Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #153 - Penta vs. Roman Was INCREDIBLE, Sami Zayn Is WWE Champion Again, Stephanie Vaquer Wins In Chile

Episode Date: September 18, 2026

Join me at the next Insight LIVE on October 9 in New Orleans! https://cvvtix.com Welcome to AskCVV #153! On this one, Chris Van Vliet answers questions about Sami Zayn winning the Undisputed WWE Championship for a second time and who he will defend it against next, the incredible match between Penta and Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Raw in Mexico City, who the next Intercontinental Champion will be, whether Roxanne Perez will turn on Judgment Day, Mount Rushmore of the most underutilized wrestlers ever, whether LA Knight has a chance to become the World Champion at Money In The Bank, CVV's new Topps Allen & Ginter card and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: "A person without a dream is someone who has decided not to live" - Tom Cruise Please support our sponsors: 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 SUPERPOWER: Head to https://superpower.com and use code CVV at checkout for $20 off your membership. Get 100+ biomarkers tested every year, plus a personalized health plan and on-demand care team. Detect early signs of 1,000+ conditions. #superpowerpod 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 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

Don't you wish you could just hit skip on the worst parts of your life? You know the same way you can skip an ad? I get it. I'm Siaia and I live in Ice Cove. I've made some questionable decisions that didn't end up the way I planned. And today I'm still figuring it out. Somehow things usually get worse before they get better. Apparently, that's how I roll.

So bundle up and come along for the bumpy ride. Stream a new episode of North of North Tuesdays on CBC Gem. Welcome back, my friend, to another one here on Inside. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. What a crazy week of title changes. My goodness, so much to get into on this episode. But first, thank you for hanging with me on a Friday for an Ask CVV episode. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet.

slap the rings of Saturn on that follow button wherever you're listening, Spotify, Apple, wherever it is so you don't miss out on a single episode that we have coming up. Rings of Saturn. Such an underrated submission move. And Perry Saturn, what an underrated performer. I love the conversation we had on yesterday's episode. If you haven't listened to it yet, if you haven't checked it out on YouTube yet, I would encourage you to at some point this weekend.

He is just such a great storyteller. Also, slap the rings of Saturn on the subscribe button for Perry Saturn's YouTube channel. He's closing in on 50,000 subscribers. I think that over the next probably week or so, he's going to hit 50,000 subscribers. So a huge congrats to him. Also, congrats to Chase, his producer, who's been working all the magic behind the scenes on Perry's channel. I have loved seeing all of these wrestlers who aren't in the ring anymore, but have found a whole new career on YouTube. There's been so many great YouTubers, wrestlers turned YouTubers.

Maven, of course, are the top of that list, but Stevie Richards doing great work. Eugene has a great YouTube channel. I'm going to miss out on some names here, so don't be like, what about so-and-so? It's a long list, but I love that Perry Saturn is now added onto that list as well. So what a great chat with him. We are exactly three weeks away now from Insight Live in New Orleans. Friday, October 9th, the day before Money in the Bank, if you've been to any of the live shows that we've done with Tristratus, Seamus, Joe Hendry, Maven, Chelsea Green, Carlito, Mustafali, Natty, or the Hurt Syndicate, you know how much fun it is when you're there, when you're in the room. So grab your tickets. You don't want to miss out. CvVVTX.com.

CVVT.I.X.com. Welcome to Ask CVVV. Number 153 Amigos addition. Ask CVV number 153D addition. Love that finishing move. And Ask CVV, this is a deep cut here. Number 153, Armstrong number addition. Yes, a perfect number because one cubed plus five cubed plus three cubed equals 153. Google it. It's true. Man, that was a deep cut. Indeed. If you got a question

for next week, if you've got an idea for Ask CVV number 154, let me know. Leave a comment on Spotify, if you happen to be listening on there, and if you happen to have already left a five-star review or whatever the rating is that you'd like to leave on there, send it in on Chrisfanfleet.com or of course on social media using that hashtag Ask CVV. This email from Lee Clark kicks it off. Hi, CVV! Lee here from Rathnew, Ireland.

You put the little Irish emoji flag there. I like that. What are your thoughts on Sammy Zane winning a second WWB championship? I liked it as I didn't see him beating punk, but I'd love to see the title change a few more times before 2026 ends. If the title was to change,

two or three more times. Who could you realistically see as a champ? I'd love to see Finn win it and Gunther dethron him and have Randy beat Gunther and end 2026 as the champ. Love the show. I listen. Every day a new episode is out. You're amazing, brother.

No, you Lee. You are amazing. Sammy Zane is now a two-time W-W-E champion. And actually, after winning the title last Friday, he is now only the third person to be a two-time Grand Slam champion. He joins just the Miz and Seth Rollins,

who have won twice, have won a World Championship, a tag team championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and United States Championship two times over. The undisputed championship has now changed hands multiple times on TV in 2026. Just last week, I was saying on AskCTV, I don't think we're going to be getting Roman Reins versus

CM Punk at Crown Jewel. I just think that matchup is too big to have a crown jewel in a match that for all intents and purposes doesn't really mean anything. Doesn't really matter. You win the oversized championship, and that's kind of it. And then here we are seven days later.

