Have we been too "harsh" towards AEW lately? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #745 – 5/23/24

0:00 It's still welcome. Everybody. Welcome to this week's edition of This Storreal Does Show, Episode number seven and forty five for May twenty three, twenty twenty four. This is your w week King and Queen of the Ring and aw Double or Nothing Preview and Predictions edition of ass R T You. I am one after the show. I am Jeff Pack who joined every single week with my cost Thelena, Lindy Dutch, Tray Franklin, Doctor Trey. It's the busy Memorial Day weekend, my friend. Yeah, I just heard of the news that they've already had four of the biggest travel days in history have been in the month of May. My travel schedule very very light, though for this Memorial Day weekend, I don't think I'm going anywhere. But for everybody out traveling, why are you traveling? There's like two giant pay per views going on. Just stay home and watch wrestling and be like Doctor Trey.

1:12 Yeah, yeah, it's just don't bother with the barbecue. If it's a good weather outside, just stay in at one o'clock on Saturday East Coast time and then eight o'clock in the evening Sunday night and enjoy some w and AW. It's become a tradition here in the last five years that Memorial Day weekend, which is typically the kickoff the unofficial kickoff to summer here in the United States, has become a big wrestling weekend. I think it's the last. I wanna say, two or three years. W has added a show on Memorial Day weekend in Saudi Arabia as well. We do get smacked down on Friday night from Saudi Arabia and then of course the Sunday Double or Nothing has been ongoing since twenty nineteen as AW celebrates five years since its launch as a company. That brings us to our first discussion here on this week's edition the showr of SRTU Doctor Trey. So last week we asked for some fan feedback, some fan comments from people that are listening to the show each and every week, and our old friend EJ. Reid commented on our Facebook page, Facebook dot com slash there still real to us show and he had had the following to say in regards to our comments lately regard to all Elite wrestling.

2:28 For those who didn't listen, then why didn't you On last week's show, Doctor Trey and I talked about being at a viewership crossroads when it came to All Elite Wrestling, and EJ had the following to say to us, Doctor Trey. He said, and I quote, I think you guys have been a little harsh on the AW product lately. I and then in parentheses along with other shows podcasts that I listened to and parentheses, think that this has been their best output since Brawl Out. I think that the ratings will bump back up if they say focus and stick with certain stories. Triple A's it's done a tremendous job on the other side of the road, but gives me a different flavor of wrestling to enjoy as well. That's all I responded to them on the Facebook page. I will re respond here on this week's this of the podcast, but I figured i'd start with you, doctor Trey and EJ's thoughts on our harsh comments in regards to AW. I don't really think we've been any more harsh than we have over the past five years. I just think there have been ebbs and flows in the AAW product throughout its launch.

3:27 But what I would hope when you're into year five is that you would be far more consistent than you are in year one and two, and I still think the same inconsistencies in the programming exists now that they've had all along. This past week's episode of Dynamite, I actually did enjoy it because they were building up storylines, and that's one of the things I need as a wrestling fan. Now. There are other wrestling fans out there that disregard all the backstage stuff for the storylines or whatever, and just want to focus on in ring action. And for those people, like I said last week, that's great, you can get that same thing from UFC, But for me as a wrestling fan, I need some storyline. I need to meet on the phone to kind of enjoy it more so. But there have been moments in the past four months where that show has been un Dynamite's been I would say decent for the four months, but Collisions awful, Rampage is awful.

4:28 The only saving grace to me that they've had over the past four or five months has been their pay per view events, which have been fantastic. If you look at the ratings for our ratings for pay per views for aw their ratings are great. Is just the television programming, which is supposed to be a television show, has not had good continuous storytelling and that's why it just it makes me just be frustrated as a fan because like Ricky starts Big Bill, Ricky starts Tag Team Champions, Big Bill down with Jerica, Rickey starts too ever seen these stops and starts and the storylines of stop and start is so frustrating because you start to get into something and then it just goes away, never to be seen from again. Yeah. I had a similar response to j and our facebook page, and I said that Dynamite has been good and solid and Collision is an okay show with a couple of good matches sprinkled in there, in here and there. Rampage is at times completely unwatchable.

5:28 There have been some little bits of stretches lately where they've done a good job making my interest in Rampage a little bit more. With the Willow Nightingale Blue Sky like street fight they did, I forgot it was like something in regards to the location in Canada, I think was a Missawa street fight or something like that. I'm probably saying the city wrong. And then there was the Trent Bretta Chuck Taylor Backlop Brawl from Daily's Place that I thought was really well done as well. I don't think we've been harsh on the product. I think we've been honest. These are two guys, speaking of Doc Trey and I who want to see AW succeed. We certainly don't want to see them fail. But I just saw an interview or something off of like Eric Bischoff's podcast recently in regards to AW and how they built up all this goodwill with wrestling fans back in twenty nineteen, and it's kind of eroded away to a degree with viewership down, attendance down, and the erosion is going to be harder for them as a company to gain back those viewers than anything else because some of those people have made up their minds, like listen, Aw's not for me. I don't want to watch it anymore. If there's a good match, if there's a good segment, maybe I'll tune in here and there.

