Journeys in Fandom
Step into the world of fandom with Matt and Tim as they take you on a wild ride through the pop culture universe. This isn't just any podcast - it's a journey with two mates who are unapologetically passionate about all things comics, film, TV and more.
Journeys in Fandom
WWE Wrestlemania XL Review
Strap in for a whirlwind tour of the squared circle and the cosmos as we tackle the thrills of Wrestlemania XL and the latest from the TARDIS. You will want to take advantage of our in-depth analysis of standout matches like the show-stopping showdown between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, which may redefine the future of the WWE. Plus, we're parsing through Doctor Who's latest revelations, including the intriguing new companion set to board the time machine and what the freshly dropped trailer hints about the series' trajectory.
Have you ever considered the similarities between wrestling and sci-fi storytelling? Our ringside view of the narrative craftsmanship that had fans buzzing long after the arena lights dimmed will make you feel part of the action. We're dissecting the most captivating moments of the wrestling world, from the evolving landscape of the women's division to the strategic use of legacy wrestlers. And Doctor Who fans, get ready to join a lively debate over the fresh companion dynamics and teaser analysis that could reshape your expectations for the series.
As the final bell rings on this episode, we're wrapping up with a look ahead, filled with speculation over potential matchups and the return of wrestling legends who keep the WWE universe on its toes. So lace up your boots, grab your Sonic Screwdriver, and get ready for an episode as unpredictable as a Doctor Who finale and electrifying as a Wrestlemania main event.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Journeys in Fandom Podcast. We're back again, brother Dude, and if you hadn't guessed, we are talking wrestling, specifically reviewing WrestleMania Nights 1 and 2.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I thought for the occasion I wore a robe.
Speaker 2:It's very stylish, I thought.
Speaker 1:For those of you listening rather than viewing, he's in his Hugh Hefner smoking jacket. We can't talk about Hugh Hefner anymore, can we? Because I think he got cancelled after death, didn't he, or something? I'm sure I read somewhere that he wasn't a very nice man. No surprises, really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to say that's kind of a given, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yes, anyway, there's an episode the Life and Times of Hugh Hefner.
Speaker 2:Maybe not we could go through that in detail.
Speaker 1:Oh God, the way you said. Detail there. Plenty of screen sharing. Anyway, maybe not Right. We've gone off the tracks already. We're only a minute in. Let's get back on track.
Speaker 2:Before we go to the news, I had feedback from the last episode. Yes, the feedback was Matt. You did an episode on Warhammer and you took over 25 minutes to talk about Warhammer. Yes, that's how I get you. That's how I'd get you. Yeah, sucks you in, and then you kind of like yes, about how long the episode took me 25 minutes to actually utter the word. Any word about Warhammer. It was good, nice, I did get shouted at a lot. It's totally worth it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you get quite a lot of shouty feedback. I don't get that much shouty feedback. I get constructive criticism, but no shouty feedback. We've moved in very different groups. I feel, yeah, well, this one, this one is news first, though, like you say, news first couple of things we've got a trailer to watch. There was another Doctor who trailer, but hot off the press. They've finally announced, as if we didn't already know, the new companion for Series 2 officially in the news. I totally missed this and just suddenly went.
Speaker 1:Oh when did that happen? It creeped out yesterday, yeah, okay. So Varada Setu, as we've already spoke about her, nothing, really much, only that she's they keep referring to her as the second companion and will be joining Millie Gibson with Chuti for Series 2. Nothing about who she is, blah, blah, blah. So yeah, it just slipped out and with no fanfare or anything. So bit weird. But there we go.
Speaker 2:Is that going to cause more speculation Cause? Is it a case of they've now just acknowledged new companions appearing and it just slipped new dark cloud to quell people, or or not, or is something?
Speaker 1:well, no, because they normally do stuff, don't they? We talked about this before. They normally put out an article when there's some kind of leak. That's obviously going to come from external filming. But that happened ages ago and it's already happened, and they didn't do anything so obviously we talked about it before again New ways of working.
Speaker 1:This is not how it used to be, but normally, yeah, you get the shot of the doctor in costume because you know he's going to be running around a city somewhere in costume, so they get it out early, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:The. The best thing about it was not the picture in the article just seen this picture really makes me chuckle because it's like look at the body language on that one. So she's grabbing his arm on one side and she's all in red just completely dominating the photo and it's like it's kind of like a boyfriend with an ex or something really random.
Speaker 2:It just I'm sure it's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah it just looks really kind of like I'm still important. Look at me all in red and look at her sat on the end it just makes me chuckle. It's such a weird photo.
Speaker 2:I'm here, I have value. Acknowledge me.
Speaker 1:Acknowledge me yeah, it's probably nothing, but it just comes across as a really funny kind of awkward photo of like, either a boyfriend and an ex, or a boyfriend and girlfriend and someone who really wants to be with that bloke yeah, and actually if she wasn't leaning at an angle there would be a hell of a lot of daylight between them.
Speaker 2:Otherwise, yes, yeah, yeah, and the other one's really clinging onto his arm.
Speaker 1:So yeah it's. It's a funny photo, but nevertheless, uh. So we've got another trailer, very similar stuff. Have you seen this one? I've not. I've seen things two weeks ago, so again it slipped out. No fanfare. I think Russell T Davies said oh, it's coming. And I was like oh right, okay, fair enough. So we'll just hopefully better this. We'll just crack on you ready for this. Okay, fair enough.
Speaker 2:So we'll just hopefully better this. We'll just crack on you. Ready for this? Give me the loving.
Speaker 1:Now stay back. We are going to rock through time.
Speaker 2:Oh, this is so Bridgerton. This is Ruby. You are wild, brave and rude, nothing.
Speaker 1:No, you made it worse.
Speaker 2:Where shall we go?
Speaker 1:Anywhere, it's you Space Baby. Oh, isn't it a good plan? Let's have a random landing, is it safe? Listen to me, this is what we're trying to stop.
Speaker 2:All of life extinguished.
Speaker 1:You'll keep us safe.
Speaker 2:I will keep us safe. Come on, we've got work to do. There's a storm coming in. You called Come on, we've got work to do. There's a storm coming in. You called Honey. I'm a much bigger bang than you bargained for. I will shatter this silly little battlefield into dust In a heartbeat.
Speaker 1:Into dust. I don't have a people. I don't have a home.
Speaker 2:But I have freedom Catching monsters, getting into scripts.
Speaker 1:So I keep moving on to see the next thing and the next, and the next.
Speaker 2:Have you ever felt so alive? And that's just the beginning. There we go. Less than a month to go then.
Speaker 1:I know it's more of the same. I don't think we see that much extra obviously. I think the beatles jinx monsoon episode is going to be a musical episode, obviously, and there's going to be some singing, so that'll get people very angry, no doubt.
Speaker 2:Yes, more singing, more singing speaking of getting angry if yeah, I hope they don't do it.
Speaker 1:Lots of people are hinting and chuntering online that that the was it the bridgerton-esque episode from the past is going to have a reformatted captain jack in it oh yes, I saw the um the article saying that we're gonna it's not going to be.
Speaker 1:If it is, I don't know how I'm going to feel about that. I would generally probably throw my toys out the pram at that point if they do replace him for so many reasons. But we'll see how it goes. But I will be genuinely very angry if they do that yeah and again, if they do.
Speaker 2:You would need such a reason, such an airtight alibi for doing it.
