Games with Names - CM Punk on SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes, and One of his Greatest Matches

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

CM Punk is in studio! The WWE legend is with us to talk Summer Slam, his journey in wrestling, and one of his favorite all time matches. That's right, we're going deep on Wrestlemania 29: CM Punk vs. The Undertaker.  (00:00) We kick things off. (01:00) CM joins us on the couch. (24:26) We go back to 2013. (32:48) We break down each superstar. (40:00) We dive into the match. (1:07:43) We score it. Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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On pro wrestling's biggest night, this is WrestleMania 29. Welcome to Games with Names. I'm Julian. He's Jack, and we're on a mission to finding the greatest game of all time. And we got a great episode coming out today with WWE legend. C.M. Punk. And if you haven't already, drop a like and subscribe to Games with Names. Let's go. Let's go.

Games with Names is a production of IHeart Radio. Welcome to Games with Names. Today we are looking at WrestleMania 29 CM Punk versus The Undertaker. Punk, we got you here in the Nut House. In one sentence, why did you pick this match? Believe it or not, I think this one's kind of, of overshadowed a little bit. Like you guys gave me a list.

Me, Brock, I feel like that's always talked about. Me, Sina, and we're on the 15th year, I think, anniversary of me and Sina for money in the bank. I've talked about that one. I don't know how many times. I'm almost sick of talking about it.

And this one with Undertaker and it being a WrestleMania, like I honestly, I feel like it's a little bit not talked about enough. So I figured, WrestleMania Undertaker two huge things in the world of wrestling

why not talk about this, you know? Yeah, is this the greatest match of all time? Well, that's subjective. I don't even think I think this is the greatest match of all time. I think that's way too subjective, you know, to put it in terms of like

what you did, you know, like, do you have a thought of like what your greatest game was? or what the greatest football game ever played is. Well, punk, you know, this is called games with names. We're on the search for the greatest game, match, race, surf wave of all time. Yeah, yeah. So everyone comes out here to give their point.

But for me, you know, it's like cereal. You don't have a favorite cereal. It's too subjective. You know what I mean? Sometimes you're feeling cocoa-y, you go with cocoa puff. Sometimes you want a little fruitiness. You go with fruity pebbles. Sometimes I want to feel healthy and go honeynut churio,

even though it's not healthy, but you think you're getting healthy. Hey, it's hard smart, you know what I mean? I think it's so subjective, but across especially sports and fandom, like everything that you grew up with is going to be the golden age,

right? Like I'm not the biggest football guy, but I can talk to you about like NFL film history and like some Green Bay Packer Chicago Bears games. The snow has got to be. be coming down. It's got to like the conditions got to be crazy to uh, like franchises that are have a rabid fan base that have been around forever. Blue bloods. Yeah. And it's just like I can't compare any of that stuff to stuff that happens in the NFL today because it's just those are my

memories. Exactly. And I love that way more. And you're not going to convince me that something that happened in 2025 was greater than one of those games. You know, so this. This is subjective, you know. Like, I think this is one of my greatest matches. I'd be interested to hear what Taker thought of it because he had such a long, prolific career and did a great many things and had all these cool moments. But I like that it's subjective.

I like that everybody has an opinion. And you can learn from a lot of that. Without a doubt. And I love that you went into Packers, Bears talk. I have to talk about that here coming up. up at the NFL Fox symposium about the NFC North. Okay. You know,

and have you been watching these guys, this new generation of bears? Yeah, yeah, I think because I, I was born in Chicago in 1978. I think it's a requirement that I watched the bears, you know?

I mean, they were the biggest thing when I was, what, six years old? 85 bears. Yeah. Like the Patriots. Monsters.

Monsters of the Midway, you know? Like, I could still name everybody on that team. I could sing you the Super Bowl shuffle. Like it was a requirement from where I was born. So how excited is the city right now, even if you're not there all the time,

but just your friends, your family with the new bears right now. You got Ben Johnson. You got Caleb Williams. He's kind of like that new age quarterback. He's the first NIL quarterback. You got an offensive line that is killing everyone. So you got that tough pound kind of offense,

which thrives in a cold weather city like Chicago. how's the excitement level been for the Chicago? I think it's through the roof. You know, it's off the charts. This is the first time. And I'm a, I'm a Bears fan, but I will be real when it comes to the Bears.

Like, it's, to me, it's always boiled down to management because we've heard over the years, like how many times, though, this quarterback's coming in, he's going to change the franchise. Oh, now we got Lovie Smith. This coach is going to change thing.

It just happens year after year, after year after year. So I was skeptical when, you know, like first we got fields, you know. And I was skeptical. And then, you know, like now Ben Johnson and the one two punch of the new quarterback who had a great rookie season and I think even had a better sophomore season. Yeah. Which to me was like, okay, now we're trending in the right direction.

So kind of kind of wait and see what happens. Because I know the competition is pretty rough right now. Well, I mean, that's probably going to be the toughest division in football. Yeah. Because, you know, the Bears, they won the vision. in last year. You got the Packers who won it like three years ago. You got Minnesota who has Kyler Murray, Kevin O'Connell and the gang who are going to be tough. And then you also have the Detroit Lions that everyone forgot about that, you know, had 15 wins two years ago. Yep. So it's,

it's fun. It's, it's crazy. Yeah. And the Cubs, the Cubs are playing good ball again. And, you know, Patrick Cain just resigned with the Blackhawks. That's exciting. So things are, things are looking up in Chicago sports. So what do you do when you're not wrestling and you're getting ready? We got a big, a big match coming this weekend, SummerSlam. Yeah. So how do you get mentally ready for SummerSlam? This huge, huge fight you got against Cody Rhodes.

You guys haven't met in 18 fucking, I couldn't believe that when I heard you guys haven't met in 18 years. Yeah. One-on-one, I think was the last time we wrestled. It was 18 years ago. Yeah. Might have been a tag match too, so I don't even know. So this is really, we're looking at it like this is kind of the first time. You know, definitely this version of Cody because he was somebody completely different.

And we both kind of have a parallel journey of, you know, being in the company, leaving and coming back to kind of show management. Like, you're fucking up. You know, like this is who I am. I'm a star. especially Cody like hats off to him I don't think certain people ever really saw him at the level

that he saw himself and he stayed true he left the company did his own thing became an even bigger star came back and now he's I'm very actually I'm actually super proud of like who he has become and where he is in his career but he's he's always been

kind of a little brother to me and I've kind of always been like one step ahead of him but I think his journey changed him. When he came back, I think he's a bigger star and he's accomplished more than I had at that point in my career. So I'm looking forward to it. How do I mentally get ready for that?

I just kind of stay mentally ready. I think physically at this stage in my career, that's the harder part is physically getting ready for stuff. And then that defaults to my recovery, I feel. If I don't sleep, if I'm not sitting in a cold plunge or, cryo at least once a day red light therapy like I try to stay up on everything. Look at that.

Yeah. Look at that. We had brown hair. That's crazy. I don't even recognize them. Geez, Louise. Yeah, that's a young Cody and a young CM Punk. Wow. Man. Don't you wish you could recover like those days? I, you know,

I don't know how much does it seem that. I was young back then, so I didn't need to do any of that. Yeah. I just bounce right back, just like that. But that's the thing. like when you become a veteran I was around a guy that took care of his body Tom Brady like it like it was his job like his life yeah and I got I got to see that

firsthand and it took me a couple years but I always thought man if I would have started it earlier I would have maybe got more out of it sure but I and you never you never go you look at that CM Punk I didn't do any of that stuff like this I'm I'm I'm over-training here. Like I'm doing way too much. Do I wish I would have started a little earlier with the treating it like it's my job?

Yeah, 100%. But I'm doing it now. And it's just the dividends are kind of endless. So I'm just going to ride that wave. Now, what's our prediction on this fight? Cody Roads, SummerSlam, 26, Minneapolis. Well, I wouldn't be me if I thought I wasn't going to win. You know, I'm kind of overly confident to a degree of maybe just a smidge of arrogance.

