Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #119 - Is This AJ Styles' Last Match?, WWE: Unreal Season 2, SNME Predictions, Kit Wilson Is OVER

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

Welcome to AskCVV #119! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet answers questions about the upcoming match between Gunther and AJ Styles and whether it will truly be AJ's last match, thoughts on Season 2 of WWE: Unreal, who will win at Saturday Night's Main Event, Kit Wilson's new theme song and gimmick, Mount Rushmore of underrated theme songs and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: "No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world." - Dead Poets Society Please support our sponsors: HELIX SLEEP: Flash sale! Go to https://helixsleep.com/cvv for 20% off sitewide! CAR GURUS: Buy or sell your next car today with Car Gurus: https://cargurus.com PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/cvv AMERICAN FINANCING: NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org. APR for rates in the 5s start at 6.196% for well qualified borrowers. Call 866-721-3300 for details about credit costs and terms or visit https://Americanfinancing.net/Chris SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! PRIZEPICKS: Download the PrizePicks app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 bonus credit in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris. Oh, yes. Welcome back, my friend, to another one here on Inside. I'm CVV. Chris Van Fleet. Thanks for hanging with me on a Friday. Thank you for being here on an AskC CVV episode.

And as always, thank you for making Insight, the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a Huluva kick on that follow button on Apple or Spotify or whatever the podcast app that you're on right now happens to. be. And please keep those reviews and those ratings coming. I know it's like five seconds. It's not much for you, but for me, oh my goodness, it helps so much. And the bigger the show gets,

the bigger the guests will keep getting. And what a lineup we have next week. What a lineup. Should we say who it is? Should we say it now or should we wait until the end of the episode? I'll just say it right now. I'll tell you. Kit Wilson on Tuesday. Kit Wilson! Oh, I can't wait. And then the Hardys on Thursday together.

Oh, man. I'm in Albuquerque, New Mexico right now as I record this. Thank you for having me here. It's only my second time in New Mexico. It is beautiful here. I flew in for TNA live on AMC last night. Great to see so many of you at the show. and then I did the interview with the Hardee's right after.

They've never been on the podcast together. They've both been on before, Matt and Jeff, but never together. I did interview them together like 2017. They were with Ring of Honor at the time. It was funny because I was talking to Broken Matt and Jeff. And it's funny because Broken Matt did not break character, not even for half a second. So it was like,

Jeff was kind of answering the questions and Matt was just being broken Matt, which was so entertaining. And the funny thing about that is I did that interview with them in, I think it was Lakeland, Florida. And then the next day is when they had that incredible return at WrestleMania 33.

If there was a roof at Camping World Stadium, it would have been blown off because the reaction was massive. But just so funny, the dichotomy of that, right? Like doing this interview with them in Ring of Honor and then the next day, having that iconic, historic moment.

Crazy. So can't wait to have them on. Can't wait for you guys to just hear the whole story behind Kit Wilson and this new toxic character and he goes into like a ton of detail about the new theme song. Like, he knows how catchy it is. And like that was by design.

So two great episodes. on the way. Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube. Make sure you're following here because you don't want to miss those or anything else that we've got on the way. Dare I say, we've kicked off January with some pretty good ones. And there's already a few more that we've recorded that are on the way. I can't wait. I can't wait for you guys to see who else we've got on the way. Welcome to Ask CVV Number one, May 19th edition. Of course, the reference with Kane, did you say May 19th? But it's also a very special day for me.

That's my birthday. It's also a very popular birthday. It really is. There's a lot of celebrities born on May 19th. Andre the Giant, I share a birthday with him. Maxine Dupree. She also was born on May 19th. And the goat himself, George San Diego.

and Pierre if you're a UFC fan. So this is AskCVV number one, May 19th edition. Send in your questions and your suggestions for next week. 120. Man, we've already done 120 of these by the time next week rolls around. Send in your question, send in your 112 suggestions, your 120 suggestions. Send them in on Spotify as a comment. Email them to me.

CVV at Chris Vanfleet.com or send them in on social media using that hashtag Ask CVV. This question to kick things off comes from Chris Westrop. Never met a Chris I don't like. I feel like not only do we have a Mount Rushmore question every single week. And we got a good one later on in the show. Not only do we get a would you rather. And we've got a particularly ridiculous one later on in the show. But I also feel like there just seems to be a question from Chris. There seems to be a question from a Chris every single week. Maybe it's because our parents were just so unoriginal back then. It's funny. If you're around the same age as me, every single class growing up, there was like three Chris's, four Jonathan's, and like three

Michaels. They just feel like those were like the standard names. It's like Michael R and Michael B in every class. Chris. Chris. says, is this career match at the Royal Rumble for AJ? Is that it in WWE? Or is this a transition to going to TNA to finish out his career? Chris from Minneapolis, hoping to become a real, real, real one later this year. I think you will because the plan is to do Insight Live SummerSlam. My son Cooper and your son Cooper should meet.

So not only are we both named Chris, but we also both. have sons named Cooper. Incredible. I love it. So yeah, we were talking last week about AJ Styles and this is his final year. And if he's going to retire, I was like, I feel like it's going to be obvious. It's not just going to be a match that he has and that's it. I feel like it's going to be like, this is going to be something we're going to know.

And then look at this. A few days later, putting his career on the line for a rematch with Goonther at the Royal Rumble. And it's poetic, right? Ten years ago, almost to the day. AJ Stiles made his WWE debut at the Royal Rumble in Orlando. I remember being there. I remember seeing on the screen, I am, and then it like faded up.

Phenomenal! Phenomenal! Oh, I know who that is! What a moment. I wonder how many people listening were there as well. What a moment. But it's so poetic. Ten years.

