FiredUp Network
Thursday, September 5: Weekly Champions All Out And Fountain City Pro Is Back
- Welcome in to weekly champions on wrestling spotlight. Hey, it's a big week. Back from the UK, back from all in, AEW's got all out coming up on Saturday. But before Saturday, you can see it right behind me on the Tron there. Justice for all Fountain City Pro Wrestling gets back at it. Talking to the head of the committee for Fountain City Pro, Chase from I-70 Hot Tag. Chase, a big week coming up. We had a big week in wrestling. We had all in. We had Baship Berlin following. There's another pay-per-view coming up this weekend with all out. And before that, Kansas City gets the chance to go ahead and enjoy some high-level pro wrestling themselves in a lathe at the Ball Events Center. What do you say to the wrestling fans in Kansas City about Justice for all? - Well, first I would say, you know, apologize almost. You know, this event was supposed to happen in July. It was postponed. There was some changes. We tried to do the best we could to keep the card that we had, but I think we did a fantastic job. We're once so close to Gerald, we're gonna do this event on September 6th for the semifinals and we'll talk about that. And then October 18th, the show name and the show will be revealed at And Justice for All on October 18th, we're gonna crown a champion the first ever Fountain City Pro champion. - And then get your feet under you and it's time. Now this is more of like regular season pro wrestling too. I mean, even for really AEWWE, that heart of the summer is a little bit difficult. And, you know, I don't think there's anything lost in, hey, we're doing our best. We're gonna make it work. And I think the Kansas City Pro Wrestling community is a pretty die-hard community. I think you're gonna be well-warded for the efforts. I'm looking forward to being up there at the Ball Events Center and getting to see some Fountain City Pro Wrestling in person. - Yes, we're excited to have you. We're excited that Wrestling Spotlight is sponsoring one of our marquee matches. And you're right, Gerald. I mean, I could go into the nitty gritty of it. You know, obviously when an event gets canceled or postponed like that, sometimes what happens is, you know, fans tend to, you know, kind of just get a little discouraged. Gerald, I didn't process, I didn't process more than seven refunds. - That's awesome. - Yeah, I mean, and the people that I process refunds for said, "Hey, I just want the money back right now, when it gets closer to time, or maybe I'll buy tickets at the door. This doesn't mean I don't wanna go." You know, we didn't receive one message of somebody being like, "Okay, this, you know, this, this things." Everybody has been super supportive about it, so we're excited to put on these last two shows for them, so. - Yeah, no, that's great. And there's definitely that community feel. And you're seeing the wrestlers rally too, where you're gonna get a lot of the, a lot of the people that you associate with Kansas City Pro Wrestling are gonna be on the card. Plus a couple of new faces. Who are some of the wrestlers that are gonna be competing at justice for all that'll, you know, be a little bit new to Kansas City fans? Who should they find out and learn a little bit about? - Well, Maggie Lee has wrestled in Kansas City, at least once before. I think she wrestled in Central States wrestling at one of their events this year, if I'm not mistaken. She's coming back. She's gonna go one-on-one with the spotlight Logan Knight, who is one half of Only Friends. So it'll just be Logan Knight in singles competition against Maggie Lee. And, you know, it's funny, new faces. I always like to incorporate fresh faces as much as I can in those guys' invitations. And you're gonna see a couple of new faces. Kansas City hasn't seen the form in Red James before. The form in Red James, the closest to Kansas City he's came is there's a promotion in Central Western Kansas called Heartland Championship Wrestling. They run shows once every Blue Moon in Leavenworth, Kansas. So go check them out. And that's how we got introduced to the form in Red James. So looking extremely forward to, you know, him being introduced to Kansas City this time. Marco Hendrix. Marco Hendrix is a young kid from the KCXW side, that XWC crew, you know, that we see like Calvin Aldridge and Tobias. And so Marco Hendrix is a young kid and he's just getting started, just working school there. So he's gonna be in the guys' invitational. Those are some couple of fresh faces in there that Kansas City isn't used to seeing a lot of. - Well, and then I wanted to ask you about a couple of the matches with people that Kansas City is accustomed to seeing. The Robo, Ginger, the Stiff Ginger, Gary Jay, he's gonna be taking on Anakin Murphy. And this is a continuation of a little bit of a personal grudge Kansas City's own version of Swerve against Hangmat guided. - Yeah, I mean, you know, you hit the nail on the head that it is a personal grudge. Gary and Anakin, Gary has taken Anakin under his wing since Anakin has come into this business. They're both based out of the St. Louis East Illinois or I mean West Illinois side there, East St. Louis. So 0-1, you know, St. Louis Anarchy. A lot of those places over there in that St. Louis Illinois area where Gary Jay has kind of taken Anakin Murphy under his wing and they've kind of rolled together, unsigned and don't care for those that, you know, follow on social media with the independent scene in the Midwest. It's a little bit different here, Gerald. You know, both of these guys had an opportunity to advance in this tournament. And it was Jay Fowler who walked away with the win. And Gary, I think might have blamed Anakin a little bit. Anakin might have, you know, blamed Gary a little bit of both. They tried to shake hands afterwards. Gary left the ring. So in that upset Anakin Murphy quite a bit, he was expecting Gary Jay to extend his hand out and he didn't. So we're gonna let these two go at it and see where it goes from here. - Hey, just to work this in because