WrestleMania 42: Reactions & Review

Wrestling Crossroads recaps WrestleMania 42 and the RAW fallout, grading each match and discussing storyline implications. Night 1 includes LA Knight & The Usos beating Theory/Logan Paul’s Vision team with IShowSpeed putting Logan Paul through a table, a Drew McIntyre–Jacob Fatu match Pyro and Twisted felt lacked true “unsanctioned” chaos. Former Diva's champion Paige returning to replace injured Nikki Bella as Brie Bella’s partner to win the Women’s Tag Titles, Becky Lynch defeating AJ Lee for the Women’s IC Title amid ref Jessica Carr drama. Gunther beating Seth Rollins after Bron Breakker interference, Liv Morgan winning the Women’s World Title with Judgment Day help, and Cody Rhodes retaining vs Randy Orton in a celebrity-heavy main event before Orton injures Cody post-match. Night 2 features Oba Femi beating Brock Lesnar as Lesnar signals retirement, Penta retaining the IC Title in a hectic ladder match. Trick Williams winning the US Title from Sami Zayn, Demon Finn Balor beating Dominik in a street fight. Rhea Ripley winning the WWE Women’s Title from Jade Cargill, and Roman Reigns defeating CM Punk clean to become World Heavyweight Champion; setting up Cody–Punk tension and Roman vs Jacob at Backlash while discussing future Oba Femi challenges.

Transcript

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0:00

Then can you dig it? Whoa. Acknowledge me. What is up guys? Welcome back to Austin Crossroads. It's always, I am one half a dynamic duo. Twisted alongside brother pyro. What's up y'all? You 100% went brain dead for like a half a second there. No, it was loading now you No, it was, it was literally loading and it did not want to work at first. So there was a glitch in your matrix. No, there was a glitch on the computer. I did not glitch Uhhuh. Anyways. Anyways, would you like to start us off with our recap for WrestleMania 42? WrestleMania 42 did take place last weekend. For those of you that watched, I hope you enjoyed.

Night 1 opener 6 man tag

1:05

We're gonna dive right in to night one opening up with a six man tag match LA Night and the USOs team up to take on world tag team champions, Austin Theory and Logan Paul of the vision. Along the side I show speed match. Was not very long. No, whatsoever. And I know I gave a brief synopsis of a lot of the things here. Uh, I don't think the chemistry really tied in with all six men together. No, it wasn't all that good. It really wasn't all that memorable. Um, your most memorable moment took place after the match. Yes. Um, so picking up the win was LA Night and the USOs. Yes. Post match, uh, Logan Paul and Theory frustrated with I show speed, which did a pretty good job of holding his own in the ring. Oh yeah. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more guest spots ver but make 'em very far and few in between. It does not need to be overload and post match. They tried to jump him. Logan Paw definitely. He was mad, had a hit him with a knockout blow. And in their attempt, the USOs La Knight saw this, came back to Isho speed's. Rescue helped him get the upper hand and at the end of it all Isho speed. Put Logan Paul through the announced table. Ain't much I can say on that, honestly. It wasn't. It was what all of like a five, I think we said what, five to six? Seven minute. Yep. I believe is what we five. That's five. They timed it. It was seven. Um, your grade for this one? I gave it a C minus. It was a match. Yep. It was a match. Seven match.

Unsanctioned drew vs Jacob

2:58

It was a match. Um, next up we have the unsanctioned match. Drew McIntyre versus Jacob Tu uh, Jacob's entrance. Let's start it off. Right out the gate was ly painful. Absolute kind of fire, I ain't gonna lie. Um, it was awesome to see the dancers, um, the Samoan dancers. Yes. Yep. Okay. And um, once we got into the ring, it started immediately, but we didn't even make it into the ring. No. Jacob immediately went on the offensive as Drew made his way down to the ring like this. There's not much I can say about this match, honest to God. Um, yeah. How well did that one play out for you? Uh, uh, Mr. Billy, he said he was a big Dr fan. Um, how well did that one play out for you? Yeah, yeah. Um, so this, uh, debacle between the two. I really hope it's done. This match wasn't anything me memorable. It was kind of just blah, it was there, you know, I'm, does the match, have a match? And for it to be an unsanctioned match, there really wasn't anything unsanctioned. Yeah, no, we really didn't get the carnage that we thought we were going to get. I don't know if that was because this was part of that free hour that was streaming ons. ESPN mm-hmm. There wasn't a lot of, a lot going on like it, it was a basically a one-on-one match with a few sprinkles of Yeah, some kind of weapon usage, but nothing super over the top like you would think. Yeah, no. Um, your grade for this match, as I read, was a b story, obviously was told. I was gonna say in terms of the story, the story was told the way it should have been told. Uh, I saw a meme on Facebook like right after this match too, and it was three things are certain in life. Death taxes Drew McIntyre posting on social media while, uh, while in the middle of a WrestleMania match. Oh my goodness. Yeah. But tell me, tell me I'm wrong. Yeah. Last year was the, I'm born at work. Yep. When he thought it was easy work taken on, uh, was it punk violence, dude? No. Okay, so Drew McIntyre, yes, he did have that moment. 'cause there's a lot of. If anybody paid attention to what was going on with a lot of these wrestlers. Mm-hmm. Outside of the ring during mania weekend, there was a lot of fans that just didn't understand the limits and Drew McIntyre did take to Twitter to say, you guys are lucky, I'm a calm person. 'cause Drew McIntyre as a person and Drew McIntyre as a character are two completely different people. Oh yeah, definitely. He's got a lot more patience as a man than he does as a, as the Scottish Warrior. Yes. Uh, but yes, watching his character and then seeing that on Twitter absolutely made me laugh. It kind of speaks volumes for, uh, something that happened this past weekend as well.

