Kap & J. Hood

7/25 Good Karma Wrestling Guest: Sami Zayn

Gabe Neitzel, J Hood and Brian Rowitz bring you the latest edition of Good Karma Wrestling.

(2:54) -- What SHOULD be the main event of SummerSlam? (14:40) -- Sami Zayn joins the show (29:53) -- More likely, CM Punk is a WWE lifer or an AEW return? (40:13) -- Grade Blood and Guts (54:11) -- News and Notes (1:02:33) -- Matches of the Week Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@goodkarmawrestling Follow on Twitter:

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Duration:: 1h 9m
Broadcast on:: 26 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

[MUSIC] What's up everybody and welcome in to another edition of Good Karma Wrestling. Right here on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts along with Brian Rowitz from ESPN West Palm. I'm Jonathan Hood from ESPN Chicago and well, on assignment again, this is Gabe Neitzel. We know what he's doing, now he's sweeping up after the show at Monday Night Raw in Green Bay. So that's where he is right now, holding the chairs back and putting everything away. What a team player he is, I'm sure they appreciate him taking this time to clean up there and help out the team. It's a long time to clean up, that was Monday's show, and here we are on Thursday. Well, we ask you to follow along, not only on YouTube, make sure you like, share, and subscribe on YouTube. If you watch our show on YouTube, make sure that you share it, same thing on podcasts as well. Wherever you get your podcasts, we appreciate you listening to the show as well. Share the podcast with people, all the wrestling fans that you know. We're on Instagram, we're on TikTok, we're on YouTube, we're on X Twitter. Look for us at Good Karma Wrestling, make sure you follow all of our platforms, we definitely appreciate it. Make sure that you comment and subscribe along with our YouTube stuff that we do every single Thursday, 7 p.m. Eastern for Pacific when we go live for Good Karma Wrestling. We got so much to talk about, including a very special guest. And by the way, it was a guest in which I could not be a part of it, and Gabe couldn't be a part of it because it was a special guest for you. We just stepped out of the way for you to talk to the Intercontinental Champion. I'm just saying, whenever it came out of my mouth, it's on you guys. Usually we have a good rotation, there's a three of us, we have a guest, we go around the horn, we get our questions in. It was just me and Sami Zayn one-on-one for about 12 to 15 minutes. No one else asking questions, so we might have talked about Sami Zayn versus El Generico. Oh my God, let's see. I'm coming up on today's show. We abstained. We said, "You know what, this is your guy. You want him pushed to the moon, you want him to be a WWE Champion." So Gabe and I said, "Go ahead, have your cigarette after the conversation with Sami Zayn." So that's coming up later in the show. That's right. So look forward to that because not only is he the friend of the IC title next week in Cleveland, he's got a comedy show the night before. Sami Zayn and friends do Cleveland. It's like a sketch/stand-up/improb show and it's in Cleveland Friday night, August 2nd. You know, if you know Brian Roitz the way we know Brian Roitz, he would just be there for the comedy show and then come back home. The true story, once in New York, I saw the Dolph Ziggler comedy show didn't actually go to media in New York, but I saw Dolph's comedy show. See, this is what we're dealing with, folks. Here we go. It's there for the jazz hands, the bread and circuses, not the wrestling the way that we like it. Well, you know, but there's still plenty of great wrestling going on right now. Sure. And we got a lot to talk about here. Let's go to the, let's go with the main event. What's the hot topic starting off good karma wrestling? So Sami will have his show in Cleveland next Friday, but next Saturday, August 3rd, Cleveland Brown Stadium, SummerSlam. It's coming up. There's a lot of hot stories right now in the WWE. We imagine the world title will main event, but which match right now should main event SummerSlam a little over a week from now? You know, it's interesting because SummerSlam is a show in which nobody to me is the reason why that stadium will be filled. Usually you have a big stadium show and it has to be one person, one match is the reason why everyone's coming. I know that that sounds passé, but I think that still matters in wrestling. A-W-W-W-E, whatever, it should be a match in which you're saying, "I got to see this live," or a one wrestler that I want to see live. In this situation with Cody Rhodes, I think Cody's run has been fine, but Cody Rhodes versus Solos de Cóas, not the reason why Cleo Brown Stadium is going to be packed. The reason why this goes is because of good storytelling and matches, plural, matches that will be there in Cleveland. To me, Brian, I think the most long-awaited match up to everyone wants to see is Punk against Drew McIntyre. If that was last at SummerSlam, I'd totally be fine with it because all the anticipation, everything that's been drawn up, punks there one week, McIntyre is not there, McIntyre is there one week, Punk's not there. The back and forth, the cat and mouse between the two, tells me that it's such a grudge match. It's got so much heat, it's got so much of emphasis on it from week to week that to me, that means the most to me at SummerSlam, to this point. Yeah, and the Rollins part, I think adds to it also, like we know how over Rollins is with the crowd and him being involved and also not knowing which way he's going to go because he has his stories with both Drew and Punk. The storytelling in that angle has been superb and it's been amazing and yeah, that match ending it and being in front of that many people would be well-deserved because the best part right now to me in that match is I have no idea who's going to win. I can make a case both ways and why it makes sense for both guys to win, but I don't know which way they're going to book that right now. So now it makes you wonder how cold or how tepid is the WWE Universal Championship because with Cody Rhodes and Solisakoa, you and I both know who's going to win that. We both know who's going to win that. That match-up is so okay that that could start off SummerSlam and be fine. Sure. Now listen, the Cody Rhodes fandom would be pissed off because they think that the blood line versus Cody Rhodes is a main storyline, which it is, however, we all are waiting for the rock. We're all waiting for Roman Reigns and we're all waiting for Paul Heyman to see how all this materializes. So to me, I just think that Punk and Matt Kataras at the top and it's no shade by the way of any of these matches. Live Morgan against Rio Ripley now is a thing. There is a McIntyre punk thing with those two as well, where even though it's a love triangle with Dom in the middle of all of this, it's just that I think that the Rio Ripley fans cannot wait to see Liv Morgan getting just ripped up by Rio Ripley once and for all. Yeah, and they'll live Morgan fans, which shout out to the Liv Morgan fans, finding this show and finding this page a week ago when we had to live on. Thank you for all those clicks. We're fans of you as well, but like the Dom aspect and like that story where you mentioned the Cody and solo, that match, if we're just going off of storytelling and interest, it's behind Punk First True. It's behind, you know, like you said, Liv and Rhea. I'd say it's behind Precise and Goother at this point. I've loved what the three of them or the two of them are doing right now. Is it behind Logan Paul and LA Knight? They've been building something there. Logan Paul coming back to Ohio, I think it's undersold actually, it's actually undersold. It's pretty good. I might even put Cody and solo behind the IC title with Sammy, Bronbreaker, and Dragunov. Those guys have been cooking on Raw these last few weeks, and the Bronverse Sammy match was so good at money in the bank. Cody or solo is just so far down the list of interesting parts of this card right now, and I don't know if that's a reflection of Cody or people just being tired of the bloodline. That's the reflection on solo not being hot. Sure. That's fair. That just said, I mean, look, there's a difference between the bloodline and the Y and six. And what I mean by that is with the Y and six, no one is saying, oh my God, I can't wait for them to be in a six man. I can't wait for them to get in the ring. They're okay with this whole thing with Chad Gable and whatever this mystery is with it, because no one is saying, oh my God, I can't wait for them to, at some point that's going to happen. And when it comes to the solo secoa, I think, and I've been saying this for weeks, but just again, for our new audience that's watching or listening to the show, Brian, it is important that the bloodline stacks some winds going into