AskCVV #156 - MITB Bold Predictions, Breakout Star of 2026, The Attitude Era's Unsung Hero
00:01Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive.The Price is Right Fortune Pick.BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly.19 plus to wager.Ontario only.Please play responsibly.If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you,please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor,
00:22free of charge.BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario.Chris.and salutations, my friend.Welcome back to another one here on Inside.It's me.It's me.It's CVV.
01:01Chris Van Fleet.Hope you've had a great week.Thank you for chatting a little wrestling with me as we head into this money in the bank weekend.And as always,thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet.Hit a twist of fate on that follow button on Spotify or Apple orwherever you're listening today. So you don't miss out on any episodes that we have on the way.And I will say that I just recorded one yesterday with someone in WWE who holds a championship.
01:35And I don't want to say too much more, but you'll be seeing that episode in the next,I think, like two weeks or so. I'm leaving for New Orleans in like just a few hours.We got Insight Live tonight with our very special guest, the women's intercontinental champion, Raquel Rodriguez.So grab those tickets now, CVVTix.com.There's still some VIP tickets available, which include Ask CVV before the show and then a meet and greet after the show.And I've had people ask, yes, you can buy tickets at the door.The only thing you risk there is if the show's sold out, you won't be able to buy tickets at the door.I'd just say buy them in advance if you can, but if that's not an option, yes.
02:21As long as there's tickets available, you can buy them at the door, but can't wait to see youin the big easy tonight.And if you're going to Money in the Bank tomorrow, we'd love to see you at smoothie King'sCenter.I love that it's called smoothie King Center.What a name for an arena.Maybe we can high-five each other and also drink a smoothie while we're there.It'll be a blast. I love money in the bank. It's one of my favorite PLEs every single year.
02:53I like Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, of course, like those are always just so exciting, but there's something about money in the bank and just the idea of what it means to hold that briefcase.And for the most part, if you look at the percentages, for the most part, it means that if you do have that briefcase, you're likely going to be a world champion.in fact, the women's money in the bank cash in success rate is 100%.So as of right now, if you win that money in the bank briefcase on the women's side,you're cashing in, you're a champion.That's how it's been up to this point.On the men's side, the success rate of cashing in, 76.92%.I love that these stats are out there.
03:41I love that we can look them up and go, oh, actually, yeah.Better than a three-quarter percent chance?Hmm, pretty good.Well, I guess we'll see what happens this weekend.Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive.The Price is Right Fortune Pick.BetMGM and Game Sense remind you to play responsibly.19 plus to wager.
04:04Ontario only.Please play responsibly.If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you,please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor.Free of charge.BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario.New from Nespresso.Blend wellness into your coffee routine with the coffee plus range,
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04:50Nespresso.com. Welcome to ask CVV number 156 Sides of Steel Edition. And ask CVVnumber one 56 man hell in a cell edition. You remember that? The only ever six manHell and Hell in a Cell, Armageddon 2000.Kurt Engel, successfully defending the WWF Championship against the Rock,Stone Cold, Triple H, Underkaker, and Rakeshi?Man, what a lineup, what a match.Rikishi going off the top of Hell and a Cell.Oh, man, what a throwback.
05:35Setting your questions for next week.Sending your ideas for what asks CVV number 157 could be.Leave a comment on Spotify.If you're listening on there, send it in on social media with the hashtag AskCTV.Or go to chrisfamily.com and send me a message through the contact form on there.We'll kick this off with this one from Zachary B1013 on Instagram.We says, can't wait for the live CVV show in New Orleans.Also, what are your predictions for money in the bank?
06:04Well, Zachary, I can't wait to see you tonight for Insight Live with Raquel Rodriguez.It's going to be a blast.here we go with the money in the bank predictions.I think it's important to point out this fun fact here.Seven superstars will be making their money in the bank debut this weekend.Seven.Obafemi, Javon Evans, Tric Williams, Sol Ruka, Lash Legend, Jacey Jane, and Lola Weiss have never been on a Money in the Bank, PLE before.So I think this is just another way to like point out that the new blood is here.
06:40here between all the debuts at Royal Rumble this year, certainly at WrestleMania, now at Moneyin the Bank. I just feel like with that fun fact there, there's going to be some interestingstuff going on in this Money in the Bank ladder match. And I'm here for it. I'm looking forwardto it. Let's start this off with the match between Obafemi and Bronson Reed. Obafemi is the favoriteon MyBooky. When you sign up at MyBooky, use the code CVV for a very nice welcome bonus there.I just don't see Obafemi losing anytime soon. I really don't. I know Bronson Reed's coming backfrom injury. It looks like a million bucks. He's lean. He's mean. But I think that Obafemi is going tocontinue to keep this momentum that he has. And I also think it's a way of getting back at the vision for
07:35decimating him and taking him out and standing over top of him.I think Obafemi gets the win here and continues to build this momentum into the RoyalRumble where as of right now, I know there's a lot of time between now and the Royal Rumble,but as of right now, he's still my pick to win the Royal Rumble and then go on to facepossibly Roman Rains who could still be the champion at that point in time.But I'm going Obafemi with the win over Bronson Reed.Since I just mentioned Roman Raines, let's look at Roman Raines defending the World Heavyweight Championship against L.A. Knight.Yeah.
