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We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at MossAtoms.com. Why wear a seatbelt? The math speaks for itself. You have a 1 in 40 chance of being in a crash this year. But wearing a seatbelt reduces your risk of serious harm by 50%. Their rollover crash, more than three out of five deaths, are from those who weren't wearing theirs. Seatbelts save lives. Over 370,000, in fact. Most passengers killed in crashes weren't buckled up. Nobody is above the laws of physics. Buckle up and shift into safe. A message from the Colorado Department of Transportation. [MUSIC PLAYING] Introducing first. Speaking out of Akron, Ohio. Representing team popping the boys. The headline god. Jeremy Weber. And his co-host speaking out of Atlanta, Georgia. Representing more than one royal family. The king of indy-dewing, Stephen Jesse. And this is the spotlight on Fight 4. Welcome, everyone, to the spotlight here on Fight 4. I'm Jeremy Lambert. That's Stephen Jensen. And shout out, as always, the big dick, MLJ. For the intro, actually hung out with MLJ this past weekend at GCW. He said hello to you, Jensen. Oh, good, good, good. I'm hoping that Emil was doing well. He's the man. I really appreciate lately that he-- for the bounces forever, intros. Now, as of the last couple of months, he has figured out how to perfectly time two-in-goreenies intro to right when the chorus for Zombie by cranberries hits. So that everyone's the thing with it. I mean, Emil's the man. You already know how he feel about Emil. So yeah, I'm glad he's doing well. And if he sees this, I hope you're doing well. I hope to see you soon whenever you're back in Atlanta, man. We got a lot to talk about in the world of wrestling, including A.W. Dynamite last night, running the bank this past weekend, the luck going on in NXT. All that fun stuff. Guys, if you're in the comments section, if you are here, if you are watching, leave us a thumbs up on the video. We appreciate that. Leave us a super check. It's a question, comment, statement read on the air. We appreciate that as well. That helps support the website. You can go to FightfulSelect.com. Subscribe to the channel. You can subscribe to this channel. You can subscribe to Fightful Overbook. That's our sister channel over there. We got a new content nearly every day on that channel. Otherwise, let's get into it. Jensen, how you doing, buddy? - I'm doing good, man. I'm doing good. Yeah, we do have a lot of wrestling to talk about. We'll get into that in just a second. Missed you last week. We had a Royal Wilkins filling in for you, but you were traveling and we'll talk a little bit about that. That was on the 4th of July, the last show that we had in Power Driver Finisher just beat me to it. I did want to quickly just bring this up. On the 4th of July, some pretty big things happened. I had a great day. I talked about it on the weekender. The vibes were a match with it throughout the whole day. I woke up, did the weekender, not the weekender. I woke up and did the spotlight with Rob. And then that went right into the Nathan's Hot Ballgating Contest, and then that went into a GSW Backyard Wrestling. And that went into the Joey Chest on Hot Ballgating Contest. And then that went into American Rana. So that was a great 4th of July for me. And I wanted to quickly highlight, before we talk wrestling, two big accomplishments. Pat, Deep Dish Barreli, who I've actually known about Deep Dish for a very long time. For those of you who may not know, I'm a big fan of competitive eating. Not ironically, I actually do follow this similar to how people would follow statistics and sports and stuff like that. There's an OG YouTuber named Kevin. He goes by LA Beast on YouTube. And LA Beast, I heard talk about Deep Dish. I always call him Deep Dish because that's his name. But Pat Barreli, the guy who won the Hot Ballgating Contest this year, I found out about him a decade ago. And it's so crazy because that guy, he hung it up years ago. He stopped doing competitive eating. He was in the serious relationship. And then he was like, girlfriend dumped him or whatever. And then he got back into it. And now he's the champion in the Nathan's Hot Ballgating Contest. That's a pretty great, pretty great comeback story right there. Now in 10 minutes, Pat put down 57-- sorry, 58 hot dogs. I want to give respect. 58 hot dogs in 10 minutes for Nathan's. He is legitimately the new holder of the Nathan's Hot Dog Mustard Belt. So I want to give credit where it's due. But I mean, come on, y'all. Joey Chestnut, 857 and 5 minutes. And half the amount of time you put down one less hot dog than-- I mean, Joey Chestnut, true American hero. So I want to give just a quick shout out to Deep Dish and to Joey Chestnut for their accomplishments on the 4th of July. And I'm very much looking forward to Kobayashi versus Chestnut showdown on Netflix coming up soon. So give respect to Deep Dish because he earned that championship. He beat everybody else. But if Chestnut was up there on that stage that day, he would have put down 70 something easier for him. I mean, he was on a crazy record pace on the 5 minutes. So anyways, do you have any additional thoughts about any of that before we-- I saw-- who was it? Badlands won the women chugging the lemon juice lemonade chugging contest. Badlands wins that every year. He is easily the best chugger in the world. All of a sudden, glad you brought that up. Shout out to the guy who was right next to him, Airsoft Thaddie, aka Chris. Airsoft Thaddie is a YouTube legend. If you want to know more about him, there's a fantastic documentary from a few years ago called "Full Force." And it was done by iDUBs, who I have a lot of thoughts on iDUBs as a content creator. But he was mainly known for his content cop series, bad unboxing Kickstarter craft. And iDUBs had a lot of-- he also had a lot of controversy. He's changed a lot recently. But probably about four years or so ago, he did a great documentary on Airsoft Thaddie, called "Full Force." And he was the guy who was right next to Badlands up there on the stage. And he also puked pretty quick too. So anyways, yeah, Badlands, shout out to Badlands. Let me brought that up. We have respect to the chuggers today on the show. Those guys don't get enough love on the 4th of July. But Badlands, if there was odds on that, which I'm sure that there were, I'm sure he was such a crazy favorite that nobody put money on him. See, the people who won money on the 4th of July on this contest this year are the people who had like deep dish or maybe like-- I mean, really honestly, the majority of the other people up there, I mean, Jeffrey Esper would have been the other favorite this year. But like people who put money on the contest before, they found out Chestnut wasn't going to be doing it. Because there were some lines that were already open before they announced Chestnut wasn't going to be in the competition. So if people put money on like deep dish Birelli months ago, they would have just won a ton of money. Because Chestnut was like such a favorite. Those guys were such massive underdogs. But so anyway, I hope that some people made some good money on the hot dog contest this year too. People who had non-chestnut entries for Chestnut pulled out. So anyway, yeah, we can-- we can talk wrestling. I know people don't fall. I mean, the funny thing is, a lot of the comments in the chat so far today are about this. So I'm glad that people are interested. There's a lot of crossover in professional wrestling. You've had an immediate, believe it or not. Chestnut Megabyte Ronnie. Some people do both, actually. Love Megabyte Ronnie. Let's get into our topics of the day. Over a million fans and a great number in the demo tuned in. It was a great show. And I think it's been a run of great shows. A.W. Dynamite last night. Big show. A lot happening on that show. But the two biggest things coming out of it. Brian Danielson, winning the Own Heart Men's Foundation Tournament. He will face four of Strickland at A.W. Allen. And Mariah Mae, winning the Own Heart Women's Foundation Tournament. She will face Tony Storm. More on Mariah Mae. Not only does she face Tony Storm, but she went ahead and just kicked Tony Storm's ass at the end of the show last night. What did you think of this closing angle, Jensen? Um, so first off, I think we all expected Mariah Mae to win the tournament. Like, you know, this writes itself. Allen, Wembley. You got Mariah Mae versus Tony Storm. And they've been building up, you know. It was clear that this was the direction they were going. And they've built it up really, really well. And I think that Tony Storm is one of the best characters in wrestling right now. She's having great matches. Total reinvention of her character. Since switching over the timeless Tony stuff. So I want to give her all the credit in the world. And Mariah Mae did a great job as kind of like her understudy up to this point. And so I want to put that out there first. Because it was an obvious route that they were heading. But I did not expect the trouble. I mean, I figured one of the two would turn at some point. But I think the way that it was done yesterday was really, really well done. Because I honestly wasn't sure which way they were going to go. I don't know if Tony was going to turn. Because she pretty much is a heel that gets baby taste reactions. Which is something that a lot of the main event talent in ADW has going for them right now. Which we've talked about before. But I was like, well, maybe they'll just lean into Tony being more of a heel. Because she basically already is a heel. But they went the opposite route. Which I think makes sense. Because she's already getting sheered as a baby face. So like you might as well give people even more reason to get behind her heading into the match with Mariah. I also think Mariah will probably beat her at all in. So and then that gives Tony a chance to chase her back in story. There's a lot they can do with this between the two of them. I don't think this really ends at all in probably. So I thought it was done well. I thought the match between Willow and Mariah, it was very good. And I think that, like I said, I didn't expect the turn to happen right when it did. Because I know they'd been doing the overrun. But it's like the show was pretty much ending. Like Mariah is about to get her trophy and her belt. And then she just brutally attacks Tony. Bloodies are up. Hits sort of the head over and over. Watch for the shoe over and over and over. She digs that thing into her skull. Mariah's bleeding all over the place. She like kisses her with the agile, your blood on her face. That was, they did a good job in a very short amount of time of giving the perception of Mariah from like happy, fun loving. Once you go, you know, once a kiss, you had to have a good time. But like, you know, it was also a good wrestler to like, oh no, she's actually just a psychopath. Like that's, and I think that's, you know, mission accomplished from last night. I thought the closing angle was amazing. I do, I don't know if it's not quite a criticism. I do wonder if it was too early. Because it seemed like you could have dragged out, not dragged out, but you could have gotten more out of. We're seven weeks away from all in. Like we're, we're ways away from all in here. So I do wonder if they could have gotten more out of Tony kind of feeling comfortable or, you know, sad eye looks kind of slow burn it a little bit more instead of doing the turn the way they did. That takes nothing away from the effectiveness of how good. Last night was, we'll kind of find out in the coming weeks if it was a little bit too early, depending on how the rest of it plays out in seven weeks. If by the time we get to all in, this angle isn't as hot as it was last night, then it's possible they, they pulled the trigger on this turn a little bit too early. But as far as what we saw last night, it was great about Mariah. It showed a level of viciousness that she needed to show in this angle. Obviously the way that Tony was bloodied and just like straight from the forehead was really great. My guy, Luther, unfortunately get kicked in the balls. They keep kicking this man in the balls. What's happening here? They threw him off of a table. Didn't like it. Yeah. But yes, uh, it was a great, great closing angle. And yeah, it seemed like this whole thing was set up from Mariah May to win. I think we both probably did gain Mariah May to win when the tournament officially started. So not surprising that she did win. The actual turn was very, so the way it was done and doing it like last night was very surprising because I thought they were going to, you know, milk it a little bit more of what would happen when they, you know, Tony knew she was going to have to face Mariah. Mariah knew she was going to have to face Tony. How does this all play out where they're headed to order showdown with each other? Oh, now they know and they know that Tony has revenge on the mind from Mariah May. So that was great looking forward to the match. I've set it on the show. I've set it on other shows. This has been the best story AEW has had for a while now. It's been the most consistent story. It's been the most well told story. The side quest has been good and they've made sense with everything because they've always given you a piece of this story in that kind of stuff. Whether it's the Serena Deeb feud, the Deanna Paraza feud, they've always continued to go forward with the Mariah and Tony stuff as well. So this has been really well done. And I really look forward to the match at all end. So yeah, then the other one, Brian Danielson, he won, he beat hangman page. A little divided. I mean, Chiatown Spurs kind of said he's mad at Danielson for ruining the, I don't want to put words in his mouth. I don't think he said ruin. He just, he killed, that's worse than ruin. He killed the hangman swerve angle. He blames me. I didn't book it. I mean, I pushed heavily for it. I feel I was listening to. I appreciate that. But Brian Danielson, winning, going on to face Swerve Strickland at all end. Yes. And there's more that comes out of that too that we'll have that we'll get into. So like, as far as Danielson, winning, we'll start there. I have mixed feelings on this. I kind of have to work backwards a little bit. So when it comes to the outcome of this, and it comes to like hangman and Swerve, because that's what I think a lot of the, the, the bait will be about. It's like, should they have done hangman versus Swerve at all end or done. Danielson versus Swerve, but obviously when it comes to hangman, he is now joining the elite team for blood and guts. And that's no coincidence that he did that right after Swerve announced that he was going to be on team AEW. So like clearly they are going to go back to hangman and Swerve. Like that is still, that's still a main story. So I, I wanted to put that out there first because I don't want anyone to think that I was ignoring that aspect of this, because clearly hangman versus Swerve, storyline wise is the, is one of the bigger, long-term stories that AEW has had. And it's not done clearly and blood and guts will be the next step to that. Now when it comes to Danielson actually winning the tournament, the, the, the way that I look at him is this, as a, as a fan of Brian Danielson, I know you're a massive fan, I liked that we're going to get that match at Wembley. I think it's going to be a sweet environment. I think it's going to be an awesome match. I mean, Danielson is still, I mean, Danielson and Heyman had a, had a fantastic match last night. I mean, both, I don't want anything I'm about to say to be anti-Brian Danielson, but I got to kind of set it up with the, the, the confusion that I have. And I don't know if this was designed this way and maybe it was is like a reverse psychology thing. It's strange to me that Brian Danielson is doing public interviews, literally saying like, I don't want to be the world champion. And like they're putting him in the world title matches on TV. And I'm like, well, if you don't want to be the world champion, then why are we going to tournament for the world title? Why are you in a world title match? Like, are you not going to win? Like, you don't, you know, they know you don't want to be the champion. So like, should I be invested in you becoming the champion? Cause like, if you don't want it, I don't really want it for you. Because do what you want to do if you don't want to be the champion, you know? So like, that's, that's the only thing to me that's weird about this, is that he like really recently talked about, like that's not a really a role he wants. But like, that's the role he's in. Now it is the role he should be in, by the way. Like, if I'm Tony Khan, if sitting there going, dude, whether you want it or not, like you're one of my biggest stars, it's your last year in wrestling. We have massive events coming up and like, we want you to be featured as the main star. Whether you, whether you want it or not, whether you want to be selfish or not, or you want to be, you know, giving or not. Like, that's, that's why you're here, dude. Like, we want you to be one of the top guys. So do you, do you get where I'm coming from with that though, Jeremy? Isn't that like, because I know like back in the day, Sean Michaels basically said the same stuff. Like, he didn't want the world championship and he was still like a perennial man of that level guy. But it would still take me out of some of his title matches because in the back of my mind, I was thinking like, he said he doesn't want to be the champion. So I doubt he's going to win this match or that match. For the championship. So anyway, what are your thoughts on, on this, uh, Jeremy? Dude, you had that already. Um, yeah, I, I'm, you know what, and, and to be fair, I did mention that just a second ago, is this a reverse psychology move where like, it's to make the, the smarts like myself think. Oh, he doesn't really want the title, so he's not going to win. And then he