Did the NBA just hurt or help AEW? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #754 – 7/25/24

0:00 It's still be. Welcome everybody. Welcome to this week's edition It's to a Real Show, Episode number seven hundred and fifty four for July twenty fifth, twenty twenty four. Welcome to this week's edition of s R Team You. I am one after the show, I am Jeff Peck joined every single week, my show was the one only Doctor Troy Franklin, Doctor Trey. I never thought the NBA would affect professional wrestling.

0:40 My friend, I mean, you had Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O'Neill. I am to this day, I am still amazed that there was no Muggsy bogus crossover into the world of professional wrestling. But the NBA has had a slight impact on professional wrestling in the so why would now be any different. Yeah, there's definitely been a lot of impact in ring wise. Out of the ring wise is a whole nother ballgame, and that takes us to one of our first stories and topics that we'll cover here on this week's dition thepodcast Dot Trey. That being, there's been a lot of buzz and talk centered around aw's contract renewal negotiations with Warner Brothers Discovery aka TBS, TN T True TV if you're really into all that other stuff, and I think obviously Discovery Channel as well. Earlier this week, the reports were out there that they were nearing a deal, a deal would be announced soon. Stuff started popping up on HBO Max, I believe outside of the United States, which had people excited, and then a little bit of a bombshell Wednesday Night. Warner Brothers Discovery has always been bidding on TNT NBA on TNT, and they were going to match the that the NBA was currently offering. That being I think it was like a seventy six billion dollar deal and they had the right to match it. So they matched the deal, and I'm thinking, all right, great

2:11 NBA on TNT is staying inside the NBA, Great NBA show for those who enjoy basketball is staying and we'll see how this affects all lead wrestling. It was basically kind of quasi potentially hanging up the announcement of a deal, and then the NBA announces that Warner Brothers Discovery did not fully match everything that Amazon was offering in their deal for the NBA, and hence they were going to award the contract for NBA to NBA on NBC's return, ESPN, Disney and Amazon Prime Video, leaving Warner Brothers Discovery without the NBA, which now puts into a little bit of an interesting tailspin. How does the NBA affect all lead wrestling?

2:56 How does it affect professional wrestling? There are two schools a thought here. One school of thought is this is just going to lead into you know, TNT. Warner Brothers Discovery cannot lose all elite wrestling, therefore they will resign them, keep them on their network and have regular original programming. The second school of thought here is the NBA leaving Warner Brothers Discovery could lead to a whole new revamp of focus and programming on Warner Brothers Discovery. A llah what happened in two thousand and one when they wanted to get out of original programming and just focus I believe at that time on dramas, and that led to WCW being sold to w for pennies on the dollar. So we're kind of in this wait and see process.

3:39 Sean ross Sapp reported from Fightful Select that Tony Kahan and David Zaslow Zazlov, who is the CEO of Warner Bu's Discovery are set to meet with one another during the Olympics over in Paris, France. So shout out Tony kanf for going to Paris, France. And that has always been on the calendar. Big weight in SEAE process here, Doctor Trey and you know, we really don't know where things are going right now, but this NBA deal could either positively or negatively affect the future potentially of all lead wrestling on Warner brother Discovery channels. Yeah, and then you saw war Bros. Come out and say that they feel like they did match the offer. So this whole thing with Amazon the NBA is not quite over because that typically means there's gonna be some kind of litigation. It's some kind of lawsuit being filed and everything else. So yeah, it's it's a weird situation for Warner Brothers Discovery because you know, it's it's been bought and sold in transitioned so many times over the last decade, not even going back to the WCW days, just you know, in the last ten years, it's changed ownership pains like three times. So they're constantly trying to revamp and find you know, their their little wheelhouse, their little market niche that they can find a loyal subscriber base, and they keep tweaking things.

5:01 And so that's you know, why we're at where we're now, where it's like. You're not going to get a clear signal on which direction they're going to go. On one hand, you can look at and go, hey, this is really a sweet for AW, because if they don't get the agreement, Look, they just bid seventy six billion. Dollars on this, and apparently one of us, Discovery. Has many six billion dollars, and they can spend on AW or spend on other things and include AW that group. But if they do go the route of, look, nothing we have on this network right now is really generating interest. And if we lose the NBA, you know, should we just go the route of like the Roku channel and just play old movies and you know, stream Ghost Brothers non stop for people to watch, you know, which is the right direction to go.

5:47 So it does kind of put everything up in the air. But I think, I mean, if you're Tony Conn, you can look at it and say, hey, you know, for for what we do, we have a strong audience base that draws you know, certain demographics, drust, certain viewership, and you can count on this and rely on this and bank on this and build around it and become your own little niche product. And you know it, could it be? Could they do like kind of a Spike TV did years and years ago and kind of make it into a Channel four guys, or a Channel four you know the combat sports market as well. Yeah, it's a really interesting time right now because I think I would typically think that there's a good chance that all lead wrestling would stay now, but I don't think it's as cut and dry. Doctor Trey brought up a very good point that Warner Brothers Discovery is going to the courts in regards to challenge all this and say that they did match the offer. So that may be drawn out for some period of time, and who knows, maybe the end up NBA ends up back on TNT after the twenty twenty five season. They do have a sliver of this pie that they were willing to invest in the NBA, and I think I think their deal, I want to say, was to match like the like eleven billion, maybe eleven billion, of that seventy six billion dollar pie that was being combined there with Disney and NBA on NBC as well, So they have this money to play around with, and is that money that they

