Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #23 - Is The PG Era Officially Over?, The Rock's Promos, Okada In AEW, Raw On Netflix

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Welcome back to another #AskCVV episode and we're just 2 weeks away from WrestleMania 40! On this one Chris answers questions about the end of the PG Era in WWE, the impact that The Rock has had since he returned, the buildup for Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 in Philly, Okada winning the AEW Continental Championship on Dynamite, SummerSlam in Cleveland, my favorite Championship belt design and so 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 more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” - Norman Vincent Peale Sponsors: PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT for a first deposit match up to $100! BABBEL: Learn a new language and get 50% off your lifetime Babbel subscription at http://babbel.com/cvv MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off with the code CVV at http://magicspoon.com/cvv RHONE: Upgrade your closet with Rhone and use CVV to save 20% at https://www.rhone.com/CVV ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv 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 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 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% on your BONCHARGE Infrared Sauna Blanket! 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! Yep, welcome back to another one here on Inside. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. Hope you've had a great week. What do you got playing for the weekend? Anything big going on this weekend? I'm about to head to the airport and fly to London for about 24 hours. So Guy Ritchie has a new movie coming out called the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,

and I'm flying there to see the movie early and then interview the cast. and it's a stacked cast. Henry Cavill, Alan Richardson, and so many others. And I'm pumped to see the movie, pumped to talk to them about it. And I haven't been to London in like five years. Yeah, 2019 was the last time I was there. So can't wait to be there, even though it's a pretty short period of time. And the funny thing is that the flight from L.A. to London is like about 12 hours.

So I'm going to be on a plane going to and from London for about the same amount of time that I'm in London for. But so grateful for this opportunity. And while I'm there, I will be interviewing someone who lives in and around London that you will certainly know. So we'll leave it at that. And you can wildly speculate about who I'll be sitting down with on the podcast. be seeing that interview in the next few weeks, but you will see. Thank you for being here. Thank you, as always, for making Insight one of the top wrestling podcasts on the planet. I know because you're here on an Ask CVV episode that you're already following the show,

but if for whatever reason you thought you were following the show, just check. Just check right now. Am I following that show? Did I click the follow button? Please, just take a second to click follow wherever you're listening to this. It is such a helpful. important thing for this show. So I will thank you in advance for that. We've got Ask CVV number 23 today. It's the Jordan edition, right? The Michael Jordan edition of AskCTVV. And because it's WrestleMania season, and there's just so much that's going on right now in the world of wrestling as a whole, we're going to do this every week. So at least for now. So the Jordan edition today, the Ken Griffey Jr. edition next week for Ask CVV 24. That

was the first person with the number 24 that popped into my head. Send me another one if you can think of another number 24. But I love these because it's our chance to just hang out. And it's also, I think, you know, during the interviews, obviously the guests are talking most of the time. And I think that that is the sign of a great interview is that the guests get to speak more than the host does. I'm a big believer in the 80-20 rule.

that the host should be talking about 20% of the time and the guest should be talking, you know, 80% of the time. On these, though, we get to talk about what's going on in wrestling and just what's going on in like content creation as a whole. I get a lot of questions from people who want to start a podcast, want to start a YouTube channel, want to grow their social media channels. So we dive in to all of that using, if you use a hashtag, Ask CVV, we'll answer your questions.

Also got a lot of people who emailed in questions. When I put my email address out a few episodes ago, which is CVV at chrisfanfley.com, I don't think I was anticipating the amount of emails that I got. You know, a handful of asked CVV questions in there, but also just, you know, a bunch of emails from you guys. So thank you. It's just so cool knowing that there's somebody on the other side of this microphone that I'm talking into right now.

And that person is you. So thank you. Let's dive into this today. we've got a ton of questions, so we'll try to get to as many as we can here. This one comes from Gavin Sturman at Mr. QC on Instagram. Hi, Chris, long-time listener from the UK. Hey, I'm going to be in the UK tomorrow. So hopefully I'll see you there, Gavin.

Question for Ask CVV. Do you think the build for Cody versus Roman for mania has been overshadowed because of the Rock and Cody interaction? I don't think so at all. I think that if the rock wasn't injected into this storyline in the way that he has been, and I think it's certainly up for debate whether this was done on purpose or this was a pivot, right? Was the rock coming back to turn heel?

Was that the original plan? Or did they just kind of see the reaction that he was getting and go, ooh, let's run with this and act like we meant to do this? I think that if this was just Cody versus Roman, it would feel a lot like, the buildup last year, which was great. But this, like the Rock being part of this gives WrestleMania 40 and the whole buildup here a completely different feel. And the Rock being as over as he is as a heel is making Cody be an even bigger baby face than he already was. Because you can make a strong argument that a few months ago, Cody was not the biggest baby face in WWE. The biggest baby face in WWE at the end of 2023,

was a man by the name of L.A. Knight. Yeah. And that's obviously shifted quite a bit. And I think it's because of what's going on here with the Rock and Roman and Cody. Like these promos that we're getting on Raw and on Smackdown and also on social media have been just so, so good. And what's funny to me is you'll see a lot of comments from people going, The Rock is overrated. The Rock is overrack. or I don't like what the Rock's doing right now. It just seems to me like if you don't like what the Rock's doing right now, if you're not a fan of the Rock, it kind of means he's doing his job.