08:15I said this so many times before, but I just, I don't know what happens if L.A. Knight doesn't win this match.And also, why give this match to L.A. Knight if it's just to have him lose it?But at the same time, I don't see Roman Raines giving up the championship.And I know the WWE title has been changing hands quite a lot over the last nine months or so.But I just don't see Roman Raines losing the title.Like it feels like Roman Raines could actually hold this until WrestleMania.And I know there's this idea around Roman Raines of like, oh man, all of his title reigns are so long.That was just the one title ring.
09:03That was just the one that lasted for one.1,316 days.All the other title reigns he had were relatively short.And I also understand that they were shorter in a time when Roman Reins was on televisionevery week when he was competing far more frequently.Roman Raines up to this point is undefeated in 2026.That's not really a metric that matters that much.I think it's more of just like an interesting thing to point out.
09:29I don't think they're going, oh man, he can't lose because he hasn't lost this year.I just think about where does it go from here?Where does it go after Money in the Bank?And it goes into Crown Jewel.And I just think that with the history you havebetween the two current champions,Sammy Zane and Roman Raines,that match at Crown Jewel makes a lot more sense.
09:55So with that said,even though Roman Raines is a heavy, heavy, heavy favoritehere on my bookie,I'm going to agree with that.I'm going to go Roman Raines for the win hereand then very curious where that leaves L.A. night.But I think that Roman Raines is going to be booked strongwith a win here and then continue to just take that,
10:18like I said, I think into into WrestleMania.And I think also perhaps a clue, perhaps not,but WWE released Roman Rain's schedule.of all the appearances he would be making over the next two months.So he's going to be on Raw October 19th.He's going to be on Raw and Smackdown, November 2nd, Crown Jewel, November 7th, November 9th,he'll be on Raw, November 23rd, the Raw Smackdown taping, then he'll be at Survivor Series,November 28th, then he'll be on the Raw after Survivor Series, November 30th.
10:57That, to me, doesn't sound like the schedule of someone.who's going to be losing their championship.And I know there's so many people out therethat have been saying,oh, he's going to lose the titleso he has more time to focus on promoting Street Fighter.The promotion for Street Fighter is already going on right now.He's been doing it for the last few weeks.
11:15That doesn't factor into this at all.I think that that actually is an added bonusthat the guy who's promoting Street Fighterhappens to also be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.So I don't think that that plays a rolein the least.I don't think that's even somethingthat people should be considering.
11:37But I think that when we look at this scheduleand we look at this matchis happening this weekend,Roman Raines will retain the championship.The women's world championshipis on the line of Stephanie Vacareputs her title on the linein a triple threat match
11:55against Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan.And I feel like this matchis set up to have Stephanie Vacare win the match here.I think that there could be some involvement from Roxam Perez,because I believe she's going to win money in the bank.That'll be a conversation in just a minute here.Maybe she gets involved and muddies the water a little bit here,but I feel like Stephanie Vakere is going to get the win here,
12:22and then Becky Lynch or Liv Morganare going to continue to be chasing after the champion.but Liv Morgan, I feel like could be having some issues here with Roxanne Perez or maybe a little bit of jealousy if Roxanne Perez is missed money in the bank, but I think Stephanie Vakare keeping the title after this match.The women's money in the bank ladder match.Sol Ruka versus Lola Vice versus J.C. Jane versus Roxanne Perez versus Lash Legend versus Tiffany Stratt.And this match really emphasizes the idea of how the briefcase has the ability to turn a mid-carder into a champion.Other than Tiffany Stratton here, no woman in this match has been a world champion.So you've got the ability here to turn five of these people who have never won the world title into a world champion.
13:18I love that idea.That to me feels like what Money in the Bank was originally supposed to be.Like when you think back, not to edge, but beyond edge, you think back to like money in the bankin like the late 2000s. It's the idea of this person gets the title and that could be theirlottery ticket to become the world champion. And it did happen many times or like real closewith other people like Mr. Kennedy's one that immediately pops to mind. If he didn't get injured,boy, his whole WWE career would have been drastically different. And, you know,He was on my show and told a great story behind all of the stuff that ended up happening there of like, yeah, he got injured.
14:02They diagnosed it as a torn tricep.It wasn't actually a torn tricep, but it was too late because they'd already taken the briefcase off of him.Very, very interesting story.When we look at this, I'm just excited about the new blood, the injection of new blood here into the main event scene potentially.I've been saying Roxanne Perez is going to win this match for.months, and I will not change that. Roxanne Perez is the favorite on my bookie, and I thinkthat Roxanne Perez leaves New Orleans with a briefcase in her hand. I don't think she cashes inthat night. I would be a big fan of both of the money in the bank briefcase holders holding
14:44onto this for a little while, and I think Roxanne Perez is going to do just that. She's going towait for the perfect time to cash in, and maybe it's not on Stephanie Vacare.Maybe it's on Live Morgan if slash when she becomes the world champion again.And the men's money in the bank, a ladder match, we've got Braun Breaker, Penta, Kevin Owens, Trick Williams, C.M. Punk and Jivon Evans.A lot of different potential stories that could happen in this match.One of them being C.M. Punk has the chance here to be the first ever three times.Mr. Money in the Bank. He won it in 2008 and he won it in 2009 back to back years. I don'tpersonally feel like that's what's going to happen here. And then again, this is a lot like the
15:36women's match where five of the six people here have never won a world title. So CM Punk'sthe only former world champion in this match. Everybody else would be fresh in that main eventseen fresh as a world champion. And I love that ideal. Sorry, Kevin Owens as well. My bad.Kevin Owens also part of that. So four out of the six here have the potential to be a world championfor the very first time. I've been saying brawn breaker for a long time, but I just in my heartfeel like that match that Pence had in Mexico City against Roman Reigns changed the perceptionof him for a lot of people, for fans and also for people possibly behind the scenes in WWE.and I feel like he has so much momentum right now that I think Pentah is actually going to be
16:26Mr. Money in the Bank.Bronbreaker is the favorite on my bookie, but I'm going with Penta here.And I feel like there's a lot of really interesting angles you could take with this.First of all, Penta, you know he's going to have a badass customized briefcase.That would be one very cool thing.You know the WWE loves cool merchandise.So that's one thing here.It might be the best selling money in the bank custom briefcase of all time because
16:54Pent is so cool.The design would be so cool.It just makes perfect sense here.But I also think that Penta could hold on to this for a while.Really pick his spot here.Really continue to build on what he has.And then cash in at the perfect time.And it would be one of those massive baby face pops because who does?