7:19 want to invest in All Elite Wrestling. The unfortunate thing that I'll bring up here about All Eite Wrestling and it has no way whatsoever reflective of their programming. I would say in the last four to five weeks is their attendance has been low in the arenas and their viewership has been down from the year previously, in years previous to that's it's a drop that is concerning because most of the time in professional wrestling, unless you're WWE, when there's a drop in viewership like that, it is hard for a company to recover. And in the last twenty five years, you can immediately point to TNA Wrestling. There was a period of time TENA Wrestling was, how not as hot as ever All EAT Wrestling was, and they dropped and they're kind of a niche wrestling product now while at one time they were mainstream, and I would say All EAT Wrestling is mainstream at this point. Also, so if you're a wrestling fan, if you are enjoying what is going on in WE and you don't like All EIT Wrestling. If you're a wrestling fan who likes All EAT Wrestling and doesn't like WE. If you're a wrestling fan that loves WE and All Lead Wrestling, no matter where you sit, you need to be rooting for this television deal for All Eat Wrestling to happen. Because for AW to be on a network like Warner Brothers Discovery Channels is a good thing for professional wrestling as a whole because when AW launched, they push WE to be better and now that WWE has been better, I

8:53 feel like, which is something we'll get on later on in the show. Here they are pushing AEW to be better creative and that is making for a really fun period of time profession and wrestling for the wrestling fan. So no matter where you sat, like, dislike in the middle on AW, you need to be cheering this on because AW having a television deal, whether you watch or not, is good for the industry as a whole. And I can't stress that enough. Doctor Try Yeah, I mean, competition breeds results. If there was no coke, there'd be no PEPSI. They wouldn't be pushing each other, you know, in years past, burking push McDonald's to be better. It's always been those things, you know, if you're a sports fan.

9:33 The Red Sox pushed the Geeds to be better, the Cardinals pushed the Cups to be better. You know, things like that. Those things really happen, and we saw, I mean, you and I talked a couple weeks ago off air about, you know, maybe one day doing a show on on WWE in the early two thousands, when you and I sat here were like, man, this show is so awful. I don't even know we should continue to podcast because it was just so bad. Because there's no. Competition, they literally could just throw anything out there, and because there was such a loyal fan base, they knew they had so many people that was gonna eat it up regardless, and they'd be fine. When AW came along, we saw WW get better and change how they were doing things and adapt things that AW was doing differently and bring it into their fold. I mean a few years ago, we never saw guys walking through Gorilla through the curtain.

10:20 And that was something you saw on AW. We saw the camera angles change, we see the production things change. Competition brings results, and that's why if you're a wrestling fan, you really want you know a number two. We see it in politics. You know, if there was. Only one political branch, people would be pissed off. We have two and everybody's pissed off. If we had a third one to be even more chaos. But that chaos usually brings in results because somebody who wants to get at the top of that mountain. Yeah, it's a good thing for the industry as a whole. I mean, I lived in the world of professional wrestling when there was ECWWWWE and that was great for professional wrestling. When ECW and WW went away for twenty plus year, seventeen years, eighteen years, and WA was the lone survivor on mainstream television, you had TNA make a run at it.

11:07 You had RoHS that was very niche. TNA, obviously, as I punted out, dropped off later on, and that made for bad programming. WWW did not have to change. WA did not feel challenged. They felt like whatever they did for their fans, the fans had no choice but to like it or leave it, and a lot of fans left, and of course a lot of fans like Doctor Trey and I stayed. So if you want professional wrestling to be successful, if you want to have fun on a mon Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday night, then you need this to happen. And I can't stress that enough. Like I said previously, predictions on this all Doctor Trey. I ultimately think this gets done. I think all ELA Wrestling remains on Warner Brothers Discovery Networks. I don't think the HBO Max move took place just randomly. I think there is some smoke to that at fire. However, I would be remiss if I didn't say that I am concerned about the NBA deal not going through because it could theoretically change strategies in an instance. Obviously HBO Max having it on you know, aw programming on that platform outside the US is not a slam dunk, but it is a good sign all pun intended. I would say ninety percent of me is sure that the deal gets done, and I would say ten percent of me thinks it doesn't.

12:29 So it's not one hundred, it's not notin in a nine point nine. It's it's ninety percent in my mind gets done. But there is that inkling that has me concerned, and that is that that ten percent right now. Yeah, I'm with you, I feel like it's a ninety percent done deal as well. I mean that it does feel like AW is like this is gonna be a really bad analogy. Given this is, okay, a very non PC analogy. AW kind is like the fat girl that Warbus knows they can hook up with at any point they want to, but they're still looking at all these other things. Whether you know, you go back a few months ago there was the flirtations with WWE. You know, now you got the whole NBA thing. They just feel like AAW is always there because where else is AAW going to go and get this kind of exposure that they get from Warner Brother's Discovery. So it kind of feels like it's their fallback, it's their safe pick to go in and get the deal done. But they're gonna, you know, play the field and sow their wild oats dancing around to kind of figure out what works best.

