Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #144 - Who Turns Heel: Cody Or Punk?, SNME Predictions, Big Return At SummerSlam

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

See you at the next Insight LIVE! Get tickets at https://cvvtix.com Welcome to AskCVV #144! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet answers questions about the feud between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes and who could turn heel, whether there needs to be a stipulation in the SummerSlam match with Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns, predictions for Saturday Night's Main Event at Madison Square Garden, Mount Rushmore of the greatest wrestling moments that happened at MSG, what would happen if the Montreal Screwjob never existed and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: “Failure and success are on the same road, it’s just that failure is the earlier exit” - Alex Hormozi 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

Chris Welcome back to another one here on InSight. I'm CVV. Chris Van Fleet, thanks for spending a little bit of your Friday with me. And thank you for making

insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a code red on that follow button so you don't miss anything that we have on the way. Crazy to think the year is more than half over already. I mean, July as we sit here right now,

is more than half over. So we're six and a half months into this year. I actually just posted the top 10 episodes from the first six months of the year. And man, I got to say, looking at this list, it's mind-blowing. I can't believe this. If you missed it when I posted it on social media,

here's the top 10. Number 10, and this is by views and downloads combined together. Number 10, Drew McIntyre. Number nine, the Hardees. together on the show for the first time ever. Number eight, L.A. Knight. Yeah, you said it. Number seven, Cody Rhodes.

Number six, the Miz. Number five, Paul White. Number four, MJF. Number three, Paul Heyman. And the crazy thing about that is that episode came out like three weeks ago. So it's number three, closing in on number two. and it's only had less than a month to rack up all those views and all those downloads. Number two, perhaps the most fun episode I've ever done on the show.

Dan Soder and Will Sassau, what a blast. And to answer everybody who sends in a question every single week about this, I'm trying to get them back on again at some point. Like if we could make it a yearly thing, I would absolutely love that. We're trying. It would just be amazing to just sit there and hear them go off on these impressions. I mean, both of them know they're wrestling, too. And the number one, most watched, most downloaded episode of the year so far is Stone Cold Steve Austin.

And we've got some huge ones on the way. I'm actually in New York City right now. Tomorrow, I'm going to be a fanatics fest, and I'm actually going to be a fanatics fest. and I'm actually going to be a guest live on Stephanie McMahon's podcast. What's your story? That's on stage at 10.45 a.m. I can't believe that's a real sentence that I'm going to be a guest on Stephanie McMan's podcast. And then, Insight Live Saturday at 12.30, I am going one on one with The Undertaker.

Huge. So if you have tickets to Fanatics Fest, those shows are part of the admission. So I will see you there. And if you can't make it, those episodes will, of course, be uploaded to YouTube and right here on the podcast. But what a big day. And then after that, we're going to Saturday night's main event in Madison Square Garden. I can't wait. Welcome, my friend, to Ask CVV number 144.

Horseman Edition. Also, ask CVV number 140 figure 4 edition. And Ask CVV number 140 NWO for Life edition. Send in your questions for next week. Send in your ideas for Ask CDV number 145 and what it could be. Yes, the five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, WCW champion Booker T edition. But sending your questions, if you're listening on Spotify,

leave a comment on Spotify. Send it in on chrisfanfleet.com by clicking the contact form, or, of course, send it in on social media using that hashtag, AskCVV. If you were watching Backlash, you might have seen a face that you recognize sitting behind Michael Cole and Wade Barrett. Not only did I have those awesome seats, I also got an impromptu interview with the Ms and

Kit Wilson. Check it out on my Instagram. Shout out to Seat Geek for the great tickets and shout out to Seat Geek for sponsoring this episode. With over 35 million downloads, Seatgeek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on Seat Geek, including concerts, WWE, festivals, and more. Seat Geek has your back with all these tickets.

Every single one is rated on a scale of one to 10. so you know if you're getting a good deal. Look for the green dots. Green means good. Red means bad. Plus, every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course, I've got a code for you. Use the code CVV for 10% off your next set of tickets from Seek.

That's 10% off any tickets with a promo code CVV. Make sure to click the link in the description to download the app, and that code will automatically be applied to your account so you can use it later. Big shout out to Seatkeek for sponsoring this episode. Scrolling with Haley. I'm Haley Karania. I scroll with the homies here in the live chat because there's a lot to scroll through on X, on Instagram, on TikTok.

Cutting through the clutter, one hot take at a time. Love seeing you all in the chat before the show. I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction. Thank you for helping. But I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else. Scrolling with Haley. Just search that up and I will be there.

Follow and listen on your favorite platform. We'll kick it off with this one from Thomas Longo, who sent this in on Chris Vanfleet.com. Yo, CVV! Thank you for being the soundtrack to my overnight shifts with your podcast. I love that, Thomas. Thank you. Here's my question for Ask CVV number 144. CM Punk versus Cody Rhodes, who turns heel in this feud?

I'm with you. I think someone has to turn heel here. because if you look at the two main events that we have for SummerSlam right now, it's Babyface versus Babyface with Cody Rhodes and CM Punk. It's Babyface versus Babyface when you look at Seth Rollins and Roman Raines. And I feel like something happens with this Cody Rhodes and CM Punk match. I feel like someone has to be a heel here. I just don't think we're going to get Babyface versus Babyface

for this one. And I think that what happens at Saturday Night's main event with Cody and Punk paired together in this tag team match against Gunther and Sammy Zane, I think that will start to see the falling out here and see some true colors happening here. If I have to make a prediction, and of course we're going to look at the entire card for Saturday Night's main event, but I think that Cody Rose and CM Punk actually lose that match. I think there's some dissension between them, we realize that these guys hate each other more than they can get along, even though we saw those photos from a live event last week where Cody and CM Punk and Dan Hauser are all getting along together and they're having a blast. I think it all falls apart

as Saturday Night's main event. I think that the seeds start to be planted for a heel turn. And I think it's CM Punk as a heel. I just still, yes, it would be amazing to see Cody Rhodes as a heel. And I think we've seen little bits and pieces of it here and there, shades of it. But I really think when you break it all down, Cody Rhodes chasing after the championship as a baby face is just a better story for him.