17:17doesn't love Penta. The guy has everything. And ever since he debuted last year, we've been saying,man, that guy is a future world champion in WW. He's been a TNA champion, but future world champion inWWE. And I would love to see that happen. I'm going with Penta for that one. But I also lovethat we're looking at this match and there's no like clear cut winner. On the women's side,I just, Roxanne Perez feels like the obvious winner. But on the men's side,side, man, you could make a real case for pretty much anyone in that match.So let me know what you think.I've got Penta, I've got Roxanne Perez, I've got Stephanie Vakere, I've got Obafemi,
18:00and I've got the OTC Roman Raines.Let me know what you think on that.Am I going to go five for five or am I going to go like two for five on this?Michael Marciano sent this email in.He says, I'm curious about your Instagram posts with the guest.the wrestler coupled with the belt history. Do you check the comments and sometimes you're like,oh, yeah, everyone got this easily? Or, oh, man, they are way off. This one's going to be a surprise.One thing I always like to point out is those guests, the wrestlers exist on their own. They are
18:35not a hint of a guest that's coming up. They are not a hint about someone who I think is going towin the money in the bank match. It's nothing like that. It's truly just a fun game that we'replaying. Also, I feel like I need to point this out whenever I put those guests, the wrestlergraphics up. We're just including championship wins. So that's why it's like intercontinental titlewith an arrow to the next title is the tag team, then an arrow is to the world title, whatever ithappens to be. Because there's always people that are like, well, you forgot King of the Ring.You forgot money in the bank. We're just doing championships here. It's just championship to championshipto championship. I feel like if you have been watching,
19:17wrestling long enough, most of these are fairly easy to you. And some of them are like obvioustoo. Like when you see John Cena's spinner belt, you're like, oh, yeah. Or like, I mean the U.S.title. When you see the John Cena US spinner, you're like, oh, yeah, well, that's John Cena.He also won, you know, dozens of other championships there. The thing that always gets peopleis when there's a championship rain in there that people have forgotten about. And recently,I put up the Brett Hart one.And I feel like almost everybody forgets that he won the WWE United States Championship.Of course, you remember him being WCW United States champion.
20:00I mean, did it four times.But when people see that WWE United States Championship, they're like, oh, well, man, I thought I had this until I saw that.He won it in 2010.He won it in May 2010.He defeated the MIS in a no disqualification.match, and then a week later, he vacated the title when he was named the new raw generalmanager. And I feel like it's those little ones that people forget. Another great example is,I did the graphic for Kane. And people forget that Kane, as Glenn Jacobs, won the 24-7
20:36championship. So like, they see all the other ones. They go, I think I know who this is, but wait a second,that person won the 24-7 championship. But I assume that when these go up, like, I kind ofjust think that people look at it for like a few seconds and then they just go to the comments and go,oh, there it is, it's Eddie Guerrero. Yeah, I thought it would. Yeah, I knew it was Eddie Gras. I just want tomake sure. I just want to check. I don't think anyone goes to the comments and like types in a wronganswer unless they're trying to be funny. Like when I did the, the, the art truth one is like one of,it's the most obvious one. Fifty four, 24, 24 seven championships. It is the most obvious one ever.So you'll see a lot of people on there that'll post like a meme of Hornswoggle or a meme of Danhausen.
21:21Danhausen seems to be the joke meme on a lot of these for some reason.But I think that they're just really fun to do.And maybe we got to create a few more.Like maybe I got to text my graphic designer right after this and be like, hey, I got a few more ideas here.I always like when it's like five championships or more.If it's like one title to the next, it's like, well, that could be like a bunch of different people.Or maybe it makes it too easy.But I think I like to look at a career that's won like, yeah, at least five-ish, four-ish championships.
21:59And then like kind of have you guys guess it from there.Fernando Matthews on Instagram says,CVV, who do you think is the 2026 breakout?star in WWE.I think it's Obafemi.And I don't think it's particularly close when you consider how dramatically his positionin the company has changed over the last nine or so months.I mean, look at everything he's accomplished here.