Women's tag titles and Paige's return

5:54

Um, take us into our next match setting off, uh, next match was the Fatal four way tag Team title Match Women's ch. The Women's Tag Team Champions the Irresistible Forces Lash Legend, and Aya Jacks Defend Against Sharp Harlet Flair and Alexa Bliss. Bailey and Ra Aria and the Bella twins now, uh, to anybody that has been paying attention to what has been going on over the last few weeks, Nikki Bella was injured in a match about two or three weeks prior to mania. She unfortunately was not cleared in time No. And was able to find a very suitable replacement. That replacement being a returning page. You were so excited. Oh, I screamed, dude, we've been waiting for this. Um, I watched, or I read an interview that she did. Nick Conn, 100% wanted to like, Hey, before we approve your return, we gotta make sure you're good. So, you know, she had to pass a drug test. They had to like evaluate her neck. And she, she said like, what normally would be like a 45 minute test. She was there for like four or five hours. Yeah, no. And when they fight. And when they finally like doctors coming across, bringing in like the higher ups, you know, Hey, you ready to come home kid One? Once I read that part of the interview and like hearing it 'cause it's on a What's your story with Stephanie McMahon? Okay. Ah. Hearing that like her getting the all clear to finally return is insane. You pointed out something a lot of the, uh, women in the main event see? Mm-hmm. She debuted before she did. She is also still younger than all of them. Yes. Which is great. But Match was pretty good for a fatal four way. What's up Rido? We have jellyfish and a flash with the fish as well. Yep. Because you know, that's exactly what they do. Oh we have, uh, for anybody that doesn't know, Rido is also part of the wrestling Crossroads Fam. We love to see him in here. Yes. Um. Gr good match overall. Mm-hmm. For it being the federal four way. A lot of these teams, like they really did all gel really well with each other, being able to play off of one another. Mm-hmm. Ultimately picking up the win. We did Crown New Tag Team Champions. Yes. Brie Bella, alongside Paige. Yes. How happy are you for that? I'm, I'm very excited. I'm excited to see what it brings for SmackDown, as they have been said that they, they will be appearing on SmackDown tonight. Um, so I'm very excited to see kind of where that goes. And upon Nikki getting better, I am very excited to see where that triangle happens. Oh, absolute. Absolutely. If you use the Freebird rule or if Nikki's just like, look, uh, you were just a standard. Thanks for the follow now. Thank you for the lights. I am just gonna take this. Yes. Like you were just, you were literally here so I could uh, 'cause I was injured. Thank you. Goodbye. 'cause it's very much something Nikki Bella would do. Oh, definitely. Um, but like I said, uh, what do you think is next for the now former TED Team Champions? Um, I think maybe 'cause we have backlash coming up. Maybe a match, a rematch there, because I do like it when they do get their rematches. Um, but aside from that, I'd like to see them split. I'd like to see Lash kind of find her own footing and stand on her own. I, I would love to see it too. I think you keep her with NAYA just a little longer that vet like the true, give her that, just a little bit more of that mentorship, the learning, the ropes of what it is to be on the main roster versus, uh, versus, you know, being in NXT. 'cause they are a tale of. Two different shows. Yes. And Naya being, you know, having gone from NXT to the main roster and succeeding Yeah. Being a lot more successful on the main roster than she has. I would love to see that. So that way when LA when they do decide Lash is ready to branch out on her own mm-hmm. She has all the tools to be successful. I want them to not be together super long. But that's also because I personally would love to see Lash kind of go to SmackDown or say on SmackDown or, I don't know, because she's, she's on SmackDown. Okay. She is officially part of the SmackDown roster. Okay. But the titles are between both shows. Yeah. That's why I was like, 'cause she had blown them so early in her call up that kind of like Yeah. But she's officially a member of the SmackDown roster. Okay. So personally I would like to see her take. The US championship. I wouldn't mind it. I wouldn't mind it 'cause you need to figure out what you're doing with Julia. And I think that would be a really good stepping stone for her to see how well she can handle the pressures of being a singles champion. Agreed. So bring us into our next match. 'cause it's the match your grade first. Uh, I gave it a C again, it wasn't a super long match. It wasn't a super meaningful match. 10 minutes is what we read ish. I think that's what we read. Yeah. And but it definitely gave us a lot more context amongst all teams. And the page return definitely made it worth it. I will say props to whoever was working camera during this match, making Michael Cole look like the biggest liar ever. Nobody knew she was returning immediately pans to the fans and there is a guy holding a sign that says Paige is back. Michael Cole, you know, look like a liar. 'cause that man has been sitting there since before anybody knew this moment was actually going to be what took place. Michael Cole has obvious, has also openly stated that he's the only commentator that needs a markdown of everything that's going to happen. And the night. 'cause he does not like surprises. So he knew what was coming. Either way he knew, but it was the nobody knew, knew shit was coming back. That fan clearly did. And now you look like a fool. We love you though, Michael Cole. Please never change. Don't ever leave, please. The day you retire, I'm going to cry. And we did say it because of the Hall of Fame, uh, inductions before, if anybody was to take over. It needs to be the myth. Oh, absolutely they were. Everybody takes over so well toge. They worked really well off of each other. Mm-hmm. I wouldn't mind Ms. Retiring from in Ring competitor being an in ring competitor transitioning to that role to then. So Michael Co can really train him up to be his successor. Oh definitely. Because if it's not him, it's gotta be Corey. Oh yeah. It's gotta be Corey. If it's not Ms, it's Corey. Now. Next match. Go ahead and bring us into the next match 'cause it's the match you were looking forward to. Oh, of course.

AJ Lee vs Becky title switch

13:03

Um, women's IC title match. AJ Lee, defense. Love you two rid. Have fun. Um, AJ Lee, defense against Becky Lynch. This was another short match. Um, unfortunately not a lot of memorable moments, however, very early on, Becky tries to take the, um, padding off of the ring post or the Turnbuckle post, thinking that she's going to take the upper hand there. Jessica Carr sees it. They get into a little bit of a, uh, scuffle word scuffle. Okay. We get back into the match itself. There's another moment where Becky and Jessica Carr yet again, get in each other's face. A shoving happens between the two. AJ thinks that she's picking up on a opportunity here, and unfortunately Becky has an answer. Now, the Turnbuckle post is yet again removed, and we have the Manhandle slam leading us to a three time champion in Becky Lynch. Yeah. Um, yeah. Yeah. As disappointed as I am mm-hmm. I get what they're trying to do. I'm very mad. Oh, I know you're mad. I'm not happy. I'm very mad. I'm very mad. I'm not happy about the situation either. I would've loved for AJ to retain, keep the undefeated streak alive at mania. Thank you. But storyline wise, it made sense. And you're progressing a lot more than you realize. Yeah, yeah. You can. I mean, yes and no because at the same time in her interview backstage, she openly said, I need a break. Like I'm, I'm stepping away for a minute. This isn't goodbye. At least I hope not. This is See you later. So I'm saying because like she did sign a multi-year deal. She did. But it's, how long do we have to wait now before we see AJ again? That's fair. But right now the story isn't aj, Becky, the story for the longest time has been Becky Carr. And I think 'cause Carr initially was training to be an in ring competitor. Yes. I feel like this is the storyline that you'll move her into that role. Oh Lord. Let, let's hope that it's at least a good itch storyline. I'd like to see it start. At Summer Slam and then kind of take its way further because like there's been a lot of beef and tension here and Oh yeah. So let's see what happens from here on out. Yep. Uh, your grade for this match? Uh, I gave it a C. Okay. Gave it a c Again, it was a really well-paced match, surprisingly, for as short as it was. And I think you know, them continuing the story, the ongoing story of Jessica Carr and Becky's little rivalry. Yes. Granted, Becky should have been disqualified for putting her hands on the ref, but Oh yeah. Everybody pointed out that was a disqualification. Jessica definitely let her emotions take over. Professionalism. I mean, even in a professional setting, somebody puts their hands on you. You telling me you ain't gonna put their, your hands on them in a professional setting? No. 'cause I like to keep my job. I need a source of That's also part of your job, depending on which job I'm at, but still fair. And even then, I'm, I, I, I still have limits and rules that I have to follow. Oh, rules. Yeah. Well, anyway, enough about my job. My job allows me to put hands on people, whatever I want, because I'm a stay at home mom, you're a stay at home mom. The only people you, you put hands on your hands on are your kids when you are grabbing them off the floor and sitting them in their butts, in their seats when they're not listening. I just had to make the comment. Okay. It did. It did I just,