I'm curious and I think it's something we're seeing building with Fountain City Pro going to know anarchy is coming to the Kansas City area later in October. Why do you think St. Louis has more, more established long-running professional wrestling promotions than Kansas City has? Is it just a matter of not enough consistent effort going on in Kansas City? There's no reason why it shouldn't work. - I think that has a little bit to do with it. Gerald, let me completely honestly. Yeah, I think it's a little bit of everything. You know, Ric Flair infamously called Kansas City the worst territory in the world. - The worst territory ever, yeah. - Yeah, you know. And I think that some of the ways that, you know, independent wrestling used to be ran 30, 40 years ago, I think some time, I think a lot of what you'll see in Kansas City is is people kind of falling into those, those, those rains, if you will. You know, I, we're going to talk about all in or all out and maybe a little bit of all in. - You were in one believe, weren't you? - Sure was. - That's fantastic. Well, we'll talk a little bit more about that, but you know, all in, I got to see an individual that weekend, Ryan Moonshine Mantell, and a huge, huge Moonshine Mantell fan. And when he was on the I-70 Hot Tag two years ago, he talked about how in Texas, it's oversaturated. And we've talked about this on here, you know? - Sure. - I think, you know, about how the more wrestling the better. I think that a lot of the problem is in Kansas City, you know, some people, you know, in the past, not now, now it's a lot different. I think in the past, it was such a territorial thing. Like people wanted to hold onto those territories, those territory days, that it kind of scared people off of it. But I think now, just in the past five, six, seven years, people have realized like, hey, like the more the better, like if, if Fountain City Pro runs on a weekend and two weeks later, I'm just using CSW as an example. But CSW wants to run a show a week or two weeks later. It's not a big deal, like it leaves. I think that the people of Kansas City, the wrestling fans of Kansas City, the live entertainment fans of Kansas City are ready, especially post-pandemic, Gerald. People are so ready to get out and enjoy themselves. That I don't think it matters if there's, if there's a show running Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, and maybe Sunday midday here in Kansas City. I don't think it matters anymore. And I think that, I think that mindset didn't creep a whole lot into St. Louis and that's, or maybe St. Louis just didn't have a whole lot of it. You know, I'm trying to find the right way to wear this 'cause I don't want to upset anybody, but yeah, but I don't think St. Louis had that hold, like that grip on the glory days of the territory days to where St. Louis is okay with, you know, five, six promotions running shows every month or every other month. And you're right. I think that I think Kansas City, you know, you can see the difference between the way Kansas City is ran and St. Louis is ran, then I think you'll, I think starting soon, you're gonna start seeing that Kansas City is the same. That it's okay to have KCXW and CSW and Fountain City and whoever else wants to run in the Kansas trailblazer, whoever, you know, I think it's okay that all of these-- - We highlighted. - Yeah, tri-states, you know, all those ones. And I think we're there. I think we just have to continue building it and staying consistent like you mentioned. - Yeah, 'cause I think there's a strong community and I've been extremely impressed with the turnout at all of the central state shows I've gone to. Been super impressed with the first two cards from Fountain City Pro and you see that momentum building to where it can be in that same area as St. Louis has been for a little bit with Glory Pro consistently putting on real high-end shows, Southern Illinois Championship wrestling just across the state line doing a good job, anarchy, and even a few others that are going in St. Louis consistently. So I think it's great for the community and large to have those options and to be able to go somewhere. And then with Fountain City Pro doing consistent shows and guys are you have your home base locked in, you're gonna be at that ball event center and I'll like this. So that's a great start, right? Have the base, know where the ring's gonna be. So people plan it and not just the people but the wrestlers too. - Absolutely, like I said, I think that it's, you know, going forward, you know, as long as it, the biggest issue is consistency. As long as it stays consistent, you know, I think that I think you're gonna see Kansas City blow up here in the next five to 10 years as far as a wrestling town goes. - Yeah, yeah. - Because it's there, you know, Gerald, I don't wanna, you know, I'll pull the curtain back. So they say, I've had wrestlers who don't wrestle in a Kansas city who came to me after the first show, the second show that was like, "Hey, like this crowd is awesome." They know their stuff, but yet they follow along. They're very, they're the perfect crowd to perform in front of, right? Because, you know, and like I said, multiple wrestlers who just don't wrestle in the Kansas city area all came up to me and said those exact same things. Like, "Hey, this crowd is awesome to work in front of." It's a wrestler's dream, you know, because they can work how they want to. They can work babyface, they can work heel. And our crowd in Kansas city is going to feed off of that and help feed into it. And it was very awesome to hear and, you know, just kind of piggybacking off of what we've been talking about, you know, of Kansas city being ready to take that next step. - Yeah, and a couple of guys who Kansas city is very familiar with, they're going to have a match, too. Your tag team feature match the premiere. They're going up against the young kids. What do we need to know about the young kids and how are the premiere looking going into this? - Yeah, you know, I mean, the story was that the premiere were very, very