22:31If you just look at the story, the matches with Brock Lezler, like that in itself,I think makes you a breakout star when you're not only the guy is having aprogram with Brock Lezzer, but you're the guy who is defeating Brock Lezzer atWrestleMania 42 and then retiring Brock Lezzer. That's about as strong of an endorsement assomeone can give to an emerging star. On top of that, he's the king of the ring. Another huge stepin terms of making him a future world champion. But I think the thing that's so great aboutObafamia is it's this rare combination of size.presence,
23:14athleticism, and believability.Like he feels like he's a main event starbefore the bell even rings.He just has it all.So I think it's Obafemi,for sure.I get that he hasn't won any championships this year.Yes, he won King of the Ring,
23:34but he hasn't won any championships this year.Oh, I think we just put a pin in thatand we come back to this conversationat some point in 2027.because I think that Obafemi will have a championship in 2027 for sure, if not, maybe he wins more than one.But I think that when we're talking breakout star in WWE, yeah, it's Obafemi.Ghost to Warrior 7-7 on Instagram says, should Money in the Bank stay in October going forward?I actually really like Money in the Bank being in October.
24:09And I know we're so used to it being earlier in the year.It's been a summer event for so long.But I would make this move permanent.And the biggest reason for me is I think it makes the road toWrestleMania that much more interesting.It really fills that lull between SummerSlam and Survivor Series.And I shall add on to that because I don't think the stakes are high enough at Survivor Series.Like it's a fun match that puts 10 people together,
24:38but I don't think the stakes are high enough there.This actually makes things meaningfulbetween SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble.And I think that when you win money in the bank in the summer,you have the briefcase for, man,nine, ten months before WrestleMania rolls around.If you win it in October,that means that you're entering into the most important stretch
25:05of WWE's calendarwith this guaranteed championship opportunity right there.So money in the bank in October, either January or this year, it's going to be February,Royal Rumble, another guaranteed shot that gets you to that world title.And then you go from there, and you're already on the road to WrestleMania with,you've already got two names who are like vying for this or certainly one name that's going tohave that match because they won the Royal Rumble.And then just hanging the balance is like, well, but don't feel.
25:36forget, don't forget this man or this woman over here, they could cash in and ruin those plansat any point in time. And I know that WWE has proven quite a bit over this year that titles don'tneed to be changing hands on a PLE. And it's been actually really exciting seeing the maintitles changing hands on Raw or Smackdown. But I also feel like unless it's like a majorP.E. Like, unless it's SummerSlam orWrestleMania or the Royal Rumble, it just seems like titles,I don't know, it just doesn't feel to me like a title's going to change handsat Russell Paloosa with great respect. And we certainly know that
26:21Crown Jewel is going to be just a champion versus championfor the sake of doing champion versus champion. But money in the bank being nowand then Crown Jewel being in a month, well, maybe there's an extra wrinkle in that plan like we've been talking about for a little while.But I would keep money in the bank in October because I just think that it really starts to ramp things up as we get on that road to WrestleMania.Jacob R on Spotify says, ask CV number 156.Do you see the death riders being booked as baby faces going forward after the very sad passing?a pack, it'll be hard to boo them. And I'm with you. Like, it is going to be so hard to boo these guysnow that you know the real story. And I'm curious how death riders are going to be handled
27:15moving forward because you know how PAC was received by everybody. Yeah, sure. You booed thedeath riders because they were bad, but like, there's just so much respect there for someone likepack. And I think that the same, like, they're so tied to him that, like, you're going to seethe death riders now and you're going to just think a pack. So, yeah, how can you boo them?They could even, they could do heelish things, but I, I think that this is going to be the way toturn things. It reminds me a little bit of when Eddie Guerrero passed away. And Chavo Guerrero at that time wasdoing the Kirwan White gimmick. Well, with your last name being Guerrero, you can't just keep doingthis silly Kerwin White gimmick with Dolph Ziegler as your caddy. He embraced the fact that he
28:11was a Guerrero and it completely changed his gimmick and changed the trajectory of what his career was.And I feel like this is going to be a similar-ish situation. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out thenewest exclusive, the price is rightfortune pick. BetMDM andGameSense remind you to play responsibly19 plus to wager. Ontarioonly. Please play responsibly. If youhave questions or concerns about your gambling or
28:39someone close to you, please contact connectsOntario at 1-866531-2,600 to speakto an advisor, free of charge.BetMGEMG operates pursuant to an operatingagreement with Eye Gaming Ontario.New from Nespresso.Blend wellness into your coffee routine
28:57with the coffee plus range.Confused with functional benefits.Choose the coffee you love with added B vitamins,like coffee plus B12 to help support immune function,and coffee plus B6 to keep your day moving.Or go with the flow and choose ginseng delight.Our new double espresso with ginseng extract.Whatever lies ahead, don't change your morning.
29:18Let your morning change you.Discover coffee plus on espresso.com.Ryan McLeod on Facebook says,C, V, we are a month away.from the Jericho cruise.Man, you're right, we are a month away.Have you found a guest yet?Your episode of Insight is what I'm looking forward to the most
29:37and maybe getting to say hi.Well, I promise you, Ryan, that we will say hion the Jericho cruise.We'll be on the high seas.Insight Live will be taking placein international waters for the first time ever.It's November 7th to 11th.I do not have a guest guaranteed yet.
29:57I have not nailed that down.I've not confirmed that yet.Although I have been told anybody who is on the cruise, if they're available and their scheduleallows for it, they'd be a possible guest.So you can take a look at the guest list.And what you know, because you're going to be on the cruise, it's quite the guest list.So it could be any one of those people.If I had my pick, it'd be great to have.