this. It's about momentum. If solo secoa really is the new tribal chief, you know what Roman Reigns did to be the tribal chief? Kick some ass. Right. One, some matches. Here are killer promos having people believe this is so fast. It's like, all right, just put the, put the lay on top of them. He's the tribal chief. Well, wait a second now, now hold on a second. How do you become the tribal chief? Is that just putting the lay over your neck? It's actually for you to be able to have some matches where you come out of nowhere, you're winning matches and you're stacking winds to the matchup against Cody Rhodes. And even the fact that like in the bloodline, the new bloodline, Jacob Fatu has been more impressive. Like, if you told me this was Cody vs. Fatu right now, I would be a hell of a lot more interested in that match than Cody vs. Solo. Yeah, see, that's, that's, and again, it's not that it was rushed, but it was just kind of like telling the story of solo secoa and Paul Heyman and that dynamic and, and solo saying that Roman will never come back. Okay. The story's fine. But again, it's about the belief in the character, Brian, that's the whole thing. Can you, as you go into SummerSlam, can you believe that solo secoa can beat Cody Rhodes for the heavyweight championship for the Universal Championship? And the answer is no, because Cody's had that momentum and listen, I know that you've been down on the, on the Cody run so far. I think it's based on the matches. It's not necessarily been hot, like I, like I, like I told you last week, I have no problem with his matchup against AJ Styles and who else is he faced here as a, as a blade? Well, happy face. Like he's not, not anything memorable. Yeah. So, so the matches that he's had to defend the championship has not been bad. I'm saying yes. And what I'm saying is that it's been non bloodline related. Now you have a bloodline situation and we go right back to the beginning when he didn't have the championship. It's Cody Rhodes, who can he trust against the bloodline? Right. Exactly. Like we've done all this and this is bloodline light at this point. Like it's not even like the real bloodline, like without Rome without rock with that hanging over there. It's just like, all right. Like what are we going to see here? Like it's disappointing in that regard right now. So I would agree with you that, that Punk and McIntyre is the hottest thing going. I will give the WWE a lot of credit for being able to clearly define the difference between David and Priest and Gunther. Yes. Because at first it was just, oh, here comes a big man match for the World Championship. Now you look at it and say, Gunther says, I come from royalty and I, you know, I had two parents home and, you know, I don't need the WWE, I didn't need this company. They come looking for me. You are trash, you're street trash. So at least now you have a difference between the two and that's why this should have some heat to it. I mean, they've made Priest into a pretty big time face at this point. Like that reaction on Monday, when he just dropped the mic and started swinging, like that was a legit reaction in Green Bay. And that was cool to see where Judgment Day is, I think they're heels, but like Priest and Rhea, like they get those reactions where they're some of the top faces on Monday Night Raw right now. Okay, so Judgment Day. So Baby Priest is a baby face in this matchup against Gunther. Yep. Rhea Ripley is a baby face. Yep. Nobody likes Dom. Right. He's the biggest heel in the WWE right now. And nobody likes J.D. McDonough. No. And I think he is a heel, I think. Finn's a heel and people are indifferent to Carlito. Right. Carlito is the comedic relief at this point. He's had some very good ones. I mean, it's kind of like facial expressions and that's cool and then that's it. Right. That's pretty much it. Like I think the audience is kind of indifferent to Carlito. So you got to mix bag within the same faction. Yeah, that is odd. I feel like I can't think of many factions that had heels and faces in it, but like that's the weird spot they're in right now. And I think they ultimately become big baby faces if we see a Dom term next week. If Dom turns on Rhea to pair up with Liv then all of a sudden that elevates Rhea as one of the top faces. Liv and Rhea could be the semi main. I know it won't be the main event because there's a love triangle element to it. And so I think what's fascinating about this is we get closer to it. We'll talk about our predictions. Yeah. But as Liv Morgan told us, and by the way, you can go to our YouTube or our podcast and go back and hear our conversation with Liv Morgan, fantastic conversation with Liv. She's in and out of character when she talks to us, but I mean, it was spicy, man. It was, it was spicy, pretty, pretty damn good. But I think that the storyline, and we asked that question, who's going to be in your corner? Is it Dom? Just because, just because Rhea Ripley bit Dom Mysterio on the year or on the, doesn't mean that they're back. So I still think it's to be determined is Dom going to be with Liv or be with Rhea Ripley. I think that's intriguing to a lot of people, not just wrestling fans, but I think that, women and kids, that like a good storyline, a good soap opera. Yeah. Liv starting to push the PG era out the door with some of her antics these last few weeks. She's, she's ready for Netflix. I think so. Yeah. And by the way, this is what, we get to this brand all the time where people have only watched WWE for 10 years, 15 years. And all they know is the PG era and the, these soft as hell, Cena era, right? PG. So then when Liv Morgan just turns and shows you a couple of cheeks, shows you the peaches, right? She does a little turn, now looks attitude era-ish and there's a, there was outrage on Twitter about it. Like, oh, I thought we were past, we were past this. Like, well, that ain't Vince. Right. Okay. That, I mean, the, the gene shorts would have been down under Vince. Yes. He was just like Jackie with the, the handprints, like this isn't it, the hat and the pool, things like that. A young me being at that pay for you, by the way, big fan of that. But like, it's all right in a little short shorts, we'll be all right here. People were not happy with it, man. They're very upset by that. The PG era is gone. Like, as they get closer and closer to Netflix, like, it's out the window. Why do you gave me a great visual of the cat on full, full frontal, paper view, like, what is this? Or being in the house for that one, my father turning said, don't tell your mother about this. I love me to see that show. That's a good man right there. I think I appreciate that even more so. We need to have a conversation. All right. Well, I'll tell you what, we've got so much to get to, including hearing from the WWE Intercontinental Champion. Yep. Let's hear from him. Sami Zayn Friday night and Cleveland Sami Zayn's and friends. This is my conversation with the IC champ. We are getting closer and closer to Summer Slam in Cleveland, but that's not the only party to come in town because the night before Friday, August 2nd, Sami Zayn and friends do Cleveland at the Agora Cleveland had joined us now. He is the Intercontinental Champion, and he will bring us that show to Cleveland on Friday, August 2nd. It is the one, the only Sami Zayn, Sami Zayn and friends do Cleveland. Which round two you guys did in Toronto? How does something like this come to be? Well, it's a long story, but the shortest version is that comedy is something I've always been interested in doing. I got a manager not long ago who thought I'd be really good at it. So, somehow or another, I ended up getting a spot on a stand-up comedy festival in LA called Netflix is a joke, which I think might be the biggest comedy festival in the world right now. And the show was basically whatever I wanted to do. So then I got to thinking of like, okay, well, what do I want to do? You know, there's also a ton of pressure to maybe do stand-up for an hour when I've literally never done stand-up in my life. So I was kind of playing with the idea of what is the show. If it could be anything you wanted, what do you want to do? And that's kind of how the concept for it was born. So it's sort of like a variety show with a lot of different kinds of forms of comedy. You know, there's like some sketches and surprises and improv and a little bit of stand-up. I do some stand-up at the very top and, you know, it's kind of a mix. And basically what I tried to apply is the principles that I love in wrestling and the sort of emotional ride that a good match or a good wrestling story takes you on. I tried to basically bring that to a comedy show. It's going to just be like, you know, 60 minutes of me just up on stage alone to kind of like have a take a bunch of left turns and right turns and just make it fun. GoraKleveland.com, that's A-G-O-R-A, Cleveland.com to get your