sailing, like listen, if anybody in AEW would have said the things that Drew McIntyre has said to and about CM Punk on the air or on Twitter, there would have been way more fist fights, way more fist fights. He's outright dropping Colt Cabana's name. - Do you think though that, I mean, obviously, it's a different company, different environment, all of that, but do you think that these guys are, there's more communication? So that punk's got more of a heads up. Do you think that's, 'cause Drew's a pro, and I'm not saying that the people in AEW aren't, but Drew's a pro going back many, many, many years. So do you think that there's been better communications if punk's more prepared? - I can find out. - Okay. - I can find out for sure. - I'd like to know, I'd like to know if that's the case or if it's just punk, you know, he just likes the environment better, and let's be honest, he burned the bridge with AEW, so that's not an option, right? - Yeah. - So maybe that's also when they said a little bit that this is basically, it's here or nowhere, really, at this money level. - Crazy101s as AEW, Texas should have ROH tapings full-time, we had reported something on FightfulSelect.com, that's $5 in the business that ROH will get some more care, but also why a solo bull says, hey, happy birthday, Jimmy, good afternoon, SRS, how did you feel about the aesthetics of the collision residency? I know you've talked about more intimate venues. It's a step in the right direction, had a couple of issues here. Dark and cavernous is not my thing. I do not like when they do a shot and it's just dark behind. I don't care if it's layered lighting, heavy lighting, what, it's just not for me. I don't mind smaller venues. I loved the idea of shotgun Saturday night being in like very gritty, intimate venues. I also think this goes into what I reported about a possible stadium show, I think probably a multi-type of agreement there is in effect, but audio issues are bad, they gotta fix that. Were they soul shows? I don't know about that. Okay, okay. I agree with you on more intimate venues, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, look what ECW ran for years and they really made it work. So the one thing I haven't paid attention to lately is I haven't paid attention to attendance. So because it was a smaller venue, did they pack it? Do you know? Because if they did, why would they do the dark? Why would they do the dark lighting if they pack it? Well, I mean, it might just be how it's set up to where there aren't seats back there. 'Cause it's a very, it's an esports venue. So it's not like an arena, but yeah. Do I see Malachi and/or Keith Lee returning to WWE when their deals are up? Depending on when their deals are up. But I mean, a lot can happen between now and whenever that happens and if Keith Lee's not healthy, why would they bring him back? We got Bobby saying as a fan, what do you think about Lance Archer and Brian Cage as a team being that they don't do much? I would love that. I liked Brian Cage in Big Bill as a team too. And then they moved to Big Bill and Ricky Starks and I was like, huh, why? Like, okay, we get the smaller guy with the bigger guy. No, give me two big dominant sons of bitches. That's what I wanna see. They got over immediately too. Got over immediately. I'll tell you what can help get you over immediately. Getting rid of those big nasty pubes. Manscaped.com and the code Fightful. They have a monopoly on the bathroom. Let's be real, when they start selling wipes, it's over for everybody. What don't they have at Manscaped? It starts off, you know, with your body parts, your balls and your butt, but it's a lot more than that. They got everything in the bathroom from the shower with body wash and shampoo and body buffers to the beard. They have a phenomenal beard trimmer. They have beard combs, beard oil, beard conditioner, all that good stuff. And for your nether regions as well. They have a variety of packages that you can try out from ones that go from the bathroom to your body, to your hair. It doesn't really matter. They've got you covered. They've got a little something for everybody. If you're on the go, they have the go bag as well. They've got travel options. Manscaped.com and the code Fightful. You're always gonna find a great deal when you use that code at Manscaped. We got some more Super Chats and Humper Chats. Meet Norma says, "Happy birthday, Jimmy. "Let's crank." Are they ROH six-man titles dead? And what the hell is going on with the A to B trios belts? I put them on BCC. Yes, I believe the ROH trios titles are absorbed. Oh man, the issues that I had with how they handled the trios titles, Jimmy. They got four members of