Like that would be bookended so perfectly. Royal Rumble 2016 to Royal Rumble 2026. And also in a way, it's not just AJ Stiles putting his career on the line. It's very similar, actually, to what we saw with Sean Michaels and The Undertaker.

This is Career versus Streak. Gunther is 33 and O in non-titles singles matches in his WWE career. He hasn't lost unless the title has been on the line. And look, I know I posted this like a week ago, and people were like, what about this match? What about this match?

And they were all very quickly corrected by other people in the comments going, nope, that was a title match. That was for the IC title. Nope, that one was for the World Heavyweight title. 33 and O, Gunther's Streak versus A.J. Stiles' career. I think there's a great story to be told here. I just can't see A.J. Stiles' career ending yet. there is so much more for him to do in WWE. But I could see this going either way.

Like I truly am going to go into this one going, is this it? Like it doesn't feel obvious to me. I'm going to go into it going, is this the last time we see AJ Styles wrestle? Are they going to continue this idea of Guntherd being the legend killer, Goldberg, then Sina, now AJ Styles?

Or is this just another setup for a match they're going to have down the line. Is AJ Stiles' final match at WrestleMania? I've seen a lot of chatter online. Is A.J. Stiles' final match in TNA? I don't think so. I could see him having another match in TNA, but I don't think his final match is in TNA.

And I just, my heart of hearts tells me, I don't think his final match is at the Royal Rumble either. I just think there's more of a story to be told there with Gunther. And I just think there's more opponents for him to work with. I don't, we're not going to get the full on farewell tour with AJ Stiles, but I think that there's a handful of matches left. But what we're in for at the Royal Rumble with this version of AJ Stiles against this version of Gunther, man, it's going to be good.

Jake Gagne on Facebook says, What's up, CVV? I love the show. Is it just me? or has hardly anyone declared for the Royal Rumble yet this year. And it's true, but it's a funny thing, right? Because people online are complaining that there's barely been anybody that's declared for the Rumble. Yet every other year, when a bunch of people declare for the Rumble, people complain that too many people have declared for the Rumble,

and it takes away from the element of surprise, like you can't win. What's the thing with wrestling fans, right? They're never satisfied. We are never satisfied. But you're right. really not a lot of people have officially declared for the Rumble. Here's what we have on the men's side right now. Six people have officially declared.

Gunther, Cody Rhodes, Penta, Jay Uso, Dragon Lee, Ray Mysterio. On the women's side, only seven people have officially declared. Ria Ripley, Eoskeye, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, Bailey, and Lyra of Alcuria. Now, I'm sure there will be more. We have four more shows between right now as you're listening to this and the Royal Rumble. We've got Smackdown tonight. Saturday night's main event tomorrow. I suppose there's a chance we could see a declaration there of someone entering the Rumble.

Possible, but probably not. Then we've got Raw and Smackdown next week. So four more chances. I always love when there's less people declaring because we all play that game. We all play that game of like, okay, so 15 people are in the Rumble. Yeah, but we haven't seen L.A. Knight yet. We haven't seen Dragon Lee and you know that Goonther's in there. It takes away from the element of surprise.

The best part about the Royal Rumble is whose music is going to hit after that countdown from 10. After that hockey buzzer goes, who's music's going to hit? That's the greatest thing when wrestling is unpredictable. It's those moments. Like when you think of some of the best surprises in wrestling, some of the best returns in wrestling, it's the Royal Rumble. And I prefer when, like, there's the question mark of who could come out. Like, especially when you get later on in the Rumble, there's, like, say, five spots left.

You're, like, you've seen 25 entrants, five spots left. Who's going to be 26? Because you don't know. Because all the people have declared and there have only been a handful of them, they're already in the match. Is it going to be the return of somebody who was injured? Is it going to be maybe the return of somebody who is wrestling for another company? Is it going to be a legend coming in and giving us a nostalgic moment?

What's it going to be? And that's what I love so much. So if I had it my way, I would only announce like 10-ish, maybe 12, and give us like 18 surprise slots. That's what I want. but I'm curious what the number will end up being as we get closer and closer to the Rumble next weekend, but I kind of like where we're at right now. Also, fun fact that I saw on Features of Wrestling.com, entrance 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 21, and 26 have never won the Royal Rumble.

So I guess let's see what happens this year. Another fun fact. Spot number 27 has four wins. Big John Stud, Yokozuna, Brett Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Number 30 has like three wins? Three, it looks like more. Undertaker, Triple H, Sina, Lesnar, Rhodes. I feel like this list is falling apart on me here.

But interesting that there's that many spots that have never had a winner. So I guess let's see what happens. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinemberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claim,

and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer Podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Carlos Vasquez on Facebook says, who do you think is going to win the Rumble this year

on both the men's and the women's side? On the men's, I probably got Roman or Sammy, and for the women, live to probably have Raquel versus Live at Mania. So the odds are up right now. The odds are up if you go to mybooky.com. And they've got almost everybody listed on this list here. And it's like the odds really haven't moved either. Like the people who have been the favorites for the last month or so, they remain the favorites.

And I think that as we go into this final week leading up to the Royal Rumble, things could shift. Things could change a little bit. But I'll list off the top few. Roman Raines, the favorite on the men's side, followed by Gunther, Bronbreaker, Sammy Zane, L.A. Knight. yeah CM Punk and then Cody Rhodes is sixth

on the list Jay Uso who would be winning for a second year in row seventh Seth Rollins Obafemi Joe Hendry

Jacob Fattoo there's your top I think I gave you 12 there for the men on the women's side heavy favorite

Liv Morgan followed not that far behind by Bianca Bel Air then Ria Ripley Becky Lynch. At number five, Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez, Charlotte Flair, Lyra Valchuria,

E.O. Sky, Stephanie Vacare, and since I gave you 12 for the men, I'll give you 12 for the women, then Nia Jax and Jade Cargo. It's really tough to argue with those favorites. Roman Rain still makes a lot of sense, but I think a lot of it just depends on what the storytelling is going to be going into WrestleMania.