tickets. You know, I feel like it lived forever because of social media, but your comedy on screen is part of the bloodline story, which was the top story in all of wrestling at the time. What are some of the moments you remember of getting guys to crack? Because that's always what still goes viral to this day. What are some of the moments you remember most from that? Well, Jay obviously had a bit of a problem keeping it together. And the irony was in the story, he was definitely the one who was supposed to kind of have it out for me the most. It was kind of ironic that he would be the one that struggled the most, but it almost became like a self-fulfilling prophecy where after it happened once or twice and it was like, "Oh, it just couldn't keep it together ever," you know, and just kind of spiraled out of control. But I think it's also so memorable because it's not something you ever really see in our world. So even in like Saturday Night Live or sketch comedy, you know, a lot of the ones that do really stick out are when they can't really keep it together. I mean, you know, sometimes I think it's a little overdone, frankly. Right, right, right, like, come on, you're supposed to be a professional here, you know? But, you know, like back in the day, especially when it never happened, and then you saw it happen once or twice, it was like, "Oh, my God." And it's just such a memorable thing because it just sticks out so much, you know? And because it's live, you don't really get to fix it. But you even see, I mean, I don't know about you, but I think a lot of people, myself, included really enjoy, if you look at one of your favorite television shows ever and like see the blooper reel. Right. Well, it's not live, so that stuff gets cut, but if it was live, some of that stuff would have no choice but to, you know, to live forever. But that stuff's always fun just to watch these performers who are really, really good struggle to kind of keep it together like it even gets them because it's designed to get you. Right. But if you're getting them, that's like, "Oh, wow, this is really, really something," you know? And I think that's part of the appeal of it. How much are you sort of an inspiration to those in the locker room about staying the course? Can you talk about even your WrestleMania journeys where it's one year you're in a mouse trap, the next year your main eventing mania? How much are you an inspiration to others in that locker room? I really don't, you'd have to ask them, I don't know. I'm pretty proud of myself and my career and all that sort of stuff. But I'm also like, sometimes I just wonder if anybody notices anything, you know what I mean? I don't know. Even like getting a reputation in the world of wrestling, it just takes years and years and years of consistency and even then you're not even sure people even pick up on it. You know, you really don't know until maybe like, you know, after doing it for years and years and years then, "Oh, okay." You know, like only now do I feel like when I come out on any given show, a live event or whatever. The reaction is going to be good, but even now I always still have like my doubts. >> Really? >> Yeah, I always just feel like I have to earn it on a nightly basis, you know? But now it's like, okay, over the last two years, they're pretty consistent. I'm like, okay, maybe now I'm in their good books. But that took like, you know, 20 years and like a solid eight years in WWE weekend week out and like constantly giving good performances over and over and over to where finally like it just clicks eventually like, "Hey, wait a minute, this guy's good and it wasn't just last time. It was the time before then. It was the time before that." Like, you know what? It's always going to be good. And that's like, it just takes years. So like Randy Orton is my favorite example, but Randy Orton gets the loudest reaction on the show every single night. These live events when we go town to town, Randy Orton's music and it's because he's just, he's part of the, he's incredible, first of all, but he's part of the furniture. Like, he's part of their, if they've been watching for 15 years, he's been there for all 15 of these years. Being incredible and taking them on emotional rides year in, year out, weekend, week out, it's just a level of consistency and time that ingratiates yourself, like it just ingrained you into their heart in a way that like being in the middle of a good storyline right now, it's just not the same. Like you'll get a reaction, they'll be, they'll be into it, but it's a different level when it's been through years and years and years of consistency. And like I think Randy Orton is probably the best example of that. -agoracleveland.com, Sami Zayn and friends do Cleveland Friday, August 2nd. In terms of that, putting that time in, we've talked a lot on this show about the moment when, not if, but when you become world champion is going to be one of those memorable moments, what will that moment mean to you when you finally become world champion? -I really don't know, you kind of don't know till you're in it, but a lot of people have done a lot of incredible things. And when you actually do them, it's not always what you think it's going to be, including like main eventing WrestleMania or winning or whatever, like sometimes Wrestlemades are such a stressful time, it's such a stressful day that by the time you go out and do it, there's like nothing left in the emotional reserve. And that's something like a lot of wrestlers and a lot of performers won't tell you, because we're supposed to sell it like it's the most glorious moment in the world. And it really is, especially when you're able to step back from it. But sometimes in the moment, a lot of things don't feel quite how you think they're going to feel. But there's also the total opposite to that rule, which is things, you think they're going to be good and they exceed your expectations. The stuff, when I was doing that, the story with Roman and the bloodline, all that stuff, the stuff in Montreal, we had a feeling they would be incredible, it exceeded all expectations. You know, so, I don't know, I don't know, I thought even trying to, I don't even think in those terms anymore of like, what is it going to feel like? I don't know, I'll know when I'm there. And hopefully I get there, but if and when I do, I hope I'm just present enough in the moment to appreciate it. And I hope it's a special moment for the audience more than anything. We talk a lot in terms of wrestling fans, I'll fight forever and I feel like you and KO are in that boat. Do you know how many times you guys have wrestled and if you don't, is there a match that sticks out? It's like, all right, that's one that I know we both believe really worked. There's a bunch. I can't pick one as a favorite, but there's a lot that I've loved. I mean, there's just no shortage. You know, and all of them are kind of for different reasons as well. I think the one we did in 2016, maybe it was Battleground, it was like the end of our rivalry in 2016, that's one of, I think, both of our favorites. You know, we did a ladder match back in pro wrestling gorilla on the independence is one of my favorites. God, there's one, there's one that we did in ring of honor, WrestleMania weekend actually, it's what put me on WWE's radar. There was a scout there called Canyon Seaman. It was his first weekend on the job and he saw me in that match and that's kind of the match that put me on the radar and got me hired in a weird way. It was in 2011 in Florida, WrestleMania weekend. It was a last man standing match. There's just so many. I don't even know where to begin. Our first one in the States, a four way, you know, in 2004, 20 years ago, crazy. There's like, there's so many special ones, I can't even, I don't know, they're all special for different reasons. There's a couple of things there. Saw you recently on Twitter on the WWE vault, you shouted it, shout it out, an Elginarico match. Let's do some fantasy booking. If we ever had Sami Zayn versus retired independent wrestler Elginarico, how would that match go? >> I don't know. >> You guys similar styles like you said on Twitter? >> Yeah. It would probably be a pretty competitive fight. Both guys are kind of known for their heart and like sticking it out. So I don't know, I feel like if I thought, I feel like that would go like 45 minutes, you know, and just, both guys just blown to high hell and struggling to get up, but kind of still fighting through it. I feel like it'd be that kind of match. >> All right. Well, we wish him best of luck, of course, with that Mexican orphanage. Before we let you go, agoracleveland.com, Sami Zayn and friends do Cleveland Friday, August 2nd. Who's the superstar in your locker room right now that you think could kill it the most at stand up? You said it's difficult to do that, but who is that superstar male or female? You're