upset, Gerald, because they felt like they were slighted because they weren't on the first two Fountain City pro cards. I have made a joke. - They're always up with that. - Yeah, absolutely. Kansas city is no stranger to the premiere starting trouble. And they did a great job of it. So I put it out there publicly. I said, you know, I had the premiere is more than welcome to come watch and, you know, and we can talk business afterwards. Well, they took that. They took that into their own hands. They showed up uninvited, you know, and attacked Tobias Storm and Calvin Aldridge. Tobias Storm and Calvin Aldridge are two kids that came out of the XWC in Raytown, Missouri. They wrestled for KCSW. They're both very gifted young men to the, to the best to come out of that school and not taking anything away from that school. That school had somebody come out of it and it went to NXT who is now signed with a wow wrestling, Cameron Brene. So, you know, this is not a slide at that school, but Tobias and Calvin are two of the best that they have produced out gifted athletes. And they go by a tag team called the main attraction. If you ask Calvin, team double stuffed. If you ask Tobias, it's a weird little thing that he does. But, you know, they were tag teaming against the only friends. Only friends came up with a victory. And the premier attacked them uninvited. They broke my monitor. They slammed through. So I said, you know what? You boys want to fight and Calvin and Tobias were messaging me and messaging Fountain City saying, "Hey, we want to fight these guys." So we put the match together. We invited the premier and the premier is going to be there. So we're going to see what's going to happen. And that match is sponsored by the wrestling spotlight. So. - Oh, there we go. Which we appreciate. We appreciate the contribution. - Another match I wanted to mention quick. Luke Langley, the black diamond, the smoking ace. You've seen him around. Go up against the quad father, Camaro Jackson. And that should be a hard hitting match too. - That's the main event, Gerald. That is the final bout. That is how we are closing the evening. Is that semi-final match. And this is going to be straight up. Luke Langley versus Camaro Jackson. You know, the black diamond, like you said, against the Grand Region. There will be no, there will be no Greg Jovai. Greg Jovai will not be able to make this event on Friday. So like I said, it'll be these two straight up. No interference, no, no nothing. Obviously the other semi-final match, you know, we'll talk about it. But the illustrious one, Ray Leon, taking on all steel J Fowler. The illustrious one having Dickey Dick Richards in his corner. And all steel having Captain Midnight Guthrie. Thought about banning these two from ringside, but I thought these two might negate each other. It might even have-- - Well, they even have. - Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I think it'll be great for people of Kansas City. I'm excited to see both of those matches, but that J Fowler versus Ray Leon, the athleticism and just the sheer exhibition that they're gonna put on in the middle of that ring, while you're gonna get that comedic flavor on the outside between Dickey Richards and Midnight Guthrie. I'm excited for. - Yeah, a couple of great matches. AJ Fowler just appearing on ROH and collision, getting thrown around by the Murderhawk monster, Lance Archer this past week. - I saw that, saw that quite a few times. He took a pretty nasty choke slam on that case. - Breaking into the big gods, right? The Murderhawk monster. Hey, I did wanna go back to All In because we had a chance to go into the post events scrum and talked with Tony Khan about what goes into, what goes into putting on a wrestling show, I just figured I'd get your reaction to what he said, too. Yeah, let's go ahead and pop that in here. There we go. - Hi, Tony, Neil Flanagan from Post Wrestling. I wanted to ask you something about the creative process in AWN. I know that you're not gonna pull the curtain back altogether on this, but I'm gonna ask anyway. I think one of the common themes of All In 2024 has been, it's been better received, I believe, in the build, the feud building, the storytelling. And I wonder, is there any kind of change in your outlook on this? I mean, in your media call on Thursday, you did mention the kind of the input that went into the women's world title program, for example. And I think throughout the card, it was seen this year, possibly more so than last year. You're the co-owner, you're also the booker. Who else is involved in? Is it RJ? Is it Chris Daniels? Is it Jimmy Jacobs? - 27 people involved in the process. And it's like a football team. When I go in and I'm at a football meeting where there's a lot of people contributing ideas and you have a dozen coaches on offense and a dozen coaches on defense. And everybody puts something in. And at the end of the day, I have to decide. And I get pitched hundreds and hundreds of ideas a week and I can do less than half of them. And some of them are great ideas that just don't make you sense 'cause you'd need somebody else that somebody else had a better idea for, so that we were already pretty far down the line with. And it's like a big map. And I get pitched hundreds of things. And then if I, you know, I have to decide. So, but that's a lot like other sports. You know, this is a sport. And that's something I've been trying to like hammer into the people is like, when people tell me, I've said that a lot this weekend. People tell me they're gonna try to do something. And I say, that wouldn't fly and that doesn't fly because this is a sport. - That's, I thought that was just a great answer to a really long question. I'm glad Tony stepped in and just started talking. But how do you react to that? I think that was really a good summary of what goes into putting on a pro wrestling show. - Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, obviously like his scale and our scale or, you know, really, you know. - Sure. - I'm a teardrop, he's the whale. - Or Amy and