Like, he's a bad guy. You're not supposed to like him. So if you're not a fan of what he's doing here, then his work as a heel is pretty successful then. So I don't think that this is overshadowed at all. I actually think that this has come in and poured a little bit of gas. gasoline on the fire that they had in the buildup to WrestleMania on this road to WrestleMania. And I'm here for it. And we've got two weeks left, which means as I sit

here and record right now, we've got three more spackdowns and two more raws, which means there's five more opportunities to make this mean even more than it already does. So I'm here for it. And I'm sure we'll talk about this in. three weeks after WrestleMania. But I'm most curious about what the fallout of WrestleMania ends up being. Because it seems like the Rock's here for a little while. Like it seems like it's not going to be like a storyline that's done at WrestleMania. I could be wrong.

I mean, it could be wrong about all of this stuff. And that's the great thing about wildly speculating about pro wrestling. But I think that what's going to be, it's going to be really telling to see what happens here with, the rock coming out of WrestleMania. I don't know if I'm still, I don't think I'm of the belief that a lot of people have that Rock's going to screw Roman and allow Cody to win. I still think Cody will win.

I don't know how by hooker by crook, if you will. I don't know if the rock turns on Roman because I just feel like there's a lot more story there to be told. So we will see. But the great thing. about this whole thing is we are invested. And for the first time in a long time, it's must see TV. Like, I think there was a point in time. And this is not a shot at the product that was being put out. But I think there was a point in time when you could miss a Raw or a Smackdown or a few of them.

And you'd still be in the loop with what was going on. But now with everything that's happening, I feel like when Raw comes on, when Smackdown comes on, you want to be watching because you want to see what's happening live. I love it. Axel Martinez 80 underscore on Instagram says not a question, but I'm glad ask CVV as weekly now. Maybe my question has something to do with it. Well, thank you, Axel. We'll keep doing these weekly, at least for the next little while.

I don't know. Could we keep this up for the rest of the year? Could we keep this up forever? Would you guys care if we did ask CVV every week? I don't know. Like it was monthly for a while. Then it was like every two-ish weeks. Now we're at every week.

If we did this every week and talked about the topics of the week, would you guys care? Let me know because I don't know. Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it's tournament season or the fight for the playoff home court, there's no shortage of high-stakes basketball moments this time of year. Get it on the excitement with prize picks,

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dollars prize picks pick more pick less it's that easy justin bern dine on facebook says i've been seeing all week the guys in w w we feel like there's a double standard right now when it comes to the rock's promos so when i saw cody's promo this past monday on raw i was like there can't be a double standard right our usa network and fox fining cody and the rock for their non pg promos it's a lot to unpack there justin i really appreciate this question. I don't know if I buy into the reports that people backstage are upset or jealous that these certain people get to say things in their promo, but I don't. I'm just never taken too much stock in the hearsay and the rumors. Like for me, it's not fact until it's fact. So if there's a report about this, that's all it really is. It's just a report.

about this. But what I will say here is that with the Rock's promos that we've been seeing and Cody's promo that we saw on Raw, plus what Rock's been saying on social media, it really feels like that PG era is done or they're testing the waters for it to be done. It just really feels like that. And we'll get into this in another question here in a few minutes, but I think with Raw going to Netflix, the landscape's really going to change for what raw looks like, in my opinion. So I don't think they're being fined. I don't think the networks find them unless the networks get fined by the FCC and then maybe they would pass the fine along. I don't think that's the case. I remember actually being backstage for the very first episode of Dynamite.

And I was in the production meeting. I was in the production meeting the night before. So if you don't remember this, I was on two episodes of Dynamite in 2019. I was on the very first episode in Washington, D.C. I did a quick interview next to the ring with Kevin Smith and Jason Mews. And then it got into, just go check it out if you want to go look at it. And then I was on about a month later. And we were in Charleston, West Virginia.

I was interviewing the Rock and Roll Express and then it got interrupted by Santana and Ortiz. Again, if you want to go check it out, it's there. But yes, I was on the first two episodes, I was on two early episodes of Dynamite. So I was in the production meeting before the very first episode. And it was so interesting because

the show obviously starts at eight, right? Eight to ten. They were like certain things could be said, but not until after, nine o'clock. So they were like, okay, guys, we can say the S word, but it can't be till after nine o'clock. So like, obviously, there's different rules and regulations on cable television after nine o'clock. But that's something that I will never forget about that meeting. There's a lot of things I won't forget about that meeting. Cody was actually running that

meeting. And I think he ran the meetings for a while. But that was one thing I remember was like, we can say certain thing, not we. Sorry, I wasn't saying anything. like that. We as a whole, A.W, the people on A.A.W. could say those words, but not till after nine o'clock. What I think's happening here with promos like The Rocks and Cody's is it's getting people talking. And I think that wrestling is at its best when those lines are blurred. And that's what's happening here. The lines are blurred. Like there's a lot of things that sound really real and sound really personal. Are they?