But that is built up upon years and years of accomplishments and goal setting and goal attaining. So, yeah, I can be a little bit cocky. And I think he is too. And that's, to me, what is intriguing about this. You know, we're friends at different stages. Like he's looked up to me. I've looked up to him. Like I said, there's a lot of parallels.

and I feel like we've been running from this one for a little bit, you know, like kind of avoiding it. I'm sure you've played ball against people you like, you know. But if you, but if you line up and you're about to take a snap, like there's no friends. In between the lines.

Yeah. So that, you almost go harder against guys that you like. Yeah. That's very true in wrestling too. Yeah. 100%. For guys that you have respect for,

that you respect their game and you're brotherly with, I want to beat his ass. even more. Yeah, I want to rip his head off. Yeah. I don't know if that's something he can reconcile with. I certainly won't have a problem flipping that switch on Saturday night. How good of a town is Minnesota? Oh, it's great.

I wrestled a lot early in my career in Minnesota, St. Paul, Minneapolis. Great wrestling town. Great sports town. A lot like Chicago, obviously. A lot of lakes. Cold weather. Just kind of salt of the earth. Blue collar. Like hard.

knows people live there. Very nice. Yeah. I mean, you're right there. This is almost kind of in your backyard. Isn't that a catchphrase? Isn't that a thing? I believe it is. Minnesota nice. Yeah. I got to I didn't know that. Is that meant to be like ironic?

They're just, they're just sweethearts up there. I don't know. I, you know what? My Midwest, I keep it Ohio. I don't know Minnesota that well. Even though we lost the Super Bowl in Minnesota in 2017. I'm not sure. I'm not sure we claim Ohio. is Midwest anymore.

Is it not? It might be. Lake Uri? We're on the damn lake. Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. We're on Yuri. Yeah.

But I just, you know, Cleveland, I just, I don't know. Cleveland, Chicago. It's a little east coast. No, my opinion. I would tell you, Pittsburgh is in Pennsylvania is the Midwest. Whoa. Whoa. That might be a bridge too far.

I'm telling you. I'm telling you, you go to Pittsburgh. These people are more closer to Midwest people than they are to like Philly people, East Coast. They're closer to Mars. It doesn't make them Martians. I mean, they put front fries on their salads.

I don't know what this is going on in Pittsburgh. Now, when punk was a young kid in Chicago. Yeah. In the Midwest, the real Midwest. You agreed upon Midwest. Who were some of the,

the wrestlers you looked up to when you were a kid? Oh. Rattie Piper, Brett Hart. Sean Michaels, Bradhart and Sean were the two guys that really kind of like took over post like Saturday night's main event, rock and wrestling connection, like Hulk Hogan stuff, you know? And I think I gravitated towards them because the generation before them, the Hogan's,

you know, Andres obviously, but it was, it was, everybody was like 300, 320 pounds, like giant dudes. And then I saw those guys. and the comparison was, oh, they're smaller. So, oh, you kind of like see yourself as the representation on television, and I saw myself and those two guys. So those are two of the probably the big ones that were like the gateway for me. Roddy Piper because he had the mouth, obviously.

But Brett and Sean definitely opened that door for me and influenced me a lot. Brett Hart tactically is like one of the. best. Oh, yeah. And then Sean Michaels, he came on the show years ago. He's just, he's a showman. He's like the guy. He's such a cool.

I mean, he's just, he was so remarkable with how he would come out and he'd do his little thing and he'd get up in his little stands. Boy, toy. He was singing his own song. Oh my God. It's always in my head. Jack knows. Yeah, it's always in my head.

Oh, my God. There were some fun times. And it's, it's pretty crazy. I didn't think about that. When you look at the old-time wrestlers, they're all like huge dudes. That is true. You know, when I started watching wrestling

in the late 90s, mid-90s, that's when Degeneration X was coming out. You had X-Poc, little-ass motherfucker that was coming out doing aerial shit. See, I love that. I love that you bring up Sean, Waltman, one, two, three kid, Xbox. And you said, like, that dude,

he's like my size. Me and him, you know. know, and every time I see him backstage, most recently I saw him backstage at WrestleMania. And like, I always thank him because that's a guy that kind of like kicked the door open for a guy like me. One thousand percent. And the fact that people can be like, oh, yeah, he's, he's little. Well, he was smaller compared to the dudes. He's hanging out with Kevin Nash, who's seven feet tall. He's hanging out with Scott Hall, who's like six, six, you know, and people, then people see him on the street and they're like, holy shit. Like, you're huge.

Huge. Like, yeah, we're, we're big people who hang around giants, you know. It's like basketball guys. Literally. Oh, 100%. You see Steph Curry. He's six, four. Different, different strategy. Well, they say Brunson's a smaller NBA player, right? Yeah, he's as tall as I. I see him and I'm like, you're not small. What do you? It's crazy. But it's, it's so true. Like, I never thought about that when you think about it, my time, when I started coming and watching it and like, we always gravitate to

our time just like you in sport you know there was like a new aerial a bunch of small little dudes smaller dudes right that were just doing all the crazy stuff and I used to love those guys and it's crazy that you took from that and that's what kind of propelled you and I didn't even think that I never thought

that there was no mindset for a smaller guy in wrestling before them oh yeah because I think a lot of doors are closed you always hear no oh you're not big enough. You're not tall enough. You know, oh, gain some weight. You know, there's no weight classes. It's just the bigger dudes.

I also think it was a, it's like an old school territory thing. I think that the north, the northeast territory that was predominantly WWF, like, and WWWF back in the day ran by Vince Senior, and then ran by Vince Jr. They gravitated towards like the monsters and the personas. Like, so the bigger guys. Bruno Samertino was a huge dude. Gorilla Monsoon was a huge dude. And that was the flavor of that territory.

And they won the territory wars. So like that's just kind of what people think of pro wrestling now. There's a lot of other different territories that didn't rely on such big dudes. But that's like they won in history written by the winners. So it's a larger than life sport. And when people think pro wrestlers, they immediately probably grab, gravitate towards Hulk Hogan. Oh, just this big giant dude constantly yelling and screaming.

So that's what we're left with. Who's your Mount Rushmore of greatest of all-time wrestlers? There's got to be a small guy on there. Non-giant. Oh, yeah. I don't really think, do I hit him what the six grandfathers is? Yeah, all right. So I always do this every time I'm asked about Mount Rushmore for a couple of reasons.

I think it's a little bit informative to some people who, who might want a little bit of knowledge. Six grandfathers was the name of that mountain range before we got our hands on it and carved some presidents into it, right? I think it was Lakota, Sue, who it was a spiritual place. So six grandfathers, so I get six instead of four now.

Look at this. Let's go. This first time I ever heard this. Yeah, see, a little bit of history there. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. So just for me personally,

like top six wrestlers, of all time. Sure. I don't know if any of them are going to be like huge, big giant dudes. I'd put bread on there. I'd put Eddie Guerrero on there.

It's hard. It's hard not to put Ray Mysterio on there. He was a monster. You know, it's like somebody, just talk about influence, just quality of career, longevity. I mean, talk about somebody I look up to.

somebody who inspires me. You know, people are pointing a finger at me all the time going, oh, you're 47, when you're going to retire? I look over at Ray and he's flying around doing stuff that he could still do when he was 16 years old. And then he's older than I am. So we're going to put him on there. Again, we're talking like all time.

You got to put Steve Austin on there. Yes. You know, arguably the biggest box office draw. maybe in wrestling history. Saying that, I know there's some historians out there who are going to say like Jim Landoz and like some, but we're not going to, we're not going to deep dive into that.

Steve Austin, he set the world on fire in 96 and 97. We'll put it in there. Austin 360. The final two. I'm a big fan of a lot of Japanese pro wrestlers. I'd probably put Jumbo Seruta on the list. Jumbo Serruda.

was, I mean, he was, he was legit. He was a college. He might have been an Olympic athlete, too. I'd have to look that up. But bigger Japanese guy influenced generations of Japanese pro wrestlers. Huge over there. Very huge. Yeah.

And huge over in Japan and in the States, Terry Funk would probably round out my six. And I'm going to think about this list that I just told you. And I'm going to regret all my choices. on the way back home. So, you know. You know, that's what the house is. Plus or minus two. Yeah.

Like, you know, like, I feel like it's always changing. I could probably throw like Johnny Valentine on there, but there's not a lot of tape on Johnny Valentine. You know? How do you know then? You watched them? I get what I can from the resources. I have.

