Love Steve and Larson talking about how bad their eyesight is; as someone who's eyesight is deteriorating, I can sympathise Edit: I love Mauro, he was the early version of Pat with how enthusiastic he was for the product. Would love to see him back at commentary somewhere
16:39 no lies here, Someone like Ospreay can be in front of 600 people at a Revpro show saying "hes the best" but meanwhile Gunther is giving 5 star matches at Wrestlemania at the absolute highest level possible in the entire Industry Gunther is a bigger star then Ospreay/Okada combined and will be so for years to come.
Thanks for using my comment. 😂 i meant more in terms of the fans now. I do appreciate being able to see stuff i wouldn't have access to, but it seems no one can just watch and enjoy the show. Too much crying and complaining. Great show as usual guys. Btw i think turning Rock heel will backfire, he was always better as a heel and I remember him being white hot during the Attitude era with this act. A lot of people who were tired of him only knew him as the comedy guy.
I think it's true for most industries. Sports in general. Owners and coaches have fought with their fans for years. When the team is winning everyone is happy and when they lose a game or two the fans are calling to fire the coach. And with wrestling I can't blame promoters, sometimes. WWE does give the fans what they want and two minutes later the fans are crapping on it. Kofi and Big E's title reigns. The fans wanted them, then they did turn quickly. Vince took the belts off them, rightfully so. The reigns weren't going well, according to the fans. Then they were mad they lost. I've seen a lot of the fans want it, then they don't. The fans are fickle.
@@Bayley4ever sports fans will moan about their teams inability to spend money, when rivals end up getting bankrupted because they spent too much money. It's a wonderful trope.
I think in the past ~10 years we've seen TV and movies become way more hostile to "the fans" Executives and talent alike in film industries are extremely eager to dismiss negative feedback as "toxic fans" and insult people to their faces while also trying to sell them product. As wrestling has gotten less carny, the rest of entertainment has gotten moreso.
I never understood how people ever thought wrestling was real. As soon as you see someone throw someone into the ropes and they don't stop running, it kind of ruins the kayfabe 🤣
I've only seen Austin's heel run praised from a retrospective view. I lived it at the time. Trust me, Austin first being second fiddle to Triple H after Triple H tried to run him down, then running around as a chickensh*t and hugging McMahon while Kurt sits there with a tiny cowboy hat was "turn off the TV" type of stuff. Now it's funny looking back.
I remember a skinny kid in WWE ECW named Collin Delaney or something but he had like red tights and like a black singlet like big show rather The Giant in WCW with the straps down and I was in like the 3rd-4th grade but he was great at getting sympathy Maybe around the time of the gulf of Mexico match with Chavo and punk. Maybe it's been awhile
I thought I was the only one who didn't fully feel Mauro Ranallo. Sometimes Mauro would be fine, but a lot of the times he could be a bit too much and take away from the matches and other commentators.
@@Ranuyasha I'm a simple nerd, when he likens Keith to Hulk, I get it and pop for it. I loved Mauro, though I do agree with a sentiment others have that sometimes he could talk over others, but in defence of that he is the main play by play guy, others are there to chime in and add colour.
The revisionist history on Mauro being a good commentator is insane to me, just constantly talking over his colleagues, who always sounded visibly annoyed at it , and shoving in eye rolling pop culture references at every chance he got. And this is someone who just did an NXT rewatch through majority of his time there. Vic clears
- The reason they stopped doing brand exclusive PPVs back in 2018 was they weren't able to move tickets, aka they didn't have enough star power on each brand. I feel like this issue doesn't exist in 2024, but maybe I'm too deep in the wrestling bubble. Steve brought up a good point about international PPVs, those cannot really be one-branded. - I feel like a lot of the NBA media hates a lot of it's fans. Not all of them, but many fans in middle America feel left out. - Okada absolutely picked the safe option, but my hot take here is that WWE barely wants Osperay or Okada. NXT fills the need to bring in major free agents who weren't in WWE before. Okada is 36, if he came to WWE no one would know who he is for at least a year, probably longer. So he'd be 38 before the fans accept him as a main eventer. He's a net negative for WWE, which is why they low balled him compared to Tony Khan.
"Know Your Role (The Rock) [New Version]" from WWF: The Music Vol. 4 is objectively the GOAT of all The Rock's theme songs and the fact that he ditched it TWICE - first time when he returned in 2001 for the Invasion; second time when he returned in 2011 to host WrestleMania 27 - for a garbage "updated" theme song nobody asked for was a travesty.