Is the focus still on Cody Roe is trying to get that championship back? Is Drew McIntyre still the champion? Are we setting up Drew McIntyre versus Roman Reigns? Or is Drew McIntyre going to drop the title in the next month or so? We've also got on the back burner here, and I don't think it can be overlooked. There's a good chance that whoever wins a Saturday night's main event tomorrow night, whoever wins that four-way match for the number one contendership,

there's a chance that person could beat Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble. And I think that person, their name is going to be Sam Rizane. And I think that that's something we really got to pay attention to. But I'm still going with Roman Rains is my pick here. I don't see how you can put Roman Rains in this match again and not have him win. And then on the women's side, yeah, Liv Morgan makes a ton of sense. It's funny or guess interesting that Bianca Bel Air is right behind Liv Morgan when Bianca Bel Air is out.

I think we all kind of assume or guess that she's going to return. at the Rumble, but we haven't seen her in action since WrestleMania when she broke her finger. Liv Morgan, I think on the women's side, makes a ton of sense, although Ria Ripley can't count her out. Really can't count out Becky Lynch, too, with the momentum she has and, like, I think this new gimmick's a ton of fun, but she does have the Intercontinental Championship. Does she need the Royal Rumble win in there as well? I don't know, but I'm going to go with the odds here.

Roman Raines, Liv Morgan, and if you sign up at my bookie, use my code, CVV, you'll get a very nice welcome bonus when you sign up there. And since we're looking at odds, since we're making predictions here, why don't we look at the Saturday night's main event odds? Sammy Zane, like massive favorite in that four-way match with Randy Orton, Damien Priest, and Trick Williams.

Makes sense to me. The odds for this match with Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fawtu are almost even. Cody Road's slight favorite here, and I would pick Cody Rhodes to win that match, but interesting that the odds are so tight. And then the women's tag team championship match, Ria Ripley and Eoskai, big favorites over Liv Morgan and Roxam. Those are my picks for that one as well. Email from Tom Chance. Hey, Chris, longtime listener slash lurker from UK. Well, Tom, thank you for having me in your country last week.

I had a blast in London for Smackdown. That crowd was bananas, pun intended. Thank you to so many people who came up to me and said just randomly, banana. I'm like, ah, you listen to the show. You're the best. Also, thank you for all the comments on Spotify that said, banana. That was fun. Tom says, my first ever question here is about Kit Wilson.

My kids will only eat dinner whilst listening to his theme song on a loop. They are three and five, Aleni and Sophia. Today, they asked me, Daddy, is Coot Wilson a superhero? I thought about it, and I answered, yes, yes, he is. Is he an outside pick as a Royal Rumble winner? Cheers, Tom. It cannot be overstated. How good Kit Wilson's entrance theme is.

So, so catchy. The new gimmick is fantastic, but this theme song has pushed it over the top. Like, it's just such a reminder of how important theme music is. And when you have a great theme song, how it can change your career. Perfect example here. Bobby Rood, so talented, insanely talented, an absolute legend when you're talking about TNA. That glorious entrance theme just pushed it over the top. just a little bit more for him.

Shinsky Nakamura, obviously a legend, future Hall of Famer, so good. That theme song, again, just like, oh, man, we're already going to see a great match

when Shinske comes out, but now we've got this great presentation with not just the theme, but the entrance that goes along with that theme. I love it. Kit Wilson is right along in that same vein. And that segment, last Friday,

was so good. Trick Williams. Matt Cardona match is done. Trick Williams is celebrating the win. Out of nowhere. Ring, ring. Kit, are you there? Kit, Will, son.

The crowd goes insane. They're chanting along with the song. Kit, Will, son. He yells toxic. At Trick Williams. Beats up Mike Cardona. Toxic, toxic, toxic. And then without missing a beat.

The song starts back up and he starts strutting again. So good. So good. So is he an outside pick to win the Royal Rumble? I don't think so. Win it? No. But what I do feel is going to happen is he's going to have one of the biggest pops of the night when that theme song hits.

The crowd's going to be going insane for him. And then I predict he's going to have a viral moment. Like, picture this. Picture this. His music hits. The crowd's going crazy. chanting along. He goes to the ring. Maybe it's a quick elimination. And that his music hits again, starts playing, he starts strutting again, kind of like what we saw in Smackdown, like I was talking

about there. Whether he wins the Rumble or not, he's going to be one of the people that you're talking about when the Rumble's done. It's going to be a huge moment. And I think that people are kind of like waiting. I think there may even be Kit Wilson chants before his music hits. Like, people just anticipating they want this to happen. I saw a great meme this week. It was the if Sina wins we riot, the sign from ECW when I stand. But it was, if Kit Wilson doesn't win the Royal Rumble,

we riot. Love it. I just love how much attention he's getting. I love all the positive vibes coming his way. And I just feel like we're all, like we're just watching and waiting and just like seeing, what's going to come next for Kit Wilson.

And I can't wait. And I know that the episode on Tuesday is going to make you just love and appreciate him that much more. Email from Jeth and Jacobs. Hey, CVV, given Drew's title win this close to WrestleMania, I hope he gets a substantial championship run all the way to WrestleMania rather than lose the belt early.

Regardless of the outcome, I don't believe Cody will regain the title soon. Do you think he needs it? I feel he could go most of the year telling other stories without the title, allowing other superstars opportunities to compete for the title. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. A real, real one, Jithyn J. I'm with you.

