Royal Rumble Preview and The Final Chapter of AJ Styles? | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #833 – 1/29/26

0:00 It's still real to be damaged! What up, you! Welcome everybody! Welcome to this week's This This This No Realest Show episode of our 833 for January 29th, 2026 This is your WWE loyal, lumball and you will be the winner of this week's This This No Realest Show I am one half the show I am Jeff Packen joining every single week of my close-order on the train Franklin Dr. Trey, the road to WrestleMania 42 begins this weekend, my friend Yes, and it's a long and windy road and it traverses through it like I need map quests like you know we're talking about air about being old you young kids don't know what map quest is but yes the road to WrestleMania as we learned the last month we have no idea where this road is going just enjoy the journey and take in the sights and play the alphabet game where you got a matchup license place a certain number or certain letters in the alphabet Yeah, it's a windy road folks we've got a long way to go here middle of April so about two months, two and a half months time which is good because hopefully spring will be here following my weekend I don't know about you Dr. Trey but I probably have about 16 inches of snow

1:31 and I have not seen higher than maybe 25 degrees in my house in about 20 days so this is usually for me like okay we're getting closer to spring and sun and fun and of course WrestleMania season and of course what returns next week the WrestleMania 42 card roundup a segment that we always do each and every week heading into WrestleMania so it's wild to get here we are here once again for WrestleMania Dr. Trey and you know it's kind of a poignant week last week we were talking about wow AJ Styles has put up his career on the line against Gunther for the Royal Rumble this week it's starting to feel like inevitable for this Saturday that we will be seeing AJ Styles last match based on the matches he's had this week based on a social media post from one of his opponents this past week as well crazy times so we had AJ Styles versus Nakamura on Saturday Night's main event in a great classic match I loved it I think it's probably their best WWE match they've had great match with CM Punk first time in WWE on Monday night round never thought we would see that match up quite honestly and there we are and we're having it we have Gunther this Saturday who knows what we're going to have on Friday with AJ Styles I would assume makes an appearance on the house that AJ Styles built in WWE being Friday Night's Smackdown it feels like it's coming to an end Dr. Trey and if so I wanted to have a longer goodbye

3:03 but if this is it what a week it's been yeah that AJ Shinsuke match was fantastic and that makes up for the WrestleMania match I believe that was the WrestleMania I was at from not mistaken it wasn't and said that you can't remember that because it's not memorable well I think it was also like first on the show like it was opening the show I thought or towards beginning of the show so yeah it wasn't a great match but you know this past Smackdown kind of made up for it the CM Punk match like you said it's something we never thought we'd see not just I believe not just their first WWE match but I think it's their first time they've ever been in a ring anywhere was this past Monday night because I think AJ had said that on Chris Van Vleach show a few months ago I don't think wrestling on in ROH I think they missed each other by a few months I don't I'm pretty sure AJ said they had never touched we're like one of those IWA mid-South in the early 2000s yeah I may have to go back and look I'm pretty sure AJ said they had never actually faced off one-on-one in a ring so that might have been the first time they've ever actually been in the ring together so almost like a little bit of a mini dream match that I wish had been promoted a little bit more then just kind of a crazy kind of one-off scenario but yeah it does kind of feel like they're cramming a whole bunch of stuff

4:35 into this short amount of time and by doing that you kind of feel like yeah they're writing on the wall but I will say there was a line he said this past week where he said you know and if my WWE career is over duh duh duh duh I'm like oh well maybe it's not wrestling retirement maybe it's just WWE retirement and then we can still see him in T&A a little bit to kind of help boost them up as his contract winds up yeah so there's a little bit of weird stuff going on there right it's he's saying his WWE career if being promoted at his wrestling career which people are thinking like hmm is he got a show up in T&A?

5:16 is he got a show up in AEW? you know his WWE contract coming to an end is this it just for his WWE career or his in-ring career there was a story out this morning before we recorded today Dr. Trey that he has filed trademarks for the P1 logo and the Phenomenal one or the Phenomenal AJ styles I believe he put trademarks in which still makes sense because if he leaves WWE first off he own that logo before coming to WWE folks yeah and the name nothing new there I'm assuming it was on loan the WWE for a period of time and that was just the contractual status behind it but if he's got to put out stuff out on pro wrestling teas or when he starts making appearances at conventions that could be it everything I've read so far there's nothing that's indicating that his WWE career is ending and he could pop up in AEW next week or you know T&A the following week would have her that this is it this is what he's been talking about he has set an interviews that I've read that he like wants to become a producer he wants to be involved he wants to go to NXT you know he lives in the Georgia area it's an easy drive down to the PC every once in a while like he wants to stay within the WWE umbrella so that's my vibe that this is his last in ring match but yeah there's definitely some cloud of uncertainty behind it all and and we'll probably get some more clarity unfortunately this weekend and talk about next week but nonetheless there is a cloud of uncertainty right now where people think that this is just his WWE career going back to the AJ Styles CM Punk stuff

