Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #149 - Oba Femi vs. Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed Return?, Best MITB Winners, Early Survivor Series Predictions

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

Welcome to AskCVV #149! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet answers questions about the feud between Oba Femi and Bron Breakker and who will ultimately win their match at SNME, will Paul Heyman align himself with Oba Femi, when Bronson Reed might return from his bicep injury and who his first match will be with, Mount Rushmore of Money In The Bank winners, why The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan is CVV's favorite match, how interviews typically get set up for Insight, early Survivor Series predictions, a possible new interview with Danhausen and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson 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 Yes, welcome back to another one here on Inside. I'm CVV. Chris Van Vleet, hope the week is treating you well. Thank you for keeping me company on this Friday. And thank you for making Insight

the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. If you would be so kind, lay your phone down right now and hit a shooting star leg drop on that follow button on Spotify or Apple or wherever it is that you'd like to listen to these. We sit down with a wrestler in person for an interview every Tuesday and Thursday. And as you know, we hang out like this every single Friday for Ask CVV. And I love hanging out with you every Friday.

So thank you for being along with me on this ride. I feel like my face still hurts from laughing at that APA reunion episode with JBL and Simon's yesterday. Like, the story about the godfather, the clothesline from hell to Shane McMahon. Amazing. Like, so, so good. Those guys are legends. If you haven't listened to it already, let me just warn you that you'll be laughing a

lot. So just make sure that you're in a place where people won't be looking at you funny. Like, why is that guy with the headphones? Like, why is he laughing to himself? Such a good episode. I hope that if you have listened to it, I hope that you enjoyed it as much. as I did being there sitting with those guys, just hearing all those amazing stories. I am in Toronto right now. I've actually been here all week because tonight it's finally here.

It's finally happening. Stratis faction is 100% guaranteed because we have Insight Live with the one and only W.W.E. Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. And I love that we get to do this in our shared hometown with you. There's a very limited amount of tickets still available. So if you're in or around Toronto, join us tonight and grab a photo and an autograph with Trish. Get those tickets at CVVTix.com. And while you're there, you can also grab tickets for Insight Live in New Orleans, which is happening on Friday, October 9th, the day before Money in the Bank, CVVT-I-X.com. Did you guys know last week on SmackDown, they made history. But we talk a lot on Ask CBB about how it feels like we've entered this new time over the last 12 to 18-ish months. And it's a new time where it feels like

titles can change hands on shows other than PLEs because there was a very long stretch of time where he was, it was a PLE or nothing. Like Raw Smackdown, I just felt like they were just setting up to whatever the PLE was. Now I think we've seen every single title over the last year and a half or so, from the WWE title to the IC title, to the U.S., to the tag belts. They've all changed hands on Rawr Smackdown.

And last Friday, for the first time in 22 years, for the first time since 2004, multiple WWE championships changed hands on the same episode of Smackdown. We saw the MFTs win the tag titles, and we saw J.C. Jane win the women's United States championship. And now that I've said that,

I feel like we've got to get J.C. Jane on the show. Like fatal attraction. It's just crushing it. And they've been crushing it since coming to the main roster, which was like four months ago, the Smackdown after WrestleMania. And now all three members have championships. But I thought that was a nice little tidbit to point out.

And this subtle reminder, I think, of like, just when you think that maybe things aren't too exciting right now on insert name of show here. You get a week like this where it's like, oh my gosh, two title changes and like all of a sudden, the landscape's looking a little bit different here. The U.S. soccer podcast.

I'm your host, Megan Klingerberg, and after interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup, I'm so happy to be back with my U.S. women's national team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think. think about myself, how I think about being an American, how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup, and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer. You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henkel. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Welcome, my friend, to ask CVV number one,

49, the NWO Chevrolet, driven by Kyle Petty edition. That is a deep cut there. And ask CVV number 1.40 October 9th, the date of my live show in New Orleans edition. We're trying to give you some new ones here. I can't do 149th Wonder of the World every 10 episodes. I can't do 1.45 time, five time, five time, five time, WCW champion every 10 episodes, although I'd like to. I really like saying that one.

And I love hanging out with Booker T and I can't wait for you guys to hear that episode in like a week or so. But send in your new ideas. Ask CVV-150 is next week. We've been doing this for three years every single Friday hanging out like this. It's just started as an idea that we were doing it. three years ago of like I was getting a bunch of people asking questions about the podcast as a whole wrestling questions from the past and present and also future. We talk a lot about what could possibly happen in the future. And I thought, let's just hang out. Let's just put this together

and make it an hour every week. And here we are three years later. And we're still doing it because of you. So I appreciate you. Send in your ideas for next week, Ask CVV-150. And send in your questions as well if you're listening on Spotify, leave a comment on there. You can send them in on social media with the hashtag Ask CVV. Or, of course, go to Chris Vanfleet.com and send them in on there. We'll kick this off with an email from chrisfanfleet.com. Jeff S says, hey, CVV, thanks for continuing to do great interviews and great AskCVVE episodes.