And for the last month or so, I've been saying, here we go. We're setting up for Roman Raines versus Cody Rhodes 3 at WrestleMania 42. And while I still feel like that would make a lot of sense, Like they're arguably the two biggest names in WWE right now. It would make a lot of sense. I just don't know how we get there. We'll certainly know a lot more based on who wins the Royal Rumble.

But I agree with you. I don't know if Cody needs the title. And I think him stepping back, even just half a step, would open up opportunities for so many other people to slide in there into that title picture. A lot of last year was John Cena holding the championship. A ton of last year. year was also Cody Rhodes with the championship, should they were the only two people to hold the

championship last year. And Johnstein only held it for a couple of months, WrestleMania to SummerSlam. Cody Rhodes had the rest of the time. Cody Rhodes takes just half a step back. You know what I would love to see? I would love to see Cody Rhodes win the U.S. title at some point. How fitting would it be if the American nightmare was the U.S. champ? And it's a title he's never won before. And his entire career. Would love to see that happen. And I feel like it would just, it would, Cody's a fighting champion. He always has been.

The U.S. Open Challenge would make so much sense for Cody Rhodes. He's there on almost every episode of SmackDown anyway. It would make sense for him to go out very much in the same vein of John Sina. That whole idea of like, I'm a fighting champion. Any city, any opponent, it doesn't matter. Just bring him out. You want some. Come.

some, right? It'd be a great thing to see happen. I'm sure that at some point before Cody Rhodes' career is done, he'll be the U.S. champion, but that's something I feel like just lines up so perfectly with his character. But if his character changes, I think a lot of things could change. And it felt like London was not feeling Cody Rhodes last week on Smackdown. They cheered him when he came out and were singing along to his theme. whoa they did that real nice then he started talking and the booze started they were booing him in london

but it was kind of it was kind of funny because they booed him then they cheered him and then they sang his song and it's funny like it was a master class in cutting a promo and turning the crowd because the crowd's booing cody and then he makes a reference to man wrestling here in london oh man so the crowd pops for it. And then he, and then he, like, continues to build on it. And I think that London deserves a WrestleMania. Boom. He's a baby face again. And he like got the crowd to turn around. Also, when you're talking about a master class in cutting promos, the Drew McIntyre promo to start Smackdown last week was so interesting, too, because he goes out there, a hero's welcome, right? He's in the UK. He's getting this heroes welcome. They're singing for Drew McIntyre. They're just loving it.

And then he turns the crowd as like, hey, don't cheer for me. You weren't there. You weren't supporting me when I was getting screwed out of this title and screwed out of this opportunity. It's like, man, brilliant. Like both of those guys, Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre just at the prime of their career, especially when it comes to their work on the mic. It was amazing seeing them have a crowd that was that hot just in the palm of their hand. I want you to cheer me here.

I want you to boo me here. Brilliant. I think with Cody and a possible heel run, I think it only works if there's time for it to really simmer. Like I think that if it keeps simmering and simmering and it keeps getting hinted at and hinted at and simmering and simmering like a pot of water on the stove until it boils over.

I think it can't be something that kind of comes out of nowhere. I think it needs to be like, teased here, oh, he almost did it here and he didn't. Oh, it's, seems like this would be an opportunity to do it here, but he didn't, pulled back. But again, I think it comes back to if Cody Rhodes is going to turn heel, and I know this is a completely different subject here, but if he is, who slides into that spot as the number one baby face? Who's the one who's going to be able to be in that quote-unquote John Cena role

of doing the most, doing the media appearances, doing the make-a-wishes, signing a thousand eight-by-tens before the show, staying late, like all of that. stuff who slides into that spot because that's the spot Cody roses in right now and i don't know but i feel like a heel turn feels like it feels imminent it feels like it's there and it was actually interesting that they kind of talked about this on wwee unreal how during the russomania match cody and john sina how like the crowd was not feeling cody the crowd was booing cody reminded me so much of WrestleMania 18. Cody started to do some heel-ish things.

And John Cena kind of reminded him, just be you, just be you. And they just kind of stuck to the game plan. And Cody continued to work the match as a baby face. But it's there. The heel elements are there. But I don't know if Cody needs the championship to be part of the focus for him this year. There's so many other people. Sammy Zane's in the picture now.

Drew McIntyre with the championship. Could we see someone else coming in and winning it for the first time? Could Finn Baller be part of that? WVE Championship? I know he had the World Heavyweight Championship shot on Raw. Man, that was cool. Seeing that in Belfast, Ireland. Could there be room for more?

Could we see a few more title changes this year? Sign me up for that. Dominic Kent on Spotify says Dominic from Phoenix here, and I have a question for Ask CVV. the number 119. We ran out of number puns edition. Oh no, my friend. It's the one May 19th edition with no Oscar nomination for The Rock. Does he come back around to WWE now or do you think he'll be absent for a while? Thanks. I love the show. I might not always catch every interview, but I never miss these. Appreciate you, Dominic. Thank you for being a real, real one.

a Golden Globe nomination for The Rock, but no Oscar nomination for his incredible performance in Smasher Machine. In fact, Smash a Machine nominated for just one Oscar for Best Achievement in Hair and Makeup. And I mean, if you've seen the film, you know that as a well-deserved nomination. Also, a record 16 Oscar nominations for the Michael B. Jordan film Sinners. So good. I don't think that the Oscars and award season factors that much into whether the Rock is returning or not. There's still other awards that are going on right now. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rock is at the Oscars, even though he's not nominated.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's presenting an award or just walking the red carpet or there in the audience. I don't think that factors in. I don't think we see the Rock back in WWE, at least between now and WrestleMania. I know that's not a huge stretch of time, three months, but I think that's for a few reasons. One, yes, busy with other things, but two, I don't know where the final boss fits in right now. And I've said this a few times before,

and I still hold to this, that I think that we're still at some point going to get Roman Raines versus the Rock. It would make a lot of sense at WrestleMania 43. if this match is ever going to happen, especially now with Roman Raines being a baby face and the Rock and final boss being a heel, it would make sense if they're putting all this focus

on WrestleMania 43 and all of this money and attention into WrestleMania 43, why not have this dream match that we were supposed to have a few years ago? I think that that's the case. But I'm a little surprised. Rock didn't get nominated for Best Actor there. And I wonder what, what this does for the other decisions he makes in his career.

