What's going down?
Hey everybody, welcome to a brand new episode of what's going down here, whatever you get your
podcast, my name is Kenny joined as always by Finley Martin, Finn, how are you this fine
Tuesday? Kenny, I'm doing well, very well indeed. All the bets are for speaking to you of course.
Oh, Shucks. See, that's the level of calm, rather than we've got here on the podcast. We're singing
from the same him sheets. We are, we are. And it's the week has arrived of the Wembley Stadium
a pay-per-view for AEW this Sunday. I believe they have now broken the Summerslam record officially.
Yes, I believe they've broken the Summerslam record. I think they've broken the WrestleMania 3
legit record, but it's very hard because, you know, who do you believe what the actual number was?
Did you ever have a sense of what you thought the WrestleMania 3 number was? I mean, nobody thinks
it's 93,173. Do you think it's around 80? Do you think it's more rid of you stood on that?
I mean, I always thought it was 78,000 and I believe I think was it Zen Brezloff? I think he was the
guy who did confirm that. I think he was involved in the promotion of that. And he, I think before
he died, he confirmed that that was the genuine number as I understand it. But I can understand
why, you know, conversely, you know, on the other hand, I can understand why people would think that
that night 3173 number is correct because when you look at that camera shot, it does look like an
unbelievable amount of people in the Pontiac Silver DOM, doesn't it? It looks bigger than Wembley Stadium
crowd. But I mean, it's a different set up and, you know, things like that are misleading. So, but
yeah, I don't believe it was Zen Brezloff who said, yeah, 78,000 was the correct number. But, I mean,
I'm not sure. That's what I believe to be true. But you know what, if somebody else can present
the facts to disprove that, I will accept those, I will accept that evidence.
Well, sometimes you don't need evidence and facts. You just have your opinion and that can be
even better than facts and evidence. But yeah, no huge accomplishment, obviously, we'll talk about
all in on next week's show, I guess, because, you know, the huge, huge show coming up. But let's talk
about the latest from WWE. We had the first, I mean, I guess Paul Heyman is part of the bloodline,
but we had an episode of Smackdown without the bloodline, really. We had a Heyman promo and that was
kind of it. I guess just generally, did you, did you miss them? Did you feel like it was a let down
episode not having them on it, or did it still stand at its own two feet without them?
No, I didn't miss them because I think the Edge 25 year celebration really did offset their absence.
And also, I didn't want them to be there because they need to sell this. And, you know, we know Jimmy's
going to be there next week on Smackdown. But I mean, Jay can't be there for many weeks. I mean,
Roman could return. I don't know when he's going to return, but he can return at any time. That's fine.
But Jay can't appear until really October. I don't want to seem to October. And I want to
seem to turn up somewhere else in the interim. And I want WWE to publicize that. And so, I mean,
yeah, I think, I think it's Smackdown coped fine without them. I mean, how it will cope without
them over the long haul without this, you know, big 25 year celebration for Edge? I don't know.
I mean, it's time for WWE to get behind other acts and to try and prepare them and elevate them
so they can feel the void. Maybe it doesn't want to do that. I don't know. But I mean, I'm glad
they weren't there because it would have been absurd if any member of the bloodline, apart from Paul
Heyman had been there. And I thought Heyman's promo or his little interview with Caleb Braxton.
I thought that was really well done because Heyman sort of is usually really sure himself,
from really confident and has all the answers and knows what to say. And here at one point,
he started rambling, didn't he? Yeah. But I guess that was part of his, part of what he was trying
to do was kind of sell the the flocks of the bloodline at the moment. Yeah, the uncertainty.
Everything's chaos. It's up in the air. He doesn't know what's going on. That's my point.
Is that, you know, Heyman was saying that he wasn't going to give Caleb an update on what was going on.
And Heyman got really defensive and then started talking about Braxton's family members. Then
he just started rambling and then he received a phone call and confirmed that Jimmy would be on
Smackdown next week. So, you know, had he been confident and, you know, really sure of himself,
like he usually is, that would have been the wrong response given what happened last week.
Indeed. Indeed. Well, let's talk about what else happened on Smackdown. We had the dress and
wallet effect. He brought out a Santos Escobar and Real Mysterio for the LWL. And we kind of
got a segment here of, you know, Santos. He was really happy for Ray and he's only mad at Austin
Dedy because of what he did to him. And this, this brings out, you know, add appears eventually to
make the match between LA and Austin Dedy for the US title opportunity. So they were, they were
very clear here to not show any dissension between Ray and Santos. I was, I had my, my microscope,
detective glasses on looking for any hint, but there was nothing given to us here.
No, they were united against the Waller attack line and the attempt to drive a wedge between
Santos and Ray, you know, Waller accused Ray of stealing Escobar's thunder and his moments,
you know, I'm becoming champion at Escobar's expense. And they were having none of it. They
weren't falling into his trap. You know, they weren't playing his game. They just rejected that.
You know, I found, you know, go away. We're not, we're not falling. You know, we're not going to fall
out with each other and, you know, allow this any sort of resentment to Fester, you know, as a result
of these accusations. And he didn't, you know, that segment didn't, that part of the segment didn't
other states welcome. And then Austin theory joined them. He walked out. He, people really booed him.
