Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #150 - Cody Rhodes With Paul Heyman?, OTM Debut, Royce Keys Heel Turn, AEW All In Predictions

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

See you at the next Insight LIVE in New Orleans! Get tickets at https://cvvtix.com Welcome to AskCVV #150! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet discusses a possible heel turn from Cody Rhodes and what it might look like if he aligned himself with Paul Heyman, he also answers questions about whether Je'Von Evans could be the youngest Intercontinental Champion ever, if Leon Slater will beat Nic Nemeth to become the youngest TNA World Champion, whether Will Ospreay or Kenny Omega will leave AEW All In as the AEW World Champion, Mount Rushmore of WWE talk shows, the best matches CVV was there for live, the upcoming brother vs. brother match between Rey Fenix & Penta and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: “Congratulations on your failure. Most people don’t even try.” Please support our sponsors: HELIX SLEEP: Flash sale! Go to https://helixsleep.com/cvv for 27% off sitewide! COZY EARTH: Go to https://cozyearth.com/CVV for up to 20% off! BEAM: Go to https://shopbeam.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT for up to 40% off Beam’s Dream Powder DELETEME: Use the code INSIGHT to get 20% off your DeleteMe plan at https://joindeleteme.com/INSIGHT FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/cvv SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! PRIZEPICKS: Download the PrizePicks app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 bonus credit in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Fleet! Things and salutations, my friend. Welcome back to another one here on Inside. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Happy Friday. Thank you for hanging out with me and chatting a little wrestling to end your week. And, of course, as always, thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet.

hit a razor's edge on that follow button, wherever you're listening right now, Spotify, Apple, whatever it happens to be, that's a good way to make sure that you don't miss any episodes. We have in-person interviews every Tuesday and Thursday and Ask CVV every Friday. I don't even need to mention that because you're here.

You already knew that. You're a real one. You're listening to an Ask CVV episode right now. So I appreciate you for that. Man, that episode yesterday with Tristratus. was so fun. Like, she's just the best. Thank you to everyone who's listened to that.

Thank you to everyone who came out and sold out that live show in Toronto. What a fun afternoon that was. And we finally got the origin story to the loading screen. Oh, you know the loading screen. And now we know the whole story behind that infamous photo. And so many other great things we chatted about during that. Sounds like the door is definitely open. for Trish Stratus to be back in WWE.

It sounds like it's just a matter of time before we see Trish back in WWE. At least that's what it sounds like from what she was saying during this interview. But that show was so fun. It was kind of like the pre-show for SmackDown. Then we walked across the street. Smackdown was awesome.

Thank you for all the messages you guys sent. A lot of you spotted me in the second row there behind the announced table. that title match between CM Punk and Kevin Owens was wild. The booze for CM Punk were so loud in there. I'm not sure how it played out on TV, but the booze were so loud. I went with my buddy Basil,

and he's not like really a wrestling fan, but he knew it was going to be a good time going to see WWE live. I said, man, what was the last time you went to wrestling? Have you ever been to see wrestling? He goes, yeah, I went, like when I was a kid, was Hulk Hogan versus Ultimate Warrior. I'm like, what? You went to WrestleMania 6?

He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, was it Skyto? I'm like, you went to WrestleMania 6? The last time you went to wrestling was WrestleMania 6 in 1989? All right, well, a lot has changed since then, but also a lot of things that remained the same. And I was kind of explaining everybody as they were coming out of my heart. So this guy's Cody Rhodes. He's like, fans really love him when this part in the theme song, they're going to say, whoa, this guy, Kevin Owens, he's from Quebec.

And because we're in Canada and he's a fellow Canadian, the fans are going to love him. So I'm explaining all these little things. CM Punk's music's about to hit. And I go, oh, this guy's one of the most popular people in WW. Like, I feel like people are going to be singing along to his theme song. The static for CM Punk's theme song hits. and the crowd just erupts into boo! And I'm like, oh, oh, yeah, well, yeah,

I guess this is kind of an away game for him. Like, everyone's going to be cheering so loudly for Kevin Owens that the bad guy here, they got to cheer against. Seampunk. So I was so wrong on that. I was like, I was getting ready to have everybody sing in cult of personality. And yeah, sure, some people did sing in there, but the booze were so loud.

But Basil had a blast there. It was cool bringing him to his first wrestling event in 307 years. And I had a blast there too, so good, hanging out with so many of you guys and chatting wrestling. What a fun, fun time. Tickets are on sale if you want to come to the next Insight Live, the day before money in the bank, grab those tickets at CVVTix.com. I'll see you in New Orleans for that one.

Welcome, my friend, to ask CVV no. Number 150 man, greatest Royal Rumm rumple match edition. I can't believe we've done 150 of these Ask CVVs. So fun. Send in your questions for next week. Send in your ideas for Ask CVV number 151 by sending them in on Chris Vanfleet.com. Send them in on social media or if you're listening on Spotify. After you hit a razor's edge on the follow button and after you click

the five stars on there, which honestly would be so super helpful if you could do that. Leave a comment with your question on there as well. A ton of stuff to get into here. So we'll dive into it with this one from Top Rope Ripper 17. Sent this email in on chrisfamily.com. Hey, CVV, after some very big hints this last week on Smackdown, do you think Cody Rhodes is going to be paired with Paul Heyman? I mean, we all caught that line, right?