6:50 But as a weekly subscriber to All Lead Wrestling, I'm not going to do that because maybe they're getting their weekly fixed from what they're seeing on WETELI right now. WWE for people my age, Doctor Trey's age. Most of the viewers of this podcast, this has been like watching the NFL, the NBA, MLB. It's the standard bearer. There are years when the product is really good. There's years when the product is really bad. But if we're a fan of the sport, we still tune in and we watch it while AW, maybe that USFL that is trying to break in or the XFL ironically enough and break things in, rattle the cage of the industry a little bit. Sometimes they implement some really good things, like you're seeing the XFL implementing a new kickoff rule in the NFL, we saw the way that AW was implementing things, giving a little bit more freedom, and then they implement it to their product, and those products and those subsidiaries like change the game, and that right now is what all Elite Wrestling has done. They've changed the game. They've given another home professional wrestlers. We still want to see it succeed and thrive, but for two and a half years, really maybe a little bit longer, it's been a product that's kind of meddling, does not have a creative way anymore like it used to, and is hit or miss. I agree with Doctor Trey. I watched Dynamite this past Wednesday, and I was like, that was a really good episode of the show,

8:20 and Dynamite typically is I thought that was one that really stood out as of late as a really good episode and a good way to build into double or nothing. But I'll watch Rampage and Collision on Friday and Saturday, and it may nowhere hold a candle to what we saw with Dynamite. So yeah, I mean, obviously we're biased. I don't think we've been harsh. I think we've been honest, and I think what maybe some of the people that are aw diehards that listen to this podcast, hopefully you don't forget. I'm going to reiterate it again, is we want to see it succeed, but you can't turn a blind eye to it. I mean, it's just I mean, I legitimately have thought in the last couple of weeks, like, man, do I just stop watching Collision and Rampage and tune in Dynamite and just check out what's going on YouTube. I would gain three hours of my life back if Dynamite continued to you know, if it went down the same hole as Collision and rampage, and I removed those two hours from my life.

9:13 Now I'm just not watching their product for five hours a week and I could be doing something else. It's starting to be summertime. You can go outside. I'm having a kid soon, spend time with my child obviously. So yeah, again, I mean completely biased, but I don't think we've been harsh doctor try No. And for a long time listeners of the show, I mean we got, you know, a pretty long track record. We've had moments with WWE where we felt the same way, where the product was damn near unwatchable, but they had built up enough credibility and good will for us to still kind of linger around and hope for it to get better, and then lo and behold it gets better, and then it kind of goes down a little bit. And then right now, for the last you know, two years, they've basically been hitting home run after home run and in a for the most part, has been a good is a good quality product like they have at leaks on the show. They have more talent in aw than they do in WWE, from top to bottom, like they're their roster is deeper is and that's I guess maybe it's we have so much high expectations for them now with how deep this roster is, that when it doesn't meet expectation, we're let down. You know, as you were talking earlier, I was like, once again, I always bring up like are you creating new stars or are you making people who are stars even better? And really, I mean be honest about it, Like, for all the guys from WW who have come over, are any of them a bigger star than they were when they were in WWE? Has anybody well? And I almost

10:48 don't count Swerve because he never made it. He made the main roster for like what three months even less than that, Like Swerve is the only person in the company right now I think is a bigger star now than they were a year ago. Well, I was gonna say, maybe Moxley isn't that Roman as well? I don't. I don't know if he's a bigger star. I think he's been the most consistent star they've had, But I don't know if John Moxley is more famous now than Dean Ambrose was probably a little bit, maybe internationally because he's spending more time in Japan. But you know, is Adam Copeland a bigger star now than he was in WWE, Brian Danielson, Miro Malachai Black, you know, any of the guys they've brought in, I mean even even their homegrown I mean, is Adam Cole a bigger star now than it was at XT Keith Lee obviously not. You know, they haven't really And if you look at the homegrown talent, maybe m Jff's bigger now than he was. You know when he started, Tony I would say, Tony, I mean, but you've had so much talent come in and you've elevated four people. I mean, that's not a great track record where ww B. I mean, you can watch that show now and you go, well, Chad Gay wasn't a better spot now than he was a year ago. Sammy's maybe dropped a little bit from wrestle Mania. It's to wrestle Mania, but intercondal Champion. You know there they are bringing people up. You look at Jake Cargill, she obviously, I mean, you know, it's probably a bigger star now than she wasn't. Aw Cody's a way bigger star now than he wasn't. Aw, Like, there is a

12:20 track record of them elevating people up and giving them quote unquote the ball to run with. I just that's where to me. I look at it like if if you're a television show, are you hooking me in to watch next week's edition? And are you creating people that are musty talents? And really I think WWE's done a better job, But any W's got some things. But you know, right now, like remember how popular Hook was. Is Hook on the same level he was a year ago, The acclaimed on the same level they were a year ago. The guns have probably elevated up, But I don't know if Jay White's a bigger star now than he was a year ago. So there's some things there that you can work on to boost your product up. And I just don't think they've done a really great job of it. I will say in the short term, I thought the creative has improved in the last build towards double or nothing. We'll preview the card here later on, So maybe they are listening to fan base that's out there saying like I gotta have a little bit more to this than just seeing a dream match with real no real storyline, Like if I quickly go through this card very fast, out to Trey given everything going on in the show, tell me if you think it's been a good or bad build. Like Roger Strong will ospray, it's gotten bad. It was really bad in beginning.

13:39 The last two weeks have kind of pushed it back up for me. So okay, yeah, Timeless, Tony Storm, Serena Deep Yeah, not really really. I mean they just ran multiple angles on Collision and last night they're shoving a lot of stuff into short period. Yeah, but would you prefer that versus nothing at all? Okay? So, if we're going off, have they built a or you just gonna have they built a storyline or a good storyline? I'm saying, have they built a storyline here rather than what they were doing in the past. There's reasoning behind the matches? Yes, Okay, we're going off that one. Okay, So yes, then in that case, Tony Sorcerde has a storyline. Copeland Malachi, Yes, Moxley Kenosk. I'm in the middle on that one. I was gonna say, ish like, I'm in the middle on that one. If you if kind of bringing some past stuff as well into this stuff, I'd like to see a little bit more On Friday and Saturday, Brett and Orange Cassidy without a without a doubt, Yeah, Jericho Hook Shibata, Yes, Bang Bang Gang Death Triangle if you can't want if you say one week's storyline, yeah, right, Uh, there's been a little bit of build with Pac, I would say, but I would put that in the middle of like Moxley Knoske a tick higher than Kenoski and and Moxley Nightingale, Mercedes Yes, Elite and Team aw Yes, Swerve and Christian Cage Yes. So I mean there's some

