Sami Zayn Shocks the Wrestling World! | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #855 – 7/2/26

0:00 It's still real to be damaged in it! [Music] What now we know? [Music] Welcome everybody! Welcome to this week's Disney Story of the Show. Episode 85 for July 2nd, 2026. This is your WWE night of champions, AEW for Ben and Door, and NXT Great American Dash, Recap and Review Edition of SRT View. I am one after the show. I am Jeff Beck, joined every single week, my co-host, the one only Dr. Tray Franklin, Dr. Tray.

0:43 Sammy Zane is our WWE Champion, my friend. Is that something I know? So it's not something I thought would ever have. I'm going to ask you this because you brought it up, Mulder. Did you really think that this was a possibility or was this more of a hope? It's funny you say that because here we are organically open in the show. Obviously this is going to be a big topic of it. I've been the reason why we're talking about it now, obviously. At one time I thought it was going to happen, and then I would say pretty recently I'm like, I think he may be like this generation's Scott Hall.

1:24 This generation's Roddy Piper and the WWE. They are amazing, memorable professional wrestlers that never won the WWE Championship. I don't think Scott Hall ever won a World Championship. Piper had a roma that upset up your title. And that's where I was getting with Sammy Zane, especially the way that you look at these windows nowadays with Cody, Roman, the echelon below that, the upcoming young stars, the Gunthers, the Braun Breaker, the O-Buzz of the World punk, Rollins. It just felt like Sammy Zane will never get a roma in the Championship. When would that window be? I made a case at the last year, at the Rumble this year.

2:05 I was like, I think this is the time to do it. They didn't do it. And then it's like, are they going to do it at WrestleMania 43 when it's in Saudi Arabia? That felt to be the closest opportunities. And it's like, when would they do it? It feels like it's going to be Cody versus, who knows, Rollins, punk, rock, Roman versus Oba, Brock, Rollins, punk, whoever, right? Like that, it just never felt like he would get in there. So I was losing home, my friend. I got to admit. Yeah, I think I've compared him to Roddy Piper at times. Just tremendous wrestler, the ability to be a really strong baby face or a heel, great work or great soldier for the company.

2:50 In a lot of ways, also, when people thought about Mr. Perfect, I always say Mr. Perfect never won a World Cup because I don't count the AWA title really as a World Championship. He was in that vein of those guys who are just so super talented, but maybe didn't have the right look or just didn't have, like you mentioned, the right timing to come along at a time that where the roster maybe has never been as loaded as it is now. Like, it could have easily fell into the Dolph Ziggler category of like, just, hey, he's great to have on the roster. He does anything we ask him makes everybody look great. You know, but even Dolph got a short run with the title, but I was almost at the point where like, I was with him like, oh, Sammy's in this match to take the pinfall so that way Cody and Gump are looks strong.

3:38 So the fact that we're sitting here a few days later and you and I can honestly say that are two of our all-time favorites from the SRTU timeline. Sammy Zayn and Kevin Owens have both been WWE World Champions. Yeah, it's wild. And especially going back to when this first started this podcast back in 2010. I was raving about generic over sustained feud in Ring of Honor. I mean, I talk about that a lot. And we are 16 years later and both these guys are in WWE. They both had runs as a world champion in WWE and they've made a man and WrestleMania together as a tag team winning that tag team championship and also faced off against one another at a WrestleMania.

4:21 I always look at them. Those two guys as like the anchors of the history of this podcast where we started like hyping them up and like these two people should be watching out for. So and now here we are 16, 17 years later and it's like these two guys have been on top of the world back and forth and are some of the most recognizable stars in professional wrestling. It's just you're proud. You're very, very proud of them. You don't know them. You feel like you've known them. There have been very small interactions I've had with some of them, relatives of theirs. And like they're just people that you're proud of. They're just, they seem like genuine good people.

5:03 They seem like people that we can relate to and I'm extremely happy and thrilled for Sammy Zayn that he has had this opportunity. We'll certainly chew on this a lot in this episode for sure, but I just want to quickly deviate from this Dr. Trey because I feel like if I asked you. So on last week's podcast, by the way, welcome back Dr. Trey who missed out last week doing some work training. I broke down the match and I was like, I really want to pick Sammy, but I just don't see it happening going in a summer slam and some of the anchors where you feel the same way with the Roman Reigns and Cody when they hold the titles. It's like, I just can't see it happening.

5:44 Then it doesn't. It's a great little turnaround. But with that said, if you ask me go into the weekend, who is the best wrestler on the WWE roster that has never won a world championship? It's Sammy Zayn. No doubt about it. But now that he's done it, who is it, Dr. Trey? Who comes to mind? That's a really, I hadn't looked at that angle. So let me just try to run through the roster in my head of who's never been on top. Gunther J, Drew Brock, Cody Pong, Sammy Kevin.

6:26 Has been a world champion. Before a day, yeah, but yeah, Damien Priest has. Is it Dom Mysterio? Well, I would say Jimmy Hussle, Jacob. Total presentation of a wrestler, maybe Shinsuke? Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's a loved, beloved figure. And he's had longevity WWE, he's had longevity before and he's semi-main evented a WrestleMania, him and AJ when he turned eal. So he's a Royal Rumble winner. I mean, you can't name any of the young guys. You can't be like Oba or Braun, like that's not fair.

7:09 And Dom is still young. I mean, JD, JD McDonough's young. It just, to me, I guess if you're going to like, total scope of professional wrestler, look, appearance, ability, you know, Shinsuke's knocks, always been his promo work. But I was to that, like, that's on the current roster, I would say Shinsuke probably. Yeah. That's probably right. I can't think of anybody else that has the longevity and then the resume. I mean, Interconnel Champion, US Champion, IWGP, Interconnel Champion. I mean, he's got the resume to back it up to have never been on top of the mountain.