Like, ooh, man, he crossed that line there. Like, what was going on with Maxine and Maxineupree and, like, talking about her dead brother with Candace Luray? Like, the lines got blurred there and, like, there's something that's happening here. So I don't think there's fines. I don't know if there's a double standard that's being talked about. I don't take too much stock in those reports. but the PG era of WWE feels like it's done.

And that actually leads into this next question here from Seth Roscoco 14 on Twitter. How different do you think Raw will look when it goes to Netflix next year? I don't think at first it's going to look that different, but I think that if you look at like January versus December of next year, like the first few episodes on Netflix versus the 50th than 50 second, I only say 50 second because I'd be a full year of episodes of Netflix, I think they'll look pretty different. And I think that when it's on a streamer like that, you can basically do whatever you want. So you don't have to adhere to those same FCC guidelines. You could be saying all kinds of bad words if you wanted to. One of the biggest changes I think

that we are going to see on Netflix is I don't think we're going to have commercial breaks. because why would you need commercial breaks when it's not on traditional television? And I know you might be saying, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. How would Raw even work without commercial breaks? Well, just think of what they do on a PLE. Like the pacing of a PLE, when they need a break to clean up the ring or change the canvas or set up for an entrance, they just throw to a package or they go to a backstage segment and that's how the pacing the show works.

or they go to like a WWE shop commercial or a fanatics commercial or something like that. So I don't think anyone's really talking about this right now, but I just have a feeling that there's not going to be commercials on Netflix because there doesn't need to be commercials on Netflix. So that in itself will really change how this works. Like right now we have some matches that are interrupted by two commercial breaks. So the match, you know, the entrances, then a commercial.

The match starts, then another commercial, and then the match continues after that. If there's no commercials, you could have matches that are going on for 20, 30 minutes every week, not just like as a special thing. You could have it every week where they're uninterrupted by commercials. Another thing that I think about with Netflix is, does the show need to be three hours? Because it moved from two hours to three hours on USA basically just as a chance to sell more ad space. the more the show was on, the more money they were making. It'll be really interesting here.

Does the show go back to two hours? Or does it remain at three hours? And then you could have really any amount of overrun time that you want here because there's not a show immediately coming on after this. So the options are really endless here. Like in a lot of ways, the traditional broadcasting model really constrains what you're able to do. because, you know, for the most part, it has to end at a specific time. And they've been granted a lot of overrun time over the years.

But there's a lot of, like, you need to have X amount of commercial breaks per hour. You need to have X amount of commercials per hour. If you're on a streamer, like all that goes out the window. So not only is this going to be a huge, like, change for wrestling as a whole, this is a landmark deal that is going to change the way that future. live events could be viewed. And I really think, I said it like two Ask CVs ago, I really think that Raw moving to Netflix is a very big litmus test.

And I think it's a test not just for Netflix, but for other streamers like Amazon Prime, where they're going, okay, does this work? They're going to be watching with a very close eye. Does this work? Oh, it does work? Wow. Well, maybe Netflix or Amazon Prime or some other streamers,

might try to snatch up more NFL football. I mean, there's already Thursday night games on Amazon Prime and they had the Black Friday game last year. Maybe they're looking for more. Maybe it'll be the NHL or Major League Baseball on a streamer. So it'll be very, very interesting to see how those first few weeks slash months go because everybody in the TV industry is going to be watching. This is not, this goes well,

beyond the world of wrestling. And I can't overstate that enough. This is such a landmark deal for the current state of broadcasting versus streaming that we're in right now. So I can't wait to see how this all shakes out. Mikey Slice 99 on Instagram says, what do you think is the, what do you think is the Rock's current impact on wrestling right now? Well, I think one of the most understated things about the rock being part of wrestling right now is the reach that he has on social media. So obviously the rock comes out there on SmackDown and you get the people that are watching this live. But one of the biggest things that's not talked about is he is sharing so many clips and so many photos and then obviously cutting promos on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook and

Twitter, you can't buy that kind of exposure. Well, you could buy that kind of exposure, but that kind of exposure would be very expensive. I mean, when you add it all up here, the Rock's one of the biggest, has one of the biggest social media presences. Presences? It's not even a word. He's one of the biggest stars on social media. 397 million followers on Instagram, 74 million followers on TikTok, 65 million followers. on Facebook, 17 million followers on Twitter. So that all adds up to 553 million total followers. So more than half a billion total followers.