Hye. - Or Amy and Hye. - Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I don't have hundreds of people pitching me ideas. I do have, you know, I do have a few people. And, you know, my big thing, Gerald, is telling a story, you know, because, you know, not just the wrestling and the ring, but, you know, the stories in the ring, but the stories on the outside as well, you know, especially like if we're running something, something and, you know, always want to tell more than one story. So, you know, if it makes sense, then yeah, absolutely. You know, also have to be adaptable, right? Have to be extremely adaptable. I'll give you a prime example, and, you know, I don't know when this is going to air. - Oh, wow, like Valish. - Oh, okay. Okay. (laughs) So, you know, what I'll say is that the champion who was lined up in October is not the same champion that's going to happen in October. You know, it's unfortunately changed because we have stuff, you know, stuff comes up. And when that happens, then, you know, I go back to the drawing board, okay. Well, how does this story make sense now? You know, a little bit of frustrations with, you know, a little bit of frustrations with, you know, the how it's going forward, but I'm happy with the outcome. You know, and that's the biggest thing is the biggest thing for me compared to like Tony Khan, Tony Khan doesn't have like, his budget is not mine, you know what I mean? So he has a little bit more freedom to, you know, do that stuff, you know, I have to look and I have to go, okay, our budget for talent is, let's just say 2,500. So now I have to think of, okay, who can I fit into this budget of 2,500? And what can I do as far as this story going forward? And also think about, okay, if I'm gonna do this story, I've gotta make sure that I've got these guys, you know, lined up for those events and that they're gonna fit into my budget going forward as well. And then also make sure that we have room for budget there. So I think that's just like the biggest thing is, is, you know, he's working on a different scale than I am, but that's how the process, that's why I laughed at it like, you know, 'cause he was talking about his is kind of like a map. Mine is, mine is a map here and people will go, "Oh, hey, I'm gonna add something." And I'm like, "Ah, no, no, no, no, don't do that." Not saying that I'm not receptive to ideas. It's just, you know, like I said, I wanna make sure that it's gonna make sense at the end of the day. 'Cause it doesn't make sense for the story. And if it's not, is this just a one-time thing? Cool, if it's just a one-time thing, let's make it very grand. So, you know, the fans, the people that come to watch the show know, "Hey, like this was awesome." Well, you know, we may not see this again. Or if we do, it's gonna be a while. So, yeah. - Well, which I think is important too, on the independent level, on the local pro wrestling level, it's good to have some story elements and it's good to build it. Everything that we talk about in AEW, a WWE, New Japan, TNA, it is true. I mean, if there's a story behind it, if there's a reason for you to care, that makes the match even better. And so, I'm commending you guys for doing that and having that narrative that builds, because then that just magnifies the work that the wrestlers are putting in. - Yeah, absolutely. And you're gonna see that with, especially those two matches of, you know, the premiere against Calvin Aldridge and Tobise Storm, and you're gonna see that with Gary, Jay, and Annie Kim Murphy, especially. Those two matches, highlighting specifically, you're gonna go, "Okay, this story I've followed since March "and by October 18th, you're gonna go, "Man, like, "that was a story, I got to follow." - Yeah, and you can see Fountain City pros, two previous cards, they do air on wrestling spotlight. This is a great week for Kansas City sports fans, because you're gonna have the Kansas City Chiefs opening up the season on Thursday. You have Fountain City Pro coming up on Friday, and then on Saturday, you got the Kansas City current plane, and you have, we're not gonna make, that would be a weird switch to good at talking about women's professional soccer on wrestling spotlight. You have all out the follow-up pay-per-view to all-in. That is Saturday, happening in Chicago, and Chase, I just wanted to preview some of that, especially with the perspective of having had the opportunity to go to all-in, see the American Dragon when the AEW Championship, I was a little surprised. Swerve Strickland had just signed a four-year extension with AEW just before the pre-show started. He's now right up there in pay scale with Elcato, the Rainmaker, and Mercedes Monet. So he's up there in the high-end salary cap. Like I said, it's a little bit different scale when you're paying guys $5, $6 million a year versus having a budget of 3,000 or so for a show. How did you feel about that with Brian Danielson picking up the title over Swerve? - I thought it was a little early. I would have liked to have seen Swerve keep it a little bit more, but I think that, I think they did a fantastic job. And you look at some of these, you look at some of these companies like WWE and AEW, and they just, I mean, obviously, I get what I'm about to say is kind of like, hey, duh, but it's just, it's awesome to see how they market that kind of stuff and how they do it. You look at that situation, Gerald, you say, okay, Swerve had it for five months, then you won it in February, right? - Yeah, at Dynasty in St. Louis, where we were at that show as well. - Correct, that was April, that was April. So, we go four, less than five months with the championship. But the story was there for Brian, you know, but what I love about that is is that Brian wins the title, he got to have his big win in front of that Wembley crowd, which I thought was awesome. But prior to the show, they let people know like, hey, like Swerve is gonna be here for a while. And I think especially with you hitting the nail on the head about him being one of the highest paid guys there, along