2025 Wrestling Recap Special & John Cena's Final Match | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #827 – 12/18/25

0:00 It's still real to be damaged! [Music] [Music] Welcome everybody! Welcome to this week's This and This The Realest Show. Number 8 on 27 for December 18, 2025. Welcome to this week's edition of SRTU. I am one half the show. I am Jeff Pack joined every single week. My phone's lonely. Dr. Tray Franklin, Dr. Tray, pro wrestling, destroyed sports entertainment this past Saturday, my friend.

0:43 As it should, I'm just kidding. I mean, for a long time, Pyrrhus, in a sense, for guys who grew up kind of watching the wrestling when it was still real to us. Pro wrestling should kind of dominate, but, you know, I'm a sucker for, you know, a good storyline. I'm a sucker for emotional tales. I'm a sucker for a guy smiling as he passes out into oblivion. Yeah, it's going to be a very controversial topic here. So we're going to recap John Cena's final match against Gunther in the loss to Gunther. Spoiler, if you didn't watch by now, or have no idea. You know, if it was at five, six days later, we'll recap Saturday night's main event from some of the matches as well.

1:28 We will recap professional wrestling in 2025 as we are in the holiday schedule. Mode folks will grade WWE will grade AW's 2025 and then we will listen back to our bold predictions and WrestleMania 41 card predictions from the first show of the year back on January 2nd, 2025. So Dr. Tray, before we get right into it, once again, friendly reminder. Sign up at our Patreon page patreon.com/srtupodcast. Everything this month is free for all of our listeners sign up and become a free member. We're not asking you to pay for it. Just go there, sign up, become a free member, and you get everything for free. Get this show ad free over at patreon.com/srtupodcast. We are using this month as a gauge to see how many listeners, how much of a community we have.

2:12 So please, please, please sign up over there so that we know who is supporting all of us here at SRTU. Dr. Tray, as I mentioned before, John Cena lost in his final match against Gunther. I think we discussed on last week's show, like we had a feeling that this would be like pro wrestling's way of defeating sports entertainment and a passing of the torch. You know, you go out on your back, you look up at the lights on your way down professional wrestling. Everything seemed pretty normal for me as a wrestling fan. I watched the match. As I'm watching the match, I watched it on a little bit of a delay. I wasn't right watching Saturday and it's my event immediately at 8 p.m. East.

2:56 So I was watching on delay. I'm watching the match. I'm loving the match. I'm like, this is really, really nice. I'm loving the ending finish. I thought it was poetic. I loved the smile and then just like, you know what? I'm going to tap out, roll off, one, two, three. And then I saw the crowd reaction. And people were losing their damn minds. They were losing their shit. They were letting their social media themselves get all over in the crowd. They were chanting bullshit, which I thought was really bad. I hated it. I did not like the bullshit chance. And like, John Cena's last match. Like, that's what he's doing. He's like hitting the moment. Like, just get up in chair, dudes.

3:36 Like, this is professional wrestling. Cut it out. They're booing the hell out of triple H. They eventually warm up. Give a good, you know, solid salute to John Cena on his way out. It was a special night. It was a special match. It was a special moment. I loved it. Where do you stand on this entire thing? Yeah, I thought it was a really great match. I thought you kind of showed the heart of John Cena. You show the revamped, indestructible side of Gunther in this match. We talked about last year's show. What would be better, passing out or tapping it?

4:16 I thought tapping out what? Because John Cena doesn't tap out. I think I saw he's only tapped out four times in his WWE career. And most of that was in the early days of his career. I thought it made a ton of sense if you're trying to build a mega heel, potentially a new character for Gunther as well. I thought it was great. I thought the crowd reaction, I wasn't surprised. That's kind of where we're at right now in the wrestling world, which I think is kind of sad in a sense. Like, it's not as much hijacking the show.

4:56 It's just like you do, like what we talked about. You go out on your shield. You put up the good fight. And when you're careers done, you pass the torch. You give the rub to the next generation. I thought it was the right thing to do. So I get the animosity because John Cena is so loved. We talked about last week's show. Sammy Franklin still has not watched this match yet. I didn't know how he's going to react. I may save this one for a little bit later down the line for him to watch when he's a little older, a little more mature. But the match was really, really, was really, really great. We talked about it also like John Cena really hasn't had a bad match, although that maybe the Brock Lesnar match in this retirement tour.

5:43 And it was everything I expected it to be. Yeah, I don't remember if we brought this up on last week's show or not. But I read a quote from John Cena's interview with Chris Van Ville last week, where the question was asked of him, like, why did you get destroyed by Brock Lesnar or something or like that? And he basically said, why shouldn't I be? Like, I'm leaving soon. I'm on my way out. Let's make Brock look strong. And once I read that, I'm like, oh, he's, he's putting gone through over. He put over Dom Mysterio on the way out. He's putting over Gunther. Gunther is putting together this resume of retiring superstars. We'll talk about his raw segment in just a little bit here as part of this whole recap.

6:25 But I think they did a little bit of foreshadowing where he's eye to eye with AJ Styles as he's leaving the arena on Monday Night Raw. I mean, AJ is very open that next year's his last year. And I think we got some foreshadowing like AJ Styles last match could be against Gunther as well. And now he adds another one to his resume. And there's rumblings of maybe Chris Jericho return a WWE in a retirement or which could be another one. I mean, this could be Gunther's thing right now where he retires our heroes. And maybe it comes full circle at some point and makes for a nice poetic wrestling storyline that 10, 15 years down the line that we love. But that seems to be the direction that they're going.

7:06 I was, if you asked Jeff Peck in the moment as I talk at third person of the final segment of that match and the minute he taps out, scene rolls over and you stop me right there. You're like, all right, stop. I would be sitting here telling you that and I will still say this that I felt that that ending segment was one of the best storytelling, poetic, nice, really good wrap up of a career closing segment in a match I'd ever seen. I, I loved it. And to me, what was funny is as you pointed out earlier, right? So he's fighting, he's putting up the good fight, Cena lays back.

7:50 And that last time he's like, you seem smile. And in that moment as I'm watching it, I'm like, this is Cena, his whole career flashing through his eyes in one moment. And it's very funny because very rare for me to I get like goosebumps. But as I'm saying, then I'm getting it. Maybe I'm overtired here and emotional. But and then they do that on raw to open up the show. Like they run it back, the recap of it and he's starting to go. He's smiling and they run through his entire career. And then it leads him tapping out. And that's how I interpret it. I guess the folks in the arena didn't interpret it and granted. It's very difficult to interpret that in the arena because you're watching it in a lifetime. You're not watching the TV at home.

8:31 So maybe those in the arena versus those that watch at home like you and I, Dr. Trayer, are interpreting this differently. If you were in the arena and watch it to DC, highly recommend you go back and watch that match. I'm sure you've seen it by now on on social media. But I felt in that moment up until I heard the crowd chanting bullshit. I was like, man, that was a really awesome way for Cena to go out. Like it was, it was poetic. I loved it. I think even still Dr. Tray, despite the crowd reaction, I think it's one of my favorite closing segments. I've seen an arresting match in some time, comma, potentially ever. Yeah, to me, it's kind of up there with like the Undertaker Shawn Michaels match as far as finishes.