And I think that CM Punk does his best work when he's a heel or he's straddling that line of like being a, heel that's so good you love to boo him. But I just don't think Cody Rhodes turns heel anytime soon because it just goes back to the John Cena factor. Yes, of course, John Cena probably should have turned heel back in 2012 when it was the original plan like he told me during the interview, Rock Cena won, he was supposed to turn heel.

But how do you turn a guy heel who's selling the most merch? How do you turn the guy heel who's arriving early, staying late, signing the 8 by 10s, posing for the photos with kids? And who's filling that role right now? It's Cody Rhodes. And I just don't see it happening yet. I'm not saying a Cody Rhodes heel turn is out of the question at some point in time. I just don't think it happens now.

And I just, I know we've got a few weeks here before SummerSlam. I think that something happens where we start to see a darker side of CM Punk. Or maybe we go into this match where it's Baby Face versus Baby Face. and something happens within that match. And I know that when we're looking at this match, Saturday Night's Mid Event, Cody Rhodes and Punk versus Gunther and Sammy Zane, I know there's a lot of people going,

well, how is Sammy Zane not part of the title picture anymore? Could it be where this tag team match ends up planting seeds for a four-way match at SummerSlam? And I don't think that happens here. And I want to point out that the precedent for getting a rematchews, rematch and rematch is not being guaranteed, that was set a long time ago.

So this whole idea of like, oh, how come Sammy Zane hasn't got his rematch yet? You want an example of this? You want an example of how rematches are not guaranteed? I'll give you one. I'll give you a perfect one. You ever heard of a guy by the name of Roman Raines? He lost the title to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. Still, to this day, never got a rematch.

Oh, that's a different story. He held the title for 1,316 days. Sure, sure. I think you can make a stronger case that he, because he held the title for 1,316 days, wouldn't that guy deserve a rematch? And I understand the situation with Sammy Zane. It was such a short thing.

I get that. But I'm just saying there are so many cases in modern-day WWE where if you lose the title and there's no guarantee you're going to get that rematch, there's no guarantee you're back. in that title picture. I think that Sammy Zane finds a way to get back into that title picture, but where does that leave him for SummerSlam? I would think he has to have a match at SummerSlam. How do you go from being the WWE champion just a few weeks ago to not being on SummerSlam?

So I think that that's definitely the case. Only six matches announced for SummerSlam right now. I would assume there's six-ish more, five, six more that are announced here. What we've got right now is Liv Morgan versus Yo-Sky. Obafemi versus Brock Lesnar, Helen Assel. We've got, we already talked about, a Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins. We've got Penta versus Chad Gable for the Intercontinental Championship, which is going to be the match of the weekend. I can't wait for that.

And I will say it in advance, pre-congratulations to Chad Gable on winning his first singles championship because how is he not going to win? How's he not going to win after the year that he's had, especially since this is in his hometown in Minneapolis? We've also got CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and then we've got the six-man tag team match that was just announced L.A. Knight, Solisicoa, and Royce Keys versus the bloodline being Jacob Fattu, Jimmy and Jay Uso. So like quite a few more matches are going to be added onto that card. And we've got two weeks. to do it, man, SummerSlam is two weeks tomorrow. Got a lot of things there.

Gonna have to come together from that time. Maybe it ends up being Sammy Zane and Gunther for some reason that plays out at Saturday Night's main event. But again, back to your original question here of who turns heel, CM Punk Cody Rhodes. Should point out, Cody Rhodes has not lost at SummerSlam since returning to WWE. I mean, you run down the list here.

He beat Brock Lesnar. Be Tolo Sacoa last year, beat John Cena, became the WWE champion. I personally don't think that streak continues this year. I think Cody does end up losing this match to see M Punk. And I think this truly will be the summer of punk. We've already seen everything leading up to this. All of the stuff's happening to make this the summer of punk 2026. I don't think Cody has that championship for a while.

Todd Johnson 332 on Instagram says CVV, who returns at SummerSlam this year? It's a great question. So we already know we've got Big Cass. He's returning to WWE, the RAW after SummerSlam. So that's August 3rd that vignette played on Raw earlier this week. We don't know if it's just Big Cass or if it's Big Cass and Enzo because the vignette only showed Cass or at least an out. line of Cass, and we all went, oh, we know that guy.

He's seven feet tall, and you can't teach that. But the last time, Big Cass and Enzo worked a match together in WWE. It was June 18, 2017. So we're going back nine years. Then you'll probably remember they split up. They wrestled each other a few times. They had a match at great balls of fire. So we know Big Cass is a big return, the Monday.

after SummerSlam, but who do we get at SummerSlam? Because SummerSlam is known for having some huge returns over the last five years. 2021, Brock Lesnar returned. 2022, we had the debut of, I guess, as a group, damage control. It's Bailey returning, Eoske making her way to the main roster in Dakota, Kai. 2023, Jimmy Uso returns. 2024,

Roman Reigns. Last year, 2025, Brock Lesnar. So there's so many big returns and I feel like we're poised for a big return here.