We've got a new undisputed WWE champion. Now, I put up a poll on Instagram and Facebook, and I said, do you think Sammy Zane will still be the champion on December 31st of this year. And the results were an overwhelming no. 95% of you said no. No, see, he will not be the champion by the end of the year. And I feel like because his last rain was only eight days,

there's this predisposed idea that Sammy Zane title rains aren't long. But if he survives this weekend, this rain will officially be longer than the first one. And it doesn't seem like he'll be defending the title on Smackdown tonight. So at least they haven't announced a match, but I suppose there could be an impromptu match. But if he survives through the weekend, this will be his longest reign as WWE champion. I know that's not saying a lot. This is only his second reign. The first one was only eight days.

But I'm just stating a fact that if we get through the weekend, it's already longer than his last reign. And when I say that there could be an impromptu match, well, there's a lot of people. that are coming after that undisputed WWE Championship. And to your point here, Lee, there could be the possibility of the title changing hands. You said two to three more time. I don't know if it's that many more, although I suppose we do have the rest of September then all of October, all of November, all of December. So we've got about three and a half months for that to happen.

I don't know if it's two or three more times, but I could certainly see one more time. and there's a lot of people who want that title. C.M. Punk. Kevin Owens, Gunther, Finn Ballard, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Johnny Wrestling are among those who have already said, I want a shot. I'm next in line. In fact, Johnny wrestling already said, said he's next in line. And then you combine all of those names there and add on the idea that the fact that money in the bank is just three weeks away and there may be someone else eyeing up that title or perhaps the World Heavyweight Championship, which is currently held by Roman Raines.

There's a lot of people in the mix. I still think Randy Orton's the next champion. This has been teased for what feels like I think it's two years. And now since the story with Cody Rhodes is done, Randy is free to move on. And usually I'd say, all right, well, let's look at the P.LEs on the horizon here. All right, we've got money in the bank. We've got Crown Jewel, although the odds of a major title. changing hands there is unlikely. We've got Survivor Series, and then we've got Russell

Ploos at the end the year. Usually, I would say those are the only places where a title could change hands. But 2026 has been so different. In 2026, we've seen world titles change hands on TV frequently. Drew McIntyre won it on TV in January. Cody Rhodes in March. Sammy Zane in June, CM Punk in July. Sammy Zane again last Friday. So, It could now happen on SmackDown any week or possibly even Raw. The title doesn't even belong to Raw, but then CM Punk won it on Raw. I mean, it's all willy-nilly. Raw superstars appear on Smackdown.

Smackdown superstars appear on Raw. My point is it doesn't need to be a PLE anymore. We also saw Stephanie Vacare winning the Women's World Championship on a live event. We'll get to that in a little bit here. But anything's fair game now. Like, it could happen at any point in time. And I know that I said the title wouldn't change hands at Crown Jewel, but there is an interesting scenario here that could happen for both the men's and women's champion versus champion match.

Like you've got the world champion taking on the WWE champion, both of them pushing each other to the limit. The match finally ends, one, two, three. And then the money in the bank briefcase holder comes out, cash is in. It's never happened before at Crown Jewel, but this could line up perfectly this year with how late money in the bank is, then Crown Jewel's about a month later. So that's just something to just file in the back of your mind

and just keep in there and just think about that. But I think Randy Orton is the next WWE champion. I think we're going to find a way to get to Randy Orton versus Sammy Zane, and Randy Orton's going to win that one. but I think ahead to, I know that WWE plans out like WrestleMania about a year in advance, sometimes even more. So if you think to WrestleMania, how do you work your way back from there? You got WrestleMania, how do you get from WrestleMania back to Royal Rumble,

then how do you work back to, let's say, Survivor Series, and then work back a few more, obviously money in the bank needs to be considered there. And then that takes us to today. So Sammy Zane is the WWE champion right now. Roman Raines, the world champion right now. I don't know how the year ends. I would love to see a possible scenario here where we get to Crown Jewel,

and it's Randy Orton taking on Roman Rains in that champion versus champion match. And that's not to say that we're not going to have Sammy Zane versus Roman Rains, but it'll be really interesting to see what the move is there and then where it goes forward from there. But if you had to ask me right now, September 18, 2026, CVV, who is the champion as the calendar turns over from 2026 to 2027? My answer, as of today, is Randy Orton.

I think there's a way to get Randy Orton number 15, and maybe he holds on to that all the way from there to WrestleMania. So it's a situation I would love to see. It's been far too long since Randy Orton was the W-2-WE champion, and my goodness, does that title look good around his shoulder? He has not been the champion since November of 2020 when he held the title for just 22 days. So we're coming up on six years, more than half a decade,

since Randy Orton has been the WWE champion, it is long, long, long overdue. I understand there have been a lot of other things at play here, a lot of other people that are holding the championship, but I think it's time. And I think the fans want it. It's obvious that the fans want this. So it's just a matter of time before that's the case.

Is he the next champion? I'm not sure, but I would think that he probably is at some point in time very soon, one of the next champions, but I can't wait to see Randy Orton as a champ again. 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.