like, all right, there's something there that could work. >> That's a great question. I never really thought of that. I really don't know. You know, I need to think about that for more than a minute. >> Sure. >> But look, there's a lot of really funny guys. And look, the thing about the show is it's not a stand up show, it's a comedy show, right? So there are a lot of guys with great comedic instincts for great comedic timing that I think would be great and I'd love to have them all on the show. And anyone that's on the show, because there are going to be a lot of WWE superstars that surprise guests and things like that. I also try to put it in a way so that the fans are seeing them kind of in a light that they don't normally get to see them in on television. You know what I mean? Just get them a little bit out of that zone that you're used to seeing them in. That's part of the comedy, to me anyways. Or that's part of like even if you're not slapping your knee going ha ha ha. It's still fun to see somebody that you've known in one way for years and years and years and to see them in a different light. You know, it's like, I don't know, I think that's part of the beauty of the show. >> Make sure you check it out Friday, August 2nd, late night show after SmackDownagoraClevelan.com before SummerSlam the next day at Cleveland Brown Stadium. >> Yeah. >> Great conversation with the Intercontinental Champion, Sami Zayn, right here on Good Karma Wrestling. Just before we move on, I want to kind of dig into Sami Zayn a little bit. You know, it just shows you how vulnerable you can be as a wrestler. We know he's over, he gets all of the chants and he gets all of the praise and people are happy for him because he was so underneath. Even though, again, on the bloodline he was trying to get to it on the level of the bloodline, he was part of the bloodline. He became more and more popular, a guy that was kind of put underneath and not believed in by Vince McMahon and now where he is right now. I don't know, was it just me or from the interview that we just heard and saw? Is he still not sure of his placement at WWE? >> Yeah, I think at the 100% that, like him saying he still has that doubt and talking to him about being a world champion, which we talked a lot and I am one of the biggest advocates of it, where he says like, I don't really think about it anymore, where it's almost like in his mind, that's never gonna happen. He is without a doubt one of the most over guys in that company and to still have that doubt is amazing. >> You know, it's almost like some people that have been on both sides of this, in the Vince regime and the Triple H regime, there's some PTSD still, I think, with some wrestlers, believing like, no, I'll never be in this spot or no, I'm never gonna get over or even though Triple H will say, yeah, I believe in you. You just been, and it's not necessarily beat down because you're paid well, okay? But just from a creative standpoint, I think that Sammy Zayn feels like I know that I'm the real kind of champion now and I know that I get a lot of reaction, but I'm not the guy and that says something, doesn't it? >> I mean, it's years, but it wasn't that long ago that the conspiracy theory Sammy Zayn was a thing. That wasn't good, but like he had to live that, he had to go through that. So I'm sure in his mind, he's like, well, that could just end up being what is next week and things like that. Like he got the bloodline over, he's doing his best of the IC title, all the KO stuff, everything he does, we see get to that next level. But yeah, in that WWE bubble, in that Vince world, it wasn't working and part of that probably was good to Vince, so it definitely impacted him and I agree. I think PTSD is definitely the way to break it down right now. >> I thought that was a great conversation and you're the only one that could have had that conversation to kind of dig deep. And I thought he had to think on his feet a little bit what you need to do when you're doing a comedy show, hopefully, that'll work out in Cleveland. >> But that Sammy and Elginerico match, 45 minutes, that's gonna be classic. >> That's a great quote. People gonna aggregate that all over the place. I don't think there's any question about that. Because good cover wrestling, we're the place where we can aggregate our shit and take it everywhere. That's what we do, we're just here for everybody. >> I'm gonna make sure to put our logo out there. >> [LAUGH] >> Like, share, subscribe to our podcast and YouTube as well. Let's move on, what's next, Brian? >> All right, PW insider reporting. WWE and CM Punk are working on a new long term deal. Even with multiple years left on the Punk deal, let's do a little either or here. What's more likely, CM Punk the WWE lifer or CM Punk one day makes an AEW return? >> CM Punk the WWE lifer, if it's gonna be one or the other. >> Okay. >> I think that AEW broke him, I think, because here's the difference. WWE, which has always been a constant, there's a boss. He was Vince McMahon for a long time, hell was Vince Senior for a long time. Then it's Vince Junior, and now it's Triple H, there's a boss. And there's checks and balances. And in AEW, again Tony Khan so new at this, he is trying to hang with the guys and try to be the nice guy, the nice boss. But I think that you have to have checks and balances. And I think that with CM Punk, he thought, well, I can find my place in AEW, I can be kind of like this locker room leader. And with a bunch of guys that came from the indies or young talent, they didn't heed to that. Whether Punk was right or wrong, him being a veteran in there turned a lot of people off of CM Punk. Now, WWE, when he's done with wrestling, he could commentate. Would you be good to have another color commentator in there? Someone could be in the back, someone could work with Shawn Michaels at NXT. So I think more than likely, if he's gonna stay in it, he will stay with WWE. >> So all that makes sense for a person that isn't CM Punk though. Like, CM Punk still is happy, still is in honeymoon phase. And part of that might be because he's been gone with injury. I feel like CM Punk's souring in the WWE is still a distinct possibility when it comes to CM Punk. >> Absolutely. I would say that after this, if it doesn't work with WWE now, he's just gonna be that guy that pops up at indie shows. >> I can see that. The other part I can see, I know the AEW route because if the Bucks a year from now say, all right, we're done, we're out and it is just Tony Khan's AEW. I could see Punk burying that and going there just for the moment and just for the shock value, not another long term run, but a one off. Or another Wembley appearance or things like that. CM Punk's still gonna have some beef with the WWE at some point. This isn't this new man all of a sudden. >> I mean, listen, to me, remember, Punk was away for eight, nine years. >> Sure. >> And had to be wooed for a year or two to even come back in the business by Tony Khan, the late night conversations. And the talk about wrestling and Tony talking about his fandom and the guys CM Punk back. But I think that Punk has soured on Tony Khan too. Now listen, it's wrestling. You never say never, right? The path I see is him staying with WWE long enough for him to like his time there. And then step away and work with WWE. Now the guy that's gonna be in a shirt and tie trying to break up issues. >> Between two wrestlers, he's not, who's that, it's one of the spirit squad guys. >> Yeah, I think it's- >> He dykes dry things. >> The following one. >> I think it's dykes dry, it's not like can he dykes dry or like, you know. >> Jamie Noble back there, like any of those guys. >> Nadia, come on Nadia, let's go, come on Nadia, like it said, it's not. He was over, I don't know why he's not wrestling still. I love that era for him because that was entertaining. But I just, that's what I see. Now, the person that will be returning to AW will be Cody Rhodes. There's no question about that in my mind, cuz that's the road's way. When you think that you're up, you leave the territory. And I know that there was a little something with the AJ Styles promo with Cody Rhodes is like, when a guy gives tough, Cody Rhodes gets going, kind of true. After his time at WWE, when he quit, he flat out quit, he went to the indies and went to ROH. He went a lot of different places. And he quit, just left the territory to find greener pastures. Now he's the guy in WWE, he's the head of the company, face of the company. A great face for the company, white meat baby face. But just like his old man, he'll, like his old man, you thought, you'd be in WWE. Put the polka dot song, be the common man. Pick up the garbage, I got to beat the baby, do all that, right? And but like three years later, he's back in WCW, right? So I kind of think that that's where Cody's it. But what CM Punk is either this, Brian, or he's gonna do pop ups in