9:15 Like it was emotional. Like the Rick Flair Shawn Michaels Flair's last match in WWE. Like some of those ones are, we'll get you in. Like when I'm watching and I see that smile, like on one hand my brain goes, oh, he's smiling because he's done. But then it's also like, like you said, like when, especially when I watched the Raw and they did that whole like, Cena flashback and then I can remember like those movies and those moments with loved ones where they're like hanging on and you tell them it's okay, go the light, you know, we're good or you know, like he smiled because it's like that flash through his mind of like, I've had a good wrestling life and it's okay to pass the torch to the next generation.

10:00 A lot of guys from the generation before, especially like the 80s generation, the 90s generation, you know, they always say something like they hung on because they wanted to make sure wrestling wasn't good hands when they left. And there's John Cena literally wrapped up in Gunther's hands tapping out, knowing that wrestling's in good hands. So I thought it was very poetic. It's I'm going to rank the Sean Flair match a little bit higher because those are two of my favorite wrestlers of all time and Gunther's much as I like him has not ascended to that plateau yet, but you know, for closing segments, especially when you kind of know somebody's careers winding up like that one ranks right up there with Sean taker and Sean and Flair.

10:50 Yeah, it's that's a great comparison there. Sean and Flair is up there. I hope someday that people look at that this past Saturday's match in that same vein. I know there are people online that didn't love it. I know that is also also open up criticism for the overall farewell, fair, well tour, which is fine. I think that there is room for some criticism there. You know, I think when we recap WWE later, I think you'll hear some, you know, complaints about creative in 2025 and I think a lot of that does in fact surround the fair, well tour of John Cena. But overall, I thought this was nice. I really do. I thought the match was a great recap of his career. And I know there's a what I liked about the finishes that it leaves it up to interpretation of the mind for the people that are watching at home.

11:42 And it's, you know, I've seen people that have similar thoughts that I do where in that last struggle where he's trying to get out and he goes back down and then you seem smile before passing out. It's in that moment where Cena realizes that he doesn't need to fight anymore. He doesn't need to be the shield of world wrestling entertainment professional wrestling sports entertainment anymore. It's okay for him to let go. It's okay for him to tap out and it's okay for him to pass the ball to the next person, whether it be Gunther's Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, someone else. And he does it. Smiles taps out, rolls over. And then the celebration of his career begins. If there's anything that I would be like, man, I didn't think that was all that great, Dr. Trey.

12:31 It is actually the post match, quite honestly. I love that the crew came out. I think the title stuff was maybe a little bit too corny for my liking. Let him hold the titles on his way out despite taking the L. I know that they did that years ago. I think he and Batista with whole Cogan when he was making run like an off camera. I think that they showed when Hogan passed away a couple months ago as well that that resurface him watching the video. I thought the video package was very nice. And then I expected him to say a few words and he didn't. He just took his shoes off. You know, took off the wristbands. The headband that goes around his bicep walks out of the arena takes one last look, which I thought this part part was fine takes one last look looks around again gives us salute and just says it was like a pleasure to serve you guys.

13:25 And off he goes. And to me, I would have liked to see in a few more words. I would have liked to seem like a gigantic celebration very similar to the night after you pointed to Rick Flare and Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 24. I would have liked to see a similar thing that they did on Monday night or all the next night after Flare retired. Part of me was upset no videos from Batista, no videos from Randy Orton. Randy Orton and Batista weren't even there. I thought that would have been nice. But you know, those were just some very, very minor criticisms overall. To me, it was a celebration of wrestling in all honesty was a celebration of an amazing 22 23 year career where you know, there were points where I think a lot of us loved John Cena, especially when he was coming up and when he was kind of pushed down our throat, throw to lot after the mid 2000s into the late 2000s.

14:18 Even in the early 2010s, there was some wear and tear on the love of John Cena. And then when he started to get away out of the world title picture and that back half of his career. And he was like putting people over. He was wrestling as the United States champion open challenge. He saw his wrestling career really blossom in matches with Sammy Zayn. Zayn got the call up from NXT to the main roster, AJ Styles, Rusev's, Bray Wyatt's of the world like Kevin Owens, like you really saw new Cena and that back half of his career was a lot of fun. A very polarizing figure at times, but I think someone that when you do look back at his career, Dr. Trey, there is going to be nobody that is going to have the longevity and the company on his back no longer than John Cena did.

15:05 And if there is anyone that comes even close to Cena, then that's amazing because when you really look at it from about 2004 to about like 2017 when then he started to become a little bit more part time worker. And pop up here and there. John Cena was the face of the company for 15 plus years. He'd make 200 300 plus dates, make a wish request. I think he's like the highest giver of wishes out of any celebrity sports figure, what have you in the world. The amount of appearances he made, promotions that he did, there's nobody. It wasn't Hogan, it wasn't Savage, it wasn't Shawn Michaels, Brett Hart, Steve Austin, Rock, Triple H, Undertaker.

15:50 Nobody, not even Cody today, punk, Reigns, Lesnar, nobody held a candle to the workhorse mentality that he put into world wrestling entertainment. Dare I say Dr. Trey, one of the greatest, if not the greatest careers in WWE, if not all a professional wrestling history. And it was a cap off on an amazing 23 year journey. A chapter that came to a close, he started wrestling on television when I was in high school. It was like watching Derek Geter's final at bat. It probably feel the same way, like even though I'm not the biggest fan of him when LeBron walks away from the NBA, these are people that are tied to my childhood.

16:31 John Cena is one of them, I'm almost nearly 40 years old. It was a nice tip of the cap and a salute and a farewell to an amazing career Dr. Trey and props to the one and only John Cena. Yeah, the closing segment I thought was pretty well done. I wasn't surprised by the lack of words and a little bit is because you know we've seen these interviews, you mentioned the Chris Van Ville, one, couple of other ones. John has gotten so humble about stuff over the last few years, like I didn't think. I mean, he wanted to go on first to make the show not about him, even though the show was about him. Man, a few words now when it comes to like this with that, the humility, but you know when we talk about the Mount Rushmore's and the goats and the greatest, there really isn't anybody other than maybe a Rick Flair.

17:24 And before that, you have to go to like Bruno Samaritino, a little bit of the whole Cogan, even Hogan, like was on top for like six, seven years. I mean, this is a guy that 13 years on top, 15 years on top. That's Bruno and Flair. You know, I mean, there aren't anybody else. We talk about like the Austin's, the rocks, Brett Hart's, you know, those guys of the world. Nobody was on top carrying the company like Cena did and it's something and it may be just because there's so much talent in wrestling right now that we never see somebody come close to this type of run. Where the company just goes, nope, you're a guy and you're always here and the workhorse mentality of a guy who didn't have to be a workhorse. Like you mentioned, like 200, 300 dates a year, the maker wished off.

18:16 He did one before the show, you know, it's made of any did one there in the arena like stuff like that is just so impressive and there's not going to be anybody else like him for a long time. These are, you know, once in a generation, once in a borderline lifetime to still a catchphrase from a scene in Iraq, once in a lifetime until we do it again. But yeah, it just doesn't have like guys like this don't come along and you know, with age comes maturity and he has a whole different mindset on, you know, what the business is and what his role in the business is during this last run.