totally wins it. One for our audio listeners, by the way, I put up a graphic of a headline. I wrote a window February 2022, two years ago, Brian Danielson. I love to lie. Cody Rhodes taught me how fun lying is. Yeah. I think he's just lying in interviews. Do I think like part of him is like, I don't really need the world title. Like it's because he hasn't held it at this point and he could have held it. Molt, or he could have held any title at any point. He's Brian Danielson. Do I think part of him truly believes that? Yeah, a little bit. I also think he's just lying and he just, he has no issue doing it. He winning the title. He's fine winning the title and he's saying the stuff in interviews. So you do believe, oh, Brian's not going to win. And then when he wins, everyone cheers as they should. Yeah, so reverse psychology route, which to be fair, it's not, it's not, I guess, a bad move. It's kind of a bad move if you lose. And people are going to feel like it was like a forearm conclusion if you lose it. Now, let me ask you, Jeremy, do you think, do you think Danielson wins this match? Yes. You think he wins the world title? Yes. I don't think they're doing all of this. I don't think they're having him beat hangmen. I don't think they are, yeah, largely just having him beat hangmen and putting him in the finals, going all the way to all one and then half and lose. Yeah, I think you're probably right. You know, so we're just not going to run with this thing. You know, I don't want to take anything away from Swerve either. He had a good promo last night, like joining a team AEW for Blood and Guts. But it does seem to me that the, you know, the chance for like who's house, Swerve's house, and stuff like that are dying down a little bit. But also maybe that's kind of in comparison to some of the other stuff going on in the show. Like, I don't know, it's kind of hard to, but we've always kind of talked about that. Like the second that Swerve won the title, his booking was a little strange at points, like where he's doing like opening segments and like still not kind of main eventing. And, but the thing is, like, obviously Swerve has great matches and he's very over. And like, I don't have a problem with him continuing to be the world champion at all. I think, you know, from, from, from most like measurable, you know, statistics or whatever you look at, I think Swerve's doing a really good job as a champion. He's a guy who's never been a world champion in a major company before. Like this is a big, it's a big move and a big spot for him. And I think he is doing really well. Yeah, I think Swerve is still very over with the crowd. By the way, the crowd sucked last night. I thought they were piping in booze at one point. It was so bad. Like I... That's, that's fair. That, that could have been the case. Last night, it just seemed like it was quiet. But that was, that was probably the overall crowd. So that's, that's fair. That's fair. Go back and people, you can do this if you want. When MJF first appears on screen during that Will Osprey promo, it sounds like fake crowd noise. And I don't know if that's true or not, but the crowd was not good all night. So yeah, when he first appeared, I was like, is that just fake noise? Like the way it came off felt like fake crowd noise. But then the crowd was terrible all night. So if they, if it was fake crowd noise, which I actually don't think it was, it just happened to sound that way. Whether it was bad miking, bad crowd, crowd wouldn't good last night. Okay, that, that's fair. I'm glad you, I'm glad you clarified that because that's, that's all, hopefully that's all that that was. Because, because to be fair, like Swerve has been, we've gotten way lot of reactions in all of the other weeks, really. Just last night, I just kind of noticed. I was like, that's just kind of seen him. But would you like it? Yeah, so that's what I was just saying. It was a Chicago show. There were Swerve South Shins before the show started. And then during Hangman and Jerry. Yeah, there was a thing that was, that pissed off Hangman because they were still cheating. Right. We're Swerve. I think Swerve is still very over. I'm not taking anything from last night's crowd because they just sucked. Okay. Oh, that's fair. I'll, I'm fine with running back what I, what I said then about that. Like, that's, I can totally, I can totally see that. Also, excuse me. Also, I noticed last night, Hangman came out of the babyface tunnel. Which, and I've been saying it the whole time, Hangman is the babyface. Like he has been a babyface the entire time. I get what he's doing. A lot of stuff is very heelish. I've compared it many times to action movies. is like the movie The Crow, like, you know what I mean? The stuff that that guy did, Draven, I believe his name was, they were the Eric Draven with something? I can't remember. - Yeah, yeah. - They're in a long time since he's not a movie. But like the stuff he does, I mean, he tortures and, and, and, you know, gets serious revenge on the people who like killed his family. I mean, like, in the, the point is, I mean, like, like, like, you know, these movies like, like taken and stuff like that, like, you don't care how the guy gets his daughter back. Like you, he does whatever he has to because he's protecting his family. And those are the bad guys. Swerve is the bad guy. Swerve is the guy who came into his house and threatened his child. Swerve is the guy that went into, you know, Buddy Wayne's training facilities and, and bloodied up, you know, little Nick Wayne before he turned to the dark side and all that stuff. And like, I mean, he's on the diabolical stuff. He's a heel and he hasn't really changed at all. Even in his promos, like, he's cutting basically heel promos, but getting baby face reactions. Now, I think A.W. is gonna do a good job of like leaning heavy to basically make King Man a heel out of this because like, what he's doing, like, they clearly know he's getting, he's getting heel reactions, but he's also so good in the ring that he's gonna get popped during his matches because like the matches are so good. So it's, it's just, it's an interesting spot 'cause it's almost like the kind of like gray area choose your own adventure here where it's like, if you like King Man, ride with King Man. If you like Swerve, ride with Swerve. But either way, people are gonna be making noise and people are invested in the two of them in the story. So I think from that aspect, like it's, it's all good. But yeah, I, I thought that was interesting though. Hey man, coming out of the baby face tunnel, like clearly he sees himself as a baby face still. And then as I mentioned before, Swerve said he was gonna be joining AWC for Blood and Guts. And then, you know, the next segment pretty much, Hey man, is telling the elite, Hey, I'm in. And it's like, well obviously, Hey man, then because Swerve's in 'cause he still wants to get it Swerve. - And because he lost, if Hangman had won, would he care about being in Blood and Guts? You know, he might just like, no, you, all you guys fight. I got my shot at Wembley. I don't need to get at him at Blood and Guts. So Hangman losing played into also joining the Blood and Guts team. - One, one million percent, absolutely. And they can even play that a little bit off is like, Hey man being so ultra focused and just, you know, seeing Red that he, like he had, he had Danasson dead to rights so many times that match. Or I thought Danasson was just done. And he, he pulled it out. That match was awesome. Like I love that match between Hey man and Danasson. But yeah, but anyway, we're ultimately kind of getting, I think we're gonna kind of get everything we want out of this stuff eventually, like as this all plays out, you know, Danasson versus Swerve is gonna be a really good match, gonna be an awesome match. And I think it'd be an awesome moment to see Danasson win the championship. Do you think that if Danasson wins the title, does he hold it for a while? Like pretty much until he's done? Or does he lose it back to Swerve? Or does he lose the Hey man maybe? I just feel like Hangman and Swerve, when they do that again, will be for the title, but it doesn't necessarily have to be though. I mean, it's kind of like McIntyre and Punk at this point where like, you don't really need the championship attached 'cause those guys hate each other so much, you know what I mean? - I think they do a rematch at WrestleDream, which is first weekend in October. And then that's gonna be in Seattle. That might be Danasson's last kind of full time match. I think that's where this ends up going. - That's basically hometown for Swerve too. Like he's huge out of Seattle. So that makes sense. He'd be getting maybe his reactions against Hey man here for sure. That's smart. - I do wonder what is next for Hangman coming out of this. Like who does he face at all in? As much as I love Danielson, as much as I do think Danielson should have won, Danielson should win the title. I do understand the sentiment from a lot of fans who are thinking, how are you not doing Hangman and Swerve in front of 80,000 people? I don't know if they'll get 80, but in front of your biggest crowd, essentially. How are you not doing this match in front of your biggest crowd? We're still gonna get Hangman and Swerve. I don't think there's any doubt about that. They're not just gonna, they clearly still have plans for it. As we saw, that's why Hangman's in Blood and Gods and Swerve's in Blood and Gods. At some point, we're going to get that match. You only got one show a year where you do this big of an audience. Whether they wanna say it or not, 'cause I know they're like saying every show is the biggest show ever, all ends their biggest show. They tell you that because they're holding it in a stadium with the most amount of fans you can put for any show of the year. So this is their biggest show of the year. And they're not doing arguably, they're doing one of their hottest storylines, which is Mariah and Tony, but they're not doing their other hottest storyline, which is Hangman and Swerve. They're giving us Danielson, love Danielson, but I understand the sentiment of how are you not doing Hangman and Swerve on this show? We're still gonna get it. It's still gonna do very well. It's still gonna do a number. Crowd is still gonna be very into it. But I, again, I get it. This would be like, I don't always like using comparisons, but instead of doing Cody and Roman at WrestleMania, which is the biggest show, oh, we'll just do Cody and Roman at backlash, the following month. We're still gonna get the match, but we're not getting it at what is the biggest show of the year for the company. So I get the sentiment. - Right, and then the other sentiment would obviously be, 'cause it felt like if they, it felt even more to me like they were gonna do Hangman and Swerve when it was clear that they weren't gonna do Osprey for the world title, 'cause that's still in the back of my mind. It's like, y'all are still going to Wembley. This is Osprey territory and the fact that he's not involved in the world title to me at this point now is even more surprising 'cause I figured, well, if you're not doing Osprey, then clearly the only thing that would be bigger would be Swerve and Hangman, I think. And that's even arguable if that's bigger. It's bigger big picture, Swerve and Hangman, it's like the actual AEW universe, you know, if you will, but like specifically for Wembley Stadium, biggest show of the year, and geographically where that show takes place, it's like Osprey is like the obvious person to be building that show around. But the other thing is like, I don't wanna take anything away from Danielson at all. Like I don't wanna, this doesn't sound like, oh, this isn't a good thing for Brian Anderson, in Brian Anderson fans. Like I am a big Brian Anderson fan myself. I do think it'd be cool to see him whole day. It would almost feel wrong if we look back at the history books years from now. And Brian Danielson was never a champion in AEW during this run. Like, I mean, I think for history's sake at the very least, and as like a thank you to him, 'cause like when he came over to WWE, there was a lot of people coming over from WWE at AEW at that time, the product at that time sucked. That's not really a stretch to say. That's my own personal opinion, but it was a real downtime in WWE. There's a lot of people who wanted out of their contracts. This was still very Vince heavy stuff, and you know, people needed change. And Danielson took a big leap of faith by leaving the WWE where he is, was he inducted to the Hall of Fame and the WWE already? - No. - No. But he's a guy who's definitely gonna be in the WWE Hall of Fame. A guy who was one of the most overbaby faces in the history of the company. A guy that we both got to see when the championship at WrestleMania 30, and one of the most just, that was one of the most, I don't know how to really describe it, like that's like the almost the most over you can like see somebody be. Brian Danielson winning that championship at WrestleMania 30, like he hit the highest of the heights. He's in very rarefied air of guys like, there's maybe like five guys like over the past couple of decades that have hit the level of love and fame and stardom and respect that Brian Danielson has in the WWE system. And for him to leave that and come help AEW how he has. And to basically go back to his roots and be able to have this banger after banger after banger against guys he hasn't been able to mix it up with for a long time or maybe for the first time, I think it'd be, I think Danielson deserves his flowers and I think it'd be great to see him win the championship at Wimbledon in front of the humongous crowd. So like that's the other thing about AEW where like even my complaints about AEW most of the time, they're like the best problems to have. Like I'm over here, we're over here like debating, well, should it be Swerve who's awesome? Should it be Hangme and who's awesome? Should it be Osprey who's awesome? Should it be Danielson who's awesome? I mean, these are good problems to have. So, you know, and I do as a fan, I do hope that Danielson wins the championship. Once again, nothing against Swerve but I'd like to see Danielson win that championship at all. - And I don't think Danielson's having a long run again. I think he probably loses it at Russell Dream if he does win the title. Anything else from Dynamite that you just want to kind of hit on? - Yeah, man, Jericho putting Samoa Joe through that wall. Man, that was brutal, man. That was brutal. I'm surprised Joe survived that. - Oh, Daniel, you gotta take the local medical facility. - Yeah, but I think he's alive right now, right? I mean, I haven't checked. - I don't know. - That was brutal, that was brutal. Trying to think, Mercedes Monet and Britt Baker, I've liked everything they've done with one another so far. I think that this is by far the most invested in interest that I've been in. Mercedes and she's coming to the company. And that's once again, that's nothing against Willow 'cause I like the matches that the two of them had. And I'm like humongous, fan of Willow but I just feel like with Britt coming back and the story that, you know, that they're telling with her and that the real life stuff that she went through to get back to where she's at, you know, I like the dynamic between those two. I don't necessarily love some of the stuff that Mercedes said. Like she basically used like having like a stroke against her and stuff like that. And like that seems kind of low, but at the same time, like that's the point she's a heel. And I highly doubt that she's saying anything that hasn't been okayed by Britt herself. Like I doubt that they're putting each other in bad positions and going into business against each other and stuff like that. So they gotta get these people on a bitch counter. Everyone just ended their promos with bitch. - I feel like that's reserved for Ocada at this point or at least should be reserved for Ocada at this point. I understand Swerve saying it to Ocada 'cause it's kind of become Ocada's line. - Then you had Osprey say it. I don't remember if MJF said it. Mercedes said it, Britt said it last week. Everybody's just saying bitch. Like if you can't succinctly make your point without saying bitch to find a different point to make. Like we don't need that as the capper. My lovely wife said that, maybe they're just doing like super troopers where they're like, let's hear me out. - Yeah. - They're the meows. - How do you say it? - Yeah. - Like just how many times you can say it on a show? Look if it's a bit of how many times you can just get it on the show, fine. I actually respect that. But everyone's saying it, it's just what a, come on guys. Figure out something. Figure out something else. - Yeah, yeah, I'm with you. I don't think there's anything else from last night that was like, it was anything that you can think of that is worth diving into. - Are we getting talked with Swerve and we're getting Swerve and Ocada next week. I was saying Swerve and Blood and Gut. Starby Allen's back. I assume he'll be on Team AEW for Blood and Gut. - The Osprey and MJF promos from Collision and then last night, I think the match is going to be great. This is not my style of build. Not really a fan of, you're trying to kill the company and even though you have an AEW tattoo. - Right. - And it's just, there's a disconnect in the material. For me with what both of them are delivering, honestly. 'Cause I liked the majority of MJF's promo on Saturday. I think the closing wasn't great. And then Osprey, there was some good stuff in there, but it's just not my style of match build. It's going to take nothing away from the match. I know that's going to be great. I'm looking forward to it. They put two big matches and a Mercedes match on Dynamite for next Wednesday. It's going to be a big show. But the actual promo material from these guys, I'm just like, I don't really care that you guys are fighting over company loyalty. - Yeah, I mean, Osprey is pretty new to the company. Also, it's all like he was like a day one writer die AEW guy. And MJF is, and he's the one who's trying to kill the company, which is backwards. And as you mentioned, he literally has an AEW tattoo. I've heard people joke about how, like, eventually he'll, he'll-- - Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your writer die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. 