And I don't know where it falls into place here, but I feel like we need to see the return of Randy Orton. Randy Orton had this massive storyline leading into WrestleMania. And then we haven't heard from him or seen him or even seen really any significant mention of Randy Orton since WrestleMania. I think it's Randy Orton. It kind of has to be Randy Orton.

There's a few other possibilities here. Could be Bronson Reed. It's a possibility. I haven't seen him since he had the bicep injury. If you look at his Instagram, he looks like he's wrestling. he looks like he's ready to go. I just don't know where that would fall into place here. I've seen a lot of people talking about is it Zillifah 2.

There's been whispers online for a long time about Zillifah 2 making his WWE debut. Obviously he slides right into the bloodline. That one could make a lot of sense. But does that fall into the same category as all this? Of course, I can't wait to see Zillifah 2. and if you want to learn a little bit more about him, he was a guest of my show last year,

and what an amazing story he has. And also, like, he just thinks about the business in a very mature way. So go check out that interview with him. But I would put my money, Todd, I put my money here on Randy Orton, making his way back to WWE. And I think he could really insert himself,

into that title picture and none of us would bat an eye would go yeah of course that makes perfect sense you want to talk about rematches well i guess it's not a rematch it would be a rematch of it's cody versus randy orton but randy orton lost that match at russleman even though i feel like probably shouldn't have but i'm going to go randy orton if that had to be my guess dylan sam jones wrote this in on chris fanfleet dot com i'm wondering what your thought odds are on the upcoming Danhausen match at Saturday night's main event and who the surprise housing might be. So if we look at the odds for this match on my bookie, of course, when you sign up at my bookie, use my code, CVV. Not only does that let them know that we're the ones who sent you

there, but it also gets you a huge bonus, 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Danhausen is a gigantic favorite. So it's Danhausen versus Jady McDonough. They just out of the time. They just out of the stipulation that this is a no-d-Q match, which means really anything can happen here. And obviously there's going to be some funny business going on in this match. But because it's Danhausen, like, there's a lot of possibilities here. Could it be Baron Corbyn finding his way into this? Could it be, could the surprise be Minnheausen? Could it be Omas?

That'd be a fun one. Could it be Jalen Brunson? We already know he's going to be there. We already know that this moment is going to be like a coronation for Danhausen. Danhausen in New York City, inside Madison Square Garden, the Knicks or the NBA champions. The story just writes itself. It's perfect. And I love that they have made all of the marketing and all of the focus around this Saturday

night's main event around Danhausen. I mean, even the tagline for this when you look at the poster. join the uncursed. Well, who's the uncursed? Yeah, it's the New York Knicks. And I'm sure a ton of them will be in the audience. I will also be in the audience. It's been on my bucket list for years and years and years and years to go to Madison Square Garden and to see a WWE show there. I can't wait to do this. So if you're going to MSG, I would love to say what's up, chat a little wrestling with you. Be so cool to be inside the world's most famous arena with you. watching some wrestling. So I think that this is an easy prediction here for what happens in this

match. Danhausen as of right now is still undefeated in WWE. His record is currently 13 and 0. That for sure extends to 14 and 0 after Saturday. And I'm just interested to see how this one all plays out here. Oh, the second part of your question here, what is what is your Mount Rushmore of MSG matches and or moments. That's good. All right, we'll get to that in just a second. We're going to go through the card here for Saturday's main events. So I'm going Danhausen as like a lock, I think, to win that one for sure.

We've got the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Hage and Bree Bella putting it on the line against fatal influence. I feel like Hage and Bree Bella's run has been fun. But I think fatal influence is going to win this one. They're the favorites, too. Barely, they're a slight favorite, but I think they win this one. And we got Bailey versus Lara Valkyria. And that's interesting because it's Bailey as this newfound heel with this newfound momentum.

I think I'm going to go with Bailey on this one. And then we talked about CM Punk and Cody Rhodes versus Gunther and Sammy Zane. I still think the heels pull this out. I'm kind of weird to call Sammy Zane a heel, but I guess considering the situation, considering everything, this is kind of, it's, C.M. Punk and Cody Rhodes versus, like, the team of people who don't like Cody Rhodes. That's essentially what this is going to end up being. I think that what happens in this match starts to tell a broader story leading into SummerSlam. This kind of reminds me of like how so many episodes of Raw ended during the attitude era. where like you'd have these two people and we're going to have a match at the upcoming PLA and these two people who are also going to have an upcoming match at the PLE and then they would stick them in a tag team match like the two people over here against the other two people over here that they don't like. That's kind of what this one feels like. And I feel like that's going to

it's going to play out with some implications down the road here. All right. Mount Rushmore of iconic wrestling moments that happened inside Madison Square Garden. There's been so many, if you look it up, there's been so many great moments. So to narrow down to just four, it's going to be tough, but we've got to kick off the list with Hulk Hogan, defeating the Iron Sheik for the WWF Championship, 1984, the launch of Hulkomania, the beginning of Vince McMahon's national expansion of wrestling, and really started WWE on the path of like what it is now.