18:56 And I think for the most part, people may not get at times, but I don't think it's because of John Cena, I think it's just because of circumstances around what happens in wrestling over the course of a year. You have to alter stuff, you have to change stuff, but I think for a retirement run, we got all the hits, we got some things we didn't think we get, we got some other things we thought we get. I mean, I mean, he wrestled the youngsters and then he wrestled his contemporaries like that's exactly what you want on somebody who's wrapping a career up. You play the greatest hits and you put the younger guys over and seen it in a master class on what a retirement tour should kind of look like.

19:36 It was a special year. It was a special night this past Saturday. I hope everybody had an opportunity, whether you're a fan of Cena, die hard, casual fan, fan who respects what he did or even if someone that doesn't like anything about him. I hope you enjoyed the past year because it's one of those things where the older I get, you just kind of absorb those moments, you just kind of absorb what's going on because you know this is the last time you see it. And the last time is now now and salute to one of the best and all time great. They say he's the greatest of all time. The one and only John Cena. I know a lot to talk about in regards to that match. Dr. Trayn, I liked it like the final sequence. And I hope most fans who are against it get around to it at some point.

20:20 But you know what? That's your opinion as well and more power to you if you want to see him go out as on top as they say in professional wrestling. Let's recap the rest of the night here. Dr. Tray, this past Saturday at the Capitol, one arena in Washington, DC. I'll just run through it here pretty quickly and get some of your thoughts on the matches. So on disputed champion WWE Champion Cody Rhodes versus NXT Champion Oba Femi. And in any no contest for injury, McIntyre interferes. I thought this was a great match. Oba Femi was hanging with with Cody Rhodes and kept him in. I mean, it looked like Hobo was potentially got to get the match and I thought this was a match. We talked about it last week show like this is the potential for massive upset.

21:01 They said went with a route of protecting both guys, especially Cody Rhodes by having Drew McIntyre interfere and causing the no contest, which I'm not the biggest fan of. So Ruka defeats Bailey in a very, very fun and great match. Props to So Ruka. I think she's going to be a mega star very, very soon and she defeats one of the greatest as well in Bailey. And then lastly, Adrian Stiles and Dragon Lee to feature Von Evans and Leon Slater in a very fun match. I thought you're going to hear me say very fun a lot because I thought this overall was a very fun card. It was different from what we tend to see. And I think it's something that maybe WWE should consider doing at this time of year, once a year that if they do a December Saturday and it's main event, they do like an exhibition of quote main roster stars versus NXT stars. So Dr. Sharia, what were your thoughts on the Saturday night's main event? John seems final match this past Saturday in Washington, DC.

21:51 Yeah, it was a really fun show. I was laughing with my wife the other night about this. I said, well, I said everything I said on the podcast kind of came true. I said, Sal Ruko probably be Bailey. They need at least one upset. I knew the tag match would be a banger and want to get like how cool with this in AJ Styles in the ring with the TNA exhibition champion. Like that's just so awesome in a lot of ways, especially for the long time fans. I literally was like, they'll probably have Drew McIntyre interfered to save both guys. Like for a guy who won the predictions stuff this year, I didn't pretty solidly at the end of the year as well for a show we didn't even really predict.

22:31 But overall fun show, Oba looks like he's going to be the next breakout star. Like that match was kind of like cementing that yeah, he can be on the main roster. He can be a main event guy and the fans bought into it right away. I like AJ and Dragon as a tag team. I just don't know if I like having the tag belts on them because they just I don't know they don't feel like a tag team. I guess where Slater and Javon kind of do. And I said, last week I love hearing Leon Slater talk because it was Cockney X and then and we've been saying for a while now, Sal Ruka is going to be like the next breakout star on the main roster. And I think Bailey putting her over kind of cement that so we saw with Cena and in Gunther now we're seeing a little bit with Bailey and Sal Ruka like game recognizes game.

23:19 And if they can help the next generation out, they're going to do that. So it was overall like you said, really, really fun show enjoyable show and you know one that we're probably going to remember for a while not just because of John Cena's but this is kind of that launching point for Sal and Oba and their WWE careers down the road too. I saw a lot of people obviously also complaining a little bit about the results from the show like why have AJ Styles and Dragon lead to Feet Javon Evans and Leon Slater, why didn't Oba defeat everybody. There are a group of people that wanted all the NXT stars to defeat all the main roster stars, which I understand I get it. But yeah, at least she got one win at a Sal Ruka defeat in Bailey. The thing is that if they go toe to toe like Oba did with Cody, that's a big deal.

24:05 They ran a video package about Oba on Monday night Raw. If Javon Evans and Leon Slater who is not a contracted WWE talent, then I believe he's just TNA is in the ring and hanging with AJ Styles and Dragon lead where it looks like they could defeat them, the tag team champions. That's not a bad thing folks. Everybody, it's funny as hell man, I mean there's all these people that don't want John Cena to put over Gunther but they wanted all the main roster stars to take the elegance in NXT and TNA guy. It's completely different. Overall, I don't know if this will go down as my match of the year. We'll cover that all on next week's edition show when we do our 2025 SRT award show special, Dr. Trey. But I will say top five shows of the year, maybe top 10.

24:55 I definitely think that this show slides in there just because how different it was and I just thought it was like an overall fun night for me. And the other thing is you and I talked about with Cena and Gunther kind of opening the show and all the emotion and all the stuff that went into that match and then all the stuff afterwards. Could they keep the crowd? Could the crowd stay involved and there was a little bit of a low for a minute but I think overall they kept the crowd involved the entire show. Yeah, it's in my top 10 for the year. I don't think it's number one but it's not far off. So yeah, just overall fun. And people forget wins and losses don't matter as much as you think it does. It matters on how you feel.

25:41 And if those points of those matches, we were like, damn, Oba could beat Cody. Damn, Javon and Leon could beat AJ and Dragon. Those emotions you hang on to so the next time you see them in that position, it gives them that credibility. So when they do win, you're not like, oh, that's bullshit. That makes no sense. This is about establishing credibility for these guys when they make the moves to the roster. And I saw a great comparison about the Leon Slater stuff. It does kind of feel like when the Will Ospreay was wrestling in AEW how AEW would roll out the red carpet when Ospreay was in New Japan, it does feel like WWE is like really hard recruiting Leon Slater.

26:21 Much like they did with Joe Henry earlier this year. And Jordan race. Yeah, it's like, no, no, these are people that we can see a lot of value in. So let's let's make them feel like, hey, they've got a real shot and an opportunity. If they decide to sign with us when their contracts are on. And they're not doing it in like a jerk way where they're hiding the TNA stuff. I mean, TNA is getting a ton of love. And it's a type of thing. I mean, you had a champion perform on the show. I mean, there are people that they could have used easily in NXT. And they went with Javon Evans on the WWE side of things. I totally should have been showcase on the show. But the fact that, you know, another addition is a TNA X division TNA contract at wrestling Leon Slater is pretty phenomenal.