The latest Monday NetRaw segment with Paul Heyman has set up Braun Breaker versus Obafemi for the future of WWE on Sunday night's main event in Atlanta. Do you see a real finish in this match? Could we see Heyman appear with a returning Bronson Reed forcing a DQ finish? I just can't see how either of these guys

Obafemi or Bronbreaker can afford a loss to the other. Thank you for your insight. Jeff S in Indianapolis, Indiana. Well, Jeff, I think there's a mutual respect here with Paul Hayman and Obafemi. that I'm raw with a handshake. But I don't think that Obafemi needs a manager or an advocate or a wise man or whatever

Paul Hamer would want to be called here because he specifically does not enjoy the word manager. He wants to be anything but a manager. So I don't think it's Obafemi siding with Paul Heyman, which has been, I think, something that's been rumored online. This match is being built, like you said, is the future of WWE. Oba did that absolutely hilarious, perfect impression

of Bronbreaker on Raw. Who's the future of, who's the future of WWE, Paul? So good. I love how he changed his accent immediately, then went right back to it. Here's the interesting thing, though, when we talk about this match,

and this is probably, at least as of right now, the most talked about match for Sunday night's main event. Here's the thing, this match, it's big. Like, both literally, and physically with the size of these guys,

it's probably not the main event when you've got Randy Orton versus Cody Rhodes in Cody's hometown of Atlanta. And then look, before you say it, I know, I know, Atlanta is also Ron Breaker's hometown, but I think when you've got Randy Orton versus Cody Rhodes on Sunday night's main event in Atlanta, that's going to be the main event.

But when we look at this match, here's how I see it. I think Oba has significantly more momentum right now. Like he's coming out of this thing with Brock Leznor. He's essentially been positioned as the guy who's inheriting Brock's mantle. Like, the way that we're looking at this and the way it's being

presented is Oba's the next monster at the top of of WWA. Braun's kind of in this like holding pattern. He's coming out of this thing with Seth Rollins. Like, he's still protected and important. But I think it's the vision here. I think it says tie to the vision that's cooled off a little bit of his momentum. He's also, you got to remember this, he's also currently a tag team champion.

And he's not in that singles threat idea right now. But I think, like I said, this is in Atlanta. Like, that's a bit of a thing that's making me, like, think about this a little bit. Like, I know the WWE loves to give a hometown baby face a big moment here. So Braun getting a win in Atlanta would make sense from that point of view. But Ob is the guy that WWE seems to be betting on right now. And I think that even when you look at the early odds, my bookie.orgie.orgia use the code CVV when you sign up there.

Even the early odds are favoring Oba Femi. So I don't think we're going to see a funky finish here either. I don't think we're going to see shenanigans. I could be wrong. And like I think there's a lot of different ways that this could. go. But I don't think we're going to see a screwy finish. I don't think we're going to see Hayman interfering here. I don't think so. I think we're going to get 15-ish, 20-ish minutes of just absolute destruction with Braun throwing everything that he has at Oba, and then

Oba ultimately surviving the spear, and then Oba getting the win. And I think what this does here is I think we get two things. Oba gets elevation. into another stratosphere. Look, oh my gosh, he took out Brock Lezzer. Now he took out Bronbreaker. Where's it going to go from here? And I'm still going to stand by this. I don't think Oba Femi gets beaten for a while.

Like, I think Oba continues to pick up wins throughout the rest of 2026. He's my very, very, very early pick to win the Royal Rumble. I think he rides that momentum into WrestleMania. I think he wins a championship. This is super early booking, by the way. But I could see him winning a championship at WrestleMania 43

and then continuing to hold that championship until then finally getting beat, which could be like a year from now. Could be a year plus from now. But I don't think that Braun losing here, I don't think it buries him. I mean, he gets beaten by an absolute monster, the guy who retired Brock Lezzer.

He loses to him in a marquee match. And then, honestly, I think that's the right call because the more interesting question here is in who wins. Because I think it's Obafem. I think the question is, what happens to Braun after this match? Because both of these guys, Obafemi, Bronbreaker, both of them are future world champions. It's just a matter of time. Oba winning this match and then Braun eventually breaking away from Vision, I feel like that's the strongest long-term story that's going to get them there.

That's going to get both of them there to winning a world championship. But I think before we start thinking about that with Bronbreaker, he's got to lose a championship. He's got to be a singles guy. And I think there's got to be a way for him in the next few months to break away from the vision and start to do his own thing.

Claudio underscore Andes on Instagram says, Hey, CVV, it's Ask CVV number one, San Francisco 49ers edition. I love that. First of all, my friend, I hope that you are reviewing the kiddos are doing well. We are. We're doing great. Thank you so much for asking. Have you seen the latest picks of Bronson Reed?

Dude is totally jacked, and you've put totally jacked in all caps. Last time we got such a transformation, it was with Gunther, I think, and we know where the Austrian went from there. It's true. He's been crushing it. Which brings me to my question this week. How would you bring back Bronson Reed? Greetings from a real, real one all the way over in Austria. Thank you so much for your question. Heck of a transformation for Bronzen Breaker. Bronson Reed. Geez, get my bronze mixed up here. Heck of a transformation. He's been out for a while now, too. It's been out for six months, sidelined with a torn bicep since the February 23rd, 2026 edition of Raw.

If you remember, I'm sure you do, he was a member of the vision at that time. I don't think he comes back into the vision. I don't think he comes back into this new version of the vision. I think he's done with that, even though, like, he was a tag team champion before he got injured. I don't think they need to close that loop. Like, I truly think that after six months, the vision taking on a new, form here and adding Maxine Dupree into the mix as a heel,

I think DeBronsonry can go do whatever he wants here. I think he's going to return as a heel. And I'm interested to see where this goes. He just posted something yesterday, or he was walking in to WWE headquarters in Stanford. So is he having a meeting there? Is he doing an interview there? is he taking promo photos there?