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Thoughts on Monday in Mexico. I absolutely love seeing some actual amazing matches. It seemed more wrestling-driven than, hey, let's go cut a promo. And then another promo after that. Wish they'd do that more. Gable and Lee or Roman. and Penta for the better match. I mean, come on here.

It's like asking me which one of my kids is my favorite. Gable and Lee, match of the year, contender, and Roman and Penta, what a main event. I loved both of them. And that crowd was so electric. That's an all-time raw crowd, I think. Like one of the best, most energetic raw crowds we've seen, maybe ever, top five, top 10, raw crowds.

I loved it. And I also love that emotional moment between Chad Gable and Dragonly after the match. You could see how much that match meant to both of them. And it almost felt like a moment where Chad Gable was saying like, hell yeah, man, you stepped up. Like, I'm sure that they had been talking about this, putting together this match for all week or maybe even longer than that. And it was like, there was that moment in the ring afterwards where it was like,

yeah, man, we did it. Amazing, amazing work all around. that main event was better than some of the PLE main events over the last year. Penta versus Roman Raines for the World Heavyweight Championship. And I appreciate that this is a raw main event that we had in the works for weeks. Like very similar to a PLE, we were able to look forward to this one for weeks and dream up all the different scenarios of how this might go. on paper, this was baby face versus baby face. It was so clearly not baby face versus baby face when this played out in reality.

I don't know if there was possibly a bigger baby face in all of Mexico City last Monday night than Penta. And it was clear that Roman Reins was walking into enemy territory. But man, how can you not respect the performances from both of them? And I love that this was a clean match. No run-ins, no silliness, no ref bumps, just a clean, hard-fought match. And the way that Roman Raines is working the crowd, and he's like mocking the chance that are happening,

he's so good. He is just so good. And Penta just continues every single week to step things up. Just when you thought, man, there's no way that Penta could get any better. Well, just give him another week. Give him another week and another match. What an amazing match that was.

And there was all this talk about, man, is Roman Rayne's going to take a Mexican destroyer? Well, no. No, he didn't take a Mexican destroyer. He took two Mexican destroyers. And I love the way that he was selling the sacrifice. When Penta had his arm, looking like he was going to like rip it out of its socket

and Romans selling this like with the big eyes. Just perfect performances by both of those guys. And it just levels up Penta so much. And I know that after the match, Penta said, it didn't happen tonight, but he's going to be a future world champion. I believe him. I absolutely believe him. What a great match.

And just great storytelling all around. The hometown guy versus the guy. is the guy who really doesn't lose that often. Also, the guy who doesn't wrestle that often on Raw. I think that was Roman's first match on Raw in a year and a half since the debut of Raw on Netflix last January. That's the first time in eight years that Roman Raines defended the WWE Championship on Raw.

Like, it was special to see this. And I think that we're getting into this territory with Roman Reins, whether you like him or you hate him. We're getting into this territory where you better start appreciating what Roman Raines is doing right now, similar to John Sina in his final few years and certainly during his retirement tour. It's the idea of Roman's not going to be doing this for that much longer. He has made that very clear in the interviews that he's done. So like these performances he's been giving us, especially this year in 2026, where he goes all out. they're meaningful.

They're meaningful because they don't happen often, which depending where you sit on it is either a good thing or a bad thing, but it makes them meaningful in the same way that when Brock Lesnar wrestles, it's meaningful. Or I guess it was meaningful. He's retired now. When you've got a guy who Roman Raines has appeared in six matches this year, one of them being the Royal Rumble, he has won them all, including the Royal Rumble. So Roman Reins and Danhausen, I think, are the only two

WWE superstars who have wrestled three plus matches in 2026 and have won them all. But Roman Raines is, it's a main event feel every time he's out there. It's meaningful. And this is a match where it's not just about all eyes being on Roman Raines here. He took that spotlight that was on him. and he pointed it over to Penta and made us realize man Penta is one of the very best in the world.

The aura that Penta has, can we talk about that entrance that Penta had? You could just tell how fired up he was, just feeding off of the energy of the crowd. That's a main event for the ages. And back to Chad Gable. Chad Gable has had some of the best matches of his life in the last few years or few months here.

And it was a really cool comment. I don't know if you saw this, Seth Rollins put out on Instagram yesterday or the day before. He said it's been really amazing watching Chad Gable become one of the best wrestlers in the world. And it's true. We are seeing some absolute magic with him. And that match, we already knew how great Chad Gable was.

I kind of feel like Dragon Lee was like the best kept secret, but he is a secret no more, especially after that match for the Intercon and All championship. Who's going to take this from Chad Gable? Because when that happens, that's going to be a big moment. This guy who just keeps putting on

these bangers of matches, someone's going to finally come around and go, it's my time now. And whatever that match happens to be, it's going to be fantastic. That leads us pretty well into this next one here. Stephen Brendan on Facebook says, Yo, CBV!

Who do you think will be the next Intercontinental Champion? Chad Gable has it right now. Won it at SummerSlam. I do believe that Javon Evans is going to become the youngest Intercontinental Champion of all time. I just don't think it's next.

What I do think is after that amazing match between Chad Gable and Dragon Lee. Dragon Lee gets another shot at this. maybe it's not next week or the week after that, but I actually think Dragon Lee is the next Intercontinental Champion, and then I think it's going to go forward.