30:27great to have Jeff Hardy on.It would also be great to hear from Xavier Woods, Austin Creed, Kofi, but I know that they're doinga live episode with Chris Jericho on the cruise, so I feel like that is probably unlikely.I don't feel like they would have two live shows on the cruise, but it's a heck of a lineup.So take a look.Kyrie Seine also recently announced.Maybe she's the guest.I don't know.
30:57I truly don't know.I haven't figure this out yet,but I'm just as excited as you are.This is my first Jericho Cruz.So I don't really know what to expect,but I guess we'll find out in a month.I'll see you there.Andrew Russell on Instagram says,
31:13what is the best wrestling event you've watchedin the last five years?I'm going to assume you meanwhat's the best one I've watched livebecause I feel like I've watched all of the other ones.What's the best one I've been?into live, I think I'm going to go night two of WrestleMania 40.Like that is, that's peak wrestling.
31:38Everything coming together in that main event.It's so good.Also, night two was considerably warmer than night one.Night one was chilly in Philly.But I think that people always talk about that main event, right?Cody Rhodes finishing the story.beating Roman Reins, ending the 1,316 day run that he was on.But there were also, man, so many other great matches.
32:05Drew McIntyre kicks off the show by winning the World Heavyweight Championship.What a moment.As he's celebrating, Damien Priest's music hits, man, so fitting because we've been talkingabout Money in the Bank.Damian Priest comes down.He cashes in.He becomes the World Heavyweight Champion.What a way to kick this off.
32:25My goodness.Then it goes right into a Philadelphia street fight, Bobby Lashley and Antonio Dawkins, Montez Ford, defeating the Final Testament.L.A. Knight, defeating A.J. Stiles. Things got very personal in that feud between them.Then we got Logan Paul defeating Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, triple threat match for the United States Championship.Then we had Bailey defeating E.O. Sky and winning the World Champion, the Women's World Championship.And then it went into the main event.So I think that top to bottom, if you're saying just in the last five years, in a post-COVID world,that's what you're saying?
33:05In a post-pandemic world, what's the best live event that I have been to?I think it's that one.And I think that WrestleMania 40 is going to continue to be talked about in the same lore,in the same way that people talk about WrestleMania 17.And I know that there's a little bit of recency bias attached to that,but I just think that when you look at, not just night two,but when you look at the card as a whole,everything was coming together, the build up to it,
33:37that press conference they had in Las Vegas,the rock, slapping Cody Rose, all of it.It just, it all came together so perfectly with a great payoff at WrestleMania 40.Sports underscore cards underscore shorts on Instagram says,Hi, Chris, I love your content.I pulled your trading card today too.Would you sign it if I sent it to you?Absolutely.
34:06I can't believe this is real.I now have a Tops card.So Tops just released the Allen and Ginter cards.They came out on Wednesday of this week.I suppose this is my rookie card.my official rookie card.It's one of those pinch me moments for sure.I grew up collecting cards.
34:29A ton of baseball cards.A lot of hockey cards as well.They're still at my parents' house.Every single time I go back to my parents' house and Pickering,my mom's like, hey, you have some things in your closet.It'd be great if you took home with you.And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I'll take them next time.I'll figure that out next time.
34:47But all those cards are still in there.I'm sure that none of them are worth.anything more than a few cents each.But now I have a Tops Allen and Ginter card,and this is so, so cool.A lot of people have asked,are there auto variations?Yes, I think I signed like 400 that they sent me.
35:08Some are signed in blue ink.Some were signed in silver ink.Some were signed in red ink.Some are like one of one.Some are one of five.Some one of 10.some one of 150s.But this has been such a cool thing.
35:25And to anybody who has pulled this card and you've tagged me on Instagram,thank you.Like that you made my day for me to open up Instagram and see a photo of this thing likein the wild that it's real.Crazy.So yes, I would be happy to sign that.I'd be happy to sign anything that you send me.I have a P.O. box.
35:45If you go to chrisfanlead.com and you click on the contact form,you'll see my Los Angeles.address on there. Just include a self-addressed stamped envelope, and I'd be happy to sign it,and then send it right back to you. But yes, whether it's a photo or a card, I'm 100 percent.Happy to do this. And I can't even believe that you would want my John Hancock on anything.This is still very wild to me. Matthew Lee on Facebook says, who in your opinion is the unsunghero of the attitude era. That's a good one. Like that's, that's very similar to like these,these what if questions that we like to ponder. Who's the unsung hero? Because when you think of
36:33the attitude era, it's remembered for the big names. It's remembered for Stonecool, the Rock,Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, McFoly. Unsung hero for me is Xbox.Like, he's the guy who made the mid-card matter.He had rivalries with Delo Brown, Jeff Jared, and Kane,and he was making the matches outside of the main event scene feel important.He was also so ahead of his time in the ring.Speed, his kicks, his athleticism.It just stood out, especially in an era at that time,
37:12when so many of these guys were brawlersand so many of these guys were, like, larger.I feel like he really broke the moment.old and started to pave the way for like smaller-ish guys.And it's funny that we call him a smaller-ish guy because his build height is 6-1.But I get it.He's a little leaner, especially during that era, he was a lot smaller than all of the other guys.He also gave DX some credibility.