It started on the path towards WrestleMania and becoming a global company and all of that stuff. Yes, I think we go with the birth of Hulkomania inside Madison Square Garden. Number two, I think if we're talking about iconic moments that happened there

and like legendary moments, we've got to go WrestleMania one. Like the, not just one match, like the whole event here. I think the defining image when you think about it is Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeating Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf. But WrestleMania, WrestleMania won inside Madison Square Garden. Huge. And it also like, I think kind of kickstarted like MSG becoming the home of

WWE's biggest spectacle. The curtain call. Curtain call happened in MSG, and I know it's not like it was an unscripted moment, but certainly the most influential unscripted moment ever in WWE. It's the idea of, this is May 19th, 1996, May 19th, my birthday. Also don't tell Kane about that date. the idea that k-fabes being broken 30 years ago is a huge concept and then this led directly to triple h and being punished how could you punish everybody else if they're gone to wcw so triple h was supposed to win king of the ring if you don't know this that opened the door for stone

cold to win king of the ring austin three 16 is born that night not the the night of the curtain call, but the night that Stone Cold wins, King of the Ring. It's huge. One hug inside Madison Square Garden, changed wrestling history. And then the fourth moment, there's been a lot, and we'll go through some of these,

but I think, I just love the John Cena return at the 2008 Royal Rumble. Like, one of the biggest, legitimate surprise returns up to that point in WWE. Like nobody thought he was coming back. He was supposed to be out for like another six months on top of that. The fact that he was able to come out at number 30, the look on Triple H's face says it all.

John Cine ends up winning the Royal Rumble. I love that moment. It's my favorite Royal Rumble moment ever, and I love that it happened inside MSG. I think I'll give an honorable mention to Mick Foley winning his first WWF championship. In 1998, that happened on an episode of RAW that was taped at MSG.

What a great moment, like a fan favorite, winning this. And of course, Tony Chivani sarcastically gave away the results on Nitro, which famously made everyone change the channel to see, oh, Mick Foley's going to win the championship. We've got to see this thing. I think that'd be my honorable mention on that one.

But man, a ton of, like, huge moments have happened inside Madison Square Garden. Rob Sigler on Facebook says, which AEW original could make the move to WW one day, in your opinion? Well, Rob, we've seen a ton of AEW originals go from AEW to WW. And to be clear, when I say, AEW original. I mean someone who's been there since the very beginning. So Cody Rhodes, AEDW original. Sean Spears, AAW original, debuted on Double or Nothing, the very first AEDAW show, Penta, Ray Phoenix, all AEDAW originals who have gone from AE to WWE. So you're saying, who's next? Who's the next possibility here? I think MJF would be the most interesting.

I don't know how many more years he has left on his contract. I know there was real interest to bring MJF to WWE. And if you go back to the interview I did with MJF, the fourth most watched slash downloaded interviews of the year. If you go back and listen to that from a few months ago, he talks about how there was interest there and he gave all the reasons why he wanted to stay with AEW. I think that one would be really interesting.

I think a really likely one, is Sammy Guevara. He wrestled in the very first singles match ever in AEW history. It was him versus Kip Sabian at Double or Nothing 2019. I think Sammy Guevara, if we're looking at the list of AEW originals, I think he probably feels like the most likely at some point. He's good friends with Cody Rhodes, had some epic matches with Cody Rhodes in AEW. That one seems possible. I know you're thinking, what about John Moxley? Well, he would definitely fall into that category of being an AEW original. He was the massive surprise of the first ever AED show, that double or nothing show that we just talked about. I just don't know if that one

happens. I feel like he's, John Moxley has found his footing in AEW. It seems like the perfect home for him with just the type of character that he has. And I know that, like, I've seen the memes online. I've seen the Photoshopped photos of the Shield getting back together or John Moxler getting involved in this SummerSlam match. And I think that every time that we see any sort of conversation talking about Roman Raines and Seth Rollins, inevitably, the third member of the Shield or the other member of the Shield ends up getting brought up.

I get that. I just don't think that John Moxley would go back to WW. What for? Like he's won the AEW World Championship more than anybody else. I think that if you're talking about an AEW Mount Rushmore and we have before, he's got to be on it. I don't see him leaving. But it's a fascinating question, Rob.

And I think that Sammy Guevara would probably be the one that I would talk to here or talk about here. Jim Rome takes on sports. I will always have a complicated relationship with this game. But people evolve. So do sports. Do not make me regret this. Do not make me devolve. Back to that guy that so many clones wish that I still was.

And do not embarrass the entire country. Now, I can go back. I can get there fast. Lose tonight. And you got a real problem. Do not blow it. The Jim Rome Show podcast. You've been warned.

Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Patrick Ruth 536 on Instagram. Would you give Roman versus Seth a stipulation? A non-finish seems weak. I'm with you. I think a non-finish would be weak too. I think we absolutely get a finish in this match. But I don't think this match needs a stipulation at all.

There's already so much of a story here that I don't think a stipulation really changes anything. I don't think it makes you more interested, because the interest is already there. And I feel like you add a stipulation when it's like, oh, this needs a little more on top. Or like, oh, man, these guys have, they've done so much with each other. Let's add another element to it. Let's make it to, let's put it inside hell and a cell so there's like some finality to it. I don't think this needs that at all, especially with the way that both of these guys are working in their career right now.

this is going to be one hell of a match. And I think that if we have to make a prediction right now, two weeks ahead of SummerSlam, I think Roman Raines retains the championship. It's not to say that Seth isn't deserving of it, but I just think that Roman continuing to hold that championship for maybe it's something with Obafemi, maybe if slash when Obafemi wins the Hell and a Cell match

with Brock Lesnar. And we get Roman versus Oba for, something down the line here. But I don't think it needs a stipulation at all. But it's interesting to note that with all of the history that these guys have together, and a lot of that history is together,

for sure, as members of the Shield. But after the Shield breakup and that chair shot heard around the world, they really haven't had that many one-on-one matches. The last one-on-one match between Seth Rollins and Roman Rains. Royal Rumble, 2022, so four and a half years ago, Seth Rollins defeated Roman Rains by DQ.