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We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. - At King Super's Pharmacy, care is what's most convenient for you. Care is being here when you need us. We're open evenings and weekends. Care is helping you save more. Most insurance plans and discount cards are accepted at your local King Super's Pharmacy. Care is saving you time by managing your prescriptions online. You can request free fills, check order status, and more. Care is convenience that works for everyone. King Super's a world of care is in store. Services and availability vary by location. Age and other restrictions may apply for coverage, consult your health insurance company. Visit the Pharmacy or our site for details. - Real that to be like the WWE logo when you jump shift, like the tattoo change. Yeah, no, I'm with you though. The match is gonna be great. We can't stress that enough. I mean, obviously, it's gonna be an amazing match. And I'm looking forward to that next week. But I'm with you. I think the build hasn't been great. The promos haven't been like the best. - They're delivering. By the way, their delivery is very good. There's a lot of conviction in what they're saying. I have nothing against the way. I actually thought Osprey's promo was, he sounded way more confident on the mic than even Swerve last night. I let Swerve lacked a little confidence in his promo for, and that's typically not like Swerve. So their delivery, both of them is very good. It's just the material I'm not the biggest fan of. - Yeah, no, I'm with you. Like the MJ, or sorry, Osprey even mentioned like the bidding war of 24. And I was gonna bring that up too. That is, I don't know how that was fumbled so badly. And I might be the only one who feels this way, but I don't know how, like they were building up his free agency for years before 2020. I mean, back in like 2022 probably, MJ was talking about the bidding war of 24 and all this stuff. And granted, he was off television and the whole devil, Adam Cole, undisputed kingdom thing, like totally through everything off probably. But his face turned through everything off. You couldn't exactly do, I'm jumping shift to WWE when he was playing baby face the whole time. - Right, which I've said a million times, I thought it was a mistake also. Like I know that he was getting big reactions and like there was a, like there was big reactions at a point for MJF and Adam Cole and the whole friendship and stuff like that. But I really felt like they jumped the shark once he started doing kangaroo kicks and stuff. I was like, this is too far from the heel MJF that I think has been so well built on his entire indie run and then also his whole run in AEW for that point. But no, you're right. I mean, but also that like was my point, that ties into the whole industry kingdom devil thing was MJF being a baby face. Like I think it's another thing that we will probably look back on, like if things don't go great for MJF. I mean, the thing is MJF's still obviously doing fine. Like he's going to be one of the top guys so probably the AEW role champion he had at some point. He's having big matches and he's a heel again, which is the right move. But I feel like there was such a missed opportunity with that whole bidding war of 24th thing with him as a heel and they just completely, we just really didn't get it. So yeah, and I also brought that up last night and it's just, you know, it is what it is. So yeah, I don't know, I don't know. It's interesting, like you said, that Osprey basically defending the pride of AEW. And MJF is the one, quote unquote, trying to kill it, but MJF is the one with an AEW tattoo and has been there since day one and had the option to leave, to go somewhere else. You know, I have no idea what like his options were. I have no idea, you know, what the WWE offered him, if they offered him, whatever. We have to assume that there was interest. So, you know, he stayed in AEW. So yeah, this all seems a little backwards. But let him there's a heel again. He got his strength against our side enough. That's the right move. - Well, the bidding war didn't go his way. And so apparently, Tony Khan underpaid MJF because he decided to pay Osprey and Ocada and Mercedes because they want to help elevate the company even though Ocada immediately turned on Tony Khan and tried to murder him. - Yeah, put him in that place immediately. And then Mercedes is like, which again, Mercedes being a heel is the right move. Like this is the right move, but yeah, it's strange. But I've also been talking about this since before MJF even left, but I was talking about it the entire time he was gone before his return. I was like, I'm very concerned about the trajectory of what this is gonna look like when he comes back. And part of it, it's been interesting, right? 'Cause like part of it is like he came back and he pretty much just like squashed out of cold real quick. He had him with like a brainbuster and like, we're pretty much like, I'm done with that. And then like did his little mini feuds with like Hicocero and Roush and his little baby face thing is a beautiful day, Triple H, you know, best as per guard, he returned with the jean jacket. Did all that, right? So he like, I feel like he got all the baby face out of his system. And now you can just go back to being a heel. And maybe, I don't know if this is gonna work or not because I'm just gonna kingdom is so bad. But like, Adam Cole will come back as a baby face. Like do they revisit Adam Cole and MJF? 'Cause like there's so much unfinished there that they didn't do. Or do they just move past it? Or is Adam Cole gonna come back and be like, see I told you guys the entire time, like he is the devil. He is a bad guy. And Adam Cole is gonna actually be a baby face coming out of this. And they're still gonna wind up going that route. And also who knows when Adam Colosha is coming back? This is, this injury is taking forever to come back from. So like, I don't know, I have a lot of concern about MJF and like his current standing in his future with AEW because I'm a big fan of his. And I think he should be the top heel in the business. But he is gonna have great matches. And I am looking forward to the offspring match, but it's just, you know, after that, like what's next, you know? - It's gonna be, it's gonna be a really good match. And I don't know who's gonna win either. It's very possible MJF wins the international title from Osprey. And then I don't know if they do a rematch at all in. Garcia is still in the mix. He's gonna come back at some point. He's gonna have a big match against MJF at some point. That was kind of agreed to for all in, but that was also before MJF nearly murdered the man. So MJF could always just go like, just kidding, I ain't giving you a match at all. And classic heel move. So we shall see on that. All right, let's get into some WWE. And because of one of our WWE topics, let's bring back this old ebook. - I'm old and I'm fucking tired. And I work with fucking children. I'm tired of wrestling these kids that think they, they know everything. - I felt like a kid on Saturday, Stephen Jensen, because John Cena came out and said he is done. I appreciate it. I have Maya, you can't see me. Sweat band right there. - There you go. - John Cena said 2025 will be the last year of his career. He's gonna work the rumble. He's gonna work mania. He's gonna work the entire year until December when he finally finishes everything up. What are your thoughts on John Cena's upcoming retirement tour? What are some ideas that you have for Cena? Whether it be a mania match, a last match? What does this look like in your head? - So two things that I think absolutely have to happen on this final run. One, he's got to wrestle Cody and pass the torch. That's for sure gonna happen, David Lee. He's gotta lose to Cody, but hear me out here. So it depends on when they do each of these matches. - I think, listen, they've already teased Cody and Cena, not necessarily against each other, but like the passing the torch where Cena's come out on the stage with him during WWE shows and held his arm up and like, I know it in him basically, he's the next, this is your next guy. They had the moment of course at WrestleMania where I'm actually kind of wearing the John Cena, or sorry, the Cody Rhodes friend's gear right now. We got the undertaker who saved Cody Rhodes. We got John Cena. - Where's he at at? - He had sunglasses at. - I need to get some gay use of stuff. But it, you know, so they have this little history and Cena and Cody and Cena of course once again came out and helped Cody during WrestleMania. I think that that match has to happen at some point during this next, you know, what technically a year and a half basically. But I also think, and this is mainly because there's two World Championships, this makes it a lot easier of a possibility. I think John Cena has to win number 17 before he's done two, whether it's his last match or whatever. Like I think that Cena needs to win a 17th World Championship. I think it'd be cool if he won the WWE Championship, the one that Cody holds. I just think that that throws too much off of like everything else going on with like the Rock eventually coming back and the Rock and Cody, and then like during the Rock and Roman simmering for some point and, you know, there's other stuff you can do with Cody and stuff that's built in with like Randy Orton. There's a lot of other ways you can go and that doesn't involve John Cena beating Cody Roach with that championship. But on the other side, you've got the World title of the Damian Priest currently holds. You've got Gunther, in my opinion, the only Crown Champion. Like I'm very confident Gunther's gonna win the title at SummerSlam. So whether it's Gunther or somebody else, maybe it's, maybe CM Punk, I mean, I could see Drew McIntyre becoming the champion again and CM Punk maybe, maybe John Cena beat CM Punk for the World Championship. Like they have a ton of history obviously. So I could see that maybe. Maybe that's some stuff that I'll throw out there. I'll say Cena versus Punk for the World title and Cena wins that from him. And I want to see Cena put over Cody over the next year and half also. Those are two, two major things I'd like to see. Regardless of who Cena wins the title from though. And here's all the thing I'll say, I'll clarify this. I'll get this right out of the way. If John Cena beat Cody Roach for the championship, I'm not gonna be buttered over it. It'd be really damn cool for John Cena to win that 17th title. And for, I mean, 'cause Cody's still got time ahead of him. He's still the face of the company. But John Cena should win 17 before he's done. - All right, I got it, ready? - Yeah, let's hear it. - Royal Rumble, John Cena wins. - The Royal Rumble. He goes on to WrestleMania to challenge for the WWE Championship against the Rock because the Rock defeats Cody at the Royal Rumble to win the WWE title. Thrice in a lifetime. They are one-in-one against each other. Rock John Cena, WrestleMania 41. - So I don't think that's necessarily the worst idea in the world. But I think that that's actually somewhat of a possibility. I, at least the first part of that, I think is a very real possibility. I think it's very possible John Cena wins the Royal Rumble. He was even talking about it in the post fight press conference where he was like, you know, there's ways to get to the championship. Like there's, you know, there's the Rumble, there's Elimination Chamber, there's Money in the Bank. So he's got it on his mind. And there's no way that the company doesn't have it on their mind too. I mean, this is their opportunity. And John Cena's even been saying that he's had kind of like a loose idea, or like a script of like, kind of what he wants his send-off to look like. And now is the right time to execute that. So like, I think that definitely includes him winning the championship again. But even if it was like his last match ever and he did it, then like they had to like put the title up after or something. - Yeah, I don't like that. - You know, like you think you should put someone over on the way out? - Other people have suggested like he wins the title on his last match and then vacates it. You know, people playing off Sting a little bit since Sting did it. Like Sting didn't win the title. And his last match, he was kind of already the champion going into it. And then there's just a big difference between Sting and John Cena. And there's a big difference between the tag team titles and the world title as well. I think like winning in that moment also kind of just helped Darby Allen get over. - Yeah. - Because really helped Darby Allen get over the entire tag team run. But holding the titles, vacating the titles. - Did I lose? - Okay, yes. I was sorry. - I'm sorry. - So what I was saying, what I was saying is like Sting winning the tag team title was Darby Allen. Also obviously helped Darby Allen the entire run and then being a final champion, vacating the titles. John Cena winning a world title. And then just immediately vacating. I don't think that actually helps anybody. I get like it's a cool moment, but I don't feel like it actually helps anybody. - What if you won the world championship and then they retired that title and just had the WWE champion going back and forth. Like they just made one world champion again. I like that idea. - I'm okay with that. 'Cause I do kind of think the world title isn't always necessary, but they've done a good job of making that title feel important since introducing. I know we all laugh that up like, oh, this is just a title because Roman's on a round, but they've done a good job of establishing that title. And Janet does not like that in the chat. No one title again. - Yeah. - I understand the sense. - That would be a for it. - Yeah, that would be a polarizing idea. My personal preference is one world champion for one company, but I understand wanting to have a champion on both. But when you have, it's a little different when like your Roman reigns and you're rarely ever there and like you're the champion of one show that you're kind of like not really on often. Like when he was a champion and he was on SmackDown for like four years, but Cody's different where Cody's like, you could have Cody on Raw and on SmackDown. And Cody, I think Cody has had the most in-ring matches in the WWE of any one on the roster in 2024 at this point, which is like literally the exact opposite of Roman Reigns being the champion of the last few years. So like, you know, Cody could be the champion on both shows. And I think a lot of the people on the current main roster, they could easily have them. Cause I mean, that's the thing that people don't consider also is like the workload of whether they're on Raw or SmackDown, they're really wrestling like the same amount of times, right? It'd be as like live events and stuff like that. Like, you know what I mean? Like just cause you're on Raw and SmackDown doesn't necessarily your meaning that you're working more days a week or just working, you know, Monday and Friday instead of like Monday and then whatever, like other day you'd be doing a live events or press or whatever for the company. So like, anyway, I think they could go back to one champion, but I understand the idea and like the need for having champion championship present on both shows. But yeah, I'm, it's bittersweet though, right? Like John Cena is a big part of our lives, you know? He was a, we'll talk more about him throughout it. You know, the rest of his run and when he retires to give kind of like my eulogy here to his career, but I'm glad that they've announced it somewhere to Brian Danielson. They've announced that I had a time and they can get people hyped up, like when WWE's coming to your town and you know that Cena's gonna be there, like you're gonna wanna take it because you're gonna wanna see him for the last time. So I like that WWE's marketing this. It's not coming out of nowhere. And good for John Cena. I mean, this is a guy who like, like that's, the Nicki movie was funny. Like I've seen a lot of his stuff. This, the Nicki movie was funny. The, the first vacation friends movie I thought was really funny. The second one, not so much, but that's like every sequel. But like Cena's got a good thing going for him. Like in, in the movie world, in the entertainment world and you know, Peacemaker successful and stuff like that. And so, you know, he's got options outside of this, but I like that he's wanting to go hard again for another year and a half for the WWE. And, and I'd imagine with the new ownership and leadership, you know, R.I. Manuel and TKO and Iraq and Triple H and everyone involved that Cena probably wants to be a part of that. Whether it's, whether it's, you know, full-time or not, I'd imagine he's the kind of guy who, if he's available, he'll probably want to be, you know, backstage or helping people out or whatever. Like he probably wants to be involved, considering who's around that he can work with and stuff. Nowadays, you know, so, I'm very happy for John Cena and what he's accomplished. And, you know, getting to go out on his own terms is great. - We do need the spinner title back. - It's not a bad idea. That's not a bad idea. - I, who do you think his last match is against and like where does it take place? Cause they don't have, they say he's gonna wrestle through December. They don't run December pay-per-views. Anymore. So what would you do for like his last match? If you had the pencil, how are you booking John Cena's last match? - That's so hard to say. Like, and I can see them like making a