Gunther vs Rollins Breakker returns

16:59

all right. Going into the next match, Gunther versus Seth Rollins in what started off as a really strong match. Yes. I thought you were gonna say strange rivalry. Yes, that too. I mean, yes. Strange rivalry, but this wasn't. A ri an actual, I don't think it was an actual rivalry. I mean, I know Gunther stated like, Hey, this is personal. I feel disrespected saw. Yes. I, when asked for help, I was gonna capitalize on my chance to, uh, prove to you mm-hmm. That I am aware the opponent for you to come after. Yeah. So Haman again asked for this favor. Haman is now, or Gunther is now owed a favor via Haman. Yeah. Via Haman. I'm curious as to when we're gonna get the contents of this, by the way, but now you said that Rollins had a really good entrance. I stepped away yes. To uh, oh my goodness. So I didn't get to see it. One of my favorites and has been also noted that it is one of the favorites just kind of coming out of mania as well. So it, it's, it's not just mine, it's everybody. It's come to be one of everybody's favorites too. That's good. So I'm really happy about that. But, um, so the band, you know, they get themselves started, uh, real great technical back and forth. Neither man really pulling an, an upper hand right away. Yeah. Uh, fest get a little deeper into the match. Rollins is starting to pick up steam. Yep. And as he's picking up steam on the outside of the ring, we get a return and interference. And who was the return? The Vision's brawn breaker has returned to the world of Wwe. E Now, had he not gotten injured, the match probably would've been Brawn versus, or Seth. But here we are now. I like the sassy hands down. Anyways, people, this is what you guys get to look forward to now. Uh, congratulations. Feel sorry for you guys. Now going in he Spears, Rollins. Mm-hmm. Out of his boots. Gunther sees this. He's able to take advantage. Uh, got he's back in the ring. 'cause referee was dealing with Gunther being down, making sure he wasn't injured. Yes. Braun able to help give him the upper hand. Gunther notices, locks in the sleeper. Rollins passes out. Gunther wins the match. Post match. A 75 yard run to once again. Spear Rollins. 'cause in half. Oh yeah. I I I'm just like, ah, this man's gonna die. Snap that man in half. Oh yeah. Uh, but again, really good match. I gave it a b 'cause it was well paced. You got to progress a really weird story. Mm-hmm. And I feel like the only thing keeping it from that a match that it, that it was on track to be, was. Breakers interference. I agree. Like you brutalize, you ended a really good match. Um, and I get why he did it. 'cause again, storyline like you furthered that storyline. But again, that could have been a post match. I'm celebrating and now he, now I'm not. Now a breaker comes out of nowhere and attacks in post match. Um, speaking of obviously this match, do you want to kind of sprinkling what happened on Monday? 'cause it does pertain to this match Monday we get the vision, uh, in the ring. We uh, see that they're all talking. You know Logan Paul hear him, Logan Paul talking about how speed is the reason that they lost. But it doesn't matter 'cause they're still champions. I wanna know what you retained 'cause your tag team titles weren't on the line sir. Um. But also pop me kettle. 'cause you're talking about how streamers and celebrities and social media influencers should have no business being in your business, sir, that's literally what you started as you up until a year ago. Were just that and you still kind of are. So, um, pop me kettle. Pop me kettle. Take a look in the mirror and take a step back. My guy. Agreed. All right. So, um, finishing up that and then finishing up that ru or Breaker gets on the mic, talks about how he's not done with Rollins. Really? Rollins makes his way out. There's a brawl eventually. Um, 'cause you know, Rollin's Steel chair, it's kind of a signature thing. His breaker in the back of the head was that broke him open Bra brawling. Ens soThe. Uh, it looks like the vision is kind of getting the upper hand for a minute and out to make the, save the return of Monte Ford in Angelo dockets. The street prophets. You know what, you know where their eyes, their eyes are set. You know what they got their, their sight side on? They want that tag gold around their waist. Yet again, it has been far too long since we've seen this. Men, these men diapers are expensive. Yes. But also you can't do that. Oh yeah. No. The meme of diaper, the price of diapers is what brought him back. Now I like the avoid being in triple threat matches with Bria Ripley and El Sky. 'cause think about it, the last two triple threat matches they've had, Bianca Belaire and Naomi, and what is going on here? Mm. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. They're both, they're both a baby. They're both shy. Yeah. Again, if you guys miss that at all, Bianca be, did make her return, she announced she is indeed pregnant. Congratulations to her Montez Ford. Although we hate to see her out longer, but congratulations to her. Oh yeah. And thank you so much for I, I am sorry I can't see the name very well, so thank you so much. Thank you for that. We, we appreciate the love, man. Go ahead and, uh, drop a follow if you haven't already tapped the screen. Like it up. Yes. Thank you for joining.

Liv wins womens world title

23:23

All right. Next match up was the women's World title match. Liv Morgan. Stephanie er. This wasn't a quick, this wasn't a long match. No. Um, the entrances were at least Livs cringy. Very cringy, very cringy, very cringy cringy, super cringe. Um, then we get into the match starts up right away. Both women. N neither one got the upper hand. But I will say, like you pointed out, there was very quick interference from the outside. Um, judgment day did get involved really early, but even upon getting involved, Raquel kind of dropping Stephanie, she was able to kick out of the first oblivion. Um, and then it was yet another distraction on the outside that Stephanie took her eye off the ball. Liv led to another oblivion, 1, 2, 3, and new women's champion Liv Morgan. Hey, listen, when you have the numbers advantage, you use it. When you have the numbers game you use it. And if it brings home gold, I mean, that just means it's working. Yeah, clearly. Um, it sucks that Stephanie will no longer be championed, but let's be real, especially after we saw what happened on Monday. We're not. This isn't the end. This, this story isn't done. No. Um, she came out to celebrate with her Judgment Day family. Yes. Uh, Roxanne and Raquel, she gave them their props for helping, you know, gave all the love to Dom daddy, Dom to daddy dom, because whatever, JD got some love because he is a member of the, uh, judgment day family as well. Yes. They then talked about his match later on in the night with Finn Ballor. Mm-hmm. Um, which is great. And then they were interrupted. Yes. By, by one. So Ruka. Yes. Uh, I absolutely loved that moment. You wanted her to pull a page and aj I did. I did. The writing was on the walls. I'm very glad that they didn't, though. I'm very glad that they didn't. It was a fantastic match regardless that they had 'cause impromptu match judgment day getting involved at the, towards the end, Zaria getting involved. Gave Liv the upper hand. Yes. Um, beautiful. Showing PR shows that, you know, hey, maybe she should have been here all alone. Mm-hmm. Just saying, but let's be real. We're gonna see her in that title picture sooner rather than later. Oh yeah. No, I agree. Uh, post match, as Liv is making her way out of the arena, Stephanie confronts her. Mm-hmm. Stephanie basically let's it be known. I'm coming back for this. I'm not done with you. Backlash is what they both said. Excited that I'm not gonna for that. Let's get it. I'm excited for that. Definitely. All right. But now we get into your grade real quick, sir. C. Okay. Lots of outside interference and I don't think these women got enough time to shine. No. To truly shine, no. The way that I know both of them can.