We have archives and an archivist who I'm, every day I'm annoying the shit on it. So you're watching a lot of old-time film. Yeah. We'll be right back. after this quick break. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello.

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Cheers. Open the free IHR radio app. Search video podcast. and tap watch. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist, Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J.

And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating?

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat. Sabalinka.

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or wherever you get your podcast. Now, are you pulling from old time? Is that what you're just because I like to, you know, I'm, I'm due TV now. I do the pregame for Fox. Yeah. And I like to watch old games just because it inspires me and it gives me some fucking shit to talk about. You know what I mean? Or, you know, you see a move of some guy does back in like 78 or something.

You're like, oh, I can bring that. It hasn't been, you know what I mean? Same. It's awesome. Yeah, same difference. I'll watch old stuff because to me what's old is new, you know? and I don't have the ability, like I can't do the spectacular stuff off the top rope to the floor.

Like I'll let the young kids do that. You know, my thing is pulling on heartstrings and toying with people's emotions. So I watch a lot of the older stuff and see just how they move and how they act or react to the crowd. And to me, that's my bread and butter. Amazing. Amazing.

The archivist, what a job. That's so cool. I bet you do. I want to. Cool. If you have an archivist at the WWE or just in any of the wrestling, because I went down and I did some content, 2016 with the Mexican wrestlers over in Mexico City. Yeah. The Lucre Libres or something like that. And they taught me the one where I go up and I get them on the head and I do a small thing. You did the head scissors. The flying head scissors. You did some flying head scissors and shit.

And I was a little scary because I want to get hurt. We were about to go into a fucking sea. season, but you know what I mean? You gotta sell it though, come on. But you gotta sell it. But like you realize, A, how big wrestling is because it hits everywhere in the world. But B, like, even these like easier move, like, that's not a hard, crazy move. That's me. You and dola in there.

It's tremendous. It was, but it, like, just a little falling on the fucking mat, which, yeah, it has some padding, but you fall a wrong way you're going to separate your fucking shoulder you put your arm down a wrong way like there's so much intuitiveness of how your body is falling that it is it's it was crazy

to me it was so nuts to me to get to like step into your guys's arena for very small amount of time you know what I mean so like it was like my appreciation went through the roof I'm like oh my god these guys are fucking crazy you know. We are crazy.

Crazy. You have to be. And it's a form of, you know, and you got to act it out. Sometimes when you're acting it out even more, which I don't know, we'll cut that or whatever. But sometimes the reactional stuff, you do something crazy. You may hurt your fucking knee or ankle. Oh, you guarantee you, so you always knock on wood. You always get hurt doing the stupid shit.

I'll fly off the top rope to the floor through a table. I'm good. Yeah. I jump off the second rope after yelling. somebody in the crowd. Oh, exactly. That's the worst.

It's when you're... The life of being a middle-aged athlete, you know? Like, I, you know, you slip in the shower, you fall. Middle age, though. We're not old. Hey. We're not old yet. I was going to say it's like when Martin Gramatica got hurt

celebrating the kick here, one of those, like, just celebrating you get hurt. He tore his ACL. That was brutal. That was the worst. Oh, man. All right. Let's go back into time when this match took place. This match took place.

April 7th, 20th. 13. Let's go. Let's go. And we go over some of the pop culture. Evil Dead was number one movie. Thrift Shop by Macklemore. That was a big song. I remember that. And was the number one song. Spring Breakers, Silver Linings Playbook. Awesome movie. G.I. Joe retaliation was all in the, we're all in the box office. Heart, public enemy, Quincy Jones, and Donna Summer all inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That's a tremendous lineup right there. Loved Heart. Public enemy. Public enemy. Quincy Jones? Quincy. There's a couple Quincy Jones houses up here. Hitmaker. Hitmaker. Unbelievable.

And then also the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl champions. Adrian Peterson, last time a non-quarterback was an MVP. More NFC North Talk. More NFC North Talk. Johnny Menzel wins the Heisman. Alabama wins the Natty. Yukon wins their eighth women's national championship. Dynasty. Gino. Freaking Gino.

He's still doing it. Unbelievable. And then Adam Scott wins the Masters becoming the first Australian to win the Masters. What was C.M. Punk doing in 2013?

I was wrestling the Undertaker at WrestleMania and I was partying with my friends, the Blackhawks after we beat the Boston Bruins in June. I got married. Did I get married that year? next year. Maybe 2014. Yeah. I think it was 2014. It looks like June 13th, 2014. Yeah. That's my

anniversary. Thank you. We'll edit that in. We don't have to. It's one of the greatest things about my wife is we decided to get married on Friday to 13th. So we would remember. And now every year we look at each other in May and go, June, July? What? I don't, uh, that's awesome. I love that. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. That's love. Nobody's hassling anybody else about forgetting to date.

I think we're just both so busy, you know? Yeah. It's just... How do you guys escape the busy? Do you guys want, like we go over with some of this pop culture with movies and, you know, TV shows with so much content. How do you get out of your, you know, your brain of being a fucking WWE superstar? on the move, on the promotion all the time. What's your escape with your wife potentially?

Well, I'll give you the most recent example is yesterday. Like we, what did I do? I got home at some point the week prior to this last week. And Wednesday, we jumped in a car and we drove down to San Diego. Thursday, we both did Comic-Con. I did a Mattel panel. she stayed in San Diego because she had various other projects outside of WWE stuff that she's working on that she did a panel for every day.

I flew from San Diego to San Francisco to drive to Oakland. I did Oakland SmackDown Live Television on the USA Network. Then I drove to Stockton Saturday night, did a show in Stockton. Sunday we did a show in Bakersfield. And then I drove the two, two and a half hours home to L.A. so I got home late Sunday. So Monday was wake up, train, and then I got home,

and then I literally, her and I laid in bed, watched programs, try to catch up on everything that we watch in tandem that I can't watch without her. So it was a... What are we watching? House of the Dragon.

A lot of Apple TV shows. We're big on... Widows... Widows Bay. It was amazing. maximum pleasure guaranteed, I thought was amazing. We're in the middle of watching the show Sugar, Colin Farrell, which is excellent. I'm a huge crime noir guy, so like that show is right up my alley. I tried to catch up on a lot of Cape Fear.

That's another ad. I got to get in. Free plug for Apple TV. It's crazy. And then I think we capped the night off with a couple episodes of Tales from the Crypt. Tales from the Cript. Oh, my God. Was that on Fox after?

If it was, it was through syndication. That was an HBO show. Was an HBO? I think I want to say it was, like 1989, HBO, yeah. I just remember that was always a show that came on it that I didn't get to watch. You know what I?

But I wanted to watch. I didn't have HBO when I was a kid, so watching it all now. You could have been on, you know, where you had, you'd see the, through the crackly of the, you know what I mean? Oh, shit, there it is. Oh, I saw it.

You know, that's how I used to watch WWWF pay-per-views, like pirated. Like, I can hear it. I can't see anything. We all had a boy. We all had a boy with an illegal box, okay? We all had the boy with the illegal box going to Jeff Belwamini's house, bringing a couple of coax, slamming them, hitting old Steve Austin. Come on, man. Those are the good old days.

Man, so that's, have you seen The Odyssey yet? No, not yet. Oh, not yet. It's good. I plan on it. I plan on it. I am, I'm waiting to the crowds to die down a little bit. And I'm trying to see it 70 millimeter IMAX.

Yeah. You know, I feel like that's one you got to go out of your way to see in their imax. We didn't get to see it in the 70 millimeter Imax. MCXL. We saw it in the Excel. I didn't even know what the thing. But we had my boy, Sean Avery, he played for the Rangers. Oh, yeah.

He's acting in, you know, he's in a lot of. Is Avery in it? Avery's in it. Oh, wow. He's the hand that fucking saved Odysseus. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. But it's a 3,000 year old story. I don't think we're going to spoil it.

But yeah, so we went and watched it because we had him come on the show. It was fun to hear his intake on it. Everyone's talking about it. Yeah, I'm looking forward to going now. Sometimes going to the movies now is a little stressful. Everybody's on their phone and everything like that. You know what? L.A., they take the movies very serious here.