show. Like how they, you know what I mean? Maybe they'll do like the, like I've seen his final stand type, you know, the last time you can't see me tour. I, man, that's tough. I mean, in a perfect world, I feel like the perfect send-off would be him losing to Cody and like just a literal passing it out of court. That's the match that comes to mind the most. See, the thing that also throws me off here is like him losing the awesome theory and stuff. We all, it's actually like forget all that happened. Like this is- - I don't think he should have lose. - Why does John Cena have to lose? - I'm frozen. - So you, I thought he was, I'm frozen? Hello? Hello, hello? Can you guys see me in the chat or am I- - That was- - Is it me this time? - Oh, it's you, okay. - It's typically always- - Well, you never know. Sometimes my internet goes out also on me. But I thought you, I thought you just said you wouldn't have seen a lose. - Yeah. - Honestly, I thought you just said you would have, you would have, I thought you said you would have him lose. Maybe if that was for the championship, you would have- - If it was for the championship, I don't want him winning the title and then like vacating the title. But I don't- - Okay. - Depending on who he's facing, I don't know why he has to lose his final match. He's John Cena, he's super Cena. - Baron Corbin? I mean, if he faces Baron Corbin, he should beat Baron Corbin. - Yeah, just like Kurt Angle should have. Kurt Angle should have never been in that match to begin with, that was, it should have been Angle and Cena. Anyways, that's tough, man. There's a whole list of people that he has history with. You had C.M. Paul, he got Randy Orton. - You have matches he's never had, like John Cena versus Logan Paul would be a big deal. - I think we're gonna get a last match. - I think we're gonna get a lot of these matches, by the way. - Yeah. - 'Cause I think everybody's gonna wanna work with Cena. Cena says he's gonna work dozens of dates. He said upwards of 30 to 40 matches. Even if you're doing six-man matches, tag team matches, I think you're gonna get him in the ring with a variety of people. I would do, I would do a special show, whatever it might be. You can't see me anymore, you'll never see it. Whatever you wanna call it, do a PLE. You can't do it outside in Boston in December because that would go poorly. I think if you can get a big stadium, you should do it in a big stadium because I think that thing sells out. I would probably do a Cena and Orton and I would have seen a beat, Orton. I know some fans might be upset. By seeing an Orton, there are people who have not seen, did not live through the entire rivalry of John Cena and Randy Orton. Orton is now super over. He's hit the nostalgia feel where everybody loves everything he does. I assume he's gonna turn heel within the next year anyway. So you do that one last time, then Cena can win. 'Cause I think he's gonna work with younger people in the final build up here. - Yeah, I'm with you. I like that idea. I think that'd make perfect sense. It'd also be cool if, since Danielson's wrapping up full-time, maybe a one-off, a Cena and Danielson, let's throw that out there. It'd be cool if they could get edge-back for like one match given their history. I highly doubt that that would happen. But Danielson, I'm keeping my eye out for. I don't think Danielson's ever gonna go back to full-time WWE or necessarily even really signed with the WWE again. But he's not gonna be done after AEW. Like, I think we joke about what Scott Hensley in the interview, like we expect Danielson to like hit the NBC and have like random dream matches. So like, who's to say he doesn't pop in for like one or two random WWE matches? I was like one-offs or something. Like, who knows? The possibilities are now kind of endless with the landscape of wrestling. I know some of these are pipe dreams and not necessarily likely to happen, but just throwing some stuff out there maybe. But yeah, I think that's seen an important, I got no problem with that. They're gonna be, that makes sense. That makes sense. - And I will say, they had a long time to go before we get to Cena's last match. We'll see how the entire year plays out. But it is very sad, knowing that John Cena's winding down his career that started on television in 2002. And we basically watched the whole thing. I know Cena very polarizing. A lot of love, a lot of hate. I was always rotted that with my guy, John Cena. Did not ever hate John Cena. Never turned on him. Day one, John Cena fan. - Yeah, I was definitely one of those guys who was, I hated John Cena for a large chunk of his early run. I was one of those, I've seen a haters. - And then he's in the crowd. - He did, I mean. Well, so I had come around on Cena long before, The Undertaker is a different story. The Undertaker is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time now, but that's the whole other story itself. But I saved Cody, that was sweet. Okay, so what does it have to say? Now I'm losing my train of thought, 'cause I don't think about The Undertaker, John Cena. So were you in? I know you went to WrestleMania 30 also in New Orleans. Were you there at the rock or WrestleMania that night? I was there at that one. And I'm almost positive that was the first crowd to start at the John Cena sucks chance. 'Cause I was there in the crowd. And I remember being like, I don't know if they ever heard this. And I remember like joining in on it. 'Cause like, this is awesome. Like we're, we're making our voices heard. You know what? We were hijacking the show. We're such marks, this is awesome. And that was also the night that like Paul Heyman came out and was revealed as Cesaro's new manager and page debut. It was a big role. But for Cena, like, I was always one of those John Cena soft skies 'cause I was salty about how he was beating. Guys like Shawn Michaels and Triple H and stuff. And like the main events of WrestleMania and like beating all my favorite wrestlers basically. And I never really thought he was that good at that time. I was like five moves of doom. And I was very on the internet. This is pre-social media. But I was on all those websites and message boards. And there was some people doing like YouTube videos and stuff like that. And you know, so it was one of the things where I was very anti-John Cena. And then around the time of the US title open challenges that he was doing where he started mixing it up with like Sammy Zayn and Stardust and like kind of like the indie guys that come into the WWE at that time and stuff. I gained a whole new respect for John Cena. And I realized like, oh, this guy actually can go. This guy actually does care. And the things that I don't like about him are literally designed that way because it was just like when I was a kid and Hulk Hogan was only doing a few moves and Steve Austin was really only doing a few moves. And it's like there, it is what it is. And Cena hit this level and I eventually really respected it. And I always had massive respect for all the make-a-wishes. And I saw some of his documentaries around that time too where like, you know, you're seeing him go from city to city country to country and like literally the only sleep he's getting is on airplanes. And when he's not sleeping, he's like learning Mandarin. And I mean, just not, I mean, just an ambassador for the WWE all day, every day, 360. 365 days a year, you know, I mean, just, so I have, I've always had massive respect for John Cena, but it took a long time for me to warm up to him like as a professional wrestler. But once I turn that corner, I like, I'm definitely right or die for Cena. I think that he is the goat of the WWE. I don't think he's the best, I don't think that John Cena is the best professional wrestler of all time. But I think if you're talking specifically WWE, I think John Cena is the best I've ever had. - No, John Cena is the absolute greatest all time. I mean besides Ryan Anderson. But if you objectively, I do wanna say this, objectively, objectively, if you factor in like what a pro wrestler is, there are many better than Cena. Like who else drew that level of money, stayed on top for that long. I know that's a booking decision and everything. But still, you gotta be over enough to stay on top that long. 'Cause if you're not getting it done, they'll push you down. Stayed on top for that long. Did have good matches, had promos, had memorable feuds, like the longevity of everything. Austin's run was pretty short. Rock's run, pretty short. Hogan's run was longer. Hogan is the other arguable one. But then Cena was a better in-ring worker than Hogan. Hogan probably drew more money overall. Like when you look at just overall body of work and everything that encompasses a professional wrestler. - Yeah, who's above? - I honestly wouldn't make the argument against John Cena. It's all just kind of what your preference and how you classify the best professional wrestler of all time. Because I think some of the arguments would be, these arguments go both ways. Because for instance, someone like John Cena or Shawn Michaels, I think those are two guys who are in that goat conversation. But both guys, their entire runs, essentially. Shawn had short runs like pre-www but are so long ago. That specifically WWE, because they didn't have like someone like Ric Flair obviously worked everywhere for a very long time. Someone like Chris Jericho has had, I'm not saying Jericho is above these guys, I'm just saying like when you make these kind of arguments, like people who worked in multiple companies like AJ Styles, what he did in TNA and then New Japan and then also in the WWE. Daniel Senna, multiple companies. So just like kind of that variety is I guess kind of what like Cena and someone like Michaels, my lack is that it was all just specifically in the WWE. But on the flip side of that, of course, they were so damn good that they were WWE lifers, that the WWE never wanted to get rid of that. You know what I mean? Like Hogan is another good example of like the, like Hogan is hard and the personal stuff aside, I understand the whole COVID is a very unlikable human being outside of wrestling, trust me, I get it. But like no one else did what he did with like bringing the WWE to the level that he did and then leaving and then completely reinventing himself as a heel and then making, being a big factor in why WCW is bigger than WWE at the time or WWE BAP at the time. And then coming back to the WWE and being more over than everyone on the roster of the former, they had to make him the champion again. And then, you know, so it's like these are all arguments that I totally understand. But at the end of the day, like you're saying, if someone were to have a gun to my head and be like, John Cena is the best professional wrestler of all time, every company in history, I'd be like, okay, I'm not gonna argue that. But I think there's other factors in play. Like, but that's why I say with WWE specifically, 'cause the thing with Cena is like you said, his run was, he was like 15 years on top of that company, like straight, when you really think about it, like it's unheard of what he did in that one specific company for so long as the face of that thing. So, yeah, he's a rarefied heir. I mean, he's seen a fan. - And by the way, I know it's awesome, Chuck. Like, if you wanna say Bret Hart is the greatest- - Sure. - Say, really, that you can make an argument for just about anybody, depending on what your criteria is. But I do think- - Yeah. - John Cena, regardless, he's a guy you can't tell the history of professional wrestling about without mentioning. That's typically like my qualification for like a Hall of Famer and for a Mount Rushmore. They personally, like, if I just took this person out, could you still tell the history of pro wrestling? It's a shorter list than you might think. - Yeah, I think, and that's the other thing is, if you were to just ask 100 random people on the street, you don't even know really about pro wrestling, to name a professional wrestler or tell you anything they know about professional wrestling. I can pretty much guarantee you the two names that would get brought up with either be Hulk Hogan or John Cena. It just depends on the age of the person that you're asking. But those would probably be the two main ones. Now, the Rock, obviously, is the most famous of all these people. But realistically speaking, I think he's hit that kind of like Mount Rushmore-type level in this rock. Like, what he's doing right now is like cementing that for me. I think it was always great previously, but I always saw him as the number two guy to see Boston. Like, it was a close number one in number two, but then also even then, both of those runs were very short in the grand scheme of things. Austin was the top guy for like three, four years, and the rock was like right there with him, then hung around a little bit longer once the wheels kind of fell off of Austin. He was getting those injuries. But those are the names that people would bring up. They'd probably bring up Austin, Hogan, the Rock, or John Cena. Those would probably be the main ones that get brought up. But I think that like, if you're of a certain age, like if you're of that generation right behind us, like I'm bad with like the generation Z and millennial, whatever, if you're a millennial or younger, basically, I think a lot of those people would name John Cena first off the dome is like, you know, who they associate with professional wrestling. - Let's move on quickly, 'cause I know we probably had a lot to say about Seth Rollins and CM Punk. And that's promo battle that they had. CM Punk comes out and he watched your McIntyre reinstated so we could kick his ass after costing him the world title at Money in the Bank. Seth Rollins comes out, Punk kind of sort of not really apologizes to Rollins for costing him the title so we could no longer get a shot at the world title, although they went back on that. And then Seth Rollins just says, "Nothing's ever your fault." That's how it always works with CM Punk. Nothing is ever your fault. And then he reminded him actions have consequences. There's a lot more to this promo. It was a very good promo from both men, I thought. But Jensen, I'm sure you got thoughts on what old CM Punk and Seth Rollins have to say. - Yeah, for sure. And I'll also quickly just mention the amount of bad blood is coming to Atlanta in October, so. - I simply go into that. - No, you know, I'll be there for sure. That was a sweet video that they put out for that. - If you young Metro don't trust you. - Metro, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's cool. Man, and I thought we had other topics today. I know we got indies, I thought we had some others. So that's kind of kind of be kind of quick. I mean, we have to skip around a little bit. But as far as CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. I mean, I'm sorry, Seth Rollins, and well, it's really all combined. But for Monday, Seth Rollins and Drew, sorry, Seth Rollins and Punk. I mean, he's right on the money. The people that think I'm just as massive CM Punk, Peter, I mean, there's some truth to that, I'll admit. But like, the things, there's a lot of people that follow me about CM Punk. And I've documented these things heavily over the years I've done this show. But to me, it's like he's always trying to be like the Bart Simpson of wrestling. Or like he's like that guy who like, in his mind, he's like that cute, like prankster. Like he, like, he can never just take the L. I'll just put it that he can never just take the L. He always has to have the last word. He always has that look on his face. Like, yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hear, but you know, I don't really believe what I'm saying. Even when he did the stuff with Adam Pearce afterwards backstage, and they're talking about like the consequences of these actions and unsuspecting Drew McIntyre and stuff like that. Punk's even snarky when it comes to that. It's like, Pierce is like, okay, listen, we know each other a long time. I'm gonna give you what you want, okay? And then see if I was like, fine, okay, fine, fine, fine. You know, and like, walks away, it's like, the guy just, he loves me such the wrong way and pretty much everything that he does, but, but I'm very, I like the story though, between Punk and McIntyre, 'cause that's another similar to like, someone's talking about an AEW. If you choose your own adventure type scenario, if you, if you don't like CM Punk, you're rooting for Drew. If you don't like Drew, you're rooting for Punk. If you like Punk, you're sticking with Punk. If you like Drew, you're sticking with Drew. Like, it's, you kind of choose, but people are invested and people are gonna make noise, people are into it. And it all makes sense storyline-wise, how this has all come together because Punk, screwed Drew McIntyre out of being able to cash in the money in the bank, but in the same time, he screws over Seth Rollins and Seth already hates Punk from before Punk even returning to the WWE. And the two of them were supposed to rest in each other WrestleMania for the world title. So now you have like a three-way story going on between the three of these guys. And I like all of it, I like all of it. Like, just 'cause CM Punk annoys me, it doesn't mean that it's taking away from how great Rollins is doing and how great McIntyre is doing. And if it was me, and this is probably gonna piss a lot of people off here and be say this, but hear me out, what I would do, like, do you think it's gonna be, so SummerSlam, assuming Punk's ready, SummerSlam, McIntyre and Punk, yes. I would have McIntyre beat CM Punk on that night. I know a lot of people are gonna disagree with that because you're a hater, well, well, this to me is like, dude, you're back in the mix, but Drew has been our guy and we're sticking with him. And we're gonna kinda see how you, CM Punk's got a long history with every company he's worked with, with having issues, right? That's all very well documented stuff. I'm not just making things