Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #124 - Elimination Chamber Predictions, Who's In The Crate?, AJ Styles HOF Induction, Bronson Reed Injury

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Welcome to AskCVV #124! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet gives his bold predictions for WWE Eimination Chamber in Chicago and answers questions about who is in the mysterious crate, AJ Styles' retirement speech and getting inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, what will happen with The Vision after Bronson Reed's injury on Raw, will we see Finn Balor's demon again, tips for starting a wrestling podcast and much more. Quote I'm thinking about: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust Please support our sponsors: HELIX SLEEP: Flash sale! Go to https://helixsleep.com/cvv for 27% off sitewide! COZY EARTH: Go to https://cozyearth.com/CVV for up to 20% off! BEAM: Go to https://shopbeam.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT for up to 40% off Beam’s Dream Powder DELETEME: Use the code INSIGHT to get 20% off your DeleteMe plan at https://joindeleteme.com/INSIGHT FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF  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 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

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Flea! Ah, yes, welcome back to another one here on Insight. It's your friendly neighborhood, CBV, Chris Van Fleet. We made it. We made it to Friday. Thank you for letting me hang out with you on an AskCV episode, and thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. If you're new here, lay your phone.

down on the ground right now and hit a top rope elbow drop on that follow button on Spotify or Apple or wherever you're listening. So you don't miss out on anything that we have coming up. I am in Chicago right now. Elimination Chamber is tomorrow night. And tonight is the big sold out Insight Live with special guest Chicago Zone, Mustifa Ali. If you're going tonight, I can't wait to see you there. and also this is a nice little bonus. Mustafa told me he's going to stick around

for the VIP meet and greet for photos and autographs. So if you bought a VIP ticket, this is all included in that price. And this is very kind. Like this is not usually how this goes where the guest stays for the entire meet and greet like this. So what a nice little bonus this is.

Also, someone who's coming to the show tonight that has a VIP ticket, going to be leaving with a beautiful big gold belt from Fandu belts. I'm looking at this right now. It is the item that made my bag overweight. Like when you go to the airport, you put it on the scale. It doesn't even say the weight. It just says over.

Because, you know, they're big, right? They weigh eight, nine, ten pounds. But what an unbelievable belt. I will be leaving with a much lighter bag. And someone with a VIP ticket is going to be leaving with a beautiful big gold belt. Anyone who comes and bought a VIP ticket, this is always the case

with any of the Insight Live shows, you are automatically entered into a raffle to win, not just the big gold, which we've given away a big gold at almost every Insight Live that we've done, but lots of other great prizes as well. So I can't wait to see you there tonight, and again, thank you for selling out this show.

It's going to be a blast. We also have two new dates for Insight Live. Friday, May 8th in Tampa, it's the day before backlash, and Saturday, September 5th in New Orleans, that is the day before Money in the Bank. We haven't even officially announced either of those yet, but since you're a real one, since we're hanging out here on a Friday, I figured I would tell you here first. The tickets for the New Orleans show are on sale right now at CVVTix.com. The tickets for Tampa will be on sale in the next like three to five days.

So keep an eye on the website for those CVVTicks.com. And of course, the next live show is April 16th, the Thursday of WrestleMania Week, at Circa Resort Casino, Las Vegas. Can't wait to see you at that one as well. CVVTIX.com to buy any and all of those tickets. Welcome, my friend, to ask CVV, number

1.24-inch pythons, brother, addition. Also, Ask CVV number 1, 247, 487, 711, I-95 South, European television champion edition. That is certainly a mouthful.

If you've got an idea for next week, for Ask CVV-125, or if you got a question for next week, send in your questions on the newly revamped chris van fleet dot com website leave a comment on spotify if you're listening on there posted on social media with a hashtag ask cvvv or shoot me a good old-fashioned email to cvvv at chris van fleet dot com well kick off ask cvvv12 with this one from a k rowdy oh 10 on instagram who says who you got winning in the chamber this year I really feel like this PLE in particular is a little unpredictable, and I love it.

Yes, I know that there's like one or two people that are probably going to win the chambers on both sides, men's and women's. But I just love that, like, there's been a lot of PLEs over the last many months where you look at it and you go, oh, yeah, like, I can see exactly who's going to win. Maybe my heart says different, but like, yeah, I can see. see who's probably going to win here. And that's probably why I've had such great predictions. I don't want to pat myself on the back too much, but I've been pretty rock solid with these predictions. Like the Royal Rumble, man, it's called all of that. And then I did go with my heart for the

AJ Styles match. And well, it probably should have just gone with a logical choice on that one. Let's start off with the title matches to begin this. Well, look at the odds here at my bookie. and of course when you sign up at mybooky.ag, use the code. CVV, you'll get a very nice welcome bonus when you sign up. The World Heavyweight Championship is being defended as CM Punk takes on Finn Baller. CM Punk, a massive favorite in this match. And I can't see any situation other than CM Punk walking into WrestleMania as the world champion. We're getting CM Punk versus Roman Raines.