the indies with his friends. That's what I said. >> And I would love to see that, like I'd love to see that run. And I guess, you know, in this run, we still haven't gotten the full CM Punk experience. Like we're getting a great angle right now, a great story telling which drew, but we haven't gotten the great CM Punk in the ring just yet. And hopefully knock on wood, he can stay healthy past SummerSlam and things like that. But him at Mania is something we still wanna see and see where he falls on the car and moving forward. So there's still a lot of variables because it is CM Punk is a complicated human being. And I think even he would say that. But I am curious to see where that turn comes where all of a sudden he gets upset about something with Hunter or with Cody or with whoever in the back right now. >> It's always something. >> Right. >> It's always something. >> Never his fault. >> No, no, no, it's never his fault, no, it's cold cabana's fault or cold cabana's mom's fault. It's always something. So this is going to be just so we're clear. And I've seen this a couple places coming into the show today. So Dave Meltzer from The Wrestling Observer said that there's a restructuring of the deal. Inverse WWE sources including one very high up internally having confirmed to pwinsider.com like Johnson, which we need on the show by the way, Mike's a great guy. And Punk and WWE signed a three year deal, the night that he returned to Chicago at certain Viva series in 2023. The two sides are currently discussing a new contract, but we're told that WWE are the one to approach Punk about working out a new deal. So a bigger deal, money wise, more years. I don't know what the answer is to that, but not like he has a deal in place. It's not like Brian Danielson who's contracts up August 1st. >> Right. That's soon. That's before Wembley. >> [LAUGH] >> What happened there? >> They'll figure it out when they figure it out. >> God, you're tempting fate, man. When you do this crap, man, you just- >> Brian, you can trust him. All of a sudden he's doing yes chance in the second row, on Raw, like I'm just telling you, you're tempting fate, man. Listen, I think we're long time wrestling fans who know how that works. The whole handshake deal all of a sudden elects Luger's on Nitro. >> Could he work SummerSlam next Saturday and then still work Wembley in the main event? >> Me, seriously, seriously, you better get this figured out, man. Just like, everything's fine, handshake deal, pal, everything's foul. All of a sudden Rick Rood's on Nitro and Raw at the same time. Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. How is he side by side on about two shows? Wait a minute, that doesn't make- >> So you gotta get your stuff straightened out. When I say a bigger deal, I wonder is that money-wise, is that more years? I don't know what that means for punk. >> Yeah, I imagine it's money cuz again, with punk, you can't really project out with the years and it's still weird to approach it. As over as he is, the return on investment still hasn't quite been there. He missed many of this year because of his health and things like that. This Drew Engel is great. We've talked about it a lot and Drew deserves a lot of that credit also. By the way, a tweet since deleted, Drew tweeting out a picture of himself and Jack Perry. >> Yes. >> Since deleted that tweet, another tweet also mentioned in cult cabana. So doing great work on social media, but you need punk in the ring, you need punk healthy. So why wouldn't you give him more years or more money right now? >> Yeah, I think that this is kind of like the undertaker right now. It wouldn't see him punk because you can't wrestle every week. >> Right. >> I mean, I think that I remember, okay, I remember Jim Ross telling me that you gotta keep seeing punk special. That's not how he said it to me. He said it off the air he goes, you gotta keep feel special now, keep him special. And I understood what he meant by that because what he said was like, man, he's a veteran, he's up and age, at the time he's doing MMA. He's like, okay, you can't be out there every week. And what did we see? We saw him out there every week, all of a sudden he's on Rampage. And all of a sudden, you know, and he's on Dynamite. And he's doing all these shows, it's kind of like, you know, because punk is, even though he looked great by the way, we saw him on Rob and body wise. But again, that that guy's had so many injuries. Once you get through Summerslam, he doesn't need to be out there next week. He's always good for the mic, but he should be out there rarely wrestling because he's a commodity, but just not weekly. >> Yeah, I think we don't need the random tag matches to main event Raw. We don't need to see him and someone versus Drew and someone before Summerslam. And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we see him and Drew and Summerslam and then we don't see him wrestle again until Germany maybe. You do the rematch there with Drew, I'm fine with him being kept special in that regard. >> Yeah, he doesn't have it anymore to be able to be out there week after week. Again, I mean, you look forward to every time he puts the mic turns the mic on. You never know what he's going to say. And by the way, that's as valuable as him in the ring. What he's going to say could it could be anything with him, right? Anything. >> And he's selling tickets that way. Like that's how he's selling merch. That's how he's selling tickets and getting invested in that story. >> Little disappointed, no gel in the hair last Monday. I don't know what happened there. >> He met business, he was ready to fight. >> He had the pompadour going. He did not have the slick hair going with, that does very strange. I was like, I know there's a lot of stuff going on with Delta, but did you lose your bag? No gel? >> [LAUGH] >> Very strange. All right, what's next here on Goodcoma Wrestling? >> All right, last night at UW, another solid dynamite made invented by Blood & Guts. So let's grade it. What is your grade of Blood & Guts? >> God, well, okay, so before we get to the match, I'd like to ask you a few questions if I may. >> Okay. >> And then, Royce, I'd like to ask you a question. Why was Alex Marvez at the hotel with Will Osprey at the start of the show of Dynamite? >> I can't answer that one. >> So don't be Sami Zayn, you got to give me an answer, you got to, you got to, I want you to say, I want you to tell me. >> He got word that Osprey had a flat tire. >> So he brought a camera crew and a mic over to the hotel, right? And Alex Marvez is there with his rental car at the hotel. I have another question. >> And that's a good reporting. >> Ah, very good. That's a good K-Fame answer, actually. I wish UW could be able to answer those questions a lot better because that was good. I have another question for you. If Will Osprey is never driven in this country, why did he take over the rental car of Alex Marvez? >> Yeah, I don't, couldn't Alex have driven there? Well, I guess Alex had to hold the microphone, so it's not safe to hold the wheel. >> Oh my, yeah, go 12 and 6, right here, 10 and 6, there we go. >> There you go, Tony Khan, there's, there is the resume right there, Brian Rhodes, explaining your shit creative. >> That's good, okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I have another question. >> Okay. >> Well, I have more. I have more questions for you. Brian Rhodes, I want you to explain to me, when Christopher Daniels is down, I don't know, like part of the office, while he's writhing in pain on the ground, how come nobody can went to find out if he's okay? >> Not one person. >> While the coin toss is taking place. How come no one, no one checked on like the office? >> Well, why? >> I don't know who said it, but someone at the least that he was taking a nap. So maybe they took their word for it. >> Nap. >> Yeah, that's the fallen angel, actually fallen on the ground. No one's gonna help the office. I mean, if this WWE, you get all kind of referees and guys with shirts and ties to help, you know, the guy that is one of the vice presidents of the company. So nobody helped Christopher Daniels. >> No, taking a nap, you don't want to bother a man when he's sleeping. >> Brian Rhodes, I want you to answer this question. How come that you have a two-headed coin to determine who's gonna get the advantage of blood and guts, but nobody, not Bryce Wrensberg, and nobody, not even Tony Khan, checks the coin? >> No, but Matt showed the camera also. That's bad refereeing there by, oh, Bryce, not checking that before. >> This show had a lot of problems. >> Yeah, a little bit. >> Yeah, a lot of problems. I mean, listen, I know that we're wrestling fans, we were supposed to suspend disbelief. This show had a lot of holes in it. >> I also, not in elite stuff, I would have saved the Tony Storm Mariah Mae contact. I don't think we needed it yet. >> I would agree. >> Like, we