Obviously, there's a bunch of overlap there, right? Some people that follow him on Instagram might also follow him on TikTok. You know, you get what I'm saying here. But he's not just showing up on SmackDown and then that's it. we don't see him for a week. He shows up on Smackdown, and then he shares the clips, and he talks about wrestling as an ongoing thing every single week on social media. So the people who are following him that aren't wrestling fans are now exposed to wrestling

and everything that's going on with WWE. So that kind of exposure with the passion that he's putting into it is really priceless. And I think that what he's doing is doing. right now on Smackdown and in WWE is fantastic. It's like seeing the rock just lean so heavily into being a heel. This new final boss character is it's so fun to watch. But the fact that he's bringing in all of these either new viewers or these lapsed fans is the best part of this whole thing here. This isn't just him coming out, cutting a promo, and then we don't see him for a week. This is him constantly putting wrestling in front of people who don't normally see wrestling.

And that is such a, that really, truly cannot be overstated enough. The rock continuing to just show wrestling to people who would never normally tune in. And maybe they see a rock promo or maybe they see a photo and they go, man, that's on, that's on this Friday night? Well, maybe I should tune into that. So I think that that's one of the biggest things that he's impacting wrestling with. And you know, I don't really look at ratings very much. I don't think they are, man, in 2024, ratings are not reflective at all about who's actually watching the product. Yeah, they, we, with a very archaic system. They are reflective of who watched that show,

you know, as it was on TV. But it doesn't reflect like, who watched the clips on YouTube, who watched the clips on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and all those other different places. And again, we talked about it last week. WWE is the 10th most subscribed to YouTube channel on the planet,

bigger than the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and NHL combined. So with all of that is to say ratings are up. And I don't take, I don't really look at ratings that much. I don't think they really matter at all unless you happen to be an ad buyer and that the Nielsen ratings are really the only thing you have to look at. Ratings don't matter. People don't watch TV in 2024 the way that they did 25 years ago. We need to stop the conversation about ratings.

They do not matter to wrestling fans at all. The only people they matter to are the people who are buying the ads. That's really it. But the ratings have been up since The Rock came back. So whatever that means, if you're a ratings person, then there you go. Ratings are up. Tanago underscore Man on Instagram says, Hey, Chris, I heard you and Sam Roberts talking about it,

but you never gave your answer. What do you think is the exact moment that this new era started and what should this new era be called? So if you missed the episode that came out yesterday with Sam Roberts, it was just a fun conversation just about like where we're at right now

with wrestling as a whole. And we talk about the rock coming back and turning heel. We talk about our WrestleMania 40 predictions. Talk about the Cody Cry babies. Talk about our favorite and least favorite WrestleMania of all time.

We talk about what the best movie The Rock ever did was. Just a lot of fun conversation. You'd honestly just be eavesdropping in on two huge wrestling nerds just talking about wrestling. So go check that episode out if you haven't seen it yet. I asked Sam, what's the moment that this new era started? And he said, just the whole bloodline storyline. And he said, if you want to narrow it down to like one moment, Sam said, the moment's WrestleMania 38 when Seth Rawlins mystery opponent is revealed and is Cody Rhodes.

And Cody Rhodes comes out with his logo and his same entrance theme that he had in AEW. So the Cody that we saw in AEW is now in WW. And that's a pretty great answer. I think for me, and there's no right or wrong answer to this. but I think the moment where you see Roman Raines sitting backstage, the camera pulls out to reveal that he's sitting next to Paul Heyman, that was the moment. Like, oh my gosh, Roman Raines is turning heel.

Ooh, the biggest baby face, the one that they've been like giving us, like whether we like it or not, they've been giving us Roman Raines for so long as a baby piece. Now he's a bad guy. oh boy we didn't get that with john sina but now we got it with roman rains that for me is the moment that really started to shift things if we're talking about an on screen moment i think obviously the answer that we can kind of all agree upon here is when triple h took over creative like triple h really hasn't missed since he's been in charge of the storylines like in triple h we trust and i i think

but that's not a moment right that's not a moment you can play on an episode of Raw or Smackdown and go, oh, yes, that's the thing right there. But I think that Triple H taking over and Triple H bringing a lot of people back that had been let go and Triple H giving people their first names back when they didn't have their first names and Triple H giving people entrance, their entrance themes back that had been strangely taken away from them. Like, that all as a whole factors into this.

but I think it's that moment. It's Roman Reins, aligning himself with Paul Heyman and then everything that we've seen from there. And I said it in the episode with Sam, but it bears repeating that it almost felt like the pandemic era of wrestling, which a lot of it's tough to watch. A lot of it's not rewatchable

because so much of what makes wrestling great is that fan reaction, is hearing those loud cheers or those booze or, you know, those surprise returns and you hear the pop. And it was just so weird, especially the first few weeks of the pandemic era, when you're just hearing like the thumping of their feet along the mad as they're wrestling and like the echo of the commentators, because you're hearing them, but you're then also, you're hearing them on the commentary, but then you're also hearing them in the, in the arena. It's, it, a lot of the early stuff is a, it's a tough rewatch.