7:50 Yeah, I'm trying to think of anybody else who has longevity. Almost everybody who's had longevity's at least had a taste of the mount top. Like, I guess right below him would be where you put Jimmy Uso because outside of eat, I can't distinguish Jay from Jimmy as far as in ring ability and lose it. Like, they're twins. Yeah. So, I guess I'd almost go to Shinsuke and then Jay and Jay, I mean, he's going to be Jimmy. And Jimmy's the only one of the OG bloodline. They're the first four to not be a real chip. I guess maybe you start putting Solo and LA Knight in that terror and in your house.

8:32 LA Knight's definitely in that group. Yep. Yep. Definitely, LA Knight. Solo's getting up in that ring. I think I mean, Solo's beaten John Cena at SummerSlam, you know, I don't think you put Austin theory up in that level yet. Logan Paul still early in his career, you know, Bronson Reed, Bronbaraker, the ones you mentioned earlier. So, like, it probably be to me, Shinsuke, LA Knight and then Jimmy Uso. Yeah, it's wild. Like Sammy would be the guy like no one could touch him. It was almost a Travis. It was a Travesty that Sammy Tane never was WWE Champion. Like just a phenomenal in-ring worker that whether he was a healer or a baby face had a connection with the audience that not many people will ever have in their entire careers.

9:23 And that he's working this tweener more on the healish side character as of late. And I grant it. It's Saudi Arabia. I mean, people were very excited because of his, you know, ethnicity and background regarding that country and being Muslim that, you know, that was a reaction that he got. But I think across the world, like despite the healish, like I don't smack that was taped after Raw on Monday. I'm excited to see Friday night. If I was in attendance, I would be giving Sammy Zayn a standing ovation until he, you know, that something healish that was, you know, maybe sit back down.

10:04 I think wrestling fans were joist. But wrestlers were joist. There's this great video that dropped hours before you and I are recording this, Dr. Trey. I don't even think you've seen it yet. It would be my guess because you were working up until we were actually recording here. But Becky Lynch surprised Sammy Zayn. I guess it Atlantic City for the Raw Kings back down taping with Kevin Owens. But in Sammy Zayn said something that he was like, I knew I was, it was something along the lines like I knew I was liked, but I wasn't, I didn't know I was loved. And he's like, I'm really loved. And it's just like in this legitimate, like who he is as a person, Sammy Zayn character, like the stories that you hear about Sammy Zayn behind the scenes.

10:46 Like it was just so fitting and appropriate. Like he is, he's a beloved guy. He's a jet, what you see on the screen is what I assume you see behind the scenes and I could not be more thrilled for him. So yeah, I mean, it just, it's amazing, Dr. Trey. I never thought we'd see the day, but here we are with Sammy Zayn as our WWE Champion. Yeah, like I said, I mean, it's amazing the world we live in now and how wrestling's changed so much at doing our kids. 40 years ago, Sammy Zayn is never a World Champion, not even the government. He wasn't big enough. The Vince, the Vince Edge, I want my champions to look like they can beat up everybody, not that everybody can beat them up.

11:29 You know, see him, you know, the CM probably like, you know, I look, I'm actually not wearing pants tonight, you know, like that stuff. Like Sammy wouldn't have never been in the conversation. He just never fit the mold, the look, the style, but you know, the way wrestling has gone, you know, we do like our underdogs. We do like our every man. We do like those guys that we can relate to, you know, and the crazy thing is in this new character of him being, you know, the last good guy actually kind of fits him winning the title because, you know, he is in a lot of ways outside of Rey Mysterio, just that ultimate underdog. He, Sammy Zayn, I don't think in any match we've seen him in, looks like the physically dominant person in any match.

12:16 You know, he's just, he's not taller, he's not bigger to look like he does he roses belly, just a little bit too bigger, whatever. Like, he just never looks like the guy who's going to win the fight yet always kind of rises to the occasion, which is what we love in our baby faces. And it's just weird that it's happening in this current incarnation where we really have it even fleshed out the last good guy character yet. And now he's standing on top of the mountain. The final sequence of that triple threat match is one of the greatest sequences I've ever seen in a triple threat match in wrestling history. And that to me basically summarizes what Sammy Zayn does in a ring. The moveset, the methodology behind it, the psychology behind it, how well it flows once they're executing it, and then the outcome and the finish takes you on a ride as a wrestling fan that not many wrestlers can do and granted he wasn't doing it by himself, Cody, and Gunthru and that ring as well.

13:16 But a lot of that is like Sammy Zayn to me. So, you know, to see him go from the Manhattan Center where I was watching him in Ring of Honor, wrestle either alongside or from one-on-one with Kevin Owens, Kevin Steen, to him holding up the WWE Championship in Rihard, Saudi Arabia this past. That afternoon is just a wild career and, you know, sure far hall of fame or one of the best of all time. And I'm just so happy that he's now has this to his name and resume and I hope he gets a decent run with this. I mean, that's the other thing. We could talk about for another day, but let's get into it here. We got a lot of ground to cover, so it's not going to be like our normal recap. We got a couple talking points at the end of one of each one of these shows that we'll cover here.

13:59 So, just to quickly go through the results. So, Opa Femmey defeats Jey Uso to win the King of the Ring tournament earned a World Champ to Match at SummerSlam or so we thought. I had Opa Dr. Treha Jey. Eoskaide defeats Liv Morgan to win Queen of the Ring tournament earned the World Champ to Match at SummerSlam. She challenged Liv Morgan at SummerSlam following this match. We both at Eoskaide this one. Seth Rollins defeats Braun Breaker and Steel Cage match. A great Steel Cage match. I had Braun Breaker dot Tre had Seth Rollins. Trick Williams defeats Ricky Saints to retain the WWE United States Championship. We both had Trick Williams. Tiffany Stratton defeats Jey Cargill to retain the WWE Women's World, excuse me, Women's United States Championship. I had Tiffany Dr. Treha Jey.

14:40 And then as we just have been discussing here, Sam Hsiehne defeats Cody Rhodes and Gunther to win the Undisputed WWE Championship in a triple threat match. We both had Cody Rhodes in this one. I went for and two. Dr. Trey went three and three. I went 25 and 12. Dr. Trey is now 24 and 13 on the year. Match of the night in event rating. I thought that this was a very good show, Dr. Trey. I gave the show a 4.2 and my match of the night was the triple threat match. It was Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn and Gunther. What's it you? What was your event rating and match of the night for night of champions?