37:39When Sean Michaels was gone and Triple H took over DX, I think Xbox was a crucial part ofkeeping that group cool. He could also work with anybody. Like he could work with anybody,adapt to that style, make his opponents look great. And I just feel like across the board,Sean Waltman, Xbox doesn't get enough historical credit. I think he gets talked about a lot aslike, oh, he's a two-time Hall of Fame for being part of both the NWO and DX. How cool is that?very cool, absolutely.But I think that he was just so good,and I feel like it's not talked about enough,
38:23maybe because it was during an era with so much talent.I'll give you one more unsung hero of the attitude erafor talking about someone who's behind the scenes.You've got to make a strong case for Jim Johnston.His entrance themes during the attitude era are instrumental, pun intended,in making the attitude-era characters instantly recognizable.You didn't have to be at the top of the card.You didn't have to be glass shatter, stone cold Steve Austin.
38:56If you smell, you didn't have to be the rock.But it was like the saxophone of Valvinus.It was the, what does everybody want?You know exactly who it is.That's Al Snow.I think you better, you're looking at the real deal now.The record scratch at the start of Deilo Brown's music,the bell at the start of Ken Shamrock's music.
39:15I could go on and on and on and on and on and on.You know exactly what I'm talking about.Jim Johnston had this incredible abilityto make someone feel like a starby giving them amazing music.So I'm going to go with like an unsung herobehind the scenes as well in Jim Johnston.R.J. Gabs underscore,
39:41R.J. Gabri.Cynthia on Instagram says,Hey, CVV.Cody Roach has mentioned you several times for a question that still lives with him to this day.When are you not in character?He's mentioned it several times in how it haunts him.He said that in several episodes of his own podcast,and I just heard him say it again on last meals with the mythical kitchen.
40:02So my question to you is what is an answer from one of your intervieweesthat constantly you think about to this day?But you can't use John Cena's control the controllable.Thanks again for your amazing content from a real, real one in Burnaby, BC.Great question, RJ.And thank you to everyone who sent me that clip of Cody Rhodes talking about me on last meals.He's like, oh, man, Chris Van Fleet is so annoying.And then he went into talking about how clearly lying to everybody.
40:37He's like, hey, so handsome and jacked.Like, that is not true.Sounds like a Cody lie to me.I think the context of that question seems to be lost.So I interviewed Cody, Money in the Bank, 2024 in Toronto.I interviewed him the day before Money in the Bank.And I was praising him for how in character he was as Stardust.And if you go back and watch any interviews he did when he was Stardust,
41:07He was in character as Stardust.He was talking about Cody Rhodes being a completely different person.I haven't seen Cody Rhodes.Maybe he's somewhere along, you know, make up like locations.So he talked about Cody Rhodes like Cody Rhodes existed outside of him.Like Cody Rose was a completely different character.And I was blown away by number one, how in depth he was when he did this.But number two, how he just stuck with it.
41:36And I was saying, like, since you had such a great commitment to being in character, then,how do we know you're not in character now?So, like, I was paying to him this huge compliment of, like, when you were Stardust,you were all the way in on it.Why would that change now?Even though your name and the character name are the same, I think Cody Rhodes told me hislegal name now is Cody Rose, not Cody Ronald's.So why would that change?
42:06If you were so committed to being in character then, and I understand it's different,you're wearing face paint and like physically looks different.But maybe you're really great at being in character now too.And it's interesting that he keeps bringing this up.I've heard him bring it up many times.And it's always so interesting to me because it is clearly a question that haunts him of like,well, am I in character? Where does the character end?And I think when you grew up in a wrestling family, I mean, wrestling has more than one royal family,
42:45when your brother's a wrestler, when your dad is a legendary wrestler, where does it end?You've been around your whole life. And I find that fascinating. But it all came from mepaying a great compliment to Cody Rhodes. The question or the answer that Ithink about a lot is probably this one from the Rock when he said sometimes the best things in lifeare the things that don't happen. Rock's goal in life was to be a professional football player in theNFL. Rock went to the CFL and got cut. And it was through that failure of him not achievinghis dreams, his career and his life went on the path that it's on now. And I, I think,think about that all the time. It's the idea of like, I thought that this thing was going to be
43:43the best thing for me. It didn't happen. Where do we go from here? How do you pivot? Life's throwingyou a curb ball. Maybe that bad thing, maybe that thing not happening is actually the best thingto happen to you. Similar to that Garth Brooks song, unanswered prayers. So I think about that rockquote a lot when you have your heart set on something and then it just doesn't work out that way.Or like you're really trying to get a yes for something and you try every avenue you can and it justturns out to be a no.But I think about like, what if that's the best thing to happen?It's the burnt toast theory.
44:25That is probably the one I think about the most.I also probably think about it the most because back to the future is my favorite movie of alltime and I think about all of the different things there that have to line up for Marty's parentsto meet. And if Marty's parents don't meet, then he starts disappearing on the photo.If you've seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about here. But all of those thingshave to happen in order for Marty to be born. In order for all of these things to exist,everything before it had to happen the way that it happened. So that's probably the one thatlives rent free in my head. It's probably the one that I think about the most. And if I am ever
45:07fortunate enough to have another interview with The Rock, I think I need to tell him that that onelike really hit hard. And there's another quote from the Rock that it's a small quote. It's a short quote,but I think about it a lot too. It's it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.and like the rock is an embodiment of that.Ryan Line on Instagram says Bradhart recently made an appearance at a home show in Calgary.He said he would do a CVV interview if you reached out.Thoughts?Well, I think my initial thought is, why didn't somebody tell me this sooner?