We don't know. A man, he looks great. I don't know how much he's leaned out, but he looks like he's in the best shape of his career. I think that what we're going to get here is a battle of the bronze. I think that we're going to get Bronson Reed versus Bronner.

They've wrestled plenty of matches together as tag team. Like I said, they were tag team champions. But I think it's just a matter of time before we see them together. and with the shape that Bronson Reed looks to be in, and who knows, we're just judging this off of photos. And there have been some photos of him in the ring as well. Looks like he might be ready to go. Is that Saturday night or Sunday night's main event?

Is that Money in the Bank? I think Bronson Reed and Money in the Bank could be very, very interesting. But I think that if my previous prediction here is correct, Obafemi winning, Bronbreaker moving on to something else, I think we could see Bronson Reed versus Bronnbreaker as the first feud between a returning Bronson Reed

very soon. Like, when you talk about people who are future world champions, I think that Obafemi, yep, I think Bronzen-Reed could be in that conversation, too. If he's booked correctly,

dude's a monster. If he's booked correctly, it's absolutely believable. Bradley Drager on Spotify says, CBV, Roman Raines is on the poster for Survivor Series here in Houston, but who do you think will be on his Survivor Series team?

He's on the poster, it's three months away, and I just hope that more stuff happens between now and that. I don't want us thinking already in August about like, oh, where is this going to line up? How are we already preparing for Survivor Series?

Because we've got some stuff between now and then. Right? We've got Sunday night's main event. I know there's only going to be a few matches on that, but that's one piece of this. We've got money in the bank, which is a big piece of it, for sure. I would assume we also have crown jewel before then as well.

The date hasn't been announced for that, but I would think maybe early November for that one, before the Survivor Series on the Survivor Series. I was going to say before the Survivor Series, PLE happening on Saturday, November 28th. So there's a lot of stuff that's happening between now and then. And you've heard me say this before,

but I just, I want the Survivor Series match to mean something. Like, war games shouldn't just be war games because it's like, oh, well, look at the calendar, everybody. It's time for Survivor Series. It's like, make it mean something. Like, don't just give us five baby faces and five heels just because it's that time of year again. So make this match mean something. Yeah, I think that Roman Raines is going to be in there.

I think we're going to see Roman Raines, Jacob Fatu, the Uso's, and maybe Sammy Zane, maybe Obafemi, against L.A. Knight, yeah, Solo, Sokoa, Royce Keys. maybe Seth Rollins, Bronbreaker, like three months out, feels like most of those 10 people will be in that match, but we'll see.

And to answer the question you haven't asked, but I will answer it anyway, yes, I will be in Houston for Survivor Series. Yes, we're going to try to do Insight Live that Friday night. It's a little tricky

because Thursday is Thanksgiving. Friday's Black Friday. So with the holidays going on, the travel for the wrestlers is obviously a little bit different. Travel for anybody that's coming into Houston might be a little different as well. But yes, planning on that,

we'll see. So cross your fingers with me and we'll see how that all plays out. Adrian P sent this in on Chris Vanfleet.com. Hey, CVV, usually I have millions of questions. to ask you, but I've recently become a real, real one. And I caught in an older Asked CVV episode that you waited six hours to get a glimpse of Kurt Angle, Christian, and Trish Stratus.

The story went that you were given wristbands to a VIP area and able to get pictures with these legends. And you've been able to show Kurt and Christian those photos since you interviewed them. My question is, are you going to remember to show Trish this photo? It would be perfect to have reactions from all three wrestlers that you met before all of this. Have a great weekend, Chris. Prayers to you and the family. Thanks for your question, Adrian. February 1st, 2001.

It was the XFL kickoff party at Pladium here in Toronto. You're right. I've shown that photo to Kurt Angle. I have shown that photo to Christian. Here's the thing. I got Trisha's autograph. I did not get a photo with Trish. I got a photo of Trish.

I went with two of my best friends at the time, Mark Taseghi and Kyle Rutledge. I got a photo with Kurt Angle. I got a photo with Christian. I got a photo of them with Trish Stratus, but I never took a photo. I think it was too nervous to ask for one. And like the line was kind of moving along kind of quickly.

So I just took the photo of them and like we went on our way. And I wish I had that photo. Maybe I'll show her the photo of my friends and tell her the story about how I was too nervous to take a photo with her then. Maybe she'll be kind enough to take a photo with me at the live show tonight.

But the way the story goes is there was this XFL kickoff party happening in downtown Toronto. Like I said, it's February 1st. February in Toronto, not that warm. We lined up for six hours outside. And we didn't know what we were getting into here. We assumed, because they were advertising,

that Kurt Angle, Christian, and Tristratus were going to be there. We assumed we were going to meet them. So we line up in this long line, take the go train down in Toronto, line up in this long, cold line, finally get in, and we're all like standing by this barricade and like they've kind of made like an aisle and the aisle leads to these escalators we're not really thinking much of it we're all standing around we're inside now and one by one they start coming in so i don't remember the order but christian comes in goes past us past everybody because there was a massive crowd and up the escalator poses

and we don't see him anymore. Kurt Angle comes in. He's the WWF champion of the time. Poses, waves to everyone, goes up the escalator. Trish Stratis, same thing. Walks by everyone, goes on this escalator, and then disappears. Not like they're going to get on a mic and chat with everybody. Nothing like that.