He said that he was played last week and that he should, he should still be champion. He said
that Austin, that Adam Pierce was going to come out and any moment now Pierce was going to reunite him
with the US title belt because he was the right for champion. And, and so I thought, you know,
theory I thought handled himself well here. Waller at this point became kind of excess to
requirements and Mr. Invisible. And I mean, it was another kind of weak performance by Waller. And
I thought he was so great in NXT. And that it's not translated to the main roster. Yeah, I mean,
may do. I hope it does because I think he's a multi-talented guy. You can do pretty much anything.
But he just doesn't feel to me like he's made that connection with the audience yet in the way
that he did in NXT. I mean, I guess we've got to give him time, right? Yeah, we've got to give him time
to see. I mean, the best he's looked so far is kind of the, the, what, the greatest moral effect
with edge and then the match here with edge. That was kind of the best he's looked so far. So
he just kind of needs to be put in a story because at the moment, he's just kind of this
background guy. I mean, maybe they think by him being a background guy and being involved in
all these kind of interactions that by default, he's going to feel like a name. But I mean,
I think an easier strategy would be to put him in a feud. So, he gets one soon. I'm great.
So then LA night came out. And he suggested a match with theory. Adam Piers to prove day.
And then, you know, the maze arrives. So there's a lot of moving parts here, a lot of players.
And so we had LA night versus Austin theory with maze on commentary. A maze on commentary
compared night to Fandango, Eugene and don't the clown. He's digging that knife in to, to LA night.
And then he ended up distracting LA night in the end. And so Austin did he was able to defeat him.
Can I get the reverse on Raw with the early night cause of mez?
Would you think of the decision to have night do the job here? Did it enhance the mez feud or
was it something you'd rather not have seen? I don't think he really did night any harm.
And we should mention that the night versus theory match was for a shot at the US championship.
So I mean, I think it would have been a mistake even though the audience was all for LA night
defeating theory here and challenging real Mysterio. I don't think that would have been a really
good spot for night at the moment. And it would have been a really bad spot for Real Mysterio
considering how popular night is with the audience. So I think theory winning here made more sense.
And I don't know, they haven't announced theory versus Mysterio at payback yet. Have they? I don't
think that's been announced yet. So I mean, I hope that takes place at the premium live event because
we haven't seen theory on a premium live event for a while, at least not in a singles match.
Have we ever seen one of premium live event live event in ages?
No, no, I don't think we have. I'm just trying to find the last one here that he was on.
What was the last Austin theory pay per view or PLE?
As a single singles match, the last one he was on was back clash was back clash.
Everybody faced lash late in Bronson Reed. So it's business at the beginning of May.
Obviously was in the summer slam battle royale, but that doesn't really count. It's not a singles match.
Yeah, last singles match was back clash. I mean, I was kind of, I wasn't,
it didn't bother me too much the early night lost. I mean, I didn't think the match was very good.
I've got to say, I thought the match was quite dull. Mezz kind of said it on commentary
because he was just, you know, quite energetic. But yeah, theory versus night didn't set my world
on fire. I think that's one thing the early night. I'm hoping he gets a bit better at his.
The end ring stuff is fine, but it's not very exciting yet. But maybe that's just, he's not,
and there are people who are very exciting. But if he's going to rise further than he is,
he's going to have to start having, I think, slightly better matches than he does.
Yeah, I mean, I think the matches need to have more depth. I mean, we know when he wrestles,
he's got this sort of routine work towel and usually does it well. But if he's going to be a big
star, he's going to have to have longer matches, you know, 15-minute matches and he's going
to have to pace them and he can't just rely on his signature moves. So I think we need to see more
from him in the ring. I actually quite enjoyed the match. I thought Mezz was, was a riot on
commentary. I mean, there were moments there where, you know, you think he's the entry in MJF
territory where he's knocking the guy, but I think it actually wasn't quite that bad. And I think
it was just done in an entertaining way. And I reciprocated when he was on commentary during
Mezz's match with Tazawa on Raw, where he was knocking Mezz and saying that he was average and,
you know, Mezz stands as this example of somebody who could be boring and awful and yet still
make loads of money out of progress, which I actually thought was a really funny line.
So, yeah, so theory ended up scoring a fluke pin on night after Mezz calls the distraction.
Night was furious, as Mezz gloated, so presumably we're going to get Mezz versus LA night at payback.
I hope so. It's been a nice. It's been a nice right? Yeah, so we are getting that
much to pay back. Okay. So elsewhere in the show we have the Street Profits beating the OC.
What do you think of the Street Profits as new, their new vibe, their new persona,
then you was actually, did they come across as a bigger act to you than they did before?
Not here, they didn't know. I mean, part of the problem is Gallows and Anderson, who will just like
you know, book it a water to the crowd out. They're the least biorextinguished team. They just,
you know, the heat is just doused when they come out. And Street Profits were in the ring.
They didn't have an entrance on TV that I saw. Did you, am I imagining things there? They
do it just in the ring. I was like, who are these guys? You outfits, I don't recognise them at first.
