WWE reverses course on Roman vs. Cody | The Still Real to Us Show | Episode #731 – 2/15/24

0:00 It's still welcome, everybody. Welcome to this week's edit in a Sin A Real Show, episode number seven or thirty one for February fifteenth, twenty twenty four. Welcome to this week's edition of ass R Team You. I am one after the show, I am Jeff textor joined every single week from my car, so one only, Doctor Tray Franklin, Doctor Trey, are you a Cody's crib where? Friend? I don't think I've been. I don't think I've ever called somebody a cry baby since sometime in the eighties. Okay, fair, not even your son, not even young Sammy Franklin like, don't be cry baby. No, we don't tell him crime baby. But I mean maybe if you're referencing the when the Sweet Life of Zach and Cody got canceled, been a cry baby? Then fair, fair, very fair.

1:03 You and I were talking a little bit about it before the podcast, But I know our listeners are are worried about you, Doctor Trey. Feelings thoughts four days after the Super Bowl loss. Uh, I'm coping better than I thought I would. Uh did you break a television? So? By way, so you know, you and I discussed the entire season that like, if if the Niners are on TV, I typically don't watch the game because at like the Lions game, every time I watched the game, the lines were scoring touchdowns. When I watched the Packer game, every time watched the Packer game, the Packers were scoring. I actually watched the entire game, so I sat through. I broke my superstition. But no, no, you know, there was a little bit, a couple of moments of anger and frustration, but I survived and I play. It's kind of like, uh, I guess this is the feeling when teams played Joe Montana in the eighties or Troyman in the nineties, or Tom Brady, where you just go, pretty sure he's gonna come back and beat us, pretty sure it's gonna happen. And sure enough, when the extra point got blocked, I'm like, and that's where we lose the game, because I knew they tied and I knew the overtime would happen. So but I'm okay, like I told you off air as we record the show, the Niners fired the defensive coordinator today, So that made me happy because the guy was not a good fit. So and our quarterback looks like he could be on the Sweet Life of Zack and Cody and fit in with that cast because he looks like he's thirteen but a solid quarterback. See. I was wondering why the Niners lost.

2:36 I thought it may have been that third down stop by like Chris Jones breaking up the play there that led to the field goal in overtime. But knowing that you watched the game now tells me that's why the Niners lost exactly. So your superstition fucked it up for everybody. Now. By the way, my wife thought it was her because I think I told you the story, like the when the Cubs won the World Series. I was in a hotel in Atlanta and she called me during Game seven. The Cubs are winning and I literally told her, I said, if they start losing, I have bang up on you. And it was maybe ten minutes later the Indians hit that home run to take the lead, and I hung up on them. So every time I've watched when the Niners lost the Chief four years ago, the Knighters were winning, she came in the house, sat down on the bed next to me. She scored twenty one straight. And then this year Nighters are winning she gets home from work that time's a game. Happy Valentine's Day, honey. Yeah, so I was like, well, I mean, at least like so for Valentine's Day, I don't know what you got your wife, but I bought my wife some chocolates. I bought her a stuffed animal, a pretty little mushroom decorated planting vase in a vacuum.

3:44 Because nothing says Valentine's Day married life like buying your wife a vacuum. Yeah. Absolutely, that really gives you Browning points. So happy post Valentine's Day at all? Who celebrated doctor Trey. We're thinking about you when it comes off the Super Bowl loss. But I think it's easy to do. The podcast a couple of days later still stings. But that is the life of a sports fan. Like I tell everybody, like I'm my one of my favorite things I enjoy in life is I watched something that like probably only maybe four or five times in my life. I'm gonna be happy by the end of it. Like imagine that. Like when you say that out loud, it's like stupidity that we enjoy sports that much. Yeah, I mean as a Cubs fan, I mean one World Series in one hundred and seven years.

4:38 I got spoiled by the Niners because growing up in the eighties they got they got five yeah, between eighty one and ninety five, so we had five and fourteen years. So I got spoiled there. But now we've lost three in a row. That kind of sucks. But you know, and then like I'm a little bit a Laker fan. Grew up Magic Johnson, so you got that. I get that. So the Lakers are like for me, like kind of what you are with the Yankees? I yep, Yankee? Well Yankees are I do. I'm from New York, so, uh doctor Trey not from Sunny La. But back then, like you didn't have many teams. You didn't have a team that you grew up with, right, No, like in Oklahoma, Like I was born Oklahoma, so I was a kid when you right, you just waited for the thunder to come. Yeah, which, ironically enough, I always had a weird thing for the Sonics to Hey, I love Seattle super Sonics and they are featured slightly in the movie Fletch. And there's another one too. I can't remember which one it was, but uh no, But like I just kind of bonded with whatever I saw on TV, which was I saw the Cubs on WGN. Uh. It was always Lakers and Celtics and Magic Johnson was a cooler name than Larry Bird, so bonded with the Lakers. And then Dad grew up in Rino, which is the you know, basically the Bay Area's step brother. So he was an Irish fan, so I became an Irish fan. So that's just kind of And I was oddly enough Wayne Gretzky, so my allegiance and hockey bound from the Oilers to the Kings to the Saint Bluis Blues and the Rangers and the same Less Blues for like one season,

