Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #18 - Why DDP Was At The Royal Rumble Press Conference, How Long Will Roman Reigns Be Champion, WrestleMania 41 Location Rumors

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Welcome back to another #AskCVV episode! On this one, Chris gives his thoughts on the Royal Rumble, DDP calls in to talk about why he was at the Royal Rumble press conference, how long will Roman Reigns be the Champion for, workout tips, which city with host WrestleMania in 2025 and much more! If you have a question that you want answered on the next one, send it in using the hashtag #AskCVV! Quote I'm thinking about: “The only way to find your voice is to use it." - Jen Mueller Sponsors: BETTERHELP: Get 10% off your first month with the code INSIGHT at http://betterhelp.com/insight MUDWTR: Get 15% off with the code CVV15 at http://mudwtr.com/cvv MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off with the code CVV at http://magicspoon.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv FITBOD: Get 25% off when you use the code INSIGHT at http://fitbod.me/INSIGHT MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com GHOSTBED: Get 40% of your purchase with the code CVV at http://ghostbed.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to http://TryMiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 15% For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris. Oh, it is so good to see you, my friends. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Welcome to Ask CVV number 18. I really can't believe we've done 18 of these, but you guys seem to like them. The questions keep flowing in, so we will keep these going. If you have a question for the next one, send me a tweet, send me a message on Facebook or Instagram using that hashtag AskCV. and we will get it added to all of the questions that come in here. But hope that you're having an amazing day. Hope it's been an incredible week and you're looking forward to a great weekend. Thank you for being here.

And thank you for making Insight one of the top wrestling podcasts on the planet without you. None of this is possible. So if you've ever enjoyed any episode that we've ever done of the show, please take a second to click that follow button right now, wherever you're listening to this. And also, if you've ever enjoyed any, video we've ever done on YouTube. And you maybe thought you were subscribed, but you aren't? Could you go in, check right now, see if you are? And if you're not, please take a second to just

click subscribe. And in the last interview that we put out, I just very briefly said like, oh, yeah, if you could, please subscribe. And we got like, I don't know, 15 times the subscribers that we normally get, just from simply saying, hey, could you just check? So that's why I say it here. That's why I say it on almost every episode, because it is really that important. So if this is your first Ask CVV episode, here's how it works. You send in your questions using that hashtag Ask CVV. And this could be about anything. It could be about recent wrestling stuff. It could be about movies, content creation, you know, becoming a full-time creator, food, anything like that. And we will cover them here. So we will dive into this with Krispy Chris with two S's on Twitter.

How did you get Downstate to record the theme song for Insight? It is badass. I know. Isn't it fantastic? Yeah, that new theme song debuted a week and a half ago. And that is the same band Downstate that does Cody Rhodes entrance theme, The Mizzes. They did Dolph Ziegler's, Matt Cardona's, Alex Riley's theme song was so good, say it to my face. And now they record the theme song for Insight with Chris Van Fleet.

It's amazing. So the story is pretty simple. I ran into the lead singer, Zach Call. Last year, at WrestleMania, we'd been following each other on Twitter for a while, but I ran into him and I said, you guys are so good. You are so talented. I would love to have you on the show sometime. He's like, yeah, dude, anytime.

So we had a great conversation. You can go check that out about last summer. Go check out that episode. It's on YouTube and here on the podcast. And then I was like, you know, I have a new photo, right? the new episode art, the new insight image, if you will, for the show. And we had been talking about doing a theme song. And he's like, let me see what we can come up with for you.

And I'm like, it needs to be like short and to the point. Kind of like how Talk is Jericho is just like short and to the point. But like a lot of energy. Like as soon as you turn on the podcast, like you know what it's all about. And they nailed it. They nailed. I hate to say it. But I think it's true.

I think that this theme song has been. better than a lot of current theme songs out there. And that's just how good downstate is. So they are available for hire. This isn't something that you need to work in WWE or AEW or TNA to have downstate do a song for you. You can reach out to them. They are available for hire. Obviously, it's going to cost some money, but they are available for hire. So if this is something you've ever thought about as a podcaster or a YouTuber or as an independent wrestler, it steps your game up. so much. And I'm speaking from experience here because my other theme song was like some copyright free generic song that we found for, you know, it's one of those you can use for free. It was fine.

It was, it's suited the show. But having downstate, don't do the song. That just takes it to a whole new level. So just something to think about. Something to chew on if you want to make yourself stand out from the other podcasts or YouTube channels or from the other independent wrestlers. Something to think about there. Kenneth Lowe at Scorpio 4-Life 616 on Twitter says, The Royal Rumble was such an incredible event. It was my first ever live WWV event. Loved it.

Can't wait to go again. Hoping CM Punk has a speedy recovery. What did you think about the Rumble? Hashtag Ask CVV. I enjoyed the Rumble. And I think one of the things, even before it started, that I appreciated was it was four matches. And I was like, you know, men's rumble, women's rumble. Then we had the U.S. title match and then the world title match.