I don't think that changes at all. although this match with Finn Baller is going to be fantastic. The women's Intercontinental Championship is on the line. Becky Lynch defending against A.J. Lee, the slight favorite in this match, and that's where I would go. That's who I'm going with. I think A.J. Lee and C.M. Punk, both leaving Chicago as champions. This also might set up another match between the two of them at WrestleMania.

maybe it's the rubber match between the two of them, but I just don't see this one ending here. But I think AJ Lee beats Becky Lynch, AJ Lee becomes the women's intercontinental champion for the very first time. The women's elimination chamber match. I feel like this one is really tough to call. The odds right now for the winner here

are dead even between Ria Ripley and Tiffany Stratton. They are both the favorites here. Rio Ripley seems like the obvious choice. I think we'd love to see Rio Ripley versus Jade Cargo. What a match that would be. But my gut says Rea Ripley's not winning Elimination Chamber. And I'll tell you why. Ria Ripley being the women's tag team champion right now,

I think throws a wrench in these plans. I just feel like there's other plans for Ria Ripley and E.O. Sky at WrestleMania. Maybe it's Ria and EO together defending those tag team championships, or maybe we see something where they lose the titles, and now there's some tension between the two of them. Like this whole lovey-dovey, we're best friends thing that they've got going on right now is building to something.

It's building to a banger of a match between Ria Ripley and E.O. Sky. And I feel like that might be the direction we're going with this at WrestleMania. It doesn't need to be a title on the line. to just have a great match between Ria Ripley and E.O. Sky. So that's why I say it's not, in my opinion, going to be Ria Ripley. So who is it then? We've got five other possibilities here. And I also just like, look at this match. If we were talking about this last week,

did you think there would be any way that Kiana James would be in this women's elimination chamber match? I love it. I love it. But when you have an elimination chamber qualifying match with Keanu James versus two former champions, Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax, I don't feel like anyone even gave her a chance. Then she goes in there and pins Charlotte Flair.

Man, I love it. Talk about like unpredictable. Talk about just like, I feel like since this year started, things have just been kicked into a different gear. There have been some things happening, especially on weekly television, raw on SmackDown, where you're like,

oh, man, I didn't see that coming. The biggest, most obvious one, being the fact that Drew McIntyre beat Cody Rhodes for the championship on an episode of Smackdown. I just loved it. We're in a time right now

where it feels like anything can happen. Keanu James being in this match feels like a great example of that. I put a poll on my Instagram, on my group, the CVV feed, if you go into my broadcast channel within my profile.

I said, the women's elimination chamber match. Ria Ripley is leading that poll as of right now, followed by Raquel Rodriguez, then Tiffany Stratton, and the rest of the names. Oskah, somehow at the bottom of that list,

the just utter disrespect for Oskia, I can't believe it. But I guess where we're at right now, yeah, maybe. Maybe Oskia doesn't seem like the most likely person to win this match. But who's going to win it? My pick.

My pick is Tiffany Stratton, which would line up Tiffany Stratton versus Jade Cargill at WrestleMania. It makes a lot of sense. Yes, we've seen them before, but there's a lot of history there. Who did Tiffany Stratton lose her WWE Women's Championship too? That's right. Loss it to Jade Cargill. I was back in November. There's bad blood here. There's also some chemistry between the two of them. They work well together. I feel like that's where we're headed for this. So Tiffany Stratton, my pick. The men's elimination chamber. Cody Rhodes is the favorite here,

and I feel like you're probably saying, hey, CVV, it's obvious. Cody Rhodes is going to win this. How are we going to get to WrestleMania without Cody Rhodes being part of the main event? And I'm with you here. But I just don't know if it's that cut and dry. I don't know if it's that clear of a path for him.

I still firmly believe we're not going to getting a one-on-one match for the WWE championship at WrestleMania. I think it's Drew McIntyre versus Cody Rhodes versus Jacob Fawtu. How we're going to get there, I don't know. But I would not be surprised if Drew McIntyre is in Chicago tomorrow and is part of some shenanigans when it comes to this men's elimination chamber match. Maybe we're in a situation where there's no winner. Like, what if we're down to like the final two or the final three and Drew McIntyre just comes in and cleans house?

And that just wrecks everything. Although you still have to have a winner, right? They can't just throw the match out. It can't be like, hell and a cell between Seth Rollins and the fiend where they're like, oh, no, this is too much. He hit him with a sledgehammer inside hell and a cell. Oh, man, you got to just toss the match out. There can't be a winner. how silly that was.

And I understand that behind the scenes there was a lot of bad booking going on that led us to that. But I just don't think it's as clear as Cody Rhodes just getting the one, two, three. When you look at everybody in this match,

you got Cody Rhodes, you got Randy Orton, you got L.A. Knight. Yeah. Jvonne Evans, Trick Williams, J. Uso. This is going to be a great match. I know I said it last week, but I will say it again.

I can't wait to see what Javon Evans does in this match. You know that since he found out he was going to be in this match, he has been cooking up something silly. Javon Evans is going to have a highlight real moment, a viral moment. I don't know what it's going to be. There's only so many things you can do within elimination chamber. I can't wait. Can't wait to see what happens here.

Cody Rhodes is my pick. And it's funny on my Instagram poll, who's going to win the men's elimination chamber match. You know who's leading that poll right now? It's not Cody Rhodes. It's Randy Orton. And I would love to see Randy Orton find his way into a title match. And I would love to see Randy Orton win number 15. I just don't think it's happening yet.

I think there's a good chance it happens at some point in 2026. I just don't think it happens here. year. I don't think we're getting Drew McIntyre versus Randy Orton at WrestleMania, although that would be fantastic. And I think it was, was Drew McIntyre that beat Randy Orton the last time he was WWE champion. But I think it's Cody Rhodes, but I think there's some other funkiness that goes on here. And we'll have to see how that all unfolds. I'm just curious about the event as a whole. Is there going to be a big surprise like last year? like obviously what we got last year you know right the heel turn john sina and i'd just like to point

this out i am not at all saying the rock will be there i'm just pointing out a fact we haven't seen the rock since elimination chamber last year so a full year elimination chamber to elimination chamber again not a prediction or anything of the sort just a fun fact to point out Rock was there, did the slitting of the throat motion, and we haven't seen him since. I don't know if he'll ever be inserted back into any sort of storyline tied to that. It really seems unlikely now, but I'm just pointing that out. But will there be a big surprise? Will there be a return?