We all caught what Cody said to Randy Orton. You may go on to be the greatest of all time, but the one who kills the legend killer is QB1. That is not a prediction. That is a spoiler. And I feel like we've seen a few of these. Over the last year or so, there's been some hints dropped here and there

about a possible partnership between Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes is getting an increasing amount of booze as the weeks go on here. I would still think, though, that if you look in the grand scheme of WWE, he's a top baby face. Like, he's still selling a ton of merch, huge reaction when his music hits, huge reaction in his promos, but if you look at his last few matches, it gets a lot of booze. And I think that a lot of that has to do with who he's wrestling. like on some of these live events when it's Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton

Randy Orton is getting the majority of the cheers there and look, I think whatever Randy Orton does at this stage of his career, you're not going to boo him. We already tried that with him just absolutely annihilating Cody Rhodes leaving him bloody and everyone's just like, man, Randy Orton's so cool. Let's cheer this guy. So I think that Cody Rhodes has been on the receiving end

of some not so great reactions. I mean, especially when you look at SummerSlam, I guess the last like, call it big match that he had. CM Punk was definitely getting the baby face reaction. Cody Rhodes, getting a bit more of a heel reaction. And I feel like Cody plays into this.

I feel like he starts to wrestle a little more like a heel when that happens. Aligning him with Paul Heyman feels like a fast track. to becoming a heel. I just don't know if it's going to happen. Like, it feels like a fun thing to keep teasing. It feels like an interesting thing that keeps kind of, like the can that just keeps getting kicked down the road.

But I don't know if it's going to happen. And I just can't see it happening anytime soon. Maybe it's something leading into WrestleMania. Maybe it's like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Russellmania 17, where it's coming out of WrestleMania, or like the main event of WrestleMania, how it ends. But I just call me crazy. I'd love to see it happen.

I'd love Cody Rhodes to lean into that darker side. I just don't know if it'll work. I don't know if they're going to go all the way with it. But I think there's a big lesson that was learned from the John Sina Healturn. And I'm obviously talking about the one that happened last year. But also the John Cena Heeltern that didn't happen when it probably should have happened. 14-ish, 15-ish years ago. Maybe they're looking at the Cody Road situation

through that same lens. Maybe they're looking at it going, wow, man, how could we turn our biggest baby face heel? What are the kids going to say? Is anybody going to buy his merch? All the questions that go along with that. And maybe they're going, well, we didn't do it. We didn't pull the trigger with John Cena back then

when we probably should have. We don't want that to happen here with Cody Rhodes. But then the question always comes back to, well, who takes that spot? Who ends up being the number one baby face and who can carry that forward for all these years to come? Obafemi seems to be stepping into that spot. Huge reactions for Obafemi. Obviously, Randy Orton's getting massive reactions and he will as long as he's still wrestling, but how many more years has Randy Orton have?

I would like to think it's as many as he wants, but how many is that? Is it two? Is it three? Is it five? Is it, oh my goodness? Seven, eight? So it can't be someone like him. So that's the big question.

It's like who goes into that spot. But Cody Rhodes, Paul Heyman, who that could be some really, really interesting television. The last time we got a real Cody Rhodes heel turn or he'll run like 2018 when you look at the work

that he was doing in Ring of Honor and New Japan the Bullet Club stuff like he's arrogant he's cheating to win matches

tons of booze from the crowd he's a little more aggressive actually a lot more aggressive than the style that we see now

which is I guess what I'm saying he was kind of leaning into that sometimes when he's getting booze there was that period of time

in AEW when he was getting a lot of of booze. And like he'd throw the weight belt into the crowd and then like it would get thrown back to him. Like like he wasn't officially a heel though. The crowd was just like turning on him. But if this was done right, like if this was done similar to like the Hulk Hogan NWO and I'm not saying he needs to form a faction here, but if it was done in that way of like, this is the guy that could never do it. I mean, it's just not believable.

And then like it really brought out like this mean streak in him, it could work. But I'm, I wonder if we're just going to be continuing to have this conversation of does Cody Rhodes turn heel for the next, I don't know, year or two or three. And then it inevitably just never happens. I don't know. But the way that things are going here with Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes leading into Sunday night's main event. It's interesting because it's Cody's hometown.

I don't think he's going to get booed there. So then it's essentially baby face versus baby face. But if you're really thinking about this, now my wheels are turning here. Where better to turn heel than in the city that loves you, in the city that raised you? But I just don't know if that happens on a Sunday night's main event. I don't know. Babyface versus baby face. Cody versus Randy is going to be a great match,

but where does it go from there? How many times can we see this without it evolving into something else? So let's see. 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 Miz 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, Seat Geek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on Seat Geek,

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automatically be applied to your account so you can use it later. Big shout out to CEEK for sponsoring this episode. The US Soccer Podcast. I'm your host Megan Klingerberg and actually, interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup, I'm so happy to be back with my US 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 Henkel.

Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Jeremy Barnes on Facebook says, What up, CVV? Who walks out of Wembley Stadium as the AEW champion after this weekend? I've been saying for months that all in this year has been leading to the crowning achievement, the coronation of Will Osprey. Like, everything here lines up for it. Will Osprey has been with a company two and a half years, signed with AEW in February of 2024. has not been a EW world champion yet.

Of course, that comes with a bit of an asterisk. He was out for almost a year with that neck injury. And like, I don't know if people know how bad that neck injury was, but like a possible career ending, certainly career threatening neck injury. He's back from that. So already, what a story there. Who doesn't love a great comeback story?