Like they literally just like, went on this escalator and like disappeared. And we're like, that's it? and now we're at the point where like we've taken some kind of like blurry photos. I still have them. We've taken like blurry photos of them like walking by and them like on the escalator like 200 feet away. We got to the point where I remember I was taking photos of security guards that I thought kind of look like wrestlers. Because that was like the only access that I had at that point. And we're like, is that it?

Is that all we're going to get out of this? We went all the way into Toronto on the train, which is like, 40 minutes on the train. Then we walked all the way from Union Station. This is like an hour door to door. And now we've waited six hours outside in the February, Canadian cold winter. And that's it? So we're just kind of like standing around at this point. And then these two girls about our age, and we're 17 years old this time, these two girls come over and go, hey, we got wristbands for this thing. Like, are you guys wrestling fans? We're like, are we wrestling fans? we are the biggest wrestling fans here.

And they said, oh, well, do you guys want these wristbands to, like, go to the area where those, I don't know, where those wrestlers are? And we're like, do we? They're like, yeah, we'll just come with us then. Like, we had never met these girls before. I don't remember their names. I wish I knew them because they were so kind. And they didn't care about wrestling.

They didn't care about this event. I think their dad worked for, like, they, maybe one of the TV networks or something like that, and they just happen to have the VIP wristbands to get in this area. So they get us into this area, and all of a sudden, we're in, like, the VIP spot. We're mingling with Michael Lansberg from off the record was there.

I have a photo of Michael Lansberg. We were mingling with Carl DeMarco, who was the president of WWF Canada at the time. We were mingling with all these, like, local Toronto television personalities, and then in the corner, there's a short little line, but who's signing autographs

and taking photos? There's our legends. Christian, Kurt Angle, and Tristratus. Like, can we get an autograph? Sure, you can. Go get in line. And they had this, like,

8 by 10 printed out in black and white with all three of them on it, and they were, they signed it all. So I've got this autograph, and I got the photos, but I do not have a photo with Tristratus. but it's one of those days that I'll never forget. I will never forget that day.

And those were the first wrestlers that I ever met. I think it was later that year, pizza pizza is this pizza chain across Canada, but like mostly in Ontario. There was the pizza pizza pizza in Pickering, my hometown. The Dudley boys came there later that year and the Hardys came there later that year.

So I waited up, waited in line. to meet them. I remember it was just an autograph session. It was not a meet and greet. It was just an autograph signing. Like, you basically walked up to the little table they were at. They signed it. And then, like, gave you the 8 by 10 and then that was it. There was no, like, chance to get a photo with them. So I have photos of the Hardee's. I have photos of the Dudleys. I don't have photos with the Dudleys from that time. But it's a time I'll never forget. It's like so crazy to me that here we are 25 and a half years later.

And now it's a live show tonight with the legend herself, with Tristratus, and in the same city too, completely full circle. So yeah, I will, I'll show her the photo of her and tell her the silly story. The U.S. Soccer Podcast. I'm your host Megan Klingerberg. And after interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup, I'm so. happy to be back with my U.S. Women's National Team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think about myself, how I think about being an American,

how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup, and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer. You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Killian Hardiman on Instagram says, Hi, CVV. I'm a fan of what you do. my question is will you have a match against Richard Holliday at reality of wrestling? No. No, probably not.

And why would I have a match with him? I already hit him with a picture perfect rock bottom in the middle of the ring. And this was a 1998 style rock bottom with a bounce back right up to my feet. Why would I have a match with him? because he called me out on Instagram because he called me out on X? I bet he'd like that. I bet he'd like the attention

of a match with Chris Sharp. Am a Richard Holiday? It's not going to happen. I know you keep talking about Chris Sharp's not exempt from my signature move. I think I've exempted myself and you embarrassed yourself. So it's a nice thought.

Thank you for all of the questions you keep sending in about Richard Holliday, but no thank you. I don't have anything else to prove. What else would I prove here? I've already hit him with the rock bottom. So no thank you, but I appreciate the questions. Keep them coming in it. Vicki XOXO underscore on Instagram says,

will there be another updated interview with Danhausen? I hope so. I certainly hope so, and I hope it's soon. You know, I've interviewed the man behind Danhausen now twice, like Danhausen out of character. I would love an in-character interview with Danhausen, especially coming off of what we had yesterday with JBL and Ron Simmons and all the laughs and giggles that came from that one. I would love to just laugh and giggle with Dan Housen. I don't know, I don't know if we could do an hour. maybe we could do like 55 minutes. But yes, I would love an updated interview with Danhausen.

Obviously, a ton has happened since the last time he was on the show. Last time he was on the show was, what, a little over a year ago? So, like, WWE wasn't even part of the conversation at that point in time. So there'd be a lot to catch up on. So, yes, let's put that out into the world. We were, there was a small possibility of us doing some something at Fanatics Fest in New York City last month, but the timing of the schedules didn't work out. Like, he had a crazy schedule there. I mean, he's in New York City. The guy's like practically

the king of New York. He won the Knicks, the NBA championship. He was a little busy in New York. So we'll have to find another time to do it, but I would love to. We'd love to. Colton dot Putman on Instagram says, what is your Mount Rushmore of Mount. Money in the Bank winners. Hmm. That is an interesting one. And that's interesting because with money in the bank, it's not just about being a Money in the Bank winner.

For me, at least, it's about the story of carrying the briefcase. And then it's a story of how does that cash in go? So if we're talking Mount Rushmore of Money in the Bank, you've got to start off with Edge. I mean, he's the first face of Money in the Bank. he's holding the Money in the Bank briefcase that quite literally just looked like a briefcase. He won in 2005, cashed in on Sina in 2006.