Maybe there's one or two other changes in there. I think it's Javon Evans winning it at WrestleMania 43. Maybe it's a ladder match, but a big moment for a history-making moment. That's where I think it's going to be Javon Evans. But how can you deny Dragon Lee after that match last Monday? I mean, obviously, Chad Gable is undeniable as well,

but I think that this has leveled Dragonly up so much that it's time. Dragonly has proved that he can hang. I think Dragonly, maybe he's not the next one. Maybe I'm off by one or two here, but Dragon Lee is definitely a future Intercontinental Champion, and I just feel in my gut that he should be the next one. on the women's side, I think raw last Monday was pretty telling for that as well. Who did Lola Vice win or PIN?

Who did Lola Vice pin to advance in the Money in the Bank qualifier match? Yeah, the Intercontinental Champion, Raquel Rodriguez. And I think that what a strong raw debut that is, not just to win that triple threat match, not just to advance to the Money in the Bank match, but to say, hey, in mind. my debut match on Raw, I pinned the women's intercontinental champion. Raquel Rodriguez, I'm coming for you. So I feel like that makes a ton of sense. I think the match makes a lot of sense, too.

You've got Lola Vise, a smaller explosive striker against that powerhouse champion. If you were asking me to put my money on it, that's it right there. Terry Davis on Spotify, with Stephanie Vakere winning the women's world championship at a live event, what do you think the odds are going forward that we're going to see a growing trend of title changes on untelevised show? First of all, huge congrats to Stephanie Vakere. She's now a two-time women's world champion. And man, she is one of the best wrestlers in the world.

I love watching her work. WWE returned to Chile for that live event. It was the first time they had been there in seven years. and what a memorable way to come in there for the first time in seven years, to have someone from their own country win the championship. And when you go to a live event, you are not expecting anything but fun. You're expecting some entertainment and some fun. You are not expecting to see the title change hands.

But I love the full circle story of Stephanie McCair attending, a WWE live event when she was a kid going, that's what I want to do for a living. And fast forward all these years later, not only is she in the WWE, but she wins the world championship in her home country. It's a beautiful, beautiful moment. And you can see from the video clips,

you can see from the photos, how much that moment meant to her. She's so emotional, taking it all in. I love it. It is the first time that a WWE championship has changed hands at a live event in seven years. The last time it happened, December 26th, 2019. It was the day after Christmas, Madison Square Garden.

Andrade defeated Ray Mysterio to win the United States Championship. Then you've got to go two years before that. A.J. Stiles beating Kevin Owens for the U.S. title also at Madison Square Garden. The one before that, 2016, Samoa Joe, beating Finn Baller for the NXT title. That was a big one. And then you got to go all the way back to 2012 for the one before that. Primo and Epico winning the tag titles from Air Boom. There's a tag team name you haven't heard in a long time.

Air Boom. Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne. Do I think that this is going to be a growing trend? Probably not. Do I think it's going to be seven more years until we see this happen again? Also, probably not. I think that this is something that they reserve for really special occasions like this one was. And that is going to be something.

There's going to be somebody in that crowd there that night that watched Stephanie Vakir win the title that is going to go on and it's going to inspire them to whatever it is, chase their dream in WWE or chase their dream in pro wrestling. And it's going to be because of that moment that they witnessed live themselves. I just love that kind of stuff. I don't think this is going to be something where it's going to happen once a year, once every two years. I don't think there's going to be a schedule on this. But I do think that when there are those memorable, meaningful moments,

WWE often understands that and they go, yeah, let's make this thing happen. The leave is where football lives. From the biggest rivalries conference showdowns to every game-changing moment, Believe is where football lives. With more than 500 shows covering NCAA football and the NFL across every major podcast platform, Believe brings you closer to the voices, teams, and stories you love. This season, there's only one network you need to believe in. Believe in the game.

Believe Network. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Kyle Warrior on Instagram, Ultimate underscore Warrior, underscore 89, writes in and says, Hi, Chris. I love the show all the way from England, and I loved the interview with Will Osprey. Always enjoy the Mount Rushmore, so here's another one for you. Who would your Mount Rushmore be of underrated or underutilized wrestlers? I'm thinking ones who had phenomenal upside slash ceilings, but for whatever reason, never got the rub or the push, and it kind of fizzled out. Keep up the great work. It's tough because there's a lot of names that could be.

on this list. In fact, this may be one of the Mount Rushmore's where my list looks completely different from your list or from anybody else's list because I think there's a lot of different people here. It just all comes down to what do you define as underrated or underutilized? Because that word gets attached to a lot of different people and I guess it just matters how you interpret it or the way that you see it. So I think there's a lot of different people on here, but I'm going to start my list off here with Shelton Benjamin. The guy is so athletic, so talented. Heck, he's still doing it now, and he hasn't slowed down. And I feel like WWE continued to show us flashes of a breakout star, and they never fully committed to that breakout happening. His athleticism off the charts,

and I feel like he could have great matches with pretty much anyone. Like there is no such thing as a bad Shelton Benjamin match. And he had amazing matches against people like Triple H and HBK. And he was right there. But for whatever reason, they just never pulled the trigger on him. He also had some gimmicks that were probably not the best fit for what he was doing. So I'm going to go Shelton Benjamin as one of them there. Cesarro incredible strength, amazing look, phenomenal worker, unique offense.