up. I use this as almost like a litmus test of like, okay, you wanna play ball here and play by our rules and be a part of our system, you lose to Drew and your return match, but if that gets handled well and he stays a team player, you continue to build them and you have Punk get that win back, maybe at the Royal Rumble. Like you still do have, like, ultimately you do have Punk beat McIntyre. So like, I think that you can do that, but I think McIntyre needs the win first, personally. And then maybe you run a trilogy at WrestleMania or something, but you also have Seth in the mix, so you can slide him right in there against Punk at some point two and either Royal Rumble or WrestleMania, or you can have a triple threat between these three at some point. Also, like, you have a lot of great options between CM Punk through McIntyre and Seth Rollins. And as far as the promo on Monday, I feel, I feel how you would expect me to feel about it. You know, I mean, there's not a whole lot I can really add. I think that Seth Rollins is spinning straight facts when he talks about Punk. I think that Drew McIntyre is spinning straight facts about what he talks about, CM Punk. I think CM Punk is the same CM Punk. We've always known. It's just it's a CM Punk with no options after this. It's a CM Punk who cannot leave the WWE and go back to the UFC or leave the WWE and go back to AEW. So I feel like he's there to play ball, and I think part of playing ball is losing a Drew McIntyre. But we're getting some fire promos. This is a great story, and it's a story that is so big that they don't need to even involve the World Championship at the moment. So, I mean, the Championship's kind of loosely associated because of the McIntyre and the money in the bank and catching it and all that stuff, but you know what I mean. I thought it was fantastic. I thought Seth Rollins did really well in this promo. I don't know what they do moving forward. I think Seth and Punk is probably a mania match. I think Drew and Punk, assuming Punk is cleared, is probably SummerSlam, who wins? I kind of think Punk is probably going to win that first one, honestly. I think he's going to win that first one. He's got to stay healthy, though. That's obviously the biggest thing. He's got to stay healthy. Yeah, yeah. Punk can easily win. He could easily win, and then come out of the match injured, and then it's all a different conversation. Yeah, well, I still think that there's plans for Sam Punk to main event one of the Knights of WrestleMania this year. Like, I think that's the main reason outside of his lack of options to do anything else. I think his main motivation to be in the WWE to be at this point is probably to main event WrestleMania. That's like the one thing you never really got to do in his career. So, I think that's what happened. That's one thing I wish Seth hit on in the promo on Monday, because they talked about the world title and the pipe dream. What if you could have a career where the opportunities are as vast as our nation, where it's not about mission statements, but a shared mission? At US Customs and Border Protection, we go beyond to protect more than borders, from ship to shore, air to ground, cities to local communities. 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Like, no, it's a very real thing. And even Seth, I don't think he touched on it quite enough of like how he made it real, but I really wanted Seth. He could have cut of like, now that world title means something. You know what I did with that world title? I made an event in WrestleMania with that world title. Have you ever done that? I had that he could have really hammered that. And maybe he gets to it down the line, but when they were bringing up the world title and I'll punk wish us like, well, it's a pipe dream. Like, he was literally the first champion ever. What are you talking about? Right, now I'm with you. All right, we got a lot to touch on in a short amount of time. Our product is what it is. We're going straight up the middle. Seventy Becker is signed with WWE. She pulled out of a CML New Japan Rev Pro dates. They made that announcement yesterday morning that she was finishing up, or that she was basically just leaving the company. She was supposed to work fantastic on many of this weekend. They said, Seventy Becker is no longer part of our roster. And then a few hours later, Shawn Michaels said, welcome to NXT, Stephanie Becker. What are your thoughts on her leaving CMLL and New Japan and now going to WWE? Yeah, I'll make this short and sweet. It's surprising because it seemed like she just had her A.W. tryout match, right? And then she is heading to WWE. I figured that if she was leaving New Japan, CMLL, she'd be all elite. But I mean, it's a smart move by the WWE. I think that she's going to do really well in the WWE system. And it's just a new era of the WWE right now that they're able to sign these talents, bring them into NXT. And it's like in good faith. I think that it's, I think the company has real plans for these people and they bring them in now. And I think that these talents feel a lot more comfortable and confident going to the WWE, knowing that like Shawn Michaels is going to know what to do. Shawn Michaels is going to cook with them in NXT. And then like Triple H, they got a shot with Triple H eventually on the main roster if they make it there. So now it's a banger matches. I mean, obviously, Julia's going to be there soon. You've already got Roxanne Perez, they're killing it. They got a lot of really good women like on the come up right now, like so Ruka and they got a lot of talent down there. So like, so yeah, I think that I guess at the end of the day, just really more surprised that it wasn't A.W. And then it is WWE. But only surprised because she was so recently WWE. It's also the first time we've seen something like this. I mean, I remember years ago when Ben Carter, who's now known as Nathan Frazier, when Ben Carter was on the NBC and he had a couple random A.W. matches and everyone was like, oh, sweet, he's going to be all elite soon. And then he signed to the WWE UK brand. And of course, he was trained by South Rollins. That don't make sense. But yeah, that's how I feel about it. I'm happy for, and I'm just, I guess, surprised it was WWE and not A.W. I think a lot of people were surprised that it was WWE and not A.W. But it was very clear that she was on WWE's radar even years ago when she had to try out and it didn't take you. And she admitted she wasn't like quite ready at that time. I think her dream always seemed to be WWE with the way she talked. There's a great interview with Denise El-Sato that people can listen to. But yeah, it seemed like she was possibly A.W. bound after Forbidden Door. The match with Mercedes clearly that put her a little bit more on WWE's radar. And they're like, all right, let's go get her. And so they did, they made her a good offer, and she'll be on NXT at some point. So WWE's loading up a little more with their women's division. Adding Julia and now Stephanie Becker, those are two big signings coming in on top of. They got a pretty strong women's division. But adding them to that NXT mix would be very good. And then the other other spotlight is the Rascals reuniting in NXT. And more of the just TNA NXT crossover Joe Hendry main evented on Tuesday. Got the pin on Sean Spears. That's on the crossover episode this past week. >> I mean, it's pretty awesome. I've said for a long time that Joe Hendry I thought would do well in the WWE system. And that really- >> He's perfect for NXT. >> He is, he is. People can sing along with this song and he's got the charisma. And he's got the look, he's a big dude, I've talked about it before. But I believe it was a slam-reversary match, a couple of slam-reversaries ago was him versus Moose. And that's when I was really like, I already liked Joe Hendry. But I was like, damn, they had a show stealing match on that event. And I remember thinking, man, if Joe Hendry got in front of the WWE audience, he'd be so over with this gimmick and it's working great in NXT. I love what he's doing. As far as the Rascals coming over, you love to see it, at least I do. The three of those guys belong together, when I, I'm gonna get their names all screwed up because of the changes. >> I got you, I got you. >> But like Wesley, of course, is like the only ones who's still technically in the WWE system. Nash Carter, his act wins, was there previously. And Trey Miguel never made the jump. And then Myra Reed's always kind of been doing his own thing as the fourth Rascals. But I thought it was cool to see Trey Miguel finally on like WWE television. Cuz he's probably been a WWE fan this whole life out. I mean, I don't want to put words in people's mouths. But I'm sure it's a cool moment for people who've never been in that system to appear there. Especially with his brothers, the Rascals. People can do their own homework on kind of what led Nash Carter to leave the company. But I think, I'll just say, there was a lot to that. And like, I don't know if he got the fairest rap at the end of the day there. And clearly, something has changed to where they're comfortable with him being there again. And like, I think that they've been building this Rascals thing for a while. Like, Dallas was beating down Wesley at like the PLD before this one. And people were really like, okay, the Rascals have got to come and save them eventually. And we're getting that, I think it's badass. The Rascals as a trio and as a quad, whenever they have Myra and around, there are some of the most entertaining guys in the world together. And I love their run together and impact. I hope they get to do more going back and forth between impact and NXT. So yeah, I'm very happy and it was cool to see on social media. Those guys were all just like so happy to be in the ring together again. And these like weird circumstances have kept them apart. Like whether it was train up coming over, whether it was Nash leaving, whether Westang or whatever, like it just, they haven't been on the same page in a while. And I felt like they were all on the same page the first time in a long time on NXT. And it was, it was cool to see. >> It was very, very good to see. I know like the Rascals are heels in, in TNA, they're facing Zach, Zach Wentz is actually facing Charlie Dempsey on tonight's episode. And so the mixture there, Tommy Dreamer kind of talked about it of they can't, because impact tapes is far in advance. It's tough for them to like put in footage. Even if the show happened Tuesday, you might not see any of this NXT footage on tonight's episode. And I think that's a huge miss for TNA. Like I don't know what they got to do to figure that out. But if you can't get footage from Tuesday to put into a Thursday episode. Something, you got to figure something out there. Because not being able to put footage of like Joe Hendry beating Sean Spears into an episode tonight to capitalize off of that, that's a miss for TNA. >> For sure, you're right, you're 100% right about it. They should 1 million percent do that. >> All right, Indy's spotlight. >> I'm gonna give a big mother fucking shot out. >> I was at GCW this past weekend, it was a good show. I missed the first few matches or some issues getting into the venue. But we finally did get in. The biggest things coming out of this show, Jordan Oliver, legit ACL injury, which is very unfortunate when Charles Mason, I'm always gonna call him it. When Charles Mason like said that, I was like, is this a work? I think he's like, I think I just toy your ACL, now you're injured. I was like, but I feel like he would know that immediately after doing this. But apparently Charles Mason's also a doctor cuz he did tear his ACL towards Jordan's ACL. And then I don't know if this was explained on commentary. I assume it was, but the closing angle with Meghan Bane and Joey Janela. They are together. And the fact that Mans was stabbing Meghan Bane as Joey watched on. Us in the venue, we knew, if you're at home, there's no real connection between Meghan and Joey unless it was said on commentary. >> Yeah, and I don't remember if they mentioned that or not. Obviously, Joey was held down and had to watch his band's basically coat dry out with a screwdriver. And obviously that's all building to the triple threat between Janela and Mance and Blake Christian coming up at homecoming. But yeah, I mean, what was, do you have a good time at the show, the vibes? >> Yeah, yeah, it was a good time at the show. Hung out with some friends, saw Cole afterwards, always good. >> Nice seeing Cole. Talk to Jack Cartwheel afterwards, always good seeing him. Yeah, hung out with a bunch of people from the Love Wrestling crew, Mike from Indeed was there, so hung out with him. Yeah, it was a good time, it was a good show overall. Except Team IWIS came out to not like us, and they cut it off before the good portion of the song. I had to finish my own story on that. >> Well, that's too bad. Well, and also, yeah, as you mentioned, I hope Jordan Oliver gets better soon. I saw that he put that video up on X explaining that he actually is injured. So that's a bummer, Jordan's one of my favorites. But he'll come back better than ever, and eventually he will become the GCW world champion. I'm confident of that. Also, just some quick stuff. If you guys want like full reviews of GCW Backyard Wrestling 6, worst behavior and IWIS versus GCW is hard for life. I did full reviews of all those shows over on the weekend or podcast for Fightful Select, but just really quickly, I will mention, before I get out of here and clock in for the shoot job, Backyard Wrestling 6. I love those Backyard Wrestling shows, if you're not familiar, they literally put like trampolines around the ring, like above ground pools. And there's like cars all over. Yeah, that's great. And of course, this is the 4th of July. I was feeling super, super mirror. I was very proud to be American. Brett Lauderdale, if you happen to see this, I was very proud to be American before July. They put on a fantastic pyrotechnics empire work display. Before and after that show, violent Jay was on commentary. So it was a great event and the main event was the Empire Row, who's better known as facade taking on Lucky 13, and the Empire Row won the match after jumping off of the forklift. So pretty, pretty awesome stuff. I highly recommend checking that entire show out. And Jeremy was there live at worst behavior. Also, there was IWIS for GCW's hard for life. And this was a great event. This was out of Montreal. But there are a lot of IWIS. I call my IWIS legends. The guys like PCP Manny and Green Phantom and Sexy Eddie and these kind of guys are so massive in Canada, and especially in Montreal. And we got that big main event between PCP Manny and Joey Janela. It was supposed to be Manny versus Nick Gage, but you know, he's a great fill-in. And Janela at one point did a flying elbow drop off of the top of a moving truck while smoking a cigarette through a table. I mean, just legendary stuff. And Manny still wanted to get in the win, because it is PCP, Crazy F, and Manny. And also, I mean, this was a great show from Talk To Bottom, had a lot of great IWIS and GCW talent mixed in throughout the whole show. My one critique of this thing of this show was the GCW World title match, Man's Corner versus Green Phantom, Love Green Phantom. He's one of those IWIS legends like I'm talking about. But not the best look when Man's Warner was dead to rights. Got hit with an assault driver through a table in the corner. And Green Phantom literally pinned him one, two, three for the GCW World Championship. The time ran out with one second left. So we had a visual pinfall loss, four-man's Warner heading into the triple threat with his title. And also, play Christian's title that he never lost, you know, heading into all this. And Janela has taken losses, too. I mean, he lost the gay kid of worst behavior. He lost it. He here, like, watch his losers fight the title. It is very strange booking. And like I said, I love Green Phantom. And I understand in that building why you want to have Green Phantom look very strong. But it's also like, we literally just saw the pit. Like, Man's Warner only-- that was only a draw on a complete technicality because time ran out. But we saw the three count for Phantom. So anyways, you know, I guess I wanted to give the fans a celebration moment of Phantom holding the title. People thinking he won, like Dusty Road, the Madison Square Garden, and then take it away from him. But that said, check all those shows out. All those GCW events are available over on Twitter TV plus. There you go. All right, Jensen, any final words here? No, enjoy the interview with Scott Hensley. We talk all about the STI weekend. And I'll be watching all those shows. The first one's going to be tonight, TWE, the night before, or from independent wrestling.tv. If you might have a TV, use code "Fight Talk." When you go sign up for the service, let's the service know that I sent you over there. Please follow me on X and also listen to the Fightful Select Weekend or podcast that is every Sunday, sometimes Mondays over on Fightful Select.com, covering the world of independent professional wrestling. And I do plan on being live in a couple of weeks that action wrestling is show at DOS Barbecue. So if I'm there, I'll probably try to get you some quick audio interviews. We'll put those on Fightful Select. And Jeremy can, you know, put some articles up on the site based off that cheering stuff. So like, keep a lookout for all that stuff. Go on Fightful Select and on the other Fightful platforms. Good seeing you all in the chat. Good seeing you, Jeremy. I'm going to clock in for this new job. - All right, everybody. Thank you as always to Jensen. Here we go. In the creator spotlight, Scott Hensley. Yes, it is a big weekend for TWE and SCI. The SCI tournament, the annual tournament, one of the biggest independent tournaments out there. That is this weekend. It starts, the run-up show starts tonight. The SCI tournament is Friday and