Then when's the next one-on-one match between them before that? Friday Night's Smackdown, October 11th, 2019. Seth Rollins defeats Roman Reins by DQ. Seeing a trend here. When's the next one-on-one match that they had before then? Monday Night Raw in May of 2017. Roman Reins defeats Seth Rollins. So like there's so much history here.

But we're looking back over the last 10 years, they've had three one-on-one matches. Of course, there's been other matches where it's triple threats or tag team matches or things like that, of course, the amazing triple threat match at WrestleMania 41, Seth Rollins defeating Punk and Roman Raines. What a match, but not one-on-one. So I don't think you need that stipulation to make this interesting. This match is already interesting. And aside from Chad Gavell and Penta, which I think is going to steal, I was going to

steal the show, but it's going to steal everything on match. It's going to be amazing. Roman versus Seth is going to be so, so good. Gilo Chalunco on Facebook. I'm so sorry if I said that wrong. Do you memorize your questions to the interviewee, or is there a cue card that you're reading? Additionally, was there also a time before that you forgot a question to ask? I don't memorize the questions, but I have, like, I have notes written down,

and sometimes you'll see them off to the side, or you'll see them like on the floor next to me. But I'm not like, I'm not reading off of a cue card or I'm not even like most of these questions I haven't like word for word written out like the entire sentence or the entire paragraph. It's more like a big moment or a general thought that I've written down like a few words and then throughout the course of the conversation it just happens to come up. Is there ever a time that you forgot a question to ask?

almost every interview where there's times where I'm like, oh man, I forgot to ask about that. I can't believe it. And then I like kick myself for the entire ride home

or flight home. Oh man, I'll tell you one recently when I had the great calle on and I had it written in my notes too. I can't believe I didn't ask him about the snake charmer segment with Santino Morella and Jinder Mahal.

Like Jinder and Santino and, Great Colley all came together to make this one of the funniest moments ever in WWE. It's one of those things that becomes a meme. And maybe you've seen it on your social media feed where it's like, if wrestling is fake, then explain this. It's like, ah, it's true. Santino tells a great story.

The last time that he was on the show, he told a great story about that. I can't believe I didn't get Great Colley's take on that. also would have made for just a great clip. Collie's a lot funnier than I think you would ever imagine. And that was such an enjoyable chat with him. So yes, definitely have forgotten questions. And no, don't memorize the questions. I just feel like we do a ton of research. So I'm watching a lot of matches. I'm watching a lot of clips. But also like Alex Hunt, who transcribes these interviews and puts them up on the website, he's like, super knowledgeable when it comes to all things wrestling. He does a deep dive into these careers and he helps out with the research and comes up with some fascinating moments and questions. So

shout out to Alex for being like, hey, did you think about this? Like, there's this moment here that I don't think this person's ever been asked about. It'd be great if you could like find out what actually happened in this moment. It's like, cool. Let's see if we can figure that out. Clifford emailed this one and hey, CVV. How you do? doing. Oh, there's more. I'm doing great, though. My question for Ask CVV 144 is what is your Mount Rushmore of Christopher Nolan Films? Odyssey does come out this weekend. I can't wait to see that thing. Hopefully can see it at some point soon. Nolan is my favorite director. I love all of his movies. He's done 14 of them, including Odyssey. So to narrow it down to four,

I actually think I can do this pretty easily, although I love all of his films. Interstellar is such a special movie to me. Interstellar is on there for sure. I mentioned this when Finn Baller was on the show a few weeks ago. But that scene where Matthew McConaughey's character, Cooper, comes back to the ship after being on the water planet. He's watching the video of his kids growing up. I won't ruin too much if you haven't seen the movie.

Although if you haven't seen the movie, watch the movie this weekend. Man, it's so good. But it's what an emotional scene that is. Watching his kids grow up before his very eyes, oh, it gets me every time. I love Inception. And I love the idea of the concept of inception,

that just a thought can be planted into someone's head. And then it grows and turns into what it is. And some of the sequences there, like the spinning hallway. Oh, so many good things. Inception. Dark Night. And I think Dark Night completely reinvented

the idea of what a comic book film could be like. I still think it has the greatest opening sequence in modern cinema. That bank heist with the Joker. Oh, man. Fantastic. I don't know if we'll ever get a comic book movie as good as the Dark Night.

and then I'm going to go with the prestige. Brilliant performances by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. If you haven't seen it, I won't say too much here, but what a twist. Oh, man. That's one that even when the twist happens, you go, wait a second, huh? No, what? So good. But maybe after I see Odyssey.

Maybe Odyssey's on there. I also love Tenant. I love them all. So many great films. I remember seeing Memento in my film studies class in college. And I think Memento that time was just a few years old and being like, what is this thing? Half the movie goes forward. Half the movie is told backwards.

And that's something that I am fascinated by with all Christopher Nolan films is his obsession with time. and the way that he plays with time in every single one of his films. Think Inception and Interstellar are like prime examples of that, but he also does it in Memento. He does it in Dunkirk. Certainly does it in Ten and Us. And it's like omnipresent. It's omnipresent.

Memos Mascuro on Spotify says, what does WWE look like? if John Cena got fired in 2002, and who could possibly fill the spot as the top guy? So there is actually some merit to this question. It's not just the idea of like John Cena randomly getting fired. When John Cena was on the show two years ago, I asked him,

what happens if you don't get the Doctor of Thickonomics character? Like what happens if Stephanie McMahon doesn't hear you freestyling on the back of the bus and then is fascinated by that and it turns into this being your character. Because up to that point, John Cena was like this guy wearing like the hometown colors. Like they're trying to make him this white meat baby face, but it's just not really getting over. John Cena will even tell you that. He was given this golden opportunity where he pushes current angle in this match. Undertaker gives him the stamp of approval, shakes his hand backstage.