Again, still doing it, hasn't slowed down. And I feel like there was a few real opportunities where WWE should have given him the ball and just let him run with it. One of them, the Andre the Battle, Andre the Battle, Andre the Giant Battle win. When he won that thing, and I feel this way about the Andre in general. Make it mean something. Instead of just the person crossing their arms and standing next to this oversized trophy, make it mean something. Make it an instant shot for the intercontinental title or the U.S. title.

Like, have it mean something or make it be a gimmick like King of the Ring. So I feel like they could have done something with that there. the real obvious one with Cesarro is he was paired with Paul Heyman and Paul Heyman told the story when he was on my show that yeah he was he was a Paul haman guy Cesarro was a Paul Hamon guy but Cesar was only a Paul Hamon guy to get to C.M. Punk and to constantly remind C.M. Punk that Brock Lesnar is dominant. Brock Lesnar's the one in 21 and one. And Brock was off TV and Paul Heyman was just there to constantly push this story forward. That's the way that the story was told by Paul Heyman. But there's so many other

opportunities there. The Cesarro section, the push that he had in 2021, it just felt like they never went all the way with it. And that's a legit world title level baby face. sitting right there, and they could have done a lot more with it. William Regal, elite promo, unbelievable character work, psychology, great comedy wrestler, great technical wrestler, he could do it all. And then his 2008 King of the Ring run, as King Regal, showed that he could be a serious main eventer. And that should have turned into a world title run or a WWE.

run, a WWE title run, and it didn't. And I feel like that's a crazy one to think about, that William Regal, as talented as he is, all the praise that his peers heap onto him, the guy was never a world champion. And this isn't a list of like, who were the best people to not be a world champion? This is a list of people where they had something and they were underutilized in that position. And I feel like William Regal made the absolute best of everything he was given. But there was so much more potential that if they had just given him a little bit more, he would have ran with it. And my fourth one here is going to be John Morrison. Because when you look at John Morrison post the Miz and Morrison split, there was a period there where it genuinely

looked like Morrison was going to become a future world champion. And I get that he was an ECW champion. And he talked about that when he was on the show earlier this year and said, he didn't really feel like a world champion when he was the ECW champion in that position. But there were so many chances there. And he got close beating Ray Mysterio for the IC title in 09. He was featured a ton on Raw. Remember that match he had with the Miz, the Falls Count Anywhere match. I think that's 2011, early 2011.

he was always in like the like think of all the amazing spots that he had in like elimination chamber or in the royal rumble all the saves like there were so many things there and i get that maybe it's similar to that cesaro situation where his promos aren't as strong as all of the other qualities he has man could you imagine john morrison as a paulhaman guy would have been amazing like you look at john john John Morrison and he just looks like a heel. Like, how can you not hate a guy who has 46 abs and just like movie star good looks? I feel like it writes itself.

And there's another guy. Man, we're talking about all these people who are still doing it. John Morrison hasn't lost a step either. So I think that Ms. became champion from their tag team. Ms. still absolutely crushing it, an absolute future Hall of Famer. amazing. But Morrison just wasn't quite given that opportunity. He was a world champion in other places, but never in WWE. And I think a really interesting thing about John Morrison is he had almost everything that WWE would traditionally look for in a WWE superstar. And it was during

the years when WWE really needed to create some new main event level starts. Like when you think about 2010, 2011, 2012, he would have been, I think, perfect in that spot. And I think a big question here is, why didn't it happen? So those are my four. I would love to hear what you think and what your list looks like. But there's a lot. There are a lot of underutilized, underrated people. In fact, next week, Next week, Apollo Cruz is on the show. And I asked him that very question. Like, how do you feel with the word underrated or underutilized being attached to your career?

And he had a fascinating answer about that. So that is next Thursday. He'll hear that chat with Apollo Cruz. David Reed Hastie on Facebook says, love the podcast. Thank you for your efforts in making it. Well, David, thank you for recognizing these episodes. efforts. Do you think L.A. Knight? Yeah, wins the world title. Also, if he does, how long do you think he holds on to it for? Well, we now officially have Roman Raines versus L.A. Knight at money

in the bank. Roman Raines is currently the longest reigning champion on the main roster, clocking in right now at 153 days. This match, L.A. Knight versus Roman Reins, is a rematch from 2023, Crown Jewel. Obviously, you remember how that one went. Since L.A. Knight has not yet won a W.W.E. Championship. He lost that one to Roman Range. We've got a rematch now. And, man, if there was ever a time to pull the trigger on L.A. Night, it's right here and right now.

but I think the thing here is it's always taken people, at least in recent time, it's taken them a little while to beat Roman Range. You think about Cody Rhodes, he loses it, loses to Roman Raines at 39, wins the next year at 40. Maybe that's what's going to happen here. L.A. and I didn't get the job done three years ago. He's a different person now. Roman Raines at the same time, also a different person now. just think that if there was ever a time,

it has to be now. L.A. Night has been so close, so many times. And I also feel like he's been in the money and the bank match three times and also quite literally so close to getting that briefcase, like in his hands.