Saturday. And then there's futures as well. So big, big weekend for SCI. We got into a lot with Scott. He's been on the show before. We appreciate him joining us ahead of what's going to be, I think like the busiest weekend of the year for him. So very gracious this time. We recorded this last night just before AWD anyway. So here we go in the creator spotlight, Scott Hensley. - Welcome to the creator spotlight. Here on the spotlight, I'm Fightful. I'm Stephen Jensen. Join as always by Jeremy Lambert. And our guest today is a returning guest. He's the man behind the scenes. He is a promoter. He has a ring-and-answer. He is a co-founder of the Phoenix City Invitational. Huge weekend coming up for the SCI. Technically starting tomorrow at the time of this recording, but today at the time that this drops. So Thursday night, we got TWE. And then we've got SCI Night One on Friday night. We've got Actions Future Showcase on Saturday. And SCI Night Two, the tournament champion Saturday night. So huge weekend for SCI. Our guest today is, of course, Scott Hensley. Scott, thanks for joining us again. How are you doing, man? - Hey, I'm great. Thank you guys for having me. - Yeah, yeah, I appreciate you joining us again. - Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. We love talking to you. I think the last time we spoke was SCI Rumble, I believe. - Yeah. - So before the Rumble, I just before the Rumble. So a lot has happened since then. We have the whole field now for the SCI tournament. Before you even get started on this year's field and everything, I just want to first say, stacked tournament, once again, as always. I always look forward to these SCI tournaments. I've attended live a couple of years as well, great environment, big fan of everything you guys do, as well as the future showcase and everything. If you could just kind of let people know a little bit about the Cinecidivitational tournament, they might not know much about it. And kind of what it means, and kind of what it means to you and the kind of little scene in general. - Sure, yeah. We started it back in 2015. And we partnered with a local promotion called Empire Wrestling that had a lot of just solid local guys. And we wanted an opportunity to showcase what we had here in the Chattanooga area and the Southeast compared to just the best independent wrestlers that we could find. And it grew and we got into schools and got to do some great fundraisers. And after COVID, it's just been really difficult to get back into those schools in the summertime. But we are so thankful to be able to go into a place like TWE, which is just a built-in arena for professional wrestling. It has video screens, the music and the sound is great, the environment's great, not a bad seat in the house. But TWE has really grown a lot and we are really fortunate to partner with them because they are absolutely killing it every two weeks. They have some of the best professional wrestlers in the world right here. So it's sort of raised the bar as to where we have to go now to try to make scenic city invitational feel more special than the weekly or biweekly TWE shows. And we also have a partnership with Action Wrestling, my partner in the scenic city, Matt Griffin runs Action Wrestling. So we feed a lot off of action, we feed a lot off of TWE. And both of them are just absolutely killing it right now. So we had a huge challenge going into this year that ultimately, I mean, scenic city invitational has become a destination weekend event. You mentioned four events over three days. We've got three different promotions working together to create something to just get eyes on these hard-working wrestlers, men and women. And it's so much fun and so rewarding to have people say, you know, the first time I ever saw them was at scenic city or to say, you know, for promoters or decision makers to say, I booked them because I saw them at scenic city. And, you know, it's really cool to be in a place where you can be a decision maker that makes a difference. We've had over a dozen people get signed to contracts off of Action Futures and not that we're taking sole credit. You know, we're already booking people that are running hard, but we know people are getting seen at Futures. You know, last year we had Jay Malekai and now he's killing it on NXT, Jevon Evans. So you never know what's going to happen in just the span of a year. So it's super exciting and we're just trying to be a part of the conversation. And, you know, I appreciate you guys including us in your coverage of it. You know, I think we have so many great fans and so much great coverage. You know, I just appreciate what you guys do. - Oh yeah, we appreciate what you do. And I'm going to turn over to Jeremy for his first question here in a second. I just want to kind of lay the stage for people who once again may not be as familiar with SCI or if you are a big SCI fan, you'll remember these moments as well. But just so you guys know the prestige level of these tournaments we're talking about, I'm just going to read off the winners since this tournament was founded in 2015. We have Jimmy Raive, Gunnar Miller, Matt Riddle, Joey Lynch, AC Matt, Dana McCauvey, Jaden Newman and Manders. I don't think I missed anybody in there. But, and if we have to go back, I think I'm dead in everyone. And then on the future showcase side, we have Marco Stein, we have Robert Marder, we have Rachel Armstrong, hope I don't miss anyone there either. - I'm doing most of this. - What's called Manders? - Of course Manders, who won both tournaments, who won futures and then went on to actually win the main tournament. So, I actually, I used to attend those as Trio's tournaments you guys did as well. Those were a lot of fun too. But that's a who is who right there of names that you guys all know that watch this show. People who I'm a big fan of. And so anyways, that's why I'm going to lay the stage. All those names, those are all people who have won either the future showcase or the main tournament. And what they're doing now, just look all over the wrestling world. You know what I mean though. - Oh, I was going to follow up on Jay Malachi, Jovan Evans, since you mentioned him. You know, what do you, like what goes through your mind when you see him now on NXT? Like knowing you mentioned like just a year ago, a year or two ago, like he was there. He was wrestling in the SCI tournament. And now he's main eventing NXT PLEs. - Yeah, it's not really that surprising. It's awesome, but it's not surprising if you've ever seen him. I mean, he's not your prototypical, you know, Randy Orton, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, big, you know, brooding wrestler looking guy from the 80s. You know, he is a lean, just athletic machine. He got on my radar because he supposedly really impressed Arne Anderson at a seminar in North Carolina when he was like 15, 16. And everybody's like, hey, you gotta check out this kid. He's amazing. And so, you know, to see what he did and just to see the way he defies gravity and bad. Like, I just thought about, you know, trying to line up across from him like on a football field, just the pure athleticism, you know. If he's a, you know, if he's a defensive end or defensive back or whatever, like, you're never going to catch a pass with that guy on the field. Like, I'm just amazed that he's not, you know, some kind of NFL cornerback prospect kind of guy. Like, WWE, so smart to take him. And we were so fortunate to have him last year. Sorry, my headset cut off for just a second. You guys hear me? Okay? Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry about that. I heard a deep in my headset and I thought I first there for a second. Yeah, I got to see Jevon Evans a few times live here in the Atlanta area. And they're just super impressed that I saw him. I believe in battle slam. Maybe at CDW, he may have been there too. He was always around like those top team guys who were like kind of blowing up over the place of Teriyaki and all of them. So, yeah, I'm with you. I mean, that guy has such a bright feature in the WWE system. Speaking of futures, let's talk a little bit about the future showcase. And then we'll talk about the main tournament. Future showcase, you mentioned TWE, which does a heavy influence there. And that makes sense. TWE Arena, a lot of the same fan base who has become familiar with people like Gary and Benst and from TWE, he also does stuff in action, but like, become one of the main faces of TWE. I guess, can you give us kind of like a preview of what people can expect out of the future showcase this year, 'cause I think it's a pretty stacked field for the futures this year. - Oh, absolutely. You mentioned the TWE influence there. And, you know, all credit to the trainer at the TWE Performance Center, it's Jaden Newman. You know, Jaden Newman is in there every week working with young men and women. And they are getting better. They're networking, they're traveling now. And it's not a situation where we're just putting on people because they're, you know, cheap and local or anything like that. Like, these are people that we really feel like are earning opportunities and are truly the future of what we are doing as well as, you know, the Southeast as well as independent wrestling as a whole. We have just so many great people in futures this year. I just think back to a year ago with the Scenic City Invitational Tournament in looking forward, it's like, ah, we kind of have an idea where we want to go for, you know, this year, but with futures, it was like, yeah, like we know, we know like seven or eight people. We know what we want to do with futures. We know, you know, who we want to be in this because it was so like backfilled with all these hardworking people, there's so many opportunities now in the Southeast and beyond. And these people are seizing those opportunities. You've got a guy like the Wall. That's a guy that he trained with George South originally and then moved to the Atlanta area, trained with AR Fox. I don't know if you can get dynamically different, as different than George South and AR Fox. So, you know, to have a guy that well-rounded and like he's been traveling to Europe and wrestling, you know, these are people getting after it. Cody Fluffman, if you don't like Fluffman, then you've never seen Fluffman or wrestling just isn't for you. Like Cody Fluffman is one of the most entertaining individuals you'll ever see in a professional wrestling ring. You know, Timothy Bosby. That's a name that people don't know yet, but they need to know amateur background. Tennessee State Wrestling Champion at one point. And he said in an interview recently, it was actually his first wrestling interview, he said. So, you know, it's early on this guy. He said that he started amateur wrestling because he wanted the background to be a pro wrestler. Like, I mean, these people are so talented. They're so motivated. Mackenzie Morgan, she just posted where, you know, she has a ring of honor match with Billy Starks now. We've got the TWE kids like Casey Owens, who, you know, you look at Casey and it's like, I don't know, like kind of not imposing, kind of not, you know, not a huge guy, you know, he's not going to do a 450, you know, not super athletic looking, but then you see what he can do. And he's a ring general with like two years of experience. Jameson Schook, you know, another super impressive young athletic guy and just a great attitude. A-game is a guy that's gotten some opportunities with MLW and just traveling Dex Royal. Have you guys seen Dex Royal yet? My goodness, what a freakish athlete. And who would you even compare him to? Maybe a young Caprice Coleman? You know, I mean, just the pure athleticism and he also has personality. I mean, you will not find more passion than Anakin Murphy. I mean, Anakin is just the most passionate guy in the locker room. You know, he's going to make the drives. He's going to be there. And so we are so excited about futures this year. I looked back in like half of the former futures participants end up being in our tournament. So it's definitely, you know, it is the future. It's people that are going to sign contracts. It's people that are going to be a part of our tournament, a part of, you know, the school fundraiser shows that we do. And we want to see them succeed. I tell them, you know, we want to wave the flag for you guys and we want you guys to wave the flag for us. So man, futures. And we also had, we have Kaya McKenna and Alexis Littlefoot. You know, we were able to add a ladies match and just any time we can represent any style or any kind of differences, it's great. You know, I want to have, I want it to be a buffet of wrestling. I want it to be something that people identify with, see themselves in. I want it to be something that, you know, a little bit of something for everybody. But also I think like music festivals, you know, come for the ones you already know, and then just learn a bunch of new favorites, you know, get on board, learn these people because they're going to be big deals and they need the support. You know, these are people that are wrestling all over the world or going to be. - When you run down all of those names for anyone who listened to the names and like thought, 'cause you mentioned, for anyone who has the same text, what I'm thinking, I know the name, where have I seen text, and then I looked it up and I'm like, oh, it's regular A.I.W. I go to A.I.W. shows, I watch all the A.I.W. shows. That's where I know, "Text Royal." So even if the name doesn't catch you immediately, if you actually like look up on cage match or whatever, where you may have seen, you've probably seen some of these names, even if you might not think that you have, "Text Royal" was the one that struck me of like, I know that where, oh yeah, he was here. - I remember last year, around the time of the tournament, Mouse, Robert Bellamy was hyping up Rachel Armstrong a lot around that time. And... Speaking of big stars, you actually, you mentioned somebody that kind of ties into something I wanted to bring up, kind of a good segue for this. You mentioned Jane Newman. I've talked multiple times on this show about how back during, I believe it was the tournament at Matt Griddle won. I was talking to him as he was a fan in the crowd and he wanted to get into the tournament one day. And you know, fast forward all these years. He's won the tournament. He helps, you know, book behind the scenes with a lot of these companies were talking about, he helps train the talent we're using, his building for these tournaments. And in that building, in the T.W. Arena, tomorrow night or tonight, when you guys are seeing this, he's got to match against Paul London. That's pretty nuts. I mean, you want to kind of speak to just how, like that's wild, that that's happening in, you know, Red Bank, you know, Chattanooga area, like Paul London versus Jane Newman. This kid that you all saw go from like a literal teenage kid to like the man he's become and like this worldwide traveler, like can you kind of speak to this? To Jane and then, you know, kind of this matchup between himself and Paul London is just nuts. - Yeah, Jaden is a kid that started when he was like 14 or 15. And he went to a local place with a long time veteran and the veteran was making him like bump on concrete and all kinds of crazy stuff. And he eventually just moved on to his own and had some area veterans that sort of moved in to help him train and get better. And his grandfather basically bought him TWE. And we were like, you know, what's up with that? What's up with this, you know, spoiled kid that, you know, is just being handed everything? And then, you know, I mean, there were growing pains there. There was maturing. There was a growing process of Jaden becoming a man and Jaden becoming a professional wrestler and Jaden becoming a respectable professional wrestler. And now to Jaden being one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. You know, we never wanted to hand Jaden anything. And if you know Jaden's story, if you know his life, he hasn't been handed anything, you know, he has hardships that he's overcome. And man, like he impresses you every time he gets in the ring, he can do it all. You know, if you go back and watch some of his action matches where he's this like super obnoxious heel that's, you know, just making everybody hate him. You know, he's holding up the number one and everybody else is chanting number two. And, you know, he had some comedy matches with mat cells down there at action. But then he can step into the ring with like Jonathan Gresham and go hold for hold with Jonathan Gresham or Timothy Thatcher or, you know, he can get in there with high flyers, technicians, he is one of the most well-rounded wrestlers in the world and man, we are so lucky to have him in the scenic city because he is not only growing himself, not only, you know, traveling out to Germany and the United Kingdom and all these Canada in different places, but he's training the next generation. And I think some people may be like, oh, yeah, you know, this kids training people now. What's up with that? But, you know, he's 11 years in now. You know, he is a young veteran. And if you can find someone more well-rounded than Jaden Newman and the support staff around him, which is, you know, Dylan Hells and the Reverend Dan Wilson and, you know, Tank and some of these guys that have 20 years of experience combined with his 11 years, you know, if you can find someplace better than that, then that's a really, really good place because TWE is cooking right now. And, you know, 95% of that is Jaden Newman. - And what was, oh, sorry, the last thing for me, Jerry, was just to follow up because I know we got the Paul London match against Jaden at TWE. And then you've landed Paul London for the actual tournament as well, of course, which we're going to talk about, it was, I guess, can you kind of tell me the process of like booking Paul London for this? Because obviously the SCI tournament is a mixture of talent, mainly up and coming