(upbeat music) - Save on O'Reilly Break Parts Cleaner. Get two cans of O'Reilly Break Parts Cleaner for just $8, valid in store only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ O'Reilly ♪ ♪ Auto Parts ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hello, and thank you so much for joining us for your SmackDown post show for Friday, June 28th. We are on a heater of some good SmackDown episodes last week's super eventful, so eventful. It broke my internet, Sean had to jump in. He's here more intentionally at the start of this show. Joined, of course, by Alex Cardoza as well, but we have a lot to talk about, a lot that you guys might want to talk about as well. So get in those super chats, get in those humper chats at humper chats.com. We thank you so much for joining us. We also invite you to head on over to Fightful Select and Subscribe, where we had a big update on Die Jack, Holy Cow, lots to talk about there, lots that he talked about with Sean in a 90 minute interview, which isn't behind the paywall. You can get that for free, but get those supplemental details on Fightful Select.com. Also an update on Warner Brothers and the AEW relationship as that deal looks like it is headed to the home stretch, but why am I talking about Fightful Select.com? Well, we have Sean Ross Sapp in the house. Alex, how are you doing first? And then we'll throw it back over to Sean. - I am so happy to be back here. I don't like Fridays without you guys, man. I don't care about family. I don't care about anything in life, but it's the opposite of the bloodline. He's the opposite of the bloodline. I just got to say, I acknowledge Kate. - Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate thinking not. But the Tribal Chief of Fightful, I can't even take credit for that. Sean is here to talk to us about some additional supplemental details tonight, starting with we got some NBA action happening in this episode, Sean. We got some Nick's Pacers rivalry, continuing along in the garden felt very appropriate, but I would imagine like we saw NFL wise, there were some complications around WrestleMania, but that maybe not being so thrilled about some of the physicality that was involved, but didn't want to kind of kick off our part of you being here with talking about that. Any complications that you heard about on the NBA side or their involvement? - So, I mean, this is something like WWE obviously values, NBA, MLB, all these places. They work with them with the championship belts and all that stuff, which is very, very important to them. And like they knew what they were doing here. Tyree's Halliburton, huge WWE fan, if you couldn't tell recently. And this isn't the first time they integrated someone like that into the MSG element with Trey Young as well, but getting Brunson, Jalen Brunson, who is also a wrestling fan congratulating Cody after WrestleMania, that was a big one. And finding a couple of basketball players who are rivals on the court and willing to put their egos aside to do something like this is really great too. It's great, honestly, it's great for everybody. It's great for the NBA as well. I've heard of no issues there. As long as there's no physicality, I know George Kittle in the NFL was, he didn't get in trouble, but he was told don't ever do that again when he did this, but he got physical and these guys didn't. There are certain protections in place for that, but it was a great moment. It got a ton of buzz, especially for the MSG show as well. But from what I understood, WWE knew, they knew what kind of reaction this was all gonna get. Everybody that I've talked to so far was very happy with it. I know that sometimes people get, they're like, oh my gosh, are they happy about everything? Well, of late they have been. They've been pretty happy about most things, except for a thing that we will talk about in a few moments. - Sure, and the crowd reaction was super hot. Dan Sullivan saying, would you get heat for some gas on it? That's exactly what they were doing with this rivalry. There was a lot of heat and because of that, a lot of sensor spots in this show, 'cause this was New York, baby, there's a lot of cursing. But I come on here, as someone that lived in New York City for seven years, I do my best to control my cursing, to keep it clean for you guys, but not what New York is known for, tons of censorship involved. And I had a lot of this too. I didn't know if this was just me, 'cause as you guys know, my internet famously not that great, but Connor saying October can't come soon enough, Fox is brutal. Also had to do a double take at Tungalow is sure I did too, looks like MJF's, but lots of things on the production side going on today. - Well, it wasn't the production side. It was more the censorship side on Fox. And I had posted a tweet that said, I'm about to have to start using my NordVPN.com/fightful to watch Smackdown, which isn't something that I really usually have to do, but like I'm legitimately gonna do that next week because it was bad this week. And I posted that and a wrestler who wasn't on this show said, man, like watching this at home is a chore. It feels like every single segment, there's something. And they get, you know, editing out FU solo or F the Pacers or something like that, but it's like there's so much like it'll go blackout for like 20 or 30 seconds. You don't know what's happening here. There's stuff that goes mute for 20 or 30 seconds as well. It is something that is frustrating to people within WWE as well. They know that that's the platform they're on and they understand that. And I mean, nothing new to the smack downside of things, especially when the rock was popping up there all the time. But they're gonna move to USA and USA, quite frankly, you can say pretty much anything on USA you want. It's just a matter of what they want to make the air. And there's a lot of discussion about TVPG and TV, you know, MA and all that stuff. It's not like the ESRB for video games or the MPAA for movies where you are assigned that and you need to adhere to it to get that. This is subjective by the distributor of the program. So WWE and Fox come to that agreement. And as long as none of their sponsors have any issues with it, they can do really, well, not on Fox, you can't do whatever you want. But on USA, you can do pretty well whatever you want. You can curse all you want over there. It's just a matter of what they're gonna be okay with. Now, there's an opportunity that USA sees how things go on Netflix and then they're like, you know, it does go a lot more naturally and maybe we'll just rock with that. But there was some frustration there from people that I talked to. - And people send it in more chats here, Kevin Man sharing the same frustrations. I don't know what was worse. The screen blackouts are the constant leaping of the crowd. That's definitely something that we see a lot, even with NXT as well, just 'cause that's a continual coming background and a lot of those crowds tend to go into business for themselves, as it said. But some love from Bad Robot here, who was having a tough day the other day. And I hope your Friday and your weekend are better, Bad Robot saying, hello favorite post show, SRS amazing diejack interview would suggest giving that entire interview a listen. You guys got into some good stuff in those 90 minutes. The women's money in the bank is already looking like it's going to steal the show. Who do you want? I wanted Tippy, but I think I'm holding for Chelsea now. I think if you've got Queen and Nia and Bailey facing off and we'll get into this more later, but Nia I think doesn't win, but beats Bailey to a pulp and then you have Tiffany cashing in since we have this buddy cop dynamic. But Chelsea is hysterical. I would not be mad about that. And any thoughts from the other, the fellas on that one? - Alex. - Man, I'm going all the way with Tippy. For some reason, you've changed my mind a while ago. I was going with someone completely different and then you kind of, we spoke behind the scenes about what you thought would be happening and it totally changed my mind. I definitely want to see Tippy hold that up. And you, what better way to, you know, they love merchandising and they love doing different things with the wrestlers. A pink briefcase running around with like the Barbie style font saying money in the bank. That is gold gold. So yeah, for the women's side is Tippy. For the men's side, I'm a little, I'm a little lost. And I've been saying this about the money in the bank because this year it's actually been really good. The matches have been good. It's not predictable. So I'm like, oh man, like who's from the men's side could actually take it, you know? But yeah, Tippy on the women's side. - Tippy in the bank for sure is the way that I'm going to, but some more love for us. And then we'll continue picking Sean's brain about a few things, but Don saying hi to Kate and Sean only Alex, you better be happy when you're seeing each other for a year. Good episode of Smackdown. Can't believe I'm saying it, but Roman, we need you back. We're going to talk about that main event segment, but speaking of bloodline related things, the unfortunate passing of Sika, but a beautiful legacy to leave behind. Very cool that kind of in the later years of his life, he got to witness a whole storyline for years and years that has been kind of a tribute to everything that he set up beautifully put together tonight, Sean, any additional background information on that? - Yeah, it's very important to them that they ran something like that. I mean, not only is his impression felt in this generation of the prior when it's going to be felt for generations to come. So that was something that meant a lot to them. There were some rumors tonight that Jimmy Uso had returned, I don't know where those came from, but I hadn't heard anything about that. And also Roman Reigns, from what I understand was at the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital the day after his father passed away. And I had to check on that when I saw somebody post about that 'cause I was like, "Hey, I think this is from last week." No, he was just there last week as well and goes there like all the time, which shows you what kind of a guy he is. 