And then John Cena said, like, he basically should have taken that and ran with it. And he didn't for whatever reason. So he's freestyling on the back of a bus. Stephanie McMahon goes, that's amazing. How did you memorize all that? And he goes, I didn't memorize it. And I'm just freestyling. And she's like, do you think you could do that on TV?

Boom. Turns into the doctor of Thuganomics character, turns into his incredible platinum album. And it basically saves John Cena's career. Because I said to John Cena, what happens if you don't get that gimmick? And he goes, oh, I would have been fired. I think the next round of releases was like six weeks after that. Or maybe I'm off on the time two months after that. He says he would have been released.

He would have gone back and lived with his parents or something like that and would have figured life out from there. Wouldn't have got John Cena. Because if not for the doctor of thuganomics, it doesn't evolve into what ends up. up becoming Suprasena. So where does it go from there? Maybe Batista becomes an even bigger star. Maybe Batista fills that part. If you look at the OVW roster that time, you've got Matt Morgan on there. You've got Rob Conway. We've, of course, got Batista and Orton. You've got Lesner.

maybe maybe things changed with Lesnar. Maybe Lesnar has less on his schedule, because I feel like his schedule being as busy as it was was one of the reasons he decided to leave to try the NFL from there, goes to the UFC. Maybe that doesn't end up happening. If it's like, hey, yeah,

take the same amount of money, but work half the dates or whatever the case may be, but then that's not exactly what John Cena was doing. The reason John Sina became who John Sina was was because John Sina said yes to everything and worked through it all. I was doing all the dates.

It's a great what if. I get a lot of big what ifs in wrestling. But this is one of those where it's like, if John Sina doesn't become the version of John Sina that we all know and love, where does it go from there? There's so many big stars at that time. the roster especially in 2002 is full i mean it's everybody who is ever anybody in wrestling is there

ECW just ended wcW just ended WWE has everybody so there's really the possibility of like if it's not john cina that's able to step up who else is it it's a lot of potential people there for sure but it's really hard to imagine anyone filling that role that Sina filled. Maybe it could be filled by two or three different people. But it's not, it's funny because it's not O2 Sina. That's the thing here. That's like the catalyst for this.

It's more like as Sina doesn't get fired in O2, he goes on in, let's say, 06, 07, 08, 09. That's when we start to see the Sina because of those seeds that were planted four and five and six years earlier. But maybe it's not just one person. Maybe it's a few people that start to step up. Because that early to mid-2000s, there were a lot of people that were like,

let's give this person a title run, see what happens. Let's put this person in that main event picture and see if they can hang. Crazy to think that JBL, for as legendary as he was as that JBL character, for as amazing as his career was, as much as you hated him in the Eddie Guerrero feud.

He only held the championship once. It was an incredibly memorable 280-day run. Lots of title defenses in there. Some great title defenses against people like Booker T, Undertaker, big shows in there, lots of great ones. ends up losing it to John Sina 05.

It's so funny that we're just talking about that. WrestleMania 21. It's John Sina's like shining moment. John Sina's like stamp of approval, this is the guy. But it's funny that like up to that point early to mid 2000s, like let's give a title to this person or title opportunity to this person. And maybe that's what was happening with Sina and Sina took it and absolutely ran with it. Michael Schenck on Facebook says, hey yo, CVV, or maybe it's, hey, yo, CVV.

In an alternate universe, Montreal doesn't happen. Bradhart doesn't leave, and Vince honors that super long contract that he had with the hitman. What happens from there? Michael, this might be the biggest what if in pro wrestling history when you start to think of the huge implications the butterfly effect that the montreal screw job had what if on the flip side montreal doesn't happen like you said so to kind of catch you up here vince had this 20 year contract with bretthart in 1996 vince offered a 20 year contract that would guarantee that brett would guarantee that brett would have a job beyond just wrestling. So the 20 years would cover however long he wanted to go as an in-ring performer and then an office job after that. But if you think back to 1996, this is when

WCW is winning the Monday Night War. Vince ends up telling Brett, he doesn't have the money. He can't fulfill this contract and Brett should go entertain offers from Bischoff and Turner, Ted Turner. WCW gives him this insane deal and Brett Hart doesn't want to leave WWF but ends up leaving anyway. Montreal screw job. You know the rest.

The rest is history. But if we start to think about, well, what if that didn't happen? There's so many things that end up falling into place or not falling into place as a result of that. So here's how I think it plays out.

So if the screw job doesn't happen in 97, Brett remains the face of the company. So Brett obviously never leaves for WCW. I think that Sean Michaels probably still takes his time off, his retirement, his first retirement. Steve Austin still becomes the hottest act in wrestling. I don't think any of that stuff changes here. But I think the biggest difference ends up being that Brett is still there as Stone Cold's greatest rival. So a lot of these feuds, a lot of these great matches that we got in like 98, 99, it ends up being Brett that's in that picture.

I also think that as a result of that, the Rock ends up developing differently. Like Rock was going to be the Rock no matter what. But if Brett stays, think of the matches we get. We get Rock versus Brett Hart in like 90s. somewhere there. We get Rock versus Owen Hart. We get Heart Foundation versus Nation of Domination. And I think that Rock would have benefited huge from working with Brett Hart. Here's the biggest one. Owen Hart's probably still with us. Because Owen's fatal accident happened because Creative didn't have anything for him in 1999. So he's placed in this blue blazer

gimmick. If Brett's still around and Brett's still in WWF at the time, Owen, you would have to think is almost certainly still aligned with Brett in some sort of way here. I also think that Owen ends up being much higher on the card. So there doesn't need to be the Blue Blazer comeback. Obviously, we don't know this for certain, but I think it's a really big possible ripple effect here. another big one is Vince McMahon's Mr. McMahon character isn't the same at all. Like the Montreal screw job gave Vince this massive heel character because people legitimately hated him. And it kind of happened by accident, right? Like the black eye, Brett Hart's spinning on him.