He kind of like was the one that showed us what the concept of money in the bank could be. And it wasn't like just when's the briefcase cashes in. He became the ultimate opportunist. And like introduced us to this idea that you could stock an injured champion and then you could cash in when they're most vulnerable.

And it made people go, oh, you can do it like that? Like, we're so used to it now 20 years later. But at that point in time, like, I don't know how you thought it would be, but when they were saying you can cash this in for a world championship opportunity at any point in time, I kind of had the preconceived notion of like, all right, so you would like maybe WrestleMania would start or SummerSlam would start. you would go, all right, everybody, I am cashing in my money in the bank briefcase right now. Get out here, John Sina.

That's how I thought it was going to go. And then when we saw like, oh, John Sina's down, he's out. And Edge's music's hitting? Oh, man. So, yeah, Edge didn't just win money in the bank. He defined Money in the Bank. Seth Rollins. And this one isn't even close.

And I don't care which. money in the bank cash in you go with here. Seth Rollins, holding the money in the bank briefcase is just dangerous. You've got that cash in the heights of the century, WrestleMania 31, turning the main event of WrestleMania into a triple threat match and walking out like it wasn't even in the match and he walks out of WrestleMania as a WWE champion. Unbelievable.

And then you got the ruse of the century last year at SummerSlam. Yeah. He turned money in the bank from a championship opportunity into one of the greatest moments in WrestleMania history. I absolutely love that. So we got to put Seth Rollins on there. Dolph Ziegler, when his music hits and Alberto Del Rio is down and out after defending his championship and Ziegler's music hits, I'm here to show the world the crowd

to erupts. And Ziegler had been holding the briefcase for like almost a year at this point. And there were definitely periods of time during Dolf Ziegler having that money in the bank briefcase that people had kind of forgotten about it because he was just carrying around like it was a prop. And you got so used to just seeing him holding that blue briefcase and just walking around with it, like kind of in a small way, like forgetting what it represented because he'd had it for so, so long.

And I remember distinctly watching that. I had flown back from WrestleMania 29. I was at my desk working at Channel 19, 19 action news in Cleveland. And I remember the camera was just staying on Delft or on Alberto Del Rio just a little longer than usual. And I remember turning the volume up and being like, oh, it's happening. It's about to happen. It's about to happen. And then, boom, his music hits. And then I loved it in the match. They teased the fact that Dolf could lose. He was, he hits the zigzag. One, two, oh, he kicked out. Oh, my gosh, what do you mean? And then he finally, like, gets the win. The leg, the bad leg. What a cation. And, like, one of the greatest pops. I think if you're doing a Mount Rush more of Money the Men Cachians, too, you got to put Z. Ligler on there. And then the fourth face here, the fourth name, I'm going to go see M. Punk.

He was the Money in the Bank winner in 08 and 09, the only two-time consecutive money in the bank winner, which is insane. But I think the bigger reason here is that the cash in against Edge is one of the most important moments during his rise. And then the following year, he cashes in on Jeff Hardy. and I think that punk already had a lot of momentum. But when you think about CM Punk in 2008, there's a lot of buzz around him, there's a lot of momentum around him, but he's not the CM Punk of today.

He's still building to that. And that money in the bank win, and then the cash in went from him being a cult favorite to a legitimate main event guy, in WWE, at least. And then the 2008 cash-in, helps create the infamous CM Punk Jeff Hardy feud. So I just think that CM Punk made it feel important.

And then him winning for the second time was like, oh, well, like anything can happen here. So that's my four. But I'm a big fan of Money of the Bank. I love ladder matches. I'm a huge fan of like the TLC matches. That's right in like the era when I was like really getting into being a hardcore fan. but I'd love them in ladder matches,

even though we're decades into these ladder matches now, they're still finding ways to innovate. They're still finding ways to do new things that had never been done before. And money in the bank capitalizes on that. And I think that the extra cherry on top here of what money in the bank means, although there's been some times

over the last bunch of years where I feel like they've lost the plot a little bit, like why on earth would anyone cash in for anything other than the World Championship or the WWE Championship? Like, why are you cashing in for the United States Championship? And how are you not even winning? You're cashing for the United States Championship and you're not even going to win it? That's a dumb cash in.

But I digress. I feel like when money in the bank is done right and we just gave a ton of examples of it being done right, that's when I think money in the bank is that it's, absolute best and I'm excited to see what they do with it. And man, it's like a month and a half away, October 10th, New Orleans. I'll see you there. Matt Kazan emailed this one in, said, you regularly mention people that you'd love to have on the show. Recently, you mentioned Michael Cole and Tony Chavani. It's true. I'd love to have both of them on the show. Can we get a bit of insight into how you generally reach out and land these guests? What does the process look

like. I see what you did there with insight. I'd say, Matt, that the process is different for every single interview. Like, it's a little bit different. So maybe I'll look at some recent examples here. So we just had JBL and Ron Simmons on the show, which correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that might be the first long form APA reunion interview on a podcast, I think ever. That one was set up. So I did that one in Minneapolis, did that around RussellCon. They had an appearance at RussellCon. And I reached out to the person who had booked them for RussellCon. And I said, hey, actually, I was trying to get them individually. And they said, hey, what about doing them together as the APA? And I'm like, oh, hell yeah. How could we say no to that? So that one happened

through their, the booking agent, through whoever booked them for RussellCon. Nikki Cross, that was I just sent her a message and I said, hey, I'm going to be in Orlando. We're doing some other interviews there. I know you live there. Would you be interested in coming on the show? She said, absolutely. Same story with Joe Gacy. We actually did that interview the same day.