6:49 thanks to cage match which is you know the massive database for wrestling matches where people always give their thoughts on a card AJ Styles and CM Punk did wrestle each other in 2003 and 2004 in places like IWA Mid-South no limits NWA no limits IWC which was international wrestling cartel I know that one that one's in pencil in pencil van you because I know the owner of that show so yeah and a couple shows in RO8 they did do a tag team match in TNA AJ Styles and D.L.O. Brown taking on CM Punk and Jason Cross in those days when they were on pay-per-view every Wednesday and they did have a fatal four-way match AJ Styles Christopher Daniel CM Punk and John Walters in jersey all pro wrestling which I believe now jersey championship wrestling is GCW so not jersey all pro but this is like it's going back in a time these were like the things I used to read on one wrestling dot com PWInsider dot com instead of being able to have a YouTube or tape trading or DVD trading like that's how I read what was going on the independent wrestling scene which I kind of long for it once more but yeah Dr. Trey going back to the story at hand here right there's this there's this selfishness as a wrestling fan it's like oh man you know we just got done with with Cena the vibe is I don't see any storyline way that he comes out with the victory if he does it's it's like a really good story and maybe they revisited at some point

8:22 and he just retires at the end of the year but it just it sucks knowing that this could be it because there are a ton of things I'd love to see I'd love to see AJ Styles get a run with the Intercono championship I'd love to see AJ Styles get a run with the US title hell I'd love to see me get a run with the World Heavyweight Championship WWE Championship because when you really look at AJ Styles full WWE career which is mind-boggling then he's been in the company for 10 years now I mean it's close to the amount of time that he was in TNA wrestling at this point which is which is insane it's a reminder that stat were like Kurt Angle actually had more years in TNA than he did in WWE but nonetheless it's it's strange because from 2016 to about 2020 2021 as I'll say he was a mainstay upper mid card main eventor had you know matches against Randy Orton John Cena he runs with the World Championship Dengar Bryan whatever Seth Rollins and then from like 2021 to now it's been riddled with inconsistent create create for him injuries that have plagued him and just not being used on television he had that injury when he first came back to Smackdown said hey you know this is going to be my swan song then he has the injury then he's out for a long time and then he had that tag team with Omos which was just a waste of his time that literally went nowhere and I don't know if that was a transition at that point from

9:52 from triple us Vitsikovanna triple H creatively but they were just under utilizing him and I think when we when we look back at his WWE time I tend to think that I'll remember the 2016 to 2020 2021 run more than I will the last five years because again riddled with injuries riddled with inconsistent creativity but he's had a very solid WWE career the overall encompassing wrestling career is for lack of better terms phenomenal he is one of those guys from the early 2000s if you're like me and you're like Dr. Trey and you used to either read one wrestling dot com or pwinsider dot com and you'd read the independent shows results and see his name all over it or as YouTube started becoming a thing and you'd be checking out his matches on YouTube or you check them out on daily motion or even download them back in the day or if you started following the early days of NWA TNA on Wednesdays on paper view which then became TNA like you had a love and affection for AJ Styles he was like one of those guys it was it was Daniel sin it was punk it was him and in those early 2000s those are the guys that were dominating the independent wrestling scenes that you thought at some point would get a run in WWE Daniels and eventually got there punk obviously did but AJ Styles was one of those guys that you never thought he would

11:24 and he was just basically Mr. TNA he was the sting of TNA where sting was in WCW for a long time you just felt like AJ Styles would be and when he appeared in 2016 Royal Rumble leaving New Japan after he had that fallen out it was in New Japan for like a year and a half in between TNA and WWE that was just mind blowing the time never thought that would happen everybody obviously thought that he was going to be booked terribly in WWE and that really was at the case his talent shown through there were certainly sometimes that there was a lot of vincisms with the way that he was being booked you know comparing his haircut to a mom's soccer moms haircut was one where they have to like insult him to build him up that was the bullshit that they basically did in WWE with guys that weren't built by WWE see any WWE talent in the early 2000s I had to go through that but yeah I mean it's been a run I wish he got longer and I wish that you know we just got more from him honestly it's a selfish decision just to kind of wrap up my entire thoughts on the same doctor try it's been a nice week but the guy definitely deserved more but it sounds like from what Shinsuke Nakamura posted on social media which then was taken down where AJ Styles told him on the tour of Australia which was back in October that he was going to be wrapping up with the Royal Rumble which is poetic because he started the Royal Rumble now he's ending at the Royal Rumble potentially that it just wish we had more I wish we had more time Javan Evans, him versus Carmelo Hayes, him versus Rey Mysterio