But the fact that this is in London, the fact that this is all in, the fact that this is Wembley Stadium, all of this lines up for this massive moment for Will Osprey. He also just recently turned baby face. So, like, there's this swell of excitement and this swell of support around him. The only caveat here is Kenny Omega is on an amazing run as AEW champion. And it, for all intents and purposes, kind of just started. Like, he just became the champion.

like what a month, not quite two months ago, a month and a half ago. So he's been the champion since like the first week of July. And so he's 50, by Sunday, he'll be like 53 days in to this run. That's the only thing that's making me think. Like, is he going to drop the title already? And Kenny Omega hasn't held the championship up to this point.

He hadn't had it since 2020. You won it in 2020, dropped it in 2021. After not having it for five years, is he just going to hold it for 50-ish days? And then maybe it's another rematch with Will Osprey. Maybe Osprey ends up losing it to him down the line. I'm not sure about that, but that's the only thing that makes me think. Because he's on an amazing run right now. Kenny Omega is doing amazing work.

Incredible work in his career right now. I don't just don't know. But if I was to make a prediction, here. I'm going to say Will Osprey has his moment, and that's how All In closes out of him. Like a beautiful moment of like, yes, crowning achievement for this guy right here.

Justin Buckley on Instagram says, do you think the new day will be swerves, partners at All In? I think we will see the new day or whatever they're going to be called at all in. Yes. I think that we're going to see Kofi and Austin Creed, maybe I should say, at all in. It feels like a perfect spot to put them in there as well, because there's like the mystery opponents here, the wild card entrance. Who's it going to be?

Well, that feels like a great spot to put them in. We know that they are officially free agents. We know that they have the ability to sign anywhere at this point in time. if we're to believe the rumors online, there is obviously interest in having them in AEW, and of course there is. They're so talented, great guys. So yeah, I think that not only will we see them

making an appearance at all in, I think that we will also see an announcement that they are all elite. And speaking of free agents, Ilya Draganoff, also a free agent. So this wasn't one of those situations where it's a release and then there's a 90-day period, his contract came to an end.

So his contract expired earlier this month. So if we're to, again, believe the reports that we see online, he is a free agent as well. And that could also be a fun surprise this weekend in London. So I think when you look at this card, top to bottom, and you also like look at the potential surprises that could happen here, this is stacked up to be just a fun, fun show. Mark Hatcher on Spotify says, CVV!

I saw that Dave Batista was cast as Kratos for the God of War TV series. Do you think he's slimmed down too much to play that part convincingly? I've seen so much talk about this online that, oh man, Batista's not big enough. to play that character. He slimmed down too much. Have you seen Dave Batista in person? I have. I have seen him in person.

I was fortunate enough to sit down with him for a podcast episode. He's still enormous. And I think that this narrative online that Dave Batista is skinny is insane. Like he's like six, four, 240-ish. If I was describing to you, one of my friends, like, let's say we're going out for a drink. And I'm saying, oh, yeah, my buddy Dave's coming.

He's, oh, what's Dave look like? Oh, he's 6.4.2.40. You used to wrestle. Now he does some acting now. You're picturing in your mind, 6.4.2.40, that's like the size of someone who plays in the NFL. Like, that's a big, big dude. And I understand, yeah, he's not the 300 plus pounds that he was when he was Batissian evolution or the 300, probably 20, 30, 40 pounds that he was when he was in OVW as Leviathan.

He was just a monster when he first started wrestling. I understand that. He's at a weight now where he has a lot more flexibility, a lot more mobility, but six four 240s, not small. And also, I think he understands weightlifting and bodybuilding and calories and all of that stuff. If he needs to put on 10-ish, 20-ish pounds or whatever it happens to be in order to, quote, unquote, play this part convincingly, I think Dave Batista probably knows what to do in the gym or what to add or take away from his diet. I'm sure he's just fine when it comes to that. And I also think that that old adage, the camera adds 10 pounds. And I think that they could shoot him with the correct angles and everything to make him look really big.

I think you'd be surprised to learn how much smaller slash leaner a lot of people in Hollywood really are. Like when you look at the really jacked movie stars, like people that are playing superheroes or the people like that are playing boxers in movies and they're just, just like walking around the entire movie, just shredded. I think you're surprised to learn like, oh, wow, that person is, weighs a lot less than I would think. But congrats to Dave on this casting. I'm very interested to see how this ends up going. But Dave Batista just continues to just crush it.

What a very nice man, but also a very talented actor with an incredible amount of range. Love it. Dave Kinnear emailed this one in on Chris Vanfleet.com. He says, what up, CBV? Love the show. Thanks for keeping me company

on my overnight shift three times a week. Well, thank you for hanging out with me three times a week, Dave. I love the episode with Javon Evans when you guys talked about him breaking the record of being the youngest, either Intercontinental,

world champion, or WWE champion. Which one or which ones do you actually think are possible? Well, in theory, I guess they're all possible. Which one is most likely? I would think it's the Intercontinental Championship. So the record right now is Jeff Hardy.

Jeff Hardy is the youngest person to ever win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. He was 23 years old, seven months, and one day. So if we do the math here, Javon Evans was born on April 29, 2004. So 23 years, seven months, and one day from Javon Evans' birthday takes us to November 30th, 2027. For argument's sake, that takes us to Survivor Series of next year.

So Survivor Series right now is about three months away. So Javon Evans has 15 months to break that record and become the youngest Intercontinental Champion ever. That seems very likely, especially with the fact that it was already competing for it against Penta, He was in the Intercroniddle Championship ladder match at WrestleMania. What a spot, right? Jumping off the ringpost. The OG cutter to Rousseau. Oh, man, what a WrestleMania moment.