I did Joe Gacy first and then as we were leaving with Joe Gacy, Nikki pulled up and it was like, oh, hey, look at you guys. This is great. It's like a little reunion right here. So that was also, I just, I think, no, Joe Gacy'd put a tweet out. Joe Gacy'd put a tweet out and said he was looking, he was ready to do an interview or ready to start doing interviews. And a bunch of people tagged me.

So thank you for tagging me and connecting us. I responded to that and I said, hey, if you're interested, I'd be honored to have you on the show. He shot me a DM on X from there. And then that was how that one got set up. Undertaker was kind of a last minute thing. Man, what a great chat that was. That was live at Fanatics Fest in New York City.

I had known for like six months that I was going to have a live show at Fanatics Fest. I knew like the day, I even knew the time for a while, but I didn't have a guest until like, so that was on a Saturday. That was the Saturday of Fanatics Fest. That was a Saturday, July 18. I didn't have the guess confirmed until like Tuesday, July 14th. So for months, for six months before that, I knew we were doing a live show, Fanatics Fest, but I didn't know.

It's Fanatics Fest that set that up. They said, here's all of the WWE superstars that are going to be in town that day. Here's what the schedules look like. And like it kept getting narrowed down further and further and further. Like, here's, here's all the WWE superstars that are appearing at Fanatics Fest. So that's a big list, and the list was wild. Then it's like, here's who's appearing on Saturday. The list was like, pared down quite a bit.

Then it was like, here's who's available at 12.30 p.m. Eastern time. And the list was like significantly smaller from there. And then a few days before they were like, how does the undertaker sound? And I'm like, are you kidding me? Sounds incredible. The Nick Aldous interview, that one happened to come together because I had just moved to Nashville. Nick Aldous and Mickey James live in Nashville. And WWE reached out and said, hey, have you moved to Nashville yet? And I said, yes. They said, would you be interested in doing

an interview with Nick Aldous ahead of his SummerSlam match? And I said, of course, 1,000 percent. So that's how that one came together. Different for like all of these. The Amazing Red interview, I had been chatting with him and with House of Glory for a while about setting up an interview with Amazing Red. And I didn't realize he had moved to Orlando. So that same trip when I interviewed Nikki Cross and Joe Gasey and also Matt Cardona, who's been on the show a number of times, I was like, oh my gosh, we can also do Amazing Red while we're in Orlando. So I'd say that they all work a little bit differently. some of them are absolute complete shot in the dark. Some of them are just like a blind DM that often goes unresponded.

Like, I have been trying for years to get Nathan Jones on the show. Years. There are DM sitting in his inbox on X. There are DM sitting in his inbox on Instagram. I've been working with, I've been working, I have said this before, I've been working with this company that I've been trying to get like, I'll call them the unattainable guests. Like the guests that just aren't the wrestling adjacent,

they're not directly in the wrestling world, like how am I going to get an interview with WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dog? How am I going to get an interview with WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T, who has a documentary coming out next month on Netflix. flicks while I've been working with this booking agent to try to get some of those to happen. I've also been working with that booking agent to try to get an interview with Matthew McConaughey, who's a massive wrestling fan.

We've seen him in the front row at Raw a few times. Remember he was exchanging words with Kevin Owens? So that's another path. Like, I can't send a, I could send a DM to Shaq or to Snoop Dogg or to Matthew McConaughey, it will likely not get answered. So that's often how it goes. Then there's also been times where, like, I'm at a wrestling convention and I'm like, oh my gosh, across the room for me, there's, I'm trying to think of a great example of how we like made one of these work. But I'll just, for for the sake of this example, there's so and so. I've always wanted to do an interview with

so and so. I'm going to go over and introduce myself. And then I'll like, when the lines have died down and things have gotten a little quiet, I'll go over and introduce myself to them and say, I would love to have you on the show. What's the best way to make this happen? And then we figure it out from there. Is it emailing them? Is it working through a manager or agent?

Is it just sending them a message? Figuring that out. But it's always every single one is a completely different story. And I feel like a lot of them are not easy. A lot of them are like, yeah, I would love to do that. And then like, you just never find a time or schedules don't line up or you set a time and then like things end up happening on both sides of it. But I kind of love that aspect of it.

I love the the chase of it. I actually was just, so I'm going to have an interview coming up soon with Scotty Too Hottie. Scott extremely attractive. Scott excessively warm. We could play that game all day. He had been a guest on my show years ago, like five years ago during COVID. I interviewed him over Zoom, maybe six years ago. And he's, oh, man, he's awesome.

I've run into him a few times backstage at independent shows. His son Keegan is wrestling now, and his son Keegan's just, what a nice young man, talented young man. So it's been cool watching Keegan's rise. And it's been great getting to know Scott T2 Hottie. but we call him Scott. So I shot him a message. I said, man, it's been too long. I would love to have you back on the show, but this time in person. And he's like, yes, man, let's absolutely do this. So that's one where that was just like a previous relationship that I already have, shot him a message.

