Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #29 - Backlash Predictions, WWE Draft Thoughts, Cody's Next Opponent, Jade Cargill Heel Turn

Episode Date: May 3, 2024

Welcome back to another AskCVV episode! On this one Chris gives his predictions for the full WWE Backlash card and answers questions about who Cody Rhodes' next opponent should be, when we will see Bianca Belair vs. Jade Cargill, first piece of wrestling memorabilia you bought, does AEW have too many titles, favorite celebrity interview ever, thoughts on the recent WWE Draft 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: “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis Sponsors: PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT for a first deposit match up to $100! RHONE: Upgrade your closet with Rhone and use CVV to save 20% at https://www.rhone.com/CVV BLUECHEW: Use the code INSIGHT to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com 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 PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com 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 my goodness. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for making Insight, one of the top wrestling podcasts on the planet. I just checked.

We are currently number two on the charts. The Undertaker is one above us right now. So thank you for listening to the show. I'm assuming if you're here right now in an Ask CVV episode, you probably follow the show, but if for some reason that has slipped your mind or you thought you were following,

but you realized, oh my gosh, I'm not actually following the show. Please take three seconds out of your day. It would mean so much to me if you could do that, to just hit follow on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. That helps the show so much. And that's why I bring it up on almost every episode.

So I'm going to thank you in advance for that. And if the Undertaker is the one who's above us right now, I feel like we've got to go one on one with the Undertaker player. So who knows? Maybe we could make that happen sometime in the next month or two or something like that. Like, you know, we shall see. We shall see. Welcome to Ask CVV number 29.

And as a kid who grew up in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, cheering for the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, this, of course, is the Joe Carter episode, the Joe Carter edition number 29. He hit that incredible game-winning, World Series winning home run, the 1993 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm sorry for anybody who is listening to this from Philadelphia,

or if you're a Phillies fan, I'm sorry, Mitch Williams. That's terrible, right? I feel bad for you. He just kind of left that one hanging. Joe Carter absolutely crushed it. So number 29, the Joe Carter edition. If this is your first, ask CVV, first of all, thank you for being here. You're a real one for being here.

I understand if you want to listen to an episode with Bronz Strowman or Tiffany Stratton or anybody else. But for us to just hang out like this one-on-one, I appreciate you. Here's how it works. You send in your questions using that hashtag. Ask CVV on social media. Every time I say that, I feel like I'm getting into

like the start of a game show. It's simple how this works. You just send in your questions using that hashtag Ask CVV on social media. And we will get to the top questions on this episode. You can also email them in CVV at chrisfanfleet.com

and we will get to as many of these as we can. Usually it's like 15 or so. So if your question isn't answered here, send it in again and ask CVV number 30. Who should ask CVV number 30 be? Who is number 30? Got a lot of people to choose from there. So, well, I must have to dive into that.

I love seeing the responses from people on Spotify. You know how Spotify has the Q&A section? It says, like, what did you think of this episode and people leave their responses? I always go into that. I love checking what people say about the different episodes or the different interviews. I never will understand why someone, again, with their glasses, firmly pushed up their nose. Ah, okay.

Hey, I just like to tell you this. This is from Mike, Mike Rock, on Spotify. So it's Mike, the name Mike, and then M-I-C, like a microphone. Well, Jim Johnson actually didn't write Undertaker's theme song. It's actually Chopin's funeral march. I just want to let you know that. Yes. of course, and Jim Johnson even told me that it was inspired by Chopin, but the actual song that

Undertaker walks out to is not Chopin's funeral march. Yes, inspired by it, for sure. It probably even has a writing credit, but it is not the same song. That would be like saying, oh, you know, vanilla ice didn't actually write Ice Ice Ice Baby because it samples under pressure by Queen, so a Queen wrote Ice Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. I always love seeing those things. I mean, yes, they are, it is definitely sampling it. But if you listen to the song, could you imagine Undertaker walking out? So, you know, obviously, yes, that's the same.

But then what is this part here? Could you imagine if he truly came out to Chopin? Could you imagine the Undertaker? So Mike, Mike Rocks. Just want to say yes. Yes. And Jim Johnson, Jim Johnson even admits sampling Chopin, but not the same song. The song that Jim Johnson wrote is called Rest in Peace.