12:54 Seth Rollins, Braun Breaker, Austin Theory, Logan Paul, Bronson Reed, whoever right, Roman Reigns again, J.U. so an actual feud with Punk, Finn Balor again, I mean in the list goes on and on and on so it's disappointing it just me being selfish but hopefully a week from now should he take the L to Gunther which is what I expect because they just trademarked career end or whatever the tagline was for him and I feel like this is his gimmick I predicted it on the first show of the year yeah I just wish we had more time with him honestly is it an in-ring performer? Yeah it feels like on one hand you feel like it's almost like a death like when you know somebody's on life support you know it's coming so you're trying to prepare for it but you just wish you had more time and you know all the names you mentioned up like me I'm like I still want one more AJ and Kazarian match I'd love to see AJ and Christopher Daniels one more time but you know even if AJ you know goes you know was in had some time to go to Tina I'd love to see AJ win the TNA World Championship you know one more time you know something stuff like that like he's you know for a lot of people of your age group like AJ was the closest thing to Shawn Michaels that we saw for a long time maybe didn't have the charisma of Shawn Michaels but in-ring work like you know maybe right there with Shawn and maybe a slight notch below it like just one of the best in-ring performers and the crazy thing is his work in the ring has gotten better since he came to WWE

14:31 because he kind of learned how to kind of sell not so sell more but kind of tell stories in the ring more like you know some of those matches he had with Moxley back in the day you know the I love the beat up John Cena when he had the good brothers with him even why to AJ when he first came into the company I thought was fun because I never thought I'd see AJ Styles and Chris Jericho teaming up and then getting into a feud like those early days were great and it kind of it's such in a sense because you felt like it started so strong like I know you and I talked about it I never once thought I would see AJ Styles as a WWE World Champion never in a thought not just because he's a TNA guy but also because for lack of it he was kind of a smaller guy but he got over and the crowd made it to where it had to happen but ever since he had the shoulder injury and then the ankle injury like the last few years it's just kind of tapered off and like you said they kind of didn't know where to slide it because once you kind of have that injury bug WWE doesn't know what to do with you because they don't it's hard for them to put you in like compelling long term storytelling because they're afraid you're going to get hurt look at Dolph Ziggler's career ever since he started having to have the concussion issues about the time he cashed in money in the bank but like right now when you see the rate of work he was doing even the tag team with Dragon Lee like you're like man he's so good at this age like he could go another four or five years

16:07 and still be a good in-ring performer but AJ's pride is so strong that he wants to leave on a high note I get that selfishly like what I like to see him go to AEW maybe bring the good brothers in with them and kind of reform a big bullet club with JY and the bang bang gang and all those guys abs are freaking lootly you know like super bullet club in AEW with Kenny in the box in AJ and everything else that'd be awesome but AJ's kind of a man was worth and WWE is taking really good care of him the last ten years and he wants to be able to give back and kind of have a little more freedom and independence like it go out on top like I'm cool with that and I'll appreciate it and like he said he's right down the road and I know people that he's super close with so if I ever want to go hang out with him now that he'll have free time that's probably there but yeah I'm with you I'd like to see him stick around for another year or two have a proper farewell tour but if this is the end like I got a lot of good memories of AJ's thoughts yeah that's the thing to write to summarize everything if this is what he wants then who are we to say like you know no this can't be happening yeah it's just selfish wrestling fan which we got longer which we had some sort of countdown which that they got a lot of matches out of the way that we were like okay this is really cool and you know we were probably spoiled with Johnson and farewell tour I don't think it's a bad thing for wrestlers to get those farewell tours in the companies that they work on

17:39 because I think people appreciate them more they can absorb it more this is a little bit of like shock it's like it's shocking that this is potentially coming to an end and everybody basically watching on Saturday is feeling like they're watching the last AJ Styles match at least in WWE I'll just put the parentheses out there because we fully don't know with that said we'll preview and predict AJ Styles versus Gunther later on in the show when we preview Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia this Saturday Dr. Jerry you know 10 years ago AJ Styles came from New Japan to do a WWE well there are some rumblings out there that another name from New Japan actually several names but this is the big name this week we'll be departing New Japan pro wrestling and coming to world wrestling or entainment New Japan has confirmed that this wrestler is departed and that is the one and only evil former member of the bullet club the House of Torture former member of LFI excuse me not LFI that would be in AEW LOS what was it in L.I.J I guess it is L.I.J. with Tetsu and Nido I love that version of it by the way with him and Sonata that tag team said on in the was awesome was well so evil is reportedly on his way to WWE Dr. Trey a lot of people online saying that this is like a couple years too late I tend to agree with him on that because I feel like the buzz around evil has not been as strong as it once was but here we are rumblings of evil coming to WWE your thoughts as he could be coming stateside and be on our television each and every week in Royal Russ entertainment

19:21 yeah I'm interested to see the transition like I was a big I'm not a second former also I WGP champion as well just for a short time I believe but like I'm interested how they use them and what the plan for me is because we outside of Shinsuke and even people will tell me that I'm wrong we haven't had a lot of great success with Japanese imports coming to the states and that's just been the in WWE that's just been their entire history like they've kind of fumbled that maybe the girls EO and Kyrie and Asuka are kind of the exceptions of the rule but as far as men they just haven't had time to success outside of Shinsuke and people will tell you that Shinsuke has been handled poorly so it's going to be interesting to see how they use them what their plan is do you think he's going NXT first before main roster like I don't know like if he has enough of a name to make the big jump to the main roster or do they need to give him it's going to be it's just really interesting to see where they slot him in at he's a really good in-ring worker he's good on a microphone so like I'm cool with that is this going to be interesting like what the plan is for evil when he comes to WWE yeah that's certainly something right to keep an eye on it's like what what do they do with evil in WWE it just doesn't feel like a WWE move for them to sign him