45:49I've been trying to get Brett Hart on the show for two or three years now.I've been trying to make this happen.Did this really, Ryan, don't get me excited here.Don't get my hopes up.Did he really say that?Is there like video evidence of this?Because I've gone through booking agents, like people that are booking him for conventions.I've gone through his agent.
46:17And it just, the timing just hasn't been there.But think about a kid growing up.up in Canada.Brett Hart is the guywhen you think of Canadian wrestlers.I would love to have him on the show.So those are my thoughts.There's still a long list of people
46:39who have not been guests in the show.Long list.And I'm so, I feel so gratefulwhen someone says like,oh, you've had everybody.It's like, yeah, I've been so incredibly lucky,so fortunate, so grateful to havea long,
46:55list of people, but there's still a bunch of people who haven't been on the show. Also, one of myfavorite things that happens is someone will send me a tweet or send me a message and they'll go,hey, have you ever thought about having so-and-so on the show? And I go, oh, actually, they were onthe show four years ago. Here's a link to it. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. I had no idea.Well, have you thought about instead having this person on the show? Oh, actually, yes.They've been a guest twice on the show. Here's a link to both of those episodes. That's one of myfavorite things when someone's like, can so-and-so be a guest in the show? And you're like, yes,they have been on the show before. Here you go. But Brett Hart has not been on the show. So can we
47:36make this happen? I am certainly going to try. But when you look at the list of people whohaven't been on the show, cross your fingers with me. Roman Raines, C.M. Punk. I've never interviewedthe rock for more than like six or seven minutes. So that one would be huge. Even if we could have therock on for 30 minutes, I would just fire as many wrestling questions at him as I possibly could.Because yeah, he answers a wrestling question here or there, but I don't know the last timethe Rock did a like a 90% 80% interview where he's just talking about his wrestling career inlike greatest moments. I would love to dive into the insight behind that stuff. Triple H.Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon.
48:24I don't know if we'd have enough time to talk about all of Shane McMahon's crazy antics.That'd be amazing.Sting, of course.And then in terms of like the newer faces on the roster, there's a lot.So like Obafemi, Sol Ruka, Lash Legend, J.C. Jane, Lola Vice.Like a lot of people on the, like that have come to the main roster in the last year or so.Yeah.They're all on the.
48:51list too, but what can we do to get Brett Hart on the list? Get Brett hard on the show. Would youguys want to see a Jim Cornett interview? That's also one. Jim Cornett's never been on the show.Jim Cornett hasn't done a podcast outside of his own and I don't know how long. Like he's doneDark Side of the Ring and he's wildly entertaining on Dark Side of the Ring. But he hasn'tdone anything outside of his own podcast and man, I don't know. I actually don't know. It's been a long,long time. But yeah, there's a bunch of people. If there's anyone else that I'm missing out on,yes, Hardcore Hawley is on the list. I tried very hard. Hardcore Holly is happily retired andenjoying his retirement and is not that interested in doing anything. It's like, man, how can you
49:36not respect that? So there's all the other names there. So let's, let's see what'll happen between,oh, Randy Orton. How did I miss? How did I not say Randy Orton? Yes, Randy Orton is high on this list as well.So let's see what we can do between now and let's sayWrestleMania.Let's see how money we can cross off that list.Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive.The Price is Right Fortune Pick.BetMGM and Game Sense remind you to play responsibly.
50:0919 plus to wager.Ontario only.Please play responsibly.If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you,please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to aan advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.New from Nespresso. Blend wellness into your coffee routine with the coffee plus range, infusedwith functional benefits. Choose the coffee you love with added B vitamins, like coffee plus B12 to help
50:40support immune function, and coffee plus B6 to keep your day moving. Or go with the flow and chooseginseng delight. Our new double espresso with ginseng extract. Whatever lies ahead, don'tchange your morning. Let your morning change you. Discover Coffee Plus onNespresso.com. This email comes from Liam. Liam says, hey, CVV, big fan from Toronto.Tidot. Love it. Here is a debate my friends and I can't seem to settle. If you had tochoose between being the last person to retire John Sina in a singles match or dethroningRoman Rains for a championship, which one would you choose?And why? If it's me, which one would I choose? I think I would go with the John Sina last match.
51:31Because John Sina is not just going to have his last match with anybody. It's got to be somebodythat clearly already has some status. And if we're looking at the person he had his last matchagainst being Gunther, it's someone who's already won a world championship. And it's also theidea of like, you're going to be the person who retired John Cena.Win or lose.John Cena is retiring after that match.I just think that that, to me, is like one of one.Nobody else is having John Cena's last match except for that person.
52:08Roman Raines has lost the championship to a handful of people.So you'd be one of many people who dethroned Roman Raines for that championship.And I understand that with the length of Roman Reins title reigns these days,like it means something more.Like when you hold the title for all three-ish years or right now,right now Roman Reigns is holding a championship longer than anybody else on the roster.As we record this right now, 174 days since he became the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.So I get that there is something in beating the guy who holds titles for a long
52:48time. There's something in the idea of beating a guy who doesn't wrestle that frequently. So when hedoes wrestle it means something. But again, he's lost the championship a handful of times before.John Cena is only going to have one last match. Like I do not think that John Cena comes back. I don'tthink any amount of money. Like, I don't think he's joking about that. I don't think any amount of moneywould have John SinaRussell another match.That is him like closingthe last page, closing the book,
53:24that's it, his career is done.So I would personallychoose to be that last matchagainst John Sina.And then hopefully something builds off of itfrom there.With that said,where are things going
53:42with the career killer?Gunther.Where do things go from here?He had a ton of momentum off of the retirement of Goldberg,a ton of momentum off the retirement of John Cena and AJ Styles.Where does Gunther go from here?I had a little giggle the other day when he did the backstage thing,preparing for the Money and the Bank qualifier match.