15:11 creative behind it, which is which is important right now and again that's what we've been asking for. It's not the sup I would say, it's not the super indie show type things where they just go hey, like who's our best, Like, who's our best inter ring guys. We're just gonna throw them in a match and not really just hope the fans go, oh, I got to see that match. Yeah, it's like stuff creatively that I disliked was the Bank Bank Scissor Gang like coming together then breaking up so quickly, Like it's like, what was the point of that. They could have made a ton of merchandise and remained together for like a year plus and then you break them off in like less than three months. It was like bizarre to me, and then rekindle a feud like it'd always been there. The things that are that are interesting with AW right now, you know, spraining off of EJ's comment to us, which thank you EJ for doing that.

15:54 If more people hit us up on Twitter and Facebook, we'll talk about this on the show. Each week you had, Ricky Starks had an interview where he talked about he doesn't know what his status is with all Elite Wrestling, and sometimes I tried to be very cautious with that because I don't know if they're playing k fab or not. However, there was an interview recently with Kenoski Takeshka, and that was a recent interview with DDT Pro Wrestling, and this comes to us from Wrestling Inc. The Japanese wrestler say that he hasn't found anything enjoyable about his AW run and has lost the joy of wrestling with a quote since arriving in America, if you were to ask me what I found enjoyable, there's been nothing in my heart. I've thrown already thrown away the joys of wrestling, said Takeshka. Everyone felt like they're having fun here in Japan. I didn't have any fun wrestling ever since I got to America.

16:44 The effort was bearing fruit, but I didn't feel the enjoyment. It was the most mentally exhausting period in all twelve years of my wrestling career. He added, though that his match has been well received despite him not having fun in the ring. Takeshka highlighted the challenge of wrestling in the US, asserting that the American audience may not be keen on wheat in an Asian wrestler on television, saying, I thought hard work could cover for everything else before getting there. If I showed how good I am, I could get more of your time. But there are other aspects that come into play when competing here in America. Discrimination is not the word here, but unfortunately there's lack of space for an Asian person beyond the TV show watched by Americans, said the former KOD Openweight champion. One. I feel awful that Kenoski Takesha feels that way because I don't look at his success in America and go, well, he's an Asian wrestler. How am I going to relate as an American fan because we've seen Osca Shinsky Nakamora when he's had his NXT run really succeed because it's Gocot, I think can really succeed, and I think Takeshko was succeeding. But so it's unfortunately he feels that way. The second part about this, he completely rips apart his current employer, and how this isn't a major story to me is like mind boggling, Like this was just kind of like a thrownaway story last week when I found it, and I'm like, this is the problem we're seeing with all Elite wrestling. If Ricky Stark's comments are not in storyline and they're not there to promote anything, and he's legitimately bashing the company or quasi bashing the company, and you've got Kenoski Takeshka nut Quasi completely bashing the company, We've got a problem here because this is the

18:17 things that we're seeing as fewers and the wrestlers are now saying this in interviews. Yeah, No, it's it's major. I mean when you have especially younger talent, I can understand some of the older like it's an older wrestler or somebody who doesn't feel like, you know, that they've earned their spot and is not being used or whatever. Those guys I kind of get it, because I mean they've they've put in there you know times, you know, time and their equity builds up those people. And to me, Ricky Starks, that's a that's a huge story to me, like you have arguably one of the most talented wrestlers in the world on your roster and you're pushing him and then all of a sudden, not on TV for months, you're saying he's injured. He's saying he's not injured. That's a complete miscommunication.

19:00 And that's one of the things that we've heard about in the past with AW is when they're not using somebody, they don't communicate with that person very I mean that you go back to this stuff with Janella and those guys when they were being quietly released and he was like, you know, I haven't heard the company in like five months. You know, if you're an employer, you need to be touching base with your employees, you know. And the stuff with Takeshka was shocking because I mean, this was a guy that was kind of hand selected by Kenny Omega to come in. You think of that run that he and Omega had, you know, and all the stuff with the Kallus family, and that was some really compelling stuff, and you're like, but he's not having fun, he doesn't enjoy his time, he's lost the joy of wrestling, Like that's that is shocking to hear anybody say that, especially when you're in the middle of the storyline with one of the biggest stars in the company, you know, heading into you know, I made a big time match for the ISWGP Championship, So like it's I don't know if I've ever if I can recall a time when a WWE employee came out and just openly bashed the company. Maybe I mean maybe a little bit the Zach Ryder Internet days, the YouTube days, but really, I mean it's just like there's just lack of communication sometimes in ADEW. I mean I heard that from you know, when Brian Pelman was leaving and he came to work Rocket City, Like that was one of the things that he had brought up.

20:22 Like when you're a favorite of if you're in that circle of Tony Kahan and you're getting used, Yeah, like they're open to everything. But as soon as you're like, you know, no longer flavor of the month, that communication well kind of dries up and then you're just kind of left in limbo waiting for somebody call you with something to do. So it's an ongoing issue they've had. And sometimes this is in business. And I don't know what company Jeff works for, I know kind of what he does, but I know in my company that sometimes when you overexpand your infrastructure is lacking because you've gotten too big for what you start with. And I think that's always been an issue with AEW. As the product it's more and more expansion, they're still lagging on that infrastructure in the middle to kind of keep everybody at peace and keep everybody happy with what's going on. Yeah, it's it's a bizarre story in bizarre comments, and I don't think that's anything storyline related.