15:22 So I had the show at a 4.3. I gave probably the extra 0.1 because my son is semi-named after Sami Zayn. So it was a really amazing emotional night for that end. And the triple threat match was also my match of the night. Yeah. And it was a great match. Obviously we both picked it as our match. And I just want to say that that match had to be perfect because I thought Braun Breaker and Seth Rollins was phenomenal. And that sealed cage match, Dr. Trey. Yeah. That was a really, really like, wow. Steel cage matches in a sense are kind of like battle royals.

16:02 They're almost like a diamond dozen. So you really got to pull out your A game to make a steel cage match memorable. And I thought Seth and Braun delivered on that level. And the fact that the triple threat match and I'm not going to lie. Maybe just on the individual match itself, the steel cage match we might have gotten the edge, but the emotion that I felt for seeing Sami Zayn win the title kind of pushed it over the edge for me. So that's why I think that match kind of edged out the steel cage match. Ernie Indicator here, I mean, we'll talk about it on our next week's show because we'll rent the halfway point of 2020 six now. If we didn't have three pay per views, we would have been covering it here on 4th July weekend's show, but we'll save it for next week.

16:46 So to Sami Gunther and Cody Rhodes, sit right now in your mind for Match of the Year candidates. Top six, top five, it's up there. I still, and I know you're going to, you still don't know the triple A stuff. That that Grand Americano, Grand Americano match was just, it's hard to top that one for me because it had a little bit of everything in what, you know, we, we, you and I used to describe wrestling to our friends as it's soap opera with violence. That match was a soap opera with violence. This match, the only thing it was lacking really was, you know, Sami making out his wife or Cody making out his wife.

17:31 That was because we saw that the triple A match. I mean, it was literally a love story in there too. So that was the only thing that was missing. But I would put this maybe a slight notch behind that one right now. But as you and I know, the longer stuff goes, sometimes our emotions get involved and it'll make us change our minds. I just have this match as a slight little bit behind the Americano match. So let's, let's get into it here. Some of the talking points we've talked at length here about Sami Zayn winning the WWE Championship. But just kind of keeping with that paste, Dr. Trey was Sami Zayn winning the WWE Championship, the right move or should WWE stayed with Cody Rhodes through Summer Slam.

18:13 I'm going to say it was the right move because if you feel like you can move Cody off the world title and into something else and then whoever you put with Sami can still equal up the hype for a Summer Slam, I'm going to say it's the right move and kind of bank on that because once again, Sami on top, build you another main event star because now he's a former champion that you can always hype that up or current now, but down the line of former champion, it just made you basically another main event star. You know, that has the credibility to be a main event guy.

18:54 So I'm going to say it's the right move. Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's the right move as well. I think WWE was getting to be too predictable. The Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, them as champion, just makes it feel like that the hold on the title until WrestleMania. So this was a really nice pleasant surprise and on last week's show, I compared that my thoughts were that if Sami was going to win, it would be similar to when they put the title on Drew, but it would be a lot shorter window like I could see a world and I could still see this playing out where like Sami Zayn loses to Cody Rhodes, etc. and I have to make an event in MSG so that Cody has the title at Summer Slam. I do not think they should do that. I think they need to keep the title off Cody for the rest of this year.

19:36 At this point, I think you give Sami a run. Give him a run and let Cody either be around the title for a little bit or find something else for him, like the Brock Lesnar feud that he had several years ago. So I don't think there's anything wrong with that Dr. Dre. No, and I was thinking about this as we got closer to doing the show. You still have Randy Orton sitting on the sidelines. I mean, Randy Orton could come in and cost Sami Zayn, or cost Cody Rhodes the title, then you spend back to a Cody Randy feud. And then Sami can feud with Gunther or LA Knight or somebody else in the meantime until you decide to put the belt back on Cody to head into WrestleMania season.

20:19 So you could do it that way or Cody's in the chase come WrestleMania season. But what it does is spreads out your roster where whoever Cody's fighting is a main event quality match because it's Cody Rhodes of all. Sami has the world title, so anything he does is a main event quality. So you basically have made two different main event lines and smack down by doing this one result. Shifting years to the men's King of the Ring was Obafemi forgoing his championship match at Summerslam for a Hell in a Cell match against Brock Lesnar at Summerslam, frustrating or is it good, creative? It's frustrating because you're basically telling me that fighting Brock is more important to being a World Champion.

21:05 And anybody who gets into wrestling, they all want to be a World Champion. I mean, we literally saw Sami Zayn chase this title for 20 years to get to this point. So especially when it's only the second, third year that they've done this where the winner gets to shot the world at Summerslam to dip out on it now, Lesnar is the importance of winning King of the Ring. So now it's like, well, you can win it, but to me, Oba not challenging for the title and you're bypassing a shot at Roman Reigns at Summerslam to fight Brock Lesnar. Yeah, like I guess on some levels it's kind of the same, but it's also Roman Reigns and the WWE World Championship.

21:52 To me, that doesn't make sense. Yeah, him saying that the titles will always be there. And you can get it at any time, but this is not. It's lame. I didn't like it at all. Like why do it? And that point, him saying that titles will always be there. How Sami Zayn went over what, 11 World title shots before he finally got one? Yeah. How many World title shots did Mr. Perfect get in WS? You know, it's not always the case. God forbid, he could have a catastrophic knee injury in Hell and Celica's Brock Lesnar and basically never be World Champion. So it makes it sound dismissive and it also deligitimizes people chasing the championship for years and decades.

22:42 So I hated that line because it made it sound like beating Brock Lesnar is more important than being World Champion. Yeah, I didn't like it either. I felt like there was an easier way to do that. But there we go. So he foregoes his championship match, did not challenge him, Sami not challenging the OTC. The OTC does have a match for Somersam, Dr. Trey Roman Reigns versus Seth Rollins. It's officially set for Somersam. Is this the most pivotal match of Reigns' tribal chief era? And is it one that he needs to win? Because I thought Rollins had a great promo to close out Roll on Monday night to set this all up and lay this groundwork for this question.