Did he get a taste of, man, I really like that type of film. I really like just disappearing into this character. I want to do more of that. Or does he go, well, I did that. Cross that off the bucket list. Got myself a Golden Globe nomination, disappeared in this character, fell in love with that movie. Let's go back to the films you're used to seeing me.

Maybe it's another Fast and Furious movie. Maybe it's, you know, maybe it's another Kevin Hart movie. I don't know. I'm actually really curious. if this changes his decision about the movies that he makes or not. But I loved his performance in Smasher Machine. I had been saying, even ever since I saw the film, I said, a chance he gets nominated for an Oscar here.

I don't think he wins. But a chance he gets nominated. I also was like, I think he gets a Golden Globe nomination because the way the Golden Globes are broken up, there's the two categories for acting. I'm like, I think he could definitely be in the dramatic category for that. And he did.

But the odds are just better with the Golden Globes because you've got the best actor in a musical or comedy and you've got best actor in a drama. What the Oscars, it's five nominees. And that's it. Joe Weber on Spotify says, Yo, CVV! What an amazing

run of interviews you've been on to kick off 2026. What is your Mount Rushmore of underrated theme songs? We all love Stone Cold, The Undertaker, Triple H, etc. But give me some underrated bangers. Oh, I love this, especially since we just talked about Kit Wilson and how great his theme song is. When you're talking about theme songs these days, how can you not talk about Kit Wilson?

What a song that is. But if we're talking underrated, the Mount Rushmore of underrated theme songs, The Brood. What a song. Something about that guitar riff just makes you want to move. So good. DeLo Brown, I think you better recognize that song is so good. The record scratch at the start.

I think it's that paired with Deelow Brown's entrance of shaking his head and just the way he was moving his shoulders. So good. Billy Gunn, and I don't even know which theme song you go with for Billy Gunn, because they're both underrated bangers. I'm an ass man is such a good song for so many reasons. It's catchy. It's funny. It's absurd.

But it fits. And it works so much. But I think his other theme song, too. The One Billy Gun. Oh, man. The One Billy Gun? Amazing. With the saxophone.

Oh, oh, man. You know, somebody online did an edit when they put that song with the intro video for 90s so it's like that song and it's like the Family Maddie's video, that song and it's the full house video and it fits. It works so perfectly. Man, Billy Gunn has had so many great theme songs between those ones, DX, Billy and Chuck. That theme song is also so good. pun not intended so good you look so good to me how are we going to come up with just four here there there are like there are so many underrated bangers and then of course like we were talking about like you mentioned there's like the ones that are just obvious right like if you're making a list of

theme songs on your mount rushmore you're probably going to put triple h on there whichever version you're like you're probably going to put undertaker on there stone cold so good but the underrated ones Like this is where people's list can be so different. This is where people's lists can be like, I could have four on there that look completely different from the four that you have. But to cap it off here, because I'm counting the Billy Gunn songs as one. Counting both of those songs just under Billy Gun.

But Christian? Oh, man, that's another one. If you close your eyes. So good. Christian's theme song in WWE, absolutely underrated banger. And I think that there's so many that we could be

listening off here, but look at it. I've got to hit play on this one. Oh, oh, man, so good. And of course, Edge's theme song would be on the Mount Rush more of like actual theme songs. Hard to come up with just four. But there's my four. Now I just want to go listen to theme songs on repeat. What a great question. Fowl 2009. Since we were talking about, this isn't even a question, just a comment, since we were talking about theme songs and stuff like that, this is Fowl 2009 on Spotify. Chris, I have to apologize. I listen to Ask CPP every Friday without fail during my workout, and I am a real, real one. But last Friday, I had to put you on hold as Kit Wilson's new theme song came on to Spotify, and I have to listen to that for the entirety.

of my workout. Please forgive me. You are most certainly forgiven. I also, so the interview I did with Kit Wilson was on Friday. So it was like this day for him, big day where his theme songs on Spotify. And I think it like, he posted something on Instagram where it was on the charts. So cool to see that. Reminds me a lot of Joe Hendry. And Joe Henry already so amazingly talented. Great promo. Great in the ring. Former TNA World Chan. The theme song and the entrance puts it over the top. And then also his theme song on the charts. You love to see it.

Wrestling Pod on Instagram says, should Finn Baller stick with his old theme song going forward? And when do you think we could see the demon again? Man, it was so cool. Seeing Finn Baller come out on Raw for that world title match, back home in Ireland, coming out to that theme song. I love that this entire section of the show

is now just devoted to incredible theme songs. I kind of hinted last week. I was like, man, do you think he could bring the demon out? Or at the very least, could we hear that theme song? Because that theme song, I think, is no offense to the theme song he's been using with Judgment Day. But come on. Let's be honest here.

The demon theme song, do do do do far superior so cool to see that back i'd love to hear the story behind that i think we've got to get fin baller on the show i know he doesn't really do podcasts but he did mention when he was on cody road's podcast he said you know what i was kind of like against doing podcasts but i feel like i've opened up to doing them i'm very clearly paraphrasing but maybe send him a send him a message, tag him on X or Instagram or something and let him know. I hope that he continues to use his old theme song. And I know that there's some like, there seems to just be some resistance, some pushback on people using their old theme songs. Drew McIntyre wants to use his old theme song. He's not using it.