Speaker 1:I can't believe they will do it. It's too much of an obvious thing. It's too obvious to do it. And also my faith in Russell is still quite solid that he wouldn't screw over one of his mates. Yeah, just for ratings. But I don't know. But no, I would generally be annoyed. But hopefully it's not. Hopefully it's a new idea and it's not just a rehash of time agent. He could be another time agent because we've not seen the time agent since, oh, torchwood. So so I don't know, but we'll see, we'll see, but that's it. That's my only. I really hope at that point.
Speaker 1:So May the 11th, that is less than a month away like you said yeah.
Speaker 2:Mad, mad, mad, mad. Right, let's get down to the meat of the matter.
Speaker 1:Brother, yes, wrestlemania, wrestlemania 40. And they've put the 40 back in it xl. Brilliant that's yeah so many things are better without vince and his cronies. But just having the, the numbers, back in the name, is just yeah.
Speaker 2:Little things like that, it's great I think actually the fact it was wrestlemania 40 and wrestlemania xl in old Roman numerals you're going, yeah, actually it is XL, it was huge, it was, yeah, it had an impact and we were expecting lots from it because it's such a big event and actually I think back to the old one night WrestleManias and you think how did he fit it all in one night? Yeah, and it was. And you think how did he fit it all in one night?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was always a slog, and imagine being sat in an arena for like 8 hours. They were in there for about 6, as it is per day. But yeah, I can't remember how they squeezed it. Well, to be fair, back in the Attitude Era, late 90s, they just didn't have as many people on the roster, so it was a smaller, condensed thing, but now they try and squeeze every last person into it, don't they with all these multi-matches. So I'm trying to think that was one of the good things of COVID, where they moved it and did the two night thing after COVID, and it worked really well. So please don't keep that. Also, for us in the UK it means we get to watch it Sunday morning and then Monday morning, where I was cramming it all into one day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I really enjoyed it. I watched both nights back to back because I've had the week off of flu, so I literally just lay there. On monday dribbling was going. I can't function. We're just watching wrestlemania going. I can do this.
Speaker 1:This is fine uh, yeah, that's good. Uh, yeah, I'll go out and say it's probably the best wrestlemania I've seen for a long time. It was, yes, top to bottom and really enjoyable.
Speaker 2:Top to bottom was really enjoyable. I think you summed this up on the old social media that you didn't know who was going to win each match. As you went into it, it could go either way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, none of the matches really. You could say, oh, this is who's going to win. You had doubt, in all the important ones, certainly about how it was all going to play out, and how it all played out was brilliant.
Speaker 2:So have you got a list of the matches for two nights? I have.
Speaker 1:So night one we'll go in order, yeah, and we'll just talk long or short depending on how we feel. So first match of the night After the random singer who, every year I go, who is this Singing the national anthem? Every time I know a concept of who the people are and it's the same every year. I just let go. I left out the classical words.
Speaker 2:Classical words.
Speaker 1:Celebrities? I barely, except for Snoop Dogg, Didn't know anybody else, because I'm getting old. Anyway, sorry, yes, I'm digressing. First match of the night was Rhea Ripley against Becky Lynch for the Women's World Championship. Belt to number one.
Speaker 2:I was torn because I love both of those women so much.
Speaker 1:I really like Rhea. I think she's amazing.
Speaker 1:I think she's possibly, if not one of the best female wrestlers ever. She's just superb. Becky, I used to like, but I've gone a bit sour on her. The man gimmick. It's got a bit tired and a bit old. I liked it when she was a heel a couple of years ago and then they kind of got rid of that. But no, I was expecting good things, because they are. They're both great in their own right and again, I just didn't know who's going to win it. I partly thought, or back to the becky's going to win it, but then she doesn't need it and ria retaining. She just keeps rolling with that belt and at the moment I can't see anyone who's going to take it off anytime soon I think that's the thing.
Speaker 2:If, if you've got someone who's so dominant in the division, if you are going to drop the belt, it's again, who do you drop it to? It's got to be worth it. Because, you go. Well, like you said, becky doesn't need it. People like Bianca Belair and stuff they're over enough without it. They don't need that and they're doing their own thing.
Speaker 1:You mentioned Bianca Bailey's got her other things happening, so all of like the big names either don't need it or doing other things you mentioned I think bianca is the only one that bria has never faced, so even though she doesn't need the belt, you could build that up as a big yeah, wrestlemania 41 match but all the rest of them there's Jade, but that's going to take a lot of work to get to that stage, I think.
Speaker 1:So there's. I think she'll keep it for the rest of, certainly for the majority of this calendar year. I can't see her really dropping it to anyone anytime soon it's a good match it's a good opener.
Speaker 2:Yeah, unless they do like a similar angle, like they do with. Well, like with roman and brock lesnar and similar, where you just basically have a champion who is so dominant and then you just find almost a newbie or someone to have a story to end and you go yep, there's your mountain. Deal with that. Bringing someone from n.
Speaker 1:Deal with that Bring in someone from NXT eventually that might work actually. Someone fresh out of NXT and do it that way.
Speaker 2:Bring what's-her-name from TNO.
Speaker 1:Oh, jordan, grace, yeah, yes, well, there you go. That's someone completely fresh, completely new, completely different. That might be the way to do it. Also, her entrance was the first time I've seen a band play someone in like the band who does the song, who actually sound like they do live as they do on the song, because normally it sounds naff. But that guy who actually looked like Rhea Ripley. Weirdly, his face was like the same yeah that's a bit weird.
Speaker 2:Uh was just like okay because they're they're her favorite band, aren't they?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, yeah, and they obviously do a theme tune. It was like oh, that's really good, that actually works. So that was the first match, so it was a good opener and a good start. The second match was the completely bonkers six pack tag team ladder match for both sets of belts which eventually got. I have to admit this was the one match that I skipped through. I watch bits of it but I get a bit bored with these kind of spot matches yeah, I watched it, but it was so much going on.
Speaker 2:You go right, what is occurring here, and I think any match of R3 Finnair is just hilarious it's brilliant.
Speaker 1:It is really good, especially when you're like you've got the hot tag and it's like it's not a tag match.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just absolutely nuts. Um, I think the various elements involved all just worked and again you're just going. Well, are they going to make it? They're going to do it. What's going on?
Speaker 1:it's a sad state of things when you look at it and that is the state of the tag team division, but gone are the days when you had like all the massive tag teams like demolition, heart, foundation and all that kind of stuff from the early 90s when it's like now we've kind of decimated. What you're left with is a lot of thrown together teams yeah, I think the problem is now you.
Speaker 2:You start as a tag team and then you get split up to do single stuff because you become too popular for a lot of the easter eggs and stuff and all those good solid tag teams. Oh no, they're going to have an argument.
Speaker 1:Oh no, they're split up oh no, yeah, vince didn't like tag teams and always wanted to split them up, and so some of the best tag teams they've ever had that came up through NXT just immediately get split up.
Speaker 1:So hopefully Triple H can reset that a little bit and put them, get them on the right path again. Did you see the spot where the ladder was broken and the referee was trying to get Priest to stop walking up it? Yes, because I didn't know what was going on. I was like, why is she just like tapping his ankle? And then I was like, oh there, the legs break.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you could see the ladder like bobbing, like this, and I was going oh, christ, yeah, my health and safety hat were going. No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I don't know if they're rigged to break easily. But I think it was just a normal ladder that just snapped because think of the weight that's on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there is some foamy. I think they are special ladders.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're not like. You're not going to buy them from your DIY store. Yeah, it had red stuff in the core, so I don't know if that's just a hole in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it felt like a foam core to it, so like thin metal with a foam core. Because actually, again half those things, I keep looking at those movies and going, oh, if you fell wrong, just yeah. It's one of those things where if you fell wrong and it was a real ladder you snap something and it's horrific, whereas that feels more was a real ladder. You snap something and it's horrific, whereas that feels more of a if you fell wrong, the ladder would probably give yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's probably why that was the way it was yeah next one, yeah.