It'll be very interesting to see how this all shakes out. Seth Crouch sent this email and said, Hey, CVV, real, real one here. A question no one seems to be asking is could the demon Finn Baller be in the crate? This could answer how a person could survive in the crate for a few weeks. It's not a person. It's a demon. Keep up the amazing work and awesome Ask CVV episodes.

Sincerely, Seth Crouch. This actually might be the best theory I've heard. Could it be the demon that's taking on CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship tomorrow? The last time we saw Finn Baller as the demon, you know what it was? WrestleMania Night 2, April 2nd, 2023, he was the demon when he lost to Edge and that hell in a cell match. But I just appreciate, Seth, that you're thinking outside of, like, K-Fabe. Like, you're thinking realistically about this.

And I love thinking realistically about wrestling storylines and trying to, like, get to the logic of them. If we're actually thinking logically about this crate, if there is indeed a person in there, that means they've been living in a box that has been shipped from Raw to Smackdown, back to Raw, I'm sure back to Smackdown tonight, then from there, Smackdown tonight in Louisville, Kentucky,

to Chicago tomorrow for Elimination Chamber. Sounds pretty cold. Sounds pretty cold being shipped around in a box everywhere. a box with no air holes, might I add. That's just us thinking logically here. But I'm pretty sure I know who's inside the box. I think the demon's a great guess. I don't think it's a demon.

Maybe I should say, like, it has been brought up, like, what's inside the box? What if this is a statue? And we're unveiling a new sort of tournament or a new sort of match. What if this is, I've heard people talk about? what if this is just a promo for WW2K26? I don't think that any of that is the case.

I'm pretty sure inside the box is the WWE debut of Danhausen. Or should I say boxhausen? In fact, my bookie even has odds on this. They say, who will be inside the mysterious crate open during elimination chamber? Danhausen is the favorite, followed very closely by Chris Jericho. Then they get into a bunch of just kind of silliness.

Like the rock is on this list. Travis Scott is on this list. Shane McMahon is an outside shot at plus 5,000. I think it's Danhausen. We haven't seen Danhausen in AEW since the end of 2023. December 30th, 2020, is the last time. time that we saw him at AW World's End, Zero Hour, I believe it's Danhausen in there. And there are so many possibilities for Danhausen and WWE.

I'm pumped. If you don't know that much about Danhausen, he was a guest on my show and he was out of character, a very rare out-of-character interview with Danhausen. Check it out. It was from about a year-ish ago. so go just type it in, take a look, take a listen, and you will learn a lot about him. He's a hilarious character. He's just a hilarious guy in general, but like brilliant in the way that he approaches the business

and thinks about different things within wrestling. I think it's Dan Housen. That's what I'm going with here, and I just can't wait to see how this all plays out. 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 Klinembourg. 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 claimant, 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 Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

Uho Ho Rio 999 on Instagram says, What's up, CVV, a real, real one here? What is your take on AJ's sendoff and Hall of Fame induction? Would it have been better in AEW or TNA? Man, I couldn't be happier for AJ. One of the very best to ever do it inside the ring. If you've been listening to the show long enough, you know how much I love AJ Styles and have loved AJ Styles for years, dating back to the very

first time I saw him in TNA and I was like, what? How is a human capable of doing that and also making it look so smooth? So he actually addressed this thing on the Good Brothers podcast called Talk and Shop. He said he had full control over when he got to retire. This was his choice. All of this was being done on his terms, and he seems so happy with how everything went. He was talking about how, like, his neck was having issues. Like, this all just timed out perfectly.

And that segment on Raw was perfect. Great speech by AJ, leaving his gloves in the ring and explaining why he didn't take them off at the Royal Rumble because he wanted to take him off and leave him in the ring in his home state of Georgia. It's a beautiful moment. His family's there, and then gong, the Undertaker's music hits,

then Taker coming out, surprising him with a Hall of Fame announcement. What a beautiful, emotional moment that was. I also love that they got as many OG TNA wrestlers who played a role in AJ's early career. They got them all together,

as many as they could, people that weren't under contract anywhere else. So cool to see Abyss wearing the Abyss mask on WWE TV. Of course, everybody knows that he works behind the scenes as a producer, but to see the Abyss character in WWE was so cool. Also, great to see Jeremy Borash, great to see Frankie Cazarian. It was, what a cool segment. And I love how it all tied together.

And AJ was like addressing this idea of like, would he want to go wrestle in AW or would he want to go wrestling TNA? He's like, no, like, this is how I wanted to go. This is how I planned it out. And I love it. He recently signed a new contract. He's going to be working behind the scenes with WWE. It sounds like as a coach slash trainer, like getting people ready for the ring, like getting them to work on whatever it is. is that they need to work on to get better in the ring.

AJ just seemed really, really happy in that segment. And also, you could just see the respect from every single one of his peers. What a send-off. And it also explains why he didn't get the big send-off at the Royal Rumble, because they were waiting for this. They wanted, they saw Atlanta on the schedule and they said, let's do it there and make sense for you to do it as close to home as you possibly can. So what a cool moment, AJ Stiles.