So he's already been close. Like this could certainly be a moment where he wins it at WrestleMania and breaks the record there. That's the one I think is most likely. Because when you look at the other two records and you know who they're held by, Brock Lezzer winning the WWE championship at 25. 25, 25, well, 25 years, one month and 13 days. And then Randy Orton, the youngest, WWE, world champion, 24 years, four months, and 22 days.

And then I like to throw this one in because no one talks about this, like ever. Big show, he was the giant then, won the WCW Heavyweight Championship at 23 years and eight months. But for argument's sake, we'll talk about the championships within WWE. So if we're doing the same math here, for Javon Evans to be the youngest ever world champion, he's got till September 20th, 2028. And then to be the youngest ever WWE champion, he's got till June 11th, 2029.

So he's got some time, right? He's got some time. He's 22 right now. doesn't turn 23 till next April. The only thing I think about here is those are three legendary names. Those are three future Hall of Famers when you talk about Randy Orden, Brock Lezzer, and Jeff Hardy. For someone to come in and take that record away from them has got to be someone that WWE 1,000 percent believes in. And that's why I think when you break the Intercontinental Championship, it's like you break that record, it's like, okay, that's a mid-card title, although,

back then, especially late 90s into the early 2000s, that used to be like the stamp of approval title. We're giving you the IC title because one to two to maybe three years from now, good chances there. If everything goes well, good chance you're going to be a world champion or WWE champion. It's not really working that way, certainly not in the same way that it used to back then. But when you look at those three names, it's like the Intercontinental titles, seems to be the one that they could break without like people going, oh my gosh, that's a,

it's a big record to be breaking there. When you break the other two, the, the world title and the WWE title, that's a huge statement. That's a statement of like this person is here and they're here to stay, especially when you're, you're kind of knighting them with that honor at 20, would be 23, 24, 25 years old. But I'm thinking, Javon Evans, Intercon and old champion, maybe by Russellmania. It feels like it feels like it could be great. Although with the storyline that Javon Evans is in with big cast right now, something's got to turn around here.

We've got to get some wins back on Javon Evans. And not that he hasn't had wins lately. He's just been part of this storyline with big cast beating him down. Like he did beat Ethan Page on Raw just a few weeks ago, and he beat Rusev on Raw like a week or two before that. So like there are some wins there, but like, let's get Yvonne Evans back in the conversation of being a number one contender for the IC title. And then we can have that wonderful moment.

And we can play this clip back in six, seven, eight months, if slash when, that does happen. Danimal underscore strength on Instagram says the Lucha tournament has been an amazing display of AAA and the style of Lucha. How pumped are you for the Lucha Bros final? And who wins? Every single match in this number one

contenders tournament has been unbelievable. You're right. A great display of the talents in AAA. And I've just always loved that style of wrestling. I've always loved Lucha.

If you've been listening to the show long enough, you know that I'm always talking about how great Lucha Underground is, or I guess was. I don't know. It's tough for me to think that Lucha Underground is never coming back, but it's probably never coming back. But I loved Luch Underground. And I just, I love that style, this all out style. And we've been seeing that in every single one of these matches. And also, what a great showcase for some of these people who have not wrestled on Raw before or have not wrestled on Raw in a long, long time. Amazing. And now it's come down. to Penta versus Ray Phoenix in the finals of this number one contender tournament.

And the winner of this goes on to face Roman Raines live in Mexico City for the WW World Heavyweight Championship. I would have to think it's Penta picking up the win there. And this isn't the first time that Penta and Ray Phoenix have wrestled each other. It's the first time it's happened in WWE. Actually, kind of a little surprising that it's been, it's the first time it's happened when they've had the opportunity to maybe do this with both guys being in the company for Pentah arrived right before Royal Rumble last year and then Ray Phoenix arrived not that long after.

So they've both been in the company for over a year. The fact that they're not wrestling each other just for fun. I love the fact that there's something on the line here. I love the fact that and it's something big that's on the line here. It's not just the number one contender shop, but it's the fact that there's the fact that, to do it in their home country of Mexico. This has so much potential to be a match of the year candidate, and I can't wait to see how this plays out.

I'm sure you are aware of this, but two episodes are going to be taped tonight. Cleveland gets Smackdown and Ross, so it's Smackdown Live first, and then Raw is going to be taped after. I'm going to do everything I can to avoid those results because I just want to watch this match, Ray Phoenix and Penta live on Monday.

Like, live to me. I want to watch it, not knowing anything. I can't wait for that thing. And then Penta versus Roman Rains in Mexico City is going to be unbelievable. So good. And I love that they've done this. I love that there's been this ramp up to this,

this build up to, like, all right, well, who's in the tournament? And they did this with the John Cena tournament as well. I appreciate that, like, there's a buildup here rather than just like somebody coming out at the start of the show and going, I want that title that's around your waist. Oh, yeah, you want this? Yeah, I want that thing. And then they have a match.

I love that it's like, all right, you've earned your spot in this. We knew who all the potential matchups could be. We knew who all the competitors were. This person versus this person. that leads to this person versus this person with the final date of, okay, you're earning this on this date in this city. I appreciate that form of storytelling here because it just gives it a bit more of a real sports feel when it's like, this is, if you beat this person, then you face this person, and if you beat that person, then you know how it works. You understand what I'm saying here.