'Cause he, I'm not sure that he has any like obligation to be anywhere right now. - Wow. - And WWE certainly would have understood that. And I'm sure the Children's Hospital probably would have understood that as well. So Matt Raikiel saying, "Here to acknowledge the Tribal Chief, "fife less I rest." The Roman return pop is gonna be nuclear. Heyman sold that spot like a pro. They'll talk more about this later, but yeah, I haven't heard when Roman's gonna be back. I'd be surprised if it was before money in the bank, you know, probably for a summer slam build or something if that happens. But yeah, I, and they got that cooking and sending our love to Roman and Sika. I wish I could remember what the radio show was that Roman was on and it was so cool to see. If anybody remembers the clip, please send it to me. He was talking to the radio host and the radio host like you could tell didn't know any modern wrestlers. And then he mentioned his father and he's like, "Oh yeah, my father's Sika." And then the radio host goes, "Wait, your dad was Sika?" And completely marked out and you could see how proud Roman was in that moment. Like, you don't see him give that type of reaction to a lot of things. And that's something that always stuck with me. It was very, very cool. - I just wanna add, oh, I'm sorry, go ahead. - No, you got it. - I just wanna add real quick how emotional that was, watching that package for me, 'cause I remember growing up as a kid, watching the Walsamos and being deathly scared of like them and me and my cousin pretending that we were them and just beating up all the kids in the street. Like it was fun, you know what I'm saying? Like pretending we had the big hair. It was weird watching it 'cause I've been so far removed from those matches that when now that they replayed this, what do you call it, the tribute to him. It was like, I was like, oh my God, like I can feel it. I'm like, I don't know this guy from no one else, but it's just crazy like how much wrestling is involved in our lives. - They did a really beautiful job kind of taking you back to the roots of everything and to modern day and splicing back and forth, really, really well done tonight. But some more love coming in about that Dijack interview here for it. - Sorry, go ahead and read that, yeah. - Oh sure, no, praying for Kate's internet tonight, me too, every day, buddy, especially considering she's missing her town's pride event. I did get to go to the beginning of it, but I am missing the Golden Gaze, which is a, it's a heartbreaker, but I'll rebound. - Yeah. - Sean, great interview with Dijack. Alex, awesome to see you back. Fightful is for everyone. Hell yeah, Fightful is for everyone and thanks to our wonderful moderators who keep us safe. But yeah, if there's anything you wanna highlight from that Dijack interview, you guys talked about a lot, but I popped particularly for the, we added syllables to his name. (laughing) - Yeah, so I mean, in a time where it was just becoming Otis, Elias, et cetera, they were like, we're gonna take Donovan Dijack or just Dijack and make him Dominic Dijakovic. And I was like, come on, what are we doing here? And he had some pretty terrible names along the way, but this is an interview that I was very happy. I'm always honored and flattered when somebody's willing to talk to us first and trust us with their story, so to speak. And I saw somebody say, haven't seen a good Barry WWE interview in a while. (laughing) I mean, this is a little bit different. The way that he was let go was ill-advised. And there were some heartbreaking elements of it. And like him saying that people will just watch Fightful to find out who's getting fired. And I saw somebody misrepresent that on Twitter and say, oh, that's how people find out they're fired. And I'm like, no, that doesn't happen. We have never released the name of someone before they were informed. However, are there other talent that find out that releases are going on? Yes, they do, unfortunately. But there were three separate times die Jack recited to me where he said, in much more colorful language, I'm screwed after WWE things. After Retribution started, when he got drafted, when he met Vince McMahon, he said, in much more colorful language, I'm screwed multiple times there, 90 minutes. I don't do a lot of 90 minute interviews. He gave me so much time. It was really good, fantastic interview. Fantastic interview there. And die Jack's gonna do incredible stuff. Yeah, he's a tremendous talent. I watched very closely his second NXT run. And I can't say enough about what a stalwart of that brand he was, especially in stipulation matches, especially when he's given the time to develop something. He's an outstanding talent. But thank you for the love for that interview. I recommend watching the whole thing. It's a good one, but Sean watched a lot of die Jack on main event, Sean's the other person that watches main event. But we had some changes in some dark matches, speaking of keeping around the episode. Sean, anything you wanna shed some light on in the dark matches? Yeah, so I mean, normally this isn't something I'd even really highlight. But Damian Priest brought to everybody's attention. He was scheduled to do the main event dark match tonight, which obviously as a guy from that area was something that I'm sure is very important to him. Main eventing Madison Square Garden. His plane was still on the runway as of like the time the show started. So they ended up having to change that. It was gonna be Awesome Truth versus Judgment Day. I don't even think they were gonna do a tag title match, but it was that. And they were gonna do Jey Uso versus Damian Priest. I think they switched that around. I think it ended up being Awesome Truth versus Pretty Deadly, who came back tonight in Finn Balor versus Jey Uso. I think J.D. McDonough, I don't know, just pissed off somewhere. I don't know what he did. But unfortunately he didn't get to make it there, but you hate to see that, especially with something like MSG. But they weren't happy about that. They weren't happy about the editing. They were very happy with the ticket sales. And we're gonna have a lot more details on this backstage news on SmackDown. Producers on SmackDown tomorrow on FightfulSelect.com. The best $5 in the business. You get access to our Discord, our preview show for the pay-per-view on Sunday. Sour Grabs right now and the show Sunday. It's gonna be a good time to be a subscriber of FightfulSelect. I posted a very lengthy update on the WBD-AEW relationship. And yeah, I don't think they announced it tonight, but I'm gonna be in Chris. I'm gonna be in New York on Christmas and throughout that week. And the goal was to go to a December 26th house show, assuming they do it, 'cause I've wanted to go to one since I was little. And I hit up a contact and they're like, you picked the right time to put in those requests based on the ticket sales. They were very happy with that tonight, obviously. - It is. They were hearing record breaking and gates. So there will be more updates according to Sean. On FightfulSelect.com tomorrow. Sean, anything else that you wanna leave us with as far as stuff coming up this weekend? We've got pay per views coming up like crazy all summer here. - Yeah, we're gonna keep having news over at FightfulSelect.com. I still got a lot of contract news. I'm gonna drop over there. I know Corey's been working on a lot of like, especially if you are big into the European wrestling scene. Corey has been all over that. He has leaned into that pretty heavily. And I mean, in pretty short fashion, we've become the leader in exclusive news out of that, that territory as well, thanks to Corey. So check that out again. Check out our pay per view pre-show on Sunday. Rob Wilkins always does those. They're a good time. I swing by here and there, but yeah. I mean, man, SmackDown's been cooking. And as long as it is, I'm gonna pop up here and join you guys at the top of the show. But I've got my Q and A that dropped today as well. So thank you all so much for having me. - Absolutely. I will be at Forbidden Door. And because of that, Mr. Cardoza below me will be joining Alex Vlowski on Fightful Select as well. - So I know that I believe Andrew Zarian might be there as well. I think Cresta's gonna be there. Our good friend Andrew Maydala is gonna be there. So whenever it is, during all four of the women's matches, when Kate gets up and go gets vegan chicken dinners, we-- - Oh no, Sean's internet. Oh no! - Wow, we've got people who will cover those matches. Don't worry about it, guys. I will make sure you don't miss out on anything. - Yo, if they have vegan chicken tenders, I might get up, okay? - Otherwise, Willow's partner TBD will just still be TBD if Kate has anything to say about it, 'cause she's gonna be there. I miss the start of Danielson and Omega because I was at concessions. - You wanna know a fun fact. Our friend Cassidy Haynes is the only reason I didn't miss it because I was at the front of the line. I had promised my group I would come back with waters 'cause it was so hot in there. And I was like, "I can't miss the start of this match." And he was like, "I got you, Kate." I was like, "Thank you." So that was the first time I met Sean for about three minutes with our masks on, but-- - Yeah, it was. - Thank you for bringing up that wonderful memory of chicken tenders. I'd really love it when you stop by Sean, but-- - See you guys later. - Fightfulsliked.com for more-- - I just wanna say really quickly before we get off the air, Effie is a jobber and he has been completely carried by Dart Chic and AliKatch. Thank you. - Hey guys, I'm here to tell you about eBay Auto. eBay Motors is the leading online platform for automotive dealers to get their inventory in front of over 7 million ready to buy shoppers who are buying cars and trucks on eBay Motors every three minutes, every single day. They make it easy to find parts for cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, and more. They even offer a massive selection of new and pre-owned classics. Whether it's fixing, updating, or maintaining your existing vehicle, or finding new and used vehicles, eBay Motors is easy to navigate by vehicle type category of items, sales, events, or the brand type of car, motorcycle pickup, or SUV that you have. You can shop parts on the eBay Motors app and with their eBay guaranteed fit, it is guaranteed to fit your ride every time. Head over to ebay.com and find what's right for your ride. That's ebay.com. (upbeat music) - Save on a Riley Break Parts Cleaner. Get two cans of a Riley Break Parts Cleaner for just $8, valid in store only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh Riley ♪ ♪ Auto Parts ♪ - Oh, my goodness. There has been something brewing between Sean Ross app and Effie Effie. One of the more responsible aggregators probably, but talking a lot about FIFO and FIFO Select.com. So I don't know what's going on there, but a lot of people coming for Sean Ross app and it's not just nerds on the internet anymore, it is actual rustlers now. But we're gonna dive into our SmackDown review guys, get into your super chats, get into your hover chats while I adjust my frame and my makeshift office here. We've got so much to dive into, considering all of the production changes, Alex, I thought tonight's episode really flowed and hearing that Damien Priest was originally scheduled for some of this and there were all these things, obviously taping around it and such. But I really liked the follow-up from last week's episode, which was the most eventful SmackDown of the year, probably into what we got here. What were your overall thoughts? I love that we got some real match times tonight as well with these triple threat qualifiers. - The whole show felt good, it flowed very well. I didn't feel like it was dragging at any point, which is hard to say, 'cause a lot of the times these episodes have been, in the past have been hard to watch. I didn't feel like anything was out of place and even when they included the whole Jalen Brunson thing, it flowed so well with the show. Now, granted, I don't have cable. I don't use cable, I haven't used cable in five years. So I do watch online with NordVPN. - Hey. - So I don't know any of your problems that you guys were having with sensors because I heard it all, so. - With NordVPN, you say? - Nord. - Reversatile VPN in the game? - The most. - NordVPN, which can save you money on pay per views? My God, if only someone was here to tell you that. - Buying pay per views on NordVPN.com/fightful is gonna enhance your pay per view buying process. Now, one subscription to NordVPN has so many different benefits, but if you're a big pay per view buyer, like myself, UFC, boxing, pro wrestling, all that good stuff in any combination of the three, if they're doing a fight circus, or something like that, this subscription will pay for itself after one or two pay per view buys. Change your virtual location, pay for it at the prices that other people are paying for it in the UK, in Australia, et cetera, et cetera, and you can get different interfaces. Maybe you don't like peacock and you wanna check out the WWE network the way that it used to be, the way that it was designed to be, the easy navigation, so on and so forth. Maybe you wanna watch AEW without commercials. Maybe there's some other overseas services that you can't subscribe to and you wanna access to them. NordVPN.com/fightful gives you that with a great deal and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Even better, 24/7 tech support, so if you have trouble navigating any of it, they can help you out. Fastest VPN on the planet, NordVPN.com/fightful. - There's so many uses for NordVPN, I'll tell you, I've already said it before. If you have Disney Plus, get that NordVPN, switch over to the UK, thank me later. And as of late, there's also been some other websites that I will not be mentioning here that have been blocked here in the United States, but when you use the VPN. - He's of course talking. - You go watch him. - About Nickelodeon.com. No, but we are gonna dive in. Guys, thank you so much for the early support, Vicki Alsain. This cash is for Alexis, thanks Kate and SRS. - Thank you, Kate, make sure you send me that money, man. - Look, you're a draw, but Ricardo's saying, "At work, love y'all, see you later tonight." Well, thank you so much for thinking about us at work. My goodness, you guys have been so wonderful to us, but let's get into this episode of SmackDown. Finally, I kind of want to start with our main event and this bloodlined through line. I think if we start with the opener and then just kind of talk about everything that happens since it was probably the most eventful thing on the show, let's just lead with that 'cause we're so deep into this review already. But we open with the bloodline getting out of the car. Love solo with the more fitted suit. Love solo with the gloves on. It just like has a little bit more of like a nastiness to it. I love to see it. We see them immediately getting attacked by Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. If I feel select.com had that information for you if you like a little spoiler action, but they just start going at it. And here's what I love, okay? You get your classic Randy Orton RKO, but like God bless Kevin Owens. If there's an opportunity for that guy to jump off of something high onto a table and like he's gonna do it and he should and it's great. What I loved about this is twice now, the past two times we've been at the garden with the bloodline. We've gotten very long segments, very good segments, very productive segments, but they've taken up a ton of the episode and opening this and closing this with a little bit more action and a little less oxygen eaten up on the show was really, really refreshing, especially because this is bloodline 2.0, right? Different motivations, different format, different champion now switching this up felt really good to me, but this poor security guy trained out of the monster factory here in Jersey by Danny Cage, shout out to them. He sells the hell out of an RKO, Cody gets on the mic and says, "They're gonna talk now." You got Owens saying that they're not gonna wait for money in the bank. He got Randy Orton saying that the bloodline's been up his ass for two years and put him on the shelf for 18 months and that money in the bank, they're gonna put the bloodline down and Cody saying, the bloodline sees them as victims in the ring and he is not here for that at all. He looks at a dangerous guy like Kevin Owens. He looks at a 14 time champion and a first ballot hall of famer like Randy Orton. And hell, he's the WWE champion and he sees a sold out Madison Square Garden says he should be defending against an opponent tonight that is worthy of him, but instead he's sweating the bloodline and he thought he was done with them at WrestleMania. Love all of that from Cody. You got Nick Aldous coming in here. He's pissed. He's got cops with him this time around. And Cody says that there's no tribal chief or head of the table in the bloodline and call solo secoa a seat filler and we get Cody's music so that the crowd can get hyped about all of this. They leave peacefully with their police escorts, but this felt like, fam, we're diving into the episode. We're diving into the action. And for me, I liked the other things that we got. Well, we got like a whole PowerPoint with the bloodline and the rock doing his things, calling everybody drug addicts and whatnot. Like ages stuff, but took up like 45 minutes of a two hour episode, very refreshing to have this just like, bam, getting to the point. I had a lot of fun with this opener. What did you think? Yeah, again, they were right on the ball today. It just, you know, when you're in New York, you gotta capture that crowd quickly. They're gonna turn on you. We know this, they're heels. So the fact that they just kind of gave you fast pace action to the point, you know, we're gonna start beating people up. We're gonna start throwing ourselves from like you just mentioned from scaffoldings in the MSG. It was fun, man. I really dug, I said this in the beginning. I don't like the episode, but this opening was just perfect. It was just perfect. And they haven't had many openings that were this action packed in a while. A lot of talking or maybe just reiterating things here and there as they always do. Today was just more of this for me, please. Yeah, and I like what Will points out here that when Cody was kind of against promo, Randy was looking at the title. Feels like Randy is gonna turn heel probably sooner than later. So that Cody even just has like a top heel challenger on SmackDown. He's riding the baby face wave really well, but like Orton defaults to heel to me. I would love to see that. And I feel like it's gonna feel really personal what he does because we kind of have this alliance, but a good call there, a good call there. So I loved what we got out of that. And I also like we get another short but effective segment with the bloodline in a little bit here in the middle of the episode where Paul Heyman is like trying to counsel Sola Sakawa. He's saying, where is Jacob Fatu? We need to know where a guy like this is. And Sola Sakawa says, you said he was too dangerous. You're my wise man. I listened to you. Jacob Fatu is not gonna be in the bloodline. And to me, I said, oh no, Paul Heyman is about to be mad at. (laughs) But Paul Heyman, always so effective in these. He has this seamless ability to go from cartoonishly over the top to feeling really grounded. And that versatility, I think is a big piece of what makes him one of if not the most effective managers in history. Loved that quick little bit, not a ton there, but I liked that connective tissue, anything that you wanna jump in and comment on. - They just, they thread the needle so well. They thread the needle so well. And this is something that every company should take note of out there that's starting or has been doing