And I loved how every match meant something. Every match had like serious implications to it. We'll start off with the women's rumble. That was the match of the night. I think that everyone would agree with that. They crushed it. They crushed that match. And you had some amazing returns like Naomi coming back.

She did some great work in TNA as Trinity, but she's back now in WWE. We had the return of Liv Morgan, and I loved the way that they played that. They had the other 29 entrance, three, two, one, and then the music hit at number 30 in the women's rumble. It was three, two, one, and then there was a pause. And we all kind of collectively, both in the arena and at home, went, who is it going to be? Who is it? Oh, it's Liv Morgan.

So a great moment, great to see her back. We had the WWE debut of the TNA knockouts champion, Jordan Grace. That was cool. Seeing that crossover between TNA and WWE, not only is she there representing TNA, she's there with the knockout's championship. She looked strong, not just physically strong, but like booked to be strong in there. Like there were some great moments that she had there. And that was such a cool moment.

The debut of Jade Cargill, and she just looks like a monster. in there, so strong, totally looks like a star. That match was great. And it all came down at the end there and Bailey winning it. I loved it. Love the women's rumble. Moving on to the U.S. title match. If you listen to the last Ask CVV, I mean, we kind of all called it, right? I think Logan Paul is holding the championship until WrestleMania, which as we sit here right now, it feels like it's going to be Logan Paul, L.A. Knight. And I would think that it's L.A. Knight at WrestleMania getting his very first WWE gold and winning

the U.S. title there. That match was great. And Logan Paul and K.O. bring it every single time. Logan Paul just keeps doing what he does as a heel and it's working. I mean, whether you

legitimately do not like Logan Paul or whether you just don't like him because he's playing that heel character, he's doing something right. And that match was, I thought that match was great. Moving on to the four-way match. I think that this was actually one of the weaker Roman Raines matches that we've seen in a while. But I will say this.

He took a lot of finishers. And I don't know if this is something that is really being talked about. He took everybody's finisher before the match ended and then he obviously won at the end. Look, I know there's a whole group of people who were upset. Number one, that Roman Raines is still the champion. number two, that he can't seem to win cleanly. But I know that this is all building up to something so much bigger around the corner, whether that's at WrestleMania or whether that's at SummerSlam or beyond.

And we'll answer another question about that in just a second. But I thought the match was just fine. But four huge names in there, four massive personalities, the entrance being there, because I was there, I probably should have mentioned that earlier. I was in Tampa for the Royal Rumble inside Tropicana Field. And I've been to Tropicana Field for baseball before. My dad and I go to a different MLB Stadium every single year.

We've been to 23 now. MLB on the MLB list of stadiums, Tropicana Field currently is dead last. I'm sorry if you're a Tampa Bay race fan. I think the worst stadium used to be the one in Minnesota, the dome before they tore it down. their new stadium in Minnesota's great now. The Tropicana Field for baseball, not so great. Tropicana Field for wrestling, pretty fantastic. They set that up so well, the lighting and the translucent ceiling so you could see the lights that were inside.

You could see them outside when they were doing the drone or the helicopter shots overhead. Great atmosphere there. The match, not great, also very predictable. And if you listened to the last Ask CVV episode, I gave my predictions. We got three out of four of them right. I said Becky was going to win the women's Royal Rumble. But other than that, we nailed them all across the board, which brings us to the men's Royal Rumble, which I thought really didn't capitalize on some of the moments they could

have capitalized on. We saw these great returns and crossovers in the women's match. And in the men's rumble, we saw the return of Andrade coming over from AEW back in WWE, that was great. We had the cool Uso versus Uso entering at one and two, setting something up there for the future. I love that. But no Seamus, no Reimus, no Reimus, no legends. And I just think that there was something that was missing here. Also, you know how I like to, trying to think of wrestling in terms of logical things. And I'm trying to understand the logic behind why the money in the bank briefcase holder would be entering the Royal Rumble. Damien Priest being in there didn't need to

happen. And I just feel like that that was a spot there that could have been used for somebody else. I know a lot of people gave Pat McAfee flack. That was a fun, interesting moment. It was also kind of a way to reiterate that Pat McAfee is back in WWE. He's on commentary and it's set up him being the voice of Raw. I don't know if Pat McAfee's spot was wasted so much as Damien Priest spot was wasted. I guess if we're thinking logically here, you can go well. Damian Priest has the money in the bank briefcase. He can cash that in at any point between, you know, in the next year.