Okada picked job security, better quality of living and more time with his family. The fact some people are trying to spin that as a negative thing is weird to me.
@@Ranuyashaexactly It's a job, it isn't his entire existence. But the idea of WWE and being at WrestleMania is so deified people lose sight of everything else. AEW allows him to stay in Japan, fish when he wants to and watch his son grow up. WWE should start offering international talents more incentive if they want to sign them. A lot of people do not want to live in the states right now.
@@parsath_2584WWE has alot of international talent. European, Japanese, Australian etc. Honestly think this argument is very overblown when it comes to WWE vs AEW and international talent.
As a person I'm happy for Okada, as a wrestling fan I hate it because when's the last time we saw Pac? It won't help the product I watch on TV every week to see him 3 months a year at most but obviously life is bigger than wrestling and I probably would've signed that contract too if I was him.
Got a question for Steve and Larson. Would you rather be a top guy in TNA ex. Josh Alexander. A middle card guy in AEW ex. Max Castor. Or a bottom level guy on WWE main roster ex. Cedric Alexander or Ricochet?
the problem with the internet is that it is instantaneous. You have a few second delay maybe, but your comments are there. Then they snowball. Everyone is fighting five minutes after something happens. No one waits to see where it goes. Everyone is mad and like why did they do that. that was dumb. people getting buried. Next week it makes more sense to why they did it that way. Then it happens time and time again. Fans don't sit back and let it unfold a lot of times. I'm not saying it isn't fun to wonder and speculate sometimes, where the story is going, but everyone is trying to rebook the show and fire people, like they run the show. I can be just as guilty sometimes, like my WM was Gunther VS Rollins...Gunther wins. He doesn't need to travel outside the US. Look at Roman not doing every show. But, I'm not complaining.
WWE actually missed an opportunity to pull off Seth vs The Rock and it making sense. They should have capitalized on the story between Triple H and The Rock, and have Rocky call out triple H to a match knowing he’d have to decline due to his health. But Triple H could find someone he trusts to represent him and his “Authority”. Insert Seth. One of the first Triple H guys, someone with a lengthy history with Hunter. Seth could make the story about being the real “people’s champion” which works perfectly with his persona as a workhorse champion. It all made sense. No need for a tag match. You’d have the rock in the main event AND Cody vs Roman. Not to mention, it would be huge for Seth.
Not much point given Seth's opponent for Mania is being decided and The Rock is not in that mix. When would he fight him? Raw after Mania? If they're gonna do that, wait until after Mania, when Seth is not booked already.
I know it's a fraught thing to claim people who were actively involved in the business are wrong, but: older wrestling bookers and personalities (Jim Cornette is a good example) who claim that the reason wrestling was so big during the territories was because people thought it was "real" are absolutely wrong. The minority of fans who believed was larger, yes, but most fans were in on the act even then. I think it was Jerry Jarrett who weighed in on this and said that he was certain most of the audience of his territory was smart to how things actually worked. And, it makes sense: even in the 70s and 80s, wrestling did not look like a real fight. It had a more sports-esque presentation to it, they managed to capture that 'hang on do these guys hate eachother for real' energy more often, but the matches themselves did not look real in any sense.
Something to think about that hasn't been brought up..... Are we supposed to forget that Cody had both KO and Sami helping him last year and lost? Now this year Cody has a hobbled Seth on his side and Roman as The Rock and its supposed to be different? I think if WWE is truly leading to a Cody win this year the story would have to be that the roster comes out and rallies around him. Seth isn't good enough alone for obvious reasons but people like LA Knight, Orton, Randy, KO, Sami, and a dozen others come down to completely isolate Roman in the ring from the bloodline. Only then does Cody win and everyone gets to stick it to Roman. That's how I'd book this mania if you have Cody win. That said I actually WANT Roman to win because in my mind this title run is the story of the bloodline and Roman doesn't lose until the Bloodline is fully disbanded leaving him alone and vulnerable. That's been the story of every major title defense. It makes sense to be the story of his title loss and you shouldn't rush that story now that The Rock is buddy with Roman and Solo is still firmly on his side with only a couple months from Mania.