But I almost feel like that era had to happen to kind of cleanse our palette. I don't know, to kind of set the stage for everything that ended up coming after it. So while, you know, the March, late, the late March 2020 episodes of wrestling as a whole are, they're tough, they're tough watches. I feel like all of that need to happen to bring us to where we're at now. Stoge Balooge, 818. What a name on Instagram says, what do you think about Okada winning the Continental Championship on Dynamite this week?

If you're not familiar with Okada, just go check out some of his matches from New Japan and be prepared to be blown. away. The guy is so, so good. Seriously, one of the best wrestlers on the planet. It's a big get for AEW. It is a, it's a very big signing. I would say it's a top five signing for them. Who are the other four then, Chris? I actually just recorded an Instagram video about this that you'll be seeing soon. Who is? I'm going to ask you, and then I will answer the question. Who is the biggest signing in AEW history?

Because a really strong case could be made for Chris Jericho. So, you know, there's this new startup wrestling company. This is crazy. They're announcing this new wrestling company. This is 2019, we're talking here. They've got a lot of these very young, talented people. Oh, wait. Chris Jericho, a former multi-time WWE champion, is going there.

Wow. So I think that Chris Jericho signing with AEW early on really set the tone for what AEW was going to be. This wasn't just going to be a bunch of indie wrestlers or a bunch of super talented people that maybe you hadn't seen work before. Chris Jericho's there. That's a name that I know. That's a guy who's work I'm familiar with. So I think a really strong argument could be made that Chris Jericho being one of the first signings of AEW was, one of their biggest signings, if not their biggest signing as a whole. You can obviously make very strong arguments for John Moxley. You know, he came out at the end of double or nothing in 2019. Massive pop. This was very clearly not Dean Ambrose. This was John Moxley. I think you could make a big argument for Adam Copeland. He had that incredible sendoff in his hometown. They basically dedicated an entire episode of Smackdown to Edge in his career. And, He rode off into the sunset. And there were a lot of people that were like, what a great sendoff.

What a great retirement. And that match with Seamus was amazing. And then his contract with WW ends. The next day shows up in AEW and he shows up with his WW theme song. It's a big signing. Recently, Mercedes-Money, one of the hottest free agents in pro wrestling. And what an accomplished career that she had in WWE. and now she's in AEW.

And it'll be really interesting to see where her first few matches, what her first few matches are and what her first few feuds end up being. But that's a big signing as well. And then going back to the original subject here, Okada's a big, big signing. One of the hottest free agents in wrestling, one of the best wrestlers in the world. Him winning the Continental Championship is interesting to me.

I love that he has gold. I love that he comes in, makes a statement, boom right away. But I feel like this is the type of guy that should be fighting for the world championship. You could put this guy into the title picture and no one would bat an eye. Lash.

You'd bat an eyelash, right? So I think that while it's great that he comes in as a strong victory, now he has gold, I just think that I hope this leads to him being in the title picture because this is a main event wrestler. And I don't think that

him holding a mid-card belt makes a ton of sense here. But again, he just debuted. Let's see where this goes in a month or two or six. And then let's talk about it again. But Alcada, very, very, very good. If you've never seen him wrestle, go watch literally any of his matches. Sam A. Monks on Facebook says, what's your favorite belt design? I really think when it comes to your favorite belt design, it comes down to like when was the time that you got into wrestling. It's actually similar to like the Mount Rushmore question. Because when you ask someone who's on their Mount Rushmore of wrestling, they usually end up giving you names of people that like really influenced them or got them into wrestling. And I think the same is with your favorite belt design. For me, it's the, I guess it's called the Big Eagle.

It's that the championship belt that we had during the attitude era, The Rock, Austin, Undertaker, obviously all held that belt. That's it for me. I think that the winged eagle is also one of the best designs. I just wasn't watching a ton of wrestling at that time. It was really the attitude era in Austin McMahon that got me all the way into wrestling. So, yeah, that's the big eagle for me. That's, it's just such a, when those were my first real champions. Obviously, I watched some wrestling. I was familiar with wrestling in like the late 80s, early 90s. But it was it was the attitude era that got me into it. So for me, that's it. But it's funny. Whenever I put this question out or make this a poll on my YouTube channel, it's so reflective of like, if you started watching wrestling during the ruthless aggression era, maybe you're a fan of like that, that, that, that, that.