23:24 So what do you think? Is this the one that Roman Reigns needs to win during this tribal chief era? No, I don't think so. I mean, he had a three year run as the champ and then came back and wanted to get at WrestleMania. You know, in a sense. Like, I mean, his track record was set there. I think I look at the results. Seth was the only guy that he didn't cleanly beat. You know, he had a pinfall victory over when he was in that tribal chief run-up Smackdown. His leg is he's established. The only thing he needs is for is like, if you were going to say, hey, out of that group, who was the top guy?

24:08 Maybe you can make an argument for Seth be the top guy if Roman can beat him here. But I don't think this damages his legacy or anything if Seth comes out on top. So I don't think he needs this win. I just think it's just another feather in the cap if he gets it. If there's one person though that has had the best of Roman Reigns throughout his entire career, it's Seth Ron's talk to try. I mean, he helped end the reign at WrestleMania, right? He sacrificed himself. You know, he has played mind games with Reigns forever. You know, he defeated him at WrestleMania again, reciting that triple threat match with CM Punk. So I do think that there's something to it that this is like the one bugaboo turn in this tribal chief error for Roman Reigns.

24:50 Yeah, I mean, he's the, Seth is the macho man to Roman's Hogan or Seth is the Piper to Roman's Hogan. Roman's Hogan, yeah, that's what I said, right? The every, every top guy has had that thorn in their side. You know, for Flair, it was dusty, you know, you could make the argument that, you know, for staying, it was loo-ger and vice versa. Like, there's always that guy that's always that thorn in your side that you can never just cleanly always, you know, be decisive wins over. But these guys are such top guys that I don't think if you're like, oh, well, Roman only went seven and five against Seth.

25:33 We got to bust him down a peg. To me, I'm like, yeah, but Seth's first ball of Hall of Famer, you know, I saw Seth, you know, and that promise that Roman should get his own night when he goes in the Hall of Famer, you could make the same argument for Seth. You know, so it's, I don't think it's as pressing, but it's a good way to play up the angle. And for the character of Seth Rollins, to not use that to play mind games with the character of Roman Reigns, but would make sense. So it fits the storyline and fits the narrative. It also fits the fact that both guys are technically quasi baby faces, but I don't think if somebody was like looking, I don't think really if you're ranking the greatest champions of all time, you know, you're like, well, John Cena only went 15 and 10 against Randy Orton that eliminates John Cena from the top guy.

26:22 You know, I just don't think it's a bad level type thing. And then lastly here, Dr. Trey Russell votes is reporting on their Fightful Select Radio show, quote, "some within WWE believe that the vision could continue." But only if it's reimagined and that includes member changes. Another side of that is some feel the group has run its course and it's time to, quote, let the pieces fall where they may, regardless of how things turn out. Paul Haven is positioned to remain paired with Broadbreaker and quote, "Dr. Trey, we saw a weird interaction between Austin Theory and Paul Heyman on Raw this past Monday. It does feel like the vision is Reigns' course. Do you think that this is the end of the vision in WWE?

27:05 I don't know if it's the end of the vision. It might like, like, wrestle close to it. It might be the end of this incarnation because it's really hard to have a group when everybody's heart. I mean, you only have Broadbreaker in Austin. There is the only healthy guys in the vision right now of, you know, two, two other guys are out injured. It's kind of hard to have a major faction when half the faction's injured. So I've said for a while, like, I think they still need some kind of veteran presence in this group, Aalha, CM Punk, Joining Nexus. They need somebody in there to be their bankable star. I mean, Broadbreaker's there, but you also want that veteran that has that cachet in it, whether it's an LA Knight or somebody else that kind of front the group a little bit.

27:52 Because to me, the ultimate breakaway is going to be when they turn on Broadbreaker and make them a baby face. So if you spin them out now, you know, and kind of break up the group now, he doesn't have that opportunity. So I would hang on to at least a loose affiliation of it. Just wait for everybody to help. It feels like that this is getting dangerously close to win Paul Haven, like, Manage Curtis Axle and Ryback, Dr. Trey. It's, yeah, it had some potential, but now it just feels like it's running its course. So we'll see what they end up doing with Paul Haven and the Vision Group. I almost don't want to see it end because I feel like that would be a disservice to all those guys, but it also does feel like it's kind of ran its course right now.

28:39 It's very unfortunate because it's just been absolutely ridiculed by injuries throughout the entire time the storyline has been going on. Yeah, I just know something is Austin Theory. You know, they're, uh, do you remember the guy that went on married with children? He was a Jefferson Darcy and they always said what his name is Ted McGinley. Every show he went on got canceled within a year or two of him being on it with his happy days, married with children, like he was the death now. Is Austin Theory that death now like a Boston theory joins your group? It gets discarded pretty quickly. Like he had that group with Seth, uh, right before COVID. Uh, then he went and joined the way and then it went away.

29:22 Now he joins the vision and now the vision is he. Austin Theory might be that black cloud that just destroys groups. Yeah, he may be. He certainly may be, uh, because he has just had some pretty, pretty tough luck during his entire career. So, uh, any other news and notes here, Dr. Trey, from Night of Champions that you'd like to cover before we switch gears to Forbidden Door? I'm trying to think, no, I think the Jates, the J Tiffie, so with Charlotte getting involved made sense. Um, the Oba J stuff, the Oba, like Oba discarding the King of the Ring that, you know, that championship match. Do they say I missed when, uh, when Adam here's the target?

30:05 Did they say that he still has the opportunity to challenge later on or just that thing is gone? Oba, you're saying? Yeah. Yeah, I think he's these just before COVID. Yeah, it's. I mean, at least they addressed it, but I would have been like, okay, well, you're giving it up. Well, exactly, right? I mean, should it be like a Miss America, like if Miss America can't fulfill her duties, the runner up becomes Miss America. Well, what about this though? Like, why not do? It's a two-night event. Why not do night one, Helen O'Cell? Night two. Who are you facing? Yeah. Forbidden Door, that's the case. All they could have easily done is play Brock's music. Oba gets distracted, Jay wins.