20:52 I think he's a main roster guy I don't think he's an NXT talent especially with the direction that they're going right now unless you know there's that little transition that Julia and Stephanie Vaughcour went through where you know they're taking daily English class to help them out with promo I don't know if evil is fluent in English at all but yeah that's the thing that's pretty much like the big thing it's like what do you do with this guy like could he where does he end up how does like where would be a good spot for him it's funny because everybody fantasy books online and they're like we'll just put him with a solo in MFT's it's like anybody who came from New Japan has to be aligned with solo it's like okay if you are a Simone or you are from New Japan go with solo I even saw the same thing with the rumblings about David Finley right now potentially coming to WWE which I thought was was odd for him to be an MFT's they were putting on face paint on him in some photos I feel like there's a lot of sarcasm but unless the rumblings are out there evil coming certainly leaving New Japan coming to the United States and it feels like it will be a destination of world wrestling entertainment so more on that as we get closer who knows maybe he pops up this weekend in the Royal Rumble Dr. Tray there's some reports coming out there pre rumble that there is at least one locked in match for WrestleMania 42 Russell votes is reporting AJ Lee versus Becky Lynch is considered to be one of the more locked in matches for WrestleMania

22:29 a number of creative changes have occurred towards WrestleMania but this has been a plan match for quite some time they have not had a one-on-one match yet since AJ Lee returned in September Dr. Tray this is not a surprise to me this makes a ton of sense and are you okay with it potentially being for the Intercontinental Championship or do you think this should have a world title around it or no title at all I mean if Becky is still the icy champion it's fine it can stand on its own it doesn't have to be for the women's title and that's one of the things you and I have talked about for years is when they start building these dream matches and then all of a sudden they shoehorn a world championship into it you know rock CM Punk you know like leading into rock and scene it like it's like it doesn't need a world title on these guys have the credibility that just the one-on-one match is fine I'm happy with it because that means I'll also get at least one match correct on my WrestleMania prediction card that we did in January so I'll have won this year instead of a zero so like I'm go with it it'll be you know kind of a dream match for a lot of you know women's wrestling fans and bring a lot of eyes at table and then you know if you use it to kind of elevate the division around Becky and AJ then that's a win as well I wonder if this spoils at all of a CM Punk Seth Rollins match at for a WrestleMania Dr. Drake because there's you know there's a lot of people that are thinking Seth Rollins returns this Saturday but the only way I think that happens is the direction that he aims for Braun Breaker and the vision rather than punk right now

24:13 but he's out in interviews all over the place promoting unreal saying that he's gonna take out CM Punk and regain the World of Weight Championship which I find odd unless I'm not seeing quotes about him addressing the vision situation does that put a little foreshadowing out there as a Rollins punk match happening at WrestleMania 42 as well? Well this this is me I saw Rollins say that CM Punk is his green Bay Packers oh wow make sense so yeah because I mean you know they should go Bears fan you know even though the both Bears fans yeah I don't get that but yeah it is what it is like it I don't get him saying that unless it is once again him trying to work the media for him to then swerve him I think I think punk is kind of our nosy me a wrong kind of picked up on a little bit of the MJFC on the you know the media to kind of play into things so we definitely different is getting a little shocked factor into it I don't see a world where he comes back as a heal right now like it like if somebody takes you out of action and then when you come back you avoid them that doesn't make sense like if somebody takes me out I'm coming back for revenge and then I'm going after my goals of being World Champion that's just kind of how it's just wrestling psychology 101 like that be like when when the horseman broke Dusty's leg he comes back in challenges Ron Garvin I don't know why it makes no it wouldn't make any sense right like that's kind of the same

25:45 thing it's like wait these guys beat you up and you're going to come back and then fight somebody that they also have been fighting now you're technically kind of friends with the the enemy of my enemy is my friend well now you're kind of semi aligned with them so I just think it's his way of kind of working the media a little bit and then when they go back to him versus the vision like I like on paper it makes sense to have punk and Rollins fight the vision for Rollins to eventually turn on punk to then play into that storyline back you're going back to that storyline that's kind of how I would set it up because I think we've talked about here to me Seth Rollins is the most versatile wrestler in WWE because his baby phase and his eel stuff is really really good and you can position him anywhere and the fans will eat it up just you know whether booing him or cheering him I know it was a different creative lead at the time one basic man doctor trade but we have seen this happen in WWE in the past my favorite moment of this was shamus taking out triple H after WrestleMania 26 and triple H returning almost a year later because he was starting to do the office job takes out shamus and like one fell swoop segment and then aims for the Undertaker to set up WrestleMania 27 and I was always like that is such BS but yeah that's how the book was at the period time yeah it doesn't make sense for Rollins to return and say I'll get you vision later but I'm going after CM Punk but yeah crazier things have happened