I usually have similar opinions with you guys, but I vehemently disagree with y'all when you say Mauro Ranallo is too much. He's passionate, knows the product,and his pop culture references aren't as annoying as they seem
Hugely disagree, especially the forced pop culture references was awful. If I remember correct he almost ruined Kevin Owens NXT War Games return with screaming awful pop culture references during his entrance for example.
Wwe needs to stop doing a men's and women's royal rumble MITB and elimination chamber evey year. They should alternate men get mitb women get royal rumble following year reverse it
Now that everybody has noticed the hints, that's what they want - they're gonna pretend to have Swerved it just because of that. Seth is gonna turn on him so he can go out "on his Shield", being his Shield. He was the one who left, essentially created AEW. Rock would be on the side of WWE always for giving him the platform. Seth, company guy. Roman, was very close with Seth. All three of them AND HHH due to the sledge to the throne symbolism, has something "against Cody". The new screw job, they're going to screw Cody out of the belt. It's Dusty's Polka Dots.
The best argument for how the Internet made wrestling better. If there was no Internet there would be no going in raw
Love Steve and Larson talking about how bad their eyesight is; as someone who's eyesight is deteriorating, I can sympathise
Edit: I love Mauro, he was the early version of Pat with how enthusiastic he was for the product. Would love to see him back at commentary somewhere
16:39 no lies here, Someone like Ospreay can be in front of 600 people at a Revpro show saying "hes the best" but meanwhile Gunther is giving 5 star matches at Wrestlemania at the absolute highest level possible in the entire Industry
Gunther is a bigger star then Ospreay/Okada combined and will be so for years to come.
I think this is the 3rd time Steve has changed his mind on Cody winning at mania and we still have a month and a half to go.
Thanks for using my comment. 😂 i meant more in terms of the fans now. I do appreciate being able to see stuff i wouldn't have access to, but it seems no one can just watch and enjoy the show. Too much crying and complaining. Great show as usual guys. Btw i think turning Rock heel will backfire, he was always better as a heel and I remember him being white hot during the Attitude era with this act. A lot of people who were tired of him only knew him as the comedy guy.
the internet has ruined wrestling? how ironic that he's gotta be online to tell a wrestling TH-cam podcast channel that opinion.
The Ticketmaster/live nation situation is much worse cause they one entity now and not two.
Plus Steve’s shoot promo on magicians was amazing
"Is there another industry that seemingly has such resentment towards its fan base?"
I'd say video games.
I think it's true for most industries. Sports in general. Owners and coaches have fought with their fans for years. When the team is winning everyone is happy and when they lose a game or two the fans are calling to fire the coach. And with wrestling I can't blame promoters, sometimes. WWE does give the fans what they want and two minutes later the fans are crapping on it. Kofi and Big E's title reigns. The fans wanted them, then they did turn quickly. Vince took the belts off them, rightfully so. The reigns weren't going well, according to the fans. Then they were mad they lost. I've seen a lot of the fans want it, then they don't. The fans are fickle.
@@Bayley4ever sports fans will moan about their teams inability to spend money, when rivals end up getting bankrupted because they spent too much money. It's a wonderful trope.
Make the night 1 stakes be the winner gets decide who will be the enforcer for the main event at night 2
Hot take: it’s time for friendo club to wear glasses to read hot takes :(
I think in the past ~10 years we've seen TV and movies become way more hostile to "the fans"
Executives and talent alike in film industries are extremely eager to dismiss negative feedback as "toxic fans" and insult people to their faces while also trying to sell them product. As wrestling has gotten less carny, the rest of entertainment has gotten moreso.
I never understood how people ever thought wrestling was real. As soon as you see someone throw someone into the ropes and they don't stop running, it kind of ruins the kayfabe 🤣
I loved Austin’s heel run. Felt like his matches were sooo good in that era
It feels like these hot takes videos are now “if you pin or submit someone you win the match”.
I've only seen Austin's heel run praised from a retrospective view. I lived it at the time. Trust me, Austin first being second fiddle to Triple H after Triple H tried to run him down, then running around as a chickensh*t and hugging McMahon while Kurt sits there with a tiny cowboy hat was "turn off the TV" type of stuff. Now it's funny looking back.
I remember a skinny kid in WWE ECW named Collin Delaney or something but he had like red tights and like a black singlet like big show rather The Giant in WCW with the straps down and I was in like the 3rd-4th grade but he was great at getting sympathy Maybe around the time of the gulf of Mexico match with Chavo and punk. Maybe it's been awhile
I thought I was the only one who didn't fully feel Mauro Ranallo. Sometimes Mauro would be fine, but a lot of the times he could be a bit too much and take away from the matches and other commentators.