6:08 so yeah, that was like half a season he was there. Yeah, so my hockey fano was all over the place. But my time in North Carolina and the linkage to Connecticut is I'm a fan of the Carolina Hurricanes, the former Hartford Whalers. Yeah that is true. And what about Duke Blue Devils is that you two? No, So when it comes to Carolina, like I'm a Carrol, I'm a UNC fan. I tried, Oh that's right, and I did, but end up going to Carolina. Although I was at the people I stayed with my freshman year high school were big Duke Blue Devil fans, So when they won the national championship year that year that was the Christian Lagner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill team. I actually got to go to the welcome home reception for the Blue Devils and got to meet Grant Hill when I was like, I think I was like thirteen, fourteen years old, got to meet Grant Hill. Doctor Try also had a flat top like Grant Hill at that time. Yeah, it was badass. So a little bit of pulse checked thereon our one and only Doctor Trey, who I was feeling for on Sunday, waited like a couple of days to actually be like, hey, when do you want to record the podcast this week?

7:11 Because I know what that's like, like losing a major game and it just absolutely sucks, and usually I'm probably pissed off for about twenty four to forty eight hours afterwards. But Dutch Tray, we feel for you. And I don't think that there's anything else I could say because it's like, oh, well you get them next year like that. It's a bullshit phrase. Let's be frank, like you never know like if your teams are gonna be back there again. Yeah, And I did kind of the same thing I've done with everything, Like I just kind of stayed away from like social media and ESPN and all that stuff for like three days, Like today was really outside of posting a picture showing the weight loss that I've undergone over the last few years, but like just stayed away from all night like anything football sports related for like three days to let all the pundits tell everybody how horrible the Nighters played and what a horrible team they were, Like, let Auso die down and pitchers and catchers reported to spring training today. So boom turns around.

8:11 Baseball is up and going. I'm back to be happy again. Yeah. So, yep, it is baseball season. It's wrestle Mania season. NFL season. We hardly knew thee we will miss. You can't wait for September again. The longest offseason of all the sports absolutely sucks, but it always always goes back around pretty quick. So there you go. Another NFL season the books and we steam forward here to WrestleMania season. Doctor Trey, we talked about on last week's show, what is WWW going to do at that point in time, we felt like The Rock had taken over the spot of Cody Rhodes in the WRESTLEMANI forty main event for the undisputed w Universal Championship.

8:56 They held the kickoff event the same night, the night of the podcast dropping, we were figuring that there may be some changes for the resumating card, and there is. There are some massive changes as Roman Reigns versus Cody Roads is back on for resuming forty. But the biggest shock, one of the things that we really didn't talk about is a scenario here the Rock is a heel now Doctor Trey. So what did you think of everything that played out that got us from what we thought was Cody Rhoads versus Roman two, then to Roman versus Rock one, to we Want Cody to Cody versus Roman two back on, and The Rock slapping Cody in the face in a very entertaining one hour special on Peacock this past week. Yeah, I mean it was an entertaining special. One of the things we talked about last week was how do you fix it? And I said, somehow you have to make this whole scenario feel personal to get people to care and really buy into it, and they at least did that, They at least made it feel personally.

9:58 They brought the families up and then like when you saw the Rock in Roman, like do the uh, the over the top double hands, you have the handshake pose where you're both flexing and you shake the Rocky Apollo handshake. I was like, well, this is weird because there's no animosity, Like how do you build an angle out of this? And they did a good job. They had Cody come out of the whole nine yards. It made sense on that level. I still don't think they've really answered what the hell Cody was doing in the ring a couple weeks ago when he brought the Rock out like that still hasn't been clarified really to me at this point. But I think the Rock doing the the Cody Krai baby thing is helping him get over as a heel because he's basically pissing off those the quote unquote diehard Mark fans or whatever you want to call him. So I think they've done a decent job in this so far, and it'll be interesting how they build this out, you know, going into Wrestling Mania season, because what do you do with the Rock, right now if you have them kind of on board for WrestleMania. Right now, the Rock is a heel. We quickly forget how damn good he is when he gets on that mic working as a heel. To me, Doctor Trey, I think the scenario that is playing out in front of us is that this heel turn is going to be very short lived. I just have this feeling that Rock prevents the bloodline getting involved somehow at Wrestling Forty turns on Roman leads to a Cody title change, and

11:30 that's the first step of taking everything away from Roman reigns, which makes sense from storyline standpoint. Cody takes the title and then that leads us to Roman versus Rock, something that people at that point will probably want to see for the Battle of the Head of the Table. That's my vibe right now. That's the pivot I think WW is ultimately making here with this current storyline, is that the end goal is still to get to Roman versus Rock at some point. Yeah, but when like so my question to you then, like, I mean, I think that scenario it'll play out. I just don't know if it's a short term or a long term thing, because I can see them doing Rock and Roman, you know, because you saw it a little bit during that promo, like Rock kind of took over the stage from Roman, and I can see that, you know, eventually being a clash of egos there as well. But like, do you do that at Summer Slam, because you're gonna do it on one of the two bigger events.