27:25 so some stuff that's starting to rumble I love it all pun intended as we head towards WrestleMania 42 we're starting to see a clear picture of the direction of the eventual potential WrestleMania 42 card um doctor trade you and I pre show we're talking about like getting older like we always do and um how kids don't understand how good they've got it and I always feel that way about wrestling video games well WWE 2k 26 is now releasing an attitude air and Monday night war edition and I think it may get me back in wrestling video games you have still been in wrestling video games your thoughts on this major announcement so I have not bought a 2k game in like two years and a lot of it was just because timing money things like that is I don't want to buy a game that I'm not going to play for walk as I was too busy um I've seen the cuts of it some the screenshots now of course screenshots of video games they always use like the enhanced graphics card to make it look really really great but I'm excited about it like it's weird because wrestling video games over the last couple years have kind of played into more than nostalgia stuff uh but getting a Monday night war slash attitude air a type game plays right into my wheelhouse I mean that's that's the wrestling you and I grew up on so um they're talking about the biggest selection of professional wrestlers in a video game I saw a wonderful over 150 different wrestlers you could choose from now some of that might just be alternate attires but like yeah if you can go in and actually do like a Monday night war storyline

29:05 and you know you're you're hand picking who you're having jump back and forth that'd be awesome I saw a wonder parts of there might be actual thumbtack matches in there as well like some of the older model or some of the older match types they haven't had an inferno match in a 2k game in like six or seven years they're bringing the inferno match back so like I'm kind of excited for this one so um it's it's drawing you back in and it's also probably drawing me back in as well well it's definitely drawing the old fans back in it's funny you're like I haven't bought a game in two years I probably haven't bought a game in like 12 years um and I was a religious every year wrestling game and they were always great one of my favorites is um WWE no mercy or WWE and WWE or revenge like those are my favorite games and 64 those the best thq was amazing even though you look at the graphics down you're like what the hell did I love about it so explain this to me because I don't fully understand this is this the regular WWE 2k 26 game where there if you buy the attitude air or you buy the Monday night wars like that's an added bonus to it or is this game just going to strictly be focusing on the attitude air and the money wars so the way I've understood for the last couple years there is a storyline mode that you can go through so usually it's been like you're a young rookie you got come up like a couple years ago it was like you come up through the independence and then you sign a contract with NXT and then you go through NXT and then you eventually get called to the main roster then uh the last game I bought it was you were a guy and a girl and you had to do both those things uh so I believe this is part of the storyline

30:50 is part of the storyline mode for this game they also have the bloodline storyline they have a the island of relevancy type thing where it's a little bit like the 2k basketball games where you have specific goals to get points and coins that you can spend in the shop and upgrade your characters and things like that so my understanding was that this was going to be the kind of the feature storyline of the game was reliving that well they also goes at the same time they also have in years past they've had like WrestleMania mode where there was like you're reliving the greatest moments of any Guerrero's career you're living the greatest moments of Rey Mysterio's career so it may slot in that where you're reliving some of the great moments and they intercut video from the event itself and then translate over to the game so like one of our members was a Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Halloween havoc 97 I believe it was um but that was like you had to do a certain move and then would trigger a cutscene of what actually happened so I I'm still kind of waiting to see if it's that version or if it's actually part of the storyline but either way I'm going to think because it should be pretty fun to kind of get in there and relive some those great moments of the money night wars Dr. Tratt the only thing is so thank you for the explanation about that the only thing that I have because I don't fully understand it that's how old I am now folks why do it all in one shot like why not stagger this because you could get me to buy at like I am extremely interested in buying the game right now like

32:31 have me buy attitude air this year then do money night wars next year I mean I think the literally the last WWE 2K game I bought was the one where it was like 2k 12 and it was the WCW invasion like reboot do you remember that like you could play in the Nitro and all that stuff and and it was like a second chance for the WCW guys to go after WWE like that was the last time like I feel like they're kind of blowing it all in one shot here to do both these additions and one fell swoop well I think it's also kind of a way I maybe their sales are down I don't know what the sales numbers have been the last few years it might be a way of kind of like drawing people back in they're also going to focus on you know every video game now focus on you know downloadable content that you pay for so I'm sure they're going to have ways of like downloading certain stuff pay for Jerry more revenue but if you can least draw people back into the game and get them back into being that yearly buyer like people are with madden or NCAA football or things like that or 2k bat you know NBA I think that's the methodology they're going was like hey sales have been down for you few years let's try this and see if we can't reinvigorate the game a little bit get some people back in so that we know we kind of locked them in for the next couple of years yeah you're absolutely right like if you wanted to draw it out but that's not our market anymore like people are like us where we appreciate slow burns they're going to shotgun at the best they can when they can I'm telling you 2k if you're listening right now welcome this is the still real the show Jeff Pack Dr. Frank on with you if you did this year added to the next year Monday night wars the fall in year the 80s the golden era and then did like new generation you've got me hooked line and sinker and then even ruthless aggression why not you've got me for five straight years if you did something like that but here we are blown it all one shot I'm stoked for this doctor I think this is like a genius moved by WWE to do it.