Bullet Club Gold. One of which is Switchblade. He gets an injury not to be long-term and they make him vacate them. Even though they put Juice Robinson in a match a week later for the vacant titles against the patriarchy, then we hear Luchasaurus has maybe a biceps injury and will not vacate the title. I hate it. Vacating the titles makes them seem less important. Just... And if you're trying to make Bullet Club Gold baby faces, Jimmy, have Juice say, "Yeah, I'll defend them for Jay." And then they take him out before the match and they say the hell you are, the guns can defend them themselves. It's pro wrestling, it's not real. You can script it any way you want. That's the key. That's the key, this is a show. Yeah. And I'm sure, I'm sure, you know, I can't creep into Tony Khan's mind, but I'm sure that when Kill Switch got hurt, he didn't want to vacate again. And so he kind of had to roll with it because it's a short term injury. But I agree with you. I agree with you. If Jay White wasn't gonna be out for a long period of time, who gives you shit? Just do the free brute thing. I mean, how long is Jay gonna be out? Do you have any idea? No, just heard it wouldn't be that long, maybe a foot injury. And we were asked how long will they be out for? Well, the initial hope on Saturday was that Sky Blue didn't get hurt that bad, but now it looks like a rough ankle injury. So that's a bummer. That's a bummer. I think all the rest had broken ankle, I think. That's what he said. I want to follow up on it myself though. But that would be a bummer. I've seen her a lot out on the Chicago circuit and works her ass off. PW Nexus has happy birthday to Jimmy Van from all of us at PW Nexus. They also sent one on Humper Chat, which we greatly appreciate, says thanks for making Fightful. Remember everyone at PWN, we appreciate you and the crew. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate that, fellas. Thoughts on the Royal Rampage winner? I don't know. I'm getting people trying to convince me to come do an overnight at Grand Slam, but I don't know. I don't know. I think the winner gets to tell a shot at Grand Slam. Yeah. That is what happens. That is, they announced it. I love, listen, I'm a sucker for Rampage, Royal Rampage, Royal Rumble matches. I literally wrestle in every single one of them that I am offered on the indie circuit is how much I love them. I did a 30 minute one a couple months ago and they had me go coast to coast to the Alexis Littlefoot. I am a sucker, sucker for those. So I will be watching Rampage when I don't usually watch it. I don't like, I would love it. I love to see like maybe Ricky Starks come back when that immediately get put back into the fold. I'm too old school of a guy. I don't like the fact that they are using a theme WWE match and that they put the word royal in it. I'm not a fan of it. To me it'd be like if WWE started doing something called Bloody and Gutty. I wouldn't like that either. You know what I'm talking about? I'm not a fan of that. It's a good thing Tony and Mariah are having a generational story 'cause nothing else much is hitting story wise on AAW. There are definitely some issues that I have with some of the stories, but I disagree on that. I am interested in Swerve, hangman and literally them hovering around one another. I would love to see a situation where hangman works his way into the all in match. Brian Danielson gets his win and hangman doesn't win, but he gets his all in moment by Swerve not winning, which would be very, very cool as well. But Frank wants to see it all started in hangman. Hangman is definitely different. Somebody lost somebody to the podcast said that he had Magnum TA vibes and I see that. I see that. He's definitely always over man. And somebody says, I want to see Ocada and hangman at all. And that's a story I could get behind 'cause Ocada has killed it with AAW. He's doing great. Any Motor City machine guns update, not definitively, you know, they have made little hints and said, oh, maybe we won't be doing this anymore. And their friends are saying, might be the last time that you get to see them do a seminar, et cetera. It feels like the elite storyline isn't working. Do you think it's salvageable? What do you think can be done to reroute this storyline? I think you have to have more characters that fans are invested in emotionally, not just here they are to rap and let's get 'em to pop. You gotta get people that are more invested in emotionally. Like it was nice to see Mark Brisco put in this blood and guts match, but a lot of people were like, why? It would have been great if he cut a promo and said, I know people don't identify me with AAW, but they were there for me at my