Speaker 2:So who do we have?
Speaker 1:we had um it's not true one and oh, it's Grayson Waller and Austin Theory which is fine, I like those two in terms of their act and if it gets them on TV a bit more, then we can't complain. And obviously R-Truth, more so than Miz, is way over anyway. So did you see what happened on the Raw on Monday night?
Speaker 2:that was brilliant yes, they had the six person. Did you see what happened on the Raw on Monday?
Speaker 1:night.
Speaker 2:That was brilliant. Yes, they had the six-person tag, didn't they? Yeah, it was a visible partner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he interrupted the celebration ceremony. It just popped up in the background, holding the belt up. He's like 50-something, isn't he? R-truth.
Speaker 2:You wouldn't believe it. Well, they were saying his first WrestleMania was like 25 years ago, in 1999 or something. You go what.
Speaker 1:He does not look that old, but I'm pleased he got something because he's been really funny this last year, yeah.
Speaker 2:But this is a thing you go. Well, this is his Twilight Tour, isn't it effectively, essentially, yeah, and he's just kind of been at WWE for years, on and off. Yeah, and it's just doing good solid work.
Speaker 1:And it just seems to be connecting, so just yeah, let him get on with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the 15 knuckle shuffle. We've seen. It was just chef kiss.
Speaker 1:So next we had look, look, we've come down. It's still alright. Rey Mysterio and Andrade versus Santos Escobar and Dirty Dom yes yeah, that was again.
Speaker 2:I like the whole this is the future of the luchadors, kind of bit.
Speaker 1:I think there was a lot of them out there. Uh, I yeah mysterio's. He's just genius. I really like him as a character. Uh, it's nice to see andrade back where he belongs, doing decent stuff yeah I thought the ending the match was a bit weird with the two fat guys that came in. I was like who are the fat guys? And there's, like, some random american footballers, wasn't it from phil?
Speaker 2:they were obviously Philly footballers, and one of them was Taylor Swift's partner's brother.
Speaker 1:Oh right, again.
Speaker 2:No concept they're just like who are these fat guys in masks.
Speaker 1:I was like oh okay, must be some relevant thing, but it served a purpose. It was the gap after that big match.
Speaker 2:Yeah it, there's the gap after that big match yeah, it allows that story to continue and trundle on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you seen the cosplay-related controversy that's been kicking off this week though?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:So Zelina Vega always gets an anime gaming-related costume and whatever she was wearing, the wings and stuff, I don't know some character from something, I'm sure someone will tell me. Uh, but she commissioned like this cosplay type person to kind of make it. And then there was also some hoo-ha on on social media where the person who made it said she hadn't been paid or she hadn't been given the correct promotion and it was like it's. It reminded me of cosplay drama where basically?
Speaker 1:she was saying something. Then Zina Vega, everyone was piling on her on Twitter, so she had to put out a statement saying no this and send published photos of the messages. And it was all this back and forth over this costume and it was just like it just reminded me of like cosplay drama on steroids, really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I hate to say but that that's how you ruin it for everyone. If you've got a wrestler who is using people to commission stuff like this, and if they're doing it with honest intent, and you've got someone being a dickhead, then they're gonna get anything. So they'll just get the prop department to do it, rather than going out and getting some else to do it.
Speaker 1:They showed some photos of it and it did look a bit naff. I thought I'm not an expert, but I just thought that doesn't look like anything great.
Speaker 2:But there we go hmm, she paid $1,000 for it, apparently talking of costumes, well, we're on costume. Uh, sidetrack. Uh, was it my imagination? Or did drew mcintyre's outfit get lost?
Speaker 1:yes, yeah, a lady had to like, so it wasn't his wife, it was someone. I can't remember who it was. Yeah, who's someone's wife had basically made it overnight for him, which is just really awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I saw the tweets. Yeah, he didn't have it, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1:Everyone thought it was a joke, but no, they genuinely did lose UPS, genuinely did lose his gear.
Speaker 2:Which is kind of weird.
Speaker 1:I would imagine, as a wrestler, you take your gear with you I don't know but sending it by UPS.
Speaker 2:I suppose it's getting there faster, maybe I don't know yeah, and also depending on how you're traveling, where you're coming from yeah, I suppose you're right baggage and all that.
Speaker 1:It's probably cheaper to send it via UPS. Yeah, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Ah, right, next was the Usos J versus Jimmy this was the only match where I just didn't care.
Speaker 1:Yeah, lots of people said it was the worst match on both days.
Speaker 2:Yes yeah. I agree with those people.
Speaker 1:I think two reasons. They're okay wrestlers but they're not great and it seems like what they could have done with the feud never really materialized. It kind of got lost in the bloodline, rock rains, shuffle and it wasn't as intense as I thought it was going to be, like brothers really fighting, like when the Hardys they did that. Actually that was the same the Matt Hardy Jeff Hardy match they did. I think it was at WrestleMania years ago. It was like rubbish as well. I can't, but normally when you've got a brother versus brother feud you can probably really big it up, but it just seems to get lost.
Speaker 2:Isn't this like the fourth one ever? Because you've obviously got the Harts, the Hardys, the Usos and Certainly three. I'm sure it's the fourth.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it's the fourth. I'm sure it's the fourth one brother versus brother Kane and Undertaker. No, no, no, no, hang on, let me google it while we're thinking parties versus brother. Wrestlemania Usos third according to Forbes really yeah.
Speaker 2:I would have put money on the fact they said fourth Goldust and Cody ironically yeah.
Speaker 1:No, that was a different thing. No, it's the third yeah Well, you were Flew up.
Speaker 2:Or yeah.
Speaker 1:I was expecting Rikishi to come out, maybe at the end and make them hug and shake hands, but that didn't happen. It just kind of ended and that was it. There was nothing more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it felt like it missed the beat. I don't know what that beat was, but basically it started when, yeah, they're going to win and it's going to be all right. And it was very much a yeah, whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I didn't have anything invested in it anyway. So it wasn't as if I was that bothered. If I'm honest, it was just kind of like okay, fair enough, move on. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Who was?
Speaker 1:next Jade Cargill, bianca Belair, naomi versus Damage Control. This was good, I like this. I like Naomi's hat. We need more big flashing sombrero hats. I thought that was cool. I was like that's pretty good. Yeah, yeah, it's good. I like damage control as a unit.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Anyway, I think I confess I looked at the two teams and went I know who wins this.
Speaker 1:Jay was never going to lose her debut match at WrestleMania, so it was always going to be that way. But if you did, yeah way. But height wise, as good as Dakota Kai Asuka and Karrie Sane are, they're tiny in comparison to certainly Bianca and Jade, and it's like there's no way they're going to win this match yeah, I still get scared by Bianca's hair.
Speaker 1:Every time I see it, I go please, please, please, please, please, no how much of that do you reckon is like real and how much of it is kind of like beefed up by something like extensions or rope or something? I know she does grow it and she always has grown it and it has got longer. But I wonder how much extra is kind of woven into it.