Boom, it happened. But most of the time, it does not go that way. Like, I don't know how, like, some of these big interviews that are on the list, the ones that, you know, I would love to get at some point, this year, next year, some point in the future? I don't know. I don't know. That's going to happen. Maybe it's with your help. If one of you is listening right now

happens to be related to Nathan Jones, could you just let them know that I'd love to get him on the show? Be really cool and be an excuse for me to go to Australia again. So, yeah. Fundy Namo on Instagram. says, I know you're a big Back to the Future fan. It's true. Would you rather have the Nike Mags from Back to the Future too?

Or the Pink Hoverboard. Man, I'm going to go the Pink Hoverboard. And I don't even think it's particularly close. Like, I think that the Nike mags are arguably the more impressive collectible. But, like, Nike turned them into a real product. There was like very limited quantities. They even had a 2016 version that was self-lacing. And by the way, the version in the movie,

that's just movie magic. I'm sure you already knew that. But they're not actually self-lacing Nikes. He sits like, Marty's doing like doing them up on a board that looks like the asphalt of the road. And there's actually someone underneath that board that just pulls the laces tight.

There's like some cool behind the scenes video of that. But if I could only have one thing, from Back to the Future Part 2? Yeah, give me the hoverboard. Because the pink Mattel hoverboard is like the image of Back to the Future 2 for me. It's not just a prop. It's the moment when Marty steps into 2015, 30 years in the future,

and he goes, oh my gosh, skateboards can fly? So if I could get the actual hoverboard from back to the future too. And like imagine you have that on display. Like, sure, you could wear the Nike mags. It's pretty cool. But if you actually had the hoverboard and that was like on your wall,

people would walk in and be like, imagine you had that in a man cave or in an office. People would walk in and go, oh my God, is that Marty's hoverboard from back to the future too? Yes. Yes, it is. in fact i might put marty's self-drawing jacket

over the nikey air mags isn't that crazy the self-drying jacket is just whew and i think that if there was an ultimate back to the future prop it'd be like it'd be the delorean i can't remember how many they used in filming but i'd want one of those i think there was like six or eight or something like that that would be the ultimate prop for me. A car that, even if it didn't work, a car that would just sit there, like the ultimate

conversation piece. Do you remember last year when I did an interview with Fluffy, Gabriel Iglesias, and I did it in his like garage, like his, it's like a, I guess it's like his warehouse space slash garage slash office and it's just lined with Volkswagen bugs. Like he's a big VW bug. collector. So he has, I think it's like 35. They're all like perfectly restored. They look beautiful. And they line the room. And then at the very front of the room, he has one Delorean. Not a time machine Delorean, just like, just a straight up 1981 Delorean. And he says, that's the car that everybody asks about. Like out of all the other cars, and it's not just Volkswagen Bugs, he has some other pretty interesting cars there. But he says, out of all of them, the one that people, the people

talk about the most, the one that people ask about the most, is a DeLorean. So could you imagine if on top of that, not only did you have a DeLorean, you had the DeLorean? Yeah, that'd be cool. But I'll go with the hoverboard. If I, between your question here, one or the two, one, one or the other, I'll go hoverboard. The U.S. Soccer Podcast. I'm your host Megan Klingerberg. And after interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup, I'm so happy to be back with my U.S. Women's National Team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think about myself, how I think about being an American, how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup, and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer.

You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Email from Ian Kromer. Hey, see the real, real one here from the suburbs of Chicago. I was hoping to be a real, real, real one when you had your live show here, but scheduling got in the way. Hopefully, if you have another live event here, I will be there. My question to you

has always made me scratch my head. It's that you're such a huge fan of workhorse matches and skill matches. For example, your love of AJ Styles and matches like Ray Mysterio versus Kurt Angle and Al Grande Americano versus OG Algrante Americano. With your love for that style of match, How is it that your favorite match of all time is Rock versus Hogan? I get that the energy was infectious and crazy, so I get it being your favorite experience, but how does that trump a good workhorse match and story for you? Thanks for all that you are. I appreciate all your shows, and I don't miss a single one.

My son just turned four, and his name is Logan, so I love your naming choices for your daughter. I love that your son's name is Logan. That's amazing. It's a great question, Ian, and it's a question that I feel, like I've been asked a few different times in person, but I love that you've asked it here on the show. So Rock Hogan will forever be my favorite match. And I think for me,

it's just a lot of nostalgic purposes. Because I was there, it's because I experienced that. It was my first ever WrestleMania. It was here in Toronto, in my hometown. There's so many other elements that go into it. Like my parents didn't want me to buy tickets to this.

I bought them anyway. They said, well, we're not going to drive you there because my parents were not and are not wrestling fans, although they are coming to Tonight Show. Like, my parents are supportive of what I do now in my career, but I invited them to come to SmackDown with me after, and they said, no, thank you, we'll pass.