could have waited a little bit. We have four more dynamites before Wembley, and that match will be over, and that match is gonna be great storytelling. We could have waited a little bit before we got that square off last night. >> Totally fine with that. >> I'll get another Mariah Mae promo, totally fine with the Holy Cow. Oh, boy. Okay, so you asked a direct question about the great blood and gut, but I had to get that out first because I just thought there are so much Swiss cheese holes in some of the creative on this show. I was like, is anyone thinking of this thing through, like, what is going on here? Like, I just thought it was bizarre. >> And speaking of this question, you asked it last night on Twitter at GKW_wrestling. But you let it grade A plus B plus, C minus or F minus, 39% went A plus, 31% B plus. >> I said B plus. I voted on our own poll, and I just said, it was B plus. I thought the finish was flat for all the action that we saw. When you have, and I know the comments that's on our Twitter saying, it wasn't great because you had commercials. Amen. It's on TV. >> Yeah. >> It was gonna be commercials. You're gonna get picture and picture, sorry, like, should blood and guts be a PLE paper view main event? Sure. You have enough talent in which you could have done that. I mean, that's fine, but they want to make this a TV event. Okay, great. So I thought that it delivered as far as the action. If you're into that, you're into a handful of thumbtacks into the mouth of Max Kaster, and he gets kicked. You're into someone being doused with gasoline, almost set on fire again. You want to do that? That's fine. It's much of an acquired taste, I think, that match. But I just thought that for all of that, that's the finish. Not great. >> Yeah. I agree with all of that. The other part, also, that's been talked a lot on social media, the chair shot. And I know there's some stuff, and I don't know if they would be pushing it and be like, oh no, it was a gimmick chair, but I don't know if we need that in 2024. There was a no-sell by Jack Perry on that chair also. >> Well, if it was real, he would actually knock down. So I don't know if there was anything to sell. >> Well, I mean, if you get a chair shot, you just can't, I know that he's just this tough guy now, that nothing affects him, but that's that rural warrior hawk in there. It's Jack Perry. >> Right. >> I'm just saying. >> Corey Graves took to Twitter, and he since deleted it also, but saying like, we don't need that in this business, it's not worth it, and it's the guy that suffered from concussions. And I guess if the chair was gimmicked fine, but when I saw it, I'm like, I don't know if we need that right now. >> Well, there's a lot of spots in there, I would have not preferred, but I'm a wrestling fan. >> Right. >> And what they did is they went for blood and guts because it's what the title says. It's blood and guts, right? >> Right. >> So it's blood and guts to everybody except for Ocata. >> Yeah. >> [LAUGH] >> A state blood and middle finger, what else do you need? >> I mean, wait a minute, so everybody could take a lot of punishment. Everybody could bleed, everybody could get staples. Ocata, now I'll just give you a classic drop kick and that bleed. >> So I also gave it a B+ same thing. The finish was still somewhat of a letdown, like we got the TNT title match set up for Wembley between Darby and Jungle Boy, but just still not having that big payoff, so all right. And also, hangman versus swerve, where are we getting that payoff? Because that's not done yet. >> Well, here's what's interesting about this. And this is something we're going to talk about a lot leading up to Wembley. So yes, that's exactly I think that's what the audience wants. Because that's what they're pushing. They're pushing a hangman page and swerve because they want a payoff because, again, it's unusual, but a guy that invades someone's home and talks to their kids, but somehow becomes a baby face and that's Swerve Strickland. Hangman Page has a right to be pissed because he was the baby face. And the audience turned on him, it's like no, we like Swerve because he's cool. And because this manager carries a cup of coffee, and he does the little dance, and people are into the dance. Okay, great. So if that's the emphasis, then where's it put Bryan Danielson? >> Right. >> Why is Bryan Danielson indifferent to this match? You saw that promo in the back with Jeff Jarrett talking to him, like Bryan, do you know that you're in the main event? Or at least in the main, a major matchup for the AW Championship? You didn't seem like he was ready for it. >> So I've seen this floated around, I think tying it together. I still love your idea. Daniel's in wins at Wembley, he's a world champion and then moving forward, it's title versus career, the rest of his career, essentially the full-time wrestler. Would you be okay if Swerve Hangman no title is made eventing Chicago the week after Wembley at all out? >> Sure, so you need it, you need something? >> Because you still have that weird dynamic, I know they pushed it back a little bit, but it's still pay-per-view right after pay-per-view. So at least that story's been told, maybe hangman costs Swerve and that sort of pay back and then you just push it off to Chicago. >> That could be all out, that could be the main event. >> Yeah. >> It would have the title be on the line. It's at the now arena, so it's in suburban Chicago and often the states. So it'll be a really solid crowd there, I mean, it's Chicago land. So people will come to see it. So I mean, that's where you look out. Hop in the States is not North Little Rock. >> Okay. >> Okay, so I think that they'll look out with a really loud, boisterous crowd at the now arena for it. And I think that Swerve and Hangman can be a blood feud, absolutely. But again, Brian Daniels can be the champion for how long? >> Right. >> That's the question for how long because we're not kidding, legit his contract is up on August 1st. >> Right. >> I mean, so, I mean- >> Yeah, they're just a weird. And you talk about some of the holes right now, while there are good stories being told ahead of Wembley, you had POC win at number one contender for the international title that he's going to challenge for at Wembley. But last night you set up the rematch between MJF and Osprey. So where is POC right now? You have the Bucks and the acclaim doing stuff and then FTR calls out the Bucks. So what are we doing there, Tag? Well, he's like, there's still some loose ends right now. And again, we have four more dynamites, so we still have time to get there. But there are some holes right now. >> But like you said, there's four more dynamites and all in and all out. >> Right. >> It'll all be covered by the time we get to September 1st. I would hope- >> I would hope as well. >> Yeah, I would hope that all those loose ends would be tied up and you get the matches that you want. But I just thought overall that Blood and Guts, again, is a solid B plus. And there's a lot of stuff in there that is commonplace in AW, but you only saw in the indies in front of a small crowd. And Nashville, which is a great wrestling city, enjoyed what they saw there. Things 5,000 people I think was the total there. >> Yeah, it kind of was into it. >> It's a really good crowd and it's Nashville, they like it. And I just thought that, yeah, there's a lot of spots there. I hope everybody's okay. Because Blood and Guts is a tough one, that's tough. But everyone's getting sippecata. Ocata's fine, everyone might be hurt, but Ocata's fine. >> I do end up more than logistic. How does Castor do the thumbtacks spot without swallowing said thumbtacks? >> See, that's a tough one, isn't it? It's a tough one. You know what I was thinking, I was thinking that Max Castor would turn heel and just turn on his team. >> Oh, okay. >> He's a pass hole. >> He's a pass hole. >> Yeah, he's a pass hole. >> They're all going around the two of them backstage. Those AEW backstage promos are always their best work. But the two of them, really good from last night. >> Why do you think that is Brian? Why do you think that the best promos we see in this company is always in the back? >> I don't know, because it's not like there's a bunch of restrictions when they go out there. It's just very odd how that happens. >> By the way, this is an old school joke, but I love that MJF taking over Chris Adams America's championship. I haven't heard of America's championship since I was a little kid when world class in Dallas had it. It was the America's championship, because if it's in Dallas, America, right? >> Of course, yes, that word. Are you excited about that rematch? >> What was that, MJF and- >> And Osprey at Wembley. >> Yeah, sure. No, no, because what I've had the first match be 60 minutes, no. >> Right. >> But a solid 2530 will be fine and it's still going to deliver. But that's the thing, like that 2530, if this