They haven't said he's headlining the class of 2026, but who's going to be bigger than AJ Stiles getting inducted to the Hall of Fame this year? I don't know. There still are a few names out there that could also be inducted, but I see A.J. Stiles headlining this class and how, like, so well earned, so well deserved. and can't wait to hear what his Hall of Fame speech sounds like. He's got a lot of people to think when you've got a career like that. I can't wait.

Tony sent this in on the very popular, newly revamped, Chrisfanfleet.com. Tony says, hey, Chris, I've been a fan for a few years now. I'm curious. When you meet someone for the first time and they're not familiar with your work, what's their reaction usually when you tell them what you do for a living, especially when they're not wrestling fans? more specifically, what was your wife's reaction when you told her for the first time? Love the show, and I hope to meet you at a future WWE or AEW show in the near future.

Tony from Philly. Tony, thank you so much for sending that in on the website, and I look forward to meeting you as well at a future show. When I first met Rachel, my wife, the beautiful, wonderful, incredible, talented RVV. It was 2021. So, yes, I was doing the podcast. Yes, I had had the YouTube channel for at that point 10 years. Wow. The channel I have now, I started in February of 2011.

I just got a notification, actually, that the channel turned 15, like this week or last week, which is crazy. But where I was at when I met Rachel five years ago, which is crazy. just crazy. Time is flying. Also, in those five years, we got engaged, got married, bought a house, and, oh yeah, got two kids. Wow. When I met her, I was still doing a lot of other things with like movie junkets, movie premieres. It was still a, I still am, but I was doing a lot more movie critic stuff. So I would basically explain to her or to anybody else at that point in time, I'm a TV host. I was hosting lots of different TV shows. I had just come at that point from Miami where I'd been hosting a show called Deco Drive

and I was an entertainment reporter there. So that was the easiest way to explain it then. I'm a TV host. Also, I interview wrestlers on my podcast. When I explain it to people now, actually it's funny or what? rage explains it to people because she'll meet someone, you know, at like a, some like kids event or something and they'll be like, oh, it'll come up in conversation. Oh, so what does your husband do? And maybe their husband does a job that like can easily be explained in like a word or a sentence.

And usually when someone says, what do your husband do? She goes, well, I'm not really sure what you'd call it. Like, do you ever watch WWE? Yeah, so he has a podcast where he interviews the wrestlers. And that's generally where the conversation starts of like, oh, I have a podcast where I interview wrestlers. Or I'll say to someone like, are you wrestling fan at all? Oh, okay, cool. Yeah, well, I have a podcast where I am so lucky to get to interview these people.

That's usually what it is. Like, it's definitely not an occupation where it's like, can be summed up in like a simple sentence like, like my high school job. I worked in the fish department of PJ's pet center, a pet store. That is one sentence. You know exactly what I do. If you go to the fish department of that pet store, that's where you would find me. Or like my summer job for two summers when I was in college, I worked. in Enterprise Rent a Car. I rented car. I rented car. It was that simple. I think now it's,

I interview wrestlers. What kind of wrestlers? Like, if they're not a WWE fan, I think that sometimes they're like thinking you're interviewing like amateur wrestlers. I'm like, you ever watch WWE? Yeah, yeah. Like the Rock, Stone Cold, the Undertaker? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's the type of thing I do now. And then usually I'll be like, hey, do you have YouTube on your phone? Could you subscribe to my YouTube channel? Oh, that'd be so helpful. Thank you so much. That's generally what it is.

But it's always that if I wasn't in Chicago right now, if I was back home, I would ask Rage to pop in here for a second and give you her take on this because I think she thinks it's just, it's funny. Like, how lucky am I? like when I think about this all the time and you know that I lead with gratitude all the time but like how grateful am I that I get to do this and like I think about the idea that like this began with me as a TV host years ago interviewing all kinds of other people within the entertainment world actors comedians directors musicians and seeing WWE was on the schedule

like they were just coming to town and I was like, do you think we could interview a wrestler? And my boss was like, yeah, of course, we've done that before. And like, that's kind of where it began. And then I started to see this as like leverage of like, well, I work in entertainment. Like I work as an entertainment reporter.

So I get to interview all of these different people from all of these different walks of life. Wrestling is going to come to when I was in Vancouver, once or twice a year. Toronto, maybe two-ish times a year. Cleveland, same, maybe once or twice a year. Miami, again, once or twice a year, there's one or two chances every year

to get to nerd out as a wrestling fan and talk to a current superstar. I feel just very grateful that it's all come together. Aaron Smith, 1985, on Instagram, says, yo, CVV. Do you think the masked man angle will disappear now that the vision have suffered another injury and those left aren't even OGs, I certainly think that the vision as a whole and the mass man angle need to shift, need to change.

Bronson Reed unfortunately suffered a torn bicep on Rod during that elimination chamber qualifying match, wishing him a speedy recovery. Bronbreaker dealing with hernia. there's there's some like just bad luck i guess in the vision and of course before all this we had set ralins with the shoulder injury which is interesting because it's a legit injury after faking the knee injury which led to the ruse of the century what a cash in at somerslam but i think that whatever plans they had for the masked man need to shift here and you're right the members that are left in the vision aren't even original members. We've got Austin Theory and Logan Paul.