wrestling for all. It's just thread your stories like this. People are happy. - It's true. It's true. And I wasn't the only one who was like, oh no, Paul Heyman got murdered. Mead Norma said, solo in the new bloodline, they wouldn't have labeled over a while 'cause they're probably wanted for murder. A classic, classic Anchorman reference, which I will always appreciate. - I made a dodgeball reference on Twitter before because that piece of the diejack interview where they were adding syllables to diejack's name, maybe I think of friends, (speaks in foreign language) if they had her to dodgeball. But you give me like a Will Ferrell Vince Vaughn comedy that came out when I was in high school and college. Like, I am there for it. But let's talk about this main event segment that we get. It is the bloodline acknowledgement ceremony. Like I said, Tola Kuzukawa set this up to say that they were officially making Paul Heyman, the wise man for solo sakoa. And the new tribal chief promised that that would be the case here and that Fatu would not be there. And then as soon as they get to the ring, solo sakoa does what? But welcome Jacob Fatu to the ring. Revealing the big fat lie that he was telling, which we all saw coming, but Paul Heyman didn't, or didn't want to believe. But he stared right at Heyman and the look of shock on Heyman's face. I love what they're setting up with Jacob Fatu because when he showed up, not only did everybody on the opposing side sell their ass off for Jacob Fatu and make him look like a badass threat, you saw Tamatanga and Tongaloa looking at him like what the hell just showed up to our old bloodline. They are putting him over super, super strong and Heyman adding a nice layer there, but Fatu and Tama and Loa all acknowledge Takoa, but Paul Heyman hesitates and he says, he does not acknowledge solo sakoa as the real tribal chief. And you know what what is coming next? So Moen Spike, flying headbutt, they put Heyman through the announce table with that triple power bomb. Paul Heyman, great at selling those that was alluded to in a super chat earlier. Can't emphasize that enough. He is so good at obviously he's not like an in ring guy, but when he has spots like that, he knows exactly how to make him work. You get the new bloodline standing tall at the end of this episode, just wanted to get your thoughts on that, Alex. - What a great way to put everything together at the end of that episode. You mentioned it Paul Heyman. He is the glue that holds this bloodline storyline together. You can bring in everyone. You can bring every, you can bring the kids of the kids of the kids. And the thing that's gonna hold us together is the fact that the wise man who has been in the middle of everything for so long got his butt whooped by not even bloodline 1.0. It was like the sideline bloodline, the replacements that came in. So man, I'm nuclear. The pop for Roman and whoever he brings with him to face this group is gonna be so nuclear. I don't think we're ready for it. - I'm so excited for it. - And in a good way, like when this happens, I don't know what's country, what state this is, even country, yeah. What country or state does it might happen in? But by God, I mean, people are gonna feel the goosebumps everywhere. - Yeah, I'm pumped. I'm thinking that's probably a summer slam angle because you're gonna wanna set that up going into survivor series, right? Like if Roman comes back for summer slam and then you can build out a survivor series match, think that gets really interesting. It's also the reason that I think while yeet in the bank is a very, very popular idea. I don't know if you want him walking around with the money in the bank briefcase because I think this bloodline storyline is gonna be eating up a lot of this year. And I don't think he's gonna be like singles guy, Jey Uso, for much longer. But we will see Ryan Silly saying, well, we're all thinking here that the bloodline story is just fire right now. Andrew Baddal, a good friend of the show. I get to meet him this weekend for the first time, very excited about that. Suggested that maybe the bloodline was setting a trap for Roman, Haman getting destroyed, leads to Roman coming back and Paul eventually turns on Roman, your thoughts. What does Andrew Baddal and though? That's what I hate, no, I hate that. (laughing) I sometimes like, I love swerves like that, but sometimes the simple thing is just cleaner and better. Like I think in this case, when you have this much star power centralised to all of this, you got Hichelay awaiting in the wings who of anybody that's kind of coming from New Japan, I feel like, him and Tomatang are the two that are probably gonna make the biggest difference. - Yeah. - I think, I like where Baddal's head is at, but for me, I just kind of want it to be clean. Keep Roman and Haman intact. He could be an equaliser. He could be a difference maker and having the good guys win. But I feel like you got the rock, the Usos and Roman on one side. You've got the family tree on the other side. Like, there are a lot of possibilities that Hichelayo could be the thing that tips the scales in either direction. Really special to get this tonight on the night where we had that Seeker video package to like, it just isn't really cool. - Jacob got that mega freaking intro, man. - Yes. - He got that, like, I've been here for 10 years and this is the intro that I get, like kind of style. Like, man, everything's just, I mean, outside of the bloodline, everything else is just secondary right now, even on Raw. Like, there's nothing happening on Raw that's making me feel the way I feel every time I watch SmackDown. And I know someone's about to get their ass woke. - It's true. I think the Wyatt six coming in is gonna be the anchor of that program. - Oh, yeah. - Like, it feels like for a while now, we've had a couple of factions being the anchors of programs. - Yep. - I think Judgment Day for a long time to be it. I think now they're heading toward a breakup probably. You've got the Wyatt six that, if they do it right, and Alex Plowski phrases us so well, have them be so lowed, no pun intended, and whoever they deal with enters their little world and that is never the same. Comes out different for it, but they shouldn't really be near titles and that leaves so much openness for Drew McIntyre for Simpunk or Damian Priest, for the rest of that group to be adjacent to all of that. Here, I think this bloodline stuff is gonna keep going. I'm so impressed by how they've started to make it feel so fresh and Charlotte Walensky keeps the Anchorman references going by saying, well, that escalated quickly. (laughing) Chef's kiss to all of it. I couldn't agree more with that. That is a pretty dead on, for those of you less familiar or not familiar with Jacob Pottu, he's the main eventer right now. If you're wondering what all the strength behind the presentation is, he could go give you a main event match at SummerSlam right now. He's the kind of guy that can walk in and do that incredible work in MLW, which is not always the most for me promotion. It's not one that I'm able to follow closely enough, but has yielded some incredible talent. MJF was there for a long time with his group Dynasty, Alex Hammerstone, who I am, I am floored WWE has not called calling for. That guy is like if Hulk Hogan was really good. He's got the move set, he's strong. - She said if Hulk Hogan was really good. - Look, I didn't watch him in the 80s. I understand his legacy to the business, but a lot of it was woke up like driving a little bit more. - I love you. - He was important, he was-- - Can I also say this, that I-- - That was important, but-- - My very first wrestling event with my cousin, who I loved the early, was at MLW event at Cicero Stadium in Chicago. And that was my introduction to MJF. I got to meet MJF that day. - Very cool, speaking of MJF, I gotta say, Tomatunga shirt. When you're someone that's dyslexic, and then you come out there and an MFT shirt, that is very much in the style of the MJF font, I guess. - It has the same font, yeah. (laughing) - I was in stitches, meet Norma's at the general chat here saying, "From the minds that brought you Zillow Nightingale and putting QR code on Pharaoh Rhodes, I am the tribal beef and the final sauce." Acknowledge, meet. We did have a lot of fun behind the paywall with the idea that Pharaoh would start having QR code shaved. - Oh, God, stop. Everyone knows here, I've been here for over two years now, how much I really, really appreciate QR codes. - You love that. - So, I'm so glad that's over with. (laughing) I should have just shaved a freaking QR code to the back of my head. (laughing) - Guys, get your super chats, get in your Hanper chats, no QR codes here, just Hanper chats.com, and those super chats. Please leave a thumbs up on this video and subscribe to Fight Full Select. We remind you tons of the Warner Brothers, AEW update, tons about Die Jack, so much more to come 'cause we got pay for views and contracts still to go, man. There's a lot, there's a lot. - And listen, I just wanna say this, we spend money on far worse things. I know, I've seen some of yours's things that you buy. (laughing) Five dollars, that's literally a dollar and like five cents a week. I'm bad at math, okay? A dollar and something a week, all right? Just do it. - There's sales drawers over here. For 70 times a day, you can support Fight Full Select and not have to worry about false aggregation and this and that together. - Dude, for real. - And listen, trust me when I tell you this, even I who work here, pay for it. Like I've been a subscribers before I decided to come on here. - You can invoice that, by the way. - And now I invoice it. (laughing) - I'm moving up to the $10 plan. (laughing) - I was like, I don't want people to think you have to pay when you work here, but-- - I will gladly send you a QR code via Twitter or freakin-- - A QR code for Fight Full Select. - For Fight Full Select, I will do it for you guys. - We will send it to, you can order Fight Full Select at your local restaurant, but let's dive in to the rest