with Mercedes Monet and Ocata, that is letting people know that Swerve Strickland is not only going to stay with AEW, like he's going to be somebody who is pushed out there. He is going to be a highlighted superstar there, if you will. Hate using that word or not hate using that word, but kind of ironic using that word for AEW, like a WWE. But I mean, that's what Swerve Strickland turned into. - Absolutely, I mean, I think he's the departure they probably regret the most. - Yeah, yeah, almost bought, didn't Swerve, wasn't Swerve the one that turned them in for contract hampering? - Well, and WWE officials, supposedly have been not on the record, but talking to different wrestling media, saying, hey, this is a bad contract for wrestling. He's gonna pay too much. - Yeah, I think he's gonna do it okay. - Yeah, so I loved it, you know, like I said, for Brian to have his moment, I was a little, like I was telling you, I was a little sour that Swerve lost it so quick. But you know what, Gerald, at the end of the day, I think it's okay that people have, that people don't hold the title for over a year anymore. I think that's all right. - I mean, Tony said it is a sport, and I think there's a little bit of reality coming in here. I mean, we're at the end of the road for Brian Danielson, and he eluded to it, I mean, just directly, in the post-match press conference. We were sitting, like, I don't know, 10 feet away from him. It was pretty obvious. He was legitimately pretty emotional and came across great. Here's just one clip. - All right, honestly, like I said, I have no, this was my sole focus, is tonight. And I was really happy with how things turned out, and then everything going forward, I'm gonna have to think about it. (laughs) - Because, sweet girl, did you want Dani to come home after this? - Yeah, so how can I, you know? (laughs) - Yeah, I think the end of the year is probably about it. He's got one more loss, and then he's point blank said he's gonna need neck fusion surgery again. I don't think he's just gonna risk anything long-term health-wise. - No, I mean, and I think, I think AEW kayfaved that stipulation now. If he loses the title, he retires. So, you know, I agree. I think by the end of the year, I think it'll be done for him, so. - And I think we can both agree-- - I'm gonna be shocked at it. - Sorry. - I think we can both agree. This match isn't gonna be his last match. The AEW World Championship, Brian Danielson taking on the scapegoat, Jack Perry. How do you feel about the way they've tried to take a real situation that occurred just a year ago and build it into the narrative to get Jack Perry further removed from Jungle Boy? - I love it. I thought it was, I thought, you know, and I'll tell you, Gerald, I am a pro Phil Brooks guy. Phil Brooks couldn't do much of anything to make me hate him. I am a CM Punk Mark. I grew up watching CM Punk in ROH. His feud with Raven is probably one of my favorite feuds of all time. I mean, it's top five easily. I am a huge CM Punk Mark. So obviously I sided with CM Punk over the Young Bucks and then I sided with him over Jack Perry. And, you know, but what better way to get him into this character and get him. I love both, when I decided like, hey, I don't know if I'm a real big fan of the Young Bucks anymore after that whole media thing, the media scrum. Then I don't know if I'm such a big fan of Jack Perry anymore. Man, whoever did that is a creative genius, Gerald. The Young Bucks to come back and play the VP role and the CEOs and the way that they did it just, I mean, just turn the dial. And I was just like, wow, I mean, these kids, these kids did the best they could with that situation. And then the Jack Perry, even after the video released, people were still anti-Jack Perry and pro CM Punk. And, you know, your anti-CM Punk guys were a little bit more, but I mean, just the stance that people took, 'cause remember, CM Punk told Ariel Hirani, he was like, I didn't hit him. I didn't hit him first. I told him, you know, if he used the old Chelsea, and Chelsea didn't quote, you know, I can't let him get close. I can't let him get close. And the video showed otherwise, the video showed, the video showed that CM Punk picked that fight. And there were still people that were like, yeah, Jack Perry's an idiot. And for them to do what they did with the character and bring it, bring it on TV like that, let them do how they do it. It's just, it's been genius on all three of them. And I mean, the absolute fantastic performance from all three of those guys and whoever helped them conjure up that, that this gimmick, this story, I love the whole thing. Throwing in Ocata, you know, I, yes, it's just been golden. - Well, and I think we'll see it go to another level when as according to reports, Kenny Omega's getting close. And Kenny Omega's gonna come back and he's gonna wanna get a little bit of revenge for what's gone on too. This should be a good match. So I think it'll elevate Jack Perry a little bit more. And he's not gonna win it though. - No. - But it should be a good match. And I think in- - Absolutely. - Just concluding our take on last year's all in. I think it ended up working out for the best for both of them because CM Punk had a really good strap match against Drew McIntyre at Bash at Berlin. - It was a legitimately good match. He gets his win, his first individual match win on WWE television in over a decade. And then Drew McIntyre gets it back with the beat down on Monday night. So they're both doing what they wanna do. And I think CM Punk's at a place where he can go at a different pace because the AEW pace is a little bit different even though WWE's kicked up their match levels, you can't go a year and have three matches in AEW. - No, no. - So it's worked out well for both. - Oh, absolutely. - Another long running feud. This goes back to Dynasty as well. They were a tag team at Dynasty and then broke up. Chris Statlander with Stokely Hathaway, who's one of the better managers in pro wrestling, just really out of level two as matches. And your CM AL champion, Willow