And he didn't even get the briefcase. So what a wonderful way here to write the wrong of not having L.A. Knight be the world champion at some point when he was white hot in 24. Why not do it now? And just let him run with it. He looks to be in the best shape of his career. He can go on the mic as good or better than anybody. Make this happen. And I think the only thing that this is up against, the only real argument against it is, Roe. Roman Raines doesn't really lose a lot.

Roman Raines, like I said, undefeated right now in 2026. Is this where Roman Raines loses? And as much as I want this to happen, maybe I'm a little biased. Known L.A. Knight for a long time. Known him since he was Eli Drake. Maybe I'm a little biased here

because I know how talented he is. Seen his work in TNA and I've seen his work in the NWA and I've seen his work everywhere else. And I've seen his work in NXT. And man, he is, he's done everything right in WWE. You want to talk about somebody who ticks all of the boxes. For me, it's L.A. night. I would love to see this happen.

And I just feel in my gut for some reason that it is going to happen here. I don't know why I feel that way. Maybe it's the fact that Roman Reins isn't wrestling that many matches. And on the flip side of that coin, the fact that L.A. Knight's there, week in, week out, WWE also seems to be leaning into these feel-good moments. This would be a feel-good moment for sure. I'm really torn. I see both sides of it for sure.

I just don't see why they would put L.A. Knight in this position one more time for him not to win it. If that ship had sailed, that ship had sailed a long time ago. So why put L.A. Knight back in this position when the top of the card is full of talented wrestlers, full of people who, at the snap of their fingers, could be right there in that main event picture and it makes perfect sense. Why put L.A. Knight back in there if you're not going to finally let him do his thing.

But if we're going to look ahead to Crown Jewel, Sammy Zane versus Roman Raines feels like it lines up. That's who we'd have right now if there's no title changes. Would we? Could we get Sammy Zane, versus L.A. Knight? Is that a match that's going to happen? I just don't know. I think I'm so torn as to why would you put L.A. Knight in this position just to lose. Like there's so many other people

that could have this title shot, but they're giving it to L.A. Knight. So I just make some sense for me if he's not going to be in this position and he's not going to win. Jeff Chornenko. I hope I'm saying that right. On Facebook says, how come we've never seen you and Chris Sharp in the same room together? That is a fascinating question, Jeff.

And you will see a Chris Sharp and Chris Van Fleet micro-brawler in the same room together. Chris Sharp micro-brawlers are on the way. the highly requested Chris Sharp micro-brawlers are finally arriving. I think in like two weeks

if you're coming to the show in New Orleans, I will have them there. If you're coming on the Jericho cruise, I will also have them there. But the actual Chris Sharp and the actual Chris Van Fleet in the same room, I just don't think that we could,

I don't think I'd want to be in the same room as Chris Sharp. I don't think I'd want to even be breathing the same air as Chris Sharp. we don't like Chris Sharp. I don't think you'd, I don't think you'd want to be in the same room as him either.

The micro brawler, though, a different story. You can grab those on CVVmerch.com when they do become available. And in the meantime, though, you can grab the regular ones and you can grab the T-shirts on there. But I've had a lot of people since I,

since I dropped Richard Holiday with that picture perfect rock bottom at reality of wrestling in Texas City, Texas had a lot of people asking about Chris Sharp. I've also had a lot of people going, you've talked way too much about that rock bottom with Richard Holiday for there not to be a match. And I just keep telling you guys, there is not a match.

This is not happening. I don't care how many times he calls me out. I don't care what he says about me. It's not happening. This is the funny thing about wrestling. is I can sit here and say to you, this match is not happening. There is no way this match is happening. But because we're all so preconditioned to like hear that stuff in wrestling and no,

it's not true, you're going, well, I know you're lying. But I am actually telling you the truth. And you can save this. You can remember ask CVV 153 20 years from now when this match doesn't happen. And you can go, oh, yeah, I guess he was telling us the truth. But it's not happening. I'm not working a match. It's a nice thought, but I quite honestly do not have the time to put into training to make it look as good as I would want it to look.

So no, it's not happening. So I don't think we'll ever see me or Chris Sharper in the same room at the same time. Legendary has arrived in Alberta with BetMGM Sportsbook. Sign up to unlock access to hundreds of pregame and live betting options for all your favorite sports, including hockey, baseball, soccer, and much more. Have a hunch your favorite player is going to have a great game? Lock in your picks and watch the action unfold. You can make your picks on your favorite team too.

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Standard message and data rates may apply. The leave is where fly. Football lives. From the biggest rivalries, conference showdowns to every game-changing moment, Believe is where football lives. With more than 500 shows covering NCAA football and the NFL across every major podcast platform, believe brings you closer to the voices, teams, and stories you love. This season, there's only one network you need to believe in.