13:27 For the company as all. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, that's what they have to do best. I think the little part of this that has me interesting interested on the entire process is the exclusive window Warner Brothers Discovery has on all of the wrestling negotiations. If that runs out and AW is free to talk to other companies. Will Tony Kahan's kind to still stay low loyal to Warner Brothers Discovery or will they shop it around to other networks. I think that is the window to keep an eye on. And I think that ends like mid August, maybe early September. So I think it's coming soon, Doctor Trey, And that to me is a very intriguing part of this entire negotiation process.

14:09 Obviously, yeah, because what if Hulu decides they want to jump in and counterprogram what Netflix is doing and that window lapses all of a sudden, Hulu jumps in with a really big offer that then Warner person ends up fighting Hulu on two different fronts. When it comes to the NBA and AW, I mean there's. There are there. AW will have options to go elsewhere, but we'll end up being like TNA, where you know, they go from Spike to you know, some random channel that not everybody has. I think with the streaming services that are out there, if if AW has a game plan for how to stream their content on certain platforms, they are an attractive entity to somebody else. I just it just kind of wonders, like, you know.

14:50 How are these other streaming platforms going to one, a counter program ww going to Netflix. All right, keeping with all of wrestling, then television negotiations will be something we'll be keep an eye on here all summer long, and who knows, it could be something that ends next week based on some of the recent reports as well. One thing is for certain in my mind, Doctor Trey, And this is a longstanding debate in the history of SRTU when it comes to AW, and that being what is All the Wrestling's version of WrestleMania? And I feel like, as if you were what I'm noticing from watching at home, I think it's All in Wembley now. I think All In has become their WrestleMania. This is the most hyped, talked about, desirable show that the wrestlers want to be on in their promos and their matches and their creative thinking that we've seen. And I think, at least for me, Doctor Trey, unless you feel otherwise, I think the answer has been ratified. I think All in Wembley or wherever it ends up in the future, that is aw's WrestleMania. Do you agree or disagree with that?

15:57 Based on the things that you've seen on programming lately. I will say, right now, I feel like it's their WrestleMania, but as we've seen in five years, it does kind of shift with the winds at times. I mean, you typically have the calendars more available than I do. How far back do they push all out from all In? Because last year is a week Like you can't do back to back things and have them one. B year featured. You know, your your WrestleMania and then almost counter program your own WrestleMania week later. I think this year they pushed it out two or three weeks. It's two weeks now two weeks. I still think like that's too close, Like it just doesn't give you enough time to digest what you just saw.

16:40 But I do feel like based on the promotion and the match card and what we're hearing, all In is their WrestleMania. But in a couple of years, if it's not at Wembley Stadium, or it's not drawing seventy thousand people, do they shift it back to double or nothing or it just it doesn't I think they're still trying to figure it out out. But we know that cons have a long standing history with the city of London. We know how well all In did last year. I just you know, as a consumer of product, you're almost to stick another event so close to it, you're almost counter programming your own, you know. Meal ticket.

17:20 So to me, I think you need to separate all In and all Out and then that draws that definite line in the sand for you. Well, I think there's definitely two schools of thought here. I think one, I think we're in agreement that all In is feeling like Aw's WrestleMania. The second part that you're bringing up that is so true is one week out, two weeks out after a pay per view in general is not very good business. And I remember w W we did that with SummerSlam during the pandemic era with I think it was like fast Lane or something like that happened right after SummerSlam, and that was actually that start, the match that started Roman Range is run as World Champion Universal Champion from that point forward. Is when he like showed up in the Triple Threat, defeated Strowman and Bray Wyatt won the title and then held it for nearly four years. That was like a week later, and I want to say a couple of years ago and this may be the pandemic era as well, but I'm pretty sure they ran a WrestleMania backlash like two weeks or three weeks after WrestleMania, and I don't like that at all. I always feel like Doctor Trey that a pay per view should happen in between a paper view should happen in between one another at a minimum four weeks.

18:31 Give me four weeks of programming, not two weeks, not one week, not even three weeks. You gotta let it breathe some And no matter what the show is, I am not a fan of something that is airing a week or two later from a major pay per view. Yeah. And typically, also, like when you have All In or WrestleMania, you have guys who are gonna be taking time off. You have guys that are going to get injured because somebody's gonna do something crazy. It's for guys. I think it's all elite wrestling. You know somebody's gonna get so usually that's like your your stop start moment. So when you stop something to start the next angles, you want to give it some time to kind of get some depth to the storyline. And we're seeing AAEW do a much better job of this over the last two months, of actually fleshing out storylines, creating interest, creating some character depth. I just you know, when you see them back to back so quickly, it's hard to kind of stop one angle, start another, and then have a payoff match two weeks later because you don't have time to build that up. I mean, they're obviously you know, if you're WWE, you can kind of do it now because you're doing shorter you know, you're doing smaller cards, so you can kind of have a show, you know, out of pay per view here, come back with another one a few weeks later and have an entirely different show.