Speaker 2:There's probably something woven into it. There's probably something woven into it, because I again the weight of it, the solidness of it. I'm just going oh yeah, there's got to be something in there. Again, speculation of what's in Bianca Belair's hair because when she was a heel in NXT. She used to whip people with it and yeah, she occasionally still, she still does yeah, and that was back when it was short like, not as long as it is now yeah, but no every time someone that stands near her, I'm going. Please, please, please, be careful.
Speaker 1:Please, please, please they're treating Jade like a superstar yeah obviously she's coming in from AEW and getting completely misused there she's very green and doesn't do much. But if they treat her like Goldberg and just steamroller through loads of people, that's a really good way to get her over it.
Speaker 2:That's the thing. Are they going to protect her? And then at some point, her and Rhea crash into each other?
Speaker 1:Well, it makes logical sense, Just have her steamrolled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, those two are both huge physically and you could have a proper just stand-up punch-up.
Speaker 1:And just keep it, even though Goldberg hates it. Asuka beat his undefeated streak before she lost to Charlotte Flair, however, many years ago. That was Having Jade do a proper like advertised gimmicked Goldberg streak. It'd wind him up even more, which would be hilarious. But have her do the full, have the number of pins per match and all that stuff, like Goldberg did, and have her run through loads of people without getting beaten.
Speaker 2:I think that would work really well.
Speaker 1:It really would and then, like you say, have her clash with Rhea or whoever at Wrestlemania next year. That would work and that's the thing, if you let her run through everybody.
Speaker 2:It doesn't then matter, because no one gets damaged by it, because you're actually going to run through everyone on the roster.
Speaker 1:So it was then matter, because no one gets damaged by it, because you just go. Yeah, she's going to run through everyone on the roster. So it was, yeah, predictable, but it was a good battle. Yeah, the height thing was quite obvious. Next one was surprising Sami Zayn versus Gunther.
Speaker 2:Yes, I didn't think Gunther was going to lose.
Speaker 1:No, I always thought Chad Gable should have been there because there was such a story going on between him and Gunther, but he was woven into the storyline, but actually, when it was happening, sami Zayn winning made sense. It was kind of okay, fair enough, they're going to move Gunther somewhere. He's going to go more important along the lines somewhere. I don't know how he's all going to fit in with everybody else, but it made sense and the crowd was happy, so I kind of let him off a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the Sami Zayn underdog story was the classic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because he's kind of been spinning his wheels since WrestleMania last year they've not done anything with him for a whole year. He's kind of been there but not really doing anything, which is bizarre because he was like the hottest angle, sort of at. Rumble last year and now he's just doing nothing. So yeah, again, it was good and Gunther.
Speaker 2:Thurman six.
Speaker 2:I think for me, when they were doing the intros, you had Chad Cable saying, oh, if you win, I want a shot. I went, oh, that's the next angle. And then when Sammy's walking through all the backstage bit, you've got Kevin Owens just going right, do this, come on, get this done. And I went do you know what this has got the vibe of this guy's winning this? And Gunther was very much the bad guy. And as soon as he'd won the match but then didn't pin him and was just showboating, I went yeah, this is over now you know exactly what's going to happen if he'd have just gone. Yeah, I've destroyed you, pin done, fine.
Speaker 1:But as soon as the showboating happened, I went no, no, no, this is a mistake yeah, 666 days he held the intercontinental title for, which is quite iconic for a number I would have probably gone for an extra day just to get it off that number. But yeah, he'll be world title pitcher somewhere. He wasn't on Raw or SmackDown this week, so obviously they're holding him off for something.
Speaker 1:I don't really know where he's going to slot in, but with everything else that was going on and who he's going to face, there's no logical place for him to go at the moment. And who he's going to face.
Speaker 2:There's no logical place for him to go at the moment. He probably needs a couple of weeks out to then come back and go right. I'm doing this, so that kind of short break.
Speaker 1:Cody's on SmackDown.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Rollins is not there. Priest is a heel. They're doing a tournament to see who's going to face Roman. I'm sorry, Roman Rose on SmackDown. Gunther doesn't really. There's no logical slot for him. They'll find a place for him. I've got no doubt about it. It's just that there's no obvious way for him to go now. He'll pop up somewhere. Speaking of Roman, the main event of night one was obviously the Bloodline the Rock and Roman Reigns versus Cody Rose and Seth fricking Rollins.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the final boss.
Speaker 1:I do like that. I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like how. I love the fact that the Rock just has a belt because he can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was just lame. I'm sorry, but that whole thing at the Hall of Fame was just lame. It's like not only did he induct his own grandma into it, which was so bleeding obvious, but then obviously Muhammad Ali's widow gave him the People's Championship belt. It's like, oh God, but well, he's the boss, literally so he can do what he wants, can't he? But I didn't really know what to expect with that match. It was long, wasn't it? It just went on for ages.
Speaker 2:It did?
Speaker 1:Rock didn't get injured, which I was kind of worried he was going to get injured.
Speaker 2:But he took some bumps as well, which was good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they didn't hold back. I thought Cody going into night two might get protected. A was it was. They didn't hold back. I thought obviously cody going into night two might get protected a bit, but he didn't. He was in there along with rains yeah, it was a good match.
Speaker 2:I enjoyed it yeah, seth just got obliterated.
Speaker 1:Bless him yeah what did they say in night two? He's been held together by like duct tape.
Speaker 2:At this point and a duct tape.
Speaker 1:And a prayer or something and he's like yeah, no wonder he's taking time off, because he must have been battered well, you look at his back and you go oh yeah, you were feeling that mate just stitched up major knee injury genuine knee injury barely walk and he did two nights back to back effectively and the main event in night, two popped up again so you can't fault him.
Speaker 1:The Rollins character is interesting. I don't like the character he's portraying. When he's not being weird he's good. But then I quite like the weirdness on Night 2. It kind of lent itself quite well the entrance and stuff, but all the flamboyant, weird clothes and the like, some kind of weird Joker. It grates on me a little bit.
Speaker 2:but he was good as long as he does good, solid wrestling, you can kind of give everything else, and the way they wove his character into what was going on, it really works.
Speaker 1:And I kind of let him off a little bit Cause like okay was going on, it really works. And I kind of let him off a little bit because like, okay, fair enough, I can understand why they've done all this, but yeah, it was good and it, and it was the first time they used the night one to create a cliffhanger into night two. They'd never done that before, where you just kind of were left going well, you knew it was going to happen, it was obvious it was going to happen, but the bloodline yeah, bloodline rules.
Speaker 2:It was like that's good If you just paid me a million pounds to predict who was going to pin who on night one for that final match. The Rock was getting a pin come hell or high water and Cody was not being pinned. That would have been. I would have bet my house on that and just gone. Nope the Rock is having his moment and Seth just got obliterated.
Speaker 1:It stacked the deck and he kind of goes oh yeah, how are they going to get out of this for night two. So it was good, because I genuinely was really excited for the next day because this is going to be brilliant. Because he just didn't know how it was going to play out, Because even then he's so in the seat of doubt going, because even then he's so in the seat of doubt going are they really going to? Is Roman really going to win?
Speaker 1:and he's like I don't know I genuinely can't predict it yeah, and that's good storytelling.
Speaker 2:It's good wrestling where you just go. I don't know how this is going to happen, because some things you can go, yeah, you can see it kind of a mile off, you can predict it. Every event you get done. But this one he went, oh, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1:So that was night one. It was good.
Speaker 2:Yes, night two then.
Speaker 1:First match. Again, another unpredictable match was Drew McIntyre against Seth Rollins. I didn't know how this was going to play out.
Speaker 2:Based on how obliterated Seth was. Yeah, I went. If Drew loses to a Seth that can barely stand, then this is a problem.