I mean, what's happened to Montez Ford? Has he stopped working out? He's got a bit of a good on him.
I mean, Ford used to be like ripped. I mean, maybe, maybe, I mean, maybe he's just kind of going
to a tough period. Maybe he's going to be back to his fighting shapes soon. Maybe so, maybe so,
but I mean, this is a cosmetic. This is an image conscious business. This is a cosmetic industry
with all of this. You know, Bobby Lashley needs to get these lads in the gym.
Speaking of the Street Profits though, because we didn't have the tag match with Charlotte and
Charlotte Flair, the world's worst babyface and Bianca Belair against U of Sky and Bailey.
And the babyface is dead when, because Bailey tagged in at the end of Bianca, hit her with KOD,
but afterwards backstage Bianca got attacked by you and Bailey with chairs. And it kind of
did occur to me, you know, is that, is that providing a kind of scenario for the Street Profits to
sort of tell Bianca you should come with us and Bobby Lashley? Because that's something we could see.
Are they starting to sort of show that, you know, there's powder numbers? I don't know. I just kind of,
it was in the back of my mind when this happened.
Yeah, maybe. I mean, that could happen. I mean, I thought Belair, you know, massively oversold the
attack. Unfortunately, it reminded me of when she was misted by Asker. So it's like, you know,
come on, Belair, Bianca, you were making a bit of progress there as a character. And I felt like
this was a regression to a bad old ways. And where was Charlotte Flair? I mean, they just
teamed together, you know, they got on pretty well. I mean, they were, you know, adults were,
they actually got on remarkably well in the match. Where was Charlotte? You know, why was it
she coming to Bianca's rescue? And you're right, yeah, maybe Street Profits. It would have been,
could be quite interesting other Street Profits, been around there. And Montez had, you know,
rushed to a rescue. I mean, that would have been, I think that would have created a lot of
questions and made it a more interesting scenario than it was. But as far as the Profits and
Gallows and Anderson went, I mean, the match heated up a little bit when Ford did his dive to
ringside, but this just felt a bit flat this match. And Bobby Lashy came out to congratulate Montez
for Nanzhou Dawkins afterwards, which was nice. Obviously, they don't. He just was it last week.
I think it was that they, you know, the week before, rather, that they toasted their pact,
their new faction. So yeah, I want to see more from, from these guys. And in some ways,
what I was hoping for from this match Kenny was for AJ Styles to come out. I mean, I don't know
whether he can save the day anymore. Possibly, you know, and also if AJ is out there, we have the
threat of potentially carrying cross rising from the dead again, attacking AJ and we've got to
keep the few going for another few months or years. And AJ, Gallows and Anderson versus
Street Profits and Bobby Lashley, that's what I was hoping for from this. And instead, we basically
got a clean win. Profits beat Gallows and Anderson quite easily. So I was doubly disappointed by the
outcome. Yeah, but I mean, I, I like, I like the Street Profits with Lashley. I'm happy to see
that. The only thing if they do end up going down the Bianca going with the Street Profits route is
that would mean the continuation of Charlotte as a baby face, which is just, I mean, I think the
issue is now that a point, because Charlotte did say an immediate interview, she would love a match
with Sasha if she comes back. And it's like, give Sasha to someone else. You know, let, let
someone else work with Sasha, because Charlotte Flare just doesn't do it anymore. You know, her
record is way more missed than hit. Um, I mean, see, see the rest of me, I match with Ronda Rosy last
year. I mean, yeah, she had the good one this year with Mia, but that's kind of the end normally.
There's nothing else that's been any good. So yeah, yeah. I mean, is it possible, Kenny, that
I hope I'm going to talk about this because I don't think it's confirmed yet, but Charlotte Flare,
I think I have some stuff going on outside the ring at the moment. You must have heard these
rumors right now. No, I don't think I have what she got going on. Well, I don't know whether
it's right or not. And I don't want to say, but is it possible that something is going on in
her personal life? Oh, right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's rumors of, um, people are
assuming because Charlotte no longer follows Andrade on Instagram and vice versa. That means that they are,
you know, they're having issues, which is obviously no business. But yeah, I mean, that could be,
I mean, you know, they were happy for ages and she'd still rubbish then. So, you know, that's
close so. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's close so. But I mean, I don't know if there's any truth to
that. So I don't really want to. Yeah. I mean, if that is right, then that might explain why,
you know, she's not as focused as she was in the ring. Yeah, true. We'll see. Let's move on to
edge. We did have that great video pack. I mean, this stuff throughout the night,
kind of promoting it was really good. Where, you know, the, the video package with everybody in it,
talk about edge and how much he means to W.E. in the 25th Anniversary. You know,
Cena was in there, Sami Zayn, Mez, Charlotte, Sheamus, loads of people. Um, Sami, you know,
they're all, they're all thanking him. Um, we've got a video showing him on Sally Jesse Raphael with
Bret Hart back in the day, which was a blast on the past. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember
that one. Yeah. And, uh, and obviously, you know, I remember watching it. I think when I did my
big edge, um, career retrospective in Palestine in 2011, remember, I think I used part of it in,
in that feature. So I tell you, I would like to send some comments from the undertaker and Kurt
Angle. And I was a bit disappointed that they were not invited or asked to contribute some type of,
you know, tribute to him for the video. And I think those two, you know, had some, obviously,
undertak, undertak has me huge matches with him. And Angle was an opponent of edges. And then
they were teammates as well. And I think that would have really complemented it. Yeah. I mean,
because they did later on in the second video, they had like, perhaps some like Austin Hayman
undertaker, but they were old clips. They weren't like fresh, off an end mute. So that was kind of
like a repeat of before. Yeah. Um, it all led us to the main event, which was edge taken on
Shamus. Um, there was big thank you edge chance straight away. He wore the Toronto Maple Leaf colors.