of this episode. Get in those super chats and hover chats, we appreciate your support so much today. But our first qualifier match is Jade Kargill versus Tiffany Strickman and Candace LeRae. This was a really strong showing for Jade. Let her keep the super kick, my God. She looked so good with it. There's still some fluidity things that she is up against. There are some times where you watch it, she's kind of like playing possum a little bit, but they have thrown her into the fire and that she was in tag matches, which is very tricky psychology. Now she's in triple threats. These are not natural environments for someone who has had five matches on the main roster or whatever. So I thought the execution of her in-ring was very strong today. There's just some pacing things to work on, but triple threats are tricky like that. That is a common criticism. I have a lot of them. My only complaint ring wise here is, there was a little bit, this is really nit picky, so I apologize if you're like, Kate, just watch the match. - This is like extra nit picky, but Tiffany Stratton had that wonderful hand spring spot and she should be the only one in wrestling who gets to do it because she's the only person I've seen actually pick up momentum with her hand springs 'cause she was a shoot gymnast. She's the only one where it doesn't actually slow them down. She gains momentum going into the person in the corner. Only complaint is then shortly after we get the splashes in the corner from Jade, which is felt a little redundant to have two in the corner spots for me, but some good in-ring other than that. And then we have Naya and Bianca coming down. They're squabbling a little bit and Andy Hartwell ever the opportunist takes out Jade who's on the outside while the referee is trying to get Naya and Bianca under control, keeping in mind these are triple threats, so they're no DQ as a default. And Tiffany Stratton wins with the prettiest moon salt ever. I think we saw this one coming. This is a case where predictable is very good 'cause I think she's a favorite to win it here. But what did you think of this match? And what do you think of this Naya and Tiffany Stratton Alliance 'cause I dig it? - I'm not gonna be as nitpicky. I thought it was, I thought I had fun with it. - Most people are, most people are normal. - I had nitpicky K, you can get your shirts now and nitpickyk.com. But yeah, I personally thought it was, I loved it when the girls get to go with women, sorry, excuse me, when the women get to go out there, I just don't like, some people like, - Why are you calling them girls? - No, I appreciate that, but I always say like. - Yeah. - If you say like the boys, you could say the boys. - Yeah, the boys, you know what I mean? - But I understand and I appreciate your effort with that. - Of course, but the women really showed off. I just love watching women wrestle, not be out there prancing around trying to do something other than what the squared circle's meant to be done. You do in there. - Oh yeah. - And God, it's just Tiffany's so fluid. I hope that she has a super long career because I can't imagine her not doing this because she's so damn good at it. And even though Jade still has some, you said fluidity problems or whatever, you know, the rate of speed. The rate of speed that these other two ladies are working at, okay? And Jade being the bigger, you know, more athletic build, kind of like a power forward, you know, where you're not going to get through them. She might not be able to chase you down the court fast enough, but you're not going to get through them. You know what I'm saying? And I just feel like man, Tiffany's the right choice right now when it comes to like moving forward and building a future, especially heading into the USA network era in Netflix era. I think she's it, man. I love that. And now when it comes to the Tiffany and Nia Jax, Nia Jax, man, I love Nia Jax forever. I've always, I love my big women, you know, like, and by big, I mean, like women that look like they can destroy you by looking at you, okay? And I don't mean it by any other way. That alliance seems natural. It doesn't seem like the old school way of putting two people together, where it's just like, let's put this bigger than life person with a person who's maybe a little smaller, you know, like they used to do back in the day, someone that used to run WWE used to do. It feels natural. It feels like it could really work. And I don't trust Nia. Nia can at any moment say, "Hey, I'm gonna squash you and do it." You know what I'm saying? So keep an eye on that. Kind of like that Randy Orton. - Yeah, you always gotta have your eye out a little bit. I do think, I said it earlier, but I think Nia beating the crap out of Bailey and Tiffany cashing in is a good way to go. And then Alex Plowsky had said Nia could get tricked into kind of becoming her diesel. I also think Nia could get pissed and that could be her first feud with Tiffany. So a lot of directions to go there. And we saw Tiffany doesn't feel that difference, not a far leap, I should say, from Little Miss Twisted Bliss. When Alexa Bliss was in her goddess mode and she had that relationship with Nia. So if you like this template I've almost already been tested a little bit. And Tiffany is a different version. And I think definitely offers something different in the ring. But kind of like that, there was like a little bit of a spoiled brat feel with both of them. - And I just say this, I agree with that. I just, for some reason, Tiffany to me is a little bit more of a badass than-- - She is a little bit more of a badass. I think that's fair. - Alexa Bliss played it well. Like she played the "I'm the Queen" really well, like, you know? But for some reason, Tiffany takes it to the "Ump" degree a little bit. Like she seems like mean-spirited could beat the crap out of you and bitch slap you at any moment. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. - 100% with you on that. So some good stuff. I feel like this was a case where the predictable one should have won. I think you'd still get a lot out of this in that Jaden Bianca, you know, they lost their tag titles. They both lost their qualifiers. That story's obviously gonna continue down the mountain. I just hope that Candace Lorre becomes something other than woman who makes everybody else look great 'cause she sold her ass off in this. Good job by Wade Barrett today, mentioning her several championships, including an NXT. She's a world-class athlete, man. She's a fantastic women's wrestler. Her run here has mostly been, "Hey, did you remember she was Johnny Gargano's wife?" Shoved down her throats for the first three months of her. Come back and then, you know, she had like this tag angle that's been kind of waffling. So much like Santa's Escobar, who we're gonna talk about in a minute, I just hope that there's something productive for her on the horizon kind of soon. But if I had to lay money on who was gonna win this one, I would have bet it was Tiffany Stratton and boy, there's a lot of things to be betting on. We got the Forbidden Door pay-per-view coming up. We've got money in the bank odds that people could be taking. There's a lot around the corner. And if you want the earliest betting lines and the most informed decisions, you're not gonna go to Atlantic City or Vegas these days. Okay, you're not gonna go anywhere else, but bet on line AG. - BetOnline.AG is the official betting partner of Fightful. 100% of the time when you get the odds from Fightful, they are coming from BetOnline.AG. And it's not just wrestling. It's not just MMA unboxing. It's football, it's basketball, baseball, hockey. They have the earliest lines. You can bet big with the high limits and read that functionality. They have the fastest payout for the winnings, paid in minutes and the industry's best bonuses on every qualifying deposit. They've been trusted for 25 plus years. It's not some fly-by-night company. BetOnline AG has been there. They've done that. In addition, they're trusted by millions. They've got VIP rewards programs and a ton of popular games. BetOnline.AG, that's where I go to make my bets. That's where I suggest you go to my friends. Please just bet what you can and bet responsibly. - BetOnline AG, the OGs of betting. Check them out. Check out them for all of your betting needs, not just wrestling, but like I said, there are a lot of predictions happening in the world right now. We had our predictions show with Stephanie Chase on this very channel earlier today. Fightfulselect.com also will have a Forbidden Door predictions show, but we're moving along in this episode of SmackDown. Every match tonight got two segments. I think that's part of why you and I liked the flow of this so much. Really refreshing and it was nice to get some time around these, but we got that secret tribute video package that we already discussed. So we will move into this second qualifier with LA Knight, Logan Paul, and Santos Escobar. And we have the Brunson and Halliburton information that we talked about earlier. Fast skip ball implications in our wrestling today. Logan, of course, ever the heel coming out with Tyree's Halliburton of the Pacers. He is the vehicle for the brass Nux delivery in this, but Jalen Brunson there to equalize this all. You gotta love that 'cause you got the Knicks and you got Knight working together. Gotta love the N sounds with the Ks in front of them tonight, getting the combo, getting the win here. But this was a really good match. You have LA Knight reversing a roll-up to win it. I have mixed feelings on that because I'm starting to have flashbacks to the Vince era when everything was a roll-up and everything was a distraction. This roll-up significantly better though, I will say. If you're gonna do a roll-up, the reverse roll-up much better because it looks like you're actually trying to win the match out of it. It doesn't look nearly as lazy. It looks a lot more opportunistic, but there was a lot to like about this match. I feel like we're gonna talk about what's next for Santos Escobar 'cause they better have