54:09And he's like, I don't need to win a ladder climbing contest.Like he isHe is so funnyAnd like such aHe's just like a straight man funnyAnd I thought that wasI just giggled when I only said thatA ladder climbing contest
54:26So goodKevin M sent this email inHe says what are your thoughtsOn West Coast WrestleMania has done mostlyIn daylightI have memories of Undertaker versusGiant Gonzalez in VegasOr entrances from Undertaker BreaWite
54:41Or even Sting at WrestleMania 31in complete brightness.Doesn't daylight wash awaysome of the magic of the show,specifically,WrestleMania?I heard a quote.That's actually Nick Kahn
54:54was being interviewedlike a year or so ago.He was talking aboutWrestleMania in Vegas.And he said that the West Coastwins in three categoriesevery single time.Weather, sushi,
55:07and the start time of sports.And that third one,I couldn'tagree more. Like it was when I lived in California, I loved that the one o'clock games for footballon the East Coast were played at 10 o'clock. And then the thing I particularly loved is the latenight games, the Monday night games or the Sunday night games, they were starting at 515. So they weredone by like 8.30. Like with the young kids that we have were like lights out by like 8.45 p.m.like 9 p.m. is like a late one, except for Mondays and Fridays.
55:46It lights out as soon as the main event ends.But the idea of like you're starting to watch a game as we're getting ready for bed here.And now that I live in the central time zone, it's a little different.I'll approach this a little differently when it comes to WrestleMania.And also like SummerSlam, when that's in the daylight, I'll approach this a little bit differently.what I think's interesting is the start of the show is bright.And like the weather almost plays like a character in this and plays a role in that.As the show progresses, it's getting darker and darker and darker.
56:25And by the time you get to the main event, it is dark.And I feel like that tells a story in itself.Almost like when you get into the movie theater, the house lights are on, those lights on the side.They're on while you're watching the trailers.And as soon as those lights go off, okay, here we go.It's time for the actual movie to start.And that's to me how I've always kind of approached those daylight WrestleMania.It's like, oh, the sun's starting to creep down behind the horizon.
56:56Okay, air's getting a little bit chillier, especially.I remember that at WrestleMania 31.Air's getting a little bit chillier.It's time for that main event field.That was kind of the way that I looked at it.But I do know what you mean of like lighting, especially like the lighting inside the stadiumplays such a huge role here.But I just think that there's something really cool about an open air arena, the weather
57:26playing a factor, the elements being there, almost like watching a sporting match and howthe rain, the snow, the wind, that plays a factor.I think it's interesting.I think it's really interesting when you see that.And also, when you look at WrestleMania 31, for example, you see Seth Rawlins and Randy Ortonin that RKO, stomp into the RKO, oh my gosh, it's like bright and sunny.Hours later, when the heist of the century is happening, it's dark, it's moody, just I feel likeit set the tone so much more.
58:01And it's interesting that those both happen on the same day.and they're two very contrasting images of like light and bright and like dark and like almost moody.I personally like that.I think it's a cool thing.Also, the way that arenas are now, the stadiums are now, we're like, so-fi stadium is one that really comes to mind here.And actually, we did see this at SummerSlam in Minneapolis too.The roof is like transparent.So like, I was sitting on the floor for night one of SummerSlam and he was hot because the sun is like,
58:40it was a roof on the stadium, but the sun is like shining right through the glass on top.And I was like, man, I wore a long sleeve shirt.I wore actually, I wore a jacket in here thinking it might be a little chilly with some air condition.I'm like, it is hot.But I think I like the darkening as the show.continues to go on.That's it. That's our last question.I've got to head out the door.
59:06I've got a flight to catch to go to New Orleans for money in the bank.That's our last question on this.Ask CVV number 156 sides of steel edition and ask CVV number 156 man,hell in a cell edition.Yeah, if you're looking for something to watch this weekend, Armageddon 2000.What a star-studded six-man.hell in a cell. Send in your questions for next week. Go to Chrisfanfleet.com. Click on the contact form.You can send them in on there. Of course, you can send them in on social media using that hashtag,
59:41Ask CVV, or if you're listening on Spotify, send them in by leaving a comment on there.Hope you have an amazing weekend, money in the bank. I hope that if you're listening to thisand you're in the New Orleans area, I hope to see you tonight with Raquel Rodriguez. And I'll leave youwith this quote, although, man, we had a few great quotes from The Rock during this episode.I'll leave you with this quote from Mark Twain. The secret of getting ahead is getting started.Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight.The games just ended. The conversation starts now. The NFL digital reaction show. And withoutfurther ado, player of the day, play of the day. Game of the day. Game of
01:00:30the day, team of the day, and the fan of the day in the NFL.No wait, no breaks, no time to waste.It's NFL Instant Graham with Josh Graham, live Sundays at 7 p.m. Eastern on YouTube,and listen any time on your favorite platform.
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