Main event Cody vs Orton chaos

26:34

All right, next one. All right. And into our main event, Cody Rhodes, pat McAfee, about before the match starts, after both entrances, Cody Rhodes and Pat McAfee fought, sorry, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, accompanied by Pat McAfee. Sir, are you okay? Listen, it might as well have been Cody versus Pat at this point. That's, if you watched the buildup, that's what they made it seem like was gonna happen. That's kind of what happened before the bell. Exactly. Now, before the bell rang, after entrances were made, uh, pat and Randy tried to jump Cody and briefly did get the upper hand until Jelly Roll emerge. Jelly Roll. Uh, as Randy and Cody are taking care of each other, jelly Roll is taking care of Pat. Mm-hmm. Puts him through the table. Pat is then wheeled off to the back. Both men get in. The, both Randy and Cody finally get back in the ring and match can get started. Bell rings both men showing how familiar they are with one another. Well, yeah. Nobody really got the upper hand. Nobody was able to truly get the upper hand until late in the match. And even then, it was still a lot of back and forth. Cody had his moment, you know, the, that disaster kick Oh yeah. Was great. Uh, Randy, and this was post Randy hitting the outside post and getting busted open? Yes. Uh, Randy was able to kick out of that disaster kick. You know, we, we got to see a lot of vintage Orton, but we also got to see a lot of back issues. Yes. I was gonna say they played a lot into Randy's back, back right now 'cause mm-hmm. Anybody that's been paying attention to the program, they have stated on numerous occasions. Randy Orton is currently battling a back injury. Now there's a moment where toward getting closer to the end of the match, they take off the ref. Mm-hmm. Randy's still able to hit the RKO and in a neck brace and referee shirt. Pat McAfee is spritzing about 75 yards. I'm gonna say wrestling one, two. Cody kicks out Randy, in frustration because let's talk about why the ref went down, Randy, that sw, that combination of like sweat and blood in your eyes kinda really fogged up his vision. He thought he hit the RKO on Cody, but it was on referee, I think it was Charles Robinson. Yes. To then hit it on Cody and out of frustration, not being able to get to the fall. Hit an RKO on Pat. Because screw God. You, you are the reason I don't at this point. Now it's, you're the reason I didn't win this match. Thank God. Goodbye. Cody takes advantage of the distraction. Cody, cutter Charles Robinson comes 2 1, 2, 3. Still WE champion. Um, not very happy about this. Randy should have walked out. Oh, yeah. How? Um, let's be real. Randy being the guy that he is definitely deserved it. It's been a while since he's had really any significant storylines. They have teased this for so long. My question is, and I saw this on Facebook as well as if Pat really wanted, um, Randy to win, why did he count so slow? Touche. Why did he count so slow? Like fa, quick, fast count. Yeah. Would've a quick count. Randy walks out as a 15 time, 15 champion world's champion. We get to see. A beautiful rain, you know, they would've re ran the story back anyway. Post match. Yes. Um, Cody's has a moment of celebration. Randy is kind of coming to hearing the voices, hearing those voices, and he hits Cody in the back of the head with the title. Mm-hmm. Post that. He then punts Cody, um, been waiting so long to see, oh my God. We have, and I like, we knew he connected, but I didn't think it was with that much velocity. Post match or post cameras going off the air. The scene on social media, Cody's eye is straight up swollen shut. Yep. He is now battling a, an orbital, I wanna say it's a fracture, fractured orbital socket. Um, because he came out on raw. Mm-hmm. Um, to, and we'll talk about that segment after we talk about night two. Yes. For a second. Uh. I black and blue. I believe they said after the title shot, he needed a few, I wanna say it was like 14 stitches in, in the back of his head or whatever, or something like that. I don't remember that part, but yeah. But either way it goes, you know, this story is also far from over. Oh yeah. Uh, pat McAfee on his show stated, look, I'm officially done. I'm officially retired. Thank you wrestling world for, uh, letting me, you know, kind of live out this dream that I've had. You should have stayed a commentator. You really should have. He's like, I got to do this. I got like, I got to be a commentator. I got to be a competitor. I got to be alongside some of the best, which was great, which was fun. Thank you for letting me have that to the world for wrestling. I thank you, Cody. You are the guy. You were able to get the job done. You not, you are the king running the place. Congratulations Elations Jelly Roll. Also took to social media. Pat, we worked magic together, whatever. Um, neither one of us were supposed to be here. Yeah. Um, let's, let's get back to what we do best. Oh yeah, definitely. So this is definitely a clear sign that they're done. Jelly Roll and Pat will continue to be fans, but they will no longer be involved with stories or whatever. And I, I'm okay with it, you know, I'm okay with it. Invite Jelly Roll to be a performer again at another big show. Mm-hmm. Let him be in the crowd. But having him involved in storylines and matches. Clearly he's content with where he's landed in all of this and how it's ended for him. Pat, happy to, you know, step away and just be the fan that he is. Yes. Um, celebrity involvement really needs to be reduced unless it makes sense. Because there are a few celebrity moments that we got over the weekend. Yes. That made sense. That were good, that were played out in the correct manner. Yep. All right. Your grade for this match was, I gave it a C minus. There was a lot of moments where it dragged, um, the wrong winner and, uh, oh yeah. Pat McAfee. Thank you. Thank you all. You keep saying dude's name so much. You're gonna end up on his podcast. Yo, if I can end up on the Pat McAfee show, I will. I, I, I take it. I take it. Listen, I am, I am actually a Pat, pat McAfee fan and all things Pat McAfee for the most part, like Pat McAfee, no wrestling ring. He was actually a pretty solid competitor when the stories made sense. And the opponents like, let's look at Gunther, his match with Gunther. Let's look at his rivalry with Adam Cole, NXT, like all very well done. Yeah. This was one of the very few moments where, pat, I love you. I respect you. I envy that you got to live up this dream of yours. But it you weren't needed my guy. No, you weren't needed. But again, if I, if wrestling Crossroads could end up on the Pat McAfee show at some point, I think you'd cry getting that one. I'd cry. But like go ahead, shoot us an email slide into the DMS real quick. We can make something work. Hey, hey. All I'm saying is Indianapolis ain't that far a drive. Alright, that's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. We're gonna tune that down just a little bit and jump straight night two too. All right.

Night 2 Lesnar/Femi, Lesanr farewell

34:33

Opening up the night we had Oba Femme v Brock, Lesner Brock Lesner, of course, coming out with Paul Hayman, his, uh, advocate. Um, getting to hear that entrance again. Yes. Has been beautiful. Oh my god, my heart, um, started off right away. Lesner was the one to get a bit of the upper hand landing. Three German Suplexes on Obba Fme. I remember when we were going through this, we were trying to figure out how many Suplexes he was gonna have. I said at least six. Somebody in our comments said he was gonna hit like 15 and I like, or he was gonna hit the double digits and all that. Yo, I if he hits double digits, it's gonna stop at, at 10. Yeah, maybe 11. Like, nope. There was no way he was gonna manhandle Oba the way, the way he did. Cena. No, uh, three, three of those hits an F five OBA's able to kick out Lesner iss completely stunned. Um, and upon being stunned, Haman was stunned himself on the side. Like Haman being able to be part of that story without actually getting involved in the match. Told everything on the outside. Um, and then we had a moment where O Fme was able to get the upper hand, um, hits Lesner with the fall from Grace. 1, 2, 3 picks up the win in about a five to seven minute match. It was a five minute match, five minute match, and just over five minutes over Brock Lesner post that match Lesner iss sitting in the ring. Paul Hammond is still looking like a gaping fish on the outside. No, like even the fans are stunned. Michael, Paul and Wade buried are trying to figure out what's going on here. I think their commentary cut out 'cause you could see their mouths moving but there was nothing. Yeah, and I think they just like cut 'em off like, hey, we're gonna have a moment here. Yeah. Um, so Lesner puts his head down and if you're paying attention, he mouths the words and says I'm done. He also threw up. Takes, Nope. That was after I'm getting there. Takes off the gloves, takes off the boots, stands up and puts up the X. Now if anybody knows wrestling, I know this is no, this is no. The moment just got real, the moment is done like that signifies even for reps. The match is done. We're calling it like, get medical here. But for Brock, it was, I'm done. This is the culmination of my career. Uh, Haman gets into the ring, they share a nice moment. They hug, they both cry. Haman raises his hand. And if you pay attention on the outside, as this moment's happening, O afe me tips the cowboy hat to bro. And they're saying, thank you for passing the torch to me. Takes his way up. Nah, nah, nah. I'm gonna, I'm gonna quote quote them on the, uh, I'm gonna quote Peter Rosenberg. Okay. Specifically on the post show. They didn't, he didn't pass the torch. He didn't pass that torch. Bel went in there and took it. I mean, Michael Cole stated it, when have we ever seen Lesner manhandled? Oh yeah. The way Oba Femi man handled him. Never. Exactly. Honestly. Exactly. Um. Oh, they tried it with Omar. We see how well that played out. They tried it with Goldberg. We see how well that worked out. The only one that's been able to quote unquote manhandle him in that way was Rome Marines during his, uh, title run. Exactly. So that tells you where they kind of see things going with Oba Femme. Now with that said, post, met post show press conference, OBA did have his moment of I'm calling out Roman Reigns. Now we gotta get further to that. He's calling out, you know, Roman, he's calling out a lot of the top guys. Roman punk, a lot of the, I'm in the main event scene. He wants to establish himself. Oh yeah. And he needs to the, this is how you do it. You call out the big guys, you should be shot. And I am, I'm loving this raw comes on, he gives that like Roman reins after mania 33 when he beat the undertaker, he, you know, Roman came out, this is my yard now. That's when y'all should have turned him heel, by the way, still standing on that. And here we are, almost 10 years later. That was the perfect time for the heel turn be. It was the ruler has arrived and gone. Yep. And I have never felt more chills in my life. Um, I need your grade for this one. Gimme this moment and we'll head into the next. I gave it a BI think, you know, just maybe you could have given the match a little. Literally another minute or two would've been fine. But the right man went over. You progressed a story and you did a really good job of solidifying, cementing, and building a future star for your company. All right. And in his debut mania. Yes.