something. But he got to show out a lot in this match. And my favorite thing about this match is even with Logan Paul in there, even with all of the distractions from NBA players, LA Knight had his eyes on the prize the whole match. There was a really nice blended story that LA Knight told of, yes, I hate Logan Paul. I don't like him. I hate his guts, whatever. You saw that come into play a little bit, but at no point in this match did LA Knight forget that this is for a Money in the Bank shop, right? Like I loved that he wasn't so distracted that he lost the match in Santos 1 because he just, that darn Logan Paul got to him. Smart baby faces that remember why they're in matches is something that is definitely a new era thing. This was so nice to have LA Knight be smart enough to stay focused on why he was in the match, even with Logan Paul, even with NBA players showing up left and right. I loved that. I will say he's in the match now. I think you're in danger if he doesn't win it. I don't think he's going to because I think Logan Paul is gonna cost him in some way and that's gonna be your Summer Slam program, which I don't hate. I just don't want them to be lazy about the way that Logan Paul takes him out. But this was a refreshing surprise. I want the best for LA Knight, but because it feels like we know it's headed that way, I kind of hate this for Santos Escobar because we talk about it time over time. This guy is the complete package. He's one of the most elite wrestlers that they have. He comes out in this year looking like a star. Alex, help me make sense of what's next for Santos Escobar because I don't know anymore. I don't know, man. I'm sad to see where it was at and where it's at now. Right? Because it was at a really high. You saw all the way I was talking about it and then it just came crashing down, man. This sucks because he's definitely one of my favorites in the show right now and I just, I don't know. Maybe I'm putting faith in the E that they're gonna give them something in the future. But right now, from what I'm hearing, it's just, this is it right now. They're, you know, they gotta give LA Knight his shine, they gotta give LA Knight his flowers and kind of move him forward. I don't know what they're gonna do with, maybe with Logan Paul. I don't know, man, 'cause I don't know. I just don't know. I'm sad about this whole situation. - Yeah, I like that these money in the bank qualifiers have been relatively unpredictable. It's been refreshing. - Super unpredictable. - Yeah. - I appreciate that about it, but it does feel like LA Knight is gonna either not make it to money in the bank or Logan Paul's gonna cost him. So you're burning that Santos Escobar spot, which is a bummer, but I do like that that program continues because I think it means that your new US title holder is gonna be LA Knight and that I'm all here for, but we take a man who is here on the show to not be here for four things in episode. We've got Alex Flowersky on for the Sourfower. Alex, not the worst two weeks for SmackDown, but let's pick Knits. That's what we're here to do. We just talked about Santos Escobar not advancing. Naomi makes even less sense to me, but I don't wanna talk about what I felt like wasn't great on the show. I'm here for the Sourfower. - Well, I mean, there wasn't a lot to be sour about. You have to have more, you can't come home. - I understand. I just wanted to come on and let you know that there's no way LA Knight is winning this because Logan Paul is 10 million percent interfering. There is a better shot of Logan Paul interfering to cost LA Knight than there is CM Punk interfering to cost Drew McIntyre and CM Punk is definitely interfering to cost Drew McIntyre. So like that was all written in the stars away. That's why I don't feel so bad for Santos 'cause like he wasn't gonna win it either. Like here's, Jey Uso's winning it. So like we all have to just accept the yeet in the bank shirts that we're gonna see everywhere. We just have to accept it. That's our fate. That's probably enough to be to sour about is the fact that they have made sure via all of everything that we're definitely gonna get yeet in the bank. - I've not totally sold on that 'cause I think this bloodline reunion might make that not make sense, but I certainly understand you're concerned. - I don't know. I think there's a possibility that he cashes in on solo when solo is the champion and loses. - Fair. - Which is basically money in the bank is just gonna be like the bloodline civil war is going to be the entire story. So. - I mean survivor series timing lines up with this perfectly, right? Like if they kick this back off at SummerSlam building into survivor series and having this continue. - Yeah, that sounds. - For the heck of a lot of sense. - Yeah. - So Kate, everything on Rampage tonight was when you went to the show. - Okay. - Like it was taped eight days ago. This episode of Rampage was. And so they did a random match of El Fantasmo versus AR Fox. And just a between in eight days, they're like, hey, this is the last qualifying match for the big TNT ladder match thing. And I feel like if you started doing qualifiers in May, which they did, it took you too long to flesh out that entire. - To get to everybody? - To get everybody in there, you know? And also the plot was apparently here. Jack Perry, here's the TNT title. You're the TNT champion. And with what they've put in the ladder match with him. It's basically here, Jack Perry. Here's the TNT title. You're the TNT champion. But there's a ladder match also. Like no, but to Kesha maybe. Like it'll be a fun match, but like there's no shot anybody else who's in the match currently will become champion. So whatever. - Man, a stable that holds all the gold and feels like everybody else doesn't have a chance. Where have I seen that before? - Yeah. So, picking Knits, me again, just she's not allowed to be two different people on two different shows. - Yeah. (laughing) - We don't do an extent. She's a different human being. - She's a different human being on Tuesdays. Like she has multiple personality disorder. It's like that Shyamalan movie with James McAvoy. Like she's got full on multiple personality disorder on two different nights of the week. And I feel like that's not okay. But the three matches is a nitpick. They were all good and important. - They all went two segments, which I liked. - Right. But you know what you don't need? I know everybody loves him. You just don't need Cody Rhodes coming out here and yelling a bunch of stuff that we already know for five minutes. - I mean, they do, though, in the garden. Like I know you and I don't, but like they do. - Hey, Kayla Braxton, her big final moment on TV was basically off-camera, because everybody was focused on in the foreground, Cody and his friends getting into the car. You don't even see her ask Nick Aldis in the background. Hey, what's your thoughts about this thing that just happened? And him basically saying no comment. That was her final day on the job. After like eight years of being one of the top people backstage. - It's so important with Paul Haven. Like their interactions, I feel like, are somewhere that she broke out. But we've got some super chats that have rolled in since Alex popped up. We thank you for those. Will saying, we know what money in the bank they're gonna do a yeah and a yeet spot. That'll be the most I like yeet, I think, at all. I think that will actually be a very fun and playful interaction. Kylie just sending in love. Kylie's so supportive and wonderful of us. Happy Pride, Kylie. Happy Pride to everybody in the chat. Rest links for everyone. Fightful is for everyone. And Alex, I'm actually glad you're around for this 'cause I think your mind is ripe for a question like this. Which member do you give a championship gold to the first in this new bloodline? I say solo, but I'm nervous it's gonna be the rock. (laughing) - Well, can't be the rock. I won't allow it. - Okay, so if you're not gonna allow it, what's that you? - I'm not gonna allow it. - But solo, they're really pushing this really hard that it needs to be solo. I was hoping for that Jacob Fatu was secretly pulling the strings from afar. And when he showed up, he would be the real leader of the bloodline. He's a new bloodline. And solo has been his top lieutenant, taking care of all the business before the real guy got there. But that is not what they are doing. So like Jacob Fatu is a weapon. He's not an actual person. He's a weapon. They gotta make sure he never talks on the microphone because if he does, we were gonna be like, "Why isn't that dude the leader?" 