Sometimes. You know what I mean? The ones I go to every once a while, like, because I'll take my little girl, we go to the movies a bunch. And like, if you find a good, it's different here. And I feel a little bit in L.A. That people are like, I'll go to a kid's movie and we're watching, you know, fucking the pirate boots or cat boots ones, puss, puss in boots.

You know, I'm on my phone. I'm getting a look at over this lady, you know. They get a little bad at you here. You can't be on your phone. You can't be on your phone. Puss on boots. I think we saw it two times. Punk.

I think we saw it two times. That's a big, it's a big one. It's a big one with me. Puss on boots. On boots, in boots, overboots. Can't be on your phone. All right. C.M. Punk told me you get off.

I'm off. I don't think we did phone at all in Odyssey. And that was three hours. That was three hours. It's a three hour movie. Flies by though. We went at three o'clock two. So it was perfect.

Yeah. If you get, because I'll fall asleep in a movie. Sure. You know, like it's, And it's hard for me to watch movies because I'm so drained by the end of the day. Like, I'll throw, it takes me like five nights to watch one movie. Yeah, well, I mean, if you're going to a three hour movie, I think seven o'clock at night is too, it's too late.

You're getting out 11. That's, that's the old people that me and my wife have become. Like, literally like a three o'clock movie sounds great. Amazing. Because then you're home at six, you're in bed by seven. You can grab dinner after. Yeah, we got dinner. I don't got a little window action afterwards.

I mean, he goes hit a chick filet or so. I'm just saying they got the grilled. They got it grilled. Do they have a grilled down? They got it grilled. You're on the grilled kid clearly? Pug's got a crazy-ass diet. That's just true.

I do. Got big matches to train for it. All right. Let's get into this match. Can we go back here real quick? Let's go. Let's check out WrestleMania 29. Freaking Undertaker.

This guy needs no introduction. At the time of this fight, this is an undertaker as a vet, bro. 48 at the time of this fight back in 2013. You know I'm from Death Valley. 610? 3 bills plus? 310 insane. You know him from the chokesram, the piled driver, the hell's gate, four-time, undisputed champ, three-time heavyweight champ, six-time tag team champ.

I mean, was he 21-0? He had the 20-0 streak going in this one. And that was the big storyline in the rest of the one. I mean, punk, how the heck do you deal with a guy that's six, ten, three bills in the ring? It's insane. Oh, you know, I got a chip on my shoulder weighs more than three hundred and ten pounds. You were kind of punking him, though. Oh, you were throwing him all over that thing.

Yeah. selling this guy. You were showing him that he was 6 to 11 or whatever he was. To, I mean, to quote Eddie Guerrero, like at some point in this match, I'm sure I did it, probably bend him over, smack him on the back, throw him on the mat, like, who's tall now? Like, we're all, you know, like, you're all the same size

when they're laying on the mat. They're right. That's kind of, that was kind of my approach to things. Heck yes. Now, what was his scouting report going into this? The Undertaker. You knew, I mean, you knew it was going to be a fucking Of course.

You know, I think it was a gift partially in a curse in some ways. You know, the Undertaker's undefeated. The big thing was the streak, right? Which you probably at that time could have argued was a bigger moment or spotlight on the card than like a title match or anything like that. Because when you talk about undefeated streaks, like most people watching. feel a certain way. They want to see it. Oh,

I want to see him go 21 and O or I need to tune in to see when he loses. Oh, yeah. I think it's very difficult to wrestle somebody, the stature of the Undertaker. And kind of muddy the water,

really blur the line between reality and our world and get people to really buy that you have a chance and beating this guy. I think on paper, a lot of the times if you're wrestling taker at WrestleMania for the streak or during the streak, a lot of people know what the outcome is going to be.

You know, so in my mind, what I had to do was get people to believe that I had a shot, you know, and being a smaller guy, not always easy to do. But I, like, I think I beat him up like he owed me money, you know. And I think that through my career, rear every time I wrestled the Undertaker, it was always, oh, well, you're a smaller guy, he's a bigger guy, you know, but I would, I'd beat the tar out of them, you know, to even the playing field. I think that got a lot of respect for me from Taker. So that was my game plan, really kind of going into this was, uh, and we had some extracurricular stuff like Paul Bear

Bair died. Um, the earn. Yeah. And so you're punking it. Yeah. I, I think that, I think that. That was... I saw the arm flip. I saw the arm flip. That was great, wasn't it? I saw it. Yeah. It's a baseball flip.

I was going to see, it was like a picture in the... Acknowledge to the Cubs. You take those real life things and, you know, you insert them into our world strategically. And if you do it wise enough, like, you get people going, oh, oh, oh, no, wait. Oh, that's too far. You know? My job was to get people to pay money to see him absolutely destroying me, you know? harping on his dead friend, manager.

I mean, sometimes in this world, you know, you go a little bit too far, but I like playing in that uncomfortable territory. 1,000 percent. You know? The villain. Yeah. The heel. Yeah, absolutely.

That's where I thrive, I think. Now, what's Taker like, what's his differences between when he's in the ring and when he's out of the ring when you guys are in the locker room? you know so this is a guy who you got to realize when i debuted on the roster like all these dudes were main roster full-time talent so undertaker shan still on the road triple h batista rick frlair um i'm gonna forget so many guys that were like at the top of their game when i showed up for the first time so i i watched as his career not dwindled is the wrong word there's a negative connotation to to dwindled

not even plateaued but like it he he eventually became a guy who would wrestle once a year at wrestlemania because he had to defend the streak because it was that big of a thing but you know I was on the road with him I did I wrestled him in cats casket matches multiple times every night, two week, two, two, two week European tours a year, just wrecking caskets, you know, so I've seen him work every night, and then I've seen the toll the business takes on him to where it's, okay, so we, we can't afford to have him wrestling Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, because we need him for the big tent pole shows because he is a superstar. He's going to sell tickets.

So at this stage in the career, you know, like he's coming back. and you see his age right there, 48. So I'm going to be 48 in a couple months, you know. So I look at that like, wow, I'm currently where he was at then. And I use that as inspiration in my everyday life, especially in my professional career to go, okay, he did that at 48. I don't have an excuse. That's my bar.

I have to be that good every day. and I'm so insane. I want to do it more often. He's doing it once a year at this point. Like, I'm currently the champ. And like I said, I just did a loop. And we did Bakersfield and Stockton. And I pride myself on that now.

You know? So there's going to be some kid that's going to be sitting here in 10 years' time talking to you about maybe something I did. And hopefully he will look towards me the same way I look at like a guy like him or Sean or bread or, you know, the people that paved the way for me to be able to do this. So a daunting task wrestling the undertaker at at WrestleMania. 1,000. I mean, we'll get into the match, but there's got to be a moment in the match where you,

you as a little kid, a fan, someone really like taking in the perspective of like, holy fuck. I've watched this guy when I was a kid. Now I'm about to go battle him in WrestleMania. Like there had to be a moment like that. Is that like on the walkout or was there a specific time in the match or or was it before or was it after

when everything sets in? You're like, man, I just did the fucking, I just got to fight the Undertaker at WrestleMania. So the before and the after this match are hilarious. And I feel like I've probably told the stories publicly. but I'll say it now to refresh everybody.

I tend to have those pinch me moments like a lot. And I try to remind myself like this is, this is cool. Yeah. That particular night, hard to do on his entrance. It was, so this is right. It's fucking long.

And we were talking, I think off camera a little bit about warming up in cold weather. So this is MetLife Stadium. the end of March or the beginning of April. WrestleMania, you always used to be the last weekend of March or the first weekend of April. Cold. It's cold as shit.

That's what it is. Right? It's cold as shit. So I'm doing my best to warm up before the match. I'm doing sprints. I'm doing so you get a little bit of a sweat. The instant I walk out, it dries up. I'm free.