Like there's real life hatred here towards Vince and the Mr. McMahon character made that very believable. I still think that Mr. McMahon character happens. I still think we get Austin McMahon as a storyline. But he's just kind of like another heel boss. Like it's not, yeah, he's a heel and the attitude air is still happening, but like maybe not to the same level. Because Mr. McMahon, the character isn't as hateable. Well, what's the big thing you're going to hate him for?

You're going to hate him for some stuff in storylines. Fine. But the reason that character worked, because. is because there was like a layer deeper than that. I also think there's other things like WCW changes dramatically. Because that was a huge signing. When you think about that, it was like, it was so big. And then of course, if Brett Hart doesn't go to WCW,

we don't get the matches with Goldberg. And then Bradhart's career ends up going on quite a bit longer. So this is where I think things are really interesting because if Brett Hart's still in WWF into 98, into 99, into 2000, and maybe a few years beyond, we've got all these great matches, right? Like, think about this. We'd get Brett versus Kurt Engel. We'd get Brett versus Chris Jericho. We'd get Brett versus Eddie Guerrero. We'd get Brett versus Triple H. And the list goes on and on and on. So I think

there's a lot. And that's why I said I think it's the biggest what if in wrestling. I think that some of the bigger, broader things still happen. Like, yeah, I think that WWF still wins the Monday I war. I think there's just so much momentum there.

Like, you've got Austin and Rock, and you've got Mick Foley and Undertaker and Kane and DX, and then later on, Chris Jericho, and Kurt Angle, like there's just so much depth there. I don't think that Montreal is the main reason that WWF beat WCW.

But I do think that if the Montreal screw job doesn't happen, the margin of victory is a lot smaller because the Mr. McMahon character isn't born in the same way. That's a huge one to think about. And like, I think the idea of like, what if when we talk about situations or we talk about wrestlers themselves. It's really,

really fascinating to think about. Obviously, things played out the way they did, but really, like, it's interesting to think about. Hunter on Spotify said, Hey, CVV, do you remember a little movie called Love Finds You in Sugar Creek? My brother and I actually saw you and the others filming that movie before we knew who you were. We still talk about it to this day. I was wondering how the opportunity came about. And if there's anything else in the works that could give us CVV on the big screen. So yes, I was in this movie called Love Finds You in Sugar Creek. We filmed it in 2013 in Sugar Creek, Ohio. I played Reporter Number One. I had like three scenes in this movie. I think like two or three lines.

It's a it's a fine film, but we had an absolute blast making this thing. Had some pretty big names in it too. Tom Everett Scott, Kelly McGillis, Sarah Lancaster.

So I shared a few scenes with, I guess it was like, yeah, it was like two scenes with Tom Everett Scott. I remember when the cameras weren't rolling. He was like chit-chatting with me.

Like, super nice guy. just, yeah, it was such a fun experience. The way it came about, I was working in Cleveland. I was an entertainment reporter for 19 action news, W.OIO, the CBS affiliate. And I had a, I had an agency, like a talent agency in town that was like seeing if there were any opportunities that I could do in addition to being on the news. And the tough thing is when you're working for a TV station, they basically can control what you can or can't do. And a lot of the work that you'd be getting in Cleveland would be like, the local plumbing commercial,

the local window commercial, like that type of stuff. And you can't have the guy from the local TV station being like, hey, you know, Joe's windows are the best windows in town, because then you're like, you're the local person that's promoting that.

It's like a conflict of interest. but this opportunity came up for this audition to be a reporter in this film. I auditioned for it. I got it. And it ended up being just a fun couple of days. I do remember they called me like the day before and they were like, do you have a station news vehicle that you could bring? Because there's a scene where like all the like the news media have found out that this guy has.

It's quite a convoluting. story here, but basically this guy is like trying to hide out in an Amish town. And he ends up like working as like a local handyman, but then like the local policewoman becomes a little suspicious. And then the news media finds out, hey, wait, this guy's been hiding out here. So there's a scene where all the news vehicles roll up and realize, oh yeah, he's, he's been got. We found him out. They were like, do you have a news vehicle you could bring? So I asked my boss. He's like, well, we can't like have you drive one of the live trucks there, like the satellite trucks.

We need that for like work. But you could drive the storm chaser. We had a like a Ford SUV that had like all the branding on the side that said it was the 19 action news storm chaser. I'm like, oh, I guess that'll work. And I brought it to set and they were like, oh, why is it say storm chaser? I'm like, I don't know. Anyway, it's in the movie. So it doesn't look like it's a news vehicle so much as it looks like it's a weather,

vehicle. Also around that time, I filmed a few other movies when I was living in Cleveland. I filmed a movie called The Bronze, and I filmed the movie called Criminal Activities with John Travolta. And I played a reporter or news anchor in all of these. And it was just such a fun thing to be like working as a news reporter. And then also had the opportunity to do three of these films in like the span of, I don't know, like a year, year and a half. So, and I remember, you said that you remember us like filming that. I remember like driving out to that area and filming those scenes. Like I said, I was there for like two days.