I still feel like there's enough time here. I don't know what the actual timeline is on any of these injuries, but I still feel like there's a chance we're going to get this original rumored match of Seth Rollins versus Bronbreaker WrestleMania. I'd still think that with the seven weeks we have between now and WrestleMania, that the timeline will line up for both of those. guys to be ready to go. How the masked man gets tied back into this, I don't know. Does this end up being a situation where it's one of those storylines that just has no finish? Like, does the mask man never show up again? Does that never get revealed? Does this become like the golden egg? Remember the golden egg? Or if you're around my age, do you remember GTV that had zero payoff? GTV,

was teased for months that's behind the scenes like hidden camera that was revealing all these nefarious things that were happening backstage. And then it was never revealed who was behind GTV. It was rumored who might have been behind it, but it was never revealed. Does this end up being one of those things? I don't know. Because if the masked man is indeed, Grayson Waller, and that's who ends up getting revealed as the masked man, how does that play into this. Does it set up something between Austin Theory and Grayson Waller, which would make sense. There's some history there with Aetown Down Under. Maybe this ties back into that. But I don't know. Maybe this masked man has just been a placeholder for Seth Rollins who isn't medically cleared

to compete. Maybe this has just been a placeholder. But I don't know. I just feel, and I don't have any like concrete evidence to back this up. I don't have any inside knowledge of this, but I still feel like we're going to get Seth Rollins versus Bronbreaker at WrestleMania. I don't know how the masked man ties into this, though. I don't even know how the vision ties into this. But with that said, yes, there's some injuries right now. But once Bronson Reed gets this figured out, once he's like starts healing, maybe he's not medically cleared to compete, but why? Why? why can't he just be present? Same with Braun Breaker. There's a chance that they could still be there, still be showing up week to week, but not be competing, not doing anything physical. That could be one way to keep the vision continuing and strong and like moving forward with this. But I'm curious. I'm curious if that's the path they take or like at this point with Bronbreaker being out now with this injury, I don't feel like he can just show up with the vision. Like I don't feel like he can just show up with the vision. Like I don't feel like. like they can just be doing a backstage segment.

They're like, oh, hey, hey, what's up, Braun? How are you feeling? Or, like, the vision comes out all together, like, with music and entrance, and, like, Bronbreaker just happens to be there. It feels like it's setting up for a proper return. But I don't know. Again, I feel like just because they're injured doesn't mean they can't be on TV. And that could really help to propel this story.

Nico Williams sent this in on the newly revamped, Chris Vanvly. I'll stop saying newly revamped. You get the idea. Hi, Chris. Nico from Chicago here. The realist of real ones. That was in all caps, so that you are a real list, real one.

My question for you is, who is a superstar past or present, that you have always been behind and have been waiting for them to get a real shot as the top guy? For me, it's easy. It's definitely Finn Baller, from his time in Japan

and his dominant NXT runs, It genuinely hurts my heart that he only got 24 hours as a world champion and has never been able to get that spot back. Thank you for giving us wrestling nerds a voice. And also, as a newer father, thank you for always talking about your love for your children and your family. Your genuine attitude and love is an inspiration. Well, thank you, Nico.

We got Finn Ballard back in the main event picture, though. We got Finn Baller fighting for the world title again here. I love it. my pick if I'm going with someone current is L.A. Knight. Yeah, he's been so close, so many times. Three money in the bank matches. One of them where he had his hands on the briefcase and there's like this swell of excitement from the audience like, oh, it's finally going to happen and then someone else won. He's in Elimination Chamber this weekend, but it doesn't feel like he's in there like with a legit. shot to win. It feels like he's in there because

he gets a pop when he comes out. People love L.A. Knight. Yeah. But I don't feel like he's in this match with like, unfortunately, any real chance to win this. He's been a world champion before. He was the TNA world champion

at the time it was called Impact. So he was the Impact World Champion back in 2017, 2018. He clearly ticks every single box I don't know what's going on here. I don't know why he's been so close and they just haven't like done anything with him. It's been U.S. champion twice.

I think the second run had a lot more like direction, I think, than the first one, even though the second one wasn't nearly as long. They just felt like there was like more going on there or at least a little more going on there. But L.A. Knight's my pick. I feel like there needs to be more with L.A. night. And then just give, let's see what he can do,

especially if we're kind of playing a little more hot potato with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Give it to LA Knight for three, four, five months. See what happens from there. There's a reason that a guy like L.A. Knight, yeah, is a top merch seller like month in and month out. The people love them. Listen to the pop.

he gets when his music hits tomorrow. You know what I'm talking about. Chris Winkleman on Facebook says, Hey, CVV, a real, real one, and a Chris, and Canadian. Wow, well, I've never met a Chris that I don't like. Do you think that they might move Ethan Page to Raw to fill the vision void? I do think that Ethan Page is going to move to the main roster

now that he's not the North American champion anymore. He will always be the greatest North American. but he is no longer the North American champion. Miles Bourne beating him on Tuesday. Excited to see what's next for Miles Bourne, by the way. But yeah, I think that Ethan Page makes that move. Maybe it's something with Chelsea and like teaming up with her or like being in a faction with her. This is the thing about someone like Ethan Page. He's so talented that you can pick him up and put him in really anything. and it's going to work. He's a fantastic heel, but he's also a great baby face. Although, why would you want to cheer for Ethan Page? Like, he's just, ah, he's such a great heel, someone you love to

hate. So good. But yes, I think that Ethan Page is making the move to the main roster and excited to see where he gets dropped into and what that first storyline is. Of course, this is not, none of this is official yet, but I feel like that's what's going to happen. I I don't see him go into the vision, although it would line up. He's a heel, the vision's a heel stable. I feel like under the tutelage of Paul Heyman, Ethan Page might be somehow even better than he currently is.