Nightingale, who the fans love, Willow and Chris Statlander going at it in a Chicago straight fight, something they've done a few times. This should be a good match and continue to lift up that women's division in AEW. - Yeah, I think that what they've done with the women's division since, even before Mercedes got there, I think Mercedes just kind of solidified it. Like, hey, like, I just, I think it's, I think it's different, but I think it's different to a point where, yeah, I think it's different to a point where some people, some people aren't used to that style of it, but it's so diverse, they have so much talent. And this is a prime example match of why. Willow Nightingale, who I kind of felt like her, her TBS title was, TBS title run was a little bit too short. And Chris Statlander, who has had some injury issues, she's had some character issues, like character on TV, like, you know, she, the stardazer. - The alien, yeah. - The alien, you know. So I love what they're doing with this. Stokely Hathaway, I said the best manager. I take that Paul Heyman is still around, so I can't call Stokely Hathaway the best manager, but he's right there. Stokely Hathaway is entertaining. He is, I mean, it didn't matter if he was Derek Blivens and NXT or Stokely Hathaway here in AEW. Every single time he holds a microphone, he just is, it's pure entertainment. And so to add him into this element of just two insanely talented female individuals, I love this, like I said, I think this, I think this will help AEW solidify, like, Hey, we are women's division is legit. - Yeah, and you got Jamie Hader, who made her return. She's gonna have a match against Saraya coming up really soon. Mariah Mae, the glamour, your new heavyweight champion, Tony Storm still out there. And there's a lot of Hollywood era she can go through. And we haven't mentioned the Virtuosa, Thunder Rosa, Tia Valkyrie, and they've really done a great job of building that division up and giving people a reason to care about it. - Yeah. - Which, you know, making that same thread, right? If there's some story, if there's a reason, if you're gonna be involved, that's way better and then just having to match to have a match. - Yeah, I mean, the Tony Storm gimmick and then transitioning into the story with her and Mariah Mae, the betrayal, everything, that was fantastic. It was, like I said, I just feel like in the past year, year and a half, I think AEW has made huge strides to improve that women's division and the Tony Storm thing in the Mariah Mae, Britt Baker coming back and all that stuff has just kind of solidified that. - And I didn't even mention the former NWA women's champion, the Brick House Camille, who's currently assisting Mercedes Monet. - Correct. - Which is a legitimate threat, a very good competitor. A match that should be one of the best matches of the year, honestly, just the two competitors. Another story that I think AEW has done a good job with, Will Osprey capturing back the international championship, taking it from MJF, 20 minutes from his home at Wembley Stadium, he gets to go up against PAC. This should be a tremendous matchup. - Yes, you know, I love how they're, they're solidifying those championships and, you know, kind of look at it like, like, hey, like this is, this is the workhorse championship. You know, this is, this is the Intercontinental title from, you know, from the 80s, the early 90s, you know, where it was, it was the Workman's horse or the Workman's title. And, you know, the reality is with or without a title, Gerald, this match is, is gonna be phenomenal. - Yeah, exactly, adding that championship to it just adds a little bit more, you know, a little bit more oomph to it to where you put those two on a card and you put a championship on it, you have to ask yourself, like, is this, is this the main event? You know, I mean, no, obviously Brian Danielson and, and, and Jack Perry will be. - Well, no, I don't think so. So supposedly there's another match that's gonna be the main event. We got two big ones to talk about still. And let me ask you about this one because this guy has been floated around as potentially leaving all the late wrestling. I didn't think he was gonna be leaving when he made his reappearance at Wembley. I felt really confident he wasn't leaving. And then when we got this statement in the post-event press conference, I was really, really confident he's not leaving. - Hi, Tony, Stephanie, cheers. Tonight we saw the return of Daniel Garcia during the MJF Osprey match. There's been a lot of talk and speculation about him recently, reportedly his contracts up in October. Has he resigned, signed an extension? It's negotiating by what's going on. - Well, I don't wanna necessarily comment on everybody's contract length or status, but Daniel's here and he's a great part of AEW. We've been having great success and this is a great night to reflect back on what we've been doing here in AEW. And for some reason we keep going back to this number of like the past three years, but at Revolution we talked about the three year run of Sting and what a special three year run it was with Sting in AEW from 2021 Revolution to Revolution 24. Brian Danielson at All Out 21 he debuted and we're coming up on three years of Brian Danielson in AEW and again, a really special moment in that three years. Well, it's been about three years with Daniel here and Daniel Garcia started with us in Daley's place and he was kind of on that run of shows right before we went back and started wrestling in front of the crowds again. So somebody who's been with us a really long time, he's somebody beloved by the fans and backstage and we love having Daniel here. So without saying exactly what's going on, it's a good sign that he was here I think and really great to have him come and take that next step tonight after what happened with him and MJF and Will Osprey being involved in the international title. It was a great payoff to a lot of storytelling in the recent weeks on Dynamite and I think we're on a really great run of Dynamite. People thought this go home show was