But if he wins the Rumble, that's a guaranteed spot at WrestleMania on top of this other one. I don't know. It just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. And I know there were a lot of people saying, well, I didn't we have a legend in the Royal Rumble? And while I think the legend spots are cool, what it unfortunately, does is it takes a spot away from someone who's currently on the roster. So there's a lot of talent, both on the men's roster and on the women's roster, both on the main roster and on

NXT. We saw some great NXT stars coming up, Tiffany Stratton and Bronbreaker. There's so many great moments there. So I think to put a legend in there just for that quick pop takes away from what could be a bigger moment for someone like a Braun Breaker who this is a breakout moment, than the pun. But this is a breakout moment where for people who don't watch NXT, they're seeing him for the first time. And they're going, ooh, man, that guy is awesome. So I enjoyed the rumble as a whole, but I just feel like the men's rumble just felt a little anticlimactic. I appreciate the ending, though. CM Punk and Cody in there at the end, I, I loved that. And Cody got his moment. And that was a cool thing to see.

And I'm very excited to see where it goes from here. It's February right now as we're recording this. We've got two months until WrestleMania 40. That WrestleMania picture still hasn't really shaped up yet. So I'm interested to see, interested to see what happens between now and elimination chamber and then now and WrestleMania as well. So we will see. So we've got a lot in common.

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That's M-U-D-W-T-R.com slash CVV to get $20 off your subscription and your free frother. That's mudwater.com slash CVV. Algon Miyaziz on Instagram says, I saw you sitting next to DDP at the Royal Rumble Press conference. How did that happen? Wasn't that crazy? Yeah, it was so crazy. So I was at the stadium.

I saw on DDP's Instagram that he was in the building. So I sent him a message. I said, hey, where are you watching the Rumble from? And I actually, you know what? Instead of me just telling this story, why don't I give DDP a call? And if he answers, he can tell you this story. So let me see. Okay.

Let's see if he picks up here. Let's see. He's usually pretty great about it. So we'll say. There he is. So, GDP. So I keep getting all these questions. First of all, people were like, was that you sitting next to DDP at the press conference?

And then people are like, how did that thing even happen? So I figured instead of me trying to tell the story, I would give you a call. And we could tell the story together. That's kind of funny. You know, because when I went there, yeah, I literally. just came to see Cody at the rumble, but WWE said, you know, since you're going to be here, mine signed up for some of the VIP groups.

So I went up there to the legends, you know, room where I was out, Alth was there, and, you know, Skee Kern was there, Jimmy Hart, a bunch of boys, Ryan Blair. And then I went to the signing, and then they're ready to take us downstairs. I'm going, ah, where's the press box? You know, press box?

I go, yeah, my buddy, Chris Steinbleek, he's one of the journalist, and he's up there. He's up there. I want to surprise him. He's like, okay, I don't know where it is at all find it. I get to the door, and, of course, the security there is like,

you can't go in there. I'm like, too, you're going to be a IP thing. That was great. Oh, okay, I'm sorry. So I go in, and I look around and I see it. I just, when I sat down next year, you popped. I mean, I saw that you were in the building, and I sent you a text, and I said, like,

oh, where are you watching it from? You said, oh, I'm in the box. You gave me the box number. And I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to find that, even get into that. And I said, I'm in the press box. And that was it. I thought maybe you'd stop by and say hello. But not only did you stop by and say hello, you hung out the whole time.

We watched the entire rumble together. Well, you guys had the best seats in the house. They were pretty good. Pretty good seats. Yeah, they were. Ours were lame. I was like, there was too far away to actually,

actually, because you're some, whatever, VIP press box or whatever, but I don't like that. I want to be like, you guys had an open area, it was a great angle,

and you can also see the Triniton. Yeah. So it was great shots. And I remember we're sitting there and it's getting George End in a rumble. And some guys go around, giving a little, uh,

a little press passes things. I don't know, hey, he goes, hey, they're going to press conference. Yeah, I'm like, if Cody wins, I said it'd be so funny if he looks in the crowd and he sees you, and you ask him a question at the press conference, you're like, oh, yeah, let's do it. That sounds great. And to be perfectly honest, I did not expect to ask a question. You know, I really did. So I didn't really think about it.

I didn't think what I had my answer if I talked to them all about it. You know, and then what became like the natural thing is when he started talking about, you know, this vindicates a lot of the people who have been Cody Rhodes fans since the beginning. And, you know, they're going to Roy's fans straight too. And, you know, the mustache guy, nobody was a fan of Stardust. You know, like he had a lot of ups and down in his career just like I get, you know, coming out of it. And he goes, but this vindicates everybody. And I do exactly what I was going to say to him. Because, you know, going back to, you know, leaving L.A.

and cutting back for his state championship titles. And, you know, him going 48 million up or here. And the second year, you know, he won the states again. We've had a long, long, you know, since he was 12 years old. I was mentoring him. And it was really the beginning part was kind of, paying Dusty back what it did for me

was just he did so much for me I would say without Dusty Rhodes there is no diamond Dallas page

I mean I got my first break in the AWA but it would have been gone it would have been over

but he brought me upon a championship wrestling he brought me into WCW so I want

to like give back to him you know and by the time he was 15 years old I wasn't doing

it for Dusty at all anymore I was it because I love the kid. And the kid became a man. And

he's going to go, he's obviously all the favor now, too. You know, and there to be one of that a weak group of, you know, now four guys who've got back to back, Hogan and Michaels and Stone Cold, being

mentioned in that group. Yeah. That's a week. And what a moment, you know, he tears up. And I was such a, It was such a cool moment to see, but I was shocked that not only were you able to watch the end of the rumble because the rest of the people in the press had to go down early. Like as soon as Cody won, everybody ran down. The press conference was very far away.