And I don't understand the idea of splitting hairs here. Why is the internet just full of splitting hairs and people who just want to, oh, this is why I am right and you are, in fact, incorrect. I was listing off in the last Ask CVV all of the great theme songs that Jim Johnson's has written in his career. And there's quite literally thousands of them. And I was just listing off some of the biggest ones. Of course, there's The Rock and Stone Cold and The Undertaker, McFoly, Razor Ramon, the list goes on and on and on and on. So what an interesting comment there. Please leave your feedback on Spotify about all of the other things. I'd like to let you know

about this. Let's dive into the actual questions here. We will start with this one from Katen, Katen, 1084 on Instagram. Hey, CVV, let's hear your backlash predictions. I love this. Let's dive into the backlash predictions from France. Very bien. We've got five great matches here, and I'm excited about this. And we'll talk a little bit more about, like, the international feel of all these

paper views, these PLEs. Let's start with the WWE Women's Tag Team. championship, the Kabuki Warriors versus Bianca Bel Air and Jade Cargill. And if we go actually to MyBooky.ag, you can bet, yes, on WWPLEs. Jade Cargill and Bianca Bel Air are heavy favorites on here, minus 2000 if you know anything about betting odds. And yes, if you want to bet on WWEPLEs, UFC or anything else, you can bet on the outcome of the next U.S. election. MyBooky.org. use the code CVV. When you sign up, you'll get a 50% welcome bonus

on whatever amount you put in there. So if you bet on Jade Cargill and Bianca Bel Air, you're not going to make a ton of money, but you're likely going to be right. That's who I'm going with on that match. I feel like some of these are kind of easy to predict. Kevin Owens and Randy Orton versus the bloodline, Solo Sacoa and Tomatonga.

That's an interesting one because it feels like on either side of this, it's tough for either Kevin Owens or Randy Orton to take a loss here or Solisokoa and Tomatanga to take a loss. This is Tomatanga's first WWE match. I just can't see him losing and the bloodline losing here and them losing any momentum that might be happening. So I'm going to give that one to the bloodline. Then we go on to the WWE Women's Championship. Bailey defending her championship in a three-way match against Tiffany Stratton and Naomi. Tiffany Stratton already getting a championship match. She's been on the main roster for three months.

I mean, technically a little. Technically a little. She actually made her debut at the Royal Rumble. Well, yeah, she called up to Smackdown until like the beginning of February. So three months in here, man, that nerd voice is going to become a staple on these episodes. I'm going to get a lot of emails about that one. But great to see Tiffany Stratton three months into her main. roster run getting a championship match. I think Bailey retains this one. So I'm going with Bailey on that.

The world heavyweight championship Damien Priest versus the Yeatmaster himself. Jay Uso, I'm going to go with Damian priest here. I feel like their, his run as champion is not quite over yet. And while I do think that Jay Uso will be a world champion at some point in time, I just don't think it's yet. then we go on to the undisputed WWE Universal Championship. My bookie has Cody Rhodes is an extremely heavy favorite here for good reason.

This match is going to be so good. There's so much history here between these two as individuals and we talked about in the last ass CVV the history that AJ Stiles wrestled dusty and is now wrestling his son, Cody. The first one was with the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship

hanging in the balance. This one, we got the WWE Universal Championship hanging in the balance. It's going to be such a good match. And the fact that these guys have never touched in their entire careers, we're in for something special here. But I think we can all agree here. Cody Rhodes wins this one. But really, we all win because this is going to be such a good match.

So there's my picks. If you'd like to bet on them, my bookie.ag. Sign up using the promo code CVV for 50%. welcome bonus on your first deposit. Finch Master Flex 3 on Twitter says, Hey, Chris, Finch here. I'm curious, what's your thoughts on WWE having less matches on paper views?

Personally, I enjoy it due to letting the wrestlers cook out there. Thanks for what you do for the wrestling world. I'm with you, Finch. I prefer less matches for a few reasons. One, I agree with you. It allows the matches to breathe a little bit instead of one match running over and, oh my gosh,

our time is now crunched for the other matches and then like some matches get you know cut and that's happened famously to a lot of matches like especially like WrestleMania. I'm a big fan of that. I'm also a big fan of like matches not just getting cut for length, but like there have been matches in the past that have been cut completely. So I'm a big fan of just five matches because if you have just five matches on the card, the chances of one running way over and having to completely scrap an entire match just doesn't seem like it's really possible with the way that they've set this up. So I enjoy it. And it also just feels like every match means something. When every match gets to have the full entrances, every match gets to be 15-ish, 20, 30, in the case of

WrestleMania, almost an hour long. It feels like there's enough time for everything to unfold during that match. I've been enjoying this. ever since the triple-H era has begun. I've enjoyed that everything on the PLA just feels like there's

something you can sink your teeth into. It just doesn't feel like there's any throwaway matches on PLEs anymore. So I'm a big fan of this and personally I hope it keeps going. And another thing is you're not getting these PLEs

that are like five or six hours long. You're getting, let's get right to the matches, let's get right to the action here and they're going two and a half, three hours. I think it's fantastic. So big fan of that, Finch, big fan. Prize Picks is America's number one fantasy sports app

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Don't wait. Go there today for 20% off. Doug and Dave on Instagram says, was this the most pointless draft in WWE history? I feel like I'd have to really dive in and look at every single draft, but I don't know if this is the most pointless one ever, but it was pretty, pretty pointless.