But I don't know if the vision needs any more members. Like I said, we don't know how long the injured members of the vision are going to be out for. But that doesn't... need to keep them off TV. I think Ethan Page can do whatever he wants to do on his own and doesn't need to be part of a faction in order to be successful. He's proven that time and time again. Dustin Mooney sent this in on the website and said, I remember when I was growing up, if someone was on the verge of passing out, the ref always gave the classic three-arm raises. How come now they just often do the one? Like, what was the difference between?

between AJ in the sleeper and Sina. This is such a fantastic question. And I would love if there was an official answer to this. Maybe the next time we have a WWE referee on the show, we can maybe get an official answer because sometimes they'll do the three-arm thing, which I always loved as a kid. One, the arm falls straight down.

Two, the arm falls straight down. Three, it stays either in the air or like it starts to go down, and then it pops back up. I always love that. And I always love the momentum that it built up. And it always makes me scratch my head. There will be matches.

Well, they will do both of the things within the match. They will do the three arm raise. And then later on in the match, they'll just be like, oh, well, check his arm. Oh, he's out. Oh, match is over. I guess, and this is just a total guess. This is me speculating wildly.

I would imagine the finish we saw between AJ and Gunther. It makes it feel more real. It makes it feel like that person has passed out. Look at his arm. It's just dangling there. It makes it feel a little bit more authentic. Maybe they're borrowing a little bit from UFC with the TKO ownership here.

It's the only thing I can think of. Maybe the three arm raise is a little too cartoony and not as rooted in reality. Like the limp arm, like check the arm, ref, he's out. But I still like the old school three arm raise. It also gives a chance, like, midmatch for, like, baby face to get a little bit more momentum behind them. But I would love an official answer.

I would love an official answer. Yeah, we need to get to the bottom of this. Robert Watson sent this one in on Chris VanFlead.com and said, hey, CVV, a real, real, real one here in Florida. Just wanted to let you know that on a recent episode of What's Your Story with Stephanie McMahon and Royce Keys, Stephanie said she listened to your podcast and remembered the interview you did with Royce three years ago. Oh yeah, when he was Powerhouse Hobbs.

When do we get you and her teaming up for interviews and when will you interview Dave LaGreca? Thanks, and I love the show. I did catch that. I caught that. Someone sent it to me like right after the episode came out. Like it came out on Spotify first and then hours later, it came out on YouTube. And someone sent me a little recording of that.

I was like, that's cool. Like I've got one of those last names where it can be said a myriad of different ways. My last name has been mispronounced a ton of times. The fact that she pronounced it correctly just was very kind. Very nice. And I'm sure she was just listening to it to do research. She was listening to the Powerhouse Hobbs episode. That was his name when he was in AEW.

Now he's Royce Keys. We saw his debut at Royal Rumble. Great interview, by the way. Like, what's your story? It's fantastic. All of the, like, all of the WWE podcasts, giving us like a different angle. Like, I feel like we get, like a Royce Keys interview,

for example, on Stephanie McMahon's show. It's going to be different than, on six feet under. It's going to be different than on Cody's show. It's going to be different than on Logan Paul's show. It's going to be different than Sam Roberts. I just really appreciate that, but Stephanie McMahon has been knocking out of the park

with fantastic interviews. And this one was like particularly emotional with Royce Keys. I would love to have Stephanie on the show. Fingers crossed. It could happen at some point this year. It'd be great to do. a Stephanie McMahon interview.

And then while we're doing that, maybe we set up a Triple H interview that happens right after. A little husband-wife deal going on there. But I would love to have an interview with Stephanie McMahon. When are we going to get Dave LaGreca on the show? Dave has been on the show. Dave was on the show like three-ish years ago. So if you type that in the archives, you will find it.

I will say that interview was done via Zoom. We haven't done an interview over Zoom. in a long time. So maybe next time I'm in the New York, New Jersey area, Dave and I connect for an in-person podcast. Dave actually lives very close to the town where my beautiful, wonderful wife, RVV, was born and raised.

So maybe next time we're on the East Coast, visiting family, Dave and I can connect for that. and maybe I'll join Dave in the studio and Busted Open. I've been unbusted open a bunch of times. I guess I was on Busted Open a month or two ago. It's always great, always a blast. But it was so cool that I was unbusted open with Dave, and his co-host that day was Nick Nemith,

who I've interviewed like 18 times. So it was kind of funny that the tables returned where, like, Nick was the one asking me the questions. And I'm like, what is it? going on. This is wild. Zach Cantwell sent this one in on the website and said, Hey, CVV, question for Ask CDV

number 124. I know they went away from it for a while, but do you think TNA will ever go back to the six-sided ring? Zach, I do not think that they ever will. And I think that if TNA was ever going to do the six-sided ring again,

it would have happened. happened when impact officially rebranded to TNA. We got the yellow ropes again. We got the classic yellow ropes, but we got the four-sided ring. And I think that was indicative of the six-sided ring is never coming back. And I think that if you talk to anybody who wrestled inside the six-sided ring, they will tell you that is a good thing. The six-sided ring was great because it looked different. And the whole appeal of it was if you were flipping channels, you would stop and be like, what the heck is that? Well, that looks different. That doesn't look like a, the traditional four-sided ring that we're used to seeing with pro wrestling. That's, it's not an eight-sided octagon like in UFC.