'Cause like he's that good on the microphone. I think solo is amazing. I think solo needs to pin Cody in the Money in the Bank Six man tag. - Agreed. - Because of how much Cody is minimizing solo, you have to like, if you're gonna do that on the mic from Cody, Cody has to learn a lesson by having solo pin him. And then I personally would have solo beat Cody at SummerSlam. I think in order to get the most out of Roman's return, which will be huge, either solo or Jacob Fatu has to be the champion when Roman comes back, not Cody. Because it doesn't have the same, if he's coming back to not only get revenge on the guy who decided I'm the new tribal chief, if he's actually also got the title, you want that too. And Cody being like, hey, it's good to have you back Roman. Glad we're on the same page, R E, the bloodline that we don't like. But that's my title. And Roman's like, put a pin in that, after we destroy all these guys, then, you know, there's a lot more intrigue there than like, Cody's like got the title, Roman comes back. Oh, cool, you can handle all this now. Well, I go over here and have an international Logan Paul for no reason, you know what I mean? I just hope that's not the case. - You know, I think you're right about solo pinning Cody too. And I actually think it benefits Cody because we have not felt like there's been believable challenges. So somebody getting an upset would be good. And let's not forget like solo's first loss was to Cody. So there's something for him to avenge there. Love to you guys, the bangs, bangs, gang, buns up. Thank you so much. Second Lieutenant Colonel photo. We thank you for your service and happy belated to your wife guys. If you like what Alex is fantasy booking over here, you can catch us on FightfulSelect.com every Monday, most pay per views, except for the ones I'm at, on this fella is gonna fella and not for me usually, which will be the case for Forbidden Door. Also on Fridays, Alex is hot off of FightfulSelect doing a rampage at watch along and smackdown review at the same time because my God, what a five to a player we have at Alex Followski bank and goodness, but Alex is for popping on here. Anything on rampage to make note of other than the ELP being in the ladder match, he'll show out and that'd be great. - Mm-hmm, Queen Amunata beat Sky Blue and then Sky Blue attacked her after the match and Red Velvet made the save, so like they're doing a weird ROH cross. They actually showed highlights of the ROH women's division like to give storyline context for this Amunata Red Velvet thing. - It's terrible. - Yeah, that's weird, but that was a good match and Amunata won with a headbutt, which I always like seeing. But yeah, that's basically it. - Just make sure everyone to catch me and Alex tomorrow at three a.m. when Forbidden Door's over. - Well, Sunday, Sunday, it's a Sunday night. - Well, Sunday, I apologize Sunday. - Yeah, Forbidden Door will be going all night. - Yeah, the sun's gonna be coming up by the time I'm like Tony Callum. - I'm starting to show from Starbucks. - Yeah, 100%, but Alex, thank you so much for coming on, subscribe to the Fightful Select. We have a lot of fun that back behind the paywall getting silly, getting sour, we have a good time. - All right. - Thanks for popping on. - All right, RIP Paul Heyman. - RIP Paul Heyman, we hardly knew you. We do have another hunt for chat that came in. Thank you for sending those in. We get to keep a little bit more of the cash when you guys go over and figure out that Humperchats.com platform. But the wrestling guru was saying Paul, taking a bump just proves his love for the game. This bloodline 2.0 has me pulled in. Roman Reigns is going to get a nuclear pop and be the biggest baby face without being on TV for four months. I am all in, I think, Jimmy at Money in the Bank, Roman at SummerSlam, man. There are refreshingly a lot of possibilities with this and it doesn't feel like there is one definitively right move. It feels like they could go a couple of directions. And to me, that's always the sign of a good story. I feel that way about Drew and Punk. I was kind of wavering on that, I think because in part, like neither of those guys were cleared to fight. So now that we're getting closer to them, being able to fight and they're breathing the crap out of each other backstage, I'm back in on it. And I feel like there's multiple possibilities that that can happen to you. So some good stuff there. - Exciting. - Tina Keasing, long time listener, first time chatter. - Well, thank you so much. - Tina. - Sending them right back, Tina Keasing. Are you related to Alicia Keasing? - She is. - Is there a Keasing connection there? - It's her fifth cousin and... ♪ Some people want it all ♪ - Well, I'm one of them. I want it all. - Yeah. Why don't you serenade us? (laughing) - Moving on. I will say that we get our Money in the Bank qualifier between Naomi, Andy Hartwell, and Blair Davenport. And we have Naomi with it. We got a backstage segment earlier between she and Bailey and Naomi says, you know, "I might have to cash in on you if I win this." And Bailey says, "I'm rooting for you anyway." They made fun of Tiffany Stratton a little bit and then Blair Davenport just comes in to kind of piss in their cheerios as it were before this match earlier. And then during this match, we have Naomi winning via some Jade interference. I like that Naomi won with this head kick in that bubble bomb to get the pin. I think that was a lot of fun. But I will say all three of these qualifiers had some sort of outside shenanigans or interference, which at least in triple threats, it's more justified, right? You're taking advantage of the rules that are given to you rather than causing DQs or stretching the rules. I'm a split on this. I think Naomi needed the win. I think she'll do wonderful things in this match. But Blair Davenport didn't really get a pop 'cause they haven't done a great job of introducing her to the main roster and then debuting in a loss. I don't know how I feel about that. I think she could have done really cool things in this match. And I can't remember what the brackets are, but if there's a last chance qualifier, Naomi winning in that actually feels like a little bit stronger of a story to me. But something with every match having shenanigans is one of my very few complaints about this episode. All of the shenanigans made sense and they were all well done and they all sat with the defaulted rules, right? So much less of a complaint that I normally have. But something that felt a little redundant to me in this episode, what did you think of this match and how do you feel about the outcomes? I really like that we've had a bunch of surprises. - Yeah, I mentioned this when Sean was on here, extremely unpredictable as of late with the matches. I ain't really enjoy, again, the women have been cooking. I feel sorry for Blair Davenport. She has not felt, she's felt more as a fourth character in the movie who's just kind of floating along with the mains, right? Where she hasn't really had anything meaningful to kind of bring in, except for just being someone who wants to get her voice heard and kind of be seen, right? I'm hoping that all changes for her 'cause she's a pretty good talent. - Yes. - And I don't, now with Naomi in the mix, this is getting good, man. - Yeah, it's fun. - And really, most years, man, money in the bank has been so blessed, right? - Yeah, for your questions, that Otis year, just like-- - Yeah, yeah. - The Miz taking it from him, you had Austin Theory catching in on a lower title during an open challenge, like it got really messy. - I mean, you had people who weren't even in the match showing up, you know, Mustafa Ali getting that moment taken away from him, like, this feels legit and I love where it's going. Again, it's just the people in charge, they're just making the right moves. - Yeah, they're thinking a little bit more cohesively and longer term. And that's refreshing to see, especially in this time of year for so long, the past two years, it felt like, we were at some media and then we fell off a cliff. This time, it feels like everything feels important. SummerSlam feels important. You can see that survivor series got to feel important, like, it's good. It's really, really refreshing. - Let me just put this out there. You know, this is it for us. We got another three to four months of really strong building and paper views, PLEs, because it's done, they're no longer doing Christmas, you know, December paper views or January paper views, like it's, they're, you know, so survivor series is it. So you're going to build now to get to survivor series which believe it or not, we're in July already, okay? August, September, October, boom, that's it. And so in three short months, you know, you're going to build your way into survivor series and then that's it, you know? So... - These go flying, man. - I enjoy it, man. I'm enjoying it so much right now. - It is very fun for someone like, I would hope for everybody. - Well, for someone that talks about wrestling pretty much every night of the week, it's very, very fun to have everybody kind of firing on all cylinders, the best at what they do. - Yeah. - It's really refreshing. - And everyone will have a chance to kind of like fix themselves, if you know what I mean. Like... - Yeah, everybody is... - Let's harp off the negativity and all the things that I've been seeing as of late. And let's see how great the freaking wrestling community, how, you know, we can be and how good wrestling has been, especially for us who report and talk about wrestling all the time. Like, there is no end to it right now. - Alexis, don't you know the smartest people in ratings on Twitter? Will saying, I kind of want you to win money in the bank and go back to back because the last person to do that was fun. Would be very fun to have on the women's side, but I think a different story is starting to cook. - Yeah, you can see it. - Damage control over there, but some good possibilities, these feel like they're gonna be really, really fun. Really, really fun matches. Like, there's good balances in any of them. So, love to see that. We get a quick Andrade video package. This was solid stuff. I think they're just trying to make more of an effort to keep him more relevant. He just kind of says that dreams get made or broken in the money in the bank match. So, it would be a fun winner. I don't think he has a shot at it, but like he's somebody that could cash it and lose and make someone look really good in the process. So, a fun dark horse, but probably not the guy. I just thought they're using him again outside of like the speed title or whatever. So, thanks to him there. And then we get DIY who is backstage with Austin Theory, the long standing relationship between Gargano and Austin Theory coming to the surface here. I love that. He tries to point out to Austin Theory that Grayson Waller is just using him for the titles. And Grayson Waller comes out of nowhere to attack him. I am glad that they're starting to build something from this tag division. We also have a segment earlier with Pretty Deadly and the Street Profits and Pretty Deadly says, can you picture this? Pretty Deadly, the musical. And I'm like, hell yeah, I would attend it. Perry, glad to see them back down. And the Street Profits are like, how about the Street Profits? Kick your ass instead. Nice to see the Street Profits also doing something other than showing up to be somebody's friend for no reason. Let's get these tag divisions up and built already. Either thoughts