I believe they had a t-shirt on sale that sold out very, very quickly in the arena. Um,
there's like a Toronto Maple Leaf, uh, edge collab. Um, we had best, we would have been
trouble for not ordering enough. Yeah. I know. Uh, best was ringside for the match. It goes 20 minutes.
Edge gets to win in the end. How did they do here in terms of following up on quite a lot of hype
for the week of the show for this to deliver? I thought it was a good match. I really liked
the end. The edge was there. You know, I've stayed here. It looked like you've been through a real
struggle and a wall. You know, edge kicked out of the bro kick. Shamus kicked out of spear. And
then edge won after a second spear. There was a big fireworks display afterwards. I'm
the show went off the air as they were like hugging, didn't it? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I don't know
whether they went slightly long or what looked like it. And Beth Phoenix was in the crowd watching
and they kept seeking her response. And she's selling it like she's a performer. So that sort of
thing always abuses me. And Beth's there wearing a glasses looking like a library. And so that
abused me as well. Um, so yeah, I mean, I like the way that it really looked like an epic struggle.
And that both men were spent at the end. And I just thought, wow, wouldn't it been great if
Edge had done that for Finn Balor at WrestleMania. You know, maybe you did, but I don't recall him
doing that. I don't recall him looking like he was almost beaten. And, um, you know, I keep
bringing this match up, but it still annoys me that he beat Balor there. And then edge won. And I
guess it was the right thing to do because he's Toronto. He's his hometown. And he's apparently
his retirement match. He said afterwards, this was the last match on his WWE contract, didn't he?
Yes. His contract is up at the end of September. So, um, it's hard for me to believe he's
going to continue wrestling. I just, I mean, maybe will, but as I think we talked about this last
week or the week before, it's like, well, what is the left room to achieve? You know, okay, it could
take AEW's money and you could reform his partnership with Christian or have a match with Christian.
But I mean, is he ever going to top this? I don't know. It's up to him. It's his choice. I mean,
if he's, he's still, you know, in shape, it can still go. I mean, physically looking at him,
he's in the best shape he's ever been in looking at him. I don't know what sort of shape he's in
inside. I don't know whether he's in a lot of pain or what. Um, but I mean, if I was him, I think
I'd probably say this is a great time to go out. You know, this is a really nice way to end it.
Um, yeah, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was good. I, I thought the whole package was really
well put together of how they did it. And, um, yeah, we'll see, we'll see what he does. I don't
think there's really any left for him, WWE. I know there's been rumors of AEW and we spoke to them
before he came back to WWE for the 2020 run. Um, I don't, I guess the, I don't even have the worst
idea for him to do a couple of matches there. I think he could do some fun stuff there.
This fresh opponents, but it all depends. What would you call him?
You know, how motivated is he to sort of go somewhere new and sort of be a slightly different
character, I guess? Yeah. So lots to think about. But I, there's nothing WWE that kind of excites me
at this point with him because like we said last week, he's kind of faced everybody. Yes.
And at this point, if he was to face somebody really young, I don't know if it would have the
gravitas, it would have had a year ago. Or, you know, like you said, with Finn Balor, that was probably
the time to put somebody over. Definitely. Yeah. And also, I mean, you know, if he's, he's still got
a connection with, with WWE, that's still going to be making money for years to come. And he can
sign some sort of limited, not, not an actual wrestling contract, but a contract probably to, to
make limited public appearances for them. And like a legends type deal. It's like, I can't believe
he needs the money. I just can't believe he does. But you know, it would depend how he wants to go
out. But then you know, if you keep this undertaker, you used to keep chasing that at the end.
And it's like, if you keep chasing it, it's going to get further away from the way that you want
the end to look. Yeah. So anyway, let's move on to Raw. Raw is a lot of going on in Raw.
I did say this on Twitter and I kind of stand by it. I thought the Nakamura video they did here
was the best thing they've done with him in years. Having him speak in his native language,
having him kind of being this maniacal heel who's trying to, you know, get Seth Rollins. Do I
do I believe Seth Rollins is going to lose the title term? No. But I thought this is a pretty
interesting way to present it. What did you think? Yeah, I could not agree more. I saw that
tweet Kenny. I didn't know what you were on about at the time. And yeah, I'm just like a really
nice little video they did with him. And with footage there of him with Becky and with the child
and my close-ups of Rollins is back. And the first of it was that I know his weakness.