was the bar, it's going to come in under that. >> It'll be a banger. I'll tell you what, you and I will not kick that match out a bit. >> No, of course not. >> I think that you and I will not look, 60 minutes was pretty solid. Again, I've never seen a 60 minute match to a sprint like that. That's what made it unique. I've seen the head scissor take down or the headside headlock. Lock into a headlock for about three or four minutes, drop down tackle. >> I've seen that before, but it was a sprint that 60 minutes. And so it shows you how great those two athletes are. But this, the one's going to be in Wembley if it's one fall 30 for the Americans championship. >> That's right. >> Which is kind of set up for MJF, because he's going to be taking on a CML L opponents, he'll be in Mexico soon. >> Yeah. >> It's a whole gimmick. So that's, it's interesting. There'll be a lot of heat there, but I, he'll MJF, I am always in favor of. >> When I look too far on the grandmother, I thought in the promo. >> Yeah. >> Cuz I was gonna ask you, I think this could be a topic down the line. Is there a line in AEW? >> No, there sure as hell isn't, but that felt so recent and so fresh and like unnecessary, like that's like they've done that a few times where like, was that really necessary? Like the few days of what it is, like that didn't add that much to it's where you had to make that comment. >> If you believe in ratings, Brian, that doesn't help your ratings at all. >> No, not at all. >> You're trying to get in the contract deal with the War of Brothers Discovery. When they watched that today, they think that that's high brow, quality, television. I'm just saying like, I'm no prude, you're no prude, we've heard it all, right? >> Right. >> But at some point like, should that just be Christian's gimmick? >> Right. >> Over here, like over here, this is Christian's gimmick. Do you have to do the dead thing if you're MJF2? Do you need to, if Christian's doing it, it's a gimmick. >> Right, someone's dead. Do you have to do it here, if you're MJF? I don't think that was unnecessary, cuz it didn't draw any more of an audience. No one thought more of MJF or less than MJF4. I just thought it was unnecessary cheap heat. >> Yeah, and especially when you're MJF when you're good enough on the mic that you don't need to do something like that. >> I don't know, excuse me. >> All right, we've got news and notes. >> That we do, let's start in the WWE, some free agency news. MVP and Tamina no longer listed on the WWE's internal roster. Also, Fightful reporting Bobby Lashley's deal is up soon, possibly in the next few weeks. He is not interested in re-signing. And there are rumors Lashley and MVP would look to reform the hurt business with Shelton Benjamin, potentially in AEW. >> Don't do it in AEW. I know that's the biggest check that you can get. But if you went around the loop and had your own schedule, you can still make money, which with someone pleased for the love of God called Matt Cardona. >> Right, call him, hey, how much are you making on the indies? About over a million, right. And I can say my own schedule, even though, as you asked one of the best questions of the year, hey Matt, why do you keep working for GCW? Because it's a good question, why do you keep going to game changer wrestling? It's because I think he's paid well enough, he's in a good groove, and he's still wrestling wherever he wants to wrestle, and whenever he wants to wrestle. >> Yes. >> So when I saw that earlier this week, I'm like, you don't have to just rush to AEW and get lost in the sauce, you don't have to do that. >> Those guys would be so lost over there. >> Bobby Lashley can still go, I mean, you don't really know how old he is. He's like a Dominican Republic baseball player. You don't really know how old he really is, and he's like, man, he's timeless. Look at him, you still go, you don't even know how old he is. >> And MVP's been getting like stem cell treatment, so he might be able to go again. Maybe there's another push there from his career. >> He could still go if you've asked, you know, like in Shelton Benjamin's. I think he's definitely north of 45, he might be in his 50s now. >> He can still go. >> He can still go. >> On this free agency run, like I'm surprised I don't see him pop up more on shows. I would agree with that but yeah, and it doesn't have to be the hurt business. It doesn't have to be, but if they all want to come together, they can go around the loop band and be able to do some havoc on the indies if they wanted to. So all the best of them, I think that's great. I think that somewhere down the line, Brian, we're going to ask the question about Triple H, allowing some of this talent to just go. >> Right, that is interesting because like, I mean, I guess they're on the older end. I feel like Tamita is probably on the older end as well. No idea on her age, which she's been around a while. So, I mean, when you become more corporate, like sometimes you have to let some of those things go where you can't keep everyone under contract. >> That's true. I mean, if you don't want to be like AEW and have God just sit in catering, that's fine. But what does that do for the tag team that Bobby Lashley had put together? >> Well, I mean, the street profits ever since Hunter took over have sort of fallen off. Like they were so high up there, and we're talking about the singles run from Montez. And now that doesn't even seem to be a thought anymore. I'm very interested in what went wrong there. >> Let's keep our eyes on that. >> So may AEW free agency news? Buddy Matthews has resigned with AEW according to multiple reports. >> Did you expect that? >> I did not. But if you're him and there's the whole relationship there where we saw Andrade go back to WWE, his wife Charlotte's there, Buddy and Rhea just got married. If you're Buddy and you see Andrade wrestling on Twitter every week, are you rushing back to WWE? Or you're like, you know what, I'm good here in AEW. >> That's a good question. You know, the old relationship in the wrestling relationships thing is different now than it was even say five or ten years ago. >> Sure. >> Because the road is not like it used to be, right? Back in the day, this could have been AEW on the road four times a week. >> WWE in the road four times a week. You may see your significant other once, right? In passing as you wash laundry and they get back on the road again. That kind of thing. But because now it's like WWE is not on the road as much. Those house shows almost out of thing. AEW doesn't have any house shows. So eventually you will see your significant other. Per example, we just had a wrestling couple on. >> Yeah, Chelsea and Cardona. >> Yeah, I mean- >> Yeah, we had Sky Blue and Kyle Fletcher. >> We had a couple. >> We had a couple of, and so there was a time when you wouldn't see your significant other for maybe three or four times a month. Now you see them all the time because there's no house shows. And so I think it's, if buddy want to come back to WWE, if the door was open. >> Yeah. >> He could have done that, but still, I see him and Rhea on Instagram a lot, so they're not away from each other that often. >> Yeah, I mean, push House of Black to the Moon. I love all three of those guys. And anytime they get time to work, the results are there. Let's just see more of them on TV. >> I agree. >> Some injury news, Tony Khan announced. Dalton Castle was hurting his match with Roderick Strong a week ago. He's out for the rest of the year. Saturday, we saw Sky Blue have to have her match stopped early, reports that she is at home with a broken ankle. >> All the best to the home girl. Sky Blue, a frequent guest here on good cover wrestling. She knows, I saw a picture that she is in her leg was in a cast. And of course, because she's who she is, she put a middle finger up while she's laying in bed. Yes, young people, young defiant, young people would have finger up. So all the best to her, that is for sure. >> Some wrestling plans for you Friday night in Dallas. ROH's death before dishonor the card announced as of now, world champion Mark Frisco defends against Roderick Strong. Athena defends the women's title against Queen Amaneda. The women's TV title on the line, Billy Starks vs Red Velvet. The pure title, Wheeler Yuda vs Lee Moriarty. And a Texas death match, the Amante vs Layla Hirsch. >> A lot of that's pretty good actually. >> Yeah, that's what shows always are, you don't need to watch every week. It's $10 for Honor Club, you can watch this pay per view. You can cancel after if you want to, but all those matches will deliver. Maybe not the women's TV match, I'm not sold on Red Velvet. Love Billy Starks. >> No, that's fair. Plus Red Velvet has not given you a reason to watch an AW. >> Right. >> Successful everywhere else, just go through your Twitter like, my God, a win, a win. But not an AW, so whatever that. So that's a pretty good