19:41 But aw, typically, you know, all this is. Probably gonna be fifteen matches in six hours long, so I'm pretty sure everybody's going to be on the show that wants to be on the show. Doctor Trey, keeping up here with all leid Wrestling, What did you think of Blooding Guts from last night's edition and Dynamite? I thought it was a release solid show, Like is there a little bit stuff that may be a little bit over the top, like lighting a man on fire? How many people can get handcuffed in one match? A little over the top, but really really fun. I had friends of mine in attendance. They had a great time there. I just I don't know if it's one of the better Blood and Guts matches, because there's still some ones from I think year one, other than the weird Jericho fall off the top. You know, some of the initial ones might have been able to better. But I thought it was a really really fun, entertaining blood and Guts show.

20:28 Yeah. I thought the entire show is really good. Minora Suzuki Chris Jerico was a very fun match. The MJF well ost Spring segment to kick off the show was really well done. MJF is so much better as a heel than he ever will be at a baby face by far. The Blood and Guts match itself, I would say I enjoyed eighty percent of it. For still in the percentage range that we're thrown out there on this week's This of the podcast, I enjoyed eighty percent of it. I felt like there was some repetitive things that we've seen in previous Blood and Guts matches, and I felt the was anti climatic. In all honesty, I thought that it could have been a tad better the steel chair shot to Jack Perry from Mark Briscow has got a lot of buzz since it took place, because whether it was shaved down or not, people feel that you should not be getting smacked in the head with anything, which I am in agreement with. I would also say that it I have been a big stickler on their replays that they don't do in aw So Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland were taken out during the Picture and Picture commercial break stuff. And I don't know about you, Doctor Trey, but I don't sit around to watch, especially on a DVR.

21:43 I don't sit around to watch the Picture and Picture, even if it's live. I get up, go to the bathroom, grab something to drink, eat whatever. I'm not watching Picture and Picture. How they don't come back and say and Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page just took each other out and then air that footage was beyond me. They said, EXCaliber mention it. So if you even mention, if you miss that live and walk back in and you're wondering where the hell'swerb of Strickland and Hangman Page was, you have no idea. But the finish just felt a little anti climatic. To me, I got to say they wanted Jack Perry to come off as defiant, they wanted the young Bucks to squeal a little bit, and I thought it could have been turned up a little bit more on both the execution of being rebellious from Jack Perry and turned up on the side of please don't do this to Jack Perry. We quit. So that's where I stood on the Blood and Guts match itself.

22:37 Yeah, Like the finish, to me, I didn't like it because, ay, you have a heel, you have one hundred and sixty pounds heel trying to look to find that's a baby face move. And when you see the young Bucks basically kind of throwing in the towel to save their friend, that's kind of how babyfaces lose. I quit matches. It's to me, like lighting a man on fire. Threading to light a man on fire is kind of scrap me if I'm wrong. It's frowned upon in our Society's this kind of heel thing to do. So it's like the roles got reversed in the finish. So I don't know who produced that or whose idea that was, but to me, you know, like you have Jack Perry quit because I can look defiant. But then when you light the match, Okay, I was kidding.

23:23 I was kidding. Iqu wit we quit. We quit into it that way instead of I mean, go back to the I quit match with Edge and the judgment day with the you know the best Phoenix angle. That's a well written one where the baby face still looks strong, the heels look like. You know, a holes. This one you kind of flip the script and you make the baby faces look like assholes and the heels look defiant. So I don't I don't really know what you're trying to accomplish with a finish like that. Yeah, again, eighty percent of that match was really well done. Some small things on the replay of what happened to Swerve and Hangman page why wasn't executed in the actual finish itself, which plays a major role in the match, was a tad anti climatic and maybe a touch rushed because they were on the overrun at that point on the TBS network. That's just something that I felt like, as if you were at home, that it felt anti climatic and potentially rushed, which is because why it was anti climatic, So I guess we'll never know unless something comes out in the Dirt sheets here in the coming days following the Blood and Guts match, Switching gears to WI some big news. Doctor Treys, a former WE champion, may be out of the on his way out of the company. That being one. Two time former w champion.

24:35 Bobby Lashley Lastly was most recently on WE Television working with the Street Profits in bfab Is the Pride. They were fumed with the Final Testament going into WrestleMania, Lastly was taken off of TV, reportedly for an injury. He has not been back since. Along with him, the thought is that MVP Montel Vontavius Porter his contract will be running out as well. If there is a kind of a dark cloud black eye on the Triple H regime since ta and overcreative, I would say the one thing is he has not used MVP as well as he should have. MVP has been basically not used at all unless Omas makes his one or two appearances a year, and that is the only time when we see MVP, MVP and Bobby Lashley. All pun intended were MVPs of the pandemic era of professional wrestling in the WEE running hot there with the Hurt Business running his WE champion running is the top heel on the brand. Feud with Drew McIntyre along with Drew Mack, I felt like they really carried WWE during a very dark period of the world and professional wrestling as a whole. I don't want to see Bobby Lashley leave w I think that is where he is most valued in his career, will continue its assend and overall peak. And I also don't want to see MVP leave the company as well because I think again he could be utilized better. But that's the big news out of w right now. It appears that Bobby Lashley and MVP are on their way out of the company. It's possible that they may be reforming the Hurt Business during the in another promotion, whether it be TNA, whether it be aw MLW, what have you your thoughts