21:18 I thought the Ricky Stark stuff could be like you come back as this you distruntled employee to AW and they could play off of that. But the Kenowski Takeshka stuff is like completely does not come off the storyline whatsoever. So very interesting comments there in regards to AW. AW made a very interesting move announcement last week via press release. Starting on Saturday, July twentieth, AW is partnered with the City of Arlington, Texas for AW Path to All In Summer Series at the East Sports Stadium in Arlington, and that begins on July twentieth, So they're going to be hosting AW Collision for several weeks on July twentieth, twenty seventh, August First, which is a Thursday, August tenth, and August seventeenth heading into All In. ROH Death Before Dishonor will also air on Friday, July twenty sixth from the same arena. So they're gonna be having six shows over the summer, five of which are gonna be Collision.

22:22 And this is two parts a very outside the box interesting move by AW because they're gonna have a home where it's gonna save some cost. They're not gonna have to fly there wrestlers all over the country. They're going to be able to leave their stuff in this stadium for a couple of weeks and all fly to one place and save a little bit of money and hopefully have a good crowd. And this is second part intriguing because if Collision from an attendance standpoint, was very successful. They wouldn't have to do this so interesting move here, Doctor Trey by AEW to make this move, and I just thought that, you know, no matter what, if they re up with with Warner Brothers Discovery for millions or billions of dollars and what have you, they are kind of acknowledging that business may not be as good as it should be from a ticket sales standpoint by doing a deal like this. Yeah, yes and no. To me, I like the move because, yes, it does save money, and that's that's a big thing, you know, for any company. If you can find a place where you can kind of put down an anchor and just you know, save a little bit of money but still put out a good product and still generate revenue, it's a good move.

23:44 One of the things I really liked about this is, you know, AAW has not really established a home area. I know, we can say Jacksonville, but Jeff, you go to Ford all time. Jacksonville and Orlando are not very far apart, and we have the the Performance Center and NXT, you know, less than two hours away. It's kind of hard to establish that Florida is our home state, Texas for everything people said to the state is a rabid wrestling fan base. I mean, you can go back to the seventies eighties with World Class Championship Wrestling and things like that. If you can put down roots and say like this is our one of our home areas that we know if we come to Arlington, we're going to sell out, or we're going to have a really good crowd, or we're going to generate some revenue. If you can capture something to be a base of operations, then you're kind of putting down roots and you can kind of work out from there as well. I mean, the crazy thing to me was they picked Arlington, which has hosted to WrestleMania's in the last nine years. I mean, that's it's it's kind of also a kind of a middle finger to WWE.

24:52 But you know WWE, you know, for everything that we talked about for being a global entity, their home base is in Northeast. They run Boston, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, that's their stopping around. They know that area better than anything else, you know. And when WCW is going strong, a lot of their stuff came out of Atlanta, and Georgia and the Carolinas. They had regions that they knew they could be successful in. And if you can put down roots in an area like Texas, you know, and kind of grow that fan base to be you know, an AEW centric audience, it's a really good move on their part, you know, as far as building a base to kind of work out of.

25:33 Yeah, I like the move. Don't get me wrong here. I like the move. I like where they're just you know, kind of saving money a little bit. They're gonna have a little bit of a home base for a couple of weeks, what have you. But I do think again, if if AW was was successful in their ticket sales and attendance on the Saturday show, that they wouldn't need to do this. They could also potentially be countering the fact that people are going to be traveling a lot during the summer months, and maybe they don't think that they're going to have the crowd like they should, but during the summer months when people are away in various different cities and locations. So I like the move from business standpoint, but I do think it's them acknowledging like, hey, there may be a little bit of a problem here, but they have a remedy to fix it, rather than than saying let's just continue to move forward and hope for the best.

26:18 And next thing, you know, they're going to be doing a show out of like a Universal Studios sound stage. So AW Collision will be airing from Arlington, Texas for about five weeks, heading into AW all In in late August there, which, by the way, they have pushed out All Out in Chicago a week instead of being the weekend of September first, it's going to be September seventh. I love that move. It's a two week gap in between all In and All Out. I don't less than five days between two pay per views. I think there's a little bit of fatigue, and they actually saw the buy rate come down I think pretty substantially, maybe by like twenty to thirty buys versus All In to All Out. Maybe that had to do with somebody named Sampunk also getting fired. But I do like a little bit of space between the pay per views. Some more business news that was announced. It was actually announced today on Thursday here as W announced that Summer Slam in twenty twenty six. We haven't even held to Summer Slam twenty twenty four, yet it'll be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was rumored to be hosting Russell Many forty one, which is now going to be in Las Vegas. And the other big news here Doctor Trey. It will be a two night event taking place on August first and second. Obviously, this is one surprising that they've announced the show eight hundred days out already, and two it is now joining WrestleMania as a two night event. You know, no word of this change will also be taking place in twenty twenty five whenever

27:48 that is announced the location, but twenty twenty six, as it stands presently, Doctor Trey will be the first Summer Slam there'll be a two night event, and this looks like it may be here to stay when it comes to some of the big events, whether it be the Royal Rumble and Survivors Series as well in the future. Your thoughts here on the announcement and the two nine event announcement. No, I love the two nine announcement event because you know, we've always said that, you know, SummerSlam is like the second biggest event they hold. Uh. To me, this kind of gives it more gravatas to be like, hey, you know, we're gonna do the big one in the springtime, but we're also gonna have this massive one in late summer. So I like to move. Plus, it gives more wrestlers a chance to be in the card. You know, you you're a big fan of you know, the smaller cards, but the more ring time that Triple H has kind of been doing the last you know, a couple of years. But if I can have a two night event for one for WrestleMania and one for SummerSlam, then where you know that your stars are gonna get a chance to be featured on one of the on probably both these shows.