You somehow made it from the press box to the floor. You hopped the guardrail and there's this great photo and video of you hugging Cody. And then somehow you still make it to the press conference in time. I don't know how you did it. you know, I literally was trying to figure out, the people on the elevator, they couldn't figure out how to get to the bottom floor. And I didn't, I'm like, I'm out.

And then I heard him talking. I went out there in a voice as well, and I said, I got, I got to go, I'll get out with this kid. You know, because, you know, we were doing this, you know, for 20 years, you know? and I just said, I'm going to go through the people.

The hell. And people were like, oh my, oh my God. Can you? I'm like, hey guys, great scene. Great scene. I got to get to Cody. And I just delined it.

Sure, you, all the people were coming up the stairs and I'm going down the stairs through the ground across the deal. And then when you get to the railing, normally it's a rally. Well, this was like three feet of, like, whatever the hell they had. between there, when they had that real desire, I just jumped over.

And you can't call it, I'm like, yeah, right. And it turned around. There it was. It was an awesome moment. Really awesome. It was like one of those hugs that lasted for like 30 seconds. Yeah. It was a lot of fun.

Then we got to walk in the press conference together. I sat down and then they had me a mic. That was like, okay, I'm not possible just going on what he just said. Yeah, because he let me tee it up. I had no idea I was going to do it. So it was a great moment. I got a text from the WWPR people right when you sat down.

They said, let DDP know he's asking the first question. I didn't read that text. I'm sorry, Dee, until after you asked the question. But they were fully prepared. They had your name on the screen and everything. That's so crazy, too, because you had said it, you know, like 10 minutes before. You know, you should have. asked the first question.

I thought, yeah, right. You know, and then they handed it to me, it was like, okay. I'll play ball. What a cool moment. Yeah. It was great. I still, I don't know how you made all of that work. And I think it's amazing that I just threw that out there.

Kind of as a joke. Like, it'd be funny if you, if you went, you're like, yeah, sure. Yeah, let's do it. I thank you for, thank you for just always being awesome. Like, I can't thank you enough from our crazy, random chance encounter six years ago to being friends now. I just, I thank you for being who you are. Oh, yes, you're, you're a joy to be around. You always had a great attitude. And to be like, I've eliminated any, all the anyone who's chaos, you know, or negative, you know, I have dealt

with a lot of the negative when, you know, helping someone, you know, get through, whether it's a bagel or Jake or Scott, you're dealing with addiction. I can deal with that because they always get a little bit better and a little bit better. And they're like brothers of mine. So I can deal with that. But regular people, they're bringing chaos to my life or negativity. They're gone. And you're a positive role model.

And I love what you're doing. I do want to mention that I did have a really emotional moment. and still with me. Less than a week ago, my, you know, Harold Hogue, I called the H. The wrestling phantomome is ice train.

Yeah. Or smooth. Very unexpectedly. You know, he just dropped from 300 to 250. His arms were still 22 inches, 22 inches. I mean, he looked at the pillar of help,

but he just died. of I think it was I think he had a couple of heart attacks that hit all at one time and I didn't know this but I knew that he got drafted in the NFL in the third round but I didn't know why he didn't play

I never really asked him about that and it turned up he had to genital heart failure and something you're born with and because of that he couldn't get life insurance and this guy

I tell you, you put, picture of dad, you know, on the dictionary, like, his face appears. Like, that's, he was like, it's set of kids. And he, he forward with, you know, at the, you know, Berlin. And two of them are 10 and 11. There's still little kids with your mom, Tiana, who was a beautiful human being and just an amazing mom. And they were beautiful together. her and Harold but

he never got any like insurance so now he's gone so sorry anybody wants the only thing if they can help you know

just so it's anything I don't ever expect anybody to do what I do you know but I always leave by example

and um anybody wants to help about you know I'll share it'll probably be there you know

probably today something time. I'll send it to you. You can share it. Yeah, of course. Encourage other people to share just to help out. When it comes to, you know, one person, your mate's gone, and that's brutal. But with the kids, you know, are behind, and they're not, how old wasn't just there, the rock that they held on to and grew up to, like, his kids are the most polite in the obedience. You've ever met. That's how I really.

look at, but I look at, you know, a couple. How do their kids treat other people? These kids, they're like, you know, their family to me, and I've been a long time. And, you know, they, he was their sole propriet. You know, he's the one of the money. Yeah. And so boys are going to have to step up, older boys,

and any fans that could help out there. And, you know, I would encourage him, and he would go to a good call. so I want to say that. Yeah, so you'll share that link out. I'll share it out as well, and people can go, you know, whatever they can, give whatever they can and support them. I think it's dollar, you know, whatever.