Those weird pop culture references I didn't feel.. but his energy and making every match feel important is what I miss.
@@Ranuyasha I'm a simple nerd, when he likens Keith to Hulk, I get it and pop for it. I loved Mauro, though I do agree with a sentiment others have that sometimes he could talk over others, but in defence of that he is the main play by play guy, others are there to chime in and add colour.
lads please tell me you have clipped the "Candy and Indice" moment, i cant remember which episode it was.
The revisionist history on Mauro being a good commentator is insane to me, just constantly talking over his colleagues, who always sounded visibly annoyed at it , and shoving in eye rolling pop culture references at every chance he got. And this is someone who just did an NXT rewatch through majority of his time there. Vic clears
- The reason they stopped doing brand exclusive PPVs back in 2018 was they weren't able to move tickets, aka they didn't have enough star power on each brand. I feel like this issue doesn't exist in 2024, but maybe I'm too deep in the wrestling bubble. Steve brought up a good point about international PPVs, those cannot really be one-branded.
- I feel like a lot of the NBA media hates a lot of it's fans. Not all of them, but many fans in middle America feel left out.
- Okada absolutely picked the safe option, but my hot take here is that WWE barely wants Osperay or Okada. NXT fills the need to bring in major free agents who weren't in WWE before. Okada is 36, if he came to WWE no one would know who he is for at least a year, probably longer. So he'd be 38 before the fans accept him as a main eventer. He's a net negative for WWE, which is why they low balled him compared to Tony Khan.
"Know Your Role (The Rock) [New Version]" from WWF: The Music Vol. 4 is objectively the GOAT of all The Rock's theme songs and the fact that he ditched it TWICE - first time when he returned in 2001 for the Invasion; second time when he returned in 2011 to host WrestleMania 27 - for a garbage "updated" theme song nobody asked for was a travesty.
Okada picked job security, better quality of living and more time with his family.
The fact some people are trying to spin that as a negative thing is weird to me.
It’s going to hurt him in the long run
@Jake_C75 Booking doesn't matter when you have family to feed.
It is a live TV Show not an office job.
@@Ranuyashaexactly
It's a job, it isn't his entire existence. But the idea of WWE and being at WrestleMania is so deified people lose sight of everything else.
AEW allows him to stay in Japan, fish when he wants to and watch his son grow up. WWE should start offering international talents more incentive if they want to sign them. A lot of people do not want to live in the states right now.
@@parsath_2584WWE has alot of international talent. European, Japanese, Australian etc.
Honestly think this argument is very overblown when it comes to WWE vs AEW and international talent.
As a person I'm happy for Okada, as a wrestling fan I hate it because when's the last time we saw Pac? It won't help the product I watch on TV every week to see him 3 months a year at most but obviously life is bigger than wrestling and I probably would've signed that contract too if I was him.
The biggest marks in wrestling are the wrestlers themselves lol
Got a question for Steve and Larson. Would you rather be a top guy in TNA ex. Josh Alexander. A middle card guy in AEW ex. Max Castor. Or a bottom level guy on WWE main roster ex. Cedric Alexander or Ricochet?
Can’t see Seth being in Cody’s corner to help him win; expecting Seth to lose his title at Mania so can’t see him then helping Cody win the title
Unless it's already planting seeds for the two to clash again down the road. "I helped you, you owe me one, give me a shot" "Sure" That could be neat.
the problem with the internet is that it is instantaneous. You have a few second delay maybe, but your comments are there. Then they snowball. Everyone is fighting five minutes after something happens. No one waits to see where it goes. Everyone is mad and like why did they do that. that was dumb. people getting buried. Next week it makes more sense to why they did it that way. Then it happens time and time again. Fans don't sit back and let it unfold a lot of times. I'm not saying it isn't fun to wonder and speculate sometimes, where the story is going, but everyone is trying to rebook the show and fire people, like they run the show. I can be just as guilty sometimes, like my WM was Gunther VS Rollins...Gunther wins. He doesn't need to travel outside the US. Look at Roman not doing every show. But, I'm not complaining.