28:51 I also love it in a kind of a in a sense to the city of Minneapolis, we're like, hey, we didn't give you WrestleMania, but we're gonna do something completely new that we've never done before for you guys for SummerSlam. In dear God, summertime in Minneapolis is way better than early spring in Minneapolis as far as hosting events all the other stuff that goes along with a big event like the WrestleMania weekend. To me hosting that in Minneapolis in like late August, early September is better than late March early April, just weatherwise, and just you know, this just also shows the evolution of the business, Like we're at a point now where that rostering WV is very deep as well and very talented, and it gives them a chance to really showcase their talent and not have that, you know, those seven hour, six hour shows that can really fatigue a wrestling fans. So I love the outside box thinking that they're pulling off here and now I'm just curious to see where SummerSlam twenty five could be, because it is weird that they're announcing twenty six and they still announced where twenty five is gonna be. Yeah, there's been some rumblings out there. Saudi Arabia had come out recently and said that they will be looking at hosting events like a Royal Rumble or a SmackDown or excuse me, WrestleMania there. So I wonder if they would bring a Survivor series there as well in the future, make it a two nine event. So pretty big news there coming out of w WE today. And actually we have

30:21 some breaking news that we'll discuss here when we preview and predict w King and Queen of the Ring as well, which probably by the time everybody listens to this won't be breaking, but it is breaking to us, unfortunately, Doctor Trey. We are celebrating a very not celebrating remembering a very sad anniversary. On May twenty third, nineteen ninety nine, at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, w WE held then WF held the Over the Edge event, which saw the passing of the legendary wrestler Owen Hart. I saw how this this morning, and I could not believe it was twenty five years ago.

31:03 I think we talked about this at the twentieth anniversary of his passing, and here we are at the twenty fifth anniversary, which is just absurd. Makes me feel old. I can't believe Owen's been gone for twenty five years. Now, Where were you when this event took place? And how did you find out about the news of Owen Heart's tragic passing? So ninety nine, I was back living in North Carolina. I had not actually watched the Over the Edge of pay per view because at the time it's still pay per view and the time the family still did not have a lot of money, so it was one of those things where, like I was reading reports about it that night when it happened that Owen had had an accident was in the hospital, and then I didn't find out about his passing until the next day when I was actually I had just got into work and one of the guys came up and told me about it. So, yeah, it's still the I mean, you said twenty five years ago. I'm like, I'm still blown away by how long ago that was, but yeah, like it's still to day. Is one of the most shocking, horrific and indelible prints on my mind in my wrestling fandom as too, Like I still remember like sitting there. I was sitting on a forklift when I actually found out that he had died, and I was just like blown Like I sat there for probably a good ten minutes, and it was like one of the guys that had come out and kind of shaked me out, Like I was almost just like in a state of like shock and just deep diving into my mind like all

32:34 the times I'd seen oh and wrestle and everything else. And then there's always you know, as a wrestling fan, when you hear about stuff you always had that momentary of like is this real, did this really happen or is this like a storyline or something. So this was one of those first ones where you're just like, oh crap, this this is real, this this really happened, and you know it just completely shocking and just kind of blows you out of water. Yeah, I was watching the show live. Parents used to buy the pay per views for me. When I was growing up. They weren't what they are now. I think they were like nine ninety nine back in the day. I remember that they had ran the video package at the Blue Meani Blue Meaning was supposed to be taken on the Godfather for the Intercntional Championship under Owenhart under the Blue Meanie persona, and then they cut back to the live crowd and Jim Ross said that we have like a problem here, something along those lines, and then they cut back to the crowd.

33:30 They cut back to Jim Ross. I think they may have aired like a promo package from the Godfather hyping up the match, and then they went back on Jim Ross and talked and he just talked about what took place if there was an accident. This is not part of the show. Jerry Lawler wasn't there. Lawler comes back, looks white as a ghost and says it's not good, and they move forward with the card. I remember the Jeff Chair Deborah promo back Stay where they're like in near tears and trying to hype up their match with Valvenus and Nicole Bass that they were going to be having, and it was just, you know, tragic moment in resting history.

34:14 Then Jim Ross announces the passing of Owen Hart and yeah, it was just like a numb feeling. I was a young kid back in ninety nine. I had May ninety nine. I was twelve years old and a huge fan of Brett Hart. So I grew up on the Brett Hart Owen Hart feud. That is one of the most impactful feuds that I can remember as a child when I was growing up, and he was the heel of heels back then. And it's extremely tragic. It's sad Owen should be here today and he's not. I know, his legacy is playing out more in aw and hopefully this doesn't come off as insensitive in any type of way, but with you know, the change in we recently where vinsick Man is no longer involved, maybe the owen Hart family would be a little bit more open to letting Owen's legacy be honored, you know, in a hall of fame sense from w WE now, and they can do just as equally the same amount of you know, publicity and awareness for the Owen Heart Foundation as AW does.

35:30 Maybe that door is open because I I mean it's not my saying, but there'd be a lot of solace, enclosure and allowing owen Hart's career where he predominantly was in WWE for a large part of time and became a megastar there to get his rightful flowers in WA. I mean, just from the w ws W standpoint, it's this tragedy and the Owen har memorial that took place at the next night on RAW and that's really that, I mean, really don't speak about his name. I think they did a DVD about him a couple of years later, maybe like ten plus years later, but it just have a little bit of closure and allow him to be honored in the spotlight by w WA. Again. The family has every right to continue to say no to that, and I completely get it, and they are giving us an opportunity in aw to honor the life of Owen Hart. I just gonna believe it. When I saw it this morning, like twenty five years ago, Owenhart passed away, I was like, man, that is amazing to me that it's been that long. So one of the most tragic days in professional rest in history in my time, Owen Heart's passing away the twenty fifth anniversary from Over the Edge nineteen ninety nine. Owen is most known from winning the nineteen ninety four King of the Ring where he became the King of Hearts.