probably our best go home show we've done and one of the best shows. And really it feels like that's been consistent. Coming out of Forbidden Door I felt like the show we did Beach Break in Chicago was one of our best and it was when Garcia had gotten taken out right back then leading into that MJF Will Osprey 59 minute and 58.5 second international title match setting up tonight's rematch. But Daniel Garcia has been a big part of AEW for a long time, we love having him here. Thanks for asking. So there you go. Daniel Garcia taken on MJF. No more diamond Dynamite ring. Daniel Garcia ponded it to take his trip to London. Daniel Garcia is going nowhere and I think this may be two straight pay-per-view losses for MJF. - I can see it happening but I also feel like I feel like Daniel Garcia is right there. And I don't know if they're ready to push him up that next step yet or not. I think he's ready for it but I don't know if they are. I can see MJF stealing this win away especially since he lost Osprey in London. - Or getting a cheap win. - Yeah. - Definitely see that. - Absolutely. - And maybe somebody stumbling into a give to MJF for a little help, he's noticeably lacking some lackeys right about now. - Yes, yes. - And you know, if you're gonna be a good true heel wrestler, you need some lackeys. I mean, that's part of the job. It's one of the benefits. - Absolutely. What's Wardlow doing nowadays? - He's due to make an appearance and that was probably Wardlow's best role as a lackey. - But we shall see. That's a good one. - So we'll split on that one. The match that looks like it's gonna be in the main event and is being reported to be the main event. Who's house? Swerve's house. And it's all dealing with a long running story where Swerve tried to make hangman's house as house. Swerve's Strickland, hangman page in a steel cage. How do you feel about that one? - You know, I'm not shocked that that's the main event. You know, I should have known that the feud between Swerve and Paige in AW is like I don't wanna say it and then people run away with it. But something that's consistent, something that's always good, something that no matter what, no matter how many times they turn to each other, you knew it was gonna be special. Austin and Rock, Paige and Swerve. Now, am I saying Paige and Swerve or Austin and Rock? No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is just as every single time Rock and Austin met, you were excited for what could happen. It's the same thing with Swerve and Paige. They've done everything. You know, I mean, they've gone through the whole Rick Morel here, the Falls Count Anywhere, the, you know, no holds barred, all the special matches they've gone through all of them. And then now like the big blow off is the Steel Cage. So we think, you know, and maybe even, maybe they put on another five-star classic inside of Cage and then in four or five months, they come back together and do it again. A lot of caps between those two. Exactly. And it's, it's not one of those ones where it's like, man, really these two again, you know, you always see it like, man, this is what I'll tell you the one thing that kind of like that I'm missing on this Gerald, I wish they would have turned hangman heel for this and kept Swerve face. That's what I would have liked to have seen them do that. But. - You know, I liked your example with the Stone Cold and the Rock because Swerve has a little bit of that Stone Cold type appeal. Again, I mean, not saying he's on that level because of course was the most popular wrestler ever, blah, blah, blah. But the fans in attendance at Wembley, they were on Swerve's side and Swerve had Prince Nana grab the timekeeper's bell to drive Brian Danielson, one of the most popular wrestlers in the last 20 years onto his damaged neck, onto the bell and the fans were still going, who's house, Swerve's house? So he is the face of the match and hangman got a real negative reaction. So even though they're both doing heel like things and face like things, I think the fans have made their decision that - Oh, absolutely. - Swerve's house and hangman, I mean, you may as well play your role. You know, know your role. - Yeah. - No, and I would love for that to happen. I want to see, I think hangman could be a fantastic heel if they let him go, especially with the, I'm drawing a blank here. I was gonna make a, the burnt Reynolds mustache. You know, I love it. And I think if he went heel, I think it would make it even better, you know. But again, these two, I said this to a group, I said this to two guys when they came back from the curtain at Fountain City Pro's first event, light it up. I told them, I said, hey, you two were destined to do this forever. That's how good the chemistry is. I feel that way about Swerve and hangman. Those two were just destined to dance together forever. - Yeah, and they're both gonna be there for a long time. So I think AEW is really getting their footing under them and they're putting on this, this is impressive actually. I think next year it's gonna be a little bit different because the cards will be moved a little bit further apart. Obviously all ends gonna be in July and all out. They haven't announced yet. Forbidden Door is gonna take place on August 24th. So they still could have the two pay-per-views right on top of each other, but I think they're gonna be spread out a little bit more. But to do two high-end pay-per-views without rematches in this type of a window is quite impressive. - Two weeks, I mean, it's crazy, you know. They faced a lot of criticism last year about doing the all-in and then all out a week later. I think that they handled that criticism beautifully this year by still pushing it a week out. So you got two weeks in between. But, you know, and this is not an AEWWE thing, but a couple years ago when you noticed WWE was constantly running pay-per-views, it just didn't feel like, you know, like you mentioned. It's a fresh card. There's no rematches and still high profile. I mean, all the matches that we just went through, the Steel Cage match, the Brian