30:49 It's an easy fix. And to go the route of like, no, no, no, Oba wins King of the Ring, but doesn't give a shit about the, sorry, pardon my language, but doesn't give a shit about the World title match. Just, or just de-emphasizes how important winning King of the Ring is. And they just brought it back within the last couple of years. Well, could you imagine if Jay also ends up being the opponent for Sammy Zane somehow at Summerslam? They did hug. They did hug and they did the handshake. Jay said on Raw, he's going to Smackdown to confront Sammy because he wants to bring the World away championship to the bloodline. So yeah, there you go. Nine of champions in the books, switching gears here to AW Forbidden Door this past Sunday from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

31:33 Couple to buy in matches. We had Drill and Maloney defeating Daniel Garcia. Makia defeating Sky Blue and a TBS. Makia defied it defeating Sky Blue and a TBS championship survival to fit his qualifying match. So it divided Dominion defeating Thunder Rosa and Olympia to retain the AW Women's World Tag Team Championship. The box to fit in unbound company and L-Sky team and a three-way tag team match. Kenny Omega to fit in Zach Saber Jr. John Moxley to retain the AW kind of championship over Bandito. Showed it, Umano defeating Pock to retain the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. Techland to fit in Starlight Kid to retain the AW Women's World Championship. Christian Cage and Adam Copeland to fit in the dogs to retain the AW World Tag Team Championship.

32:13 Forbidden Door City's won a defeating Maya World to win the Women's Owl and Heart Cup Final. She now earns a AW Women's World Championship match at all. Then Team Briscoe defeating Team DC MJF in the 12-man Steel Cage match. Very cool. What do they call it? The Deaths Door? Was that the name they went with? Deaths Door. Yeah, that was a great looking Steel Cage. So props to them for coming up with that. Mark Briscoe earns earned an AW World Championship match. This past Wednesday on Dynamite and unfortunately lost. Then Real Osprey defeated Swarth Strickland in the men's Owl and Heart Cup Final. Osprey earns an AW World Championship match at AW All-In. Dr. Trey, why is AW giving us MJF vs. Kenny Omega this Wednesday at Dynamite Beach Break now.

32:58 We just had MJF vs. Mark Briscoe for the title to open up Dynamite this past week. We have a pay-per-view in a couple weeks in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The home country of Kenny Omega called redemption. Why are we not doing MJF vs. Kenny Omega then and we're doing it now? I honestly have no idea. Is there more to this? That's what Dr. Trey figure out because I'm like, what's a bigger draw for Wembley Stadium? Is it Omega Osprey or MJF Osprey? Because I mean, that's like, you know, we've seen it on, you know, we've heard for years, like, they're always booking towards WrestleMania, right?

33:41 And all-in is for all intents of purposes, they're WrestleMania. Like, aren't you trying to, like, what's the bigger attraction in MJF or Kenny Omega? Maybe it is Kenny Omega and then you're trying to do something to switch stuff up now. I don't get it because, you know, even with the Mark Briscoe thing, I don't see Mark Briscoe and Will Osprey being a main event caliber match for all in. Now Kenny can slide in that shot and I'm good with it. But it goes back to, was it all in last year when they had that backstage segment after both guys lost? Maybe that's the direction they're headed, but once again, you're saying the same thing.

34:22 If you're having a paper you in Canada, why not just wait until you get to Canada, pull the shirt or so. Yeah, sometimes they, as much as I've enjoyed the programming, sometimes they're booking decisions, make them be scratching my head. Yeah, I'm thinking Kenny Omega is winning the championship on Wednesday, Dr. Trey, because the stipulation where if Kenny loses, he could ever challenge for the championship again. I'm getting the vibe that he's walking out as AW World Champion and more likely a path that we see is Will Osprey versus Kenny Omega for the title at AW All-In. I think Hangman Adam Page gets involved somehow and we get Page versus MJF at all in. I think that's maybe why they're doing it now.

35:03 Maybe MJF is off television for a couple of weeks heading it all in. Is he filming something? It just seems odd that we're doing it now, but I do think a week from today, you and I are sitting here going Kenny Omega is the new AW World Champion. Yeah, or they could be like, "Hey, that career killer thing Gunther's doing, we can kind of do the same thing with MJF because he keeps putting these stipulations on guys and they can't challenge for the title anymore." And that's the rather going, "What you said makes sense, because we haven't seen Hangman in what three months now, three, four months." So it makes sense to do it that way, but at the same time, I can easily see them just pulling the trigger, letting MJF win and Kenny can't challenge the title as long as MJF's on top.

35:47 Osprey wins it all in and Kenny's his first challenger coming out of all it. Yeah, I don't know. It just seems very odd like you're not saving it for the Canadian pay-per-view because then what are you doing on redemption? Even if MJF wins and retains and Kenny is not the one. I mean, what are they going to do with MJF at redemption then? Right? I mean, you've just grown to, you think so? No, I'm just, that's Canadian, I was just thinking. Yeah, right, just all Canadian pay-per-view. Like, what will they do? Like, who's next for him? Oh, yeah, I... I mean, we certainly do not see Kenny coming, but they're, you know, they're hyping up Kenny's own two against MJF.

36:29 This could be the last time he challenges for the title. I mean, who... They just did brisco. Like brisco would have been my choice for redemption, but they did it right away. Fine, okay. The Kenny stuff makes sense, the way that it's being set up to it for redemption, nope, we're doing it next week. So then what do you do for your pay-per-view then for the AW World Championship? I mean, we've seen them do short turn-arounds on some of these angles. I mean, you could take a Kyle, like a Kyle O'Reilly. You know, just had that great match with Mox, a couple of weeks back at a favorite view. Like, you could cycle up to the conglomeration or you could cycle somebody else up to do it because, you know, we don't even really know where their storyline is going for their main event match at this favorite view in Canada.