IC ladder match highlight reel

39:23

Next, match up human demolition derby for the IC title. LA Six Man Ladder match Penta defense against JD McDonough, Ray Mysterio. Rue Dragon Lee, and Jevon Evans. Now this match in it of itself was a complete highlight reel. It was. So to find a moment to highlight in what was a highlight reel, it's gonna be hard to do, but I'm gonna try my best. How about it? Uh, early on they talk about how Ray Reel founded the Fountain of Youth. 'cause that man was really moving around like, like he was in his younger days. Again, props. 'cause he finessed the company. Oh my God. Full nest The company out of a retirement with Gunther. Thank you Jesus. Now we got, what was it? I think it was JD was climbing the ladder at one point. Yes. You think he's gonna get it? You think he's gonna get it? Vn? With the springboard clothesline two JD off the ladder was beautiful. Um, you saw, I wanna say it was Rusef and Dragon Lee, I wanna say on the ladder. Okay. When Dragon Lee was kind of just, did he outside? Yes. Um, Rusef also ended up through on the outside of this Mysterio with kind of like a West coast pop esque springboard dive driving rusef through a ladder. Beautiful Mysterio definitely found the fond of youth for this match. Um, one of my other ones is Rusef Climbing the Ladder, OG Cutter from Javan was beautiful. If you didn't point that out, I definitely was going, oh, I knew you were going to and I probably should have let you have the moment. One of my favorite moments, and I really do hope JD is okay after this, uh, JD Penta on the ladder. Mm-hmm. Um. Penta is able to like knock him off the ladder, climbs to the other side a Mexican destroyer through a ladder that was shot, a ladder that was um, kind of wedged in between the ladder and the ring ring post. And the ring post. Uh, I hope J D's Okay. 'cause that looked pretty gnarly. The thing about JD that you notice is he will take the big, big spots, but he will always end up being like one of the safest people taking the spot because Oh yeah. I think it's, and I think that's why he's entrusted so well is 'cause he knows how to protect himself. Oh yeah. So, well, I mean, let's be real. He was trained on by one of the best Irishmen and that being Finn Ballard. Yeah. Because they were so similar in style. Oh, definitely. Now, uh, and after that, you know, again, few little scuffles, but nothing really major Penta is able to recover and retain his title. I'm excited for What happens next? What do you think is next? Ethan Page? Russe or Ethan Page? Ethan Page made his call up on raw, him and Jovan, uh, immediately. Uh, got into it. You still bad blood there? Oh yeah. I'm really glad that we retouched on that story. But like, Penta having a conversation with Pierce Pierce telling him, you know, congratulations on winning. You guys put on a really good show. Jovan is like, Hey, I'm coming. I, I, I I want this again. Penta iss like, yo, um, I'm willing to give it to you. Basically whenever, like you did, you did really well in that match. You held yourself together. I know it didn't go the way you wanted, but I would like to face you definitely for the, and I I don't put the title on the line. Mm-hmm. Interrupted by Ethan Page. Ethan Page. Talking about how. I am coming. I'm next in line. Mm-hmm. You lost get back. Back at the line. So that led, led to an impromptu one on one match. Russo got involved which led to Ethan Page picking up his debut. His debut went on raw, which is great. I hope that with Ethan winning it doesn't mean that they've given up on Jovan already. No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I hope. I just hope so. 'cause you see that a lot with their NXT call up and then with Rusef getting involved post match, continuing to attack Jevon Ethan kind of plate. Smartest thing he could have done was instead of also getting attacked, feed you Damon and dip out the ring. Smartest thing he could have done. Penta came to make the save again. Ethan Pave got involved real quick and then dipped. Rusef. Sal, I think Rusef is your next IC champion after what happened on raw. Okay. I think it would be the right move. Because I love Penta. He's put on some really good matches, but it's time for it to see a new home. It's time for it to see a new home. You brought Rusef back, what, A year ago and you've done? Yeah. Nothing with him. You buried him pretty early on his first run. I think you let you know, and if he's supposed to be this redeemer type person, he redeems himself here by picking up gold and being a dominant almost Gunther esque IC champion. Okay. I'm not saying, you know, the ring, he has to hold it for, you know, 600 plus days, but dominance, yeah. Make it mean something. Definitely. And I think the rusef is the guy to really bring it some kind of prestige again. Okay. Okay. I mean, I think. When Dom was champion, he did a pretty good job. Oh. Say he did a really good job, but he didn't have a lot of meaningful stories with it. No. Um, other than him winning it and then that starting the feud between him and Ballor. Yeah. But otherwise, what I think the only other one was Penta. Mm-hmm. Who then inevitably, eventually beat him for it. Yep. And Cena. And that was only because that's the one title Cena never had. So in his retirement, give him the grand, the title of Grand Slam Champion and move on about our way. Yep. And I mean, when you, when you look at it too, if Rusef was the one to win this one that I could, that I would be very, very happy with taking the title off of him would be a returning Seamus. 'cause that's the one title Seamus can't get done. Yeah. But we know he can beat Rusef. Yes. So that's how we, that that's how you play it. And that's the smartest way to play it, I think. Oh, yeah. All right. Um, next match up. After I get your grade on this one. I gave it an a, like there wasn't, there was really nothing wrong with this match. No. Which made me really happy. 'cause in the first hour at these first two matches, you saw a lot better product than you did all of night one on mania. Fight us about it. Argue with your mama. Nah, nah. Don't even fight us. Argue with your mama. Argue with the wall. 'cause I, I don't wanna hear it. How do you have 240 minutes of Showtime predominantly dominated by ads and entrances? Only about 34% of the show was actual match.

US title Trick wins gold

46:52

All right. Next up, US Championship. Sammy Zane, defense against Trick Williams. Who is coming out with Lil Yacht. Again, I still wanna say the name. This is one of those celebrity involvement that wasn't really involvement. Made sense. Two wasn't overboard. No. And three, it was done well, um, before this match, can we talk about the fact that Trick Williams really came out like a diva with a long coat? Dude said it was about 80 pounds. Why come out? Nah, nah, nah, nah. The mean, the mean where it was the CVS receipt. Somebody you saying why trick look like when you got the bottom, when you got the toilet paper stuck on the bottom of your shoe. Oh my goodness. Yep. Yep. That, and then the fact that they panned the wrong way as he's walking down. So you could see the coat was like up and everything was just tucked under No, no. Look, great. Didn't know when somebody said he looked like a, like he was in a wedding dress. 'cause you know how like the brides have the really long extenders that's supposed to be for Lash, that, Hey, hey, hey, A a, it's 2026. Did. Nobody said it was gonna be traditional. It's 2026. You, you don't know what they got planned. I can't see tricking a wedding dress. I can see him in the big at fur coat. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. But in a wedding dress, man, I don't think his pecks are made for that. Oh, hey, hey. You never know. He might be able to pull it. All that in the, the wedding dress with the lemon pepper step. Oh my lord. Fast forward. I'm sorry, onto the train of thought. We need to be on. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry. Um, I know we jump straight into the match. These men are going for it. Both men want to walk away with the gold. Another quick match. Unfortunately, not much to talk about in this one, but this one wasn't one of those quick matches. That didn't mean anything. That didn't mean anything. This match before as short as it was. Still did the job. It was supposed to. I mean, yes. Um, closing moments though. Sammy Zane takes his eye off the ball. Unfortunately for a Hall Luva kick we end up with. Riata did get involved very briefly in that moment. I think I was dealing with the little ones at the moment. Yeah. Yai did get involved, uh, causing, uh, Sammy to turn focus to him, knock him off the apron trick. Was able to take advantage. Trick shot that I remember. Um, picking up the win. 1, 2, 3, and new United States champion. Congratulations to Trick Williams. I know you were very happy about that. A lot of us were going trick on this one. I think Flash was the only odd one out picking Sammy Zane. Whoa bitch. Okay. The fact that we can have baby Crossroads doing that dance too is adorable. Alright, pause. Sorry. You're grade for this one. I gave it a BI think solely because of the interference and because of how short it was. Mm-hmm. I think it took away time for them to shine. But at the same time you really did tell a complete story. You gave the fans exactly what we wanted. Yes. And do the Right now the world is tricks. Yep. It's a little oyster.