I, you know, I have my problems with the draft. I have been saying this for years. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. It doesn't make a lot of sense for two. reasons. One is the idea that like someone gets drafted at one show and then out of nowhere two weeks later they're on the other show with no explanation for that. Like it's not a true draft and there doesn't feel like there's any real consequences that are hanging in the balance here. And it doesn't feel like there's any real rules attached to it. But more importantly,

and I feel like a real spotlight was shined on this, shone on this. That doesn't make sense. we had a real spotlight on this, this draft, was like the idea that someone was already on a show and then they got drafted to that show. And then there's this huge swath of undrafted people that we don't even talk about. So I get why they do this. And it's pertinent. The timing is great. The NFL draft is going on at the same time. And they're tying into the relevancy of that. I like it. I appreciate that part of it. But I just wish that the draft actually meant something. And it doesn't. So I don't know, Dave, if it's the most pointless one ever, but let's be fair here. They all kind of feel pointless. So I'm not a fan, not a fan of the draft. I would be very happy if the draft never happened again.

I mean, it's somewhat entertaining, but it just doesn't. And like, too. or three weeks, we're just going to forget everything that happened here because it's all just going to be jumbled together anyway. So silly. Howard Miller emailed this one in. Hey, Chris, my buddy and I were discussing who from the 80s and early 90s would thrive in WWE today. Savage, Piper, and Jake topped my list for those who would thrive. Who would be your top three? And what are your thoughts on the three I picked? Those are three great picks. And the thing about the three people that you listed there is those are like some, there was depth to those characters. Like Piper obviously works in any generation, just the type of character that he is,

the type of promos that he cuts. Jake the Snake completely revolutionized what it meant to cut a promo. Because up into that point, every promo was the over the top like, I'm going to get you, man. I'm going to get you, dude. And the way that Jake the Snake lowered his voice and made you. get closer to the TV. Like, he really drew you in with his words. That's something we hadn't seen before.

And Jake the Snake would work now, even without the snake. That's what's so compelling about that character is, I think when you're a kid watching that character, you're going, oh, man, he's the guy with the snake. Now as an adult, you can go back and appreciate him in a whole new light. Yeah, he had a snake. And that was, Damia was interesting. but it's actually one of the least interesting things about him when you look back at it. And Savage, for sure.

Man, Savage has had so many levels to him. Like, the macho man character had so many levels. Like, he could be big and over the top, but at the same time, he could also bring it down a little bit. Yeah, talk like this, yeah. The fact that he's one of the impressions that people still do to this day, I think shows how, there's just a lot of, there's a less, there's a staying power there

to his character. So I can't argue with those three for sure. Savage, Piper, Jake. I think there's a, there's definitely a few characters

from the late 80s, early 90s that wouldn't work now. And that's no disrespect to who the people are, but there were a lot of very gimmicky characters at that time. Like,

Isaac Yankham wouldn't have, didn't really. worked that well then, which is why he became Kane. And I think you see a lot of characters like that. Like, Repo Man didn't really. That kind of worked then. Certainly wouldn't work now. It's the characters that are based more in reality that would work so much better now. Hulk Hogan. Hul Cogan would work for sure now. I feel like if Hulke Hogan debuted now as a rookie, I feel like it would be a similar character,

but with like a modern twist on it, I'd be interested to see that. And complete side note here. I can't be the only person who thought that his name growing up was Hull Cogan. Like Hull, H-U-L-L-Cogan. I just remember thinking his name was

or Ho-Cogan. Hoke-H-Hogan. Ho-C-C-O-C-G-N. It took me a long time to realize, his name was, oh, his name's Hulk? It's not Hoke. Hoke Hogan? Hoke Kogan?

I don't know. I can't be the only one. I also can't be the only one who thought that his name was Roddy, Roddy Piper. I for sure thought as a kid, his name was Roddy, Roddy Piper. I'm like, oh, his name is so nice, they say it twice. Roddy, Roddy, Ropper? Again, didn't take me, you know, it wasn't until I was much older that I went, oh, It's rowdy, Roddy Piper.

I understand it now. I get it. Flair. Flair also works. Flair works in any generation. Dusty Roads works in any generation, any time. There's a lot. But I think that I've just listed six there.

I think that you've got a great list there of three. I took your list of three and added three more to it. James Colantonio on Facebook. Who is going to be your? big guest for episode number 600. Well, for 500, we had a WWE Hall of Famer. I went to Diamond Dallas Page's house. He's a good friend of mine, did a workout with him, and was honored to be able to sit with him and just chat, just hang out and chat for episode number 500. For episode number 600, the bar is certainly said high. I'm not going to tell you who it is, but I will say this.

And episode number 600 is on Thursday. I will say this. The guest for episode number 600, you think you know him. Matt Fisher emailed this one in. Hey, Chris, Matt Fisher here from Charleston, Virginia. Hey, I remember being in Charlottesville, Virginia. There we go.