27:02 He is extremely fun to watch. So Saturday nights made event John Cena's final match this past Saturday fun show. Fun night. Enjoyable look back at one of the greatest careers of all time in John Cena. All right, Dr. Trey, like we typically do this time of year just before Christmas, before the award show. We recap professional wrestling in 2025. So when you look back at 2025 and the world of professional wrestling, Dr. Trey, what sticks out to you? What is the salilic way that you'd like to to lay on wax poetically to all of our listeners? And give your thoughts as we recap everything that took place this past year.

27:42 Yeah, it's weird. I don't know if this makes sense to you, but to me, it kind of feels like this year professional wrestling is all about community. Like it's it's it's so cool we live in a world now where you're seeing all these crossovers between WWE TNA WWE Triple A CML L AW New Japan AW like we're getting all of these like kind of dream matches and kind of like really cool scenarios that we would have never thought of. And it's bringing TNA fans to WWE is bringing you know AW fans to New Japan is bringing WWE fans to triple A Jeff, I watched triple A pay per views this year.

28:23 Never would I have ever done that. But it's building that wrestling community as a whole and we're not, you know, discounting smart fans in a sense is like, yeah, we, you know, they're recognizing that. You know, people watch more than one promotion, people watch more than one style of wrestling and they're going into the depths and the dark corners of our weird wrestling fandoms and digging out people like a Mr. Aguana or, you know, just the weird craziness that is the wonderful world of professional wrestling. Kind of got a light shined on it in every possible way this year. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think it was like a really great year for professional wrestling where you got to, as you put like showcase other communities that we may not see.

29:14 And I think AW opened a massive door in that space and I am happy that WWE took the opportunity to, you know, open that door a little bit wider. You know, the Japanese culture was basically introduced pre AW and that was really showcased. And now you're seeing the, you know, Hispanic Mexican culture, lucha Libre in CMLL and AW in triple A now being purchased by WWE. Under both of those banners, which is, which is really nice to see as well. So it was like a great, I think that was a great way to put like how it was shaped by community. In 2025 for me, when I look back at recapping the world professional wrestling in 2025, I felt it was an absolute breakout year for the women's division all over the place.

30:03 Not just in WWE, not on RAW, not on just on SmackDown, NXT, AEW, even. I thought it was a breakout year for women to the point where just before the show recording here today, Dr. Travis, I was watching a women's match from a couple of weeks back. And I was like, this is, this is really fun. Like I'm really enjoying women's wrestling. And I think if you asked Jeff, pack 15, 20 years ago, I wouldn't have said that whatsoever. But take a look around like the women, the world titles in WWE are in a good spot. And there's some really good juice in the storylines with them throughout the year. The Tagtune division in WWE for the women, I wish they did with the men on both RAW and SmackDown. The NXT Women's division is totally deep right now with amazing talent that is knocking on the door of coming up to RAW and SmackDown.

30:57 The Intercontinental, the United States Champion Chips on the main roster have been a ton of fun to watch and it has given the opportunity for other wrestlers to shine, whether it be Chelsea Green or Maxine DePree. The North American Championship in NXT, you're seeing Blake Monroe really elevate her game now that she's in WWE and added another layer to it. Then when you go over to AEW, we just saw the women's tag team titles introduced with the Babes Wrath winning the tournament, like that was a very fun tournament. Mercedes-Bone has had a historic year where she's now the former 13 belts, Monet. I would imagine all those titles will continue to dwindle. The women's championship in AEW with Chris Stattlander, I mean they're having great matches.

31:45 I felt like 2025 was defined by the women's division, Dr. Trey. There is must see matches, must see creative, good storytelling in the ring, good storylines surrounding it, whether it be Becky Lynch's Intercontinental Champion and the Chase from Maxine DePree to Chris Stattlander and Mercedes-Bone's issue with one another. It was just a really fun year for women's division, so when I look back and I recap 2025, I know you said community, I look back and I'm like, this is all about the women's division. Yeah, I can't argue that a bit. The women had a fantastic year and you hit on all the key points of the women this year.

32:25 And this is discounting the women's evolution show. That was kind of like a show, but the amount of talent in women's wrestling right now is unmatched. Like it's never been as good as this. You said it yourself, like 15, 20 years ago. Yeah, I could watch a Trish and Leeda match, but most of the other stuff was Braun Panies or lingerie matches or just, you know, I can do which don't give me wrong 24 year old Dr. Trey Franklin loved that. But it's on a different level now. It's, you know, it's fun and you're seeing these personalities come out and so really in a good in-ring wrestling.

33:10 Like you mentioned the babes are at Harley Cameron's, arguably like one of my favorite people watching in professional wrestling. Like she's so fun and entertaining her and Chelsea Green. It's like, yeah, are they the main event people know, but like those people right there are like you go, yeah, they can either be, you know, the female Miz for 15 years or they could be the top of the show because they're so charismatic and so personable that you could build. You could build, you know, shows around people like this, like it's, it feels like, you know, as much as you and I love tag team wrestling. It's dipped a lot. Sometimes the men's wrestling ebbs and flows and drop down, but women's wrestling has been on this like rise nonstop over the last eight, nine years.

33:57 And who thought it would get as high as it is now, like it's incredible how far the women have progressed just since the days of watching page, you know, in Emma and NXT. And we were like, man, this is groundbreaking and where we're at now is just incredible. All right, Dr. and now it's time to grade WWE and AEW's 2025. I will go first here by doing both WWE and AEW here. So for me starting with WWE, I gave them a solid B. I was teeter between a B and a B minus. I give them about a B.

34:37 I thought it was a fine year. I didn't think it was another step up for WWE after building off the last couple years of the reign of Triple H's creative, like if you look back from late 2022 to now. I thought it was just kind of plateauing in a way. There has been some creative that hasn't been all that great. I think there is room for criticisms of the overall farewell tour. I don't like the creative where they're looking for viral moments for the unreal show on Netflix, like the John Cena hill turn basically for no reason. And the whole art truth stuff maybe. But then there's creative that I really enjoyed. I love the stuff that they're doing with the women's division right now as I just pointed out the women's tag team divisions, especially.

35:27 I'm digging the stuff that they're doing in NXT overall creatively. And I love the Seth Rollins injury angle with CM Punk at Summer Slam. And that was something, you want to, if you want to chastise the creative of Gunther and John Cena that closed on Monday night or Saturday and it's main event, you probably didn't like Seth Rollins fooling us all that he was injured. And people were ashamed about that. And totally forgot that this is professional wrestling. So I give them a solid B. As for AEW, I think I'll give them a B plus. I think AEW had a really good step forward. Their shows have been enjoyable. I think overall, unfortunately, I think the growth of AEW may be stymied a bit.

36:10 I don't think they're going to get market share from WWE like we thought that they potentially could get in like 2019, 2020, 2021. Maybe they have plateaued in a way when it comes to their type of audience that they try to serve on a weekly basis on Wednesdays and Saturdays. And that's okay. It tends to be for more hardcore wrestling fans. I have felt that for the majority of this year that AEW was like a very solid fun show to watch. And obviously they had very good creative. And then there were times where the creative was like, what the hell are they doing here? Like this is odd. But it hasn't been as odd as it has been in the past. So I think overall I'll give WWE a B and I'll give AW AB plus Dr. Trey your thoughts.