Yeah. There's nothing too small. It's just something that giving himself and people out. This guy, like, he deserved it. And I wish I would have known, you know, that he didn't have, I just would have paid more attention to the hard stuff. He kept telling me how great he went. He looked unbelievable.

He was just a CT pressure show. He literally is a guy who had a heart transplant as well. He was just with CT who I love. All right, brother. Great talking to him. You too. Yeah, have a great weekend. Safe travels.

And always good to see you, my friend. All right, buddy. Talk soon. All right. So what a guy. What a guy. Love DDP. And, man, I thought that if I did,

did run into him at the stadium, it would be for like two seconds, maybe. Like, hey, high and by. And that would be it. But that's the great thing about Dallas is he makes time for people, not just for his friends or for his family, but for everybody. I mean, if you were to ever order a cameo from DDP, he talks for like five minutes, because that's just the type of guy he is. He wants to spend that time with you and make sure that you're getting a ton out of it. So go, order a cameo from DDP. You can also go order a cameo for me. It probably won't be five minutes long, but it'll be a few minutes long.

We can definitely hang out on there and go check out what he just posted about, Harold Hogue and everything going on there. And if you're able to, maybe you can throw a few dollars that way. But wow, a little impromptu story time with DDP. What a guy. I love that. Joshua Stafford on Facebook says, what are your thoughts on Roman possibly breaking Bruno's record?

Well, I think that that's probably not actually going to happen. I mean, the record is 2,803 days. So for Roman to break that record, he would have to be the champion until May 3rd, 2028. So I don't see that happening at all. I would have to think that Roman Reins loses the title at some point in 2024. for maybe WrestleMania, but if he doesn't lose it at WrestleMania, I think he for sure

goes on to break Hulk Hogan's record. So Hogan has the longest record in the call it WrestleMania era. That record will be broken on September 12th

of this year. So that would mean that Roman would keep the championship through WrestleMania, through SummerSlam, and then lose it sometime in the fall,

whether that's Survivor Series, I guess that might make sense, or maybe a Oh my gosh, like a big episode on Netflix or something because that's around the corner. I don't know. But so to answer your question directly, Roman is not breaking Bruno's record. Nobody is going to break Bruno's record of holding the title for nine years.

That's just, that's not possible. But the Hogan record does seem possible. And I need to point out because I think that people think that Cody finishing the story means that Cody beats Roman Raines at WrestleMania. that is not finishing the story. Finishing the story for Cody is winning the championship. It doesn't matter where and it doesn't matter against who. It's winning the championship.

It sure seems like it's going to be Roman versus Cody at WrestleMania 40. That would be the match that I would be putting money on right now if I was going to bet online.orgie and using the promo code CVV. It just feels like that is the match that we are. lining up for, but anything could happen in the next two months. But I feel like the fans are clamoring for this match to happen. And I just can't see it being taken away from us. Or if they do end up having this match, I can't see Cody losing at WrestleMania 40, but anything could happen. Roman beating Hulk Hogan's record and holding the championship well into the fall, it definitely seems like

it could happen. So we will see. Spencer Forgis on Facebook says, who is one wrestler that when you interviewed them after the interview, you respected their in-ring work more and you respected them more as a person? Barron Corbyn immediately pops into my mind because I think he's so undervalued and he's so underrated for everything that he does. He's been in the title picture, a bunch. He's been in the main event picture, a bunch. And he's so good at it makes. He's so good. It makes a lot. He's so good. It other people look good. And I think that it's often overlooked when you're making everybody else look good. It's often overlooked at what that skill set actually is. So his job of making other people look so good is truly his talent. And we talked quite a bit about that when we did the interview

last year. And I started to watch his matches with just a completely new set of eyes. because I already knew how good he was and I knew how talented he was, but then watching the little things that he would do in order to pop the crowd or in order to make his opponent look just that much better, it just made me really appreciate him so much more. And there's a little bit of like Dolph Ziegler

and the Miz in there as well. Because those are guys that while they've held championships and while they have had good runs, and of course I'm talking about when Dolph Ziegler was in WWE, I just feel like there were always these times when they didn't quite get there, right? Like, I think Ms. should be the champion again. I really do. I loved his original run as the champion.

He's so good on the mic. And he's just such a great representative of WWE as a whole. So I think it's those type of people that because they're not winning all the time, that sometimes we overlook how talented they really are. And all three of those guys that I just listed off are, are so, so talented. And I think you could put Natalia in that same category as well in the women's division. Like she's so good at making other people look good that she hasn't had the long list of title

runs like some of the other people in the women's division. But that's because she's been in this role of like just making other people look good and like helping to make stars. So yeah, there's a few people right there. And they're all super nice. and I think you could give the championship to any one of those four. And it would make a ton of sense. So there we go.