Seamus has been super vocal that he wants lobster head. Another underrated theme song. Oh man, I love that song so much. But he's not using it. So I wonder if Finn Baller's using this, was this just a special occasion? Was he just trying to get the crowd extra amped up for this title match? Or is this the change moving forward? Because that's what I would love to see. I would love for that to happen.

Could we see the demon again? It's been a long time since we've seen the demon. WrestleMania 39 is the last time that we saw the demon. It was the edge. The demon versus edge in a brutal, a cell match, the demon lost. And that's the last time that we saw him. But Finn Baller has been on the record.

He said in other interviews, he wants to bring the demon back. It just needs to be the right time, the right place. I just have a feeling. There's going to be a right time and a right place in 2026 to see the demon back. And hearing that theme song, I feel like kind of planted a seed for like, yeah, this is possible. This is going to come back at some point in time. Andy G on Spotify says,

what is your Mount Rushmore of Tom Cruise movies? Because I was mentioning last week that I love me a good Tom Cruise movie. And I said, you know what? If you ask, I'll probably dive into a Mount Rushmore of Tom Cruise movies. So Andy, thank you for asking. To narrow this down to just four will be tough. so I'm going to slightly cheat here and give you franchises. Top Gun.

The first movie, like, kind of just, like, set the tone for, like, Tom Cruise is a global movie star. That was such an iconic movie in the 80s. It's still an iconic movie now. And it kind of invented that this was a Tom Cruise type. Confidence, charm, integrity, all of it, together. Top Gun, Maverick, so good. I'm talking about Maverick being the character. But then I've got to tie this into Top Gun Maverick.

Fast forward all those years later. And Tom Cruise had only replayed a character, I think, two other times in his career. Obviously, Ethan Hunt with Mission Impossible, and then the Jack Reacher movies, and then he revisited Maverick and Top Gun. I actually personally think, and this may be a hot, maybe a hot, opinion here. You may not agree with this. Maybe a hot take, but I think that Top Gun Maverick is a better movie than Top Gun. I get that you don't get Top Gun Maverick without Top Gun in 1986, but Maverick, the movie, is like so good and so rewatchable. The actions, obviously, insane. Tom Cruise actually flying the fighter jets, but the story just brings you right in.

Six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Top Gun didn't get nominated for Best Picture. So I'll go with Top Gun as a franchise at number one. Jerry McGuire. I just thought his performance was so good in that. And Tom Cruise, like, really proving here that he can act. And I just, like, up to that point, he was doing a, I mean, he had done a lot of great acting in the early 90s, too, but there was something about his.

performance in Jerry McGuire that I think just proved to people, oh yeah, this guy can do it all. Also nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for Jerry McGuire and that movie was nominated for Best Picture. This is going to be a bit of a deep cut. Not everybody has seen this film, but I love Vanilla Sky. And I talked about this last week and that's kind of what started this whole idea of like, oh man, I'm a big Tom Cruise fan. should do a Mount Rushmore, just the idea, the concept of Vanilla Sky. And this is going to be one that people are going to be like, what the heck is Vanilla Sky doing on your Mount Rushmore of Tom Cruise movies? But I don't know. Maybe it's personal reasons. It's just the concept of this movie,

and I don't want to give too much away, I just can't quite wrap my head around. It's just, ah, it's so good. And then, man, down to one last spot here. And there's so, many iconic movies that changed Tom Cruise's career and made us look at him in different roles. But I'm going to go with Mission Impossible just as a series. And to think that the series is now 30 years old, first movie came out in 1996. And I just feel like it just changed his career in a way like he started becoming a producer on these films and like redefining what it means to be a modern action star that stunts, like the insane stunts hanging off the Burj Khalifa, the stunt where he's flying his own plane in the last Mission Impossible movie, the one where he's

attached to the plane, insane. The halo jump in Fallout. Oh, also, it's all so good. So Mission Impossible just as a franchise, I think also proves just longevity. The longevity that Tom Cruise has. And to be able to do that at the level he's doing, it at? Amazing. I saw a YouTube video not long ago that was showing how Tom Cruise's running had improved through the Mission Impossible movies.

And it showed that, like, yeah, it looked pretty fast in the first Mission Impossible movie in 1996, but he clearly had worked with, like, some sort of running coach. And I don't think he's, like, gone on the record about this, but you can see how much his form has changed through the movies. like his form is dialed in. Like he's running like he's an Olympic sprinter now.

And you can see like how much faster he's gotten, the older he's gotten, which is crazy. But I think it also just proves like the true dedication he has to the role. Like the, I think there is no crazier stunt to me than the one in Dead Reckoning, where it's like, dead reckoning part one, the motorcycle into the base jump off the cliff, and didn't he do it like seven times? Wild. Of course, you got to mention risky business. You got to mention Rain Man. I think that's the best, like, movie in total that he's been in. Collateral, his best

performance, I think, like seeing him as a bad guy playing opposite Jamie Fox. A lot of great movies here. But if we're talking Mount Rushmore, there we go. Maybe you'll want to watch one of those this weekend. Cody Mitchell on Instagram says, Hey, Chris, I've got a question for Ask CVV. This past weekend, I had a wrestling tryout, and I got to do my first bump. It gave me a headache,

but other than that, it was great. Do you remember your first bump and how it felt? I'm a real, real one from Winnipeg. I remember my first bump in a backyard on our gym mats, on our blue gym mats when I was a backyard wrestling, 16 years old. I think my first bump before that

might have been on a mattress or something. Very different feeling than doing it in a wrestling ring. I remember those. It was basically us in the backyard, like, don't try this at home. Don't worry, we're okay. Only one of our friends broke their leg twice.