Michael Delacerta A.O. underscore Mikey on Instagram says Did the Mandela effect hit the WWE? Does the Rock say if you smell or can you smell? I swear it's if you smell.

Well, it is currently if you smell what the rock is cooking. But in the first few versions of his song it was do you smell with the rock is cooking. So you've asked, is it, can you smell or if you smell? It started off as, do you smell what the rock is cooking? So his first theme song was actually him saying, do you smell what the rock is cooking? So we got, do you smell what the rock is cooking? Right. Okay. And then we also got, where is it here? Actually, there was one slightly different

version before that with the ha remember this do you smell what the rock is cooking the rocks laying the smack down the rock says remember that that then evolved into a version very similar to what we have now but it all started the whole catchphrase started from a random interview that the rock was doing with Jennifer Flowers where he's talking about the rock, I'll just play it for you. The rock worth a jewelry. The rock feels like this nine times out of ten. He's randomly, can you smell what I'm cooking? He's randomly, if you smell what I'm cooking. So I think you just made of, might have misremembered this slightly. I don't know if he ever said, can you smell what the rock is cooking. You're right. It is if you smell. But previously,

do you smell? Legendary director Ridley Scott returns in IMAX. It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear. Go! Out there, just kill or be killed. Jacob Allorty. There are people out there. They need our help.

Josh Brolin. Shoot first and inquire afterwards. Margaret Qualley. Okay, tough guy. And Guy Pearce. Arm up! The Dog Stars, directed by Ridley Scott. Now playing in theaters.

I'm your host, Megan Klingeberg. 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 Henkel. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Dean Martin on Facebook says, what are your thoughts on Roy's Key's return and new faction? I thought the return on Rob made him look extremely strong. Couldn't agree more with you. Like giving Roy's Keys an excuse to be mean and nasty in the ring, it works so, so well for him. And what a call up. OTM on the main roster, I love it. You just got three bad dudes from Oakland now. just going to lay waste to everybody, just going to absolutely destroy anybody

that's in their path. I think it's fantastic. And that finisher they have, if you hadn't seen this before, so good. And the thing that's, like I think additionally good about this is there's a reason behind

Royce Key's turning heel. I think there's a lot of times, especially when heel or face turns happen and they're not at like that very top of the card, I just feel like they're just done. Here, though, if you look into it, it makes sense. The bloodline in the past had left him beaten. Jacob had betrayed him before, and there was never anybody that was ever helping him.

So he comes back, he's pissed off, he wants to take out everybody here. It makes sense, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Royce Keys is a hell of a talent. O-TM, those guys are also so. so talented. This is a really good pairing that I'm excited about right now, but I'm really excited to see where this thing goes. Sean Sequeira emailed this one in, and he says, hey, CVV, what's your Mount Rushmore for the best matches that you've ever seen live? And then you put hashtag ask CVV-15-sato meado edition. I like that. I like that.

That's what I wish I thought about a long time ago. Nice job with that. Mal Rushmore of matches I've seen live. Oh, my goodness. How are we going to narrow down to just four? Well, we'll start off with Rock Hogan. I can't believe that I was there to see that live. I have the poster hanging right here in my office.

I'm looking at it right now. Icon versus icon March 17, 2002. And when I think back to it, I just, I get goosebumps. I get goosebumps when I think about it. I know it's not the technically greatest match ever, and we talked about this last week, but it's the fact that that match, that match makes you feel something.

That match makes you feel something. And for me, one of the greatest matches of all time, I can't believe that I was there to witness that live. I'm going to give you a bit of a curveball for number two here. when you talk about a match making you feel something, double or nothing, 2019, Cody Rhodes versus Dustin Rhodes,

brother versus brother, oh man, it's such an emotional match. And the storytelling leading into it, like, how are we going to get two brothers to hate each other? Oh, that's, okay,

that makes sense. That's how we're going to get these brothers to hate each other. And then the storytelling that they tell within that match, leading to the end of it, the big embrace, two bloody guys embracing each other. There wasn't a dry eye. I was fortunate to be there for the very first AEW double or nothing, which was the very first AW live event.

And what a match there to cap things off. And I don't mean cap it off like it wasn't the main event. It was the third last match. about what it like what a roller coaster of emotions of course the main event chris jericho defeating kenny omega becoming the the inaugural well going on from there and ended up being chris jericho facing adam page to become the inaugural inaugural inaugural a w world champion at all out that was the main event but cody versus dustin such a rewatchable match and again again Again, honored that I was there in person to not just watch that match and witness that match,

but to feel and experience that match. Then I'm going to go for number three on the list here. I'm going to go to WrestleMania 30. I was there. Undertaker versus Brock Leser, and I was one of the many people in the audience going, well, we know how this match is going to end. Undertaker just continues to beat people. he's going to be 22 and 0 as soon as this is done.

And it sure it's not the greatest match, but again, it's about making you feel something. And I was there experiencing that silence. Like, we all thought it was a mistake. We all thought one, two, three, because Brock Leasers' music doesn't hit right away. There's quite a long pause before his music hits. We all thought, like, oh, did they mess up that finish?

like did something go wrong here? And it wasn't until 21-1 appears on the screen and all 75,167 of us there in New Orleans just we're trying to wrap our heads around this and figure it all out. Like that iconic shot of the guy in the front row like they can't believe it.

Like that was all of us. And they just happened to have the camera on him for that absolutely perfect fan shot. but what a moment. And I think that that's what wrestling is all about. It's not always about the greatest amazing technical match that's 35 minutes long.