26:08 as a former w champion may be on his way out of the company. Yeah. The weird thing for me when it comes to Bobby Lashley is I really only liked Bobby Lashley once in his entire career, and that was when the Almighty Gimmick started with MVP. It's the only time. I was like, this is Bobby Lashley at peak Bobby Lashley everything else. He's not the best talker in the world. He has a little bit of the Apollo Cruse smile at times it kind of comes off Tony. He's a wonderful h been being from everything I've I've heard, but really, in the what twenty years he's been around wrestling, I've only liked him one So it's not a big loss to me if they decide to let him go. The MVP thing like WWE does not value managers, so losing MVP on one hand, personally I think sucks because I think he's a great mouthpiece. The stuff he was, the work he did with Lastly and the Hert business was fantastic.

27:09 The work he did early on with Omas was fantastic. So but it is kind of a black cloud that people were clamoring for a return of the Hert business. And basically, now if MVP and Lashley are out of the company, three fourths of the Hurt business is gone. The only one left is said, and he's. Done an NXC hanging out with Ashante Viadanas, who you know, hasn't really done anything since AJ Francis and Swerve left, So there you go. See. I was really enjoying Bobby Lashley in this role with the Pride, and specifically I felt like his character was a little bit more heelish, and they were certainly trying to push the heel motive there, but the fans like Bobby Lashley in the Street Profit so much that they had to keep them baby Face like that heel run where they were like taking out THEO and laying out Ray mysterio because he's the beloved Babyface lasted like maybe a month at best, and the fans were still cheering for them. It's funny that you say that you think Bobby Lashley leaving WWE is not a big loss for them. I'm of the opposite of this. But the more I think about it, the usage of MVP, and I guess, in a way, the potential usage of Bobby Lashley.

28:23 I go back to two years ago when Triple H took over the books from after Vince had his retirement very briefly, and there were people who were excited that were Triple H people, and there are people who were not excited that were like Vince people. Do you think that MVP and Bobby Lashley were more people that fit Vince's ideology for creative than Triple H does, which is I guess true, but shocking If that is the case. I think Lashly is totally a Vince guy. I mean literally headlined to WrestleMania with lash Lee, you know, in Omaga and Vince and Trump. I mean every time Vince, everyone lashes in the company with Vince there, he got featured roles, like in a lot of ways he was going to be. At one point you met early on, he was supposed to be the African American John Cena.

29:17 Well that's how Vince had visioned him. Can I pause you there for just a second. Yeah, you're making up a really good point. And the way Lashley left WUE left a bad taste in people's mouth, like he wasn't back in the company for what like ten years, eleven years? Yeah, No, It's one of those things where like and then when he came back, it was like. Right back into that upper card. Made a Vince spot. When Vince's there, and every time, you know, there's that time when Vince left, Triple Ace took over, it kind of slid back down the card a little bit, and then when Vince came kind of came back to that brief little. Window, he was right back at the top. Of the cart. And I think there's two different visions for Lashly when it comes to a Vince kind of saw and.

30:02 What Triple A saw and Triple Ah. I think for him he looks for guys who can you talk the full more of the full package? Can you talk? Can you cut a promo? Can you have good in ring work? Lash He's in ringwork. It is much better now than it was a decade ago, but he's just never caught up. His best promo work is when he's a heel. He doesn't come off as a very good good guy, and I think Triple As just looks at him as, you know, an upper mid card guy and just doesn't value him as much as maybe Vince did. So the reports are saying that MVP's contract I think expires mid August, and I think lastly maybe end of August, and there is this opening, there's this window a W two. We made an offer to Bobby Lashley. Bobby Lashley didn't like the offer. He wanted to go out to market and see if it would there's anything comparable or it could obviously beat the offer from WEE. So with that said, and things can change in the next thirty to forty five days come September one, Doctor Trey, Where do you think think Bobby Lashley and MVP are working for in the world of professional wrestling?

31:07 I typically think Lashly will end up back in WWE. MVP's more of the toss up to me because he has ties in New Japan. If you have ties in New Japan, that gives you ties to AW. But it's just like, I think MVP might be better fit in AW because I do need more producers, more people that can kind of help streamline storelines. MVP has a relationship with Chris Jericho, although. It's been very bumpy. They've ironed things out as well. Have they ironed things out? I thought it was very bumpy. It was very bumpy. I think Jericho on his podcast came out and said, this has been maybe a year or so ago that they had a talk and kind of hashed some things out.

31:52 But to me, MVP is a better New Japan voice AD. I just don't think ww' values outside Paul Hayman, they really don't use managers very well. In WWE. I think lastly an MVP end up in TNA. I think that is a place that utilizes those skills, their skills better. I mean, MVP has been on the bench basically for two years. OMAS hasn't been used only except for like the Royal Rumble in an occasional match, which is that booking is like really bizarre and I'm not like this OMAS stand but for him to like completely disappear, it's like wow, like there's nothing for him there, just waiting out his contract. So I would like lastly an MVP to be in WE, but I think they ultimately end up in TNA because I think that is probably the place that utilizes their skills the best, and I don't think they end up in AW.