card. I'll be keeping my eyes on it because I'm interested in how Athena looks obviously. Roderick Strong and Brisco, I mean, it's gonna be quality, you know. >> Those guys could probably do with their eyes shut. And also another wrestling for you Saturday night after you watch Collision. Don't turn off the TV cuz right after, it's Battle of the Belts 11. Would you like to hear that card? >> I know, I don't wanna hear about that card. >> But you have one match announced, it's a women's world title, Eliminator match, so the title is not even on the line. Tony Storm versus Ty of Valkyrie. >> Really? >> Yep. >> That's not bad actually, that's not bad. >> Battle of the Belts, earnings for the championship matches, maybe. Folks, if you are listening or watching the show for the first time, here's the one lesson that could come wrestling give you. If there's a Battle of the Belts, that means it's a three hour collision. >> Why didn't it feel like every time there is one like Tony forgot? Shit, that's this week, you go out there, you've got a title, go defend that, please. >> You know why it's not special? I'll tell you one reason why that show's not special. >> It's because they don't do a produced open. >> That's what- >> You've seen this before, right? It's like- >> Right into it, yep. >> All of a sudden, good night everybody, and then the screen goes black, right? And then all of a sudden, they come back to the same scene. Where's the open? It's like, all right, what a great time, Battle of the Belts is next. >> [LAUGH] >> All right, we're back. >> It's very strange how they do that. >> And that's why we have one match announced and that's it. Also, we just have another literally just tweeted out, Tony Khan, another ROH match, the television champion, Atlantis Jr. defends in a survival of the fittest match, Lee Johnson, Leo Rush, Atlantis Jr. Shane Taylor, Johnny TV, and Brian Cage. >> I ain't watching any of that. >> [LAUGH] >> I ain't watching that. >> Because he got that Friday night. >> That's nonsense. >> All right, what he got matches of the week. >> All right, match of the week. Well, let's start with TNA Slaverversary. How about that? >> Because even if Gabe was here, we'd be the only two watching it. >> [LAUGH] >> So, let's give TNA a shout out. First of all, total non-stop action, Slaverversary. I would say that that's their WrestleMania. I would say that because of this a long time pay-per-view for them. Sold out in Montreal. >> Sold out in Montreal, the Verdun Auditorium. So good for them, going to Montreal. And I thought that you looked at this, we went through this last week, we said some good matches on paper. The best match to me on this card was Mike Bailey gives Mustafa Ali for the X Division Championship in which Mike Bailey, Speedball Mike Bailey wins the championship. I mean, first of all, Ali's just a great worker. Speedball Mike Bailey wins, his wife is there in attendance to watch it. So, I thought that was the best match that I saw on that, right? I think it's Ali's first loss since leaving WWE. They've made him special. Those guys deliver, Speedball, every time I watch him, I'm like, why is this guy not a bigger star? I don't know what even sounds like on the mic, but the guy can go in the ring. I'm impressed every time. The other match I really enjoyed, the six-man, the Rascals versus the no-quarter catch crew. Regal's kid is part of that team, he's a little NXT player there. But the Rascals always deliver, and that six-man was a lot of fun. A little bit of a clunky name for Charlie Dempsey. >> Yeah. >> That doesn't roll off the tongue, the no-quarter catch crew. >> Right. >> Not great name, but a very good matchup. It was the best Dana Brooke/Ash by Elegance match in her career against Jordan Grace for the TNA Knockouts Championship. That, you know, you saw it, that's the best match that she's had. It was fantastic, pretty solid. >> I mean, the bar's not that high, but like, I think I said a lot about Jordan Grace as well. I mean, listen, well, Jordan gave her a lot. >> Yeah. >> Like, I've never seen Dana Brooke look like that before. >> I agree, no, no, she looked good in that, that was a good match, and Jordan Grace, another one, I think we're talking about a few weeks ago, cusp of stardom. She's someone that's going to be a legit star in this business as she continues to grow. >> AJ Francis doing great work around the indies, and also TNA lost to PCO for the digital or TV championship is what we used to call it. And Nick Nemeth, by the way, is the TNA champion. I thought, you didn't see this, I saw this. It was actually cleaner than I thought it was going to be. You think it's six guys, like, oh my God, it's going to be clunky. Everyone had their spots, WWE style, right? >> Right. >> It's like, all right, here's these two here, and there's two here. There's people on the outside, it says like, so it worked. So I think that that helps TNA to have the one at man Nick Nemeth as a champion. It's either him or Joe Hendry. Joe Hendry beat Moose, by the way, within the match. Moose comes in, by the way, for those that don't know, comes in as a TNA champion. He was pinned by Joe Hendry. >> So Nemeth's champion is one of those things that might get me to watch here and there, cuz we know what he can do in the ring, and him getting a chance to be the space of a company, let's see what he can do with it. >> I think it's good for Nick, though, it's been 20 years since he was champion. >> That's insane. >> 20 years. >> Wow. >> So I would you think about that, that match with 30 minutes. So I thought all in all, a really solid card by TNA and Simon vs me. But again, as we always ask, so what's the momentum? >> Right. >> You have a good card and people enjoyed it, Brian, but it's like, so what's next? >> Right, I mean, step one you have to find out where to watch them. >> Nick, yeah, I mean, what all these streaming and TV deals and all this movement that's happening, TNA is just kind of standing still. >> Right. >> And so that doesn't help, but good for him because Nick Nemeth now could will take that championship around the indie circuit, I'm sure, elevate TNA. But again, it's about North America, where can you find them? >> That is very true there. Some other matches I had from SmackDown on Drade vs Carmelo. I'd say Carmelo is best main roster match and surprised to be with Andrade. Braun vs Dragunov on Monday, that turnbuckle spot? I don't know if I've ever seen that. >> Like dropping Dragunov right on the top of it. >> You know, there's something about being reckless but safe. >> Yeah. >> And Braun Ripped Breaker, man, let me tell you something. That kid there, that's the blue chipper, that's the next guy. >> Yep. >> For sure, he's the next guy. Braun Breaker, I wrote that match down too. What was the finish that Dragunov could not continue, right? >> Right. >> Right, you're paying. Boy, Braun Breaker, that's a new gimmick, he just never pins anybody. Disqualification or just couldn't finish? >> Whatever, I think he might get the title on Saturday. We can talk about the other one from Collision. Darby vs The Beast Mornos, formerly known as Black Toras. >> Yes, that was a fun match. >> First of all, surprisingly, it was first, I believe, on Collision. And then good solid match up. Good solid match up. >> Yes, physical. >> Tiffany Stratton against Meachin. >> Okay. >> From all the metrics, that was the most watched match that night, I guess. That was the peak of the rating. >> Wow. >> If you believe in the rating, it says that that was the peak of the rating. And again, is it the in-ring work or is it because of the ladies? I don't know. >> Yeah, I think Tiffany Stratton helps with that. >> [LAUGH] >> Well, he's a dirty old man. >> [LAUGH] >> Wait a minute now. >> But, I just think. >> So yeah, so just, I mean, again, as we talk about all the time on the show, there's just so much good product out there. And by the way, I want to remind people that on Sundays, I am on Busted Open, on SiriusXM Channel 156. Every Sunday, 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 Pacific. We're on for three hours. I work with Justin LeBar. We always have a fun show. So what I do is, we bring Goodcom Wrestling to SiriusXM. Pretty much, that's what we're doing. So check the show out right there on Busted Open. Or check out the podcast as well for Busted Open. Well, I'll tell you what, there's so much great product out there now. Coming up, pretty soon here, we're getting closer and closer to SummerSlam, aren't we? >> We are a little over a week away. Cleveland Brown Stadium, it's gonna be a big one. >> All right, we're gonna cover it all. Don't forget to continue to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X or Twitter. Make sure that you like, share, and subscribe to what we do every Thursday. For Brian Rowitz and for Gabe Nights, wherever you are Gabe, this is Jonathan Hood. So long from the land of Lincoln and the Sunshine.