I'm cold. And now I'm in the ring. And I got to wait. I got to wait for this guy to fucking walk to the ring. And he takes forever. so there's a there's a shot where I'm like sitting there and like you just think I'm like fired up because I'm going come on come on come on but I'm literally going come on come on I'm going I'm going I'm going I'm going I'm dying here like let's go you know we'll be right back after this quick break you've heard the chaos now you can see it hello my gosh watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free IHard radio app gets the blood gone Catch every laugh and eye roll On shows like the Tom Green Farmcast

And Park the bus Now with full video We're building a ramp for Tony Hawk It's the same hosts and the same chemistry With all the hilarious moments you've been missing Right on your screen. Cheers. Open the free IHard Radio app

Search video podcasts and tap watch What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers Hey what's up y'all? It's your girl Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports It's a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports. Because let's be real.

Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo roer to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out

She beat Sabalinka Shout out to you Naomi You get the palm Naomi You get the palm for that Because we're not just interested in what happened We're interested in why everyone's talking about it Because everyone watches women's sports

Listen to everyone watches women's sports On the IHeart Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast No heaters out there I was gonna say We actually we I don't know They didn't work

They had heaters Like under the ring apron So if you watch the match and you look and there's like a puffy part that normally isn't there. And it was like blowing hot air. But you couldn't, you didn't feel it when you were in the ring. The only time you felt it is when you roll out and you would burn yourself like, oh. And then. Sideline hitters.

I'll get you. So that's a fun moment for me, just being there. Hell yeah. Because you always think, oh, what would it be like to wrestle the Undertaker at WrestleMania? And then fast forward to reality where you're like, all right, this sucks. Like, you know, like, come on. This isn't all glamorous. Like, I thought it was going to be like, I'm freezing my ass off here.

Like, let's go. Do you think he uses that to get into his opponent's head maybe a little? Oh, absolutely. And I mean, because he's sitting there. He's looking at the crowd. I mean, I'm getting chills and shit. But like, oh, he's warm. He's coming down to the ring and there's fire.

He's got a big duster on. He knows. He's looking at me. He's grinning at me going, yeah, all right, youngster. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to take my time. and I'm like, old, why leave it? Why does the entrance ever?

Why did I take my, my ring jacket off? Exactly. I'm freezing my ass off here. Oh, my God. All right, Jackie, let's get into CM. Let's get into CMPA. Another guy that needs no introduction here. I mean, come on.

34 years old at the time of this fight from Chicago. We were talking about that. Small guy. He's a small guy. Yeah, he's a little guy. He's small. I mean, the three-time undisputed WWA champ, three-time World Heavyweight champ.

Two-time world. One-time Intercontinental champ, money-in-the-bank champ. I mean, what more needs to be said? Come on now. Now, what's the scouting report of CM Punk in this era? Oh, in this era? Oh, God, I was falling apart.

It's so weird. I look at the age. I look at 34. And for some reason, in my brain, because of my personal experience, is that seems at this time, I feel like I'm older there than I am currently. Like this is

Explain that Just Going hard for so long I I wrestled I started roughly in 1997 I got signed by WWE in 2005

And I made the main roster in 2006 It's actually 20 year anniversary Coming up I think August 1st Let's fucking go August 1st is when I debuted on television as CM Punk. Which there's a lot of,

it takes a lot to get there. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. So that's, that's the iceberg meme, right? Like what you see is like underneath it all is all the hard work that nobody ever sees. But the day I debuted on the main roster,

I was on everything. Right. And it was, it was hard to get on everything, especially being somebody who was new. But I lucked out because they started, they wanted to do ECW as a third brand. they needed a like a face for that brand and I was one of the guys float near the top of that so I was

on everything and when I say everything I mean I wrestled Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday I'd fly home on a Wednesday um I'd do laundry on a Thursday and then Friday morning I was back out and I'm I'm single I have no kids a lot of the times I would stay in whatever city or town that I was in because I was living life I was like well I'm on the road I don't care I don't need to go home I lived out of a suitcase. I've never been to Seattle. I'd stay in Seattle, check out gyms, coffee, whatever, and just fly to the next town and just go. And I did that nomad. I did that from no exaggeration, no time off from the day I debuted to here, I'm going that hard constantly. So like the cumulative, I look at that 34 years old and I think that's a, that's a lot older than I

currently am right now. Like, so that, that's, that's me explaining that. Um, but this, this dude in 2013, wrestling the undertaker at, uh, at WrestleMania is just hurt and sick and pissed off and angry. And I look back at it now, like that's, I was a product of my environment, you know, and I was begging for time off at the time. Like, I, I need to, I need to get off this hamster wheel. And it was just, nope, we need you. We need you on these shows. We need you. You're a fixture on these shows.

We need you. Okay, great, great. And my mindset, especially, wasn't the best because I had done like a full year prior to this wrestling dudes who were essentially part-timers. You know, like there's the main crew, the full-time guy. And I, on big pay-per-views, I wrestled Brock. I wrestled rock. I wrestled like, you know, Sina and then Taker.

And these are all guys who not necessarily would be around like the next day. So I'd have to come back and, you know, and I feel my star like kind of dimming as it goes on. Because going back to talking about the suspension of, you know, belief. Like I need to get people to believe that I can beat the Undertaker. Otherwise, they're just kind of kind of be sitting on their hands. Yeah. If they don't buy into it, they don't believe it that I can achieve this.

then we're going to lose a lot of the drama and the match. So in my mind, it was, it was a real, it was a real task to get people to think that I could win. How do, how do you, how do you make them believe? I think my self-belief goes a long way in that regard. And again, like, wrestling Brock and losing, and then he's not there the next day. and then wrestling rock and losing

and he's not there in the next day. Like to me, even if it's subconsciously, I think the fans recognize the pattern. So I didn't want that. So I just kind of turned it up. I turned up the disrespect, the pallbearer stuff.

I turned up the aggression. And I turned up like just the nastiness to make people believe like, oh shit, I guess they're really going to do this. This is time. Oh, well, you know, okay, yeah, takers.

Okay, he's four. Maybe this is his last WrestleMania, you know, like 20 and one. That's a big round number, you know, like, are they going to keep this going? Like, what's, you know, you see two superstars on different trajectories in their career. I think that that's what helped. That's what I try to tap into. Yeah. Jackie, let's get into the match. Oh, yeah.

We mentioned this a little bit in the lead up. But we had Paul Bear's death really overshadowed everything and became a huge storyline. But getting into the prior to that, we had, CM had the bell for 434 days insane run there. Had to fight that fatal four way to get the chance to take on the Undertaker at WrestleMania 29. Around March, this match gets set. And then you got the four weeks leading up to it.

Wait a what were you just laughing at, Pump? The Paul Heyman is Paul. We got to talk about that. That was all the time. It's so amazing. It's so amazing. So stuff like that, you know, like stuff like that that that I think we, could be borderline too far.

You know, like we look back at it now, like, wow, this is great TV. But at the time, it was pretty spicy. It really was awesome. It was one of those things where, like, I had to make sure, like, they, they brought his sons backstage one day. And they were always around. Like, I had known them previously, you know, but they, I didn't even ask. They came to me and they're like, you know what?

Like, you have our blessing. Like, go ahead. Use his names. Like, do what you're going to do. he would he would have loved it and taker was on but taker was yeah he would he would be over the moon if he knew that we were doing this with you know like he would love it he understood the business he was one of the boys like he got it yeah so i just said are you sure because because i can get i can get pretty you know i can get pretty effes and they said no go go for it so we went for it

You know, like steel in the urn. Paul dressed as, is, uh, uh, Paul bear. I mean, look at him. He's purple in that picture. It's like so great. It looks like Gomez Adams. It literally does.

And then making the urn talk. Like it was no, like pulled out all the stops. It wasn't his real. It wasn't his real ashes in there. Uh, wow. Can't confirm nor can he. He won't confirm. Statue of limitations has expired on that.

Just making sure. We got a couple months. No comment. Punk, we love Paul Bear and the Paul Hamans and all those type of characters in the wrestling world. But like, what did a guy like Paul Bear mean in the larger tapestry of WWE history? And like, where was his place in that? We were a little big fans. I mean, obviously he's married to The Undertaker.

But I don't think it can be, it's a little understated how important he was. Right. You know, the business was changed. at the time like he came around um percy pringle was a mainstay in like a lot of southern wrestling territories like uh he was he was big in uh like vaude er territory in texas and southwest stuff so he was very smart and knowledgeable to the business around the time when managers were kind of like dying out so they brought him in and they put him with taker to do this very very kind of cartoon gimmicky thing.