32:49 Here's my question by the time these contracts expire is here's I bet to ask you this earlier and maybe a weeks past. With all this crossover with CNA and NXT and everything else, do you feel like there's some kind of. Remember the wwec WW. Is like funneling some money in to ECW to use some of their guys. Do you feel like that might be kind of the same thing they're doing now with TNA. Because you know, it's the younger guys they're using, whether it's Joe, the Joe, Henry's, the Jordan Grace is, the rascals, people like that they're not using the Hardys, the Mooses, the nick name us those guys. I wonder if there is some kind of money filtering thing going back and forth to what this working relationship actually works out, because otherwise it's like if you're TNA, like, why aren't you using our top guys?

33:36 Why are you using the middle guys? It's just if you go to TNA, if you're lastly, are you really going to TNA or are you going to like now a WW subsidiary? I hear you. And I think in like twenty years ago, when it wasn't a publicly traded company, that we could sit there and have those conspiracy theories of like this is another situation in ECW, but being that they are publicly traded, I mean, I think those are things that they would have to show up on their on their sheets, right, I. Mean there are ways of kind of hiding things as like marketing expenses. Oh of course, there's a way to hide things in budgets. Yeah, I just feel like that maybe it would be a little bit more known. I thought, which we discussed like a month ago, I really thought w W was on the verge of purchasing TNA Wrestling.

34:25 Yeah, I mean, I still I'd love it to happen, because it still it was still one of my bull predictions that you kind of chuckle that line in December is like, oh crap, it's who we're eight months in. It's actually really close to fruition if that's the route to go. So yeah, the the TNA NXT w WI relationship is really interesting because they're just using Joe Hendry. They're just they've used Kaz, They've used the Rascals obviously. That's very poignant on who NXT is utilizing and then and vice versa, like TNA's had no quart to catch crew. They had Wesley working with the Rascal at Slammiversary. I think is he Dame was in there? Oh god, who's the character that was chasing round Libra Valkyrie for a while now is chasing Kalanie Jordan. She's great. Oh her name escapes me.

35:16 She's actually engaged to hoveyar Bro now. Because I'm not getting enough sleep. Tatum Pasley, Yes, she's phenomenal. I really enjoy her stuff. She was working there. Obviously, Jordan Grace Ashby Elegance also known as Daniel Brook made appearances or work w W. That whole relationship is interesting, and I don't know, I don't know if w W is giving them money, and I just feel like w W has has isolated who they want to sign should their contracts come up, and TEENA is like, yeah, no, I mean, if you want to sign these guys when their contracts over, great, but in the meantime, like, let's let's use this for our publicity, which I think TNA's had a lot of great buzz because of NXC, more buzz than anything that I ever saw when they were working with AAW. Granted that was the pandemic era, but I mean I watched highlights and clips from Stammiversary. That crowd was red hot, and maybe it was red hot previously Doctor Trey. I'm not watching TNA on a regular basis, but I look at that and I go, are people getting really excited about TNA because of the stuff that they're doing with NXC, and we as.

36:25 Well, Yeah, I think it's it's a really interesting dynamic and how this is working out because it does feel like I don't know if I like I look at who each show is using, and I'm like a lot of the WW like the people that are working from TNA, that are working NXC are very much sports entertainers, where TNA is using much more of the traditional wrestlers. In a sense what it is kind of genering cross ropers. I literally saw a video today of Dorlan's things running back Jamal Williams singing the Joe Henry song at the start A training camp. So there is buzz out there about today because of this carouser of the NXC, and it's allowing, you know, people to get an eye on the product. So once again, if they're putting it in as a marketing budget, it's a marketing expense. Maybe they are they're a little money crossing lines here.

37:20 Yeah, it's it's intriguing. It's intriguing stuff that's going on there. And it's very funny how we naturally like got there talking about Bobby Lashley stuff. So who knows, we'll see what's going on with Bobby Lashley. I was very shocked to hear that he may be on his way out of Dodoo we MVP not so much. I think they missed the boat the last two years of MVP. They should have been utilizing him. And I think Bobby Lashley has been utilized well under the Triple Ah regime, but maybe not to the degree or extent that Bobby Lashley was hoping for when he was working under Vinsic Man previously. The last thing I want to bring up here, Doctor Trey, and I hate to sound like repetitive here a broken record each week, but it's a very positive broken record.

38:03 At the end of Blood and Guts last night, watching wrestling this past week, all I could think about to myself is, like, the last four to five weeks, wrestling as a whole has been completely on fire. Everything in we has been really entertaining. Aw has been very entertaining. The stuff with TNA is working out really really well. What are some of your favorite things in wrestling right now? Like you look back at this last month, what are some of your favorite things? And do you agree with me that wrestling as a whole is on fire lately? Yeah, wrestling's been really result. I I saw some comment there yesterday about the NXT show, like how good was NXT and it didn't have Oba Feme Roxane Perez and there was somebody else they had mentioned.