Believe in the game. Believe Network. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Denzel Klaus on Facebook says, do you think Roxanne will turn on Liv Morgan and the rest of the Judgment Day tribe for her own reasonable success? Well, look, Roxanne Perez is a star

that is just waiting to break out. She's still my early pick to win money in the bank. I know she hasn't qualified for it yet, but if we look at the landscape here, I feel like she's my pick and my hope. plan behind this was Roxanne's going to win. She's going to cash in on Liv Morgan. That's going to really break things up in the Judgment Day. Well, obviously, that's not going to be the case anymore here. Liv Morgan doesn't have the championship because she lost it to Stephanie Bacare, which we just

talked about. But I think it might be time to move on from the Judgment Day. The judgment day was formed by Edge. Edge hasn't been in WWE in years. It's crazy to think about that. I saw a comment online that said, Judgment Day has been around since Mercedes Monet

was known as Sasha Banks. That kind of puts it in perspective. And when you look at the current roster right now, the current members of the Judgment Day, You've got Dominic Mysterio who's been around since around the beginning, not like the very beginning, but he's been around since 2022 in the Judgment Day. J.D. McDonough, Liv Morgan, Rquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez. All of those people, all five of them, have the ability to be stars on their own.

And they already have been stars on their own. They've all held championships while being part of the Judgment Day. Just don't know if they need the Judgment Day. to continue to have their success. In fact, maybe the judgment day is holding them back from having even more success. I really feel like that's the case with Roxanne Perez. And I feel like next year is going to be a breakout year for her. And I think it starts with her winning the money in the bank briefcase.

But maybe those plans have changed a little bit since Liv Morgan doesn't hold the title. But yeah, I think Roxanne Perez maybe doesn't turn on them. maybe they turn on her. But I think Roxanne Perez, as a baby face, let her just let her take that and do with it what she wants. She is absolutely a future star. And I think we're just starting to see where this is going to break out. We're starting to see that she has the potential to make this all happen.

So I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if Judgment Day turns on her, but let Dom do his thing. Let J.D. do his thing. J.D. could be a great baby baby. How could you, how can you boo this guy? J.D.'s so freaking talented. Makes everybody looks so good. sells like 10 out of 10. Liv Morgan has already been world champion multiple times. She's a huge star. Raquel Rodriguez.

as current IC champion, obviously a huge star, huge presence as well. They're all stars here. I'm just saying maybe it's time to move on from the judgment day. Damien Priest isn't in it anymore. Ria Ripley is not in it anymore. Finn Baller is not in it anymore. Edge, of course, is not in it anymore. So there's your original members there. they're not in anymore. So yeah, maybe it's time to move on. Todd Prelerson on Instagram says, Chris, I just saw the checklist for Topps 2026,

Alan and Ginter, and noticed that you are in it. Any insight on how that came to be? Congrats. When I say this is a dream come true, this is a dream come true. I grew up collecting Topps carts. And now I have a Tops card. It's mind-blowing to me. I can't believe this is a real thing.

So the Allen and Ginter set comes out on October 8th, I believe, October 7th. And pre-orders just opened up, I think, a week or two ago. This is so cool. It's 300 cards. There's obviously a bunch of MLB stars. But then there's a ton of of people outside of baseball. And I don't know how this happened. Shout out to my agent, Scott Kaufman for putting this together. Scott, thank you for making this happen. My dad, who's a massive baseball fan, he thinks this is the coolest thing ever. And that means so much to me. So I also signed a ton of these. And I will say, just between me and you, you, do, I signed one card Chris Sharp. So I feel like that card, even though it's not a one of one,

it is a one of one and the fact that there are no others like it. So if you happen to find that card, just know that that one's special. But there are like there are one of ones and there's one, you know, there's fives and tens. I signed a bunch of these. So I'm excited to see those start to pop up, but this is very, very cool. My card is number 121. Card number 126 is Anne Hathaway. If you know, you know, there's also Luke Combs in there and Moby and Exhibit. I'm just going through the list here real quick because there's a lot of like Steve Aoki has a card, Jerry Seinfeld, Jesse Eisenberg and Matt Rife

it's just I can't believe this is a real thing so Todd thank you for sending the question an awesome thing if you happen to get one because I don't have any of them yet

I signed all these and then shipped them right back if you get one when you get one if you get one in October please take a photo and tag me it'd be amazing

to be able to see this Patrick Taylor on Instagram says, the last few years, you've been to two of my favorite baseball stadiums, Bush Stadium and Team Mobile Park. What is your Mount Rushmore of baseball stadiums that you visited? Yet just this week, my dad and I crossed another Major League Baseball Stadium off the list. So this is a tradition that started in the year 2000. My dad and I go to one or sometimes two baseball stadiums a year. This has been an amazing father's son tradition that we've been doing since I was 17 years old. This week, we crossed off Bush Stadium in St. Louis. It was a quick trip to St. Louis.