family's lowest point and I owe them that debt of gratitude type of thing. Like give us a reason emotionally to invest. Jeff Jarrett would have been great for Team AAW in Nashville because he could have said, you know what? This is giving me the opportunity to do this one more time, to main event one more time, former WCW champ, NWA, TNA champ, all that stuff, that makes sense. John Moxley is the heart and soul of AAW. He could have been in there. And then you got Swerve who is the heart and then you find another person, but. Yeah, it's not too unlike, here I am going with the old references again, it's not too unlike when WWE did the WCW takeover or the WCW invasion, but they didn't have Goldberg, they didn't have Sting, they didn't have any of the big names and it didn't work. And you're not wrong, you're saying about blood and guts. But they also did weird things like, oh well Kurt Angle who has never been in WCW is going to start in Steve Austin who buried WCW. They could have very easily, Jimmy, done a thing where they said, hey, you know how Malenko, Saturn, Guerrero and Benoit showed up last year, they were double agents the whole time. They could have immediately added juice to that. RVD was one of the most over talent on the planet. They could have shot him up into the stratosphere. You had so many people that were available, Booker T was available on a main event level, that they could have made that work and that's how I feel with AEW and this too. You do have top level talent available. They could have done it. By the way guys, no list goes on today, but we are here answering your super chats and humper chats. Did you see Joe Burrow show up like Slim Shady? I did, I did a show over on Common Bingles W about it. Go follow me on Twitter @commonbinglesw and on YouTube. It was something, it was something. - I saw people like doctored photos put the Cody tattoo on his neck and all that too. - Cody told him to finish the story. Listen, I hope it continues. I want Cody to be a bingles fan. I want him to do ruler of the jungle this year. That way I can finagle an interview out of it. That's what I'm trying to do. What do you think the ratings will be tonight? Probably somewhere in the neighborhood of absolute dog shit. And listen, unless Joe Biden's announcing at eight p.m. - I know, I know, I know. Unless he- - Unless that man announces that he's joining Team AEW for blood and guts, then I think the viewership will be really bad. - Yeah, okay, what do you define as really bad? Define really bad. - Probably high 500's, you think so? - Yeah. - Okay, I think they'll do better than that. I mean, obviously 250 last week. Yeah, 250 last week on opposing, they did like 7.95. So they're not getting anywhere near that. But I think they'll still do in the sixes, I think. - I hope so. Okada has great comedic timing, even has a crush that the Mercedes stuff is so good. It was so good. Tint Rousa says, "Shawn need for the grabs "to get some interviews live guests from West Side Gun, "Rick Ross to Ricochet, love, Phil and Red." They do every so often. It's just, I let them run their interviews separately that makes them more money. So anything to make that make more sense. But how about this? Grabs to the co-host, Righteous Reg and Phil Lindsey are going to be hosting our post summer slam show as I will be at the venue. I'm gonna try to call in, but yeah. J Love Sports says any news on the Freddie Prinze Jr. promotion. - I've heard a little bit, it's not dead in the water yet. So I've heard some promising things regarding it. And I'll see what I can follow up with, but it isn't something that he's tabled yet. And I got thunderstorms happening here. So do you see me going in and out? That's the reason. Well, we're at our last super chat right now. Our domestic live events and WWE just gonna be special occasions moving forward. Doesn't seem like TKO didn't find that cost effective. Well, you see them doing really well in a lot of places. I kind of wait and see what each quarterly announcement is for the live events. Jimmy, it used to be that WWE had an ongoing lawsuit with a lot of the bootleggers in the area. So what they would do is a year ahead of time, they would outline a tentative schedule as a part of that lawsuit. And we would have an idea of where they're going. Now, WWE is waiting. They wanna see what environments are hot, which is very, very smart to do. They wanna wait and see, okay, well, maybe we should run here. That's why you get the announcement of Cody Rhodes and Metro Buman announcing the Atlanta show like three, four months out, because Cody Rhodes is hot right now. They know that they can sell it. They can sell tickets for very expensive