36:58 I know sometimes people think we talk about this stuff before the show, but like like those grades are actually my exact grades as well. I felt like WWE this year kind of plateaued. They I want to say they played it safe. But like looking back, I'm like outside of John Cena's retirement and maybe his heel turned there weren't a whole lot of like holy cow moments. And that kind of stood out this year. The Seth Rollins injury angle was one like I said, the scene of heel turn. But even like the Royal Rumble match, I felt like that it was different, but still kind of safe. You know, money in the bank, different, but kind of safe. Like nothing really moved the needle for me this year.

37:46 And like you and I just don't like you know war games. It felt like blueprints like copy and paste for war games. You know, it was still solid, but yeah, like this year, unlike maybe the last couple years, I felt like if I missed a show or two, it wasn't earth shatter. And there was AEW goes, I gave them a B plus also and we may be grading on a curve that to me does not mean AEW was a better overall product than WWE. I just felt like their growth this year, getting back to kind of what made them solid in the beginning. It would made them a viable alternative.

38:26 They kind of got back to their roots a little bit more this year, a lot of young talent getting elevated and making statements. You know, the year of Kyle Fletcher, the year hangman had the year swerve had. I'll throw some of Joe in the mix, even though he's not a young guy, but just you know, their elevation this year that the continuing story of the death writers and now they're the struggles of John Moxley that are going on. These are some good storylines that they're building and that's one thing that we've always knocked AEW about was storytelling. And this year, I felt like they had a much better year of storytelling. They've always had great entering action, but since the storytelling jumped up, it made it much easier and palatable watch.

39:14 And then just the growth of their women's division this year, like a year ago, we felt like it was really stagnant and they hadn't had anybody kind of breakthrough in this year. I felt like they created some new stars as well and some people that you're like, OK, I have to see what this person is doing with this person is doing. And they did a lot of this that a lot of the stuff this year without MJF and Chris Jericho, who were arguably their two biggest stars on the grand stage of professional wrestling. So I give them a ton of props. I mean, they're they're borderline a minus, but I'll give them a B plus for the year. Yeah, it's been a fun year for AW overall and like I you point out that they did a lot of this without some some huge names and it just makes you wonder like could they have pushed it even a little bit higher of on a grade if it folks like MJF and Chris Jericho were around a tad bit more. So feel free to chime in on what you would give as a grade to WWE and AW in 2025.

40:13 What's it out to you as you recap the world of professional wrestling in 2025 as well? You could leave a comment over at our Patreon page patreon.com/srtupodcast right underneath this show where you can download it and listen it on our Patreon page. Dr. Trey with that said this is like one of if not the number one thing that you hate that we do each year where we open up the vault. I always think of you saying that you think you sound like a Southern or Kermit the Frog. So we're going to open the vault now. We're going to listen back to our bold predictions and WrestleMania 41 car predictions from the first show of the year that aired back on January 2nd, 2025. And a little bit of a pull back to curtain here folks. This show typically isn't recorded on January 2nd, 2025. So it's probably really a year ago.

41:02 We do these shows, spoiler alert, we pre-record a lot of stuff in December so that we could enjoy the holiday with our family and get a little bit of a break from the show since we doing on a weekly basis. So we really really push these things out so possibly that this was a year ago. So with that said, let's open up the vault of the Sto Realta show and listen back to our bold predictions and WrestleMania 41 car predictions from the first show of the year back on January 2nd of 2025. Now Dr. Trey is the time to get to our five bold predictions for 2025 and our WrestleMania 41 car predictions.

41:43 I will go through my bold predictions first and then I will send it over to you and then we will go to your WrestleMania 41 car predictions and then we'll go to my WrestleMania 41 car predictions. So do you want to go back and forth on this with our bold predictions? I feel like the last couple of years we went one through five. Yeah, I missed the back and forth because I always felt like I had to one up whatever years was in vice versa. So let's do the back and forth because I missed it. Plus it gives me a chance to deepen my voice so I sound less like a mumpet. Okay, fair enough, fair enough. My first bold prediction and I think Dr. Trey, you're going to like this one a lot. Josh Alexander signs with WWE, reforms the North and NXT with Ethan Page and wins the NXT tight team championship.

42:30 So literally I'll send you a picture of this. That my number my number one first bold prediction is very close to yours. It's very close. I love that one by the way. I love it. I honestly though like a side bold prediction. I kind of want to see Ethan Page the main roster and team with the Miz. I don't know what I kind of dig that. But my number one was Josh Alexander joins NXT and actually wins the NXT championship. So I think long time list of no I mean, who's Josh Alexander fan? Love the guy. It great great great great performer. Kind of a throwback in a lot of ways. But yeah, like the fact that you had that on your list and I had that as my number one thing on my list is pretty awesome and potentially great for a guy like Josh Alexander.

43:21 All right, my second bold prediction is Jordan Grace signs with WWE and wins the NXT women's championship. Very nice. I like that one. Jordan Grace, like I had a couple weeks ago, honorable mention for female wrestler of the year thought she had a great year. She's definitely a triple H kind of gal. So I like that. I'll go. Let's see. You were talking about winning championships. I got Kenny Omega returns from injury and wins the AW world championship is one of my bold predictions. Not really that bold. But I think when Kenny comes back, they're shooting him right to the top of the card. I have a similar one. Say tune my third bold prediction is John Cena breaks Rick Flair's record and becomes a 17 time world champion by defeating CM Punk at Summer slam.

44:08 I really, really like that when I had something similar like on my long list, but that one I kind of dropped off because I heard people say that I think I think was seen of that said that he didn't have any plans of breaking Flair's record, but I would love to see that happen. My number three, I have Logan Paul winning money in the bank and then cashing in and winning the world championship. Wow, wow. Could you imagine I'm sure nobody on the internet will get a set about that one. My fourth bold prediction is Kenny Omega defeats Kazuchka, Oka to become the AW world champion at all in Texas. See, I literally was like when I put that together, I was like, who do I think Kenny we have Kenny beat? And I was like, yeah, I'd love to see Kenny beat Oka. But I don't, I was like, I don't know if they put Oka in that spot.

44:58 So, but yeah, no, I do absolutely love that because that was kind of where I was going with mine. My number four, and I don't even know if this is possible at all, is that FTR returns to WWE and wins the WWE Titan Championships. Those are triple H guys. They had their best success in NXT, struggled on the main roster. If they do a Dallas throwback where their first appearance is them coming out of the showers, that would be awesome. Okay, fair, fair enough, fair enough. Hey, listen, if CM Punk had returned to WWE on short notice, I think FTR could as well. My fifth and final bold prediction is that Paul Heyman turns on Roman Reigns and aligns with the rock to begin the build towards their match at WrestleMania 42.

45:48 I love that one and in love is because as a wrestling manager myself, it is really hard to be a baby face manager. It's way easier to get over as a heel. It's also a great way that if that breaks off and rock can't be there all the time to lead up to WrestleMania, Heyman could be the intermediary to keep the feud going. So I do love that one. My fifth and final bold prediction is that Tony Khan actually listens to the fans. He gives a booking control of AW to the returning Brian Danielson. Interesting, that would be very, very intriguing and interesting. So there you go. There are our five bold predictions.