talent, but obviously Paul London, a veteran talent that, I mean, was honestly one of the first guys I was even aware of back in the early 2000s on the NDC. But a guy I've always had a lot of respect for in the ring. So what was kind of the mindset of bringing in Paul London for the tournament? - Paul London is one of those guys that he does pull at those early independent wrestling heartstrings. You know, for me, I remember following his career in Ring of Honor and then traveling to Nashville to see him at TNA. I just remember as like an 18 year old kid, for 17, 18, how old I was, however old I was, just thinking, you know, wow, I've got to go see Paul London. Paul London is the man, like I want to see him than seeing the success he's had and the longevity. And so, you know, we like to get interesting people for scenic city. You know, we've had guys like PCO, we've had Nick Gage at a school, we've had two cold Scorpio. So, you know, we like to reach down in the bag of tricks and pull out somebody that's different, that reaches a different audience and that has ties to our audience and our wrestlers. And Paul London was actually in the Chattanooga area a couple of times for a promotion in North Georgia. It's probably been 10 years ago, but he came and appeared a couple of times and Jaden actually kind of struck up a friendship with him there. So, you know, again, it sort of revolves around Jaden, but, you know, it's an opportunity to, I guess, further a story and to be somebody that we all really love and respect and just a chance to put them in front of the local fans that a chance that you think you would never have. But, you know, Paul's going to do a seminar for wrestlers on Saturday morning. And, you know, we are, I think we have almost 25 to 30 people signed up for that already. And so, you know, this is a guy that everyone wants to be around, everyone wants to see, everyone wants to learn from. And it's really exciting. I'm so thankful to just have the platform that these guys that are so successful trust us to come in and wrestle at our shows. - I love Paul London. I covered when he announced, like, he was going to come back and start doing shows. And one of his big things was, I'm going to come back and I want to help out, you know, the local kind of scenes. I want to help independent wrestling out and do that. You know, a lot of guys will say that and then it doesn't always come to fruition. And things like that. But Paul actually got out there, goes to a lot of the local shows. He mentioned he's doing seminars. He does a lot of that stuff. And like, he's actually giving back what, like he said, he was going to do. So it's great to see him, like, in this environment, just basically everything he's done since he's coming back because he doesn't seem like, I've never met him, never talked to him or anything. Doesn't seem like he has like an ego about this stuff. And he's just like, you know what? I said, I was going to come back and help. That's what I'm here to do, whatever you guys need me to do. I'm here for you. So it's great to hear stories like that when it comes to Paul London, based on what he said, when he said he was going to return with everyone. Another non-tournament match, real quickly. Kevin Koo, Daniel Maccabe. Talk to us about putting this thing together 'cause my English fans, myself included, are very excited about this one. - Well, and of course, this is my college retirement, right? I mean, this is a big deal. I mean, this guy is huge for this area. - Yeah, Daniel Maccabe is a guy that, you know, he represents that underground spirit that there are those amazing independent wrestlers out there that may not fit the mold, but that are just absolutely gifted in one way or another. And he's gifted in many ways. But, you know, he was a guy that we were able to give pretty cool opportunities to. And he comes in his first year and wins it all. He was the guy that, you know, he was our first international winner. He was our first guy since, I guess, the first tournament, I think that came in and won his first year. And it sort of showed that, you know, anybody can win. And then it may not be somebody you've even heard of, you know? - Man, for him to retire, you know, it's very emotional because when you see a wrestler and see how passionate they are, you see how much they love professional wrestling. And for them to make that decision, to go out on their own terms and say, you know, as much as I love professional wrestling, I want to be a productive and healthy individual and regular life as well with a family and, you know, career and other things. And so it's a huge emotional decision. And so we are just beyond honored to get to host, you know, his final retirement match. When Matt Griffin and Dylan talked to me about it, like it's like really, like he's choosing us, you know? He's coming all the way from like, you know, Vancouver or like the Seattle scene, or, you know, those places that, you know, love him and accept him now, like, but man, he's coming here to do this. Just, it's unbelievable, but we are so lucky to have it. And he and Kevin Coor are going to kill each other. (laughing) - It owns a real life, so you know they're gonna really lay into one another in that ring. - Oh, I mean, I still remember some of the stuff they did at Southern Underground Pro in their only other match. You know, I know, I think it was Coor pulled Macabre off the turnbuckle, like onto the apron and, you know, it's man, like they're gonna do so many dumb things, but out of love. (laughing) - I'd imagine a big part of that decision for him to do his retirement with you guys is, like, 'cause a lot of people may not know, he was around for a long time before he like broke out. Like, he was grinding the Indies for, I mean, probably over a decade before he actually like made it in, like, whatever you're, you know, definition of making it is. But I know, I know the Southeast scene is like, how I really became aware of him. And then I started realizing like the Seattle stuff, the, you know, the Canada stuff and whatnot. But I, but yeah, I mean, I think it's awesome, as a fan of the guy, to be able to see that he's deciding to do this here and it's against Kevin Q. It's a great, it's a great opponent. And, I mean, I'd imagine he's gonna stay, I mean, you never say never in wrestling. I feel like he's the kind of guy who's gonna stick to retirement, but then at the same time, I feel like he loves wrestling too much to stay away. So I don't know. I hope he comes back and selfishly, you know. - Same, yeah, oh yeah. - I think, by the way, Macabe is gonna return and he's gonna have a match with Brian Danielson at some point in his career. Because when Danielson wraps full time, he's gonna do a bunch of indies. Maybe it's under a mask. I don't know how it's gonna be. But Danielson has said that he actually singled out like wrestling Daniel Macabe. So I think Danielson, he's crazy enough or just willing enough to do something like that. - Yeah. And I don't think anybody would blame him for coming out of retirement to do that. The other big match that I think most of us have wanted is wrestling genius versus wrestling genius with him and Chris Hero. So, you know, if either one of those matches can ever happen, then, you know, I don't think anybody would fault him for getting out of retirement for that. But I think he's really serious about, you know, he's no longer going to try to climb the mountain or chase this dragon, you know. It's, this is pretty much it. I mean, this is it for the traveling stuff, like. - Yeah, I'm looking forward to Chris Hero, by the way. Was it the first year y'all did the tournament he was a part of that? He was, he's been in his tournament before Chris Hero. - Yes, he was in twice. I believe it was 2016 and 2017. - Sounds right. That's wild. I can't, like, it feels like that was so long ago, but like, but it depends on how you look at it. Like, I mean, how much has happened since then? Anyway, - It's BC, it's before COVID, yeah. - Yeah, that's exactly, that's exactly, that's exactly the problem. 'Cause I can like, put myself there. 'Cause like, the 2020 tournament didn't happen, right? Like there wasn't, like, 2020 because of that. And it feels like 2020, like 2022 for me was just like, one year, like that was all like, one year, it was a long year, but I can't remember what exactly happened in those years went. Like it's just like this weird below not doing anything. And then, anyway, right where we're at now, as far as the actual tournament this year, I am very much looking forward to the SCI. Now, you don't, correct me if I'm wrong, 'cause I don't think you've ever had these previous, so you used to not even announce these matches ahead of time. There's no actual bracket available, right? We just know the first round matches, but we don't know where that could lead. So it's hard to do bracketology as far as like, winners and losers throughout the whole tournament. But what I do wanna do is just highlight these talents and these matches, and along the way, I'll probably pick a winner for the tournament along the way. And Jeremy, you can do that also. Scott, if you wanna give us the eggy, feel free, but I don't think you wanna, you wanna do that right, which is the tournament. And by the way, I know you've chosen the winner of this tournament during the tournament before, so like, you might not even know who's winning this tournament at this point. But first of all, as I got here, we should be in Darian and Bexton. Should be, obviously, I mean, if people know him as pineapple peed, I mean, you don't know anything about him. Let's put it that way. But he's been one of the most consistent guys in this area, especially at action wrestling. And Darian, Bexton, you know, TWE champion there, a long time, a guy who, that TWE crossover with this tournament makes a lot of sense as we talked about before. And someone who I feel like is gonna really break out. His finisher is basically that, I don't know what he calls it, but it's, Danielson does it, and that reminds me of it. It's like the running elbow to the head, like the running, you know, and I'm talking about it anyway. It's, he's nice with it. I like how Darian hits this stuff. So anyway, I shouldn't be in Darian and Bexton. Man, I don't know, do you want to, it's like I want to pick winners throughout this thing, but I also don't want to piss anyone off who listens to this because I'm going to see all these people probably in a couple of weeks. I'll probably be at that action show at DOS Barbecue in Atlanta. So like most of this tournament will probably be there. I'm going to pick my winner. - I'm going to pick for it. - It is a bias pick because he's been on the show multiple times. I'm going with my man, Matt McCalsky. That's who I'm picking to win this thing. - All the way. - Okay. - All the way. - That's a good, that's a good pick. That's a good pick. We'll get to Matt McCalsky here in a second. He's somebody who's definitely a front runner for me as well. I love Matt. But, Bexton and Shugdie, anything like to add to that Scott as far as like putting that one together. - Yeah, I mean, it's two guys that can absolutely wrestle. People forget that Shugdie can wrestle because he runs his mouth a lot. And, you know, he's been saying for the last year, you know, the only competitor to ever be undefeated in the Scenic City Invitational. And it's like, ah, technically yes. Like he went to a draw with Jaden Newman last year. So it's not that he's ever won a match. It's just that he hasn't technically lost a match either. So, you know, he's a guy that, you know, he plays those head games, but he's a world-class wrestler also. And as is Darian Bexton, you know, Bexton, like you mentioned, TWE Champion, just what a representative he has been and is for TWE and just every place he goes, you know, now he's down at action, shining bright. You know, I told somebody if you had to do comparisons, which wrestlers hate, but, you know, I said if you combine like Dean Malenko and Jeff Hardy, then it's like Darian Bexton. Like he's a charismatic technician. Like it's so unusual and crazy to see, but he comes out and, you know, is just doing all these crazy holds and everyone's attention is just firmly locked in. You mentioned Paul London and Jaden Newman on Thursday night, but it's actually a double main event because Daniel McCobbay is given Darian Bexton another match on Thursday as well for TWE. So, you know, I mentioned also that they set the bar higher and higher and gosh, they do that with that night before event every year. You know, Dylan Hills and Dan and Jaden and that team, like we have a friendly rivalry. You know, we want to have the best matches and the best show of the weekend and they hold our feet to the fire over that. Like they are killing it with that. - Yes, yeah, absolutely. And that's when we got, we got Tank versus Mad Dog, Connolly Tank. I mean, absolute legend. I actually saw his retirement match like six, seven years ago, whatever it was. But I'm glad he was a short hiatus, but I'm glad he's been back going stronger ever since. But Tank, you know, if you don't know about Tank, like you just, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, absolute legend. And then Mad Dog, Connolly really had a breakout recently. - Oh man. - I mean, massive breakout recently, that which, you know, which I believe when we talked, I think when we talked last, you had an amazing, maybe just recently announced he was going to be in the tournament due to like kind of the shine he was getting at the con anyways. This is going to be, I mean, when I look at this tournament, I just, that one stands out as like, this match is going to be different than all the other matches. And I'm looking forward to that. What was the mindset? I mean, it feels pretty obvious to put these two against each other in this one. - Yeah, it's two guys that you look at. It's like, wow, wrestlers are just a different kind of people. Like, I mean, those guys, like, it's nothing to them to get punched in the face. You know, it's nothing to them to just be bleeding. I think Mad Dog, Connolly is one of the realest people or realist characters in professional wrestling. He has just such a legitimacy and realness to him in the vein of like a Nick Gage. You know, you can call wrestling whatever you want to call it. You can say wrestling is fake, but Mad Dog Connolly's not fake. Like, you're not going to walk up to Mad Dog Connolly and say anything to that guy's face. He has just a built-in intensity. And, you know, to try to tame somebody like that, you got to put a bit of somebody like Take. Take is an absolute crazy person. I watched him in Corporal Robinson years ago at a deathmatch tournament. And Corporal Robinson was punching Tank in the forehead just as hard as he could. And Tank is going harder, harder, harder. And it's like, you're an insane person. Like, in his head was all puffy and bleeding and stuff. And it's like, these guys are from a different planet. But like you mentioned, Tank being just an absolute legend. And just, you know, if you don't know about Tank, like he wrestled the end of the territory era guys, like Terry Gordy and Abdullah the Butcher and Gypsy Joe and, you know, Demolition Acts and our Super Star Bill Edie. And then he wrestled, you know, the Who's Who of Independent Wrestling with like AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Claudio, Samoa Joe. And, you know, recently like Matt Riddle, Timothy Thatcher. And some people are like, oh, you know, Tank's kind of getting up there. Is this, you know, sort of retirement? No, like, I don't know that there is another retirement tour. Like he's in better shape than he's been in years. And he's just going full steam. He did like seven shows, mainly a weekend. Like, he's not slowing down. Like, this is not a retirement. Like, Mad Dog is not retiring Tank. Like, I mean, they're going to beat the snot out of each other. But only one of them will be standing. And that person gets to go to the second round. But, you know, that's what I have to say about that. Like. The match I was thinking about, by the way, was the dog collar match at Action D was one of the people should go definitely check out before you watch the SCI. If you want to know about Mad Dog Connolly. Next one, we got Jane Newman, Adam Priest. We've already talked a lot about Jane Adam Priest, one of the best enemy wrestlers in the world. I mean, a guy who's won the, I mean, he's been the actual wrestling champion. He's been the new style champion. I mean, he's probably been the closest of anyone to beating cruel for that of you TV, championship in recent memory. But Adam Priest, obviously a guy who means a lot to the Southeast scene. And we've seen him pop up in major promotions. Well, he actually, a professional for MLW, like just other week too. So, right future ahead, whatever he is doing, but I'm glad to see he's still a part of this tournament as well, putting together Jane Newman, Adam Priest. What was the mindset behind that one? It's one of those things that's like, what's the best match that we can put together for the first round? And, you know, it's putting two guys that have a little history in there with each other as two of the most well-rounded wrestlers. You know, Adam Priest goes by any style. I talked about the diversity of Jaden Newman and all the different things he can do. And, you know, these are two guys that are like bulls running at the same pace toward the same direction. And that's hopefully signing a contract with somebody and being, you know, professional wrestlers for a living. You know, they're right there at the brink of doing that. And, you know, if it's one of those matches where it's like, those guys could be the final two in the tournament, I mean, it's gonna be really weird in that building to see what the response is because both are so beloved. You know, Jane Newman is the absolute king of Chattanooga, the king of the scenic city, he's the crowned king. And, but I think Adam Priest, you know, he's been the king of