It's like a 40-minute flight from here in Nashville. We arrived in the morning. The game started at 1215, then after the game, and we flew back. Bush Stadium, great stadium. St. Louis, you've got a great stadium there. We had an absolute blast there. It was Cardinals, Giants, Giants won in 10, one in the 10th inning. But just a fun experience. And I, now that I'm a father, I appreciate this tradition that much more. My dad just turned 75 this year. And my dad is like the most in shape, active 75 year old you've ever met. Like there's nothing that he can't do at 75 that he couldn't do it, 35. I love. I love. love it, and it's so inspiring to see. But by Mount Rushmore, it's tough. We've been to 27. People always say, well, what are your favorite stadiums? And they also say, which ones haven't

you been to? So we haven't been to Mets, Royals, and Athletics. Athletics, we're going to wait till the new stadium opens in Las Vegas. Metzum surprised we haven't been to, because Yankee Stadium was an early one that we went to. We went to Yankees. Actually, we went to old Yankees stadium together in like 2002, maybe 2003. I've been to New Yankee Stadium, but I haven't been there with my dad. So that'll be one after the whole list we've gone through them all. That'll be one that we have to go back to. But I think City Field next year for the Mets will be the next one. Then I think the Royals. Then I think after that, yeah, I think after that A's. I don't know, but there's three left.

My dad and I, we have our favorites, our two favorites, number one and two are the same. It's Fenway Park and Wrigley. And I think that depending on the day you ask either me or DVV, Dirk Van Vleet, maybe today he'll say Fenway's his favorite, maybe tomorrow he'll say Wrigley is his favorite. And there's just so much history there.

It just, the walls there just ooze history and you can feel it. In fact, one year they were at Fenway Park. Fenway Park was giving away the ability to write your name in the bricks that were outside. And I thought, this was probably like 15 or 20 years ago. I thought, what a great gift to get my dad who loves baseball and loves Fenway Park. So we have a brick somewhere. I've seen it once. I can't remember the exact location. But we have a brick outside of Fenway Park. And then they send you, a second brick, a replica of it, which sits proudly on his desk in the basement of my childhood home where they still live. So that's really cool. So Fenway, Wrigley, real easy. Those are one, two. Three and four are a little bit more difficult. I think for number three, I'm going to go PNC Park where the Pirates play in Pittsburgh. right along the river there. It's a smaller baseball park,

so it feels so much more intimate when you're there. I just, it feels modern still, even though it's like 25 years old too. Yeah, and beautiful like skyline and center field. So that one's a, that's an easy pick here. And then number four,

man, it's going to be so hard. Because I also lumped them into like, there's the historic parks, and I already give you two historic parks, and then there's like the more modern baseball parks. PNC is definitely my favorite modern baseball park. But man, number. It's hard because there's so many good ones, but I think I'm going to go Petco Park in San Diego. And there's something about the way that it's just integrated

into the downtown area there. Like you're just kind of walking along. There's other downtown buildings, and then boom, there's this beautiful baseball Park and right fields like a lawn where you can just hang out. It's just a beautiful location, great architecture, amazing food there. I'm going to go Petco Park, and there's a ton of honorable mentions here. I'm not trying to say I don't enjoy your stadium. I've enjoyed them. Pretty much, I've enjoyed all of them. Maybe we do Mount Rushmore of least favorite stadiums in a future episode, but I went to the Giants Park years ago when it was PNC Park. I actually saw Barry Bonds play there.

It's like we're going way back to like the early 2000s. Another beautiful baseball park. Right field is the Bay and home runs get hit there. It's such a cool thing. Oracle Park at Camden Yards, another beautiful one. I loved going to Dodger Stadium and I was so, so fortunate to see the Blue Jays win a game there in the World Series. last year. We don't need to talk about how the World Series ended last year, but it was so cool being in that iconic, historic baseball parks. So I'm not going to go through all the entire list here of all the

stadiums, but that's my top four. Next time, DVV's in town. We'll ask DVV his top four and his Mount Rushmore of baseball stadiums that we have visited. Like I said, there's still three more to go. So after visiting all 30 Major League Baseball parks, maybe the list ships a little bit. I've heard great things about Cothman Stadium and City Field. So who knows? Who knows? That's our final question on this Asked CVV.

Number 153 Amigos edition, 153D edition, and the Armstrong number edition as well. 153, the perfect number, one cube plus five cubed plus three cubed equals 153. I love the nerdiness of that so much. Send in your questions for next week. I'd love to hear them. Ask CVV number 154. And if you're still listening, at this point right now, you, my friend, are officially a real, real one.

I always say if you hit play on an Ask CBV episode, you're a real one. Because like, I understand why you'd want to listen to an episode with Chelsea Green or Joe Hendry or John Sina or JBL and Ron Simmons. But if you're clicking on an Ask CVV episode and we get to hang out like this on a Friday, you are a real one. So thank you for talking a little wrestling with me as we head into this weekend. Thank you for being a real, real one for listening all the way until the end here. did you see this interview that Tom Cruise did with GQ this last week? I thought it was fascinating. And I think he's such a talented actor. And it was an interesting look into his life. And he had a quote in this that I want to share with you. I'm going to leave you with this quote to wrap it up.

A person without a dream is someone who's decided not to live. I love that one so much. Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one. for some more insight. Start your day with a morning joll of Drake C. Toll. I'm a normal human being. You play the NFL. I don't want you back in college football. Then Black and Abdallah.

I don't know if I could name a worse leader for a franchise. Absolutely ridiculous. And Westwood One Sports Night caps it all off. It's an important year for all parties involved. Self-awareness. That might be the most underrated skill set that a person can have. Westwood one sports talk. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.