46:29 And now it's time to get our WrestleMania 41 card predictions. Dr. Trey, do you want me to start? Do you want to start where you go through your card for WrestleMania 41? Try to figure out how we want to do this. Maybe we can go like, hey, I have this guy wrestling this guy. Do you have him on your card? Who do you have him facing? I think we just typically go through our card, no. It's just trying to think of weight because we kind of run through it really quickly. I was just trying to think of way to kind of make it a little bit more. Do you want to go, I have 16 matches on my card. How many do you have? 19, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16. I ended up with 19. 19 matches. Okay. Why don't we go, we'll go back and why don't we just go back and forth here?

47:12 And then you'll get the final three obviously because mathematically it doesn't align. Does that work? What I'll do is when you name a match, I'll piggyback off of it. And if it's the same thing, I'll say, yeah, I have the same one. If it's still for it. All right, so I'll go through my WrestleMania 41 card and then you'll say whether or not you have that match or not. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I have Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against the Rock who I have down as the Men's Royal Rumble winner. Okay, so I have Cody Rhodes defending the World title against Randy Orton. Now is he Rumble elimination chamber winner? Let's see, I'm going to go with elimination chamber winner. Okay. My next match is Gunther defending the World Heavyweight Champions against CM Punk who I have as the Men's elimination chamber winner.

47:57 See, I have Gunther defending the World title against Braun Breaker who wins the Royal Rumble. Wow. Okay. I have Nia Jax. So I think this is like working out pretty well here. Nia Jax defending the WWE Women's Championship against Tiffany Stratton who I have winning the Royal Rumble. So I actually think that there's going to be a failed money in the bank cash in. Nia and Candace Lare are like making fun of Tiffany Stratton and then she ends up winning the Royal Rumble. So I'm going to go Nia Jax defending against Tiffany Stratton who wins the Rumble. I have Nia Jax defending the Women's World title against the returning Charlotte Flair who wins the Royal Rumble. See, I was thinking of that one, but there's like this really good momentum for Charlotte Flair right now or excuse me, Tiffany Stratton right now.

48:44 I think I can see Tiffany caching in on Charlotte. So actually I have Charlotte here my next match. So I have Rio Ripley defending the Women's World Championship against Charlotte Flair who I have winning the Women's elimination chamber match. See, I have Rio Ripley defending the Women's title against Becky Lynch who wins the elimination chamber. I have Roman Reigns taking on Drew McIntyre. I feel like Drew mentioning like one down, three to go. I think Drew is on a warpath to go after the bloodline. DOG bloodline. I may have the tweak mic because I actually have Roman and Rauke WrestleMania 41. I have Kevin Owens versus Randy Orton in a no holds bar match. I have Kevin Owens versus Sammy Zane.

49:26 Interesting. Hey, all else fails. Go to that one. I have John Cena taking on Seth Freakin Rollins. This was a tough one to call. See, I have John Cena versus Solo Succo avenging his Summerslam loss. I have Bianca Belair versus Naomi. I think Naomi is the one who took out Jade Cargo. See, this is where I have Bianca going up against Jade Cargo. Becky Lynch versus Liv Morgan. So I have Liv versus Bailey. Damian Priest and Bad Bunny versus Finn Baller and Dominic Mysterio. Interesting. So I will go with my, the same like judgment day pick, which was judgment day versus the Y at six.

50:11 So I have Finn, Dom and JD against the Y at six. I have Braun Breaker defending the Intercontinental Championship against Logan Paul. So here's my crazy Logan Paul pick. I have Logan Paul versus Conor McGregor. Really, really. I mean, Conor McGregor just recently announced he could be taking on Jake Paul in a boxing match. So why not if with that tie into UFC, like is once again, he's not in UFC, but he's still a Philly UFC. Have Logan face Conor at WrestleMania leading to the Jake Paul Conor or Jake Paul Conor McGregor boxing match, which is happening after WrestleMania.

50:53 So for full disclosure, I had John Cena versus Logan Paul on my first draft for WrestleMania court. And I'm like, I'm looking at I'm like, who's missing who's missing? I'm like, frickin Seth, frickin Rollins. And I thought, let's go back to that well because I think there's teasing a little bit of a hill turn for Rollins. And I think Cena versus Rollins at WrestleMania would be pretty bad bad ass. So like if you're Mark O'Reese guy, I said, how great would be if you got Seth, Seth Drew and Kevin Hall working together. And I am like just the last couple weeks of my going, yeah, I'm starting to see the C's getting planted for that. Yeah, it's very well possible to a lot of conspiracy theorists. I have Shinsha Nakamura, Defender of the United States Championship against AJ Styles.

51:35 I like that one because AJ is the one person I don't have on the show. You don't know with them though. We don't know the severity of his injury. So I have Shinsha Nakamura, Defender of the US title against Ray Mysterio. I don't have Ray Mysterio on here. I don't, of course, of course I don't. And he is always someone that you need on the WrestleMania card. Transfer portal, all that stuff. So that's where I got that from. I have the Usos and Sami Zayn versus the bloodline of Solicico Tomatung and Jacob Fatu in a Las Vegas Street fight. Who I like that one. I just have the Usos versus the former girls of Destiny Tomatung and Tomatung. I have DIY versus the Motorcyle Machine Guns versus the Street Profits in a ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

52:20 So I have the same thing just adding Waller and Grayson for the WWE Tag Team Championship. So Fatal Fourway. Fatal Fourway, yes. I have Natalia Defending the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship against EO Sky. I think Natalia wins the Intercontinental Championship at the Roger Center at Elimination Chamber in Toronto. So that's why I have her as the Intercontinental champ. So, Fault of Sculls you're, I don't have either of the new Women's Mid-Card titles on the show at all. So I will jump over, I have Damage Control versus Lash Legend, Jacora Jackson versus Alwafire and Ila Dawn for the Women's Tag Team Titles.

53:00 And then my last match, I have Chelsea Green defending the WWE Women's United States Championship against Bayley. See, I like that one. That's really good again and I think Bayley's in, you gotta find something for Bayley to do. That was my issue on this show, was trying to find something for Bayley to do. I also have, so I have Drew McIntyre facing Damian Priest. That's an interesting one, I'd like that one. And then I have Seth Rollins versus CM Punk. For me, that's gonna be the conclusion of their rivalry. I think we'll get one, we'll get the January show at Netflix. I think we'll get one more at Rumble and then the WrestleMania match will be the end of their feud.

53:43 I'm trying to see if there's, oh yeah. And then I also have the new day against the war Raiders for the Raw Tag Team Titles. I forgot them too, I wonder if they like Big E. I just said this feeling like Big E is making an in-ring return. So I feel like that, I definitely miss that and I miss Rey Mysterio but it's like they did, I think they did seven matches each night last year. So I was like, I don't think they're gonna do anything bigger than that again. Yeah, now I was trying because I was also like, do we count the SmackDown show before, 'cause somebody should match his pro probably end up on SmackDown that Friday night show leading into WrestleMania? Like, I don't know. >> Absolutely, yeah. >> No, they're, if we're still doing the battle royals, 'cause somebody's matches may end up being people who are in the battle royale.