And I said, really, you don't want to come to your first ever wrestling show? What if we get, like, good seats? No, thank you. We'll pass. We'll take the train home to Pickering. I said, all right. So I think there's all of these elements that go into it. And then I think it's just the magic of what that match

was. It's icon versus icon. It's at that time the current generation versus the previous generation. It's the passing of the torch moment. And it's the goosebumps at the start of that. It's the flash bulbs going off. It's Rock Hogan not touching each other for the first minute or two and just staring. And the crowd is just absolutely electric. It's my favorite because the crowd tells the whole story there. Like the crowd is so into it. And it's not even the main event, which is obviously part of another discussion,

but a huge mistake. Like that for sure should have been a main event match. And then think about this. This actually might be a good question for Trish tonight. It's Rock Hogan as the third last match. Then it's Trish Stratis versus Lita versus Jazz and a triple threat match for the women's championship. Then it's Triple H versus.

versus Chris Jericho with Stephanie McMahon, main event for the undisputed title. So, like, the fact that it's, like, they blew all those other matches out of the water. And, like, the crowd was just, like, so deflated after that because they gave everything to that match. But I think it's just what that match meant. And if I wasn't there,

if it wasn't at this, like, super pivotal time in my life, I probably wouldn't have it up there as my favorite match. But it's just wrestling is more. than just what happens in the ring. You know that. Wrestling is more than just bell to bell. What was the match like? It's about what's the story going into it? What's the crowd reaction? Are there any interesting twists that happened here? Is there a false finish? And I think for me, this match just had everything. It had two massive stars. It had atmosphere. It had this like larger than life feeling.

It had everybody in that arena on their feet the whole time. It had us cheering for Hulk Hogan for the first time in six years. It had the beginnings of a Hul Kogan baby face turn because of the reaction to God in Toronto. There's just so many elements of it that for me, it just, it's important. It feels important. If we're going just straight up work rate, I'm probably going to give you unbreakable. 2005.

And you're probably so sick of me talking about that match. But AJ Seiles versus Christopher Daniels versus Samojo, I think if we're just talking about like a work rate match, I think that's the one. Yeah. And now if you're going to go, all right, give me a one-on-one match that's not Rock versus Hogan, hmm.

I actually don't think I'm going to give you like a work rate, a quote unquote work rate match for that either. I think I'd go WrestleMania 25 Sean Michaels versus Undertaker. And again, because it's not, it's not just about the match. It's about what does the match represent? What does the match mean?

What's the story going into it? And like that match is so close to perfect. 26 might even be better. I don't know. I flip-flop on this, whether I like 26 or 25 better. The fact that 26 is Sean Michael Michael's last ever singles match and like the match that HBK claims is his last match.

He's not counting the DX versus Brothers of Destruction match. I think that might be it. The scale of that being at WrestleMania, I love the photos from 25 with the crowd is all blue. Like you instantly recognize any of the photos from WrestleMania 25. They're just beautiful. So I think that's it. But Rock Hogan will always have a super. special place in my heart. I've talked to Rock about it briefly, but man, I got my fingers crossed.

When we were talking about like setting up interviews and how do they happen, I have been looking at the release schedule for the Rock's movies for a while, but I'm looking at, oh, Jumonti 3 comes out in December, huh? Rock might be doing some interviews around that. So if that happens, we will be talking about Rock Hogan. Like, I've got the poster on my wall and that poster means, you even more to me now. That was a Christmas present from my late sister. She gave that to me Christmas 2002. She knew how much me going to WrestleMania meant. And she bought that poster from www.com, got it shipped from the U.S. to Canada. Probably paid more in shipping for that poster than she paid for the actual poster. And like, now that my sister's not with us anymore, you know, we lost her in October

2024. Now seeing that poster on the wall, just that reminds me of her. So not only does it remind me of my favorite match, it reminds me of her as well. And I think that's a, that's the thing about wrestling is that it can take us to a time and a place and like, it's this escape and a match that you absolutely love. I might just think it's okay. And a match that for you is the greatest thing ever, I might go, yeah, okay. for me, it wasn't even the best match of the night. And that's what I love. I love that it's so subjective.

I love that you can't be right or wrong. I think you can be right when you go like, oh, you know, the Feen versus Seth Rallens, hell and a cell with the red lights on bad booking. Two great competitors in there, but bad booking. I think we can, I think we can look at that and agree. But I love that there's no right or wrong answer.

Like that that's the, cool thing about art and wrestling is such a beautiful, beautiful art form that we love. Joe Cochran on Facebook says, if Chris Van Fleet yeated beats that were neat, how many neat beats would Chris Van Fleet yeat? I'm going to go seven. That's how many neat beats, Chris Van Fleet would you That's so good. That's our final question on this. Ask CVV number one

San Francisco 49ers edition. I liked that that was thrown in in one of the questions there. And ask CVV number one 49, the NWO Chevrolet driven by Kyle Petty edition. Isn't it crazy that there was an NWO car? So cool.

Send in your questions for next week. Ask CVV number 150. That number feels huge to me. Like I know it's not a round number like 100 or 200, but man, 150 feels huge. Probably because like 156 will officially be three years. Although I guess at first we weren't doing these every single week. It was like once or twice a month. But man, 150 feels huge.

Send in your questions for this monument. Ask CVV number 150 next week by leaving a comment on Spotify. Send them in on social media with that hashtag AskCVV or go to ChrisFanvly.com and send them in on there. I'll leave you with this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. And I know this is going to speak to one specific person out there. I don't know who it is, but I know this is going to speak to somebody. Without ambition, one starts nothing.

Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. Be great. Be great for my friend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. And we will see you tonight with Trish Stratus InSight Live in Toronto. I can't wait.

Have an amazing weekend. We'll see you next week. Start your day with the morning jolt of Drake Toll. See, now it's on demand. My podcast is kind of a... a radio thing, I think, but also it's a bit of a TV show and it's about whatever I want it to be. It's listening live as it happened, when it happened with the instant reaction. Your home for talking sports.

We go back, the Great Toll Show, Westwood One Sports Network, and there will be on demand on your radio. Anywhere in the country, I'll see you there. Westwood One Sports Talk, your home for Drake Toll. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.