Man, that's different. But I think it was AJ Styles when he was on the show. He said it like sucked taking bumps in a six-sided ring. Like so many parts of it, like the ring itself was harder. The ropes were all so like tighter just with the way that they were being pulled. They're like, you've got a lot more room to work with in a 20 by 20 ring or an 18 by 18 ring with the ropes. Like the ropes have more like space to be a little bit looser or maybe have a little more bounce to them. Six-sided ring ropes were tight. So I think that anybody who worked during that era and look, I love that era of TNA. But I think anybody who worked during that era will tell you, like,

they would prefer if the six-sided ring doesn't come back. Yes, it looks cool and it made them stand out, but, like, in terms of taking bumps in there, they're saying, no thank you. Jim Schwartzbauer on Facebook says, favorite video game or games of all time? Also, top five is cool. If we're talking wrestling video games,

WWF No Mercy for N64 and WCWNW of Revenge are such classics. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and those are two games that just inject it right into your veins. I have a lot of personal feelings also attached to SmackDown v. Raw 2006. We used to have tournaments with that game like we would all meet up at our buddy Andrew Lennhart's house and we would there was a bunch of us and like two people would play everybody else would watch and then like winter would move on we were like this this took up our entire summer in 2006 and then that blight end to 2007 when Smackdown versus Raw 2007 came out so like I've got like real personal feelings attached to all of those games there but if we're talking just

like video games of all time. I'm a big Sega Genesis fan. So quick story here. I'm born in 1983. And some people seem shocked online when I posted this photo with AJ Styles. And they're like, how old is Chris? He looks the same in that photo.

That photo's from 2006. I'm 42, turned 43 in May. I am the same age as WrestleMania. So every single year when WrestleMania comes around, I am the same age as WrestleMania, and then a month or two later is my birthday. So 43 in May, can't wait. May 19th, of course. Just don't say that to Kane.

I asked for a Nintendo every single year, and my parents said, no. We don't want you living in a house growing up playing video games. I'm sure you've heard this before. Then when Super Nintendo came out, I asked for Super Nintendo every year. I also did not ever get a Super Nintendo. Then I asked for a Sega Genesis and I never got a Sega Genesis. My parents allowed me with the money that I saved up from like shoveling snow and cutting our lawn and also the neighbor's lawn.

I like saved up for like a year and I bought a game gear. Do you remember game gear? Oh man. What a classic system. They allowed me to buy a game gear with the idea that like, all right, you can like, like play it in the car on on your way to like baseball games or like on your way to hockey games or hockey practices or like if we go on a road trip or something like that. So I had a game gear and then when I turned 16 one of my friends Matt Cook was getting rid of his Sega Genesis and

he's like, I'm just getting rid of it man. How about 50 bucks and I'll like I'll give you three or four games. I was like what? Absolutely. So that was like Sega Genesis then became my gaming system and all of the gaming that I wasn't able to do at home and I was always playing video games in my friend's houses, which also made it so like our house wasn't the cool house to hang out at

because like you didn't have a system. You know what I'm talking about. If you're close-ish to my age, you know what I'm talking about. So when I got a Sega Genesis, I was all in on like, we're playing Sega Genesis a lot. NHL 97 was my go-to, game and NBA Jam, TE, tournament edition. Also, one of my favorite games. Mortal Kombat 2,

although I love all the Mortal Kombat's. Mortal Kombat 2 is probably the one that I played the most. Mortal Kombat 3, there were too many characters. Well, I mean, I still played it, but there were too many characters, too many special moves to try to figure out. Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 made it so easy. Back BackB was something for almost everybody. Remember Raiden? Backback 4. was the thing where it flew through the air. Scorpion, Back Back B. Get over here. Those are my games.

And then when I was playing Nintendo games, Super Mario 3 was like always a go-to. Blades of Steel. Another one as well. Alex Nudson emailed this one and said, CVV! So many exclamation points there. It's your pal Alex from Oregon.

I hope you and your family are doing incredible. My beautiful, brilliant, and wonderful wife, CLZ and I are going to Smackdown next week and have floor seats right up against the entry ramp. I see what you did there with your beautiful, brilliant, and wonderful wife. Amazing. It's my first live event since the original incarnation of DX was active. I know. Crazy, right? Admittedly, I took a lengthy hiatus from wrestling during the PG era, but I'm grateful to have been pulled back in thanks to Roman Reigns during the pandemic.

Can you please, CVV, give us some advice. The tickets say 430 start time. What does that mean for us? What should we make sure to do, to not do? We've got a bunch of signs. One might be a CVV sign. Oh, is that right? Do they take signs that they don't like?

We would be grateful for any hints and advice you can impart on us. Thank you for being the absolute best, Alex. Well, Alex, I hope you have a blast. This is awesome. and floor seats right up against the entry ramp. Amazing. So your ticket stay, say, 4.30 start. What that means is there will be one or maybe two dark matches before this, before Smackdown

actually starts at 5 p.m. Sharp. So you don't necessarily need to get into your seats at 4.30. Like the dark matches won't start like right at 430. There may be like a video package or something that plays. but a match or two will likely play before the show or will be recorded before the show. But 5 p.m. on the dot, Smackdown is going to start. So I would say arrive early. Get a lay of the land.

Like go check out where your seats are. Grab some food. If you're looking to get some merch, sometimes those lines before the show are long. So if you're looking to get merch before the show, like especially if it's something you, a shirt you want to wear during the show, get there early so you can line up and make sure that you get what you want. And also make sure you can get the design or the size that you want because a lot of times they'll sell out. I think you'll be fine on signs as long as you stay away from profanity and you're not promoting like people who work for different companies.