12:26 You're either gonna do it a Summer Slam or you can do at WrestleMania forty one, Like when do you pull the trigger? And have they announced for forty one that yet? Is it Minneapolis? They have not yet. They have not announced where Summer Slam's at yet either. It's a really interesting question and I think it all comes down to, obviously the Rock schedule. Yeah, Rock is definitely wrestling in Philadelphia. I have some ideas about that. We'll go through our wrestlmingting a forty card round up here later on the podcast, but I think it's short term. It could happen by SummerSlam a Rock Roman match, should there be some sort of turn that takes place, that's the setup. It could be as far out as wrestling he forty one.

13:07 That is the Rock's goal for coming back, and I know we were talking last week that he gets like a thirty million dollars payout or something like that, which is definitely motivating by far motivating, But I think what really brought him back to the table outside of joining the Board of Directors, was to eventually get to this match. I mean, that is the match that we've been talking about since Roman turned heel in August twenty twenty. It made a lot of sense the minute that they started talking about head of the table, tribal chief, head of the family. I put food on the plates of my family members, I represent the Annawani family like that. Everything was pointing to an eventual showdown to Roman versus the Rock. So if we never get that, that'll be one of the most tragic matches that never took place in wrestling history. So it ultimately gets there. But wwe the Rock, Roman, Cody, whoever creative TKO They read the room and realize the fans don't want to see this right now. The fans want to see Cody versus Roman.

14:09 Two, how do we pivot away from this? I hear you doctor Trey about the Friday Night SmackDown segment where you know Cody bowed out and let the Rock come back and acting as a baby phase and then less than a week later he's acting as a full blown heel. It doesn't really make sense if you truly look at Rock from day one, Raw Rock, when he took over Cody Spot, at that SmackDown to Rock at the kickoff especial that they did last Thursday. None of it drives together. None of it makes sense. And the only thing that makes sense is that WWE did the right thing by pivoting creatively and realize well, we can't go this direction. We have to go this direction now. And that's the thing. I think those two segments, Unfortunately, Doctor Trey, the day one and that SmackDown where he took Cody Spot is going to be forgotten about ultimately in this story, and the true storyline started at the kickoff event, which you know, Wwey's put themselves in a very weird spot. This all could have been saved had the Rock perform at the Rumble and won that match, but he didn't Cody did. I mean, maybe this was the long term plan ultimately for a revolt that they predicted and have this play out like it has. I just get the vibe that that isn't the case based on the two previous times Rock appeared on WE Television twenty twenty four versus the one time he appeared at the kickoff special and what we expect will take place tomorrow night on SmackDown. Yeah, you know, because you saw the Rock on Pat mcafe's show, and one of the things he had said on there was like, you know,

15:41 let me the story builder, the long term builder, like take you all on a trip, and so I could see them. This could kind of reinvigorate the bloodline storyline in a sense where you know, Rock, you know, Cody beats Roman, Rock, you know, is there to kind of pump Roman back up to regain the title, but the entire time like Roman's blaming Rock for his loss, and then that eventually leads to Roman solo and Jimmy turning on the Rock and then the Rocks now at baby Face heading into the Summer Slam Horror WrestleMania, and it played out. My only concerns about this would be, then does that storyline then overshadow Cody winning the title, because Cody winning the title should make him the top draw. But then if you have that storyline playing out in the background, he's gonna be kind of overshadowed during his initial you know, title run. So but it also reinvigorates one of the storylines that you said that you and I said last week had kind of fallen flat over the past year or past at least the past six months, which is the stuff with the bloodline. If you can play this out well enough, I mean, heck, that's what I say, Like, we could really get you know, Roman and Solo against Sena and Rock at some point that would be musty team because we had Solo did you destroy excuse me, destroyed John Seena just a couple months ago, where we thought seen it might be retired. But I mean that's a money match to draw off of and then you know, play that all at to WrestleMania. So there are ways to play with this, but you know, until we get

17:15 some more depth to the storyline, like right now, it just it's interesting, but it's still like the wonkiness of how we got from day one to hear is still fresh in our minds and we're just like, wait, so we're mad that Cody's upset that you know, Roman made fun of his dad. So Cody comes after your grandpa, but now the Rocks matic Cody for says about the grandpa like it's like, but you know, you guys did it for It's just a little bit like, you know, tedious to get to where we want to get to right now. So to the point that you said there about like taking away Cody's moment, I totally agree with you, and I thought this one out. And the point I was trying to make earlier is say you've got Rocks solo, We got Rock on the sidelines, got Solo out there. Hayman obviously Roman versus Cody. Maybe Seth is out there as well. I think the point where a referee goes down and solosukoas tries to interfere, the Rock stops him. Rock doesn't have to hit Roman with a rock bottom people's elbow, what have you. He takes out Solo and prevents it and kind of does that thing of like all right, go finish your story to Cody Rhodes and then allows Cody to hit you know, a couple crossroads, three of them, you know, a little hat tip to resume a thirty nine, and that's the one, two three, and Rock bows out to let Cody have that moment. That's how I see that play out. If they did something where like Roman hits excuse me, Rock hits Roman with a rock bottom of People's elbow, then Cody covers him, or Cody hits him with a crossroads. They don't want two to three after the rock bottom of People's elbow, then yeah, that's going to be