Nakamura said, I know Rollins is weakness and that's his back. You know, his body
has crumbled and his final comment in English was, watch your back. And they confirmed that
Rollins would defend the world title against Nakamura. Pay back on September 2nd. So that's all
approved and advertised. And we know what the story of the match is going to be, don't we Kenny?
He's going to be tagging Rollins his back. And it's just basic wrestling psychology,
he'll attempt the back. Rollins will sell it. The match will progress. And you know, it'll be,
well, I think we know who's going to win. But I think we've done a really good job setting that
match up. We know the story of the match before the match, before the bell in rings, you know,
more than a week before the bell wings. So yeah, I thought it was well done as well. Yeah, I thought
it was really well done. And I liked the video and I thought Nakamura looks suitably evil in the
video. And I like the way that he spoke mostly in Japanese, but there's some English in there as
well. And that was all perfectly comprehensible and you're easy to understand. So yeah, I thought
as a cell, this was for, you know, let's face it, pay back is essentially a B premium live event,
isn't it? I think Nakamura is an opponent on a B PLE is perfectly acceptable. And I think
they'll probably have a good match on the night. Elsewhere we did have the Chad Gable Gunther match
where they had a hell of a match here and it ended with Chad Gable and they were chopping the
crap out of each other on the outside and then Gable avoided a chop and that let Gunther chop the
ring post. Gable suplexes him at the timekeeper's area and Gable gets back in the ring, wins by
account out. First person to defeat Gunther in any way on the main roster since he's been in a
singles match. In a singles match. So yeah, big win for Gable. We assume it goes to pay back. I'm
glad they're making it go to pay back because it's very good and I want to see more.
Yeah, I thought it was, I thought it was well done also. I mean Gable took a hell of a beating and
at times we thought he's done for and Gable kept kicking out and it just looked like this was
going to be another not straightforward victory for Gunther but it was going to be another win for him.
So it was a huge shock when Gable won by account out and there was no silliness all year. This was
a straight match. There was no goofing around or clowning around and I thought the finish there
where Gable basically suplexed Gunther into the timekeeper's area and then just dive back into
the ring to beat the count. And then the thing I liked about it almost as much as the content of
the match itself was Gunther's reaction afterwards. He was livid that he'd lost. And that's the way
someone should respond when they lose a match, especially if you've had this incredible win streak
in singles on the main roster Gunther's ad since he was called up in I think it's April last year
wasn't he's first match on the main roster. I think it was. Yeah, right after the rest of the
main roster. Yeah. So he was few minute ringside toying things around and then he's backstage after
was Gunther still raging about it and Ludwig Kaiser says, you know, I'm going to sort this out and
then Giovanni Vinci's just there and he doesn't quite know how to react to all this, you know,
but at least he didn't lose. So he's not getting told off this week. And I was thinking, have we
heard Vinci speak out on the main roster? I'm not sure if we have. I don't think so. I think
Kaiser always gets the the rub of being able to do the talking on behalf of the group. So
I mean, sorry, can he have that little singles run in NXT where we're playing like
basically a bit of a playboy character wasn't like I've flown to his wealth. So he can speak,
can I'm a bit perplexed as to why he hasn't been allowed to speak yet.
Yeah, I mean, it's a bad if he if he is taking away from impudium Vinci, I think it's going to be
a curtain. Yeah, I'd be looking at flights back to he's Italian, right? So it's
quite fantastic. So maybe it's weird. I don't know why you can't get rid of him having the three of
them. There's kind of a good number. I mean, maybe maybe he's being chucked out to make way
for Eulia Dragon up. Maybe that's the long-term plan. Wouldn't surprise me. Yeah, maybe. I mean,
possibly. I don't know. I mean, Vinci, to me, I don't think we've seen the best of him on the
main roster. Yeah, we've seen he's been there and you know, I really enjoyed the few they had with
the brawling boots after Clashlet Castle last year. They had that amazing six-person brawl,
six-man brawl, didn't they? Was it the September event? October pre-revive event, wasn't it?
Yes. Yeah, sure it was. Yeah, so I mean, he's a real talent and yeah, but I mean,
somebody that does you really have the big enough personality to stand out on the main roster,
and that's often what defeats someone. You know, when you go from NXT and you don't really
well-led before the smaller crowds in the smaller environment, and then you front the bigger crowds
and the bigger reeners, if you haven't got that big personality to match, that's often what does
you aim? Yeah, I feel for the guy. I hope he something makes it through, but his chances don't look
good. We did see Rhea Ripley defeat Candice Lorraine. Rhea Ripley is also involved in other stuff in
the show that we'll get to in a sec, but she defeats Candice Lorraine pretty handly, then Rekelrod
Vee guys comes up with a crutch, but of course the crutch is a ruse, and she batters Ripley,
but Ripley does fight back, but Rekel does kind of dominate it all, and then she gets in the
mic and says she's been cleared to compete, and Adam Pearce spoke to her, and she's going to
challenge Ripley to pay back. This was a very good return for Rekel. It was, yeah, she came out,
Ripley scored pretty effortless win over Candice. Things don't look good for her at the moment.
I mean, where's Johnny Gargano? What's happened to him? And what's happened to Nextalumus?