You've read that completely wrong. Charlottesville, Virginia. Big fan of yours in the show. Love the hard work that you put out and all of the shows. Love the gratitude portion as well. always made me think of what I have and appreciate it a little bit more. I also have a baby, a boy born on April 3rd this year, and I have a nine-year-old daughter, Jackson, and Cadence.

Hope your family's well. Question for you, how long until we get Jade versus Bianca? And which one do you think turns heel? Personally, I think Jade would make the better heel, but would love to see it either way. What are your thoughts? Well, Jade versus Bianca is inevitable. This is not a matter of if this happens. It's a matter of when this happens. I think, like I said, my predictions there, I think they win this weekend.

And I think that that sets them up for a nice little run together. And then they split. Maybe it's WrestleMania next year. Maybe it's Royal Rumble. And I completely agree with you. Jade makes the better heel for sure. And I've said this before.

Maybe it's a stretch. But could you imagine Jade paired with Paul Heyman. Oh, that would be magic. That would be so good. I think that Jade with some sort of great heel manager would take whatever heel dumb that she has, whatever heel work she's doing and just take it to another level.

So I'm excited for that. I would say that happens probably in the next, within the next year for sure. And when that does happen, who, it's going to be real good. going to be real good. Also, congratulations on your new baby boy. That's amazing. Dallas Cowboy fan, oh and one. What a username. This is at Poxick underscore Justin on Twitter. Favorite celebrity interview you did? I mean, the rock, I think, falls into the category of both celebrity and wrestler. That's definitely one of them for sure. I'm actually flying to New York City right after we record this. I'm flying to New York City tonight because this episode comes at at midnight.

Pacific time. So flying to New York City tonight, I'm interviewing JLo this Saturday for her new movie called Atlas on Netflix. So when you see that movie on Netflix on May 24th, you'll go, oh yeah, I remember CVV talking about this on AskCTVV Joe Carter edition. So I'm flying to find the air to interview her. I've interviewed her before. I interviewed Jalo for hustlers, and she was very kind. She's very nice. Favorites, there's a bunch. Like, Sylvester. Stollone was a really good one. And that kind of came as a total surprise. I interviewed him for John Rambo.

And I was told I was just getting the daughter from the movie. And then last second, I got off the elevator. And they were like, oh, we're so glad you're here. Come into the room right now. And I walk into the room and who's sitting there? Yes, the actress that plays the daughter. And then also, Sylvester Stallone. It's like, oh, wow, this is happening.

Chris Pratt, when he was a great interview, Anthony Mackey brings it every time. like tons of like huge energy. Despite the interview you may have seen with Anne Hathaway, I have interviewed her more than once. And she's always been so lovely, so lovely to talk to. Hugh Jackman. Hugh Jackman, like, there's, I think there's some celebrities that don't enjoy doing interviews.

Hugh Jackman, I think, might enjoy doing interviews more than anybody I've ever interviewed before. And he always just makes it so fun and entertaining and, Yeah, there's, there's, I'd love to interview him again. So there's a, there's a handful of them there. Keep an eye out for the interview with JLo coming up here in, I don't know, the next handful of weeks. Hey, Chris, this one's from Evan. He emailed this one in.

Hey, Chris, I haven't asked CVV question for you. I just recently started listening to your podcast on a recommendation from a friend, and I think it's great. I'll pause. I think that your friend here has great taste in podcasts. So thank you, Evan, for listening to the show. Thank you to Evan's friend for recommending it. You have such a diverse and interesting group of guests on the show,

and you really dig deep with some of the great questions and topics. My question for you is, do you think AEW has too many championship titles on their show? Routinely on Dynamite, Rampage or Collision, you could see AEW titles, Ring of Honor titles, CMLMLL titles, New Japan, IWGP titles. Do you think it's confusing or waters down the product to see so many wrestlers with titles? Thank you for great work. Evan, I think it's confusing if you don't watch Ring of Honor, you're not familiar with the product, or you don't watch CMLL or New Japan. I think that that's where it gets confusing because in a

traditional setting, like if you're just watching AEW, for example, you know the storyline behind, okay, this person is the TNT champion and they beat this other person for it. The storyline there was this. When someone just shows up on camera, and they're holding a championship that maybe you're not familiar with the championship, or maybe you're not even familiar with the wrestler. I just think it's strange because you go, okay, well, who's this person? What's this championship mean? Why is this just being, why is this match being put on here?

And it's being contested for this championship? I don't know the whole story behind it. And I will give AEW credit. Over the last few months, they've done a better job of making us realize who these people are, why these championships are important, what the backstory is here. But I still think, though, that if you're just following AEW and you're just familiar with the characters on there and the championships on there, when these championships that you don't know anything about get thrown into the mix, yeah, it can be a little bit confusing.