36:52 The ninety four King of the Ring tournament is one of my favorite of all time. When Jim nampl n iHeart turned Brett Hart and joined up with Owen. I think Owen defeated Razor Moone in the finals of that tournament. That was just a really fun time of professional wrestling. And we segue as best we can from honoring the legacy of Owen Hart and talk about the w W King and Queen of the Ring and preview and predict that it is this Saturday from Jedda Super Dome from Jedda, Saudi Arabia, and this is breaking Doctor Trey. According to wrestle ops on Twitter, Triple h Is announced that the winners of this Saturday's King and Queen of the Ring Tournament finals will each secure a championship opportunity at this year's SummerSlam. So does that change things for you there, my friend? Uh yeah, maybe that's I like it because it gives a little more credibility to whoever wins. I mean, you and I both love the King and Queen and the Ring tournaments, just as they've done over the past few years when they brought back, but nobody has really capitalized on it like maybe they have in years past. I like the move.

38:07 I think it's a really solid move to kind of lend a little bit more I'm gonna use that word again, bravatas to whoever becomes the King or Queen of the Ring. Yeah, I think that is the right move. They did that with brack Lesner back in two thousand and two when he defeated the Rock and then his career sended that evening in Summers Siam in twenty twenty two, two thousand and two in Long Island, New York. I love the move. We'll see how that now plays into some of our predictions here, because let's get into the King of the Ring Tournament final, Doctor Trey, it will be Gunther taking on either Randy or In or Tamatunga Tamatunga, which is this is not the unfortunate part because you and I are making these predictions before SmackDown, so we're basically taking to gas of a three way race here. I ultimately think that on Saturday it is going to be Gunther versus Randy Oran, and I have Gunther winning the King of the Ring. I think that was my initial person that I was selecting to win this, and that doesn't change for me despite Triple H's announcements. So I'm gonna go with Gunther. So the only thing my question would be, because we are still brand specific, is this kind of like The Rumble where you can challenge any champion? All I know is and I can't play the audio here, but Triple H is saying that it will be a championship opportunity. I don't believe it's brand specific, because, yeah, because I can see Gunther challenging Cody.

39:36 I just don't know if I can see Gunther challenging Damian Priest. I can see Drew Mcatar. Yeah, I can see Randy challenging either guy, you know, so it's that be said. I'm with you, like I got Randy Ordon winning on fred A and SmackDown. I'm gonna go with guntherher as well, becoming King of the Ring and then he can be the Imperial King or whatever you want to go with. But uh yeah, I got gun Thor winning as well, and I could see Gunther challenging Cody, but that's at Summersland. That would be really really good because that ties into the Royal Rubbles stuff for the last couple of years. Next match here is Lyra Valkyria taken on Naya Jax or Bianca Belair in the King the Queen of the Ring tournament final. I'm going to pick Naya Jacks to advance here and defeat Bianca Belaire. She is selling a knee injury right now, which anybody who is a longtime wrestling fan, I think in that ninety four tournament, the one two three kid was selling some sort of injury that I believe owen Hart took advantage of in the semi final match. I'm not having this in front of me. I'll actually have to check and see how sick and twisted I am if I have that right, So I'm going to go with Lyra Valkyria taken on Naya Jacks, and I'm going to have Naya Jacks defeating Lyra Valkyria to win the Queen of the Ring tournament. Yeah, I honestly I thought about it, even with the knee injury angles like that. Plus you had the last week's match where Jade lost by d Q Tanaya. I could see Jay getting involved in costing Beyonka the match accidentally by DQ being the hot head youngster trying to get you know, revenge on Naya. So I got Nio

41:08 winning as well, and then I got Nio winning Queen of the Ring. So there you go, both of us having Naya Jacks. Next match, yere is Becky Lynch defending the w W Women's World Championship against liv Morgan Doctor Trey. Who do you like in this one? This one's tough for me because like I like both ladies. I like both women in this match. Becky just got the belt because of Rhea's injury, but it ties more into Live Morgan causing the injury, and you know Benjally Reison want to come back for that, so I think I wanna take a Live Morgan getting the upset win here and winning the Raw Women's Championship. I like, you have to lift Morgan winning this match, becoming the new w WA Women's World Champion.

41:51 It's exactly what you said. It ties into the storyline, and according reports, then I expect her to re sign with the company. But according reports, Becky Lynch's current contract is expiring soon and I have not seen any contract being announced during this recording, So I'm gonna go with Live Morgan and win the title. Sammy Zain defends the WA Intercuntental Championship in a Trible Threat match against Chad Gable and Bronson Reid Doctor Trey. Who do you like in this one? Once again, this one's tricky for me because I really would love e Chad Gable get to win. I feel like it's trending that way. But it's gonna be really hard for them to have Sammy louse in Saudi Arabia because that man, if you go off. The last time they were in Saudi Arabia, oh dear Lord, that was a great reception for him.

42:36 So I think I'm gonna go to take Sammy retaining at this show and then possibly losing it when they get back to the States for at raw or the following We're all afterwards. I'm gonna take Sammy Zain to retain the Intercuntalental Championship as well, and then finally for the undisputed WA Championship, Cody Rhades defense against Logan Paul and just sidebar here. I love that w we actually had reason behind why the title is not title versus the title on this one. They actually had creative in the storyline rather than just being like, well, it's on the line, because we felt like it's not gonna be on the line, like there was actual meaning mind and so I like that. With that said, I'm going to take Cody Rhodes winning the smash Doctor Trey.