I wish I had more behind the scenes photos, but you're not really allowed to do that when you're on a set. To answer your other question here, do I have any, anything else in the works that could give us CVV on the big screen? I don't think so. I thought I did, I did submit. to play an entertainment reporter in an upcoming film. I don't think I got that role. So that one's definitely not in the works at all. But I had a role in a short film that just came out.

My buddy Brandon Arroyo wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this short film, this short film called The Worst Man, or I think it's just called Worst Man. I'm in this with James Storm. and the idea is you have your best man on the day you get married. Well, our main character here, my buddy Brandon's character, is getting divorced. So the guy who is his best man on his wedding day is now there on his worst day. As he's getting divorced, it's his worst man. I think it's streaming soon. I think it's actually available on YouTube if you want to go check it out.

Worst man. James Storm and CVV in a film. That was a fun one as well. And then I think if you want to go really deep into the archives, I've been an extra, a background actor on quite a few things. You can see me in The Love Guru, wearing a green shirt in a bunch of scenes. You can see me in Chloe, a movie with Liam Neeson and Amanda Seifred. I'm in a few scenes there.

I'm actually in the trailer for that one. I'm in the trailer for The Love Guru as well. Those are the main ones. Oh, I'm in a movie called Cherry with Tom Holland. You can see me for a quarter of a second in that movie. That was probably the most recent one that I was in. But it's just fun. There's a real energy being on a movie set.

It's a lot of hurry up and wait. It's a lot of sitting around and waiting to get called to set. And then you get on the set and you like take your mark. And then you wait some more. And then you finally shoot a take or two or three. and then they reset the cameras and you wait some more. And then you do another few takes or you go back to the holding area, which is just like sitting around with everybody else.

And sometimes there's five or 10 or 20 extras in a scene and you're all just like in this one holding area. And sometimes like on the love guru, there was, man, I think there was like two or 300 extras in that movie. But it's just always been such a fun thing. And it's cool that here we are. are 12 years later and people are still pointing out, hey, I remember seeing you in that movie. So if there's, if you've seen any of these movies recently or if you're, you watch them at any

point in time over the next few weeks, take a shot, take a screenshot, take a photo and tag me. It's just always fun to see that stuff. Andrea Yusuelli on Facebook. Again, I'm so sorry if I said this wrong. I have a terrible to pronounce last name. I get it. Chris Van Vlié gets it. Chris Van Vliyat gets it. Chris Van Vyelet, as I was called by my vice principal in high school. Chris Van Violet gets it. If you had the chance to change the result of a single WrestleMania match in the history of WrestleMania, which one would you pick? And why? I just always come back to Booker T. versus Triple H.

And it's just like, why did Triple H win this? There was so much momentum behind Booker T. We're talking about WrestleMania 19, World Heavyweight Championship. I just think that that's a match that we can all agree that Booker T should have won that one. Actually, I have an interview coming up with Booker T in a few weeks. He's been on the show a bunch of times. I love chatting with Booker T.

He's just a wealth of knowledge. And I can't say, enough good things about Booker T as a person and also Booker T as a worker. And stop if you've heard this before. But I will say it again. He has the ability to work as a baby face, as a heel. As an individual wrestler, as a tag team wrestler, he can do it all in the mic, whether he's a commentator or he's a GM slash authority figure.

He can be a serious wrestler. He can be a comedy wrestler. He knocks it all out of the park. I love it. I think that I would have definitely had Booker T win this match. And I'm just so curious, like what the full story is behind that. Was there ever talk of having Booker T winning that match? Did it change at the last minute?

Because when you look at that one, it just, it doesn't add up. So that will forever be my answer to that question. Booker T should have won that match against Triple H at WrestleMania 19. That, my friends, is the final question. on this. Ask CVV number 144 Horseman Edition. Ask CVV number 144 figure 4 edition and ask CVV number 140 NWO for life edition. Send in those questions for next week. Leave a comment

on Spotify if you're listening with your question for AskCTV number 145. send them in on chris fanfleet.com or of course, leave them on social media with that hashtag Ask CVV. Huge day tomorrow at Fanatics Fest. I'm going to be a guest on Stephanie McMahon's show. What's your story? That's on stage at 1045. Then we've got Insight Live at 1230, one-on-one with The Undertaker. If you're going to be a fanatics fest, say what's up. Actually, if you're going to be a Fanatics Fest and you've listened to this episode, come up to me and say the word Apple. Just come up and be like, CVV, Apple. I don't know exactly what you're talking about.

We're in the big Apple, so it'll make sense to someone who's just walking by. Actually, they'll be like, Apple. What the heck is that mean? But if you're going to be a Fanatics Fest, let's come up, say Apple. I think I'll be hanging out a little bit at Fanatics Fest today as well. So if you're at Fanatics Fest on Friday, today, I'll see you there. and I will definitely see you tomorrow for a huge day. And then I'll see you at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night,

Saturday night's main event. We'll see if I'm four for four on these predictions. Let's see if we can keep this winning streak going. The perfect streak ended a few PLEs ago, a few events ago, but I feel good about this one, four for four. Let's hear your predictions as well. If you're listening on Spotify, leave your predictions in the comments or let me know if I'm way off on one of these predictions.

I'll leave you with this quote from Alex Hermose. Man, I love this one. Failure and success are on the same road. It's just that failure is the earlier exit. Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight.

Scrolling with Haley. I'm Haley Kareni. I scroll with the homies here. in the live chat because there's a lot to scroll through on X, on Instagram, on TikTok. Cutting through the clutter, one hot take at a time. Love seeing you all in the chat before the show. I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction.

Thank you for helping. But I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else. Scrolling with Haley. Just search that up and I will be there. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.