18:48 a really shitty finish and should not be the way that takes place. I would hope that if they are making a title change a resume any forty, they go the direction of Rock preventing Solo from interfering while not interfering per se in the actual match. No, and that I agree with. I mean, but like my thing was, if this if something because for what I Ozzie, don't think the Rocks can hear from your Cone's behalf at wresselm age is because Rod just slap Cody's Unless they make peace between now and then, it's gonna be kind of weird for Rock to now all of a sudden, you go, Okay, I second thought, I'm not mad at you about what you said about my grandpa, so I'm gonna help you. I can see them doing it. I mean, he didn't say so to that point, right, like everybody's pointing, so I don't interrupt you. So everybody's pointing that point where they talk about Roman's grandfather and Rock's grandfather. If you go back to that clip, Cody doesn't say that Roman and Rock he would be they would be ashamed of them. He only says that to Roman Reigns.

19:47 He does not say that to the Rock at all. But the Rocks the one who stepped up to defend Roman in that instance where like, if you're talking about his grandfather, you're talking about my grandfather as well. So that's where I would think storyline stamp and that's where Rock flipped, right. So the things I didn't that I think when it comes to this storyline, so that we have to like delete that Friday Night SmackDown appearance in Birmingham, Alabama where he took over Cody Spot. I really think that that is like the thing that all of us wrestling fans have to unfortunately delete because it's like, Okay, this is where shit went wrong in the storyline, and you got to look at everything forward because at that point there was nothing as the way that the kickoff build up and he's going on and talking about their bloodline and their family tree and that this is going to be the biggest WrestleMania match of all time and maybe this is elaborated more on Friday SmackDown. So I should, I guess, be cautiously optimistic on the direction. It's because I think you bring up a good point, Doctor Trey, that that Friday and even the day one, it's like none of it really makes sense at this point. But maybe if they come out from a storyline standpoint and Rock says that, like he tried to convince Cody to give him this match with Roman to you know, celebrate their family and have a tribal chief battle head of the table and showcase their blood as the Royal family and professional wrestlinge It's something they've always wanted, Like they could totally do that with that direction. But

21:17 that is definitely the gap rate now in this storyline as to why Rock was aiming for Roman, and then when he's on the stage with Roman, he's kissing Roman's ass because the other thing to this too is Roman is being chased down by Rock all in the month of January, you know, does the crying emoji face and ignores the discussion of the Rock when it's brought up to him shortly after day one. Why the hell would Roman pick Rock as his opponent. Wouldn't he be dodging both of them, like he's a heel? Like why are you picking it? So that is a major gap in the story, Doctor Trey, that I hope, and I'm hopeful that the way the creative been that they will address this. But I'm hopeful that they do address this, at least the earliest being this Friday SmackDown, being that Roman and Rock will both be there. Yeah, But what I meant by overshadowing is, let's say Cody wins and it's a somewhat clean victory. Cody's now you've even a world champion, But at some point you're still gonna want Roman and Rock to come to blows. And to me, that's going to be a bigger story than Cody defending against Carry and Cross, you know, or Bobby Lashley or somebody else like it. Like that storyline of Roman and Rock is going to overshadow the title run that Cody has, you know, coming out of WrestleMania. So that's you think, So I think they can do I think they could do it. Properly, I truly do. I just wonder. I mean, if they're both kind of part time, which I

22:48 kind of expect Rock and Roman to still kind of have the same kind of schedule Romans had, like they can. I'm hoping they can pull it off, but I still think that Bloodlines will still be the focal point of s backdown, especially if you're gonna have Roman and Rock, you know, leading to an eventual match. It should be it. Really, I know people don't want to hear that. Listen, like you can give Cody the flowers. There's two major blockbuster things that could come out of this. Cody went in the title, finishing the story, starting that run as maybe the next iteration of John c in a Roman reigns Cody Rhodes as the face of w WE. Then the second one is Rock versus Roman, because that is, whether fans like to admit it or not, that is a blockbuster. I mean, Rock transcends pop culture. Everybody knows who Dwayne the Rock Johnson is.

23:37 Literally everybody. This is a guy whose name is on the lips of people in twenty twenty four to run for freaking president of the United States, and it isn't like a joke. It's legitimate. I mean, he is a pop culture icon. It was. It was a focal point of the show, Young Rock, Yes, what's him running for president? For Grind Out Loud, which also gave us the hints to this match. So the other thing I was, what you know, Like I said, you could do like at some point, you can do Roman and Solo against Scena and in Rock, but hell, what if you know Roman? You know, Roman's about reagae or coding, gets hit the crossroads, Rock jumps up on the apron and ear fear and Sina pulls Rock off the apron. We're bringing scene into this now. I'm saying, like you could make a lot of stuff out of this. I would remove the Scena factor out of this because I don't think he's I don't think he's going to be around. Yeah, I mean, well, I mean if it's a one off type match type situation, but I would take that. So to your point right about like focusing on part timers, I would do Rock and Cody as a tag team versus Roman and Solo. And maybe that's something they do with Saudi Arabia following WrestleMania or where are they going backlash in France, I think is the one right after that. So I think you do that there as well. I think I think you do Roman, Roman and Rock against Seth and Cody at that point. Well, I think there's a little bit well that that's we'll get a wrestlem in forty car round up here in a little bit, uh, doctor try Ultimately, did who we make the right decision with what we