43:19 Yeah, I mean, but dear guy. I mean, I know people have been giving him prosperb but Logan Paul, now this is what his second shot at a at the World Championship in less than two years. Good decent United States title run. I mean, the kid, the guy I call m a kid because he's half my age, but he's just phenomenal in the ring, Like he's come so far and this is a short amount of time. But yeah, it's Cody as much as as Logan Paul. Now Logan Paul heading into SummerSlam as your world champion, that would get some eyes and some more eyes on the product. But Cody's still the right choice. So I got Cody retaining as well. So there we go. There is w King and Queen of the Ring taking place this Saturday. After a nude from Jeda Saudi Arabia, then let's go to AW Double or Nothing preven prediction this Sunday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, but on Wikipedia says it's located in Paradise, Nevada. I don't know what the difference is. First match here, Doctor Trey Roger Strong defends the AW International Championship against Will Ospray. Who do you like in this one? I think I'm gonna take Ospray in this one because it is international and he's British and Roder Strong's from Florida, so I will take will Osbray. I'm taking will Ospray as well. Timeless Tony Storm defends the AW Women's World CHAMPIONSHP against Serena Deeb.

44:34 I'm having a little bit of trouble with this one, but I'm gonna take timeless Tony Storm to retain Doctor Trey. Yeah, like Serena Deeve is so good and maybe the most underrated female wrestler of the last decade as far as injuring and everything else like that, But I just I think if you're gonna have some maybe the anchor of your division, I think Tony Storm makes more sense. So I got Tony Storm retaining Adam Copeland. He fends the AWT and T Championship against Malachi Black and a barbed wire steel cage match, Doctor Trey, Who do you like in this one? This one's tricky because I just said earlier that you know, have either of these guys gotten any bigger than they were when their time in WWE? I don't think so.

45:15 But this might be a chance to really start that Malachi Black run and get him featured more on television. So I will take Malachi Black getting to win. I'm gonna take Adam Copeland to win and retain really good Bill so far and sidebar, I'm gonna throw in a Gangrel appearance in this match. Doctor Try you want me? You want me to text him and see if I can find out, you know, you have his number. Yeah, we're friends on Facebook. I can send a message and see if he's gonna be there, ask him. I mean they kind of teas some stuff there because Chris Van Malay interview where he said Gang Grel was he tried to get Gangrel to wrestle Mania and it was shot down. I was it WrestleMania or SummerSlam.

45:58 I thought it was the summers that match with where he came out and did the Brood theme song. I thought he had said it was WrestleMania. Maybe it was WrestleMania. Yeah. I saw those notes and I was like, hmm, that's interesting. John Moxley is not defending the IWGP World Awight championshipstead it's an IWGP Worldywaight Championship eliminator match. If Takeshka wins, he will receive a future IWGP World aweight Championship match. I creatively, I think this is strange because like they just had an IWGP Championship match on Dynamite against Powerhouse Hobbs, but they're not doing one here with Kenoski Takeshka, and I don't remember if Hobbs needed to win an eliminator mast match. So I wonder if New Japan was like, hey, don't do that again. Make it interesting and make the challenge or earn it, because why wouldn't you want the title on the line at one of their biggest shows of the year. So anyway, Doctor Trey, John Moxley, Koski, Takeshka, I'm going to take Moxley to win. Yeah, I've kind of gotta kind of got back and forth. I don't know if it's a case of the squeaky wheel gets the oil and they go, well, Takesha's complaining, let's let him win the match, or they go to Qutsha's talking, so let's have him not win the match. I can see going either way, but I'm gonna take the safe pick. I mean I can see them now with it not being the Tomes letting them somehow, let toketch pick at the wind. But I'll take the safe pick and take Moxley in this one. Next match is Trent Barretta and Orange Cassidy. And this has been really good fewed Doctor Trey, who do you like this one? Uh? This was tough. I don't know

47:29 about you. This was tough because I feel like they're trying to elevate Trent Barretta here and try to make something out of this. But Orange Cashi's kind of one of the one of the guys that gets the Sino rub a little bit where it doesn't lose very often. I think I would take Barretta here in the upset. I think I'll take Trent Barretta getting the win, just to kind of shake things up a little bit. Yeah. I originally thought that Orange Cassi was gotta win this one, but after I watched Dynamne on Wednesday, I do think that they're set up that Trent Peretta ends up partnering with the don Kallis family rather than Orange Cassidy. So I thought this was the opportunity for Orange Cassidy to get his comeupance. But I'm going to take Trent Peretta in the upset as well. Yeah, makes sense to me.

48:13 Next match is Chris Jericho defending the for the World Championship against Hook and Kasti or Shabad in a three way FTW rules match. I'm gonna take Chris Jericho and Sidebar. I hope that they stop doing the hook signal because goddamn that's corny it is. It's so damn corny. I just like that you had to call it the for the World Championship, so just that was that was great too. I'm taking Jericho as well. I just think that there's gonna be some miscimfications in Shabata and Hook leading to Jericho getting the pin on Shabana. Wouldn't it be interesting like Shabbata turned heel in this match and joined up with Big Bill and Jericho, like Shabata needs to be under the Jericho learning tree. Yeah, it would be so like as absurd and drive pure wrestling fans notts, But I think it would be really fun for this storyline.

49:02 I think, I mean, you need like as much as like And maybe this goes into what Takeshka said earlier about Asian wrestlers. Some of them do need like an English speaking person around them to kind of help them get over with the crowd. You're seeing it with Ocada in the Bucks. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Shabata to be Jericho's like enforcer henchman type guy like that, just brutal, villainous sidekick that loves torturing people. So it wouldn't be a bad move on their part. They did it, so if it happens, I love the idea. Next match is the Bank Bang Gang taking on Death Triangle and a trios match for Unified World Trios Championship. I have Bank Bank Gang retaining. I think Juice Robinson returns. Yeah, Bang Bang Gang for me because they're odds to me. Is still one of the most entertaining acts, even though they don't get featured as much as they were a couple months ago. This is a tough one. Willow and Night and Gil de Fenzi AWTBS Championship against Mercedes Monet. I'm sure who do you like in this one? I have Mercedes money because I think they're feeling the heat from everybody saying what a failure this has been so far with the signing. They need to kind of get something, some kind of bang for their buck out of it. So I'm gonna take Mercedes getting to win.