38:51 I was like, damn, that's if you can put on a hell of a show and not. Have those three on it, that's a damn show to me, Like a ross, you know, the three shows Like right now, I mean I just mentioned Joe Henry is so much fun to watch, Like, this whole thing right now, no matter if it's on DNA, if it's on NXC. Is really fun and it's really catchy, you know me. Personally, also seeing the Rascals show up an NXC, like I know how much that meant to those guys, Like for Zach and Trade to show up on NXT to work there and be back with Wes. The stuff with. Sammy, Helia and Braun, I've been enjoying that. The the stuff with the New bloodline's been really good. This whole thing where they're just gonna take out anybody that Cody Road associates with is an.

39:41 Interesting take leading into SummerSlam. Becaues that mean Roman shows up to back Cody at SummerSlam, Like is that where we go with this? Seeing the stuff with you know, the Live Rhea jay Usso or dom stuff. All that stuff's been really good. AW. This stuff like the Learning Tree and the stuff with I mean, we had to see Minora. We've got to see Shabbat or Shabbata come out and say Menora stooky the other night. Like that's you know for New Japan fans and and those diehard fans, like that's dream scenario stuff. MJF and osprays bit is gonna be good. You know, MJF going to use the trash can to dump the international title the other night and pull out the American title. Uh, it's a little bit trumpish in a way, I thought, Uh, Like.

40:32 It's just been so good across all the stuff. I mean, Punk McIntyre Rawlins has been really really good and entertaining, like there's and it's just. Across even the stuff with you know Gable and the White Gable. And the Creeds and the Ya six, but then filtering into the stuff with Otis and Tazow and you know, Xavier Woods and New in the Final Testament. Like the way they're intermingling stories and connecting things has been good across all boards. And you know, AW has been on like with their storytelling right now, has. Been top notch. A couple of you know, questionable booking decisions during the matches, but I mean Mercedes Monette has back up now and Camille you know against Britt Baker, Like that's gonna be interesting to see how that plays out. Like it's just been really, really good. It's I think to me, like right now a lot of it is filtering out from what the rock was here and then honestly, that Joe Henry stuff has been has been kind of catching fires, so it's kind of hard to discount him as well.

41:35 Yeah, it's it's insane what's going on professional Rattler right now. It's been so much fun. And I feel like each promotion, going back to the original discussion at the top of the podcast with the Warner Brothers Discovery discussions and the TV deals and stuff like that, we need to be rooting as a collective, whether your TEAMMAW or if you're an enemy of AW for some reason, like we all should be rooting for them to get a good deal because they're feeding off one another right now, and that's what we need in professional wrestling. And it's been so much fun. The Bloodline saga heating up under Solosicoa's regime on SmackDown. I'm thoroughly enjoying the La Night Logan Paul build. I'm thoroughly enjoying the tag team title picture while rather small right now on SmackDown with diy and a Town down Under. I'm enjoying the main event picture in the men's division on Raw. Maybe my favorite thing in all professional wrestling right now because it is going so many different directions in so many different ways that I have no idea how it's going to pan out. Within a couple of weeks. Damian Priest is now getting baby face reactions.

42:39 The match with gun Through, where on paper it looks like two heels going at it, is being built really really well. That segment to open up Raw on Monday was awesome. It showed that they hate each other, and Guntherro is making Damian Priest, who was like this hated heel, look very relatable to the i'm A wrestling fans calling him like trailer park trash for working his way up from the bottom to the top and you know, having a dream of becoming we champion, which wasn't gun Thro's dream for some reason, is really well done. The Drew McIntyre Cmpunk Seth Rollins match at Summerstam. I'm really looking forward to because the old school wrestling fan and me immediately thinks of Summerstam ninety seven where it was Sean Undertaker and Brett Brett versus Taker, Sean working as the special guest referee, and that was a lot of fun.

43:31 That was old school to me. That was like stuff that I really love seeing. NXT has been hitting a really good solid strike right now. There was a period of time where that was a show that you could probably miss from the w side of things, and it's not lately like they are going back to their roots and that's a lot of fun. Brooks Jensen Josh Briggs had a very fun match on NXC this past week. That storyline has been a lot of fun. Aw's overall build to All In is exactly what I've been looking for as a fan of professional wrestling with AW the last couple of years is give me a great build to a good show, and I'm in it. I want to watch it. I don't care if there's eleven or fifteen matches whatever Tony Kahin wants to put out there.

44:14 You've got to make me want to understand why wrestler A is fighting wrestler B. And they're doing that right now. Top to bottom everything between has been so much fun. And I don't know, man, I don't remember a time in the history of the podcast where wrestling is firing on this many cylinders Right now. It's really exciting. It's a lot of fun. And I don't want to call it an attitude era, esk A golden era, because we've been down there that passed so many times, Doctor Trey. But I think this time period what we're seeing here maybe like from two thousand and two or twenty twenty two, excuse me to now. It may be part of this error of professional wrestling that has been so good. Obviously, there's been some bumps in the road with AW, there's been bumps in the road with w WE previously as well.

45:09 TNA is really performing well. There's some exciting stuff going on, at least in the short term. In the last like four to six weeks, every time I've watched a wrestling show, for the most part, minus like rampage and parts of collision, No disrespect to AW, We're not there yet, but we're getting there. I'm like this is great, This is a ton of fun, and this is what I'm looking for in a professional wrestling fan. And I think it's because all the promotions WWE, AW TNA that're all feeding off of one another right now here in the United States. Yeah, I mean it's a little bit of it. To kind of relate it, it would be like, you know, kind of like back in the day when you. Had the Sopranos and then breaking badly.