Speaker 1:Because I thought obviously CM Punk was on commentary. I'm thinking, well, that was my kind of wild card. Is he going to interfere to stop Drew from winning? That was kind of of, and then my prediction in my head was punk would interfere to stop mcintyre winning, and then priest would come in and beat rollins, who was already beaten. But it kind of it reversed it in a way yeah and mcintyre is just great.
Speaker 1:I don don't know what. Suddenly he's just come alive. I liked him, but I really like him with all the trolling and all the social media. You see the tweet he did during the match when he got his wife's phone and he actually tweeted live and it was bored at work, lol. And then he tweeted after the match, just going fuck. I just thought it was just absolutely so. That character is just brilliant. The arrogance of it and the feud he's got with Punk is brilliant.
Speaker 1:And it's just treaded water, which is brilliant, and both of them have just done such a good job of just keeping it alive for when Punk gets back from injury.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for what? How? How long do you think? The last 10 minutes, do you reckon, before he gets injured again?
Speaker 1:I hope not. I feel I don't know. He's unfortunate, he's old, punk's not a young guy anymore and it's just unfortunately. It's just genuine different bits, because that's the tricep he tore was the opposite one of the one he tore in AEW, so it's not the same injury, it's just different injuries each time and it's that whole thing about Russ being rusty and just being thrown in the deep end. So yeah, we'll see. But that feud's great. He was great on commentary because he hates both of them and it's just the way he just kept. Referring to Rollins as a goof Go goof is an underused insult.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, no, it was totally the.
Speaker 1:The bit at the end was genius. When mcintyre won it and there's a nice little bit of rollins kind of saying sort of giving him an applause, and then the bit with punk. And then that shot when priest music hit, you just saw punk's face with a big smile on his face. He just yeah, brilliant, yeah, that's, that's perfect. And yeah, priest won it. Priest, an interesting one, because I just interesting to see where they go with him as a, as a champ, where they go with him because he's not, as he's not on the same level as no mcintyre he was.
Speaker 1:He was getting there and then he kind of lost his way a little bit and he's kind of so he's not on the same level as McIntyre. He was getting there and then he kind of lost his way a little bit and he's kind of so he's kind of coming up, but he's not. He's an interesting choice for title holder, but they had to do something with it and it kind of works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. What did he get referred to as?
Speaker 1:Like a bisexual undertaker.
Speaker 2:Bisexual undertaker, yeah, yeah. Bisexual Undertaker, the bisexual Undertaker, yeah, I love it. I mean what? Yeah, a genius, yeah, it's just brilliant.
Speaker 1:So, but I like Priest. I think he's good and he can make it work and McIntyre and Punk will just run and run, because Punk interfered again, didn't he on Monday night and stopped McIntyre winning the Fatal 4-Way match, which I thought was funny. So that'll just keep rolling, yeah.
Speaker 2:What was match two?
Speaker 1:Match two was the street fight thing Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits versus.
Speaker 2:Final.
Speaker 1:Testament. I like the Final Testament. I've always liked carrying across an AOP. It was a nice match, don't go wrong, and Bubba Ray Dudley was the referee, which was just comical. It's a shame. I think Karrion Kross and those guys are now on NXT. They've moved them into there, but Triple H is always quite high on them, but people don't really like him. Bobby Lashley's great but he's kind of got lost again in the shuffle. He should be at the top. He should be a heel from the start, so we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1:But it was all right, Matt. He served a purpose. It was the gap between the title and the stuff that was coming up later, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was again one of those kind of not filler, but of all the. Yeah, it was again one of those kind of not filler, but it was a of all the matches.
Speaker 1:It was the filler, oh yeah. Next one AJ Styles versus LA Knight Again. Another one that was a bit unlike both the guys. I really liked LA Knight, I always liked AJ, but it just felt a bit, I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's been a weird feud that's kind of got lost, a bit like the Usos in a weird way it's kind of got lost in the shuffle with everything else that's been going on yeah, that's the thing you can be doing good work but when there's good good work being done above you, then you just go. Yeah, it's lost in the movement, isn't it? Yeah? Because I saw an article saying um, I think aj saying he's like time is finite now he's running out of time to do much more yeah, but you forget how he's been around for years.
Speaker 1:Obviously he was in tna since he adopted and he was before that he was in other places.
Speaker 1:I think LA Knight has gone down since he peaked at the Saudi Arabia show, but he's still getting lots of good responses and I think he's great and I think obviously, spoilers or not, he won the. It's him versus AJ to decide who faces Cody for his first title defense. I think in the was it Backlash in France, so that'd be interesting to see who wins that. Hopefully it'd be LA Knight. That'd be quite cool. Aj's he's all right, but there's a character against Cody. He's kind of had his time, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what kind of AJ's swan song is Cause like, like I think the article said um, the the mind is willing, but the body is bad enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, he's re-signed, so he's with WWE I. He could have always gone somewhere else. Yeah, if you're going to, if you're going to go out on somewhere. If you're going to go out on somewhere, you might as well go out on WWE yeah, or go to AEW and look like an absolute idiot, but we'll talk about maybe that a bit later on. Next one was Logan Paul, kevin Owens, randy Orton for the US title.
Speaker 2:I thought it was great. I hate Logan Paul. He's so good, though, isn't he? That's why I hate him. I hate Logan Paul. He's so good, though, isn't he? That's why I hate him. I hate you. I really physically detest you, the fact you exist that makes him so good at wrestling?
Speaker 1:because he's just playing himself, amplified by 100, and he's a dick but, he gets wrestling, so he knows how to make himself a dick even more than he already is. He's really good at it as a physical and he respects the business, so he gets what it takes, but he's just dick.
Speaker 2:And that's why I hate you even more.
Speaker 1:The YouTube crony thing is getting a bit old now. I'm getting a bit bored of it. It was funny when it was KSI in the bottle, that was funny whenever it was last year, but now it's just some other dude that I've never heard of and it's just like oh, who's that guy? That's getting a bit samey, yeah.
Speaker 2:But the prime logo on the ring and on the turnbuckle was just entertaining to me so much sponsorship though now.
Speaker 1:So you've got obviously the Prime thing. And then in the main event they had those god awful white electronic banners for some American insurance company. It's like you can tell Vince isn't there. Just because of all that stuff that's happening.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think the fact the hydration station, as they call it, got obliterated in every other match I'm going. Why is it even here? Why it's there? They've just thrown into it. I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1:But Logan. I was pleased Logan Paul won, because he just kept losing when he started, but now he seems to be winning quite a few, and he seems to be full-time now as well, doesn doesn't he?
Speaker 2:he's there all the time, whereas before it was every every kind of other pay-per-view like roman, but now he's there all the time, so that's his job, I guess, and and like I said, I think he's such a good heel I hate him for it and it is a genuine physical detesting.
Speaker 1:You're good at this and you respect it and you're actually good, and I don't like you because of it because when they brought him in, I think he wanted to be a face, but it just wasn't working and people were booing him the moment he appeared on screen and it's like he's a dick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sorry, mate, you're never going to be a face, and if you are, I'll have to stop watching wrestling for that week, because people just hate you and it's just obvious.
Speaker 1:So, I was surprised he won. I thought maybe Kevin Owens or Randy Orton, because Randy Orton's come back, randy Orton doesn't need it. Kevin Owens probably does more than he does, but the way he won it was well done and it was kind of like chicken shit, heel kind of way of doing things yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think again, you've got two guys who have been around for a while and they've both held titles multiple times and you can just play that angle some more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and Logan Paul can easily get picked off by somebody else. Lower down the card. La Knight versus Logan Paul would be great, just for them on those two on the mic, because they'd just be spot on, no right. Penultimate match Bayley versus Io Sky.