37:16 So like to me, it's kind of like it's weird you're putting this buffer pay-per-view. It's kind of like when they threw that year, they threw it through roadblock in between the elimination chamber and WrestleMania. Just like, what, like, why is it here? Like at this point, we kind of know we're just take the time to build up, you know, WrestleMania. Just take the time to build a ball and, oh, no, we got an AW World Championship in Canada. Maybe we do MJF in Jericho because it's in Canada and we can play off the, they can do a dance routine and singing number like they did years ago leading up to it. Who knows? But it's just weird that like they kind of sometimes burn through their challengers.

37:58 We sell a Darby. Darby ran through like eight guys in a matter of like four weeks to build up his title defense number and then you're like, well, you got to pull the trigger and take the belt off of them now. There's no more challengers left after MJF. In a sense, it's kind of like that where it's like, I mean, could you cycle up like a member of the hurt business? You know, could you cycle up? You could like really based on how that case match would, you could throw Indraude into that match with MJF, you know, as well. Who did you say? Andrade. Yeah, that's a good point. Andrade. You know, you can cycle up maybe a B plus level guy.

38:39 Wow. Shot's fired. Shot's fired and Andrade. How you know? Andrade has never been a world. Andrade has never been a world champion. And I see champ. World champion. But how you know? How you know? How you know? I know. All right. So with that said, who is most likely to face the newest death rider? Will Osprey at all in? I'm still going to lead MJF. I just I still feel like MJF, your mega heal, your top heal against. He may not be the top baby face right now because of the death rider affiliation, but in London, in Wembley Stadium, there's going to be damn near 80,000 people standing on their feet cheering for Osprey.

39:27 You still want to do top heal versus top baby face at all. And so I still lean with MJF in this one. Would you think of a well-lossed bridge on the death riders on Wednesdays? I don't mind. It was very poorly executed, right? He gets handed the patch. Then he doesn't really respond to Moxley. And then it takes Excalibur on commentary to be like he's joined the death riders. And they showed the patch so it on his gear. That was pretty badly executed from a production standpoint. But what do you think of it creatively? I mean, it creates business. If MJF wins it all in. And now Mox is like, hey, you only want because of us.

40:08 Now he's got a whole group of guys to challenge again. I mean, whether it's Pog or Claudio or even Moxley himself, it makes sense because the best built baby faces are usually the ones that break out of staples like that. But watching that segment though, it reminded me of an ACEs and 8th segment from TNA. Ooh. It was just kind of like-- yeah, it was like, this is not being well done. It actually also reminded me of when Jericho was recruiting Mox to join that first group he had before the JAS. And Mox took the T-shirt-- oh, the inner circle. When Jericho was rooting Mox to the inner circle, and Mox took the shards, but then smashed the champagne bottle over Jericho's head.

40:54 But it was kind of like, all right, this is weird. And you feel it from the rest of the group too. Half the group is invested in Ospreay joined there. I was like, why are we bothering? It was kind of like, it wasn't well done. And Ospreay's there getting training. Why would he not be excited about being a full-fledged member? Like, why go through that unless you're trying to join the group? You know, it was just kind of weird and clunky and awkward, and not really well executed, like you said. Yeah, I think from a creative standpoint, they have set it up where like the other death writers are embracing him. It just feels like, OK, what's the end goal here? Is the death writers a certain baby face?

41:35 I think there are fans that are clamoring for that. Or does the death writers eventually turn on Ospreay? Like, let's say Ospreay went to championship and then the next one's Ann Dynamite. It's like, OK, now hand over the title to Moxley. He got you here. There could be a little bit of that as well. So it's going-- it could go either way. And that's what's exciting about it. I'm invested in the storyline. I just wish some of the execution was a little bit better, because I did think it was like unanswered questions. I thought the segment was pretty decent to open up to Dynamite. I enjoyed it. Despite the ACEs and eight comparison from New Doctor Trey, which is fair, I enjoyed it. I just didn't like the execution like commentary had it tell me that he eventually joined.

42:19 And it's also on his gear, because that was like 10 minutes through that match before they finally pointed that out. Maybe they didn't know about it. It was hard to see on his gear, quite honestly. And then I guess anything else from Forbidden Door and Outtrib before we move over to NXT Great American Bash? Why the hell do you have Mercedes-Bonae with the DMO and Cullen Cup? Completely against that. There's nobody else. There's nobody else. And then once again, now you're going to match with Mercedes and Thecla, which on paper, if you're like, hey, we're getting Thecla and Mercedes, you're like, that's a damn good matchup. Who's the crowd going to cheer for? Tecla. And she's basically embarrassing everybody that comes around her. So she's the quintessential Queen Bitch character against the other quintessential Queen Bitch character.

43:08 There's a thing that might, honestly, you might watch a lot of people walk out of the building at all and go get a drink or-- that will be the match that fans don't care about, because fans aren't positively invested in either character right now. So I just don't understand why you make-- at this point, if you got Maya World in the finals, throw her in the mix. Make her look like she has no shot at winning. There's no way she can do it. And then she does the unthinkable at all in. That's a great story. Mercedes winning, not a great story. Thecla winning, not really a great story. I like great stories. Yeah, the women's division, A.W. is-- it's not well booked right now.

43:50 They're hamstrung a little bit. I mean, a lot of top stars are either out, like Tony Storm or injured or coming back from injury and like Willow Nightingale. And there's not a lot of investment. I would have brought back Mercedes-Monae maybe as a baby face then, if that was the direction that they were booking themselves into. But I almost feel like this wasn't supposed to happen. I can't imagine that Ceree, who was removed from injury, was supposed to win it all. Something's got to give here. The Maya World story was fine. I feel for her and what her family's gone through in the last month, obviously, with the tragic death of her young brother, her brother.

44:32 Like, that's awful. But I couldn't tell you three Maya World matches. I think every time I saw her on television in A.W. she was working with Hayan as like a developmental talent to put over another 10 women's tag team. Like, she never was winning matches. So that to me, like, fine, nice story, makes her feel good. It just felt like as a wrestling fan watching play out, it just felt inauthentic, which was not great. And again, I don't know. Maybe they were kind of booked into a corner. I did not love the Maya World Cinderella one, Dr. Tre, because she never was connecting with the audience prior to all this. Yeah. Yeah. But that's the thing.