And it really could have failed pretty easily, you know, but I think the work that he and Tager put into it, you know, again, it's like a self-belief thing. Yeah. Our audience is not stupid. Even, again, even, I fall back on this a lot. Even if it's subconscious, like they will recognize things. And if you're not into it, why am I going to be into it? they went 100%.

They, they, okay, we're going to travel together. We're going to dress in black at all times. We're not going to take pictures with fans. We're going to, we're going to look crazy and scary, you know,

and they were all in. That's what, I got to commit. Yeah, 100%. And I, I think his guidance early on when Mark got put with the, the Undertaker gimmick,

I think really kind of guided him and molded him. you know, you learn from the guys that came before you. So, you know, Taker was already a little bit seasoned at the time, but now he's doing this new gimmick, and he's kind of following Paul Bearer's lead. Do this kid, do this kid. And he's smart enough to recognize, yeah, this guy's been around. He knows what he's talking about.

I'm going to listen to him. And they crafted this persona that has stood the test of time. You know, I wish he was still around, obviously, because he was a fountain of information. I would always try to pick his brain when he was around and he was a fan of the business. Yeah. You know,

like so he, he had a lot to, he had a lot to give still. Shield guy. Amen. Oh. That's what they call him. They love the shield.

Like a guy that's for the NFL or a guy that's for the company. They just want to see the greatness for the shield. What's best for the guys? One of those guys. Like, I'm just saying his commitment to the, to the, is infectious.

made you believe like it was it was amazing made you believe like you said all in all in because even if they were like only 90% in the yeah kind of it falls apart on the edges like it just committed 100% to that gimmick and you know it

it helped like the entirety of his career and what he put into Paul Bear helped me on that night you know and I I only hope I did him justice you know he he gave me the ability to be a great villain on that night and help me do my job to get people to think like, oh,

this is it. Hager's going to lose. Like he doesn't have Paul Bear. This is it. This is the end of the road. And that helped us tell the story that we needed to tell. Take us through the early portions of this match. Very, very physical.

I was always super physical when I was wrestling a guy that was bigger than me. I had to be a pit bull. I had to rip this guy to shreds and be super. aggressive, all action, to gain that edge of believability, to gain that little bit of, oh, this is this, this dude's, this dude's for real. Like, he's going to, he's going to tear this guy apart. So I start early. I think I was slapping him too.

Oh, a lot of good slaps, really on. Which was the thing that nobody ever saw anybody slap the undertaker. The one slap, right? It was a big son. Oh, yeah, right in the face, man. I look at those. It was awesome. Yeah.

And. You got to have a chin. I mean, he's a tough son of a bitch. But like I would, I would always, I would always try to wear him out. Try to almost blow myself up, like beating him up. You know what I mean? To, like, gain that, that competitive respect to make the people and him think, oh, okay, Jesus. Like, slow down, kid.

It's kind of, you know, you always feel bad for kind of like the oversized guy. of the group because he's always getting hit hard by everyone smaller than him. Like, you know, he's like, for us in the line, like in the locker room, if I see a big ass line, you see Matt Light, you know, I walk by naturally. I just want to hit him hard just to let him see my strengths because he's so fucking big, you know, he just give him a little hit. He goes like, what are you doing? It's just funny.

It's in everything. And punk had him running around. It was a full cat. You were doing circles around. It was awesome. Because you had to tire his ass out. Let him know. That's part of the.

the story, you know, like the part of the story very much. And, and I'm on the flip side of that coin now. Part of the story is, yeah, I'm, I'm an old man. You know, don't let that get, don't, don't underestimate me. But yeah, you're going to, you're going to be faster. You know, you're going to be quicker. You might be prettier. But eventually, like, I'm going to get my hands on you and we're going to even the score. And that is kind of the attitude going into that. But eventually he's going to get his hands on you. Oh, yeah. And we give him the great greatest hits. Oh, man.

I mean, what's it feel like getting hit by Taker? The joy of wrestling somebody who is iconic, who, you know, I think a lot of young wrestlers get lost in the sauce a little bit, and they think it's about the moves, right? And it's not. It's about who's doing them and when they're doing them, right? People know that he's got the tombstone. They want to see it. They want to see me get chokeslammed.

Do they want to see them walk the ropes? Because that's impressive. 310, you know, walking on the ropes like the spoiler back in Texas. Like, so the idea is these are things that they want to see. I'm going to take them away from them before we pay them off. You know, they want to see me get my ass kicked. I'm not going to give it to him right away. Like, we're going to make them want to see it.

And then even though a lot of the people in that audience, they know, they sat there. They bought a ticket. They know, oh, it's predetermined. it's not really. If you're good enough, you get them lost in it. You know, you zig when they think you're going to zag and you're telling a story. And it's so much easier when you're in there with a talent like the Undertaker

because he's bona fide. You know, the people know him. They know everything he does. He's the hero. I'm the villain. So I don't really like coming up, SummerSlam, me and Cody, right? He has his fans. I have my fans.

There's really no villain. Harder to, like, sink your teeth into. So we're trying to give it a little bit of edges. Like, we're two competitors who are friends. What are you going to see on Sunday or Saturday? You're going to see two friends go at it. But, yeah, like, there's always going to be that competitiveness. That fighter.

Yeah. Yeah. The fighter was fucking the brothers have to go. Good example. And it's just, I think it's infinitely easier when you have a little shit, disturbing heal like me, and you have this legend, mythical almost hero, the Undertaker. You know, so you have your classic story.

Good guy. Good versus evil. 1,000 percent. I don't know how you got up when he put your head on the edge of the mat and he did the jump thing. Oh, my God. I guarantee you that I heard him worse than him. I mean, my God, I don't know.

I didn't take your head off. I mean, it looked like it was bad. And then after that, going off the top rope onto the announcer's table to hit him. That one, it didn't break. That one, that one messed me up. Yeah. That one, that one tore my knee. Knee.

Yeah, I think I, I strained my, uh, when you came down and went like that. Yeah. So I strained ACL. I tore, uh, MCL on the outside. Yeah, MCL and, uh, meniscus. MCL is in the inside this. That's LCL. LCL.

Yeah, I might have, honestly, I might have dinged all of them up. I know, I know, I know, everything, it was, it wasn't great. No. You look at that and for me as a person that has fallen a lot and been hit, if the table breaks, that's, you're going to have

less impact because once you go and you're 2.18, you're jumping fucking 20 feet and you hit that thing. There's nowhere for that to go. There's some velocity going on there. Yeah, you know what I mean? You just like the whip. There's some physics that didn't agree with my knee

on that given day. Gally. I tore my knee up real good on that. Jeez. Yeah, because you can see it. The table doesn't buckle, and my knee hits that corner. Not great. No. We'll be right back after this quick break.

You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. My gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish. Right inside the free IHare radio app. Get the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus.

Now with full video. We're building a ramp for Tony Hawk. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing right on your screen. Cheers. Open the free IHard Radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch.

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and IHart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

So Kelsey Finler, she became, the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.

Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested. and what happened.

We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And then even with a bad knee, throwing on some go-to-sleep chances at the end and the pile drivers and the reverses, can you take us through the final sequences?

That was insane. Yeah, you know, I'm super proud of all that stuff. It was awesome. It was awesome. Because, again, you know, I think my 48 is going to look different than his 48 because he is a much bigger athlete than me. And he played basketball in college. So, you know, it's like you worry, you worry about the knees.

And I know the wear and tear that he's been through. I know the surgeries that he's had. So it was just kind of like a lot of those reversals, they're not easy when you're healthy. They're not easy when you've never had a knee surgery. So you take this, this bigger guy who's known for doing this stuff. And he can do this spectacular stuff. But I really feel like he's right in the cusp here.

And it could be a sensitive issue for aging athletes. And I can say that now because I am one. But can I still go? Can I still do the things that these people have known me for and expect me to do? And I think a guy like me at this time, it was my job to get him through those parts. In wrestling, we talk about like guys carrying other guys. This is in no means any kind of a carry job. This is somebody wrestling a legend who recognizes the situation and my job.