Nick Harrington on Facebook says, where do you think the 2025 WrestleMania location will be? I think it's one of two options. They've really been teasing London a lot. And John Cena going out there and money in the bank and cutting that whole promo, which I think was trying to convince London to pay whatever it is to get

WrestleMania. I think that's what that promo was all about. And obviously created a lot of headlines and made a lot of news. So if it's not in London in 2025, it's in London in the next, I'd say, three years. If it's not in London next year, I think it's in Las Vegas. WWE loves going into new stadiums and shattering the attendance record. And they've got a brand new, beautiful stadium on the trip in Las Vegas. And I think it would just make so much sense to have

WrestleMania go back to Las Vegas in Allegiance Stadium. And Las Vegas would really lend itself well to WrestleMania. And I've been to enough of these, I've been to 12 of them so far, that there's some cities where WrestleMania works great. New Orleans is the best city for WrestleMania because everything's within like a few block radius. So you're never more than just a few blocks of walking away, walking to the stadium or walking to the arena where Raw or Smackdown or NXT is.

You're a few blocks from Bourbon Street. You're a few blocks from where all the independent events are running and all the autograph signings at RussellCon. Then you get like New York City where you've got NXT in Brooklyn. You've got RussellCon happening in Manhattan.

You've got WrestleMania itself isn't even in New York. It's in New Jersey. And that's always been so funny to me that the Jets and Giants, the New York Jets, the New York giants do not play in New York. They play in a completely different state. So it's so spread out there. And you're not probably not renting a car in New York because of all the traffic. And it's just such a pain to park there. So that means you're either taking fairly expensive Ubers or you're taking like this train that connects to this train that connects to this

one. Like the public transportation there is great. But like it's taking you a long time to get from one side of the city of the other. So all of that is to say Vegas is very centrally located. Everything would be on the strip. So to do it on one end of the strip with Allegiance Stadium there, and then you could have events at any of the hotels along the strip, or even the convention center, which is on the other side of the strip, the other end of the strip, I think it's either London or Vegas next year. And this is going to be announced soon. So I will be so shocked if it's not one of those cities. Jonathan Ketchum on Facebook says, what advice do you have for someone who is getting back into working out? Well, first of all, Jonathan, congratulations. That's awesome. Even just making the decision

that you're going to start working out again is so, so great. And if you don't make time for health now, you've got to make time for disease later. That's a quote that when I heard that, I never forgot it, which is why I always make time for a workout even. No matter how tired you are, no matter how much you're not feeling it, you never leave a workout going, oh, man, I wish I didn't do that. You always leave a workout going, man, I feel great. The only advice I have for you is just take it slow. Like if you're going from not working out again, you haven't worked out for months, maybe years, just take it slow because doing anything right now is better than doing nothing. So even if that's 10 minutes of walking outside or on the treadmill or it's doing 20 pushups a day or whatever it happens to

be. Just take it slow. You don't need to work out five days a week for an hour each day. Just take it slow. Half an hour, three times a week and just build up from there. Maybe it's once a week. Maybe it's once a week for 20 minutes. Maybe next week you do two workouts for 20 minutes. Maybe the week after that, it's three workouts for 20 minutes or whatever it happens to be. But just take it slow, take it day by day, and listen to your body. and if your body says, yeah, I can push a little harder. Yeah, maybe push a little hard on the next one. But congrats and get after it.

Juan Diaz-Garry on Instagram says, which microphone and cameras do you use for your interviews? So the mics that I use are kind of like the gold standard in podcasting. These are the mics that you'd see Joe Rogan using or pretty much any podcaster when you're watching them in video form. It's that black microphone, like the cylindrical shape. It's the Sure SM7B. That's the mic that I use.

It's the mics that you see on the mic stands. And the cameras that I use are Sony A7-4s. I recently upgraded to those. They are amazing cameras that shoot beautiful, beautiful video. The cameras are a little pricey. You can look them up and see how much just the body is and you've got to buy the lens separately. But they are great cameras.

And I recently updated, upgraded from just using my iPhone. I was using my iPhone for years. To use my iPhone on like a $12 stand from Amazon. So when you look at any of my videos prior to like 2022, it's just that single locked off two shot and us sitting in front of a bed or whatever. I really wanted to up my game last year. That's why I've been renting the studio space as much as I have been both in LA and also in Las Vegas. It's why when you see those interviews like I did in Orlando, the recent interview I did with Tori Wilson. And we also did Rick Booges and McKenzie Mitchell and Sammy Gavara and Lexus King when we were there. I rented an Airbnb.

We took all the furniture out of the room. We set it up the way that we wanted with lights and cameras. I really wanted to step it up and I wanted the production value to look much better. So those are the cameras that I'm using. And if you have the budget for them, I would totally recommend them. If you don't have the budget for them, I totally get it. Sony makes another one. I think it's the Sony

MX. Oh man, I'm so not good with, I'm so not good with the names of cameras. But it's the, well, you can also buy the Sony A73 or the Sony ZV-1F.