Sorry, Will. One of my best friends growing up, Will White. He broke his leg during a match with me and then broke his leg, different leg, different bone, broke his tibia and fibula on one leg during a match we had when he got thrown off a bridge. It was a viral clip in like the limewire days in like 2000, 2001. We were fighting near this bridge near this small creek by where we grew up.

And it was like, 10 feet high or something. Like, throw me off the bridge. I'm like, what? Like, we're in the middle of the match. changing punches. Throw me off the bridge. Okay. Grabbed his head like I was throwing him off like over the top rope and he like went over and landed his feet and you could hear his leg break. And then a few months later he broke his femur wrestling. Oh, Will, I'm sorry. Wrestling himself. He was just like, Will loved wrestling.

And he was wrestling himself and like landed, I think a swan ton bomb in someone's living room and his leg hit the side of a couch and his femur broke. I love Will and he ended up going on to like actually train and going on and having a pretty successful career in Ontario independent wrestling as Will White. And then when you pissed him off, he had like tear away trunks. What a great gimmick. He would tear away the white trunks and underneath would be black trunks and he would turn from Will White into Bill Black.

So good. So those are my first bumps in the backyard. Then when I went to wrestling school, I remember it felt similar, but the first time you take a bump, it's not what you expect. It kind of either half takes the wind out of you or completely takes the wind out of you.

Because you're not just falling backwards. Maybe on your first bump, you're falling backwards. But as you start to bump correctly, you're throwing yourself at the mat. Like they always say attack the mat. So it's like the bulk of the top of your back, and then your arms are out and your palms are down flat, attack the mat. That's why it's making that great noise as you fall down to the ground, fall down to the mat.

And man, when you think about it, like nothing but respect for the men and women who wrestle all around the world, whatever company you work for, when you're in a match and you're taking 10, 15, 20 flatback bumps in a match, nothing can prepare your body for that. I know that they talk about like your body being calloused up to it because you've been doing it for the week leading up to it, month leading up to it, years leading up to it, decades leading up to it. But really nothing like can prepare your bones and your muscles and just your joints and everything for that.

Like they say it's like a car crash every single bump. And it feels like that. So I remember my first bump. I also remember just how aggressive the, my first lockup was as you were learning to lock up. And I do remember also it being, it took me a little, a little bit of time to like learn the correct lockup because I had come from amateur wrestling. I come from high school wrestling. I was on the high school wrestling team at Pine Ridge Secondary School in Pickering, Ontario, Canada.

And you would, when you're doing a collar elbow tie up in a like an amateur wrestling match, you want your dominant hand on the back of their neck. So for me, it'd be my right hand on the back of your neck. When you're pro wrestling, it's the opposite. You're tying up with your left hand on the back of their neck, your right hand on their like arm slash elbow. So that, it didn't take me a lot of time, but it was just like, oh, okay, I got to like relearn the mechanics on that one. But I loved it.

And I've told the story a ton of times. So I'll just give you like the one sentence version here. Why didn't you keep wrestling? I was going to wrestling school in the summer. between my sophomore and junior year, and I was driving like 30 to 40 minutes from my parents' house and Pickering into Toronto where the wrestling school was. When school started back up in the fall, I went back to Waterloo, Ontario, where my college was, was studying communication studies. And it was now an hour plus to go there. And it's like, it was every Tuesday, Thursday, and then all day,

Saturday, all day, Sunday. And the schedule just didn't line up with my class schedule, my school schedule. Yeah, I'm sure I could have tried to make it work here and there, but I'm such a huge believer in the quote, the man who chases two rabbits catches none. I wanted to be able to put all my focus into either one or the other, either wrestling school or school, and I decided that getting my degree was of the utmost importance at that point in my life and that wrestling would always be there. And I mean, come on. How lucky am I. now to be able to dip my tone of the wrestling world every now and then and to be able to do some stuff. But nobody forgets their first bump. That's for sure. This email is from Brett Jackson.

CVV, real, real one here. I think it's about time to ask you another, would you rather question since we know that you love them. It's true. I love them. Would you rather? Every time before you go to bed. You have to take a rakishi stink face, or would you rather take a mandible claw from mankind every time before dinner? What's with the stink faces? Why is every would you rather stink faces or getting out of the shower and Gunther's chopping you? What is up with you guys? Let's see it. A stink face before going to bed or a mandible claw for. from mankind before dinner. Well, I love sleep and I love eating.

So this is tough because usually I'm looking for like a roundabout way of like, well, maybe I don't have to sleep tonight. If I didn't sleep tonight, then I won't have to take a stink fix. Well, if I didn't eat dinner tonight, I wouldn't have to get that mandible claw. How long is the mandible claw? Is it like 10 seconds? Is it 30 seconds?

Is it like a minute? How long is the stink face, too? I think that's an important question as well. How long are we getting stink-faced for? Could I skip dinner? I think I could skip dinner a few nights a week. But I think that if I, regardless of both of these,

I think I would prefer a mandible claw on any day versus a stink face. Yeah, I think I'm going to go with the mandible claw. But before I eat, I guess it's better, before I eat. Because maybe if I took the manable claw right after eating, especially if it was a big meal, like a tummy full of pizza,

it might be tough to take that manable claw. Maybe a, oh my gosh, the pizza's coming back up. I'm going to go with the manable claw here. And then do I get to hang out with Mick Foley for a few minutes after? Hey, Mick, good to see you, man. Thanks for coming by for dinner. Do you want to stay?