action. He's been the king of sort of the Southeast. He had a huge run with uncharted territory in that building, but Jaden has the home-filled advantage. You know, he could be the first person to win it twice. There's so many things that play there. Jaden challenged Adam Priest for the action championship over in the UK. And that's when the action title became recognized as a world championship. When it was defended globally. So, you know, these are two guys that are putting everybody on the map. And so, you know, it's gonna be so evenly matched and just absolutely crazy. - Jamie, I can go through the matches. Like to get through, do you have any questions? I didn't want to like stop you from asking any questions you might have. - No, I was gonna just let you go through. We'll do again, like, analogy almost. - Okay, cool. I just wanted you to not be able to ask something if you wanted to ask something 'cause I know I'm going through all these. All right, good deal. Next we've got is Channing Thomas and Rachel Armstrong. Rachel Armstrong won the action future showcase tournament last year. Now in the main tournament, Channing Thomas, a former guest, actually, it's funny 'cause I see a former guest in the show, a lot of these people have been on the show before. Channing Thomas. - I was like, have the field has been on our show before. - Yeah, I hope to get the other half, you know, at some point too, we like to interview all these people. But Channing, very charismatic guy. Got a great look, very good in the ring. Once again, mindset behind, you know, putting this one together between Armstrong and Thomas. - This was a situation where it was like, let's put the most beloved and likable person versus the most absolutely obnoxious person. And it's not just person, it's people because he's got Sidney Bockabella with him, former WWF Hall of Famer, Sidney Bockabella, as he will tell you. You know, it's gonna be up to Rachel to throw some of those just hard-nosed forearms and just absolutely shut these guys up. - Oh, that's too funny. I like how you did that, the yin and the yang there. The most beloved versus the most hated, I like that. That's what I got here is we'll do Mavicowski and Aaron Wade. Jeremy Landford on Mavicowski, just Mona. This is a very, for fans of martial arts, I feel like this is why we might see these two. Mavicowski had a former professional and the many fighter people might not know. One of my favorite in-ring workers, I love the way he mixes, you know, mixed martial arts into his in-ring style. And Aaron Wade, same type of thing. I mean, with his Taekwondo style, coming off the scenic city rumble win, a guy who's been a really home grown, I mean, literally home grown from that building for, to now, I mean, so yeah, putting this one together. This is another one similar to Mad Dog versus Taekwondo. I feel like this one kinda like booked itself. - Yeah, and you know, Aaron Wade is a guy that he gets better and better. He's actually a trainee of Jaden Newman. And he was a guy that, you know, showed up and just kept getting in better shape, kept working harder, kept getting better as a personality, as he got more comfortable in the ring. And he won our scenic city, Invitational Rumble this year. So he got to pick his opponent and he chose the fellow martial artist in Matt Mikowski. Aaron Wade is a fifth degree black belt himself. I've told people, you know, Aaron Wade can be a bit of a goofy person. And you, it's sort of like sug day like you forget just how talented they are because they're distracting you with their personality. But they're gonna get in there and really throw down with, you know, kicks and holds and everything else. And we were so excited to get Matt Mikowski, you know, with a guy that, you know, did the blood sports stuff. And, you know, just about anything that's really good and exciting and independent wrestling, you know, he's right there in that conversation. So, you know, it's gonna be really good to have somebody like that, you know, a Bellator fighter in the building. I've told Matt Griffin and some of the other people, like as the local promoter that's talking to people locally, like it's so cool to be able to say, you know, we have an actual professional fighter in the tournament. You know, you look back and, you know, Matt Riddle was a huge attraction for us at that time. And so, you know, Mikowski's in that grain as well. So we'll see how that goes. - The man who gave Charlie Dempsey a black eye at blood sport, that's how you sell them. (laughing) - Yeah, the next one we got here is Paul London vs. Land and Hail. We've talked quite a bit about Paul London already. Land and Hail recently had that big match with Ms. Tofol Lee at action. And Ms. Tofol really put him over. Like, look, he was so... And Land and the guy who's been good for a very long time, like in-ring work is very, very sound. Like, who might have critiqued people's in-ring work? For somebody who watches a lot of independent wrestling, I've always thought Land and Hail was very talented. But it hasn't really like broken out yet to like the level that I think he definitely could. He has still got a ton of potential. For this one, to me, once again, almost books itself 'cause it's like Land and Hail had just had this big match with, you know, exhibition style and Ms. Tofol Lee for the exhibition championship. Paul London, exhibition type legend guy. Was that kind of why you did this one? 'Cause I mean, stylistically, I feel like this is gonna be a great match-up. - Oh yeah, absolutely. You know, anytime you get a huge star into your promotion or for us into our tournament, you know, we want to throw people at them that we feel like have the most potential. We want to squeeze the most out of these appearances as possible, and it's not like it would be wasted on anyone else, but stylistically, it's just a fit. You know, as a kid that grew up watching and loving the X division, like Land and Hail, you know, my goodness, he can do it all. Talk about a guy that's also well-rounded. He trained with Robert Gibson of the Rock and Roll Express, you know, going to be very old school, hold-based, but you know, the Rock and Roll Express was very innovative with a lot of their offense back in the day with some of the high-flying things that we would sort of just shrug at now, but it was very entertaining then, and you know, those guys are still going today. But then also, you know, he did do some training with AR Fox also. I don't know if that's like official training or just some drop-ins, but you know, Land and's a guy that really can't do it all, and he's a legitimate doctor. You know, he's a chiropractor, and so he's just like the most interesting man in the world. (laughs) - Yeah, I actually need to hit him up for some chiropractic work. I've been watching a lot of these videos on YouTube lately of people getting adjusted, and like, I've been kind of like stiff and stuff, and like, so he just reminded me, but yeah, I'm looking forward to that one. Next one we got here, we got Manders, who won the tournament last year, trying to run it back-to-back, taking on TJ Crawford and other super talented dude that I've known mainly, like recently, to like, John wrestling wrestling open. Manders is a guy who I watched kind of come from, you know, people knew of him, you know, kind of from like the, I guess like the Midwest and whatnot beforehand, or wherever, or yeah, so wherever, the Corn Belt Cowboy, I remember him coming into Southern Underground Pro, as like a protégé of Teddy King, and JV Newman back then. (laughs) So that's a real throwback for some viewers. - Yeah. - Manders has really had to come up in those years, and I mean, not just in the Southeast, but all over the world, and I mean, a part of the second year through with GCW and all that stuff too. So we got Manders on one side, TJ Crawford on the other, give us kind of your breakdown on this one. And I mean, could you think Manders got a shot at actually going back-to-back? I mean, that would be among the speed. - Yeah, I mean, it's going to happen that some point someone will win more than once. You know, some of these guys are not just the best wrestler in our tournament one year. Manders is a guy that's still on the rise. You know, he's about to go to Japan with GCW, and he's just really coming into his own and feels like a main event guy. If he feels like that guy that you can strap the whole company to the back of because of his experience, because of his background, and just the way that he carries himself, and just the way that he kills people in the ring. But he's going to really have a battle with TJ Crawford. I've told people like, I look at TJ, it's kind of like the Northeastern Adam Priest. Like, I think TJ is a guy that has a lot of tools. I think he's a very talented striker and flyer and technician. And, you know, this is going to be, I think it's going to be really brutal. I think they're going to probably chop the skin off of each other, and it'll probably, it should probably be sponsored by Hamburger Meat. (laughs) Yeah, I'm looking forward to that as well. It'll be the last one we got here. I think this is the last match. I don't think I've missed any along the way. We got Rob Kilroy versus Rehogan Zalas. Rob Kilroy, you know, I have always loved ugly nothing. So like, you know, anything that he's got going on, I'm a fan of, and Rehogan Zalas has become one of the most beloved wrestlers on the scene. Like, everywhere you go, people love Rehco. He's super talented. I give him a lot of credit for like, going for it. And what I mean by that is like, some of the stuff he does is very sketch. Like, as far as like, some of the moves he decides to do, I'm like, oh my God, you're going to hurt yourself. So it's like, it was like watching Billie Stalas coming up on the interview with like, Billie, what are you doing? What are you doing? Oh, but Rehco, I give him so much credit 'cause he's so innovative. Like, he's thinking of new ways to do stuff. And, you know, I mean, people know, you know, so I'll just just mention it. Like, he had that big match with AC Mac. The two of them obviously very close with one another. It kind of feels like once AC kind of stepped aside, Rehco like kind of took, like that, he sort of just shined, it kind of felt like. And that's not to say he was like, in the shadow of AC Mac or that AC was trying to do that, but any stretch of the imagination. But AC Mac was the man in this scene for a long time. And with him not around, it feels like Rehco got his spot for like, it just kind of, and I feel like that's the way AC would want it. He passed the torch over, Rehco and Barco joints. You guys, that mean a lot to this area that I've, you know, just got to watch you after you get better and better. The mindset between this one didn't put together. - Yeah, they had some clashes back at uncharted territory. And it's like, you mentioned just the creativity that both of them have and innovation. You know, it's like, let's put them together and just see what they come up with. Like, they're both so creative, so athletic, so talented and so likable. You know, I like a good polarizing match with a really hateable person and a really likable person. But I think sometimes people just respect good wrestlers. And you put two really good likable wrestlers together and it's gonna be great. They have that history together. Rob killed Joy's a guy that, you know, he pours so much into wrestlers. Sorry, there's a really loud truck going by. - It's on top there. - Man. Oh man. But, you know, he pours a lot into young wrestlers out in the Carolinas. He's somebody that, you know, he may be the most talented veteran of the Southeast that we haven't been able to feature yet. And so to have him in is just an absolute compliment to what we do and to have a guy like Rico Gonzalez, who is clearly still on the rise, you know, somebody pointed out that, you know, if Rico wins, I don't think it's a secret that he's now married to AC Mack. So he could be part of the first ever couple to win the scenic city invitational, which is really cool to think about. - Imagine, I mean, that would be the best opening of Ace, you wanted to come back. The power trip they would have as winners of this tournament, making people hold up their trust even in their title belt, so you get the, you've been a part of that, I know. - Oh man. - But, man, well, as we, as we kind of wrap this up, I mean, let me give y'all a lot of prediction. So I'm gonna say my tournament, if I had to put an odds on favorite on this thing, if I, if there was money, a money line on this, I think Adam Priest would be the favorite, just based on the experience, what he's done in the area, I think Adam Priest would be the favorite. - Manders is the reigning defending SCI champion. - He is, I know he is, and I have love and respect, I got love and respect for Manders, nothing else. But also, no one's ever won it twice, you know, it's a tough thing to do. So I think Adam Priest is the favorite. I really like the Macawski pick, but it's like the Macawski and Aaron Wade match is very tough to call because of the projection of Aaron Wade. It's tough. And then my Dark Horse is Darren Megiston. So I'm gonna, man, I'm gonna officially, here's one thing, one last thing I'm gonna say real quick, and then we gotta wrap up, I gotta ask, if there's a draw, are y'all doing like the scramble or whatever to get into the tournament? Like, can you be eliminated for like a double time limit draw or anything like that? Like both people get eliminated? - So if there's a first round draw, then yes, both people are eliminated and the night two scramble determines who goes into the second round. We've had a couple of first round draws over the years. We've never had a second round draw yet, but if that happens, then it's just three people in the final rather than four. - Okay, the reason I ask is because that's a wild car that we have to keep in mind because like it's possible like Jaden and Adam Priest go to a draw. Like that's a tough match. Like I don't know. So you know what, my official prediction, oh man, I'm gonna go Adam Priest win the whole thing. That's what I'm gonna wind up taking. But I love everyone in the tournament. And I hope everybody does well and I hope everybody has a good time. Anything that we're missing anything else before we get out of here, Scott? - Just we would love to have you in attendance. Anybody listening, you know, come on down to Red Bank, Tennessee, you know, Chattanooga is a days drive from like 90% of the United States population. So, you know, we would love to have you here. If you can't join us live, then check us out on IWTV. And we have another big event coming up, September 7th. The Battle for Sel Creek. We are back in a school to help them raise money. We've been at Sel Creek once before for Tank Scenic City Throwdown. So we're excited to get back out into the community. And our two main goals are to give wrestlers a platform and to help organizations raise money. So we're excited to do that again in September and we're gonna keep the ball rolling. - Scott, wanna thank you for joining us here tonight. Guys, all the links are below to, if you're in the area, go check out the show or where you can find to watch the show. However, you can view the show at the SEI Tournament, the TWE show as well. Again, tonight is when everything kicks off when you're listening to this. And then the tournament is Friday and Saturday night. Scott, again, thank you for joining us. Have fun this weekend. I can imagine it's a very busy weekend, but a lot going on, but I'm sure it's also a very fun weekend for everyone. And I know for a lot of people on Twitter, Boston, New York is one of them. And he always enjoys the SEI and getting together with everybody. I know it's like a big celebration down there. So have fun this weekend. Thank you again for joining us. And guys, we'll be right back here on the spotlight. - We're back, big thank you to Scott Hensley for joining us, previewing the SEI Tournament. Again, that begins. The actual tournament begins tomorrow and then runs into Saturday. It is on IWTV. Everyone can check it out, but the kind of weekend kicks off. It kicks off tonight with the TWE show. So that's on IWTV as well. Head over to IWTV, use the code Fyctalk. I get a discount also helps out Stephen Jensen. Check out everything going on at the SEI this weekend. As we appreciate all the support, call the feedback, all the comments, the questions. We appreciate it all. Appreciate everybody who's tuned in today whether you're listening live or listening on demand. If you are listening on demand, leave us a good review on iTunes or if you're listening on demand on YouTube, leave us a thumbs up on the video. We appreciate that subscribe here to the channel. Fightful YouTube.com/Fyful. Subscribe to Fyful Overbooked. We do a morning show three days a week on Fyful Overbooked every Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m. Eastern covering the world of professional wrestling. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode of The Spotlight, myself and Stephen Jensen covering everything going on from the fallout from AEW Dynamite, whatever happens tomorrow night on SmackDown, whatever happens on Monday night. We're all, it's a big Dynamite next week. I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about there. So we'll be back next week on The Spotlight here. Guys, thank you. Everybody, enjoy your weekend. No major, major events this weekend. Slim Reversary is next weekend. It's a taped episode of Collision. If that matters to people. So if you, it was a big wrestling weekend, this past weekend, two weekends ago, was Forbidden Door, that was a big weekend as well. So you know, if you're able to enjoy some time away from the world of wrestling, get out, stretch some legs, touch some grass, as the kids like to say. Enjoy that. Whatever you do this weekend, hopefully you enjoy doing it. You have fun doing it. Live your life how you would like to. 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