Speaker 2:I love.
Speaker 1:Bayley, she's great, isn't she? First time first ever singles match, they said for Bayley at Wrestlemania.
Speaker 2:I don't know yeah no, she's great.
Speaker 1:It was obvious she was going to win and it was. It was a really good match because Io, sky and Bayley can go anyway and it was nice. I thought Bayley was going to come out to her original music. I was waiting for the key change and to have the inflatable waving men come up again.
Speaker 2:Oh, come on, they didn't do it.
Speaker 1:They didn't do it and I was like ah, but I suppose that's an old gimmick, but I thought maybe they'd do it as a one-off. But they didn't.
Speaker 2:The problem is the hugger gimmick didn't really transcend from NXT to main event, did it yeah?
Speaker 1:But it was. I just thought, ah, it's an opportunity, just giant inflatable men.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Whee, oh, good lord. Yes, no, it's good match and bailey's got hundreds of people she can face now and whether she's going to face damage control again, because there's loads of them she can have a go. Yeah, so there's lots of opportunities. As face bailey, I think as well. I felt sorry for them because bailey won the women's raw rumble but didn't really get the same billing as Rhea and Becky. In fact, I don't think she was actually on the main poster, which is like I feel a bit sorry for her because, like surely she, because she's won the Rumble, she needs to be at least on the same level.
Speaker 2:But there you go yeah, while we're on the women's division. Stupid question for you, charlotte Flair. Yes, yeah, while we're on the women's division. Stupid question for you, charlotte Flair. Yes, where, where is she? Is she still around?
Speaker 1:No, she's damaged. There's some random match with Asuka on SmackDown and she tore some crazy amount of ligaments in her knee. There's a whole list of what she did. Basically 360 degrees around her knee, just completely destroyed it. So she's going to be out what they say nine months from when was it? It must've been autumn time. So she's, yeah, she's going to be out a while. Fair, fair fair.
Speaker 2:I've thought to myself where is Flair?
Speaker 1:Yeah, fair, fair, fair. I thought to myself where is Flair? Yeah, because you kind of think where would she have fitted into all this kind of thing? Who would she have faced? How would she go? There's another one that, although Rhea's beaten her last year, but she could face Jade, that'd be a good kind of square off, jade versus Charlotte. On the way to something else. But, I'm sure she'll be back at some point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she wasn't limping, or she didn't have a knee brace on for the jobby Hall of Fame, did she? So if you saw her in that, Anyway, back to that. Cool and the main event, cody.
Speaker 2:Rhodes versus Roman Reigns. Yes, and it was again a lot actually look at this.
Speaker 1:It was felt longer, but it was 10 minutes shorter than the previous main event. Previous night felt longer. I think it's a one on one.
Speaker 2:I think it's a one on one match. There's more happening where we've got more people, you just get lost in the switching around. Yeah, it was so good.
Speaker 1:It was really good, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It was so well-paced is probably the right way of doing it, where the tension was building and it wasn't rushed and you just got the feeling that how is this going to end? When the last 10 minutes and the end kicked into fifth gear, you think, oh, how much more is going to happen in this small amount of time. It was bonkers.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the thing. You had the odd weapon here and there, but it kept it a standard, good one-on-one match because you could have literally had Roman came out and go right. Here's the entire bloodline around the ring and Kobe you're done in five minutes, because there's no way.
Speaker 1:I was surprised, but then not surprised, that he didn't come out with Solo and at least Jimmy to start with.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Or the Rock didn't come out, but I think had they been there it would have distracted from the match because you'd know, because they were on the ring, sat around the ring, you were waiting for them to interfere, but with them not being there, you kind of forgot. You were kind of sucked into the match and then it was like, oh yeah, I forgot that they can interfere yeah, because it's basically no DQ for anyone, you go, oh sweet, fantastic, that was the thing that I thought obviously it did happen.
Speaker 1:Everyone said, oh, bloodline rules, bloodline rules, it's no DQ. But that's no DQ for Cody as well, it's not just Bloodline, and that was the thing that I was kind of expecting. And they delivered on is like it's not just going to be one way street, no dq and yeah, well, obviously it did deliver. That last 10 minutes was just bonkers.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's mental absolutely mental, but no, the whole, the whole build-up to it. You know, yeah, it could have ended so many times because he's going, oh yeah finisher after finisher, after high-impact moves, you're going oh, this could be done. Then Mike Covey's looking like he's going to get the win, and suddenly one of the users appears, and then Solo appears and you go for God's sake, this guy's never going to get there.
Speaker 1:There's so many because AEW gets criticised quite rightly they don't do storytelling, they just do five-star matches, dream matches. But that whole match in itself had a story to it. But the elements within it also had story lines that dated back 10 years, 20 years, and it all made sense and everything they did had a meaning to it. There wasn't anything there just thrown in because they thought it looked cool. Every little bit was connecting and even now, with what's happened this week, bits are now connecting to the future and it it's all been plotted out and you just think that's how you do it, that's how you do wrestling. Is this whole thing about a concept of a storyline that you get invested in because you just think?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, now what's? And you want? Yeah, you want a long-term storyline. You don't want a five minute flash, you want to go right, I'm gonna tell this story for the next one, two, three, four years yeah, or longer where? You just go.
Speaker 1:Here's a callback to 10 years ago, guys the symbolism about some of the things in the way they did it. It's like, because I I didn't pick up all the references and I was reading about oh actually, yeah, some of the things and the way they did it. It's just like this is like 10 years in the making and it's like really really well done.
Speaker 2:Uh, so should we talk about the last 10 minutes was probably the best bit of it yeah, well, I uh, before we go on the last 10 minutes, I know like with the entrance a lot of people compared cody's entrance to triple h's, like king of kings entrance with the whole hell random concept, uh, that was made by the same people that make Bray Wyatt's masks, and I think that's why he did it, because it was kind of the nod there. So it was a bit of a weird one.
Speaker 1:when he came up, obviously Brandy was there, which is like Brandy's there as well, so it was the full house of stuff. But I think that was possibly why he did it was the mask.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because it was just a nod to Bray Wyatt, which was really nice as well so last 10 minutes yeah. So I had it in the back of my mind going into that that they're going to do something for Cody, that Cody's not going to come alone, if that makes sense. And then I forgot, because I was so invested in it because they came out in order, didn't they?
Speaker 1:Jimmy came out first and then, and then jay's music hit. You thought, oh, and that kind of dawned on me how they're going to do it, so it's not going to be like a trust the fuck, where they just have everybody in the ring at the same time. It's going to be staged and staggered, yeah, so the impact of what they're doing makes more impact. So those two kind of went away and and that was. That was yeah, and the fact is they took that dive off the stage. That was pretty.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was fast. It wasn't like a I'm just going to fall off the edge of the stage here. They just they went for it and just leaped off the stage. So it took them out.
Speaker 2:It was nice.
Speaker 1:And then you had the again, the mirroring of last year, with Solo and Cody just kept kicking out and it was just like and there's a really nice bit. Have you seen the results of what happened last night at SmackDown?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Right. Do you want the spoilers? Because it ties into all that.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, yeah, spoilers, spoilers.