We've all just vanished. We should mention that to Maso Champa has on social media been
handing out missing posters for Johnny Gargano, so I wonder if that is, I assume that's leading to
DIY reunion, and that might be why we're not getting the way together anymore, but yeah,
you would have expected a bit of an explanation rather than just everyone going, am I? Yes.
So I mean, Candice, I would have liked to have, I mean, I'm pretty much after this loss,
which is pretty annihilation really from Rea. Candice avoided the rip tide, and had like a DDT,
and hit like a Springboard Moon Soul, but then Rea applied submission hold, and Candice tapped
out really quickly. I'm not really sure what future she has on Raw after that,
Indy Howell was at ringside, and she's just shown as nothing on the main roster so far.
I mean, she just appears to be doomed. So I mean, the best thing about this was the aftermath
with Raquel Rodriguez walking out on the crutch, and then she reveals that she doesn't
either crutch anymore, and that she's been cleared to return to action, and she threw the crutch
at Rea Ripley, and that was an amazing shot, perfect, and then beat Ripley down, and looked,
pretty handy doing it, and Ripley really sold for her as she should have done, and Ripley
retreated again as she should have done, and it seemed like the audience were really behind
Rodriguez, and felt like, wow, she might have a chance of defeating Ripley. So I like the way
this played out. Ripley had to sell for her and did so, and I'm looking for Raquel Rodriguez
versus Rea Ripley at payback. We haven't seen Rea Ripley on a premium live event for a while either,
have we? No, I mean, obviously she was supposed to be on SummerSlam initially,
but you know, all reports that we never saw. She was also in backlash, because she's faced
Zelina Vega, but let's see if she's had any other
here we match her since then. Let me have a look. No backlash is also, she's joining us in theory,
oh no, no, no, no, no, I took that back. She did defeat Natalia at night of champions in a minute
and ten seconds in Jedda. How could we forget about that epic? That classic. But yeah,
so a really good return for Raquel. I'm going forward to the match. We then had
Mez come out into a promo in Montreal. He talked for early night losing on SmackDown, everyone's
blaming him, but he says there's no excuses on the big show. And then he said that he
learned the incredible, I think they were in Quebec City. Didn't he do like a bit of a joke about
how my research was from Montreal? Yes, yeah, he did a bit, he did a bit of a stack of
a bit of Maurice from Montreal. She'd never come to Quebec City, so the crowd are just
eating him for that. It's always really good when they go to Canada, especially the French
provinces, because the crowd are so up for it, and they're so up for any sort of reference.
It's really good for heels to get some heat there and for baby faces to get the easy pop.
But Mez ends up saying Adam Pearce has let him hand pick his opponent and it's someone
bigger, stronger and faster than anyone early night is faced, and it's a keyer to Zawa.
And then Mez had this great line about, you know, a keyer to Zawa as a former WWE 24-7 champion.
It's too bad that title doesn't exist anymore. It'd be perfect for early night, because it's also
a relic from the attitude. I mean, to Zawa, what a body on the guy. I mean, just absolutely amazing.
I mean, he just looks incredible. And every time he's seen me look younger, I don't know why
that is, but he just does. I want the name of his doctor. I want to know who I've got Scottish
jeans. I've got to fight way worse than him. But early night comes out. He's on commentary,
and he kind of gives back to Mez as well. What was it, because he said that Mez was a back
singer for Cena and the Rock? That's it, yeah. Which is true. I mean, some of night's still there was
bordering on MJF. It was kind of thing. MJF would say where it was kind of burying the guy.
But I mean, it is the Mez. And you know, the Mez has been dishing it out. I think they've
got an understanding. Mez and Night of Bup and doing this a long time, and they're
well aware that this is a big gig for the pair of them. I think Mez has really reheat
himself in this mini-few with Night. I think this has been great for him. He's shown so much
zeal, you know, in his promos. He just feels energized by the whole thing.
I think that, I think that, I think that for Night, it's almost important. He has to have
almost MJF levels, because he's on the way up. Mez is at level where you can kind of do any
gag to the Mez. He can always reheat himself. He has been very good. But with Night, it's like,
he kind of has to stick the knife in extra. So I think, I definitely, you're right, there's a
common agreement between them. But I think Night understands that, you know, he's on a momentum
right now, and he has to keep it up. And yeah, and then he ends up causing Mez to lose to
Curtis Zawa, who apparently has not won a match on Raw. A singles match on Raw since 2017.
I didn't know that. Six year losing streak is over for Curtis Zawa. So he must be very happy.
No, I hope they do something with this, because I mean, I've always been a fan of
Curtis Zawa. I really disliked the way he was used for so many years. And, you know, he was
great, you know, in Dragon Gate, you know, Raw Tallinn. I remember he was in the PS50, I think,
once or twice, and such a Tallinn, and joined WWE in the kind of treating him like a joke. And
yeah, he's still kind of treating like a joke. But I think he's a very talented guy. And I just
hope they, you know, they build on this and give him more to do.