And I also think that we only have so many hours in a day, so many hours in a week. and even if you're a super hardcore wrestling fan, are you really able to keep up with all of the different wrestling companies? Not just WW, not just AEW, not just TNA, not just New Japan, but like all of them and understand what's going on here, I think that there could be a better way of introducing these. Or have this person who maybe doesn't wrestle for AEW regularly. and maybe they are a champion.

Maybe they don't bring their championship in. And that wouldn't be as confusing. But there's something there that needs to change or to shift for it to make more sense. And I don't know what it is, quite frankly, but I can see what you mean. And then, you know, I think it was the, sometimes there's like, there's more of these outside championships being, defended, then there are AEW championships. I really think that if there's a possibility here, I'm just going to speak to Ring of Honor because I loved Ring of Honor. Still love Ring of Honor. But if you weren't a Ring of Honor fan 10 years ago or 15 years ago, and now you're just being

introduced to Ring of Honor through AEW, I just think that you might not understand the full story and the full history of everything there. Ring of Honor truly does deserve its own show. And I know that that is asking a lot. You know, TV time is not an easy, easy thing to come by. But to put Ring of Honor in A.W shows, I get it. I mean, it's a property that Tony Kahn owns, but there's got to be a better way to present that. And I think that if Ring of Honor had its own show, and then maybe every once in a while a match gets put into dynamite or collision or rampage to promote the other show that's going on, that might make more sense,

but the ring of honor we're seeing now is not the ring of honor that I grew up with. It's not the ring of honor that you grew up with. So something needs to change there, Evan. Jonathan Wong says, hey, CVV, do you remember your first wrestling memorabilia gift that you got as a kid? And if so, do you still have it to this day?

Thank you for all that you do for the wrestling community. I do. I remember it was it was the winged eagle championship. It was like a piece of plastic winged eagle championship that I got from a store in the Pickering Town Center called Funny You Should Ask. Like one of those stores that sells like the gag gifts, like the silly gifts. Also one of those stores that had a curtained off area towards the back of the store.

If you know what I mean. And I always thought that was such a strange thing to have in a mall. But this is when I first got. in to wrestling. I was like 15. And we would walk home from high school. And there was like a group of like eight or 10 of us. And we'd stop off at our friend Becca Sears's house. She had a trampoline in her backyard. We would just kind of hang out in the backyard for like 20, 30 minutes would break up our walk home from school. And me and my friends started doing wrestling moves in the trampoline. It was kind of like the precursor to the backyard wrestling that I eventually did. And I remember after doing this for a few

weeks, happened to be at the mall, happened to be walking by that store. And I saw the, this championship. And I didn't even know that was a possibility. I didn't know you could buy this. It was like $25 or something like that. So I bought it and I brought it in my backpack so that we would have it on the trampoline when we were wrestling in Becca's backyard. That was the first thing. That was the first piece of wrestling memorabilia. My parents still have it to this day. It's still in my childhood bedroom at their house. The next real piece of memorabilia was I love, the triple H was my guy at that time, like 2000, like late 90s 2000. I remember buying the his t-shirt. The I am the game and on the back then it said, because I am that damn good,

the black t-shirt with like the white and lime green writing on it. I think I, did I order that from like WWE shop and then like paid a crazy amount of money to have it shipped to Canada. That was another one. I think I still had that one up until like very recently. I sold it to someone, I don't know, like maybe last year or two years ago. It's like I was looking at in my closet. I hadn't worn it in 20 years. And for some reason it was way too big for me.

I don't know why I bought that in high school when it was way too big for me. But that was another one. And then I'm looking at another one right now. I have the poster years later, but the poster from WrestleMania 18, my sister bought that for me for Christmas that year. So, WrestleMania was March 17, 2002. She bought that as a Christmas present later that year for me. And now I got it framed, Halkogan signed it, and I have the stub from my ticket. My ticket stub's in the bottom corner. And would you believe that in 2002, you could sit in the 16th row at WrestleMania for $135 Canadian, pretty pretty, pretty

wild, right? Speaking of Canada, this is from Mark Sussex. Hey, CVV, you're awesome. Mark Sussex on Facebook. Hello from Canada. Who do you think would be the most logical opponents for Cody to defend his WWE championship against? There's quite a few. And I think that any of these could happen at some point as Cody remains the champion. Seth Rollins, I think, could be at the top of that list. And that's a match that I think when he's ready to go is a match we'll see at some point in time. Randy Orton, Cody versus Randy. That's certainly one that makes sense. Obviously, at the very top of that list, the most logical one storyline-wise is Roman