Speaker 1:So you had the bit this is obviously WrestleMania. So you had Solo coming in. And then you had the bit was this is obviously a wrestlemania. So you had solo coming in. And then he started directing traffic, didn't he? He was telling this beautiful bit, telling roman get up, get up and roman's got I know, I know, and there's that whole bit there.
Speaker 1:Well, on smackdown, uh, hayman, solo and jimmy kind of turn up and don't get their locker room. So the locker room's been taken over by Cody and the whole story. There is consequences of failure. So you think, well, where's this playing out? So they're in the ring a bit later on and Heyman's kind of talking about how, introducing the fact that we failed, and yes, the tribal chief will return, blah, blah, blah. And then Solo interrupts him and sort of takes the mic and talks about consequences of failure and basically turns to Jimmy and says I love you, my brother, and hugs him Because the whole concept of Roman had earmarked Solo to take over from him. That was months ago. I can't remember when that was. That was months ago, I can't remember when that was.
Speaker 1:That was before Christmas, I think. And then out of the crowd comes Tama Tonga, who used to wrestle for New Japan and he's Haku's son, so I kind of knew he'd signed and basically he takes out Jimmy. And then Solo takes out Jimmy to the point where they kind of put his neck in a chair and just crush it and all the point. Heyman's just there in the background as amazing, as Heyman is just looking really shocked. And at the end he goes to phone Roman Reigns and Solo takes the phone off him and stamps on it and they just walk out. And there's a little bit later on in the episode where Heyman comes out of the medical doctor's office and the interview is asking him how is he?
Speaker 1:and he's not. He's looking really shocked. And then tamatonga comes up and says by order of the tribal chief. So you don't really know, is solo now in charge? Has he taken power, or is solo taking orders from the rock or somebody else?
Speaker 1:And these two now got into business for themselves, and rumor has it that Jacob Fatu, who's another cousin who is just awesome, I've seen him loads of times has also signed. So his solo is now taken over. He's bringing his own guys in. Or has the Rock told Solo, you're now doing this, so the solo character has just been elevated.
Speaker 1:But the callbacks, cause he's, he's bossing Roman around in the ring telling him to get it sorted, and you just think, if they're going to go down that route, which they did, solo is now kind of stepped up and gone. Right, he's lost, I'm now taking over, anyway. So he's lost, I'm now taking over anyway. So that's right. So there we are this week, so more, but yeah, that was brilliant.
Speaker 1:and then the, the shot and the, because they got rid of kevin dunn who was the production, one of vince's cronies oh, yes, yeah and the production has been so much better and that that shot where you just saw cena's video come up and the way that it was shot, like over solo shoulder in a way, it was just like really really well done, yeah. And when that happened I was like, oh right, they're gonna do this, uh, and do it in that order. And it was just again cena coming down, that that whole confrontation, because that was solo taking cena out in saudi arabia so the story made sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And you just go oh brilliant, and Cena's just a gnarly solo. And you go sweet, that's those two done. Yeah. And then obviously you go back to the singles element so Cody and Roman are still going at it and then the rock music hits and you go oh God.
Speaker 1:And the shot of Cena's face Like turning going. Uh-oh, Because how many years has it been 10 years since they main evented Wrestlemania and the Rock's got bigger and Cena's got smaller. That's the takeaway that I took from that. But that was done really well. And the Rock just effing and jeffing all the way down and they're bleeping him out and it was brilliant. And they're bleeping him out. And it was brilliant Fucking this, fucking that, and they're bleeping him out, and it's just. That was.
Speaker 2:And that's the thing that it feels. It feels right, for he literally walks in and goes right, you've come here and you go bloody hell, and that's not the WWE expects yeah.
Speaker 1:And he's going. Oh, this has a realness to it, because he was swearing in the main event the previous night and they didn't bleep all that out, they missed some of it, so it was proper going for it. So that was again shot really well, the timing of it was really well and the pacing between each little nugget was just yeah, they were layering it up. Each little nugget was just yeah, they just built, they were layering it up. So again, this can't get any better. Oh, it's got better. So obviously, the rock dispatched, uh, cena. And then the biggest surprise happens Well, obviously, the untake just popped up.
Speaker 2:Yeah the gong.
Speaker 1:Well that that gong hit my, my body just my spirit left my body for a moment, went oh god, he's gonna be back. There's a lot of rumors and I was expecting it and they didn't do it that austin was going to be the final stone cold, yeah but from some people speculated he didn't want to work with rock.
Speaker 1:Other people say they couldn't make it work financially. Other people say he was happy with just doing that bit a couple of years ago and he doesn't want to do it again. So obviously it would make more sense from a storyline point of view had it been Austin.
Speaker 2:But the Undertaker was Because they had the trailer in the background. One of the fights, didn't they? Where Rock was tearing Cody apart. You had Cena and Austin on the trailer.
Speaker 1:Triple H had tweeted something out at 16 minutes past three on that day or something.
Speaker 1:I would like to think they tried to get him and you could imagine the reaction if they had got him. But equally, the reaction was already they'd already got people and the Undertaker wasn't expected and you could argue he's always been referred to as the conscience of the WWE, so it was quite nice for him to pop up, chokeslam the rock and then just disappear, although if you see some videos online of how he ran into the ring and how they ran him out of the ring, it's quite funny. But yeah, yeah, that was good. I was disappointed it wasn't Austin for a little sec for about a heartbeat, but the fact they did the Undertaker. I was like, oh dear, that was alright, yeah, undertaker is just well.
Speaker 2:It's phenomenal what he sees, the Undertaker, and and then it just the fact he was in in casual gear rather than like the gear, but I went it's fine Rollins, because Rollins came in before him, didn't he? Yes, yes, sorry, we got it in the wrong order?
Speaker 1:yeah, because that was. I didn't realize the significance of why until right at the end, because obviously Rollins and the Shield music hit and there was a very weirdly part. I mean I thought they're not doing it, they're not bringing Ambrose in some weird crossover. I knew that it was impossible, that it could happen. Yeah, but part of me thought no, no, they wouldn't, they can't do it, they wouldn't have done it. There's no way possible. But then obviously rollins coming in and getting taken out didn't make sense. But then it made sense for the final bit of why he had to be in the ring at the point he had to be in, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and again, when you've got that shot of Roman with a chair and looking at Cody and then Seth just laying and just bang and I went oh yeah there we go 2014.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the symbolism where Rollins fell on the bottom rope is exactly how Reigns fell on the bottom rope. And it's the whole concept that he could have won the match, but he chose and Heyman mentioned it last night on SmackDown.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Reigns could have won the match, but chose to get revenge and ultimately that was the downfall.
Speaker 2:So that was beautifully written.
Speaker 1:And when Rollins was sort of saying, like the whole thing is, I will be your shield, then you go yes, yes you were because someone robert's hatred of you just bang done someone pointed out that whole promo where rollins took credit and responsibility for creating roman reigns and as a tribal chief in the first place, I'm the one that makes him not trust anybody.
Speaker 1:It was my fault, so that whole symbolism of that storyline just all came to a crescendo and it's like, oh, they've done that really, really well, because I didn't really get the shield thing to start, I thought, well, that felt like it was why. And then, watching it back and reading some of the conversations online, I was like, oh, of course, that now makes more sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, the whole thing, and I think, like WWE storytelling and like the video packages they do, they're just so good.
Speaker 1:So good. They did something weird with the camera, you know, when it was only in the title matches, all of them, when they were doing the announcing at the start, where they kind of went into this weird 3D effect, do you notice it? So Samantha Irving would be in the ring, which is unheard of, and the camera would cut to a very close-up of her and then the two competitors. And it was done, shot in a weird way where it was like you've got a camera in your house. Where it went the bokeh behind it, it blurred out the audience and focused just on them and it was done in such a way.