Dom vs Demon street fight set up

50:26

Next up street fight, Dominic Mysterio takes on Demon Finn Ballard. Now mind you, it was supposed to originally be a one-on-one match and leading up Ballard or Dom has been complainings peers. Hey, I didn't sign up to fight the demon. I signed up to fight. Or I, I signed up to Russell Finn, not the Demon Pierce on the kickoff show while they were having a moment. Alright. Alright. You're right. You did sign up to Wrestle Finn, so I'm going to make it a street fight between you and the demon. I'll make it fair. It's not, it's not. I'll make it a fight, not a, not a match. That didn't sit well with, with uh, Dominic. No. I will say he had a pretty sick entrance though. The, the, the being on the throne with the Oh my God. Although I, I will say Ballor being back in the trunks with the OG theme song. Yeah. Oh my God. I will say, somebody pointed out, um, Dom's entrance with the throne and said they were taking a shot at the rival company with that. No. Even though originally it was Cody taking a shot at this, at wv. Oh dude. No. Then they did an interview there. Triple H, 100% was like, Hey, this is how you make a name. Like, I wasn't even mad about it. Like, go ahead, do your thing. Speaking of Cody, can we take just a quick step back and talk about his entrance and how amazing it was? Oh my God. Seeing all of the different versions. 'cause we got his debut. Yep. And we got on dashing. Yep. Then we saw, um, his return. Stardust. Stardust. Yes. Then we got the return. Yes. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Done. And then for him to be in all white and gold. Yes. Yes. Okay. Sorry. Yes. No take into where we were. Um, but let's be real. Triple H has made that entrance. Mm-hmm. Taker has made that entrance since, well before this private company existed. Yeah. It wasn't a shot at them. It is something that like all wrestling fans have seen and done and MJF himself, 'cause this was exactly who they were mocking. If that's what you wanna believe. I, uh, this is something I read. Because let's be real, everybody's like, oh, they only put, you know, drop the title from MJF to Darby. So that way there was something else to talk about. Mania a week other than WrestleMania, let's be real. It was Darby's time and MJF needed to take a step back. I believe he was battling a lingering injury anyway. I know. Wrong show, wrong company. Speedy Recovery regardless. 'cause I respect all, but MJF has stated he tunes into WWE e he tunes into TNA, he tunes into a lot of the out outside world of wrestling. Yeah. Not to look and to take or bash, but because he really is a fan and student of the world of pro wrestling and I love him for that. Honest, like he is very much a, I genuinely love pro wrestling. I just wanna learn, like one of the guys he has stated that he's looked up to is Triple eight and Shawn Michaels and a lot of the older heads that we are like, so no, no. So yes, him taking that idea from Triple H or taker. And then you know them do recycling it again. 'cause it's been a minute since we've seen that. Great. I love all of it. Yep. Um, now, now with that being said into, what was the carnage of this street fight? 'cause immediately both men wasted. No time Clint getting the toys out. We saw an immediate, once it spilled to the outside, it was predominantly outside for a while. Who was a kendo stick? Oh yeah. We got to see the kendo stick shot, which if anybody knows, brother Pyro understands that is his favorite toy from under the ring. Yes. Um, I'll drop a PO box if anybody wants to send me one from overseas. I'm just, oh my God. Ed, ed. Anyways, anyway. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. But great match. Dom able to immediately step in and also show he's got that vicious side to him. Mm-hmm. Assaulting ballor with chairs. Um. At one point we saw not one, but two different table setups. One in the ring. One outside the ring. Yep. What's the general rule of thumb? You set it up, you go through it. Mm-hmm. They decided they were gonna ignore that Ballor set up the, the one in ring in the corner to ball, went through it, put Dom through it. And you know what he put Dom through it? Mm-hmm. Because he did put down through that one and he put down through the other one. Yes he did. Um, I think there was one that Val went through too, wasn't there? Uh, I think he went through the one on the outside. We had two different ones on the inside. 'cause we saw, um, as the match progressed, him set that up going towards the end of the match. A coda gra through the table. 1, 2, 3. The demon is back on top. WW B'S decision for dropping the demon and making him lose, go hurt yourself. I, I will, I will say, that's all I gotta say. Go hurt yourself. I will say. I loved that they're going, that they rebuilt the demon. They made it mean something here. Mm-hmm. And if this is the slow build to valor being back on top of the world, let's do it. We fans wouldn't argue, we wouldn't be mad about it. I am excited to see what is next for Fin Ballor now that he has dropped the dead weight of Judgment Day. Judgment day, uh, the next night. He did also compete in a match with JD in which he picked up the win and post match. They tried to jump him, failed to do so. Clearly this story isn't done. Uh, I love that they referenced the fact that the demon persona is what won Ballor, the inaugural Universal Championship. Um, I don't know who this is, but apparently you're beautiful. Thank you. So now. From one match to another. Great on this one, by the way, was a b plus. You tied up the story, you reestablished your demon, uh, persona, and you did, you gave us the feel of what that unsanctioned match should have been. Thank you for the repost. I will not be reading you name out loud though. Ye No, I appreciate it though. Uh, go ahead and drop a follow and give us some lights of, uh, if you're still in here from one great match to, uh, yeah, another match to just another, bring us into the next one.

Jade vs Rhea title swap

57:11

WB Women's Championship. Uh, Jade Cargill defense against r Ripley. Uh, not much to say in this match. Uh, both women obviously made their entrances alone, which was nice. However, there was some early interference on Jade's part seeing, um, Mia ym Mechan and B Fab come out and kind of distract Ria, giving Jade the upper hand on a couple of times. Um, but upon them coming out also brings, it didn't take very long for EO to follow through. No. Um, hey, hey, I will forever do my little EO thing. My little EO emote. I gotta say, you are definitely the, the EO to my rea Definitely. I'll take it. Okay. Um, I, I'll take it. I ain't even mad at that. I take that as a compliment. Okay. Because you know what, you are definitely the more serious one of us too. But when we are together, we know how to have fun just like them. Um, EO is taking out obviously the garbage on the outside. Leaving Ria to attempt one riptide. Unable to do so. Jade gets the upper hand attempts a second. Rip Riptide 1, 2, 3. And new WWE Women's Champion Ria Ripley. I'm happy about this, but I'm, I'm sad that they are splitting. I I am too. 'cause we got the, uh, we got the tag match on raw and post match. They had a moment backstage of, Hey, you keep taking, you keep kicking ass here on raw. I'm gonna go run the division over on SmackDown. Can we talk about right after that, when Rhe was leaving and her and Liv caught each other's eyes after winning? It wasn't even, I caught each other's eyes as Ria was walking past. Liv definitely piped up and was like, Hey, I guess I'll be seeing you around R Smile of, I look forward to it. And then continued on about her merry way. Can we end that like No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And here's why. No, let me, let me say what I was gonna say. We end it. After crown jewel because what happens at Crown Jewel, champion versus champion? Champion versus champion. And I'm not mad about any of it. Um, and that's what we need. Champion versus champion, the better one goes out on top and you end it. Yeah. You drop it there because like it, it, it has been a very longstanding few between these two, but it's also been quiet. That's fair. Now, um, there was something I saw mm-hmm. And I think I would love to see this at some point. Yep. So obviously the tension between Stephanie and L, the tension between Ballor and Dom. Mm-hmm. Somebody proposed fan made poster, but somebody proposed for backlash. Lara and the Demon, not necessarily exactly in that, uh, gimmick or whatever. It's night night for baby Crossroads. All he decided nap time. That that's so, but like, you know, put the potential of a Ballor and Stephanie. Versus Liv and Dom and Dom mix tag match. Beautiful. I would love to see this. I think, I think given how well all of them know each other, how great their chemistry is with each other, I think ballon Stephanie would pair very well together as a two. Oh yeah. This is what he was Just bring back the mix match challenge. I'm just saying. 'cause that was a really fun little tidbit that had no type of seriousness to it. Alright. Um, your grade, I gave it a B minus. It was well paced. Both women did get to shine, but it got really clustered with the involvement so early. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't think they needed a road match. So you No, they didn't. And, and I think this is where, like this is one of those, it was good to have it be somewhat on the shorter side. Yeah.