25:07 saw took place about a week ago? I mean for the fans, yes, For business, I'd say probably not, because, like like you just said, and something I said earlier as well, Rock and Roman is still the bigger money match than Rock and Cody because, like you said, everybody knows who the Rock is, not everybody knows who Cody Rose is yet. So do you think the majority of the fans didn't want to see Rock and Roman or was that like a silent majority that was making I think the majority of the diehard, like the everyday fan, the people who watch ros SmackDown and every pl on Peacock they have, I think they wanted Rock in Cody obviously be a Roman and Cody. But if you're trying to draw back in some of those fans from I would say the attitude Air or anybody who's a fan of the rock Rock and Roman is going to draw more of those people in than Cody and Roman. I agree with you. I agree because the Diamard fans are gonna watch WrestleMania, where whether it's Roman and Rock or Cody in Roman, it doesn't matter. I think we were entering a very dangerous zone if they did not do Cody versus Roman, Doctor Trey, I think it would it would be very hard to turn that crowd back over because I didn't want to see Cody versus Seth with all due respect, no, I mean we've seen it three times in the last year and a half, two years. Yeah, I didn't want to see that again. No, And honestly, like, I think this is the right move for the long term success of WWE. But if you're saying, like, what would draw more people to Peacock, it would still be Rock and Roman. I think we

26:37 ultimately get there. There's a little bit more potential storyline behind this rather than like, you know, we're cousins, tribal chief, head of the table type stuff. So interesting times. I'm excited to see where things go on Friday Smackden, you're gonna say something, Doctor Troy, I just remind me the song of their Cousins, their identical cousins. I don't know, so sorry, it just had flashback moments. That's that old TV show. I remember the song. I don't even know what you're talking about. I gotta be honest. I have to see where that is later on. Uh switching gears to AW. We'll get back to w towards the end of the show. Major update on Kozitska Okada's future. According to Fight Full select H, Kazitska Okada is headed toward to AEW. He will be joining the AW roster and has made his decision. Doctor Trey, I gotta be honest, I'm not shocked nor surprised by this, but I am disappointed because this we've seen Okada in AAW. The expectation is Okada would go to AAW. I wanted to see something different, and I wanted to see Okada in WWE and wanted to see how WWI adapted to Okada on their roster. And Uh, I feel like this is I don't know, a decision, to be honest with you, Yeah, I think it's the safe decision. For Ocada, like he knows the environment, he knows the people who are there. I know they get you know, I saw people saying, well, aw' is better for you know, the New Japan wrestlers than WW is. Look how bad

28:08 they booked w's book people in the past, And I'm like, some O there days, like when was the last time a guy on New Japan actually want to match? Like you know, Suzuki Ishi, you know, anybody else's come in the times they've had Tanahashi come in, Like nobody really from New Japan has really won a match. So is it really a better place for New Japan wrestlers to go. I know they like the style, they like the environment, they like the people they work with, but is it really any better for the success of your career working at AW than say, at w W and taking a chance on that level? So I think the Okata character would have actually done really well in WW. But I just think that, you know, for financial reo for the he's gonna get paid well either way he goes. AW shows are a little bit easier on wrestlers.

29:03 They don't have the house show loop and all those are things that WWE runs as intensely as w E runs. So I think it's probably better Mane for the long term career of Okada to go AW, but I think for character and just brand awareness, WW would have been a better choice. I disagree a little bit, but I don't know what you're coming from. In regards to the Japanese wrestler, I would say, I know the triple h umbrella right now, shitz ky Nakamura, Eo, sky Osca. I think it's Kyrie saying blossomed right now in their creative direction. I agree. I'm just saying, like the perception of what WS that has done up until recently, but the perception of years past, like how bad you know Kenta or even you know, people complain about Shin's case booking for a number of years, anything under the Vince Rahim you know, was always labeled as bad for Japanese wrestler. Triple Ah. He's done a much better job of elevating those those stars than Vince ever did. Absolutely totally agree with that. It's I feel like AW is like new Japan Pro Wrestling US, almost like it's New Japan strong without being New Japan strong. It was a very safe bet for Okada He's reportedly going to be making more money working less dates, which is obviously appealing, not gonna be doing the house short tours, the major loops that WWE does more wear and tear in your body. WWE was banking on him wanting a WrestleMania moment, which Okada reportedly wants to have at some point in his career. I don't necessarily know if that will ever happen now, because it's still his prime and that window closes pretty sometimes pretty rapidly in professional wrestling.