Speaker 1:I was like this is new. They've not done this ever where they've got that close-up kind of weird, and the colors were kind of just slightly different as well. So there's all sorts of little nuances they've yeah new one thing I forgot to mention, Steph was back?
Speaker 1:Oh, of course, and she even walked down at night too, and everyone was like shit yeah what the hell are you doing here? Well it's, it's the. It was linking it back to the end of the thing. It was the post-Vince WrestleMania, and they were really hammering it home, weren't they they?
Speaker 2:don't call him.
Speaker 1:Triple H anymore do they call him Paul Levesque era and it felt right because in some ways I was disappointed last year that Cody didn't win but it meant more. Him winning. Now it all seemed to is weird, the stars kind of aligned. Vince was gone, now it all seemed to is weird, the stars kind of aligned. Vince was yeah gone, new era new champion, gone, gone, yeah, yeah definitely gone and everything was.
Speaker 1:Everything was different and it was all different and it kind of worked. So I think it's. In some ways it was like a. It was a groundbreaking wrestlemania on.
Speaker 2:So many levels yeah, I think. I think the pay-per-views this year will be a real testament to how it's going.
Speaker 1:Yes, It'll be interesting to see what other changes they start making as they roll it forward and they just keep moving on. There seems to be a lot more media kind of chatter. Obviously they've started doing this post event press conferences, which AEW does, but if you're watching them except for the CM Punk one when he was there and he just went off on one they're all just naff. These are proper press conferences where they genuinely talk real stuff, and they did the press before Wrestlemania.
Speaker 2:That was really good and it just seems to be a hell of a lot more slick and more professional now yeah, it just feels like a really good product now and hopefully they just build on it and like as long as the storytelling is solid, the wrestling ain't got to worry about it, because these guys know what they're doing yeah. It's just, yeah, just build it, and build it, and build it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think we kind of digressed from the main event, but I felt the celebration at the end was really nice, if a bit cheesy yeah. I thought the genuine emotion that Samantha Irvine had when she announced the win was really nice because I didn't realise she's great and she purposely doesn't want to know who's going to win any of the matches she announces for. So when someone wins, she's really surprised. They have her on the social media and quite often they have videos of her just reacting to what's going on and it's brilliant and it's really nice to see because it's like she's like a fan.
Speaker 1:She's just sat there. Yeah, I get really excited with everybody else, so that was good. I know all the kind of celebration in the ring with everybody was nice and he had his family, cody's family there and everything like that was good so it was a nice ending yeah sent everyone home happy long may it continue in that vein yes, so the storylines, like I said, with the bloodline, rolls on and it's not going away.
Speaker 2:Also, quite interesting, um, I saw a little uh tweet with a little slide saying the the length of each champion's reign, post-rush mania. It's literally like Logan Paul, 150 days or something, and it's literally 3 days, 4 days, 4 days.
Speaker 1:That kind of everything's changed, yeah except for Rhea as well, everything else has now shifted, I think they stuck it on the men's ones and didn't mention the, the, the women's section but yeah, fair enough, fair enough, yeah, cause I think the whole male side is completely reset. Yes, yeah. So it's all reshuffling now and obviously they're bringing in some new people and that's going to reshuffle the first night raw they, they.
Speaker 1:They've obviously hinted at some promotions of NXT Braun Breaker is going to be massive this year, there's no doubt about that. So I just realised they had what's his called Dragunov can't remember his first name Dragunov, the NXT champion. He had some really good matches with Gunther in NXT before Gunther slimmed down, so that era of Gunther, so those two together would be spot on, so that maybe they might start doing?
Speaker 2:Was that the Walter era?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, he was, yeah, before his name changed. Yeah, walter, of course. Yeah, his name changed. So, yeah, they're starting to mix in some new familiar faces as well as some new stuff and yeah, like that you know it. Long may these changes continue, because it's been really good yeah, I think that's the thing.
Speaker 2:These are all positive changes. It's not five minute stories, it's it's proper detailed storytelling with a reason behind it. Not I like you, I'm going to make you win.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Or I've changed my mind at the 11th hour.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't like. No, you're not going to win. You're not going to win, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I decided.
Speaker 2:Brock Lesnar's going to win.
Speaker 1:Well, they mentioned him, didn't they? They asked Triple H a direct question Is Brock Lesnar still employed? And he said yeah. Not only did Paul Heyman mention him at the Hall of Fame, but Triple H said no, he's employed, still with us. He's just being at home being Brock, and when we have an opportunity for him he'll be back. It is what it is, I suppose. Until such a time as all that comes to court, they've moved him away for the time being. Let the dust settle a bit, and then they'll bring him back, won't they?
Speaker 2:They don't need him, but Well, let's face it, we'll proc. You can use him as and when you need him, like you said. Actually, if it all goes pear-shaped, he just sits at home until the end of time. If he goes well, he can come back and do his three moves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, originally it was going to be him versus Gunther at WrestleMania, but obviously we didn't get that. That was annoying, because that would have been really good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that would have just been violent.
Speaker 1:Bigger, more important things, as we know, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, yeah, no no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:Anyway, we'll go down there.
Speaker 2:So final thoughts about wrestlemania loved it, apart apart from, like the uso match. I just loved it. It was really good and I was able to watch both nights back to back and didn't feel bored, because a lot of the time, with older pay-per-views, you'd be going oh, I just don't care. But every match I went. Oh, I'm into this, I'm enjoying it. Yeah, it was just solid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that. Every match was either enjoyable or there's someone I wanted to see in it. So I don't care if it's a boring match. I quite like these people, except for the Yusuf match. I think we're in agreement on that and the main event was done just perfectly in the way they did it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there was. It wasn't obvious who was going to win each time. Because, again, you look at some old matches and go, yeah, that person wins, I don't care.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gone are the days where you can sit there and go yeah, that person's going to win. Every time it's very much ooh. What is going to happen with this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Now it's like what's going to happen with Roman and the Rock when the Rock comes back and when's Roman going to give out? What's going to happen with all that? That's all still up in the air. It's brilliant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wow.
Speaker 1:There we go.
Speaker 2:That was it. That was WrestleMania dude Brother.
Speaker 1:At one point I just thought what if Hulk Hogan's going to run out in that final thing? Oh my God, the old man.
Speaker 2:Hogan comes out, yeah, leg drop Bang Someone.
Speaker 1:The old man Logan, comes out. Yeah, leg drop Bang. Someone has to kind of scoop him out of the ring in a forklift because he's kind of broken his spine. Oh no, I thought maybe they're going to do it. They're going to bring out the Hulkster for one last run. He walks with a walking stick now, doesn't he? There's those videos of him with a big walking stick thing, which is not surprising because he's an old man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, those videos of him with a big walking stick thing, which is not surprising because he's an old man. Yeah, yeah, if you come on, like the back of stage just rips the show open and just distracts everyone let's be old man abs yeah, we need to end on that on the leathery apps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, on that note. Um, yeah, next time. Well, a month before, doctor who, you might squeeze another one in, who knows? Yeah, just a lottery of what we're going to talk about.
Speaker 2:I'm sure we'll think of something yeah, we'll spin the wheel, we'll check the monkey ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah yes, see what, see what the eight ball of doom tells us we have to do. Yes, indeed.
Speaker 2:Yes, indeed. Well, in that case, it's goodbye from me. That's goodbye from me, doom.
Speaker 1:We'll be right back.