It's about what did that match make you feel? And I was there and still can't believe it. I don't think it was the right choice. All these years later, that was 2014. So here we are 12 years later. I still don't think it was the right choice. I think there could have been some other, like Bray Wyatt would have been a really good one.

That's a whole part of another discussion. But I digress. Can't believe I was there for that one. Live. What a moment. For the last one here, I'm going to go to WrestleMania 40. Because I think that if you think in terms of modern wrestling,

like 2020 wrestling, if you will, 2020s wrestling, that's peak. Like what we saw there, night two main event, Cody finishing the story, everything that went into this, Undertaker,

Sina, Rock, Seth Rollins and Shield Gear, one, two, three, finish the story. It felt like Avengers end game of WWE. And then the celebration afterwards,

what a moment. And again, I happen to be there for that one. There's so many matches I wish I could have been there for. Maybe that's part of a Mount Rushmore for next week or something like that. I've been asked quite a few times, like if you could just go back and see one moment, what would it be? And that one's easy for me. I would go back to King of the Ring 1998. Nobody has any idea what's going to happen there.

Nobody's thinking someone's going to get thrown off of hell in a cell. let alone somehow continue to wrestle the match and then get thrown through hell in the cell, which was obviously completely unplanned. That's always my number one answer for if you had a ticket and you had a DeLorean and it had a working flux capacitor, where are you going? Yeah, that's the match. That's the match for sure. But those four that I was there for, man, how grateful am I?

How lucky am I to be able to say, yeah, that was there. That's why I probably annoyingly remind people about Rock Hogan and WrestleMania 18. There was only, you know, 68,000 of us that happened to be able to say that. 68,000 of us that were there. And I've mentioned this story before, but I love telling it. First time I ever interviewed The Rock. So we're going back. It was 2012.

I interviewed him backstage in Cleveland. And I said, hey, I was there. I was there for WrestleMania 18. you versus Hogan. Toronto's my hometown. He goes, oh yeah. Wow, okay. Who were you cheering for?

And I said, well, I was cheering for Hogan. Hmm. Me too. It's so funny that he's a Hulkomaniac at heart too. Chris Mastriano on Facebook says, what's next for Leon Slater after winning back the X Division Championship at lockdown last weekend? Does he finally go on to become the longest reigning X-Division champ?

Well, yeah, he's the tied right now for the longest reigning X-Division champion. It's him in Austin Aries, both holding it for 298 days. Still don't know why they wouldn't just give it to Leon Slater for another week. So maybe that's what you're asking here. Like, is he going to have the title now so that he can go on 300-plus days? Actually, don't think so. I think he will continue to be tied for that title. but I think there's bigger plans in store for Leon Slater.

At the end of that match with Cedric Alexander at lockdown, and what a great match that is. He cashed in option C, which means the X Division champion can relinquish the title for a shot at the world title. So we're getting Leon Slater versus Nick Nemeth for the TNA world title at Bound for Glory. We've got some time between now and Bound for Glory. for glory, bound for glory is set for October 11th. I can't wait for that match. But the bigger thing here,

we were talking just a few minutes ago about the possibility of Javon Evans becoming one of the, breaking one of the records, whether it's the youngest IC champion, youngest world champion, youngest WWE champion. There's a real possibility here with Leon Slater. Leon Slater is 21 years old right now. He turns 22 on September 27th. So two weeks later, he has the ability to become the youngest ever TNA champion. I am pumped for this. And if you go back and listen to the interview that I did with Nick Nemeth, the last time Nick Nemouth was on the show, formerly known as Dolph Ziegler and WWE, he talked about

how great of a wrestler Leon Slater was and not just like his ability in the ring and like the things he's doing from bell to bell, but his psychology and the way that he's picking things up and he's super coachable and just the way that he thinks about the business. And Nick Nemeth was blown away by like, your howl and you already can grasp that or you can already figure that out. I think it is a foregone conclusion that Leon Slater will become the TNA world champ. So I will just say, Leon, if you're listening, I'm sure you're you're not, but maybe someone will send you this clip. Congrats in advance on winning the TNA world champion,

championship and becoming the youngest ever, TNA, world champ. Pumped for you. I can't wait. And also, I just want to add in, you know how much I love TNA. I love the idea of Option C. Trade in, relinquish your mid-card title for a shot at the World title. That'd be a pretty cool thing to see. Relinquish the intercontinental title for a shot at the world title. It'd be a pretty cool thing to see in WWA. I love that that's something that has been in TNA now for like, I think it was like 2012 is when it started. Quantarius emailed this one in and says,

what's up, CVV? I'm a Nashville native and I want to welcome you and the family to our city. I highly suggest Prince's hot chicken if you haven't eaten there already. I have not eaten there already, but I look forward to it. I hope to see one of your live shows here in the future. Well, maybe if the rumors end up being true and Russellmania 44 is in Nashville, maybe we'll do a live, Insight Live in Nashville. Well, that's a long time from now. But we'll see how that all ends up.

We'll see what gets announced, right? My question is, what is your Mount Rushmore? of WW talk shows. I used to always like cutting edge and the peep show. Both great choices. Well, I think you can't talk about WWE talk shows

without talking about the obvious number one. Like the template for every wrestling talk show that's ever existed since, it's Piper's pit. That's got to be on the list, right? And think of the ridiculous, amazing moments that have come from there. And it wasn't just Piper interviewing people.