I remember talking like the Tombstone reversals. Well, we weren't sure if we were going to do those because he's done them in the past and like fallen. Okay, well, we don't want to do that. That's the worst feeling in the world. And I just had to be like, I promise you, you are like, you're going to have to try. me on these. I'm going to get you. We're going to do the reversals. I'm going to be strong for you. And we nailed

everything. Oh my God. That's a trust thing. See, that's what people don't understand. 100%. Big taker don't want to fall. He's 48. Yeah. So he's sitting there looking at a young guy. Hey, punk, don't be fucking drop me, dude.

That's where that chemistry comes in, man. But he's got to show confidence. Like, I got him. I got you, dude. It's like a team thing. It is. You got to get the buyer in, bro. And it was on full display that night. It was incredible. Undertaker wins by pinfall.

Extends the streak. Get to 21 and 0. That was an all-timer, man. To me, that was the real main event of WrestleMania, 29. 1,000%. I didn't know if that was controversial. I agree. I don't think it's controversial.

I don't think it's controversial at all. Again, like, you know, like, not the podcast for it. And I've talked about it, like, ad nauseum. But, like, at that time, like, yeah, that was the chip on my shoulder. was like, well, fuck you guys. Like, you know, like, follow this asshole. Like, you're not going to be able to follow me. Like, you're not positioning me where I should be.

And, you know, the rest of the show is going to suffer for it. And look at the aftermath. Look at you now. Now the times have changed. But, you know, when you talk about him being 48, I think you're a different 48 because I think you matured probably at a younger age and time and information was different at that time for the older wrestler.

I think you got, I mean, you still look great and you're a fucking superstar. It's just so cool to see a superstar legend like yourself go back down memory lane. And this is kind of not where it started, but this is where you started getting some of those looks. Like, oh, this guy's fucking, he's going against John Cena the week before. He's going against Rock.

He's going against Rock. He's going against all these guys. And then he has an epic match against the taker. Yeah. In a WrestleMania. And you're still going. Now it's changed where you're that guy. But it's just,

it's a cool, full circle moment. Hey, man. Such a great match. It's kind of, it's kind of overwhelming, like, looking at it.

Yeah. Like, I don't take any day or anytime I'm in the ring or in front of a crowd for granted. Because I'm at the stage now where I know, like, I don't know when my last match is going to be. It's not going to be measured in the length of my contract.

It's not going to be measured in, you know, events or anything like that. I just, I know I'm operating still at a very high level and I'm going to knock on wood and just go to the wheels fall off, I think. One thousand. You got to. And then the cool thing, the cool thing is, though, you're at a part of your life where you can understand and realize that you're, how how grateful you are for the the the the what you're doing yeah because you know so a lot of the times when you're in it like for me when I was in it I only really enjoyed like my last two years yeah because you you're so caught up with the the bus that you know the the the the the business of you on the road

so early and you're kind of in a different mindset and you know what I look I look back at that what was I 34 wrestling the undertaker and I I think I I was always worried about tomorrow and I couldn't enjoy today. And now since the day I stepped foot back in WWE, which has already been three years ago, which blows my mind, man, time just moves fast. Do I have another three years? I don't know, I can't say,

but I know my approach to everything now. And it's oftentimes why I'm like always overwhelmed with emotion and the being grateful, like to a point where people are probably like, rolling around. Oh, he's crying again, this guy. You know, but I, I'm, I'm way more present. I'm way more in the, right now. Oh, but, but next week, I don't care about next week. I don't, next week does not exist to me. Whereas back then, where I was constantly still trying to, I was bumping my head on the glass ceiling. You need more like, get more of this. I,

I need to do this. Okay, but yeah, but what about next year? What about next year? If you don't put me in the main event this year, like, where am I going to go? And now I'm just kind of like, we're all guilty of it though in the middle of it like because that's just the part of the grind of you trying to get to your dream trying to be the best trying to be the best yeah doing the best you know what I mean and but there's a time and sometimes it's too late for certain people like you know for me I only got a year where I got to sit and like really yeah practice isn't that bad that I actually enjoy this I like getting all that a little bit you know the code you know what I'm 100% right there.

There's a sense of gratitude of understanding what you're doing. Dude, waking up in, in, I think Fresno, because I only drove halfway after Stockton and just being like, yeah, getting out of bed and just going, yeah, this is awesome. Yeah. This is the job. Go. You know, like, because I, because I know, man, someday. It ain't going to be there.

It's not going to be there. So, yeah, I'm really, I'm really loving the run. I'm on right now. Man, well, let's grade this game. Let's see where it stacks up. We came up with some names. Okay. If you have a specific name that you want to call it, we'll roll with that.

But we came up with the 21 and 0 match. Okay. The earned match. The real main event. The dead man versus the best in the world. I like all those. Which one you got to pick one. Or something else.

I got to pick one. Pick one or something else that you like to call or remember this match. Well, we'll call it the real main event. Yeah, baby. The real main event. The streak, baby. I love it. Let's score the game.

Is this the greatest game of all. time. Let's score it. Decimals encourage the stakes of this WrestleMania match. Zero to ten decimals encouraged. Decimals encouraged. Zero out of ten?

The stakes. The stakes for me I don't think it got any higher. I mean, do these go to 11? We can do that. We can break the Richter scale. For me, I think for me, the stakes are 11. Let's go. I love it.

We like that number in this house. I'm going to go at 9.2. 9.2. You got to look at the, like, we're, we've done a million decimals encouraged. Matches this. Like, where guys are repeating. Now, it's always going to be different. But from your perspective, I just want to give you why I give you 9.2.

That's a good square. I had a 9.1. We're all in the same ballpark. Star power. Star power of this. I mean, you got two legends. And it's almost like a patch, passing of the torch kind of thing. Errors.

So this is collective star power? Collective, who was in the building? I was going to say, I'm a little uncomfortable rating my own star power. It seems like a ridiculous thing. But for a guy who calls himself the best in the world, it's a little ironic. The boat. Best of all time. I mean, I humble, if I'm just talking about taker star power, it's a 10.

Like I hate to, I guess I'm biased. Yeah, I would say, I would say 10. For me? Because I don't think I'm lowering. No, no. star power. No. But for me, takers, takers a 10. I got to go with a 9.1. 1. I like it. Very high. Very high. I had a 9.6. We're all in the same ballpark.

Look at us. The gameplay of the match or how the match went, the technicalities, the maybe the urn antics. In the chemistry. The chemistry. Zero to 10 decimals encouraged. I'm going to go just so I have a little room to play in the future with stuff because again, you know, is this my greatest match? Is this taker's greatest

match? Probably not. I'll go I'll go 9-2. Gameplay for me I go 8.9 very solid. I thought he broke his neck. As I had a...

Not that match. I went 9-8. Oh, man. I was high. But still like that you're literally, you're two inches away from your neck being broken. You know what I mean? It's the like, I guess you can say that at what I did too. Uh-huh.

But it's still. But we're professionals. Yeah. We let out a collective gasp when that happened. We were watching the fight. Oh, my gosh. All right. And then we got to grade the name of the game.

We came up with the real main event. Zero to 10 decimals encouraged. That's a 95. Oh, baby. Yeah. 9.5. I'm going with a 9.3. I like it.

This could be a high match. 8.0. This might be the highest. Let's see here. This can be a top 10 match. Leo, what are we at? Where are we at calculating here? Is that it?

Oh, wait. 9.39. Very high. Is it top 10 match? This is a top 10th. This is a top 10th. This is our new number four. Number three.

Number three. Let's go, baby. No way. Right here. Wow. There we go. No bias at all in the top. No bias at all.

We're not a Patriot. Let's go. A lot of New England up there. Yeah. You know what? I look at the number one is Franch Argentina That's the World Cup So and then the other two were from people that

Yeah I had the lowest scores on these True There's no bias. There's no bias here at all No bias What a great one Deservidly so in the top five All timer Man

Heck yeah Punk we miss anything from this match I'm gonna tell you about the funny story of me leaving the ring Oh yeah we gotta get that I wouldn't get that. So it's the in-between stuff that, you know, I knew I, I knew I banged up my knee. I was begging for time off. I was just like, oh, good, I'm hurt.