And we got spaghetti tonight. Or my wife makes an incredible turkey meatloaf. Have some of RVV's incredible turkey meatloaf. It would be great. Sion Quinn on Instagram says, what is your opinion of WWE Unreal? Are you a fan or does it take away from the magic of the business?

Season two just came out this week and I love it. I'm invested. And I think that you just fall into two camps. You either love it or you don't. And that's it. I don't think there's any in between with this. And I think the interesting thing about it as well

is they're showing you almost everything but not quite. Like they've pulled back the curtain most of the way. but they're still playing some things pretty close to the vest. And I've just always been in awe of the behind the scenes, the inner workings of it. I mean, if you couldn't tell from the interviews that we have on the show, I'm just fascinated by, like, putting the pieces together of how this came together. It's also been the thing, not just with wrestling, but I love the inner workings of, like,

the behind-the-scenes stories and, like, sports. Like, when you hear stories of, like, oh, did you know that person like actually had a broken finger before they played that game and they taped it up or like did you know that person and actually torn their Achilles and they Kobe Bryant still ended up doing the free throws I think that stuff's fascinating I love watching hard knocks I love watching the behind the scenes DVDs and I've always enjoyed like w.W.E chronicle if we're going way back here wrestling with shadows uh beyond the mat and I I think a really important point to make here is this is not new. I know that it's a new series. I know that

it's on Netflix. Maybe it's being watched by more people than something like Chronicle or 24. But the idea of showing us the behind the scenes of these moments, the idea of like a few months have passed, now we can show you how this came together. It's not a new concept. And I don't know why we're treating Unreal like it's something completely new. Maybe it's just a testament to how good they've marketed this, especially that very first trailer for season one of Unreal. They were making it seem like you're going to see stuff like you've never seen before. And I think to a point, that is true. We're in the writers room and we're hearing the writers and the producers talking about these moments. And I think that there's sometimes we're like, for better or for worse, you hear

a pitch about an idea of like, oh, what if we did this? I don't know. I don't know if that would work. But now that idea is out there. Like, for example, what if Chelsea Green won the Royal Rumble and didn't even know that she won the Rumble? Like, I love that idea. It's so fun.

And even Chelsea was like, I wish they hadn't said that because now it can't happen. But I think it's so interesting. And I think it also shines a light on what the, who the individuals are and who, like, where the can. character ends or the character begins. And I think it also like shines some light on the headlines that we sometimes see. Finding out the true story of what happened with our truth is fascinating. Like, come to find out, there was not a day that he wasn't under contract. It sure seemed like his contract was coming to an end. It seemed like they weren't going to renew him. And truth basically

announced that he had been released. I guess he hadn't officially at that point been released. They were still working out the details. But there was also a lot of talk about, like, was that just a storyline? And I think Unreal made it pretty clear. This was not a storyline. And I don't think they're creating storylines for Unreal. Like, I think they're just documenting pretty much everything. And they end up showing that to us in the show. But I don't think they're going, oh, you know, it would be really interesting. Let's tell our truth that we're not going to renew a contract and see what happens from there. I thought the Seth, Seth Rollins stuff on season two was just, man, brilliantly done.

In a time when they say that K-Fabe doesn't exist, K-Fabed everybody. And like, it's such a rare thing to see that. There's levels to K-Fabe now. K-Fabe has evolved. And if this is not the level of evolution of K-Fab that you like, then I would, would say to you, you probably shouldn't watch Unreal. But if you're the person like me, who likes to watch the behind-the-scenes documentaries and likes to see, man, you're telling me the chorus was originally a verse? And it wasn't until like this random person's uncle said, you know what? I've just been singing that the whole time and really think that should be a chorus. I love that type of stuff. I love it. And I will continue to

watch this type of stuff, I will continue to watch DVD and Blu-ray extras. I will continue to seek out behind-the-scenes shots and stories. I love that stuff. And I think it makes me appreciate stuff so much more. Like, for example, Matthew McConaughey, who was a fellow wrestling fan, by the way. Remember when he had that little spat, the little shouting match with Kevin Owens and like, could this turn into something? Could we see a match? I've got to get Matthew McConaughey on the show. just to talk a little wrestling and to find out, are we going to see, are you going to see you in the ring?

But he told a story about interstellar. And if you haven't seen the movie, I'm not going to ruin anything for you. But there's the scene where he's watching the video. I will say that. If you've seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And he just breaks down.

It's such an emotional moment. It's such a real moment. It's something that we can all relate to. And I guess they were setting this. up originally for it to be a wide shot first and then go in like this is often what they do a movie set start with the wide go into the medium then the close up and i guess he was in the headspace already of like this is going to be my best take my first take's going to be my best take and he just wrote down on a piece of paper see you and he passed it to i don't know who it was maybe the cinematographer

director photography whatever it was see you for close up like the letter c the letter you and i just love knowing that story of like, if it wasn't for him taking that action, if it wasn't for him knowing that the first take was going to be his best take, and that's not always the way that it is, we wouldn't have got that beautiful performance that we got there. Amazing. So I love that type of stuff. Sign me up for it. Give me more unreal. I think it's so cool to see this. And also, like, how much more do you love Chelsea Green? I mean, is it possible to love Chelsea Green more? I don't know. Is it possible to love Our Truth more? I don't know, but somehow here we are, loving them even more.

And I think it just shows like, I don't know, it gives me so much more of an appreciation for who the person is behind that character. Well, that, my friends, is the final question on this. Ask CVV number one May 19 edition. And I hope that when May 19th rolls around, and you don't forget, it's your boy's birthday. I'll leave you with this quote, since we were talking about movies during this episode,

I love this quote from Dead Poet Society. No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world. Be great, be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Kit Wilson, Tuesday, the Hardee's on Thursday. We'll see you right back here for those.

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Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. platform.