50:12 I'm gonna take Mercedes to win as well, and I think it may have an alternate vibe from the crowd. I don't think the crowd's going to be happy with this because Willows so over as a aw homegrown talent, and you may see Mercedes acting a little bit more of a heel going forward. So I have Mercedes winning as well, because I think it would be strange should she lose in her debut match, but it would be very beneficial for Willow's career as well. Next match, here is the Elite of Kozucho, Kata, Jack Perry, Matthew Nicholas Jackson taking on Team aw Brian Danielson, Darby Allen, Cash Wheeler, and Dax Hardwood in an anarchy in the arena match. I have the Elite winning this one and Tony Kahan driving Darby Allen to the arena. Only for Darby Allen to have a flamethrower was as absurd as it sounded, but it was a It was a decent segment. I would say to close the show. I love that Tony Kahan knows how For one, Tony con knows how to drive a car. Jeff like, the kid's a billionaire, Like you figure he just has me driving them around her.

51:15 So the fact he drove the car and then I'm like, I need to picture them like if in real life going hey, darg I'm coming to get you. You got your stuff? Wait? You have a flamethrower. Yeah, I think that could fit in the trunk, maybe the backseat. I'm not sure I got room for it. We can make it, we can make it happen. Which, honestly, you can buy those. And I have been debating whether or not I want to drop seven hundred bucks on a flamethrower. Well, the wife told me no, and I'm like, because we don't need a flamethrower. I'm like, no, no, you never need a flamethrower. But it's always fun to have a flamethrower. So uh. By the way, I'm way happier about Darby being in this match than Eddie Kingston because Dady Kingston Park didn't make sense to me, but Darby does make sense being Team ae W. But I'm gonna take that with you.

52:02 I'm gonna take the Elite just because I think they need more heat on them and that will help build more baby faces. So I'm gonna take the Elite getting the win. I think Hangman Paige returns and helps them win. On Sunday, Doctor Trey, he goes full blown heel in this one. Yeah. I know they fired him, but I could see him making a return. Yeah, Well that that wouldn't surprise me. I mean the crazy thing for me is you have FTR teaming with Brian Danson when they were just feuding with the Blackpool Combat Club a couple of months ago, and then Eddie was in the match too, and Eddie was feeding with Mox and Claudio a couple months ago, and yeah, so it's a little and they don't get along.

52:43 They need that mutual respect match from the kind of classic thing and Eddie doesn't have it. No, Eddie has no belts. But Darby's back, which I thought Darby got hit by a bus. He's dead, he just got cleared. And also Eddie Kinkson I just read today he is due to have surgery in July. He broke his leg towards acl Uh, fractured his tibia against Gabe Kid during that New Japan Pro Wrestling show I think was in California. He's he's gonna be out for almost a year, Doctor Trey. So anybody that's a young wrestling fan, go watch that spot where he got hurt. Never ever, ever do that spot. I know. At least Eddie Kingston makes the fourth person in the last five years that I know have broken their way doing that stupid soup like spot near the rails, so stop doing it. Such a shame man. So Eddie will probably be out for almost a year by the end of this thing. And then finally the main event here Swerve Strickland defense the aw World championshipgainst Christian Cage. They had a great segment on Wednesdays. Dyna might really enjoyed that parking lot brawl. That was a lot of fun. Doctor Trey, who do you have in this one? I gues you can't put the belt. I mean, as much as I love Christian Cage and I love the patriarchy and I love all that stuff, you can't put the belt on. Soore having lose to Christy Cage this quickly. So I got Swerve retaining. I have Swerve retaining as well.

54:06 We will recap interview both shows on next week's edition of SRTU. Would that said, let's get a couple of plugs and sponsors out of the way. You can download the show every Thursday or Friday at Real Guy Radio dot Com, Russell Chattnett on x and the still Realta show iTunes feed. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to help us climb the charts on iTunes. You can follow us individually on X for myself at SRTU Jeff and for doct Tray Franklin at The Doctor Trey. And of course don't forget to follow the show on X at SRTU podcast. With that being said, what is going on the oneful world of Dot Trey Franklin this week? Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on X at the Doctor Trey. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook Doctor Trey Franklin. When you're on Facebook, don't be sure check out rock ASA Championship Wrestling as we just had Wrestling Con seven last Saturday. Sucks. I wasn't there, but I know we had. I know the shows. It was a good time by all.

54:58 The next show coming up is first, so be sure to go on their page check out o their videos and pictures from Wrestling Con and all that stuff. And then also spar and Championshire Wrestling one of the other shows I work with here in the lovely state of Alabama. Their next show is this Saturday night, May twenty fifth, Yes, so be sure to check them out on Facebook as well. Have a great Memorial Day weekend for aybody here in the United States that celebrates enjoy the wrestling weekend. For everybody else outside of the States, thank you for making us part of your week. Thank you for everybody who got back to us send us some great feedback interacted with us over the last week. Following last week's edition of the podcast, keep them coming, we'll bring it up here on the show. Whenever you guys have some good comments and stuff from the show prior, we'll you know, hopefully bring it up the week later and answer any questions or react to any of your statements like we did with EJ. Reid at the beginning of the podcast.

55:49 So with that said, until next week. For Doc Troy Franklin, I'm Jeff Peck. This is this so really show