Now I get the time off, right? Like, unfortunately, at that time in our business, it's the only time you ever really got time off. And I had previously had surgeries and I was told, oh, surgery we went well, see you at TV. Where I was like, ah, it's bone chips taken out of my elbow the one time. And it was during the summer. so I was excited, like, oh, I just had surgery. I'm going to go home. And it's not like a super evasive thing.

I'm going to be able to go to the beach every day. No, I was still on the road. Yeah. You know, I had a knee operated on by Dr. Andrews down in Pensacola. I didn't miss a single T. I'm on TV with crutches, you know, like that's the knee guy. That's the job, right? So they normally will play like video packages for whatever's coming up next, right?

So you don't see the aftermath. You don't see, you know, me and Paul. leaving and stuff like that. And because there's going to be new people coming down the ramp at the start of the next segment, you often go side ramp to get backstage. Yeah. Right. The WrestleMania ramp is gigantic.

It's huge. Fucking MetLife. At TV is going side ramps real easy. You just take a left and a right. You're there, right? The ramp is so big. My knee is like, and it's cold. The adrenaline's now wearing off.

I lay out there dead on the floor. Taker does a celebration. They blow off pyro. They tribute Paul Bear, like all this stuff. Now I'm cold. Stiffness is setting in. I know my knees banged up. Paul's literally got, Paul Heyman's literally got a, you know, arm around his neck and like kind of three-man leg race.

Like, and we're trying to make it through the tightness of like where the fans are in the ramp. And we get out and they turn the lights on because I can't remember exactly who. who was coming out next. It was maybe Brock or Triple H for the next match. And when the lights come back on, we realize we're in this field of pyro pots. Oh, no.

Yeah. And the pyro's about to go off. They're about to blow us up. You're about to get Michael Jackson's on a pet... 100%. So we're, I mean, because it's pitch black. Takers doing his thing and we're, I'm limping through this thing.

And I'm, I'm tripping. and what am I tripping on? And when the lights come on, oh, shit, we're, we're gonna, so now me and Paul,

and, you know, Paul's not a track star by any stretch of the imagination. Fucking 48. And he's carrying me half ass, you know, in my knee. So we start,

like, we start trying to, like, hurry before they blow us up. And I'm cold and I'm stiff and I can't move. Paul is, Paul can't move. And we,

we, we, like, barely made it before they blew up. Oh, Oh my God. Yeah. That's the glamorous part of the stuff you don't see. You know what I mean?

Could you imagine? And then I finally get to the back and everyone's like, what took you so long? Where were you? I was like, you fuckers almost killed us. Like, oh my God. That would have, that would have been terrible. What would it go out if you just got blasted by fireworks. Yeah.

Yeah. On side stage. Yeah, it would have been a good time. See, I always, I was always wondering where they went. I know. They side stage it. Wow. Pro move. Punk, thank you so much for coming on.

Before we let you leave, last thing. Yeah. What does wrestling mean to you? Wrestling, I think, has meant a lot of different things to me at different stages of my life. I've been accused of taking it too seriously. I've been accused of not taking it seriously enough. And I think there's an ebb and a flow to that.

ultimately it is what has driven my passion throughout the entirety of my life. I've loved a great many things, like different mediums, different art, you know, movies, sports, entertainment. To me, wrestling was really like that first love and that impossible dream that I accomplished. So to say that wrestling means everything to me, I mean, it's hard not to think about like all the food that it is put on my table and how it's at the core responsible for like, you know, everything I have in my life. I met my wife through wrestling. I've made some of my best friends and lasting relationships through wrestling. and I temper that with but it's my job it's what I did it doesn't define who I am

but I'm now very much at the stage where like yeah I understand some people will use it and they they will use it to define me and I am I am okay because I've never been embarrassed by it it's like a it's a relationship that I've had the entirety of my life and there's there's good and there's bad, but the good absolutely crushes the bad when I look back at it all. And maybe that's just my perspective. But, you know, to me, it's everything. It's the best movie you're seeing for the first time. It's your first kiss on the first date with the love of your life.

It's all the emotional highs and all the super lows. And to me, it's art. That's what wrestling is to me. Man. Yes. That's amazing. I got to clap that one out. You know, it's really cool to always ask people, you know, that specific question for their specific passion.

You know, and it comes to me and it makes me think, like, we are so unbelievably lucky that our passion intersects with things that allow you and give you all. all the things that we get from that passion. You know, and you feel the sense of gratitude just from getting here to talk to you for the last hour, how much gratitude you show to that. But, you know, it's like one of those things where there's not many people that are lucky enough to go out and be an athlete, be a wrestler,

be an actor that get to a chase their dream. There's thousands and there's millions of people that put in the time and effort. Yeah. The same amount that we did and didn't get the break. you know but that makes it cooler because of the person you are and the person you've shared how much gratitude you have for all everything you've done and the work you've put in you know it's just really cool it's been really awesome to get to sit here and pick your brain

it's been a joy yeah thank you very much and then go over this unbelievable match with the undertaker CM punk thanks so much for coming on bro thank you for having me appreciate it I want to come back we'll talk about some football next time let's go let's do it let's talk about some hot Hockey games too. Hockey. Hey, hockey. We're down. Man, what a match.

That was awesome. What a guy. Punk's thoughtful, introspective. What a guy. You know what? The W.W.E. superstars, they're like athletes, but they also have like an artistic integrity kind of. Like, they're all very thoughtful. Honestly, it's where athleticism meets art.

Entertainment and art all. It really does. action baby. It was, that was fun, that was fun to get to, he's like a cool dude. He's a cool dude, man.

Yeah. I just, I was, I was beyond impressed, man. What a guy. Heck of a guy. What a fun match.

Awesome match to relive. Still don't know how his next thing. He's very stoic. Really is. I get, there's a lot of acting elements within WW, but like,

we need him on a, uh, the big screen. Yeah. Looks like an actor. Talk. Do some acting. You got to get him.

You got some chops. Got some chops, man. Get them in. We'll be right back after this quick break. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. My gosh.

Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish. Right inside the free IHard Radio app. Gets the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus. Now with full video. We're building a ramp for Tony Hawk. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing. Right on your screen.

Cheers. Open the free IHard Radio app Search video podcasts and tap watch What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers Hey what's up y'all It's your girl Sam J

And we're the host of everyone watches Women's Sports A new podcast from Together and IHart Women's Sports Because let's be real Women's Sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days So Kelsey Finler

She became the first female Solo Rower to go from California to Hawaii My first thought is What's up with the snacks Like what do we eat? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports.

on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Eli, I mean, I was, I was, that was awesome. It was fun. Still don't know. He didn't break his neck on that,

that, still don't know. Drop from Undertaker. Inch away. But he's professional. Bro. He's a pro. He's a pro.

He didn't get blown up by the pirate techniques. And then, I mean, we're getting history lessons of six people on the Great Mount Rushmore. Yeah, I mean, that was, who. Mine's blowing. On the Mount Rushmore.

I don't think we can ever go back to the, the four. We got to go out of the zoo, baby. Grandpa something? Grandfather six, right? I think that was the... Shout out to the Sioux. Shout out to the Sioux.

Dude, that was, I mean, that was a heck of an episode. You're right. The WW Superchargers do not miss. They don't miss. Don't miss. And that's been another episode

of Games with Names. Subscribe on Apple podcast, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, comment a game you want us to do. Remember, rate and review. Leave us a five-star review on Spotify while you're there. Remember to follow games with names on YouTube, Instagram, X TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat.

Leave a comment on the YouTube full episode. We'll read the best ones on future episodes. Leave a message on the old hotline. That number is 424-291-2290. And we'll see you guys next week. Games with Names is a production of IHeartRadio. For more podcasts from IHartRadio, visit the IHartRadio app. Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guestrars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more.

Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. A.O. Rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J.

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and IHeart Women's Sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good.

Her combos are swift. The stories everyone's talking about across women's sports. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea.

Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika, and I'm out.

Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Nick Tuturo. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, the longest yard, or Spike Lease Black Klansman. And on my new podcast, delivering happiness with Nick Tatoro, I deliver pizza to a new guest. I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins. What are you doing my belt? To Bill Burr. I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am.

And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Tuturo. It's called Happiness, Delivering Happiness. And many, many more. Open your free High Heart Radio app. Search Delivering Happiness with Nick Totoro. And listen now.