rates, but yeah. Are they not still doing three, we've talked with this before. Are they not still doing three shows a week? Like super sure. Again, I would say wait until the next series of live events drops and I mean, they're doing on tour right now, but yeah, yeah. The live event elements of it is something that I think they will wait and they will probably adjust that accordingly. Like, I don't even know for sure that there's gonna be a MSG show on January or December 26 yet. We don't know that. - Really, really? - We knew that a long time before prior to that, but like they've got Berlin shows next month. They've got, they're going on the Europe tour. - Yeah, Japan. - They got the Japan tour, but the live events schedule, if you look at it, a little bit different in the coming months. - Crazy 101. - You trust? - Yeah, Crazy 101 says do you think Tony would buy Lucha Underground or TNA? If I were him, I would try and if you know, I'm trying to start a library, well, I would definitely buy Lucha Underground because it probably isn't gonna be that expensive. Probably would get more of a response out of them than I did when I tried to buy the Aerolucha library. But if I also, if I'm Lucha Underground or whoever owns that, I'd be like, "Yeah, please take this off our hands. "What are we gonna do with it? "We're not gonna sell it at this point to anybody else." TNA, they've had the opportunity for people to buy them. It's just, it hasn't seemed there. They've got their reason for keeping and I just don't know what it is. They probably have an inflated price tag attached to it. - Probably so. - Yeah. - I wanna go ahead, sorry. - No, I wanna touch upon one thing quick before we go because there are a lot of people on social media that were asking about this non-compete story. - Oh, yes, please. So, and there's still a lot of confusion and you're not a media literacy a lot, Sean. I've seen people on Twitter who were still convinced that this means that say MGF could be undying to my end on raw at the same time. That's not what it means by non-compete. So back in April, news broke that the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission in the US, was gonna ban non-compete agreements with respect to US workers. And today it came out that the ban has been upheld in court and so it's gonna go into effect September 4th. So non-compete agreements are gonna be voided as a September 4th. In terms of pro wrestling, it doesn't really mean anything because the non-compete's now only happen when you're released. They don't happen when your contract expires, obviously. And they're typically 90 days, which isn't that big of a deal, 90 days. And the wrestlers get paid for that 90 days. So if a wrestler gets released today and they really wanna go to AEW, let's say they're WWE, they really wanna. If they don't wanna wait that 90 days. I'm sorry, I have shitty weather happening. - No, it's okay. - Okay, long story short. It's a permanent executive employee, then it could, but in terms of wrestlers, not really, it's 90 days. - It's effectively a termination notice. You're getting paid during that period. It's not like when we would hear about sandwich shops saying, oh yeah, well, for the next year, you're not allowed to work in another sandwich shop within a six mile radius. And yeah, and also by the time you can even take a lot of that to court, the non-compete is already up. Now, there have been some instances where I believe Del Rio fought it a little bit and Brock Lesnar fought it because his was extensive and it was worth him fighting. But yeah, basically guys, don't allow someone to tell you you can't work somewhere unless they're paying you to not work there. - Yeah, and even the notice of termination, because I've seen people say notice of termination, I think that after September 4th, if a wrestler wanted to push against that and say, well, I wanna go work for this other company now, I think they probably could, but at the same time, I think a lot of wrestlers like having that buffer that they get paid and they can have that time to think about what they're next. - We got Pat saying, what constitutes contract tampering? Well, in the NBA, it's a lot different. They have an oversight committee and all that stuff that prevents that from happening. But it's a rule and a league, not a law in sports. So realistically, you could do it. It's maybe not as ethical. Yeah, but yeah, Ms. Kate Faye brings up a good point, says Jimmy did a great episode on this with John Alba, head over to the archives and check it out. Well, Jimmy, I'm sure you'll cut out again anything you got as we wrap up. Nope, that's it, he cut out. Until next time, guys, we're out. [ Silence ]