Punk vs Roman Entrances

1:01:09

All right. But now main event, we bring us into our main event. CM Punk versus Roman Rains, the entrances, the entrances. These were probably some of the best WrestleMania entrances I have ever seen. Romans opens up with a tribute to his Samoan dynasty of a family. Yeah. The, uh, tr trained, uh, artists on the outside, uh, all of which being oh, Samoan descent, the Titan Tron, showing a lot of the family lineage from, um, Maga Toyoko to the Samoans, to the Rock, you know, Peter Mayo via all of these guys that are truly, that truly helped him get to where he is. Mm-hmm. In terms of his, uh, in terms of his dominance and his involvement in the company, Roman makes his entrance. Mm-hmm. Now we talk about world heavyweight champion, CM punk, his, his entrance. We got to see. A lot of where he started to where he is now. Yes. We got the Ring of Honor theme for just a second. Yep. Thank you. God. He came out in a jacket. Yes. With branded, with names of a lot of people that worked for the company that are no longer with us, that have passed that were close to him to Yes. Um, it was what besides Larry, the camera, a cameraman, a a head writer. We had the tribute to Harley. We had the homage to Larry. Larry. We had the Puerto Rican flag on the sleeve for his wife. 'cause you know that. Oh my aj. Love. Listen. Listen. If y'all are in a relationship, if your man or woman don't love you the way AJ and punk love each other, it's not the right y y'all ain't in the right relationship. I'm just gonna say it. I am glad I have flash man. Oh yeah. You two love each other. Just that hard. And me with Sunflower. Um, I love everything about this. Yes. But I, I find it funny that you saw the Puerto Rican flag and you went, why is that there? And I nice Puerto Rican and I was like, oh my God, I forgot she was, she was one of us for a second. I forgot she was wearing us for a second. My bad. Y'all. My bad, my bad. I feel a little disrespectful for that, but so fantastic entrances. Mm-hmm. And immediately the mind game started. Oh. Immediately there wasn't a pre-match bra, which was great. Yeah. The bell rang and both of 'em immediately started playing mind games, showing each other how well they knew each other. Mm-hmm. A lot of back and forth. Oh yeah. A lot of time spent on the outside. Early. Early. The ref. Let a lot go. Oh yeah. Let a lot slide. See m seeing punk, sir. I am just saying the rep didn't do his job as early as he should have. So in what world I know does a one-on-one match with no stipulation allow grant you the ability to use the steel steps. It also doesn't grant you the ability to go past a 10 count on the outside. But they did. I wanna point out the ref really just didn't count at all. Exactly. And if you were counting, they went past a 10 count on numerous occasions. Oh yes. So I mean, but that should have been a disqualification ref let it go. But a legal, as a headlock, refle, that moment go, he gave these men a lot of leniency. They needed it when they got into the ring, Roman immediately, oh, you gonna mock me? This ain't promo day. This ain't raw. This is. Roman is the best ish talker out there right now. And thank, thank you Paul Haman for that. Oh my God, thank you for getting, getting him to finally be able to speak. 'cause like Roman in the ring, being able to talk all that smack is Absolutely. Let's look back at how, you know, baby Roman used to be when he went up against Sena for the first time. It's called a promo cage. You're gonna need to learn to cut one if you're gonna be the guy. Yep. Um, but no, a lot of back and forth. I don't think you could have written a better match or story out than this one right here. This truly meant a lot to both. Oh yeah, definitely. You know, we, we get, we're getting into the deep waters. Fatigue is setting in on both men, and you can tell both of them are winded. Oh yeah. The, they're gas, anything. They're not delivering to the full impact that they should. As we get to the closing moments, we see, you know, we saw punk kick out of a spear. Mm-hmm. We saw him reverse the g and t into a pinning combination, forcing Roman to twice let go in order to not get pinned news to match. Mm-hmm. We saw Roman kick out of the GTS break out of an anacon device. Mm-hmm. We saw going into the closing moments, punk hits a another G-T-S-A-D-T-S, Roman ricochets off the rope and back onto his shoulders, and as he gets up to deliver another exhaustion just took over. He collapsed. Roman is able to have a moment of recovery. He hits the ropes. Mm-hmm. Back and forth, back and forth, and punk finally gets up. He's able to deliver the exclamation point, the period at the end of the exclamation point with hi, that last spear to grant him. World Heavyweight champion. My biggest thing about this, I want to be mad that punk lost. I really do. I'm kind of happy, heated. He did everything he could for this title run. He did everything he could to really bring prestige and honor and greatness to the title, to ti, to the title he proved. The Man Makes the title, not the title, making the Man, which is something that Roman struggled with early. My biggest pro moment here and the biggest note that I want to point out, with the exception of the stairs, Roman one. Clean, no outside interference at all. No, uh, no getting in the ref's head. Literally no external forces other than Roman punk having. Easily one of the greatest main events in WrestleMania history. I I, I'm gonna stand out, I'm gonna die on it. If punk was able to hit that second GTS room, he was down. Oh, yes. Exhaust. And that's where I'm just like, exhaust exhaustion played the biggest story. And you know, you want, and you know, for as many as you want to be in as much as you wanna die on that hill. Mm-hmm. Even you, I'm not gonna say you acknowledged him, but you gave, I gave over his flowers. I did his flowers. In the moment you gave him the respect he deserved for it. And your grade A plus there, there wasn't, I had, I bad, there was nothing bad to say about this other than the ref maybe letting a little bit too much leniency go. And Colin Barrett addressed that early is like, he's letting a lot of stuff go that maybe he shouldn't have. I feel like, but clearly it's painful enough. But at the end of the day, we needed a decisive winner. Oh yeah. Both men needed to prove what. What their next, like both men needed to prove something in themselves and to each other.