45:12 Once again, you try to book stuff far out. So you know, like-- but that's the thing. And you and I are in business. And you and I both have decent big time jobs. And like, you have plan A, but then you've got to have plan B, C, and D. And it felt like they had plan A. And then when plan A didn't work, they just went, OK, let's have Mercedes win the whole thing. Like, that was plan B. And then there was no deviating from it. I mean, I thought there were better challengers in the TBS survival of the fittest match that we saw than there was in this tournament. You know, like, I could have picked almost anybody-- I would say five of the six ladies in that match, I think, have more at least as much, if not more credibility than Maya World.

45:58 And you could have put anyone in the finals. And if Mercedes won, I'm like, all right, I get it. But I mean, hardly cameras, maybe most organically over females on the roster. Why not put her in that position? You know, like, you could have slid-- I mean, you could have slid stat lander back into that mix. You could have slid, oh, Queen Amanata. You know, in the finals, because Mercedes-Benz, I would have been a little more invested in it. And even one of those girls, I thought, would have been a better challenger in the finals than Maya World. They were scrambling, Dr. Tri. Whatever the original plans were, they were scrambling. And they had nobody organically that was going to get underneath with the audience and build up to be like, OK, this is the person to go challenge, tech lit all in.

46:45 I think they were trying to conjure it up with Maya World, but prior to her booking outside of her horrific family tragedy, prior to all that, her wrestling, I couldn't tell you. Like, anything else other than her being like, feeder talent in tag team matches, like just kind of like a job or-- so there you go. Anything else from Forbidden Door, if we move over to Grand American Bash? You got your boy back, Jay White's back. I love Jay White. Great promo on Ty and Mike. I love that segment. And I love that he's still acting like his normal healer, Stealth, calling out Billy. Billy-- Billy O. Yeah, welcome back, Jay White. That was about it. Yeah, other than that, it was a good show.

47:25 Yeah, it was a good show. I enjoyed the show. But those were my main takeaways. Yeah, I wish they explained what Jay White was out with. That's like one of the things with AW. I feel like they do an awful job. They never explain injuries. Like, maybe feel invested as a fan. So all right. Anyway, NXT Grand American Bash this past Sunday from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando Florida, Tony DeAngelo defeated N'Raku to retain the NXT Championship. Thoughts on that match, Dr. Trey? It was OK. Just a little-- I don't want to say I was surprised. I just-- I don't know. I don't know about you. But when they bring the new guys in, they hype them up, and then they don't win their first match. Like, how far down do you push them at this point?

48:08 But you're kind of seeing that he's still lingering. Like, N'Raku is still lingering on the top of the roster. But-- I don't know. I-- I like Tony D. I just don't know if I like Tony D as NXT Champion. Yeah, I could see that. I think that's understandable. Yeah, I just figured I'd pause there because it's like, you bring in N'Raku evil, and he takes the L. And then they follow up on Tuesday. And basically, N'Raku's just trying to blind Tony DeAngelo at this point. So which I found very odd. You do that. What would you do that-- Yeah, it's just let's blind Tony DeAngelo. Zary DeFeeder Tane impacts later Tane NXT Women's North American Championship. Shadow Hill, DeFeeder Tristan Angels, Red Sinclair, DeFeeder D'Arion, Grace Routine, the WWE Women's Speed Championship.

48:54 Sequad Sugar's DeFeeder Dion Lennox. Miles Bourne, DeFeeder Tane Beyond Heights, ReTane NXT North American Championship. And Kendall Gray defeated Lola Vice to win the NXT Women's Championship. Dr. Trace Kendall Gray already is already ready to carry NXT as Women's Champion, where did WWE move the title onto her too soon? I think this is a little bit the sole Ruka Intercontinental Test. Like, in-ring, fantastic, maybe the most naturally gifted female wrestler we've seen in a long time. She admitted herself in her promo that she's not great at promos. But when you have somebody that can put on a good match with anybody on the roster, that's kind of a win.

49:40 I just think they're showing a lot of faith in a girl that's only been signed to the company for about a year. So I'll lean on their judgment here and say that they made the right call on this. It just sucks for Lola Vice to that feel like Lola is finally coming into her own. And you could feel the confidence growing. You could feel her taking the roster on her back and then to pull this kind of quickly is a little weird. I'm just wondering if we're going to get the-- we usually see this on the men's side. Usually we have a baby face champion. They lose the title. They turn ill. I'm just wondering if we're going to see a Lola Vice Eel turn coming out of this. I think that is a good possibility for sure to the Lola Vice Eel turn. I believe Kendall Gray has been under contract for at least two years and more because I've ever seen her on NXT level up.

50:24 She was on a vault for a little bit on the NXT roster within the last year. Extremely talented. I agree with you that I think this is a test for her. I watched her cut her promo to open up NXT on Tuesday night. And all I could think of was she is such a natural talent that I think for her, we have to look at the WrestleMania timeline right now. I could see she tears up NXT for the next six months, departs all out like an Oba Femi, and then enters the women's Royal Rumble. It does her great performance. Maybe she wins elimination chamber, and she's in a championship match at WrestleMania. Like that is, I think, the sky for her right now.

51:06 I think the sky is the limit. And I think she's main roster, I think she's main roster bound in 2027. >> So you're thinking that you were like this Stephanie about core run? >> I think it's possible, yes. >> Yeah. >> No, I mean, and as long as she can keep improving her promos, like she says out, like she doesn't really get, she really hasn't cut a lot of promos. Most of her stuff has been backstage segments. So in ringability, look, everything else she's got all that. This is her test to see if she can promo wise, carry a feud, carry a rivalry to make sure that we can put her on the main roster.