Raines. Because as of right now, they're one-in-one. There's got to be a third match there to really settle this. I don't know if we're going to see that one anytime soon. But I'm really curious when Roman does come back from what seems like we'll be like an extended vacation here, an extended leave of absence. What's the storyline going to be? It's not like, I don't know, it's not like Roman can go into the mid card title picture. Isn't that funny? Because when John Cena was the United States champion, we didn't, like,

think twice about it. We just went, oh, yeah, he's the United States champion. And then it's the open challenge. Cool. Makes sense. There's just something about the way that Roman's character's been positioned that if he came back and was in contention for the Intercontinental Championship or the U.S. title, it would almost devalue everything that he had done before. And it's so funny that we don't feel that way about John Cena. I don't know what it is. Brock Lesnar, if and when he ever comes back, there's a story to be told there, especially after the match that Cody and Brock had at SummerSlim. So there's a handful there. I think obviously Cody wins at backlash, but then where do we go from there?

Gunther? Gunther can make a lot of sense. Gunther is still my pick right now, early pick, obviously, for King of the Ring. That could lead to a title shot at some point down the line. Gunther will be world champion at some point in time. I don't know why I always put these time limits on it myself. Like no one's asking me the time limit and I'm like, oh yeah, he'll be the champion in the next 36 months. Probably will be.

Maybe 24. I don't know. but Goonther, I feel like, could be part of that list as well. Solid list. And all of those, I think, are great matches. And all of them have a story to be told there. So we shall see. This is from outsider interference on Instagram.

Hey, CVV, I know you were a UFC fan. And I saw you at UFC 298 in Anaheim, but didn't have a chance to say hi. Who is your pick for Connor McGregor versus Michael Chandler at 303? Well, next time, come by and see. say hi. It'd be great to say what's up. I am so excited for Connor McGregor versus Michael Chandler, UFC 303, June 29th in Las Vegas. It's going to be a good one. And both of these guys have a lot on the line. I mean, I don't know why nobody's talking about this or they're not talking about it more. Both Connor and Michael Chandler have lost three out of their last four. So there's a lot,

They all have a lot to lose here, and at the same time, a lot to gain from this. Porier and Gaichy couldn't knock out Chandler. They're in their prime. I just feel like when you look at this match, it really favors Michael Chandler. It really favors Michael Chandler. And if, if Connor doesn't win this, where does he go from here? Because at that point, he'll have lost four of his last five. And you see all these memes online.

You see all this discussion online of like, man, prime Connor was so good. Yeah, he was. Connor is unfortunately not in his prime anymore. And it just feels to me like when you look at the work ethic that Michael Chandler has, I don't know if anybody in MMA as a whole is training harder than him. When you look at his workout videos, my goodness. And you just look at the condition that he's in. it's going to be a very, very interesting fight at 170.

Chandler doesn't even really have to cut a ton of weight to get to 170. So I don't know. But it's hard to bet against Connor. I mean, he's one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time. So it's going to be very telling here. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens here. If I was placing a bet on my bookie using that promo code CVV, I'd probably be betting on Michael Chandler, which actually makes me curious.

I wonder if the betting odds are up right now for that one. I would think that Chandler's the favorite. They're not up on my bookie just yet, but let's see. Let us see. We have all the world's information in front of us here. Oh, wow. Connor McGregor is the early favorite right now. Like very, very, very, very.

the odds are like super close here. But yeah. And it's almost even odds. Yeah, it's like minus 117 for Connor, minus 103 for Chandler. Then you got another website that's minus 115 for both of them. So like, geez, like just flip a coin on that one. So we'll see. But I will certainly be watching that one.

And man, I can't wait. I also can't wait to see what happens after that. Because if Connor wins, I feel like it just rejuvenates his career. And like I feel like it gives either person who wins here, it gives him a boost. And I feel like there's going to be a title shot for sure for the winner of this one. Austin Plavv Plavjana.

Sorry about that one, man. You emailed this one in. Hey, Chris, just wondering, with your love for pizza pizza in Canada, the way you described it, it's eerily similar to Little Caesar's pizza here in the States. I got to ask you if you've tried it, If so, is it the same place with a different name? No, my friend, it is not. It is not at all.

And I understand what you're saying because in the Little Caesar's commercials, they go pizza pizza. In Canada, they also have Little Caesars. They were obviously not allowed to because of trademarks. They were not allowed to say pizza, pizza. So they say Little Caesars in the commercials. Completely different type of pizza. Like the hot and ready.

I'm so sorry, Little Caesars. The hot and ready at Little Caesars, where you go in, you pay five bucks and pull the pizza out of the thing that's keeping them warm, those are not good. I feel like those pizzas are like one step away from like making your own pizza from the grocery store. Little Caesars is extremely low on my list of good pizza. Well, actually, it's not on my list of good pizza. It's just on my list of not, it's on my list of pizzas.