RAW after Mania fallout

1:09:07

Let's talk raw. Let's talk raw. We open with C Punk. Yep. C Punk comes out talk addresses the loss and that he's kind of happy that he's not champion anymore because it's a lot of weight to carry. Mm-hmm. He doesn't know what's next 'cause what is it? He said I won the championship and got cashed in on. Yeah. And I waited and I waited and I kept myself in the ready. Yeah. 'cause you never know. No. When a championship match is going to fall out of the sky. 'cause that is exactly what happened. Rollins getting injured as unfortunate as it was, is what led to punk being able to defeat Jay USO to become world heavyweight champion yet again. Mm-hmm. Um. And so he talked about, I don't know what the path is next or how I get back into the title picture, but I'm ready, but I'm gonna stay ready 'cause I never know when it's gonna ha when the opportunities is gonna happen. In Come out, comes Cody Roach. They have a moment of respect. Punk, without saying it definitely acknowledged Roman throughout all of this. Oh yeah. Giving the man his respect. Like, look, he beat me. That's now his way to carry. I respect it. 'cause he did it. Yeah. And he did it without help. He did it clean. He, he beat me. He got the best of me. He was the better man at mania. They come out, out comes Cody, you see that Shiner, dude? Oh my God. That, that was intense. But next time, if you're gonna have a, uh, an injured oral socket, stay home for at least longer than like 24 hours. It wasn't even 24 hours, but no, somebody but driving somebody did state that, you know, what was the point in the PA bringing back the PA if Cody wasn't gonna sell it and, you know, stay home for a week or two. Thank you. I personally am okay with the fact that he showed up with those battle scars. 'cause now we see a glimpse of the future. And that is so punk is talking to Cody like, yo, you went through war with Randy. Congratulations on winning. Um, punk is like, Hey, I'm gonna stay ready 'cause I don't know when another opportunity is gonna fall out of the sky for me. And Cody, Cody looks at him as he's exiting the ring anytime, anywhere. Basically saying, Hey, just say when, or Yeah, just say when Cody basically confirming that he's ready and that we're going to get. Cody Punk for the WWE title now post show after night one after night two. Oba calls out Roman after he wins the World Heavyweight Championship. I kind of let that slip a little earlier. Um, he wants Roman. By the end of the year, Roman comes out and is like, you know, the fans are chanting, OBA's gonna kill you. Oh, he is gonna listen. You did something I've already done many times on this stage A few times. Yep. With the title on the line. Let's see how you make it out. The, let's see how you make it through the summer. Yep. Which is great. Something I saw on Facebook. Okay. And something I agree with. All right. The now my biggest issue was how do you believably book obit illusion if he beats Lessner. Roman. Roman is how you book. Like it is the only, so if you're going to put. Oh, but in the title picture this year, it shouldn't be Roman. Okay. If you want to put the title on him, and this is where you book yourself kind of into a corner. Mm-hmm. He needs to go after Cody. Okay. Cody is the easier ish target. This is how you see if he can really handle the pressures of being world Champion and with where Roman Reigns is standing in stature after winning the World Heavyweight Championship and again, after beating Lesner on many occasions. That's how you make it make sense. Okay. And then you go into, you potentially go into Crown Jewel with OBA versus Roman. That's where you really get the feel out the teaser. And eventually when OBA gets screwed out of his title a w, his WWE title run, you shift the focus back to Roman. Okay. You, you circle back to remember I called you out. Remember, I'm the man that retired Brock when you couldn't do it. Mm-hmm. Now I'm still coming for you, but speaking of what's next for the world? Heavyweight champion. Yeah. Let's get, let's talk Main event segment of Monday Night Raw. He comes out like he get, you see in Gorilla, Jimmy and Jay are there too. They're waiting on him. Greet him, congratulate him so he can go out and have his moment with the crowd. Yep. He tells them to come with him. Jay, why are you wearing your uh, jersey backwards, by the way. Sir. Sir, come on. Get it together. You're not Three baby Crossroads knows how to dress himself better. Oh my Lord. Yep. Yeah, I took a shot there. I don't care what's he going to do? Eat all over me. Let me shut up. Let me, you know what I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna retract this real quick because I understand that I am nowhere near in the physical capabilities of being able to defend myself against a J uso, let alone the army that he comes with. I mean, the most you got on a J USO is sitting on him. Nah, nah. 'cause your weight is a bit more than a JE uso. So you Right. But he also got his brother and he definitely, I feel, can bench press me without difficulty. I am only 302 pounds. I feel like he bench presses more than that on a regular basis. I don't wanna risk it. Uh, he love you, man. Anyway, let me talk my ish on a different level. Let me, let me respectfully talk my ish, but let you know like, Hey, I don't want none of them problems. I don't want the smoke. I don't want the smoke. Not the smoke that he comes with. No, but now you don't want this moment smoke coming in. Uh, they have their moment. Roman talks about. Reforming the bloodline. Yeah. Essentially. He's like, look, I did this on my own. I know what y'all are capable of. Let's do that. We realized, look, this was, this is us held up as five, like we're separated. We were good separated, but really we're fist we're a lot better and stronger when we're together. When was the last time we saw the fist from Roman? Because he made the same talk before Seth turned on the shield. Yep. We're doing this right now. We need to be this. Yes. Out comes Jacob. They have their moment and you hear Jacob's music hit and I popped. Oh yeah. So hard popped, so hard. Y'all. He comes out and he's, he looks at Roman. I don't want what you like. Listen, you set your family. I gotta do the same thing. Mm-hmm. I got kids I gotta take care of. I got a wife I gotta take care of. I gotta set them up. I gotta get the private schools. I gotta be able to take care of them on a grand stage. I don't want what you have. I don't want that title. I need that title to set up a better future for my kids. Like he made it genuine emotion. He made it personal. He made it super personal. He really came out and said, listen, this ain't got nothing to do with Charlotte's family. This got everything to do with the family. I gotta take care of back home. Mm-hmm. And he, he basically made it clear, clear, 10 toes down, 10 toes down. I need the bigger payday. I need that bigger payday. Roman looked at him, he kind of laughed. He's like, all right, who's to say you can beat me? Do you have it in you to hold the weight that comes with carrying this title? I think he would, but also who's to say, you can't beat me? Then what? Then how do you deal with. Like win or lose. You're in a situation that you are unfamiliar with now and I feel like that's fair. It is. He had a very short US title run. Yeah. Very short US title run. It wasn't really anything meaningful. No. It was to help tie up the MFT Blow line 2.0 stories. Yeah. This is gonna be a much bigger moment for Jacob. He challenges him into a matchup backlash. That's when Roman gets into the, are you sure you want this? I'm gonna give you a week to think on it before you do, before you decide to make decision. And I love that this really was a, I'm not gonna follow behind Roman. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna step up to him and I'm gonna call my shot. I'm gonna shoot the shot. Yeah. I'm gonna call my spot I got next. Mm-hmm. And let's be real, we're gonna get the match up backlash. Mm-hmm. Because you know, Jacob, Jacob is a very one track mind. I have a goal inside and I'm gonna achieve it. I'm gonna Yes, yes, yes. Very much. I'm gonna do this. For those of you that know him personally. Yep. Hi, I'm gonna do this. This is what, this is what happens. I'm gonna come after him. We're gonna get the match. I don't think Jacob goes over. No, but I think you see that, that first kind of chip in Roman's def in Roman's armor as world heavyweight champion. Mm-hmm. I also feel like now we start, this is where we really start to see the build and the grind of Jacob. Okay. We see Jacob truly be, become, come into his own. And eventually, I, I feel like either we get this match later down the road mm-hmm. But at some point I feel like this is gonna be the now do we, how well, how much of a rocket do we strap to? Yeah. All right. Jacob Roman is going to be, is going to feed family. Yeah, like this ma, that match is going to be absolutely phenomenal. All right.

Live show plans

1:19:28

With that said, that does conclude, um, WrestleMania 42. If you weren't here in the beginning, we did state that going forward we will be going um, live for a lot of the bigger shows. Yes. And a lot of the minor show, more minor shows, you know, the money in the banks, the backlash Crown Jewel. We're gonna, we're we're gonna not necessarily go live. We might, you know, post something here and there though about it. Keep the social media presence going. Maybe do something, you know, maybe do like a small Q and a if we jump on with the, with the match or with the shows or whatever. Yeah, do what I did. I know I could probably get in trouble for this, but potentially, you know, live reactions as we're watching the show. Like I did, like we did for night two of Mania 'cause it just didn't work out for Night One. Something like that. But nothing like, like what we're doing right now. No. Um. But with that being said, um, we're gonna end the podcast so laters here guys.