34:28 We to do a game like this because why the hell not like why haven't they go down that avenue could you imagine a you know prime WWE WCW video game I guess they're doing it with Monday at wars where it's like you know WCW NW over a vent I don't know if they have the naming rights while they purchase WWE or WCW but yeah like what a missed opportunity not doing this all these years so they kind of did that last I didn't play last year's game but I know people did and they had kind of an invasion angle last year with like an upstart promotion but it was like a lot of NXT guys and CM Punk leading the cars to take over WWE but yeah like my head was like yeah this would be great if you kind of did it like what you're talking about like you know every year it's a nostalgia hook plus the new stuff like that would be fantastic I really love to see kind of like reboots of those games featured like you know some of the newer like characters like I want to Raven's flock game I want to see Reese in a video game but I'm excited because supposedly also they're getting licensing from TNA so that TNA might also be in this game as well awesome so yeah more to stand out there but I get some more details I guess I got to release more details on Friday morning during like the Royal Wimbled kickoff show that they're airing because that's when you can pre-order so yeah more more to come on that but I love it they're probably

36:05 getting me back in the wrestling video games here folks my wife all love to hear that but I I'm certainly pumped some water will yeah local yes he's just starting to be like mesmerized by watching wrestling on television which is not something my wife loves some roster news this week let's start with TNA wrestling Dr. Trey as Trey Miguel return a TNA just after they released and we talked about it last week show he appeared on TNA television last week on AMC I'm happy for the guy he's talented I think you deserve the second chance I'm glad that his wrestling career is moving forward and you know he had said give me some space and TNA swooped in said hey do you want to come back he said yes and now he's on his own and he's on television although this was a great move for everybody involved especially after the horrible way he was released yeah I said I always like Trey is one of the nicest guys I've met in wrestling but you know you get caught up in a he's changed and you know you get blowback years later from it but just super great guy happy forum not only was he back on TV I think he actually won one of the briefcases in their feast or fired match as well so it looks like they got a little bit of a storyline now if they have him get the fired briefcase that would be awful but overall like just to see him back on TV see him happy see him having some fun I know he'd love to be with you know his boys over in eight of you but like right now like just go out there prove yourself kick ass and then let the chips fall over they may when your contracts up in a year and then going to a w his former employer for a couple hours last night on dynamite the recently departing from w e former

37:46 annexi champion the psycho killer to muscle champa has landed in a w he is all elite doctor tray what do you think about this career move for the psycho killer. I mean as far as wrestling goes it's great for him he's going to get chance to kind of go out there wrestle guys he knows we're already seeing him in the ring with Mark with Mark brisco there's other are or each guy he can work with I don't know if it's if he'll actually ever get to the main event level but chomp is what we've seen it in an exceed black and gold like he was one of the best in ring performers there is so the fact he can go out there and have some you know 15 20 minute matches with guys and really showcases to Alan's I'm excited for by the way I saw the entrance that theme music is phenomenal also like I've had that song in my head the last you know 18 hours since I saw it so good presentation form it made him feel like a big deal so you long term hey I maybe w he might be better spot for like long term stability but if you're just a pure wrestler and you love the art of wrestling hey a w's a great place to go showcase those house and have some fun while your years while you can enjoy the fruits of your career doctor trades it's a pricing didn't work out for him in WWE once triple H got the creative books because I always felt like he was the prototypical triple H guy like triple H loved him remember the first time after triple H had his heart issue and was gone and there were some like

39:19 it was a very serious matter the first time he returned to television was at stand and deliver after he to monster champ a lost Tony D'Angelo it was his swan song in NXT and triple H surprise and gave him a hug crowd went crazy that was the first time triple H came back on television after his heart problem which is like mind boggling like that's the moment that he picked it it always is surprising me it hasn't worked out for him with triple H having the books yeah like you know I love champa I think he's one of my favorite wrestlers there is but there is that little bit of like you got to be special if you're undersized to kind of get over in wwe like on paper like champa versus Roman reigns would it be a great match yes but physically it doesn't match up or on breaker in champa like you have to be special and otherwise you kind of get lumped into that mid card role and that's where I just kind of think I think it's where guys like him and like gargano special in the ring but I don't know I just it's like you I don't know if it's it's nothing he doesn't have the it factor I don't know if they has like main event picture it factor with those guys and I think it's like kind of where they get kind of type cast in lost in the middle for a long time unless you just get something so organically over that you can't be denied that's kind of where you live and I mean you look at the car w to be so top heavy right now it's kind of hard to find a spot for those like super talented in ring performers that might be slightly above average with charisma it's just hard to find a spot for them I mean hell jay also is one of those over guys the company right now he's back in the tag team division