It is very low on my list of pizzas. Pizza pizza is freshly made. It's a different type of pizza. It has a dough more like, I'd say, like a Papa John's, like a spongier dough, if you will. And if you like Little Caesars, I'm sorry, I mean, to each his own, you are certainly allowed to have whatever opinions about pizza that you'd like, but they are not similar at all. And I'm going back home at the end of June, one of my best friends from high school, Basil is getting married, and I'm in his wedding party. After I go to Swiss LA, because that'll be my first stop when I get back home to Toronto, I will be getting Swiss LA as well.

At New York Sports 25 on Twitter says, Bronbreaker definitely needs a manager. What are your thoughts on it being CM Punk? Not yet. I mean, yes, Bronbreaker needs a manager, but CM Punk shouldn't be managing people anytime soon. Sam Punk still has a lot of gas left in the tank. And while he would be a great manager at some point in time, Bronbreaker aligning himself with someone like a Paul Heyman. I know I said Paul and Paul Heyman and Jade Cargo would make a lot of sense.

Paul Heyman and Bronbreaker also makes a ton of sense. I think that Bronbreaker for the athleticism that he has, the presence that he has in the ring, it's so good. get someone who's a 10 out of 10 talker like Paul Heyman, man, got magic there. I just started recently collecting cards. I collect a few wrestling cards. And if you collect wrestling cards, shoot me a message. I'd love to chat it a little bit.

I'm looking at some of the 1982 wrestling all-stars, if you know what I'm talking about. That the Hulk Hogan and the Rick Flair and that, very good. But I have a Bronner. of a brawn breaker PSA 10 rookie card, which obviously isn't worth very much money yet. But who knows? With the potential that he has, that could be a valuable card one day. We shall see. But I feel like we're just starting to see what Bronbreaker is capable of.

And if we have this same conversation in May of next year, probably be a very different-looking conversation. We'll see. man but think of all the think of all the great dream matches we could have rome there's there's some good ones in there so i can't wait we're going to see some real good ones bird man what's your real name you didn't even have you don't even have a real name just bird man you emailed this in a do you think roman rains can be one of the first wwee superstars to ever be inducted into the hall of fame three times one from the shield one from his free tribal chief baby face run and also as a bloodline member. I'm going to say possibly. I mean, I think there's a list of

some other people who would be three-time Hall of Famers well before Roman Raines. Obviously, Roman Raines has a Hall of Fame career. There's no question about that. The Shield, sure, you could make an argument for that, although I don't think John Moxley is going to be inducted in the W.W.E. Hall of Fame as part of the Shield anytime soon. Who knows what'll happen in the future there. But Triple H, to me, feels like an obvious choice to be in as a three-time Hall of Famer on his own, DX, and then Evolution's going to be in the Hall of Fame at some point. I don't know, actually, why they aren't in the Hall of Fame yet, but evolution as a faction will certainly be in the Hall of Fame. So Triple H will be a three-time Hall of Famer when that happens,

and also Rick Flair will be a three-time Hall of Famer when that happens. Flair being inducted on his own, Four Horseman, and then Evolution. interesting that for some reason when people talk about the three-time Hall of Famers, Xbox seems to not be talked about here. He's already a two-time Hall of Famer. He's him with the NWO and DX. Xbox's not in on his own. But look at his career.

Look at his career as an individual. Very deserving, very deserving for everything that he did, for all of the groundbreaking things that he was able to accomplish as a smaller wrestler at that time. So there's three people. right there. Triple H, Rick Flair, Xbox could easily be three-time Hall of Famers in the Hall of Fame class of 2025. Roman Raines, for sure, a one-time Hall of Famer, absolutely. The bloodline, I don't know, will the Bloodline be a Hall of Fame faction? Maybe. It's kind of too hard to tell. I feel like we're just maybe halfway through this angle. Maybe we're a quarter of the way through this angle.

Maybe we're three-quarters of the way through this angle. But I know that there's still, a lot more that this angle will give us. So yeah, we'll see about that one. Phil we met on Twitter. Hey, Chris, it's Phil. Just wanted to say it was a pleasure finally meeting you during WrestleMania weekend at RussellCon, even if it was a little over a month ago at this point. My question for you is, how do you feel about the WWE doing more PLEs internationally? I've personally enjoyed it that they're doing them more, but I want to hear your thoughts. Thanks for the awesome content. Keep it up. I've been a big fan of it as well. And it's crazy to think that the next PLE that's happening in the U.S. isn't until SummerSlam.

So that's five months away. It's five months away. This is the fifth month. It's three months away as we sit here right now. I think that having these international pay-per-views, having these international PLEs gives it more of a global feel. And it's a great thing to know that there's wrestling fans all around the world. I think for a long time, if you lived outside of North America, you just, you didn't have the opportunity to see a lot of live shows. You certainly didn't get the opportunity to see a lot of PLEs. And now they're taking them to Perth and to France and to London and back to Toronto. And I think it's awesome.