54:27 Like I don't have, I don't have Final Testament on here at all. And you and I, a couple of weeks ago, just mentioned how Karing Cross maybe one of the most underrated performers in WWE. And I don't have Final Testament on my car anywhere. 'Cause I couldn't find anything for you. I had Trick Williams, originally on the show. Carmelo Hayes, Andrade, like there's a bunch of people we just don't have spots. >> LA Knight. >> LA Knight that will probably end up in a battle royale somewhere. >> Yeah, it's a tough thing. I do not envy Triple H and the WWE Creative Team trying to figure this out. But I think they probably have a good idea on where the card is going. So Dr. Redd 19 matches, I had 16. Let's recap everything just one more time so everybody can follow along. So I'm going to go one through five with my bold predictions.

55:10 Then you go one through five, Dr. Trey. And then we'll each go through our matches on the WrestleMania 41 card. So my bold predictions. Number one, Josh Alexander signs with WWE. Reforms the North and NXT with Ethan Page and wins the NXT tag team championship. Jordan Grace signs with WWE and wins the NXT Women's Championship. John Cena breaks Rick Flair's record and becomes a 17 time world champion by defeating CM Punk at Summer Slam. Kenny Omega defeats Kacicco, Kata, they become the AW world champion, All in Texas. And Paul Hayman turns on Roman Reigns and aligns with the rock to begin the bill towards their match at WrestleMania 42. Dr. Trey, what are your five bold predictions again?

55:51 >> So number one, I have Josh Alexander joins NXT and wins the NXT Championship. I have Kenny Omega returns to win the AEW World Championship. I have Logan Paul wins Money in the Bank and then cashes in to win the WWE World Championship. FTR returns a WWE to win the tag team titles. And finally number five was Tony Khan gives up book and control over to the returning Brian Danielson. And now our WrestleMania 41 card predictions. I will go through my card and then Dr. Trey will go through his. I have Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against the rock who I have winning the Men's Royal Rumble.

56:31 Gunther defending the World-of-A-Way Championship against the Men's Elimination Chamber winner, CM Punk. Nia Jax defending the WWE Women's Championship against the Women's Royal Rumble winner, Tiffany Stratton. Rear Ripley defending the Women's Royal Championship against Women's Elimination Chamber winner, Charlotte Flair. Roman Reigns versus Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens versus Randy Orin and A No Holds Bard match, John Cena versus Seth Freakin Rollins, Bianca Belair versus Naomi, Becky Lynch versus Liv Morgan, Damian Priest and Bad Bunny versus Finn Balor and Dominic Mysterio. Braun Breaker versus Logan Paul for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Shinsuke Nakamura defense the WWE United States Championship against AJ Styles.

57:12 The Usos and Sami Zayn take on Tulsico Tomatong and Jacob Vatu, the new bloodline and a Las Vegas Street fight. DIY defense the WWE Tag Team Championship and a ladder match against the Motor City Machine Guns and the Street Profits. Natalia defends the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship against EO Sky and Chelsea Green defends the WWE Women's Championship against Bayley. So once again, I had 16 matches, now Dr. Shreid go through your card, my friend. So I have Cody Rose defending the World title against Randy Orin and the Limitian Chamber winner. I have Gunther defending the World title against Braun Breaker who wins the Royal Rumble. I have John Cena versus Solo Sikoa, the Usos against Tomatonga and Tonga Loa, Sami Zayn versus Kevin Owens, the Rock versus Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre versus Damian Priest, Seth Freakin Rollins against CM Flair.

58:09 Shinsuke Nakamura versus Ray Mysterio for the US title. I have Grayson Waller Austin Theory versus DIY versus Motor City Machine Guns versus the Street Profits and a ladder match for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. The new day versus the War Raiders for the Raw Tag Team Titles, Judgement Day of Finn Balor, Dominic Mysterio and JD McDonough versus the Wyatt 6. Oh, that's why I had on here. So I had the Rock versus Roman Reigns on my list twice. So I actually have 18. That's what it was. Live more him versus Bayley, Nia Jax versus Charlotte Flair for the Women's, SmackDown Women's World title, with Charlotte winning the Rumble.

58:51 Becky Lynch versus Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women's title with Becky Wemme and Limitian Chamber. Damage control against Lash Legend, Jaccord Jackson and Albufair Aladon for the Women's Tag Team Titles. Bianca Belair versus Jade Cargo and Logan Paul versus Conor McGregor. So there you go. There are our bold predictions and WrestleMania 41 car predictions for 2025. We will reopen this in December 18th for our recap edition of 2025 in the World of Professional Wrestling. So be on the lookout for that when we recap it back on December 18th 2025. All right. We are back now here on December 18th. We have 25. We are back in the future for everything that we listened to in the past from our bold predictions and WrestleMania 41 car predictions from the first show.

59:43 Of the year back on January 2nd this past year. Dr. Trey, you know the scoring system here. We get half points, no points, full points. So let's recap the bold predictions and I'll give you my scoring chart and see as we go through each one if you agree with the score that I give for the both of us. And then we'll reveal the total score. So my bold predictions, Josh Alexander signs with WWE reforms the North and NXT with Ethan Page. And when's the NXT Tag Team Championship? I don't think there's a debate here. No points given because that's not happened as he is now a star in AW. Jordan Gray signs with WWE and when's the NXT Women's Championship? I gave myself a half a point, Dr. Trey.

1:00:24 Yeah, that sounds right. John Cena breaks Rick Flair's record and becomes a 17 time-round champion by defeating CM Punk at SummerSlam. I gave a half a point. A Greer disagree. I'd almost give you three quarters of a point because I'll give you the 17. I think you tried to stretch it out to make it really bald and that's where you got caught in the end. But at least a half a point on that one. Kenny Omega defeats Kazuchko Kata to become the A-Dubber World Champion all in Texas. They did face each other. Kenny Omega lost the Kazuchko Kata. It was not for the A-Dubber World Championship. I still gave myself no points, Dr. Trey. Yeah, I mean, they wrestled, but that's about it. Paul Heyman turns on Roman Reigns and aligns with the Rock to begin the build towards their match at WrestleMania 42. I gave myself a half a point.

1:01:12 Okay, I'll give you a half point of that. So I got one and a half points. Now we're going to get to Dr. Trey's bull predictions and spoiler, Dr. Trey, I gave you no points on everything. So Josh Alexander joins NXT and wins the NXT Championship. Didn't happen. Logan Paul wins money in the bank and cashes into won the World title. Didn't happen. Kenny Omega returns and wins the A-Dubber World Championship. Didn't happen. Tony Khan gives a bookie control of AW to Brian Danielson. Didn't happen. FCR returns to WWE who wins the tag team. Championship didn't happen. Do you disagree with anything of my scoring tactics? No, it's either Goal Bold or Go Home and I win home. All right, so right now Dr. Trey is at zero. I am at one and a half points. Let's get through Dr. Trey's WrestleMania 41 card predictions. Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton, men's elimination chamber winner for the unspeakable WWE Championship. No points.

1:02:03 Gunther versus Braun Breaker who was the men's Royal Rumble winner for the Royal Way Championship. No points. Nye Jacks defending the WWE Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair who won the Women's Royal Rumble. I gave no points, even though Charlotte did win the Women's Royal Rumble. Is there any discrepancy there? Yeah. Yeah. Sheds again. Aka Moore defending the United States Championship gets Ray Mysterio didn't happen. DIY versus the Motor City Machine Guns versus the Street Profits versus 8 Town Down Under for the WWE Tag Team Championship did not happen. The war Raiders defend the World Tag Team Championship gets the new day that did happen. I gave a point. The Rock versus Roman Reigns did not happen. No points. Drew McIntyre versus Damian Priest. It did happen. One point. Seth Freakin' Rollins versus CM Punk. No points.