30:37 It was a safe bet. We've seed Ocada performing in aw Ocada is performing with guys that he tore up New Japan with from twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen, and Omega the Bucks, Jay White, what have you so's. It's becoming more and more New Japan pro wrestling in the United States, which is exciting exciting for the die hard wrestling fans. I don't know how that really transcends for wrestling fans who don't follow New Japan or may not know who Kazitsko Kada is outside of maybe a couple clips that they see on YouTube or on X what have you. But safe bet not shocked, not surprised expected this to happen, but kind of disappointed, to be honest, because we've seen a lot of new signings for AAW not really blossom and take off as much as we'd like to think about Adam Copeland coming to AW, and I'm a huge Adam Copeland fan and sometimes maybe even pretty recently, he's gotten lost in the shuffle in AAW and it's been kind of a mediocre debut for him in AW, which is kind of surprising in all honesty. So Ocott has made a decision he is All Elite or we expect him to be All lead.

31:52 The company's not come out and said that in and confirm the reports, but that appears to be the direction that he is going. We'll be signing with All Elite Wrestling. So with that said, Doctor Trey. Can these most recent major signings that are coming to All Elite Wrestling will Osprey reportedly, Mercedes Monet, reportedly, Kazisko Kata. Can they help aw's momentum turnaround? There has been a slow build of momentum in twenty twenty four for All Elite Wrestling. Lately, Dynamite Collision have been solid shows, more solid shows as of late. Overall, I still feel like AW is a couple steps behind WWE. I don't think it's anywhere near the AAW run that they had from twenty nineteen when they debuted twenty twenty one. I've talked about on the show that there are times I feel like AW can almost be unwatchable and you can just get caught up by following them on YouTube or on Twitter or read the results. But can these upcoming signings You got to figure in this window, It's very well possible. We're recording this Wednesday night that Ospray has debuted finally in AW. Now that is new Japan Pro Wrestling commitments are wrapping up.

33:07 We expect from Mercedes Mona to debut a month from now. At the AW big business have to figure Okada is on his way at some point as well, So in the next four to six weeks Ospray Okada money could be major signings added to the AW roster. Can they turn their company's momentum around. I mean, I think they can help steer it in the right direction, But once again, I don't know if Ospray and Okada moved the needle for the casual average fans like India, because like the fans that don't follow New Japan, that don't really know who those guys are. I don't know if those two signings move the needle as much on the AW side as they would maybe if they had gone to and I don't even know if they would move the needle right away in WWE, but it would just be a better platform.

33:55 I think the biggest issue that AW has is that sometimes I feel like the show is rudderless, Like I don't really know if they know which direction they're going. I think the Mercedes Monet signing will help because she's probably a little bit better known in the US than the other two. But once again, they're going to have to re establish that brand of Mercedes mode to an American audience who may not know who she is. They may hear to name Mercedes Monami, like I got to google who that is and then find out that it was the wrestler formally known as Sasha Banks. To really also increase the viewership, because as much as we love AW and the signings they've done and the people they brought in, the ratings really haven't moved all that much over the last year, and one of the things in business is if you don't grow, you die. So their roster's growing, but I don't know really if anybody they've brought in recently has helped actually move the needle and attract more viewership to their programs. Well, the ratings are down, attendance is down. I think even after the it's been a Mercedes Bonet or the Big Business Show in Boston. I think Meltzer reported that only five thousand tickets have been sold for TD Garden, and that's an arena that holds like sixteen seventeen thousand. I would assume I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, but the attendance wills are very visible on television. You see the photos on Twitter or x what have you like. We all talk about how red hot professional wrestling is and I totally get it, but the ratings, viewership and attends for all EIT wrestling is not correlating to it. I mean,

35:28 it's extremely noticeable, Doctor Trey, I don't know what it is like. Twenty twenty three was an OK year for AW, but I don't know if they've lost the goodwill that they once had. I don't know if Tony Kahn has upsetted people. The direction of creative upseted people. I don't know, see him punk the way he was fired upsetted people. It's noticeable. And like I said, as a wrestling fan, I've noticed in the last since the start of the year that AW has definitely been better. But you go back to that show World's End, that was not a great pay per view event that they aired. Dynamite and Collision have been nice. I saw someone tweet out like Collision is like a nice warm jacket that you put on after all the craziness in the world. And that's that's true, But it's nothing where I sit there and I get really excited about like I used to with Dynamite in the past. I don't know. I just feel like there is no momentum for AW right now, and the momentum solely sits with the diehards like you and I. How do you feel about AW programming lately? I think for me, like so one of the things I used to always love about WWE or and I'm just gonna and I'm relating this television in general, like you, we saw the show I grew up watching Days of my lines.

36:45 I grew up watching soap operas with my grandma. I could miss a month of programming, two months of programming, jump back in, and the characters are still the same, kind of feels the same, like the rivalries of change, but you kind of know who everybody is. I don't know about you both aw like you know and now all of a sudden, Swerve was about the hottest heel in the company, and now all of a sudden, he's kind of going babyface, and now hey man, Page is going heal and the bucks are kind of like it just feels like everybody kind of wants to walk the middle line and there's no defined roles. There's also no defined pecking order to AW. It kind of feels like everything's just kind of jumbled and just it's just it feels very very random at times, like it's if you miss a month, you're like, damn, wait, I thought he was a bad guy. I thought he was a good guy. Wait I thought these guys hated each other. Now the acclaimed in Bullet Club Gold or Besties, all of a sudden, like it's just kind of all over the place and very knee jerkish at times, which you need consistency in your programming, and I just don't feel like they're very consistent. We don't there's not well established roles. There's not well established like you know, you know, if Randy Yorton's wrestling, he's going to be in the top of the card somewhere. He's not wrestling, you know, the brand new guy they just hired in that nobody knows the name of the guy. They typically don't do that, like there's an established system in place here. I just think with AW they try to do a lot of different things at once instead of