spinner belt or maybe you're a fan of like the undisputed championship that I think most famously was held by like people like Brock or Kurt Angle or Jericho had the two belts for a while but then it ended up becoming that belt. So that's it for me. That's the one for me. Dylan Joseph Ivy on Facebook says, do you think they should reintroduce the cruiserweight title? Lots of great talent nowadays. Not many opportunities though. I am such a big fan of cruiserweight wrestling. Do you you remember when Nitro went to three hours and the first hour was just cruiser weights. So from eight to nine, they, they didn't have any competition, right? Because Rod didn't start till nine. From eight to nine, they just had cruiser weights. Like it was like the cruiserweight hour. I loved that

so, so much. And some of my favorite wrestlers are the guys that can move like that. Like, I was such a big fan of Kid Cash in ECW. Like he could hit a Hurricane Rana like literally from anywhere in any angle. I love that style of wrestling, always have, always will. So yeah, I think bringing back the Cruiserweight Championship would be a great move. I don't know why they got rid of it, especially now that they don't have the 24-7 title, which was a lot of fun. Like, the hardcore title is also a lot of fun in that same vein. With the 24-7 title there, a Cruiserweight Championship makes a lot of sense to me. But I do appreciate, though, We're operating in a world now in WWE where there's really no weight limits.

So a guy that would traditionally be a cruiserweight can fight a guy who would traditionally be called a heavyweight and we don't even think twice about it. And I think that that's the only downfall to the cruiserweight championship is that if you're a guy who's a smaller dude, you kind of get pigeonholed into, oh, you're just a cruiserweight guy. So I think that that might be the reason that they got rid of it and that might be the reason that it doesn't come back. And I would say that's the only reason I maybe wouldn't want it to come back.

But I love that style of wrestling. So if it comes back, man, I'd be excited to see it. Joseph Deluda on Facebook says, I'm from New Jersey, very close to Sussex County. That's where my wife's family is from. I was in Sussex County just a few weeks ago. When you visit, what is your go-to place to eat? Any Jersey foods that you need to have when you're in town?

Pizza. I am such a big pizza fan. If you are a new listener to the show or this is your first AskCTVV episode, I don't know if anybody loves pizza more than I love pizza. So when we go back to my wife's hometown, we always go to Dominics. It's this amazing pizza restaurant in Newton, New Jersey. So Dominics, for sure, we always have to go there, whether it's just for a slice or for a whole pie.

That, by the way, took some time to start saying because where I grew up, just outside of Toronto, we just called them a pizza. You know, I'll have a large pizza. In New Jersey, they would like, they call them pies. I'll have a large pie. So that's been an adjustment to make. Also a plain pie. That was also an adjustment because where I grew up, I don't know how it is where you grew up, but we'd call it a cheese pizza.

They'd call it cheese pizza a plain pie. So that's been a bit of an adjustment to get used to. But I love pizza so much. Actually, the first time that I went back home, I'd met her family before. But the first time we went back and like stayed for a week, We did like a pizza tour of New Jersey of just like the area that she grew up around. And like one afternoon, I think I went and got like seven or eight slices from seven or eight different places.

And I was like ranking them on my Instagram. And Dominix was number one. Their pizza is just so good. I love that New York style, that Brooklyn style crust where when you pick up the pizza, it stays rigid. It doesn't like flop down the bottom part of it. of the slice doesn't like fall down in your hand and get all the greasy grossness all over your hand. I like when it's like it's a rigid slice. Don't give me any flaccid pizza. I like when you bite

into it and there's a little just a little crunch with that crust. So pizza. Pizza. Pizza is the answer. That's also when I go back home to Toronto, I know pizza pizza pizza is not the best pizza. any of my friends from Ontario, Canada will agree with this. But there's just something about pizza pizza. Like it's just a, you know, it's a chain restaurant. It's a chain takeout delivery pizza place. But there's just some, there's like a nostalgic aspect to that. We had so much pizza pizza pizza growing up at like pizza parties at school and like someone's

birthday party. There'd be the orange boxes of pizza pizza. So every time I go home, I got to get pizza pizza just because, I don't know, nostalgia is a hell of a drug. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. This is from Pablo Louise Williams on Facebook with the release of WWE 2K24, were you ever much of a gamer? Did you create Chris Sharp in the game? So someone tagged me recently. They, in a photo on Instagram, and then I've been tagged now a few times in different gameplay videos of this,

someone named X, was it, Zay plays 2K. So it's X, AY, plays 2K. They created me in WW2K24. And I got to say, like, it's pretty, it's pretty great. Like, it looks, it looks pretty awesome. And I think you gave me a rating of like 73. And I'm like, I'll take a rating, I'll take a rating of 73. Like, that's, that's solid, you know, for a rookie in the game.

him. So go check it out. If you just type in, I think you just type in Chris Van Fleet, you'll see this character that they've created. It looks like a lot of people have downloaded this. So download it, play with Chris Van Fleet, Chris Sharp, whatever you want to call him, and tag me. Take a picture of it or take a video of you playing it and then tag me. I'd be so happy to share that out. I played so much of, here comes the pain. Like my friends in all, my friends in all, would like have tournaments against each other. Like there'd be like six of us that were all like for months. We'd go to our one buddy's house, Andrew's house,

and we'd just play endlessly for hours and hours and hours. I don't play a lot of games now, but there was a good chunk of time when I was actually reviewing video games for the TV show that I worked at MTV2 Canada when I worked in Vancouver. I was reviewing video games, which is, yeah, I can't believe that's a job. Like these companies would send you the game weeks before it would be released. Then part of your job would be sitting at your desk playing PlayStation or playing Xbox and recording game footage.