He's provoking them as well. Jimmy Snookin, the Coconut, Andre confronting Hogan, ahead of WrestleMania 3. Austin at WrestleMania 21. So many moments, right? I think it's definitely WWE's most controversial show

and most legendary show. And then everything else that came after that was just kind of a carbon copy, the highlight reel, and the Jarotron 5,000. So amazing. And I think it's because Jericho probably understood what made Piper's Pit work so well,

and he just applied everything to that. So many great moments happened on the highlight reel. Goldberg's WWE arrival. And then you had moments like Jericho throwing Sean Michaels face first into the Geratron 5,000 back in 2008. We got to talk about the highlight reel being on that list. I think you got to go the barbershop. And I think that there's so many iconic moments that happened there, too.

Like, how can you talk about Sean Michael's career without talking about Sean Michael's super kicking, Marty Genetti, sending him through the barbershop window, which effectively launches HBK's single career, singles career, barbershop. And I think maybe that's just nostalgia being a hell of a drug. But when I think back to that era, I think back to the barbershop and all the great moments that came from that. Now I've only got one spot left.

You mentioned cutting edge, which cutting edge is great, but I think you've got to go MIS TV. One of the big reasons is just longevity. Ms. debuted this in 2012, and he said that one of the things he loved about MIS TV, especially early on, was they trusted him with the microphone.

they trusted him, will give you the mic, and you can make it work. You'll just find a way to entertain the crowd. And it suits Ms. so well. Ms. TV is so perfect for him

because he interviews these people, but at the same time, he's simultaneously getting heat for himself. I don't think, like, Ms. TV has, like, a singular, like, moment, like, the barbershop window or Sean Michael's head

through the J-Ratron 5,000, but when you just think in big terms here about talk shows and like, oh, something's going to happen here. There's a Ms. TV segment. Hmm. Yeah, what's it going to be here? I think you've got to go with Ms. TV. But there's so many. Like, there's been so many.

We mentioned a few there, but like, shout out to the snake pit. Shout out to peep show like you mentioned. Shout out to MVP's VIP lounge. shout out to Carlito's Cabana, the funeral parlor, the Brother Love Show. There's so, so many of them. But I think that if I'm going to narrow it down to my four on my list,

that's it. Those are my four. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement, and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker AKG surround audio system.

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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 US Women's Asht team play. 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 Henkel. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Will's treasure or will's underscore treasure on Instagram says, hey, CVV, the realest real one here. Would you rather? Would you rather get 10 F5s from Brock Lesnar? Or would you rather poop yourself unexpectedly? Five times.

And then you put, ha ha, onexam. I mean, the poops could come at any point in time? Like I could be sharing a wonderful, romantic, intimate moment with my beautiful wife, RVV, and I can poop myself unexpectedly. Well, that sounds awful. I'll take the 10 F5s. Are they in a row?

Are the 10 F5s like one after another? Or is it like one today, one next Friday, one the Monday after that? Because if that's the case, can I just spread out my F5s over the course of the next six months? if that's the case, because if I'm spreading out the unexpected poops over the next six months, I could be sitting down with the legendary Hall of Famer herself, Trish Stratus,

in front of a sold-out, crowded Insight Live in Toronto, and I poop myself. I don't want that to happen. I've been trying to line up an interview with the likes of Randy Orton, or Triple H. or Stephanie McMahon or Sammy Zane's never been on the show. Been trying to figure these ones out. What if I pooped unexpectedly during one of those?

So no thank you. No, thank you. I will take the 10F5s and whatever comes from that. Well, we'll figure it out. Colton Meyer 94 on Instagram says, Hey, CVV, just wondering, but have you and your dad done your MLB stadium yet? this year. If not, where's the next destination? Excellent timing on this question,

Colton. It is happening in like two weeks. We're going to St. Louis. There's only four stadiums left on our list. Well, there's only four cities left on our list. There's some cities where we've gone to the stadium, but a new stadium has since been built since we went there. So Minnesota is one of those. We went to old Yankee Stadium together. I've been a new Yankee Stadium, but not with my dad. So that's another one, I suppose, gets put on the list. But we have four stadiums left. We are going on Wednesday, September 16th. We're flying there in the morning. It's like an hour-ish from Nashville. We're seeing the game. It's a 1207 game. And then we're flying back right after that. So basically, breakfast and lunch in St. Louis.

see the game. Well, lunch will be at the game, and then we fly back. I love that this is a tradition that my dad and I started in the year 2000 and kind of started by accident. And if you're not up to speed on this, my dad and I go to a different Major League Baseball Stadium every single year. It's this amazing father-son tradition that started, like I said, kind of randomly, kind of by accident. in the year 2000. So you know I love fishing. You know I love bass fishing. In the year 2000,

the Bass Master Classic, which is like the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing was going to be in Chicago. It was on Lake Michigan. They were weighing in. It sold your field. It was so cool. The Bass Master Classic Expo

that happens around this, which is basically like the big convention. Think like WWE World, but for bass fishing. This is happening while everybody's fishing on the lake and then you go to the weigh-ins, later on, I really wanted to go to this. My dad really wanted to go to Wrigley Field. So he said, yeah, we can go to the Bassmaster Classic, but while we're there, we got to go to a Cubs game.

And I'm like, this sounds amazing. Absolutely, of course. And I grew up playing baseball and loving baseball. So this is like two of my favorite things happening in the course of a few days. Yeah, sign me up for that. And then it turned into this thing that we did every year. And my dad worked for an airline. My dad worked for Luftanzah, the German airline, for his entire career. My dad is as passionate about airline travel as me and you are about wrestling. He loves airplanes and just airlines and the business of airlines so much. Like, I'll be flying somewhere randomly. Like, oh, dad, I'm flying to Minneapolis. for SummerSlam.