Those are all great cameras too. I just love the way that Sony does its colors. I think that the colors straight into the camera look really good. So that's the gear that I recommend, but I really think that any gear is better than no gear. Just start with what you have available. If you have a phone, I'm sure the lens is pretty good. I'm sure the microphone's pretty good. Start there and then build it up

after that. Stormholder underscore 94 on Twitter. What is the biggest lesson that you've learned from becoming a first time father? Oh, so many. So many. And I think that any parent listening to this can agree that the biggest lesson that your children teach you, I only have one child, but the biggest lesson a child can teach you is patience. And I like to think that I'm a fairly patient person, but there's something about a kid screaming at you in the middle of the night and you're tired and you're trying to get them back to sleep or you're trying to change a diaper. Patience. Patience is the biggest lesson I've learned. And then I think a secondary lesson I've learned is just wonder. And you might have heard me talk about

this before, but the way that a child looks at the world with this sense of wonder, because they're seeing everything for the first time, like little things, like they're seeing leaves for the first time, or they're seeing the sky for the first time, or they're seeing rain for the first time, or they're seeing a big truck driving down the street for the first time, and they look at it with this sense of amazement and wonder. And it just reminds me that there is so much wonder in this world. There's so many beautiful things in this world. And sometimes we just need to pause, going back to the patience, lesson number one, and just appreciate that stuff just a little bit. And I've been doing my best to disconnect on walks and just take things in, taking all the senses.

and also to just like commit moments to memory. I am so hyper aware that the moments that we have and the moments that we share with one another are happening in that moment only. You can't go back and relive a moment. So I've been just extra aware of being in that moment and appreciating the moment as it's happening and not being too focused on other things. So those Stormholder underscore 94 on Twitter. Those are the biggest lessons I've learned from being a dad.

T6 Brian on Instagram. Thank you so much to everybody for asking these questions, by the way. What music do you work out to? Honestly, I'm listening to podcasts most of the time when I'm working out. There's just something about I'm constantly trying to get better as an interviewer, better as a host, better as a podcaster, better as a broadcaster. And for me, that comes from listening to people who are the absolute best. So this may come as a shock to a lot of people.

I don't really listen to a lot of wrestling podcasts. I listen to The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes. I listen to Diary of a CEO with Stephen Bartlett. I listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty. I listen occasionally to Joe Rogan, depending on who the guest is. Like if it's a guest that I really love, oh man, I love how deep he dives into the these conversations, you know, three hours with someone like The Undertaker. It's just such a fantastic conversation. Also, modern wisdom with Chris Williamson. That would actually be at the

top of my list. The conversations that he has, they're just on another level. And I'm a really big fan of what he does. So yeah, if you were to take my AirPods in the middle of a workout and shove him in your ears, you'd most likely be listening to a podcast. But every once in a while, it on some music and it really runs the gamut from hip hop to country to rock to pop punk yeah really everything and it also shuffle too like it might go from one hip hop song to the next song is blick 182 and then the next song after that's taylor swift and it's just kind of like all right like just give it to me i'll listen to it all and yeah i really i mean it's so cliche to say i listen to everything but I really do.

I will listen to really, to anything. The Chosen One essay on Instagram says, what is your favorite Seth Rollins match? I think it's Helen S.L. 2022 versus Cody because the storytelling going into that match was, I mean, it was so good. And then the storytelling in that match, the moment where Cody takes off the robe

and you see, oh my gosh, He tore his pack. Are you serious? This guy's still going to wrestle. And then they put on just a clinic. And that was one of the best matches, in my opinion, of 2022. And look, Seth Rollins has had a lot of amazing matches. He's one of the most talented wrestlers in WWE. So it's hard to narrow it down to just one. But I think the combination of the match they had with the storytelling they had, that's why I choose hell in a cell, 2022. Also, Cody's so good. And he just brings this sense of realism to every match that he's in. So that's the match. I think that I'll give you another sleeper pick here. We're going to go way back with this one. Seth versus Brock and John Cena at the Royal Rumble 2015. Go back. Rewatch that

match, especially since it's Royal Rumble season right now. Go back and rewatch that match. It's fantastic. It might actually be one of the best John Cena matches that he's ever worked as well. So, yeah, there's two picks for you. Tommy Scott on Facebook asked this. And so did Sidney Malick asked a very similar question. What's the best wrestling movie? Is it the Iron Claw, the wrestler, are ready to rumble. So here's the thing.

All three of those movies are three very different movies. Iron Claw is a biography based on a true story. The wrestler is a non-fiction movie, but feels very much rooted in real life. And Ready to Rumble is just hilarious. And it's a classic now. I think of those three, my favorite is The Wrestler. I just loved the story line and the story arc of that character, Randy the Ram, and without giving too much away, what an interesting choice for an ending.