Yeah. And I think, I think that NXT, NXT might not be the worst place for Shazawa to put
them all well to the medium. And with you there, I endorse that decision, just send him down
there. I think you do really well working with almost anyone down there. But this was, you know,
really good little segment here. Mez did the job to Shazawa, and, you know, Mez was furious,
you know, in LA night, gloated at the Mez, you know, he, Mez received, you know, got his
comeuppance for what he'd done tonight on Smackdown. So I thought this was all really effective
promotion for the Mez versus night match. Yeah, I agree. We then had, I don't also want to
mention we talked about the crowd and the last two things I want to mention, it's definitely
put the crowd. We had the segment with the Becky Lynch coming out and then Trish and Zoe
start came out and Trish Trash seemed very thrown by the crowd here. And now, just conflicting
reports on what the crowd were chanting to Trish. Some people were saying that they were saying
awesome goddess to her. Other people were saying they were kind of saying something disparaging to her,
but it seemed that Trish just couldn't really get the flow of what she wanted to do here,
and she was kind of thrown off by the crowd, and the fact they wouldn't, they kind of wouldn't
quite down for her, and they wanted to like her no matter what she did. Well, yeah, there was
like signs, wasn't the crowd your mercy, Trish, and you know, it's because she's not from that area,
but she's obviously from Canada, and has been doing this for so long, and you know, she was talking
about her achievements in the Bayes, and I thought Lynch was really funny when Trish said, you know,
I was torn out there 23 years ago, you know, and we're not training and I killed it, and
Becky Lynch just pulled this expression as if to say, no, you didn't.
I didn't, you didn't kill it, you almost killed the business.
So I mean, that cracked me up. But I enjoyed this, and you know, what I've used me was Trish
referred to Becky Lynch as Lynch, because it was almost like we're back in the school playground,
you know, one by Colin, the by their surname, and that really, I don't know why that amused
me, but it did do. And I also, I wasn't expecting any, you know, a big scrap between Trish and
Becky Lynch here, because Trish was wearing unsuitable footwear for a rumble. I mean, she was wearing
massive heels, wasn't she? Yeah, I do respect her, her sort of shoe game. I mean, she,
she goes all out, yeah, there was a time before where she did her, her like, her carana off the
top thing that she used to do, the, you know, she would run into the corner and flip up and
oh yeah, yeah, yeah, like a half-stance thing, yeah. Yeah, and she did that with the
Capaira massive heels on. I think she did that. I'm sure it was like elimination chamber 2011,
which was setting up that sex person tag with Snookie and John Morrison. I'm sure she showed
up on these like monsters, the little heels, and still dead that. That's like Michael.
I mean, that's a better advert than you could ever do for Trish Yoga,
stratifaction yoga, whatever it's called. Yeah, this was the, so Lynch is going to face Zoe,
start next week in a false camera match, and then we've got the cage match on the pay-per-view
on the second next week. Yes, I felt like Stark should have sold the announcement of the false
count anywhere much more than she did. Yeah, she didn't really seem, how almost did she hear it?
Did she hear the matches happening? Yeah, she seemed like unfazed by it, being shit. Yeah,
but you know, maybe that's where she's been told to do, but I'm with you, I think the reaction
needed to be more, you know, she needs to be more shook about it than she was. Yeah, but the big story
and it kind of was from the beginning of the show right through to the end. The story was about
the judgment day and about them not being able to get on. In the opening segment, we had Sam
he's in coming out. It's a huge reaction. Then the judgment day are surrounding him,
and he says, you know, did you really think I would come here of all places alone?
And we've got the Kevin Owens return. He's recovered from his rib injury.
So that's going to set up a match with Owens and Zayn against the judgment day, any two members.
And that kind of set us up to the night, doesn't it, of which two members that would be?
Yes, I mean, the crowd were really into Sami Zayn, you know, Chantin O'Lay, and that was really good,
and Zayn was, you know, soaking in those cheers and those chants, and then judgment day arrived,
and they were about to attack and Kevin Owens returned, so perfect timing for him. You know,
he beat down the judgment day members along with Sami Zayn, and that led to the challenge.
And then you were at the show long storyline, didn't we, with, you know, the judgment day, and
if you were a priest, didn't want to team up with the point, and then Ripley's trying to say,
you know, then we get JD McDonough there, because he's with Bauer, and the whole thing is that,
I mean, Ripley was great because when McDonough was kind of almost trying to interject himself,
and Ripley said, no, this is judgment day business, like, you know, in the judgment day.
I thought that was good, and then she even later on says to priest and
ballot, you know, you guys need to decide, or I'll decide for you, you know, she was given
them ultimatums, which, I mean, that's it, it's kind of the first time I can remember
where a woman that's in a faction is calling the shots properly.
She appeared to be the leader, I mean, that was the whole presentation. She is the boss,
and everyone listens to her, which is like, you know, a great place to be in 2023,
so, I mean, it's much better than this past week on Retro Raw, where Tess told Stacey
Kebel that he's going to make her his whore. So, I mean, we've come on leaps and bounds
yes, in 20 years, but, and of course, it all led to the match, which was going to be
Samy and Kevin Owens against ballot and priest, but then we ended up within like a couple of
minutes having, you know, this briefcase, it cannot get to Finn Baller for heildnour money,
can it? No matter who flings the thing. That's it, Owens got it, he and then he was
de-cute for using it as a weapon and then, you know, Cody Rhodes came out and said, we're not having
raw ending like this, you know, there's three of us, three of us, let's restart the match, so
then it became a six man, and in the end, happy ending of course for the locals, Kevin Owens
pinned Dominic, which was, you know, the right outcome on the night. This was the crowd
pleasing weight for WWE, wasn't it? Edge winning in Toronto and Kevin Owens winning in Quebec City.