He's like, oh, what time's your flight? Oh, I'm just making this up. My flight's at 8.40 a.m. He'll be like, oh, well, you're on an Airbus 320. It's actually a newer model and he'll like,

tell you all the specs of it. And he'll be like, oh, and that plane just came in from Miami and blah, blah. It's just amazing how fascinated he is. And it's also really helped. There's been a lot of times where, like,

I have a flight that gets canceled. And my dad will, end up telling me about it before the airline tells me about it because he's just like tracking it and he finds it so interesting. Like when I was leaving Fanatics Fest in New York City, my dad was like, oh, your flight got canceled. I said, how did you know? He said, I've been watching it. I said, I'm going to try it again on this other American Airlines flight. And then I found out it was canceled. My dad had already texted me. There's a jet blue flight at a terminal six that you could get to if you leave right now. And all because my dad said that, there was one, he goes, there's one seat left on it.

If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have made it back for like a few more days because the flights were so crazy that weekend with weather and also the World Cup. So this turned into every single year we would fly standby because of the airline discount that my dad got. We would fly standby and sit in terrible seats way up high so we could just experience a baseball game in one of these stadiums. So it was trying to think of the order of the early ones. It was Wrigley. Then I think the next year was San Francisco. It was called Pack Bell Park at the time. And we saw Barry Bond's play there.

Then it was Old Yankee Stadium. And then it continued on from there. So we'll be going to Bush Stadium in St. Louis in a few weeks here. And then the last time I was in St. Louis was backlash last year. And the morning of backlash, going to grab some breakfast at a local spot with my buddy Jamil. And we saw that there was a diner named Chris's. So naturally, we went to Chris's. And Chris's had these coffee mugs that said chrises and then underneath St. Louis, Missouri. And I said, first of all, I've never met a Chris I don't like. And the food here is spectacular. Can I buy one of these mugs? Can I buy one of these mugs?

And they said, oh, we get asked that all the time. Of course, it's $6 or something. I said, oh, my gosh, yes. So I have a mug from Chris's diner in St. Louis. So my dad and I will be going to Chris's. Then we'll be grabbing lunch somewhere around there. If you have any great suggestions, please let me know. Maybe we can go to Randy Orton's house.

Maybe we can do the interview. No, I'm just joking. The interview with Randy Orton is not going to happen during the trip that my dad and I have planned to St. Louis. So then after St. Louis, we only have three remaining. It's Mets, Royals, and Athletics. We're going to have to wait on the athletics until the stadium gets built in Las Vegas. So it's Mets or Royals next year. I've been to New York so many times, but not with my dad and not to see a Mets game. but I hope that this tradition can carry on, or I hope that there's a tradition that I can create or stumble into like this with my daughter Logan and with my son Cooper because

this is one of my favorite things that we do every single year. And even if it's just for like this, this is just a day. We're just flying in, well, my parents are driving down from Toronto and Nashville, spending a few days. Then we're going to fly out there for the after or the game and then we're going to fly back. But it's been one of my favorite things. And I, I love that we get to do this. My dad's now 75 years old. And it's a really amazing thing to think that, oh my gosh, we started this when he was, we started this when he was 49. Oh, now everything is getting put in perspective. I'm 43. So he took me for the first time we started this tradition when I was 17. Oh my goodness. My entire life is flashing before me. Isn't it funny how when you're a kid, people in their 40s feel so old?

And then you get into your 40s and you're like, this isn't so bad. I don't feel that old. What are you talking about? I remember specifically going to my dad's 40th birthday party. Well, it was in our house. I remember like being there for it. And there was like a cake. it was a hill and there was all these jokes being made about my dad being over the hill. I'm like, you don't seem that old, dad. He got a t-shirt that he wore, more to sleep for like the next probably 20 years. This blue t-shirt that said 40 isn't old if you're a tree. And I was like, first of all, I don't get that joke. I get it now. I didn't get it at that time. But I'm like, 40 doesn't feel that old. There's nothing my, and 75 doesn't feel that old when I look at my dad. There's nothing he can't

do that he couldn't do 10 years ago or 20 years ago or 30 years ago. He's still in like such amazing shape with like so much mobility. It's so cool to see. But thank you for asking that question about our adventure to all these MLB stadiums. And if you happen to be at the Cardinals game on Wednesday, September 16th, I'll see you there. What a question to wrap this up on. That is our final question on this. Ask CV. C.V. Number 1, 50 man, greatest Royal Rumble Match edition. And sure, Ask CVV number 1-5-ZO-Mieto edition. Send in your questions for next week.

Ask CVV number 151. Leave a comment on Spotify with your question, send it on social media with the hashtag AskCTV. Or go to Chrisfanfleet.com to not only get recaps of all the episodes, that we've done and also watch them or listen to them on there. You can also send in your Ask CVV questions on there as well. I'll wrap this up with a quote I saw on Chris Williamson's Instagram this week. Chris Williamson is a podcaster and he always shares interesting quotes. And this one I loved and I wrote it down. I even shared it on Instagram. Congratulations on your

failure. Most people don't even try. It's so true. Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one. For some more insight, we've got Dexter Loomis joining us on Tuesday and Chelsea Green on Thursday. Can't wait. Start your day with the morning jolt of Drake Toll. See, now it's on demand. My podcast is kind of 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.

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