38:21 just going, hey, let's do this format and then adjust accordingly based on the responses of the fans. I just think they're very knee jerks at times. Yeah, they're creative, is not great overall, a lot of weird stop start pushes. Momentum for certain wrestlers all of a sudden derails and then you don't see them on television for a while. It's it's all very strange or storylines. You don't really care about directions that move around. It's it's unfortunate in all honesty, and it's been a very much of a roller coaster ride following AW Creative since like late twenty twenty two to now, and it's noticeable, and I think it's hurt them in a long right. I get and probably people aren't gonna like this, but I just get TNA vibes, Doctor Tryer. I truly do like the way that their creative direction has gone, like twenty ten, DNA, this is the vibes that I get.

39:13 Yeah, like I said it, it just feels like like they're trying. It's like when you're a boss and you try to be nice to everybody, even though even if people are taking advantage of me, you just go, oh, okay, well I'll let that slide. I'll let that slide. It just it doesn't feel like they have a defined direction. And I don't know if you're going to bring up on the show today, but I just read article day where they just rehired QT Marshall back into a vice president role. A guy who quit the company because he said he didn't like the direction. They just hired him back. And I'm like, well, do we have a direction? Do we know? That's why I said like it's a rudderless ship. It just kind of feels like it just goes with the currents and instead of going, no, this is what we're doing, this is where we're going, this is how we get there. They don't have a process in place like WWE does, which I think is what makes their creative suffer because it just feels like there's too many cooks trying to mix the ingredients and the dish comes out all like I don't really want to have a semin role on top of a hamburger, and sometimes that's what it feels like they're doing. To be fair to AAW, I will also say that the injuries that they've had during major storylines has not been something that's been good for them.

40:22 Whether it be Kenny Omegan ganting tapeticulitis or Adam Cole and MJF both getting hurt during their major storylines, they always seem to get hit with the injury bug, which completely do rails any creative momentum, which is something that they have obviously suffered with as well. So Osprey Ocatta Monet could be all in AW by April first, will it help turn the momentum around for the company. We shall see switching gears back to We Doctor Trey to wrap up this week's edition in the podcast, are Weekly segment here when necessary. The resum forty card roundup last week said confirm was EO Sky versus Bailey for the W Women's Championship. Confirm now Roman Reigns defending the end speed a W Universal Championship for Cody against Cody Rhodes, which we talked about at nauseum in the beginning of the podcast. This week, some rumored expected matches, and I'll go through this and then you just tell me, doctor Trey if you see it happening or not. This is how I think the direction is going right now.

41:22 L A. Knight versus AJ Styles. Yeah, I think that's where they're headed as well. Damien Priest and Finn Valor versus The Miss and Our Truth I hope. So, I think that'd be really fun. I still I don't know they're going to do a straight up one on one tag team match, but if if the caveat is Damien Cash is in that night, like because I can see them. I can see them putting the tag belts on Miss and Truth and then letting Damien Cash in his briefcase that night. Yeah, I could see that as well. We talked about this as well on last week's podcast. Gunther and Brown breaker ice title. M Yeah, I think that makes the most sense to me, especially if the idea is Brawn's basically taking the Brock Wesner stuff, then it makes a ton of sense.

42:12 There's no reason really to like sit here and say whether or not these matches are gonna happen, because they are. Ree Ripley will take on the elimination Chamber winner in Perth Australia, Seth Freaking Ronins will take on the elimination Chamber winner from Perth Australia as well, and then finally Doctor Trey. We talked about this a little bit. Roman reigns in the Rock versus Cody Rhodes and Seth Freaking Rollins. I could see it happening Night one, Night two could be Roman versus Cody. Yeah, what if Roman somehow jumps in the elimination or be Rock jumps in the elimination chamber match somehow. That'd be pretty cool. And then you get Rock and you get Rock and Seth at WrestleMania a Roman and Cody both on Night one, and then Night two or Night one you get the tag match of Rock and Roman versus Seth and Cody the night two, you get the singles matches. I think they're definitely doing something based off of what we saw for the from the Kickoff Special and then when you saw the trailer for WRESTLEMANI forty, I mean you got Cody and Seth face to face with Rock and Roman. They got to be doing something with those four guys. Yeah, And if you're not gonna do it in Australia, where else are you gonna do it? Between now? In WrestleMania.

43:13 True? Well, I could see it at WrestleMania. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, Like, you don't if you don't put those four guys in the ring together at one time, unless you do it at WrestleMania, you're not going you can't do Yeah. I mean they just announced I don't know if you saw it or not, but Grayson Waller he'll be doing the Grayson Waller Effect segment with Seth and Cody during Elimination Chamber on in Perth, Australia, So that'll be taking place as well. I do think that will also end up tring into a tag match of Cody and Seth versus Austin Theory and Waller in Australia interesting. Interesting, Well, you think they have Seth Wressell. I mean, if Cody does most of the work, I mean Seth can still kind of move, But I mean, are they end up just doing Cody and Waller in at the Liberty Chamber and Perth possibly? Possibly.