We're good, I mean, because, you know, Canada, Canadian set is used to be massive draws for WWE,
and then they've kind of not really utilized them as well in the last few years. So,
it makes sense that, you know, one of the things Triple H is doing is making sure that
Canadians are kind of going, well, if I come to a show, I'm going to get a really good time.
And that's what they've got here. They've got their big babyface team at the end with Cody,
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, judgment day. I think they did a really good job of having the judgment
day thing. Continue to summer, even though it wasn't really going to advance much this week,
but they did a good job kind of keeping it going. So, yeah, I think so as well. I mean, we still
don't really know how it's all going to end all, because last week they were trying to convince us
that all was well and how many had been restored. And then this week it was, you know, a set back
and the category on who should team up against Owens and Zayn for the belts in the main events,
and rear-ripply has to step in and make the decision, and then at least a six-man, and then
they lose again. I mean, the judgment day, you know, I've racked up quite a few losses,
and we don't really know what JD's JD is going to be accepted as a fifth member or not. I mean,
so yeah, at least to some storytelling going on here, but yeah, again, you know, the creative
teams have got more time now, haven't they? Because there's not much going on with the bloodline.
Yeah, so judgment day obviously are the de facto faction at the moment. So,
exactly. Rick was saying, we're the most dominant faction in WWE right now, which they are.
And yeah, it was a fun episode. Payback doesn't feel, I mean, because we've not got a match for
Cody at Payback. We assume, I mean, I assume this next week on Raw, Owens and Zayn are going to
set up face in the judgment day in some form at Payback. Yes, I'm listening. But yeah, it's a,
it'll be intriguing to see where Cody's going to go next, what his next storyline is. But Payback
feels like it's not going to be a blockbuster, PLE, but you know, we'll see if they can keep the
trend going of delivering big shows. We can obviously, again, no bloodlines. So,
anyway, that's all time we've got for today. We'll be back on Thursday on Patreon Friday
on the main feed with PowerSlam, talking news. We'll do an overrun, we'll do an all-in preview,
so we'll have that up for the weekend as well. And we will be doing our anniversary stuff,
once I'm back from London, so stay tuned for that. And of course, in pre-order,
issue 36, I've entered rotsmagazine and said rotsmagazine.com.
What's going on, then, as always? Yes, go through it. Yeah, that's on sale next week. I've just
started on working on another installment. What else is going down? And we are recording something
else tomorrow, aren't we, Kenny? Yes, we are. We're also going to be recording the SummerSlam
2003 review tomorrow, so we'll have that in the can as well. So, you've got to take with all your
retro stuff. And yeah, Patreon is the best way to hear extra stuff from us and supporters,
and allows us to keep doing all these free podcasts as well at patreon.com,
forward slash handside ropes. So, yeah, Finn, I look forward to speaking to you tomorrow.
It's three days in a row. I'm going to get to speak to you. So, it's a win for me.
It is. I mean, this is going to be the highlight of your weight. Never mind that, you know,
trivial, you know, little, you know, rink, you didn't rest, ensure this weekend. And your highlights
speaking to me less than when I get to speak to you, I get to come from my own home. I'm comfortable.
I've got a Hulk beside me. You know, I'm not going to, I don't need to pay, you know,
10 pound for a pint or anything. So, it's all good. There was a couple of weeks ago,
and it was on collision. There was somebody in the crowd who held up a sign, which read,
why is beer $18?
It's a very valid question. It's a very valid question. That's beyond my comprehension that you
could go to a wrestler to an arena to watch a wrestling show in a beer would cost $18.
But presumably it is, because why would this person create the sign if that wasn't the case
with that number on it? I don't know. But yeah, it's, yeah, the prices of stuff now is,
is insane, especially because you're there for so long as well now. So, I mean, I've heard,
is it true, Wembley have a strict curfew of like 10.30? So you can have to be out the door by then?
Well, I imagine so. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if that's true, but I imagine they do, because
you think of how long it's going to take for everyone to leave, neighbouring communities as well.
Yeah. I mean, it's a built barrier, isn't it? I was just, I mean, I was in London,
late June, and I was stopping in Augsbridge, and on the way, I passed, you know, Wembley Stadium.
So, yeah, there's lots of people around there, and hey, everyone's going to get home, and yeah,
I can imagine that the do have a 10.30 curfew, so that people aren't walking, you know, walking home
at like midnight or whatever and making a lot of noise. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, I'll report
back next week of all the Wembley Findings, so that we can just discuss, I mean, the poor
bastards are going to be working as a security, got to sit there until 2 a.m. when 20 cans
finished the media scrum. That'll be a job. Anyway, yeah, thank you for all your support, everybody,
and we'll talk to you soon.