And then like coming up with your review of like, what's the game play like? What do you like about the game? What do you not like about the game? Crazy. Like absolute bonkers that that was something I got paid for for a good chunk. good time. I also did it when I worked for a TV show in Toronto as well. I was on a show called Inside Jam on Sun TV there. So I was, I gamed a lot. I was, I was very much into video games. And then I'd say I've been out of it for a while now. So, no, I'm sorry, guys. I probably

haven't picked up a controller in like 10 years. Yeah. I'm still, I'm still very much into like the, the old school arcade games. Like in our house, we have Mortal Kombat 2, like the actual stand-up arcade, and we have MBA Jam, TE. Oh, yeah. So like the full-sized thing.

So if you ever come over, we can play head-to-head in Mortal Kombat 2. I will be Scorpion Back BackB, you know what I'm talking about here. Get over here! Those are really, those are really my jam. Please, go play. Go play as me in 2K24. Kyloor underscore Palmero on Instagram says,

with Matt Hardy at Raw and their contracts expiring, do you see them returning to WWE? I think that the Hardy Boys being back in WWE, even if it's just for their Hall of Fame induction, like it goes without saying. This is not a matter of if it happens. This is a matter of when it happens. I would imagine that they have,

some more matches left in in in them i would imagine we see some more hardy boys matches but the hardy boys look the hardy boys are guaranteed w w hala fainers so whether that's next year or the year after that or 10 years from now like that that was it that was a given that was a given that when their careers were done whether that was ending them in a e w or them ending now in a w and then going to WWE, they were going to be doing something with WWE and when they got inducted in the Hall of Fame. I don't know if they'll be part of that ladder match. It'll be, it'll be interesting to see how the next few raws and smackdowns shake out here, because I know there's two spots left. If those, if there's one spot or two spots as we go into

WrestleMania that have still not yet been announced, then I would put a lot of stock in, yeah. the Hardy Boys will be part of that ladder match. But I just feel like, I just go back to WrestleMania 33. That was there. I was there in Orlando, and that's one of the biggest pops I've ever, ever heard. And I know, W.W.E knows that.

I know that. You know that. It'd be cool to hear it again. Let me just take a sip here of F3. Tropical theory. Tropical theory is such a great flavor. Matt Hardy being at Raw was, just also interesting because he was sitting in the box.

But obviously, WWE knew he was going to get photographed. But he also has a ton of friends that work there. One of his best friends, Shane Helms works behind the scenes as a fantastic producer. So, like, I think that sometimes we forget that wrestlers love wrestling.

And they love watching wrestling. So maybe Matt Hardy was just there because he likes watching wrestling. But I don't think so. I think there might be something more to this. Ninja Wolf 513 on Instagram says, are you attending Smackdown and SummerSlam in Cleveland this year? I will be in Cleveland.

As you guys know, it is my American hometown. It's the first U.S. city that I lived in when I moved from Canada to the U.S. I have nothing but so much love for Cleveland and the people of Cleveland. Oh, man. Oh, H! And then you're supposed to say, I-oh, that's how that goes.

Yes, I will be in Cleveland that week. I will for sure be at SummerSlam. I don't know if I'll be at SmackDown. I'm still trying to put the finishing touches on a live episode of Insight with Chris Van Vlee. We're putting the finishing touches on exactly where and when this will be and who will be the big massive guest that we have. So this will be a live episode of the podcast with all of you guys in attendance.

And then we'll do a little Q&A after with our very special, massive Hall of Famer guest. And then we'll have a meet and greet after. So you can take photos with them, autograph signing with them. And if you want to take a photo with me, we can certainly do that as well. So I will be in Cleveland for that. I don't know if I'll be at Smackdown, but I'll for sure be at SummerSlam. and we're thinking, we're thinking Thursday night for the live episode. I haven't announced this yet, and I'm grateful that we still have another four and a half months to put this all together,

but I hope to see you there. And I can't wait. This is something that I've talked about for years, having, like having this be a fairly constant thing. Like maybe we do four to six live stage shows a year and hopefully you can beat all of them. So I will see you in Cleveland. Let's go grab some wings at the Winking Lizard. Let's go. Oh man, it brings back so many memories. Bring back so many memories. Let's go grab a grilled cheese sandwich at Melt Bar and Grilled. Well, those are some of the best grilled cheese sandwiches on the planet. Really, really so good. And let's go grab a corn beef sandwich at Slymans. These are all very famous Cleveland spots.

Oh, man, I can't wait to be back in Cleveland. Charlie Phillips Duncan says on Instagram, who's your favorite WWE Hall of Famer that you've interviewed? And if you were able to interview someone from the past, who would that be? Favorite WWE Hall of Famer that I've interviewed is Diamond Dolls page. The world is a better place because DDP lives in it. I'm he's just such a good guy and I'm I'm grateful to be able to call him a friend. So DDP, that's an easy answer.