I think you're going to be fine as long as you're like not blocking a camera or blocking a view, which it doesn't sound like if you have seats against the entry ramp, sounds like you'll be okay. When I went to the show in London, when I went to SmackDown there, I was in the section like on the hard cam side. I was sitting on the floor. I was on the hard cam side.

Security took everybody's signs that were in that section because the camera is like basically shooting right over your heads like directly into the ring. So that makes sense. Like it would just be an obstruction there. But I think where you're sitting, you're going to be totally fine. The biggest thing is just have fun. Like, be in the moment.

The entrances there are so fun, especially when you're like up close on the entry ramp like you're going to be. Try to get some high fives or like whatever you can if you're going to be right up close there. But just I think the biggest thing with any wrestling show is try to be as present as you can. I'm not saying don't take photos or don't take videos. Do all of that. like there is something so special about being at a live event.

And I'm not just talking about wrestling. Like there's something so special about being at a live concert or a live football game, baseball game, basketball, hockey, whatever it is. Like there's something so special about being in there with the energy of other people. And like those are the moments. Like I talk about all the time how like, oh man, I was so. to be at this thing when this happened or like live in this stadium or this arena when this happened. There's something really just special about that. So enjoy it. Enjoy your time there.

And who knows? We've seen some crazy stuff happen on SmackDown recently. So maybe at this one, maybe you'll see something crazy as well. Also be prepared for some very loud fireworks. They're so loud in person. Jason Lutz on Facebook says, I've started my own podcast focusing on indie wrestling, and I'm struggling getting that yes response. Got any tips for a beginner? First of all, Jason, congrats.

There are so many people that talk about starting a podcast, dream about it, and then never actually end up hitting record and doing it. So, congrats. You hit record, you hit publish. you are officially a podcaster. In terms of getting guests, I would say especially since you're talking about indie wrestlers,

go to your local indie show. Wherever that happens to be, I don't know where you live, but I'm sure there's an indie show somewhere close to where you live. Get there, arrive a little bit early, see if you can talk in person. Not an interview.

Just see if you can have a conversation in person at their merch table. Hey, my name's Jason. I have this podcast called, whatever the name of your podcast is. I would love to interview you after the show, or I'd love to interview you next week, whatever. Set up a time, set up a place,

and tell them why they should be on your show. Like, it's obvious what they're giving you an exchange. They're giving you their time. Their biggest non-renewable resource. They're giving you their time. What are you giving them an exchange? you're giving them the platform to tell their story, to however many podcast listeners you have,

however many YouTube subscribers you have, however many followers you have on social media, wherever the case may be, you have the ability to amplify their story. I don't think there's too many independent wrestlers that if you ask them that in person, they would say, oh, you know what? No thank you.

Because you know what every independent wrestler's favorite subject to talk about is? It's themselves. especially at that level where, like, you could just be one interview away from getting discovered, one interview away from a big booking that helps you get discovered. So I would say show up to indie shows, talk to them at their merch table before the show,

talk to them at their merch table during the intermission. Start with one. Start with one yes. And then build on it from there. Because then you'll be able to go to an indie show in the future, a month or two after that. And you'll say to another wrestler, Hey, I would love to have you on my podcast.

It's called whatever the name of the podcast is. I just had so-and-so on the show last month. And they'll go, oh my gosh. Well, if that person said yes, why would I not want to do it? I know that person. They are my friend. I had a match with them recently. That's what I would say to do.

Sending emails, sending DMs are great, but it only gets you so far. There's something about being in the room, especially when you're asking. asking for something like this, especially also when you're making it as easy as possible for them. If you're ready to go, if you have an indie wrestler in mind that you would love to interview and you go to a show and you pitch them on this idea, pretty good chance you're able to leave that show with an interview. Maybe it's not an hour-long interview, but maybe it's five or ten minutes that you did during the intermission. Maybe you did it after the show. But if you go there with a pitch and you say, hey, I've got all my gear here. Maybe we could record it whenever you have

some time at some point today. Pretty good chance you're either going to get a, yeah, sure, let's do it. Or a, ah, you know, really busy today, but like, will you be at the next show? Or do you live close by? Or could we do it over Zoom? But I would say, start with going to a show, asking in person. And also just remember that everybody starts with one episode. like everybody starts with their first episode everybody starts with zero followers on whatever platform that is some people grow it quicker than others but everybody starts at that same number which is well i guess zero or one zero followers one episode but everybody starts at that same starting point and like i know it's daunting when you look at other people who are hundreds of episodes in

but it's like just remember everybody starts at that same place. So best of luck to you, Jason. I hope that there's an indie show or maybe even a wrestling convention that's in your area. And hopefully we can see one of these interviews coming up soon.

And that's the final question for this. Ask CVV number one, 24-inch pythons, brother. And ask CVV number one, 24-7-4-4-4. 487-7-11 I-95 South European Television Champion Edition. Send in your questions for next week. Send in your ideas for Ask CVV number 125.

Ask CVV-125. Send them in on Chris VanVleet.com. Leave a comment on Spotify. Posted on social media with the hashtag AskCTVV or shoot me an email. CVV at Chris VanVlite.com. Can't wait to see you guys. Tonight at Insight Live in Chicago, can't wait to see you guys tomorrow at Elimination Chamber.

If you happen to see me in or around Chicago, say what's up? Let's chat a little wrestling. I'll leave you with this quote to send you off into the weekend. This is from Marcel Proust. Proust. The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Be great and be grateful.

Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock?

I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. heard of then to rock bottom dude i was born in nineteen eighty seven i can't believe he's doing this hammer alley follow and listen on your favorite platform