44:00 We will re predicting Elimination Chamber pl E on next week's stch To the podcast, which will also be celebrating the fourteenth anniversary of the Still Rialto show. So we're almost almost there to get our driver's license, So stay tuned, Doctor Trey. Those are my rumor and expected matches. Anything that you're seeing on we television right now play out that you could see taking place at WrestleMania. I still think we're gonna get some kind of six man tag match with the Final Testament. I guess that's their name, The Final Testament against. I think they're gonna be called the Pride at one point, Bobby Lashley's three Profits and then Da Da Da. There's one other one. I still don't know what they're gonna do with Bianca and Jade. I'm torn on that one.

44:45 If they go head to head or if they somehow put them in a tag madge against Oscar and Kyrie. I think you gotta go ahead to head. I do, well, we're supposed to find out because Jade's rumored to be part of Limission Chambers, so we got to are getting some character development between now and WrestleMania if you want to be part of the show. Yeah, no, totally agree. So there's been rumors that she would win the Last Chance Battle Royal for the elimination Chamber match. She's not being advertised for that match right now, but we shall see. I believe they are taping two weeks of SmackDown this upcoming Friday, so we should have a better idea as they head to Australia obviously next week. By the way, have they said if Shati's injury is serious or not? Because she's supposed to be in the qualifying match. Yeah, what did she take it on Tiffany Stratton?

45:31 I think yeah, and that might be like and I fully expected Stratton to get into chamber, but it's like, oh, well, could you pull Shatzi out, put Jaden Shazi spot Let j be Tiffany than Tiffany win the Last Chance be pretty cool? That would be pretty cool. No, we don't have any update there they're saying it's a serious knee injury, and you just kind of fear for the worst there, whether it be acl Meniscus. Got to figure that they're going to be running some sort of angle with Shatzi on Friday SmackDown, because I mean, what do you the taping how that all works out with everything from Friday SmackDown to write her off of TV, which you gotta figure or maybe they have her wrestle and just like get beat up behind the scenes and she, you know, says I'm gonna go out there and wrestle, and then just takes one best or prettiest moon solid ever and that's at one, two three, just to do it. Because then you got to go carry over to Tuesdays an XT which was taped and I guess go from there. So interesting stuff there. And in regards to the Shatzi way, they're going to be handling this booking. But at least they have a couple of days to figure that out. Doctor Try that's true.

46:35 And the bad thing is, I don't think she's really in a rival with anybody on SmackDown anymore, because I know she was with Bail a little bit with damage control and the Bailey things kind of sidetracked that. So maybe you have EO takeout Shatzi, you know, backstage to prevent her from me in that match, and then it still carries over to NXT. That way, It's gonna be really interesting to see how they do. Like when you tape stuff, but then you still have a life show in the middle and something like this happens. I mean, it's very rare that it happens, but these are things you run into when you start crossing people over from show to show. These things can flare up. They certainly can. They certainly can. So there you go. There's the Wrestle Many forty card roundup for this week's edition of srt You. With that said, let's close up shop on this week's edition of the podcast. We'll get a couple of plugs and sponsored out of the way. You can down the show every Thursday or Friday at Real Guy Radio dot com, Wrestle Chattnet on x and this still wrote this show iTunes feed, don't forget to rate, review and subscribe, tell us call the charts on iTunes. You can follow us individually on x for myself at SRTU Jeff or for Doctor Trey Franklin, d Doctor Trey and of course stuff we get to follow show on x at SRTU podcast. With that being said, what's going on the one for World of Doctor Trey Franklin this week?

47:45 Well, like Jeff said, you can follow me on the X Twitter at the Doctor Trey. You can find me on Facebook at Instagram to search out Doctor Trey Franklin. When you're on Facebook, be sure check got rocket Set Championship Wrestling and Spartan Championship Wrestling, the two shows I work closely with here in Alabama of Rockess, He's got a big show coming up on the seventeenth, and then I'll actually be debuting for a new show at Alabama believe called CCW Continental Classic Wrestling in the Birmingham area. So it's the first major show that's really run out of Birmingham area in quite a long time. So I'll be debuting for that show on the twenty fourth of February as well. So be sure to check out all those ones on Facebook. But more importantly, just go check out your local independent wrestling shows so you too can go see what a run of a ship looks like sometimes flowing in the night but you can find your often theories, You're Grayson Waller's your mjfs at those local independent shows, because that's where these guys all come from, folks. That's the secret. So do you go support all the great things that support SRTU, and thank you again for making us part of your week. Thank you for downloading. We will be back next week Wrestling forty card updates, we'll take a look at w Elimination Chamber preview predictions, we'll discuss and of course celebrate fourteen years of the starrilta show. That'll be seven hundred and thirty two straight episodes of the Star Roller Show. Never missed a show in fourteen years, and we'd celebrate that all on next week's edition of SRTU. So until next week, thank you for downloading. For doctor Trey Franklin, I'm Jeff Pack. This is the Still Roath Show.