Danielson Jack Perry, like all these matches that we just talked about. I mean, this is, I agree. I think it's a, I think they did a wonderful job with it this year compared to last year and, you know, kind of noticed what their mistakes were last year or like what they could approve on. Not so much mistakes, but what they could improve on in this year, absolutely fantastic. - And then we also have the CEO, Mercedes Monet, taken on the ace of the division, a nice little new Japan reference, Hikaru Shida, for that TBS title, which is being elevated dramatically under Mercedes Monet. They're definitely making that a big time title. - No, I agree. I love what they're doing with it. You know, I love that AEW has, you know, I love that AEW has treated Mercedes Monet like what she is, and that's a star. You know, when WWE put those four women out, the four horse women in 2015, 2016, when they moved up from NXT and they've, they've treated all four of those women like a big deal, and they should be. Those four women are responsible for women's wrestling being where it is now. You know, obviously there's other elements to help. Nobody does it by themselves, but man, those four women, when they came up from NXT, it was a big deal. They've made it less than a year less than a year prior to them debuting on the main roster. So anybody who acts like Mercedes Monet is not a big star or not a big deal in AEW is it. Number one, you're fooling yourself, you're getting worked because AEW is treating her like a big star and you are tuning in to watch every single week. And great job on them pivoting to turn her heel and let her work against the crowd. The match and the story that her and Brit Baker told was amazing, and then just now this tear, putting her with Camille was genius. >> Absolutely, great job. >> Yeah, I mean, like I said, Mercedes Monet is a star and AEW is treating her like that. And now, like I said, guys that complained about it before, complained about her leaving WWE and going, how she left WWE and going to AEW, blah, blah, blah, worked themselves and AEW is using her as their top heel and not just the women's division. I would say she's probably the top heel in the company right now. >> Yeah, her MJF, yeah. >> Yeah. >> I'll give you that. >> I think that, you know, the AEW crowd, kind of like how we talked about the Kansas City crowd earlier, the AEW crowd for the most part is very smart to the business, so they know, like, you know, MJF is so anti-hero that he's cool, right? And I just think that the fans know, like, hey, he's a bad guy, we're gonna boo him. But if he did one, if he does one baby face thing, the crowd will go right back, they'll switch, so. >> Absolutely, but hey, let's go ahead and wrap it up. Let's go to our weekly champion. You're watching Wrestling Spotlight. You can see us on true TV, plus on carbon TV, on sports.tv. >> Hey, what's up, guys? This is Tyve Alkola with Aloka, and you are watching Wrestling Spotlight. >> Okay, we got the wrestling spotlight title right here. Chase, who's your champion of the week? >> It's gotta be Brian Danielson. It has to be, you know, 80,000 people in Wembley. Wins the championship 10 years after he won it in WWE. After everybody told him he'd never be a world champion. You know, he wasn't big enough, he wasn't strong enough. If you were a member 10 years ago, he was going up against the juggernauts of Randy Orton versus Batisa, because that's what the machine was pushing. That's what the machine wanted. And Brian Danielson and the fans of Wrestling said, "No, we're not doing that." And 10 years later, in front of 80,000 people, screaming at the top of their lungs, excited because Brian Danielson won a world championship again. Goosebumps, my guy, doesn't get much better than that. So what the pageantry, what we love watching, what this sport professional wrestling is, yeah, that's my champion of the week. - Let's go on, I'm going to go with, because I don't want to be a total AEW shell. I'm going to go with CM Punk. He had, he made it through the match. I've been saying on this channel since we started it, that you got to be careful building a program around CM Punk, because I don't know if he's able to even make it through the match. He did it, he made it through the strap match. He wins, got Drew McIntyre up, gave him four or five GTSs, and he wins his first televised match in WWE. In front of the highest pain arena gate in WWE history, which is crazy. There was a lot of euros spent there because the Uber Arena in Berlin has 10,000 last seats than the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. I was there for the previous biggest arena gate, and that tells you, they charged a whole lot of money, so CM Punk won it in the match, and he won it on the dollar signs too, so CM Punk, champion of the week. Chase, Fountain City Pro, takes place this Friday, just a day away if you're watching this, where can people go see it, where do they go find tickets? - Absolutely, so you can go buy tickets at fountaincitypro.com. There's links to buy tickets on all of our social medias. We're gonna be in Olathe, Kansas at the Ball Event Center, Friday, doors are gonna open at 6 p.m., Bell time's gonna be around 7, 7, 0, 5, just as the graphic there says. Guys, I'm wearing a Fountain City Pro shirt right now. I make these right here in my garage slash office. Go to the website, buy a shirt, buy you some merch, check it out, and give a special shout out to my guy, Gerald Bentley here, with Wrestling Spotlight for sponsoring our tag team match. Double stuffed, main attraction versus the premier. Super excited. - Yeah, scan the QR code right there on the screen, that'll take you to their side. Chase, thanks for joining us here on Wrestling Spotlight. Stay tuned for more sports at entertainment, and go ahead and download that true TV plus app. You can watch the channel on any smart device, any smart TV, it's everywhere. You can also see us on sports.tv, on your TCL TV to set the plus button or on carbon TV. 'Til next week, we'll see you here in the ring on Wrestling Spotlight.