WWE actually missed an opportunity to pull off Seth vs The Rock and it making sense. They should have capitalized on the story between Triple H and The Rock, and have Rocky call out triple H to a match knowing he’d have to decline due to his health. But Triple H could find someone he trusts to represent him and his “Authority”. Insert Seth. One of the first Triple H guys, someone with a lengthy history with Hunter. Seth could make the story about being the real “people’s champion” which works perfectly with his persona as a workhorse champion.
It all made sense. No need for a tag match. You’d have the rock in the main event AND Cody vs Roman. Not to mention, it would be huge for Seth.
Not much point given Seth's opponent for Mania is being decided and The Rock is not in that mix. When would he fight him? Raw after Mania? If they're gonna do that, wait until after Mania, when Seth is not booked already.
Ticketmaster owns Live Nation 😔
HOT TAKE: (post-Vince) Cole and McAfee are the modern day J.R. and King. Best WWE commentary pair since the Attitude Era.
Eh, agree to disagree. Pat is fine, but he's not on that level. He's no Nigel, who is hands down the best colour guy in the business today.
I was digging Cole and Barrett.
I know it's a fraught thing to claim people who were actively involved in the business are wrong, but: older wrestling bookers and personalities (Jim Cornette is a good example) who claim that the reason wrestling was so big during the territories was because people thought it was "real" are absolutely wrong. The minority of fans who believed was larger, yes, but most fans were in on the act even then.
I think it was Jerry Jarrett who weighed in on this and said that he was certain most of the audience of his territory was smart to how things actually worked. And, it makes sense: even in the 70s and 80s, wrestling did not look like a real fight. It had a more sports-esque presentation to it, they managed to capture that 'hang on do these guys hate eachother for real' energy more often, but the matches themselves did not look real in any sense.
As someone a few years your elder, let me tell you, just get your readers. It's okay to get older guys. Normalize aging or some shit
Wheres the next numbers dont lie ?
Oh no, UFCM Punk is gone!
Something to think about that hasn't been brought up.....
Are we supposed to forget that Cody had both KO and Sami helping him last year and lost? Now this year Cody has a hobbled Seth on his side and Roman as The Rock and its supposed to be different?
I think if WWE is truly leading to a Cody win this year the story would have to be that the roster comes out and rallies around him. Seth isn't good enough alone for obvious reasons but people like LA Knight, Orton, Randy, KO, Sami, and a dozen others come down to completely isolate Roman in the ring from the bloodline. Only then does Cody win and everyone gets to stick it to Roman.
That's how I'd book this mania if you have Cody win. That said I actually WANT Roman to win because in my mind this title run is the story of the bloodline and Roman doesn't lose until the Bloodline is fully disbanded leaving him alone and vulnerable. That's been the story of every major title defense. It makes sense to be the story of his title loss and you shouldn't rush that story now that The Rock is buddy with Roman and Solo is still firmly on his side with only a couple months from Mania.
No AEW no bloodline.
This is going to sound very sexist, but Aj Lee, Lita and Trish were great in a era where everyone else sucked.
We give you the content, you’ll read my 4 short sentences if you want a hot take.
100 percent shouldn’t be that hot a take. We provide the videos content, you don’t complain about it.
I agree Mauro was trash. Could not stand him.
I usually have similar opinions with you guys, but I vehemently disagree with y'all when you say Mauro Ranallo is too much. He's passionate, knows the product,and his pop culture references aren't as annoying as they seem
Hugely disagree, especially the forced pop culture references was awful.
If I remember correct he almost ruined Kevin Owens NXT War Games return with screaming awful pop culture references during his entrance for example.
Wwe needs to stop doing a men's and women's royal rumble MITB and elimination chamber evey year. They should alternate men get mitb women get royal rumble following year reverse it
Wrestling is great… go suns
Now that everybody has noticed the hints, that's what they want - they're gonna pretend to have Swerved it just because of that. Seth is gonna turn on him so he can go out "on his Shield", being his Shield. He was the one who left, essentially created AEW. Rock would be on the side of WWE always for giving him the platform. Seth, company guy. Roman, was very close with Seth. All three of them AND HHH due to the sledge to the throne symbolism, has something "against Cody". The new screw job, they're going to screw Cody out of the belt. It's Dusty's Polka Dots.
Double turn, Seth Rock. Watch.
You friendos have been spending too much time together lately. Are you having an affair? or are the wives in the know so its all good? No judgement.
Mauro SUUUUUUCKS