on either of these segments, DIY with A-Town Down and Pretty Deadly, I know you are a stand of episode. I'm just waiting for the obvious DIY breakup and then Tomasso breaking a crutch over freaking Gargano's head again. Like I just, for some reason, every time I watch those two, I'm just waiting for them to break up. It's such a bad habit that I have because that's all they've been doing for the last couple of years. So I do want them to finally grab this gold, man. I feel like it's a long freaking time in the waiting. They were really dragging this one out. And we all know that this storyline with, or what's A-Town Down Under, you know how it's going to end? You already seen it. It's already starting. The talks are starting. So give my boys the titles. Let's refresh the SmackDown Tag Team division. - Let's do that indeed. And let's also take a moment to tell you about another sponsor that we have in the No Shave Man Cave. They're a sponsor of us before they've come back and we're so happy that they are back. They took a hiatus in general from their podcast to tend to some personal stuff, but they came back with a lot of great content coming up. They had a great mental health episode of their podcast with Thunder Rosa. This weekend they have Jake Hager's first post AEW interview coming out as well. So be sure to stay tuned to that. I know it's a busy wrestling weekend, but take a listen to that tomorrow when it comes out. But they are two great guys. Jason Tilson and Jared Ellis, just passionate wrestling enthusiasts, like the rest of us here, right? But they bring you in-depth analysis of current events and matches. They go through title histories and they share. Their perspective is really as fans. And in addition to engaging discussions and insider insights, they just have a whole lot of wrestling love, but they have wash-alongs with special guests. They have interviews with top talent like I just named. Go check out those interviews and go subscribe and support the No Shave Man gave to veterans that I just really appreciate their disposition on wrestling. I appreciate their efforts to discuss mental health, especially as veterans. Alex, I don't have to tell you, but they really do have some incredible interviews with some incredible talent. And some really fun looks into wrestling. So go give them a listen. Go give them a lot of love and support. We really appreciate their support of us. We ask that you give it back to them. Some good stuff, especially as we're closing out Men's Mental Health Awareness Month. Take care of our veterans. Take care of this fellow next to me. - Thank you. - Dougie Doug saying Naomi is my dark horse to win money in the bank. I think Naomi is going to turn heel and betray Bailey soon after getting the money in the bank briefcase. So I think a dark horse is a good call with this, 'cause I think Tiffy's probably more likely and I think Chelsea Green's a fun runner up. But it does feel cool that there are possibilities here that all feel realistic. Like somebody else was just saying, I think it was Will saying that he wants to go Skye, Naomi being a dark horse. Like this field feels really good and it feels like everybody's trying to chase their titles. You and I are both team Tiffy, but do you have any thoughts on like a fun surprise? - Honestly, out of the entire pack, Naomi would be it. Unfortunately, you know, Chelsea's still kind of like, you know, her and Piper are still doing their thing. And like, you know, it's just it would, the closest would be Naomi. - I agree, I agree. And she could use the boost if she doesn't win. I hope they get her on a track where she's picking up some more Ws 'cause she came back to a lot of fanfare and they haven't really-- - We're in the bloodline. - You could, she's married. - Will saying the breakup is like triple H turning on HBK. We know it's going to happen, but we don't know when. I think that's referring to Waller and Austin theory. I kind of hope sooner than later, I would love to see G.I.Y. be the ones to take those titles. - They're talking, they're making points. It's kind of, and if Waller turns on him. Yeah. - Keep in mind where SummerSlim is, right? It's in Cleveland, Gargano's hometown. Wouldn't be mad about it. Would not be mad about it. But guys, we'll give you a quick rampage rundown and then we will get the heck out of here shortly, but Orange Cassidy beating the outrunners and what was a very fun handicap match, I got to see that one live. Renee interviewing the learning tree. Jericho confirms that he's got a tag partner for Bidden Door and they would have to wait to find out who it is. Gabe Kidd and Roddy Strong defeat the infantry in what is a delicious pairing. Gabe Kidd and Roddy Strong live in the same world. Very fun match that I got to see live as well. We get the Reebok collab between AEW and The Dark Order in a promo that was in tribute to Brodie Lee, which I think is just so awesome. ELP defeating AR Fox. ELP has standout from New Japan. He was tagging with Hiculayo, but I think he's got single star patent all over him. So looking forward to what's next for him. Lexi Nary is interviewing Deanna Parazzo. It would be weird if Deanna Parazzo is interviewing Lexi Nary, where she is promised, promised that she's going to outlast Hikaru Shida and the first round of the women's Owen. That is something I'm very much looking forward to. That women's Owen is stashed this year. Really, really a lot of growth in that AEW women's division that you love to see. Shinko Takagi defeating Don Castle was a very fun match. Don't castle extremely silly, but he can wrestle and he got to show that against Shinko. The outcasts cutting a promo, calling out Tony Storm Mariah Mae and Mina Shirakawa losers before they say that Sariah is going to be Mariah Mae on the zero hour four matches, four women's matches. I'm going to get a door card between the pre-show and the main card there. Queen Amanata defeating Skye Blue as Alex Pulowski said earlier, being a swinging headbutt Queen Amanata doing outstanding work as usual. Check her out on ROH if you're subscribed with the Sky Blue attack after. So, meanwhile, back in CMLL, Kyle Fletcher versus Landis Jr. for the ROH title is yet to air. But man, that should be a bunch of fun. That should be a bunch of fun. So, not a lot left to talk about here as we already talked about that main event segment. The only other thing on the show was Baron Corbin is backstage. Nice to see him kicking around, wish they would give him something to do as well. But Carmelo Hayes kind of just comes in to put himself over to Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin and they give him one of the you kids. - Carmelo Hayes is so funny now. To me, he's like a meme. He just shows up at every spot he's conversing to talk to him. - I think you had to do it for the, I'm in the garden and I actually won championships here. - So good. I mean, let the boy cook. I think that he's gonna be a fun one to watch, man. - He absolutely is. He absolutely is. But a solid episode of SmackDown after a really great episode last week. My internet survived this week, so I was excited to actually come and get to talk about it. But guys, so much coming up here on Fightful this weekend. You got your Fightful Select pre-show. Sean mentioned he stops by time time. You got Rob Wilkins holding that down with a really fun panel. So if you're subscribed, check that out. You've got our main channel for Bitindoor Review. You've got the collision review tomorrow. You've got Sean on the main channel, but you'll have Cardoza and Alex Pulaski on FightfulSelect.com. I will be at For Bitindoor. Please say hi if you're going to be there. If you have any questions that are reasonable, feel free to throw them my way. I'll see if I can ask them in the scrum if I have the time in the room to do so. But I love running into people. I can't wait to go and see some live wrestling this weekend. But have a safe and wonderful wrestling weekend. Have a safe and wonderful rest of your Pride Month and your Men's Mental Health Awareness Month. But Alex, where can people find you? - You can find me locally at your bar drinking. No, I'm just kidding, I don't do this stuff. Yes I do. You can find me on Twitter, Alex, Cardoza. You can also find me on Instagram and of course, every single week producing podcasts all over the world. - Hell yeah. - When you follow me on Instagram, you'll see me post everything that I'm working on. So please and thank you for everyone who continues to support me and everything I do. I've missed you all last week. I was away in Atlanta, playing and doing it with my power ranger friends and ninja turtles. And I was just like a kid in a goddamn candy store. - Man, Shawn I was a ninja turtle shirt on before. - I know, I'm living a life that only I cannot ever, ever in my life think I could be able to live through. And that's including talking wrestling here to empowering your stuff, to working with other people around the world. It's incredible. So thank you all, I appreciate you. - So cool, what do you get to make like the younger version of yourself? Thank you. - Dude. - I would think I was cool if the younger version of myself, I like that. - I would be honest, honestly, it's enough to make you cry like you think about it. Like if you were able to go back to your younger stuff and tell you like, stick at this. Don't, who cares if you're a nerd, just do it. - Yeah, nerds rule the world. It turns out, love that for us. And love running into people at Forbidden Door. Please say hi if you're there. You can catch me at Ms. Kate Fave on social media. You can catch me on the main channel over Tuesday, Thursday and Friday talking NXT ROH. Which seems like they're shaping up to do some cool stuff. And Fridays, talking Smackdown. Mondays on FightfulSelect.com with the saugrabs for our review. And Wednesdays at the Mark Order podcast. We thank you so much for joining us. Have a safe and wonderful wrestling weekend. We're out of here. (upbeat music) - Save on O'Reilly Break Parts Cleaner. 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