And that's not a slight at any of the other WWE Hall of Famers that I've ever interviewed. And there's been a lot of them. But DDP's my favorite of that bunch. And I got to stay at his house last time. Did the interview with him. We filmed a workout together. And he was like, hey, bro, do you want to interview Butterbean? I'm like, of course I want to interview Butterbean.

All right, let me call him. And then an hour later, there's Butterbean. And we're doing that interview. So go check out that episode from last year. It's such a good one. And the progress that Butterbean is made, like to go from, he was in a wheelchair. I don't know if you've seen the video. I don't know if you've seen the video on DDP's YouTube channel.

I think it's on the DDPY YouTube channel. Bring some tissues with it. you. Get some tissues ready when you watch this video, but it is, it is inspiring and is heartwarming. Butterbean went from really not being able to walk and being super hunched over, like bent over, to like training for another boxing match. I love it so much. If I could interview someone from the past, it'd be Eddie Guerrero. Just think of the stories that he'd be able to tell. And it's, what a damn shame he was taken from us. far, far too early. And I love when you hear people talk about Eddie, like the conversations I've

had with Chavo over the years, or just anybody, anybody that talks about Eddie, they just, there's like a twinkle in their eye when they tell those stories. So I would have loved to have been able to spend a little bit of time with Eddie. And oh my gosh, we are on the last question here. I don't, this can't be a real question. Come on. Daris, by you. num 23. Oh, how coincidental that you have 23 your username. And this is CVV. Ask CVV number 23.

This is Daris by NUM 23 on Instagram. Have you ever thought about interviewing John Sina? Is that like a you can't see me joke? Is that like a it'd be cool if you interview him, but we wouldn't be able to see him.

I've now done five interviews with John Sina. He's the best. Please, if you haven't watched it yet, go check out the hour and 15 minute interview that we did. I just released to like two weeks ago. It's truly my favorite interview that I've ever done. John Cena's awesome.

And I think that he just drops so much wisdom. And I feel like there's a lot of little things that you can get from him, whether it's directly from the advice that he's giving or the stories that he's telling or it's indirectly just from the way that he carries himself. There's a lot that I think we can take from him. So yeah, yes, to answer your question, I've thought about interviewing John Cena. And I would like to do it again.

And there's a whole bunch of other big interviews that we're trying to set up for the rest of 2024. So keep an eye out for that. If you're not following the show yet, go follow the show because there are some really big ones that you won't want to miss out on. that are coming up soon. You guys are the best. Thank you so much for hanging out with us and hanging out all the way until the end of Ask CVV number 23. If you have a question for the next one, send it to me

on social media using that hashtag Ask CVV or shoot me an email. CVV at chrisfanfleet.com. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guys. This has been our biggest month yet for the podcast. and February was the biggest month before that, and January was the biggest month before that, and December was the biggest month before that, and so on and so on. The show just keeps getting bigger every single month, and it's because of you.

Not just because you listen every single episode, but also because you tell your friends about the show. So thank you. Tweet out a screenshot of this episode or tag me on Instagram with a photo of this, and I'd be happy to share it out. And I will leave you with this quote from Norman Vincent Peel. Because you guys know I love gratitude.

And we will end this episode with the three things I'm grateful for because, I mean, you can't, you can't not have that in an episode. Norman Vincent Peel said, the more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for. Three things that I'm grateful for today are, I'm grateful for these Ask CVV episodes. I really am. This was just an idea that I came up with six months ago where I was like, would people even care?

It was more than six months ago, but would people even care? Like, do you guys even really want to hear my opinion on this stuff? I don't know, but let's do it. I'm grateful that you guys show up for these and that you continue to show up for these. And that you continue to show up for these episodes no matter who the guest is. So that's number one. Number two, and these are in no specific order, but I wanted to mix it up because every other time I say I'm thankful for my family first, which is true. I'm of course thankful for my family.

So they're in there right now. And then number three, I'm grateful. Like family and health are, like they're my default ones, right? Because I'm so grateful for both of those things all the time. So I think the health one goes without saying. So I will give you a different third one. I'm just really grateful for opportunity. Like as soon as this episode wraps up, I'm grabbing my suitcase and I'm going to jump in an Uber and head to the airport and then talk to Henry Cavill. Not tomorrow.

I guess that'll be technically the day after. I'm sleeping on the plane tonight. I'm grateful that that's an opportunity that I even have. Like the fact that I've been able to do this. this for my whole career is something that I do not take for granted at all. And as I sit here in this empty room, as I sit here in my office and it's just me talking into a microphone, I'm grateful that you're on the other side of this. So thank you. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more inside. Have an amazing weekend. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do

With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it. Get up in here.

The Jim Rome Show podcast. What should be? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.