45:49 You know those kind of shows where it's like, yeah, they're their own separate empties, but they're still kind of pushing each other, like. You know, competing for ratings and things like that. It's also a little bit like you know in pro sports, like you know, Jeff the Yankees fan, when the Yankees and the Red Sox are both doing well and they push each other, and next thing you know, it's like, well, the Yankees are in first, the rest Socks are in second, and there's a twenty game difference between second place and third place. Like it's iron sharpens iron. These guys are just feeding off each other. But it's making everybody show. I mean, it's it's making TNA be better, it's making MLW be better. I mean Jacob Faughto. His stuff he's doing on SmackDown is making people go back and watch MLW stuff, you know, the Joe Henry stuff, the Rascal stuff in the next seen is making people go watch TNA.

46:33 You know, people go watch TNA and. They're like, oh, let me go check out CZW or checkout Game Changer, you know, or or Wrestling Revolver one of these other shows that you know are affiliated because of the way that some of these other undersung you know, rests are being portrayed. It's it's feeding the frenzy that is kind of coming up, and you're seeing it now. When you start seeing that crossover into mainstream, when you're seeing NFL running back singing the Joe Henry song, when you're seeing the T shirts pop up, when you're starting to see the musicians get involved, that's when we start getting into that Attitude era type stuff. Because that's what made. It more mainstream, is when it had that crossover appeal and people didn't have to hide under a bush to tell you how much they believe in Joe Hendry. You know, it's out there in the open and everybody's like, oh, what's that. I gotta go check that guy out, or I gotta check these guys out, or what seem punks back in wbe's you and Drew McIntyre and sets wearing these outrageous outfits and there's gonna be a summer sliming.

47:32 I gotta check this stuff out. It's what causes that environment to kind of swell up and make everybody take notice. So doctor try and let's let's give a little bit of a preview here. So on next week's podcast, we will preview and predict w SummerSlam, the former biggest party of the summer. I don't know if they're calling that that anymore. You mentioned before the bloodline saga, Roman Reigns, the Cody road stuff. Give us a little bit of a teaser right now? Are you and I talking about next week? Us thinking whether or not Roman Reigns makes his return in Cleveland, Ohio? Uh, I think it's yeah. I think I think we see Roman as SummerSlam in some way, shape or form.

48:15 I agree with you right now. Yeah, I don't know if he does get involved in the match or but I guess he's solow like backstage and then a big truck, a big black suv rolls up, the window rolls down, and there's Roman, and that kind of shakes him for the main event, wondering if he's getting involved or or that goes. I don't I don't want to put say that he's gonna get involved in the match, but I do think Roman makes an appearance as some way, shape or form as SummerSlam. Yeah, I think it's something that results in a in a historic pop. I think when he comes back, it has to be in a major setting and stadium. And the only thing on the calendar right now from now until the end of the year is Cleveland, Ohio. I mean, that place will go absolute ape shit when his music hits, like they are waiting for him to come back and they want him to come back, which is just wild because he was one of the biggest deals in wrestling four months ago. But people are ready and it's gonna be really telling who main events Summer Slam in a couple of weeks or next Sunday.

49:24 I think Cody and Solo main event. I think I think Roman makes the save of Cody. I think Cody wins, and I'm giving away by prediction. I think Cody wins the match. There's a Bloodline beat down, and then Roman's music hits and just gets that massive pop, strolls down to the ring and the Bloodline just kind of scatters, and there's Cody and Roman standing in the ring face to face to end the show. Well, that is where we will end this week's edition of the podcast with a little bit of a teaser the Summer Slam preview on next week's edition of SRTU. So more on Summer Slam and everything that happens in between on next week's edition of sr to you. With that said, let's get a couple plugs and sponsored out of the way. You can down the show every Thursday or Friday at Real Guy Radio dot com, Wrestle chattinge on X and the still Roll the Show iTunes feed, don't forgec to rate review, to subscribe to help us climb the charts on iTunes. You could fast individually on X for myself at SRTU Jeff and for Doctor Trey Franklin at The Doctor Trey And of course don't forget the Fallow show on X at srt podcast. With that being said, what's going on in the one for world of dot Trey Franklin this week.

50:25 Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on Twitter or aka X at the Doctor Tray. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram, Doctor Trey Franklin. When you're on Facebook, be sure check out Rocket Sea Championship Wrestling. They just had the Shawn Shockgrabis Memorial Tournament last week, one by Chase Owens who wrestled four matches in one night for us, and he'll be back next Saturday for us as well. It's great having you know, former iw GP Tag Team champion in the building with us. But more importantly, also go check out your local wrestling shows so you two can find your stars up tomorrow that might be lit on fire today in your little well venue. So there you go. Support all the great things that support SRTU. Thank you for downloading, spread the word once again, rate review and subscribe, and don't forget to join us on next week's show when we get you ready for w Summer Slam. Until next week, have a great weekend for Doctor Franklin. I'm Jeff Peck. This is listen to Real this show