And yeah, and all the actors. is that that movie got at the Oscars or all the Oscar nominations that it got. I think that the wrestler is, for me, it's a, it's just a great story and really good storytelling. And there's a lot of moments of that that if you've been a lifelong wrestling fan that probably hit maybe too close to home and you kind of picture like, ooh, this part of the character feels a lot like this legendary wrestler or this part of the character feels like this other legendary wrestler. So if you haven't seen the wrestler at all, or you haven't seen it, it came out, what, 16 years ago, if you haven't seen it since it came out, I would really recommend rewatching it. And especially if you've,

if you've recently seen the Iron Claw, you'd be rewatching it with like a fresh set of eyes of like, Iron Claw was great. I really enjoyed Iron Claw. But there's something to me so special about the wrestler and about that performance by Mickey Rourke. And that's why he was nominated for an Oscar for that. And that's why when I saw him, I was like, you got robbed. Like, I really thought that Mickey Rourke should have won the Oscar for that. That was the year that it went to Sean Penn for Milk. And that's a great performance as well. But I just thought that he embodied that character so much. Mickey Rourke became that character. And that for me is why that movie stands out. But all three of those are great. And there are other wrestling movies. I am very well aware, but those are the top three for me.

Chad Bonner on Facebook says, what do you miss most about Canada? And do you still follow hockey? I'm from the Edmonton area. Oh, very nice, Chad. My sister lives not too far away in Calgary. So, you know, just a few hours away from where you are. So what I miss most about Canada, obviously my family. I'm the only one that lives here in the U.S. all of the other very very Van Vleets are in Canada somewhere, most of them in and around the Toronto area. And then my sister is in Calgary. My uncle Bruce and Aunt Diane are on the far east coast. They're in Newfoundland. But most of them are in Toronto. So I miss them the most. I think that's the obvious answer. But I miss, I miss Swiss LA. I know that the cliche answer for Canadians that live here is Tim Hortons.

But yeah, Tim Horton's great. Yeah, Tim Hortons is great. But so. Swiss chalet, which is this rotisserie chicken restaurant with the best dipping sauce in the world and their fries, the way they cook their fries. Oh, so good. That is what I miss the most. So as soon as we land at Pearson International Airport, which is the airport in Toronto, Y, Y, YZ is the airport code or in Canadian Y, Y, Y, Z, or U.K., Z, not Z. When we land there, the first stop, if it's open, is Swiss chalet.

That is one of the things I miss the most. I also miss some of the bass fishing there. I'm such a huge bass fisherman. And I grew up fishing tournaments in and around the core at the lakes. And I grew up like taking the go train into Toronto and fishing Center Island and the Toronto Harborfront. I miss a lot of that, like some really good bass fishing. Actually, I guess the last bass fishing I did was Lake Simco. So that was like in November.

Let me just take a little sip here of F3 energy. So good. I miss bass fishing too. So I know that great bass fishing in the U.S. And I've done plenty of it. But there's just something about doing it at home, doing it on your home lakes. So, you know, those are some of the things that I missed.

And oh, my goodness, we're already at the final question here. I feel like we had less questions, maybe because of the long DDP answer and phone call, which was so awesome there. So Louis, Louvie, Louvie, yeah, Louvie underscore V on Instagram says, why don't you end the Ask CVV episodes with the three things that you're grateful for? That is a really good question because I asked that at the end of every interview and I say it every day. Why don't we end these interviews like that?

Well, we're going to start doing it from now on. And thank you for suggesting this. Louis underscore underscore, maybe underscore. maybe underscore again, V. I'm grateful for my family. I'm just so grateful for all of them and just the people that they are and what they mean to me. And we have the best daughter, Logan, I have the best wife, Rachel, and she just makes me a better person every single day. Grateful for my parents who are still not just with us, but they're together as well.

They'll be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this October. And I am, they're just the best. And they are such an amazing example of companionship and love over these last 50 years. So grateful for my family. Grateful for our health. Grateful for the health of my family. And there have been some health scares in my family recently. and I'll just say that I'm really grateful for the health that we have and that everyone is

doing well. And number three, I'm grateful for opportunities. I'm grateful for opportunities like this to be able to speak with you one-on-one, hang out with you on these Ask CVV episodes. I'm grateful that you're here because without you, this is just me sitting in this room right now talking by myself. So yeah, I'm really grateful for you being here and the opportunities that we have like each and every day. It's, I just feels like I just feel really lucky.

And I'm super grateful for just the fact that this can even exist. The fact that all of this happens. So I mean, and also, let me just add one more thing on to that. The fact that this can even be a thing. The fact that talking to some of the best wrestlers in the world and sharing conversations with them, the fact that that can even be a thing that is a YouTube channel and has now become one of the top wrestling podcasts in the world, it's amazing. And I am so, so grateful for that.

So thank you for being with us on this one. I appreciate you so much. If you have a question for the next one, please send it in. using the hashtag Ask CVV on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, wherever, wherever you would like to submit it. I appreciate you and I will leave you with this quote from Jen Mueller. The only way to find your voice is to use it. Be great.

Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. An 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley.

Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987, Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this.

Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.