41:05 it's it's tough it's it's we've talked about it it's very tough I mean you could even point that to someone stuff with a jay styles it's a very top heavy group there's a lot of all star names and I guess only certain people can survive that so to also champ all elite after departing w after his contract ran out recently so I saw a thing where in two months time he is now challenging for the United States championship and the TNA championship as he'll be take TNT championship as he'll be taking on mark brisco I believe this Saturday on collision for his AWN ring debut um doctor trade let's get into the Royal Rumble with our preview and predictions it is this Saturday the King Abu Dhabi financial district in Riyadh Saudi Arabia I did not know this until Mondays raw but WWE actually put together the stadium for this show which is absurd I can't wait to see like a television in like a month yeah while unbelievable so yeah I guess you could just it reminds me of WrestleMania 9 you could just put a stadium anywhere in a parking lot which is basically what they did it with the Royal Rumble so big show this Saturday will be at 2 p.m. East 11 a.m. Pacific so mid day Royal Rumble which is fine with me because there's absolutely nothing to do and I do not want to be outside right now so let's get to the first match your doctorates where where we started this start of the show with AJ styles we have AJ styles versus Gunther in a career threatening match if AJ styles loses he'll be forced to retire from in ring competition doctor trade I am unfortunately picking Gunther in this one yeah my heart wants to pick AJ but the fact that I am actually undefeated my last two months of PLE predictions I'm taking Gunther as well because I got I got to stay on my streak so I'm taking Gunther in this

42:55 doctor trade you come out of this one undefeated with the Royal Rumble I will applaud you my friend next match Drew McAter defend the end of the championship against Sammy Zane doctor trade who do you like in this one man it was again if I'm picking with my heart I'm going with Sammy but Drew just got the belt we're trying to get back to Drew and Cody or Drew and Jacob I think I'm probably for WrestleMania so I am going to take Drew McAter in this one to retain the championship I like you I'm taking Drew McAter as well a couple months ago I want to say I had predicted that if Sammy Zane was in the Royal Rumble match that I felt like he was the odds on favorite to win being Saudi Arabia he was starting to like ramp up the storyline and he can't win the big one I think this is the way to get him out of the rumble doctor trade is to have him in the world championship match so I don't make people happy Drew retains you and I both pick him being Drew to walk out of the way I'm going to do it.

43:47 I think I can be Drew to walk out of rumble with the unspeakable W.E. championship and now we get to the women's Royal Rumble match the winner gets a world championship match at WrestleMania 42 a lot of names have been announced for this one doctor trade it's a tough one to call this is great for wrestling fans I'm the men's matches even going to be tougher but I am going to go with the returning and she is not been announced yet be on Caballero I think we're getting the on Caballero versus Jade card kill at WrestleMania 42 and this is the beginning of those seeds being played. So Bianca has not been in a match since WrestleMania last year which is absurd to think of and I believe she has been cleared for some time so I'm going to take Bianca Belair in this one doctor trade.

44:30 Yeah I'm with you like we saw Bianca finish what she's already finished second one year I think third another year but the Bianca Jade match is what people like us have been clamoring forces Jade came to WWE so I'm with you that was actually my pick I thought we were kind of shocked you with that one but we're on the same page I'm taking Bianca Belair as well. Well this could be the shocking one now because the men's Royal Rumble match where winner gets a world championship match at WrestleMania 42 triple H is saying it is one of the most star studded rumbles they've ever had there's going to be a ton of surprises there's a lot of rumbles that we've seen in the past that we'll see if it could out do this one the men's match at least.

45:12 There are rumors out there that Chris Jericho could be in this match that powerhouse Hobbs who I guess is going to be called Royce Keys could be in this match returning people mainstays Roman Reigns Brock Lesnar announced Oba Femi announced for this match the entire vision is announced for this for this match Cody Rhodes Jacob Attour in this match doctor trade. Who do you like in this one because this is this is a good thing it's a crap shoot. I honestly have no clue like this is the one I'm going to get wrong because for me I'm like okay it's either going to be I just I can't see Cody winning three in a row.

45:56 I don't see it being Jacob so then it comes down to for me like Roman and Brock and which match do I think we might go with the WrestleMania. I think I'm going to take Brock Lesnar winning this whole thing and see him Brock and see him punk at WrestleMania so I'm kind of leaning Brock Lesnar right now which goes against my WrestleMania predictions that I gave out earlier this year. I think I'm going to take Brock Lesnar winning this whole thing keep in mind also I forgot Gunther is in this match as well. Gunther gets double duty he that was like how they set up the match with AJ yeah he's doing double duty according from what I believe. Why can't they need you double duty. Hey doctor trade you're thinking outside the box here. I think the direction of this is how they decide the challenger for the Undisputed WWE Championship match for Drew McAid WrestleMania 42.