1:02:45 John Cena versus Solosakowa. No points. Usas versus Tamatanga and Tonga Loia. No points. Sami Zain versus Kevin Owens. No points. Judgment Day versus the wide six. No points. Live more versus Bailey. No points. Becky Lynch versus Re Ripley. No points. Bianca Bel Air versus Jade Cargo. No points. Logan Paul versus Conor McGregor. No points. Damian control versus Lash Legend. Jacara Jackson versus Albufair and Nye La Dawn for the WWE Women's Highteep Championship did not happen. No points. No points. I gave you two points. Any discrepancies from your end, Dr. Trey. No, unless you want to give me a half point because I got Punk Rollins in a match. I just didn't have Roman in there. That's the only thing. Outside of that, I basically need you to miss everything on your prediction card here because I'm up two to one and a half.

1:03:32 Well, Dr. Trey, I think you're in luck. So Dr. Trey is right now up two points versus one and a half. My WrestleMania 41 car predictions. Spoiler alert folks. I gave myself no points. Cody Rhodes versus the rock who I had winning the men's Royal Rumble for the end of the speed of the WWE Championship did not happen. Gone through defending the world of the way she gets the men's elimination chamber winner. C. Ampunk did not happen. Nye Jax defending the WWE Women's Championship against Tiffany Stratton who I had winning the women's Royal Rumble did not happen. Real Ripley defending the women's Royal Championship gets the women's elimination chamber winner Charlotte Flair did not happen. Roman Reigns versus Drew McAirt didn't happen. Kevin Owens versus Randy Orton in the whole bar match. It was supposed to happen. Didn't happen.

1:04:12 John Cena versus Seth Freakin Rollins did not happen Bianca Vella versus Naomi did not happen Becky Lynch versus League Liv Morgan didn't happen. Damian Priest and bad bunny versus Finn Balor and Dominic Mysterio did not happen. Braun break versus Logan Paul for the WWE Intercontinental Championship didn't happen. Shinsuke versus AJ Styles for the United States Championship did not happen. The Usos and Sammy Zane versus the Bloodline. So Succo, Tamatung and Jacob Fatu in a Las Vegas Street fight didn't happen. D.I. Y versus the Motor City Machine Guns versus Street Profits in a ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Well, semi-quas I happened on SmackDown didn't happen in WrestleMania and other people involved the Thai versus the O Sky with the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship did not happen. Chelsea Green versus Bailey for the WWE Women's United States Championship did not happen.

1:04:57 Dr. Tre, your thoughts on my WrestleMania 41 card. >> I think this may have been the worst year we have ever done with predicting WrestleMania before it happens. And the crazy thing is a lot of this is based on the storylines that were going on in December and we're like, yeah, this might make it all the way to April. No, did not make it to April. So we're like two for 32 for 35. Like I think we get demoted to triple A for that one and not the company. I'm at the baseball league. >> But what sucks for me in my WrestleMania 41 card prediction. So Rainy Orr versus Kevin Owens, I had didn't happen because of Kevin Owens unfortunate neck injury. And then D.I. Y. Motor City Machine Guns Street Profits.

1:05:43 I had any ladder match for the championship and ended up being at TLC and ended up happening on SmackDown. So I had two matches that wipe away nonetheless complete shut out. Dr. Tre, you had two points on the bull predictions on WrestleMania 41 card predictions. I had one and a half congratulations on winning our Crystal Ball battle that we do each year on the first show of the year. So I give a John Cena salute to you, my friend. Are we going to start calling it the battle for the Crystal Balls? I mean, I mean something like that. I don't know. I feel like we're our truth now. >> Yeah, this was kind of my year, not going to lie. I win the prediction contest. I win this one, which just means either I have to quit the show right now or just completely tank next year.

1:06:34 Because there's never going to be a high better than this one for me when it comes to predicting wrestling as a whole. >> Yeah, stay tuned. Year from now will be sitting here, Dr. Tre is like, oh, and 59 in his matches for PLA. >> Yeah. >> It'll be the Brian Myers, the Kurt Hawkins of Predictions. So there you go. As we listen back to our bull predictions, the WrestleMania 41 card predictions from the first show of the year. A friendly reminder, next week's edition of the show, episode number 828, Christmas. It is our 2025 SRT award show special. We will try to get that out a little bit early for you guys so you could enjoy it maybe a day or two before Christmas. And then in two weeks on New Year's Day, it'll be our 2026 wrestling preview special on January the first episode, number 829, as we are in the midst of our holiday schedule programming.

1:07:22 With that said, let's get a couple plugs and sponsor the way you could support us at patreon.com/srtupodcast. You get the show ad free. Go there, support us. That's the way we know how big our community is. We're asking everybody who listens to this show. Please, please, please, go there, sign up, let us know. So that way we can see all of our great listeners that tune in each and every week on the Stillworld Show. You could also download the show every Thursday or Friday at realguymedia.com, Russell Chatnet on X and Stillworld Show feed on Apple. You can also spot off our review, download this podcast, give us a rate, review and subscribe on each one of those platforms. So let's keep keep climbing the charts on those podcasts, platforms. You can follow us to individual on X for myself at SRTU Jeff and for Dr. Frankland, the Dr. Trey. And of course, don't forget to follow us on X at SRTU podcast.

1:08:05 With that being said, what is going on in the wonderful world of Dr. Frankland this week? Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on X at the Dr. Trey. I'm going to be on Instagram and Facebook. Just search out Dr. Trey Frankland. When you're on Facebook, be sure to check out Rockets City Championship Wrestling as we just had our nine year anniversary show two weeks ago. We are one show away from the Rockets City Rumble, which is usually our biggest show of the year. So be sure to check them out on Facebook. Check out Spartan Championship Wrestling also. Another one that shows you how I work with here in Alabama. You can also probably get out there and support your own local independent wrestling shows.

1:08:46 So you can go out there and see the, or the next John Cena. I remember seeing pictures of John Cena in UPW in California back in the late 90s early 2000s and them hyping them up. That's where you go find those folks is you go find them out in your local independent wrestling shows. Could not agree more support other great things that support SRTU and. Funny enough, I think I talked about recently where I used to read the results from like Heartland Wrestling Association and OVW and UPW. And I remember seeing the prototype John Cena, OVW and and UPW. And I remember seeing some OJ. It was a really fun time where you actually like read results of the independence because there was no such thing as YouTube and a lot of tape trading that was going on at that time as well.

1:09:30 So thank you for tuning in. Thank you for downloading. Once again, please if you haven't done so already patreon.com/srtupodcast sign up. Become free. Remember get the show ad free. Get the show for free immediately once it's available and support SRTU along the way. Enjoy the weekend. Enjoy the rest of your week. Until next week for our last show of the year when it's our 2025 SRTU award show special for Dr. Trey Franklin. I am Jeff Pack. This has been this to release show.