51:46 Because I think maybe they're learning a little bit from the Saul Rook experiment, like we got to make sure, before we strap a rocket ship to her, she can carry herself in whatever weakness they think she has. I think this is the right move to kind of go, hey, we trust you that you're going to get better at this one week area. And let's just make sure you've proved us right. >> For me, Dr. Trey, I feel like the way I look at Kendall Gray is, a year from now July, 2027, I think she's on the main roster. The debut is, is she tearing up NXT in popular so much that she has a run for the next six months and then debut is in that first quarter of 2027, leading in the WrestleMania, where she's someone that they leave off until WrestleMania 43 passes, until stand and deliver passes and call her up in that second quarter of 2027.

52:39 I think there's no way that she gets injured in NXT, like at the end of 2027. I think she is a main roster star in NXT right now. >> Do you think that at some point here in the next two months, they're going to have a run turn on her? I don't, I don't. It feels like they could, I don't though. >> Because as long as Red is Speed Champion, then it feels like they both have title bells, they're not going to play the professional Chelsea angle. >> They do that way too much in WWE. >> Yeah, but they do that in wrestling in general too much. >> Yeah. >> Somebody just, we saw it a little bit with Speedball and Kevin Knight.

53:23 It's like it is kind of like professional Chelsea Rears is likely at another guy wants to be a star. It's just, I like Rensseln Claire. I think Rensseln Claire is a better heal than a baby face. But we're talking about that, if they pull the trigger low of vice, low of vice goes heal, we're going to be saying the same thing. So it's just, it's weird. And this is kind of now if that keeps us, I watch more triple A, is they almost ignore the triple A steps. So like maybe they turn low of vice, heal in NXT, but she's still a baby face when she goes to triple A. Who knows? But I think, but I do think, and I almost stand by this.

54:04 I think Kendall Gray is the most gifted wrestler female that WWE has brought onto the roster in the last decade at least. >> Yeah, she's phenomenal. >> She's so good in the ring. I mean, it's like, and it was crazy as you know, you've had second generation females come through that roster. You know, Ava's the Ziya Brooksides. >> Ava. >> She's better than Ava. >> You said the rock starter? >> Well, she's a second generation person and she was just not a good in the ring. What I'm saying is you have a lot of second generation people come through there, there are females. Not nearly as good as what Kendall Gray can do in the ring. >> Ziya Brooksides, TNA knockouts champion, by the way.

54:46 >> Ariana Grace. >> Ariana Grace, yeah. >> No, I mean, Kendall Gray is prodigy. And the last question here at Dr. Trey to wrap up this week's edition of the show. I guess outside of Kendall Gray, who impressed you the most in NXT Great American Bash? >> Great American Bash. Ziya's like, they almost made her, I don't say the female Brock Lesnar, I mean, because she has like an F5 variation. But she has looked pretty dominant since she threw Saul Ruka off that stage or whatever. >> She like reverted back to her character when she debuted. >> Yeah, yeah. So she's looking like the Ziya we all thought she was going to be, which I'm really happy about.

55:27 That was the one for me. Like I said, the Tony D nervous of them just weird to me because I don't know. Also, Tony D having that denim jacket with the leather sleeves reminds me of triple H returning from the hamstrings there. Too much and maybe that's why I don't like, I don't know. There's just something about Tony D right now that's not connecting with me. And I was hoping for a challenge. I also, I'm still not on the Mason Rook train yet. But Tavy got Heights, I will say in Tavy Heights in losing, also we really did impress me. I'm like, yeah, he's really gunned the ring and in a year he'll be challenging for the NXT Championship.

56:11 >> I have co people who impress me from the same match. I am buying stock right now in Shiloh Hill and Tristan Angel's Doctor Train. I think those guys could be stars in the company too. >> I think Tristan Angel's is on the level of what Kitt Wilson could be as well. The main roster just arrogant, brash, British guys for some reason, he just wants to smack. And Shiloh Hill is just that, I don't want to say he's like in the Kevin Owens range, but just that such a good blue collar guy that just connects with the audience really well. I mean, if they were in a group of Shiloh and who were the two other guys that were just tag team champions a few months back, the blue collar guys.

56:56 Hank and Tank. >> Thank you, thank you. >> You put Shiloh, Hank and Tank together on the main roster with Otis. Oh my God, that would be the most fun baby face group of all time. I would watch their stuff every day if you put those four guys together. But even if you just did Hank and Shiloh, that just seems like a fun trio of guys to just follow around on interesting things. Those guys are just fun love guys. So yeah, and say Kwan impress me as well. >> He did, he was a great, and I think DL Alex did a great job as well. I thought it was a very good show for NXT to kind of like cement their new era overall. I think Tristan Angel's put a little bit of size on him. I think this is a guy that you could be looking at as a champion in like five years.

57:39 Yeah, Shiloh has a great connection with the audience. He's really become such a great character after anything I saw of him in LFG. So there you go, NXT Grand American Bash. Next week's the show, we'll cover obviously things that are going on the world professional wrestling. We'll look at the halfway point of the year and who are some of the candidates, early candidates for our awards to take place at the last show of 2026. With that said, let's get a couple plugs and sponsors out of the way you can download the show at patreon.com/srtupodcast. And just to roll those show feed on Apple Spotify, Rervi, download this podcast, don't forget to rate, ring subscribe. You can follow us individually on X from myself at SRTU Jeff and for Dr. Tray Franklin at the Dr. Tray. And of course don't forget to follow us on X at SRTU podcast.

58:22 With that being said, what is going on the wonderful world of Dr. Tray Franklin this week? >> Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on X at the Dr. Tray. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook, Dr. Tray Franklin. When you're on Facebook, be sure to check out Rockets, A Championship Wrestling. We have a big show coming up Saturday night, July 4th, America 250. We're bringing all the fireworks out. We're going to blow the roof off the place. But most importantly, get out, check out your local independent wrestling shows as well. Where you can find your next Shiloh ill, Tristan Angels. Or, you know, random guy, job or number three, ballon or number seven. There you go, support all the great things that support the Sto Real to the show.

59:04 As you can hear my son crying in the background potentially. >> I love that. >> Yeah, he's ready to go to sleep. So enjoy the weekend, enjoy the 4th of July weekend. Thank you for making us part of your week. And until next week, 4, Dr. Tray Franklin, I am Jeff Peck. This has been the Sto Real to the show.