46:51 I think it's too much of a crap shoot right now the direction of where punk is going for WrestleMania 42 personally in the way that I see things plain out. I think that Seth Rollins returns I would have taken Braun Breaker I think Seth Rollins returns this Saturday I think he's in the match because there was the foreshadowing that the vision all agreed Bronson Reed austen there in Logan Paul all agreed that they were going to help Braun Breaker win I think Rollins comes back and takes out Braun Breaker I mean that's the guy that took him out and set this all up in motion to begin with and I think that is a direction we get for WrestleMania which is Braun Breaker and Seth Rollins I think at some point we get to Gunther versus CM Punk at WrestleMania I could also see Lesnar versus CM Punk at WrestleMania.

47:41 This idea came to me I thought about going in a direction Dr. Trey during the show and picking one of them and you know what as we've sat here and you gave your reason I'm like you know what screw it I'm just going to say it I think that from when I saw it Saturday Night's Main event with Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu that they get to foregone conclusion we get a triple threat match at WrestleMania and I am a long time wrestling fan and one of the earliest Royal Rumbles that I remember is the 1994 Royal Rumble where both Bret Hart and Lex Luger went out at the same time and they could not decide who won it led to a WrestleMania 10 tournament where Lex Luger took on Yokozuna, Bret Hart took on Owen Hart and Bret would take on the winner of that match between Lex and Yoko for the World Title in the main event and Bret Hart and defeating Yokozuna and winning the World Title after Yokozuna defeated Lex Luger earlier in the night.

48:34 And that was all based on a coin flip. I think that Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu are going to pull a 1994 Royal Rumble match not a 2005 Royal Rumble where Batista and John Cena did it accidentally and then went to overtime and Vince Torres quads and Batista ended up winning. I think we get Jacob Fatu versus Cody Rhodes both winning the Rumble, pulling a 1994 Royal Rumble match and I think it makes creative sense for me. So I'm going with I don't love doing this because I'm like picking two things at the same time but I will preface this by saying that if Cody wins, if Jacob wins solo on their own not solo Sakawa, I will not take a half a point or a half credit on this thing or a tie.

49:17 I am going both with Jacob Fatu and Cody Rhodes and pulling a 1994 Royal Rumble to win this match. See, I have thought that in a sense also because I was trying to figure out how do you get to the triple threat match if we think that's where it's going and like just the timing to get it right is so difficult. I was just like, and we live in an area where everybody wants to micro analyze every video detail that there is and you know we see those guys when there's a pin fall and the shoulder comes up all our gunther and Randy Orton from last year where the shoulder got up and people pointing it out and like they had to go back and correct it.

49:59 I was just too afraid of picking that but it makes sense creatively like it's an easy way to get to a triple threat match so I honestly think we're all we're going to get them all wrong. I'll be somebody else that's kind of where I'm at. Oh, look at last year right J.U. So so there you go. So yeah, that's our Royal Rumble preview and predictions can't wait for the show this Saturday. I can't wait to recap it with all of you on next week's edition of SRTU. And of course I cannot wait to start doing the WrestleMania 42 card roundup starting next week on SRT which is our weekly segment heading into WrestleMania. Dr. Trey anybody who likes dislikes has different predictions with our Royal Rumble predictions they can chime in over at patreon.com/srtupodcast comment below this podcast and tell us what you think will be the winners of the Royal Rumble paper view this Saturday afternoon.

50:57 I always want to say Sunday with that said let's close up shop on this week's edition of SRTU. We've got a couple plugs and spots out of the way you can support us over at patreon.com/srtu. You get the show ad frame asking all listeners to the other and support us. You can also download it every Thursday or Friday at realguymedia.com. Rest of chat net on X and there's still another show feed on Apple Spotify wherever you download this podcast. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe as the algorithm is king. But it's the key plan in the charts on those podcast platforms. You could fall asleep individually on extra myself at SRTU Jeff. And for Dr. Trey Franklin the Dr. Trey and of course don't forget to follow show on X at SRTU podcast. With that being said what is going on the wonderful world of Dr. Franklin this week. Well like Jeff said you can find me on X at the Dr. Trey you can find me on Facebook and Instagram just search out Dr. Trey Franklin.

51:41 When you're on Facebook be sure to check out Rockets Eat Championship Wrestling got a big show coming up next Saturday the seventh looking for that one. We had a big show two weeks ago New World Champion Crown New Tag Team Champions Crown New American Heavyweight Champion Crown. So if you're interested go on the Facebook page check it out or you can go to youtube.com/rocketsitichampishim Wrestling and see all of our past episodes as well. There you go. Support all the great things that support SRTU. Tell your friends and a wrestling fans download the show. Check it out. And once again if you're a supporter of our show please go and sign up over at patreon.com/srtupodcast for free and show us that you're there because that is the spot where we're tracking all of our listeners.

52:24 With that said until next week when Dr. Trey and I recap and review the Royal Rumble and start knowing on the road to wrestling any 42. Enjoy the weekend enjoy the Royal Rumble weekend for Dr. Trey Franklin I am Jeff Pact this has been this to release show.