I love it. And it's actually pretty crazy to think that we're at a point now where there might only be like four US PLEs a year because there might be six or eight international dates. Crazy. I love it. And I think that we are, it's certainly a new era. And I guess we're calling this the triple H era. I love it. I don't know how we will, is a triple age era going to last 20 years?

I guess we keep calling it the triple H era to let's no longer the triple H era. until it's no longer the Triple H era. But I think that that's going to be one of the hallmarks of the era that we're in right now. And that's not just a Triple H thing. I think that's also a Nick Kahn thing. I think now it's also a TKO thing. UFC has been having events all around the world for a long time. Not that WWE hasn't,

but UFC's been doing them around the world pretty frequently for the last bunch of years. I think it's going to continue, and I love it. And I love that people, people in France this weekend get to go see backlash. You know, clash of the cash hole just around the corner, then money in the bank after that. I think it's just, it's a really cool thing to see. And I hope it continues. Dimitri Demopoulos on Facebook says, is it better for you if we stream your stuff via podcast, Spotify, etc., or watch it on YouTube?

keep up the great work from a fellow Canadian and Laurier alumni. That's the university that I went to, Wilford Laurier University. Wow. Thank you for the question here, Dimitri. I would say the answer is honestly, whatever is easiest for you. So if listening on a podcast is easiest for you, great. If watching on YouTube works best for your day, amazing. But I will say this.

And this isn't just for me. This is for any creator. support your creators by liking their videos. Support your creators by subscribing to their YouTube channels. Support your favorite creators by following their podcast. There are so many different ways that you can support your favorite creator. There's so many ways you can support any creator whose stuff you consume. Sure, you could buy tickets to see them live if they're doing something live.

You could buy some of their merch. You could subscribe to their Patreon for $5 or $10 a month. month. And I get that all of those that I listed come with a price tag attached to it. But to follow someone's podcast or to subscribe to someone on YouTube or to click the thumbs up button on YouTube is such an easy thing to do. It requires very little amounts of your time. And it requires absolutely no money from you. And it's just still shocking to me that people don't do that more often. It means so much to someone who's putting in the time and the work and the effort to create this content for you if you just click like, just click a rating, just follow the show.

And that's why it's mentioned so often in YouTube videos. That's why I mentioned at the top of almost every podcast, like, please just take the time to follow. There's something like, I think there's something like 70% of the people who listen to the show don't actually follow the show. So I don't understand. I just don't understand the mindset behind that. So that's my answer here of like, yeah, all of it's helpful. All of it's great. And I just thank you for being here.

If you want to leave a comment on Spotify, those are helpful too. But honestly, all of it. The answer is all of it. And it's available on so many different platforms that seriously, whatever is easiest for you. But thank you for even asking. And if you want to take it even one step further, if there's ever been a product or service that a creator that you like has talked about, even if you don't intend to buy it, go check out the website that they've given you. So if it's like rocketmoney.com slash CVV or mudwater.com slash CVV, go to that website to show the sponsors that you're hearing what I'm saying in these ad reads and you're responding to it.

Oh, mudwater sounds really interesting. wow, it's all the same feeling of, all the same feeling of coffee, but without the jitters and without the crash and a fraction of the caffeine, oh, that sounds pretty cool. Just go to the website so they can see that there's some traffic going there. And if you are intrigued enough by it and interested enough by it, maybe you can make a purchase, use that code CV, save yourself a few dollars. That I think would be another really important thing. So lots of ways to support. me or any of your other favorite creators. And I guess that would just be one of them there.

We are on to the last question here. My Lesney House. My Leslie Haas on Instagram. And thank you for all of these questions. I appreciate you. These are such a fun episode to record. And it's been so cool getting emails recently or getting messages on Twitter from people that are saying like, I love all the interviews you do.

But the Ask CVV episodes, those are actually my favorite ones. That's mind-blowing to me. That's mind-blowing to me that you'd rather just hear me hang out with you than listen to John Sina talk or The Undertaker, Rick Flair, anybody else. So thank you. You are a real one for being here. If you have a question for the next Ask CVV episode, send it in using that hashtag. Ask CVV on social media or send an email.

CVV at Chris Fanfleet.com. My Leslie House says, how good can Punk versus McIntyre get throughout the summer? Is it the feud of the year? There's something that feels really real about this feud. And I think what's always been so great

about CM Punk, even going back to his Ring of Honor days, is his promos always felt like they were always based in reality. He never felt like he was reading a script. He felt like he was just, talking from his heart. And of course, he had bullet points that he was hitting on, but it just always felt so authentic. And Drew McIntyre is matching him in that. And Drew McIntyre's game right now on social media is just on a whole other level. And it makes this feel even more real. Like,

even though we know what we know about wrestling these days, there's something about Drew McIntyre versus CM Punk where you kind of scratch your head a little bit, you go, do these guys actually hate each other? Like, is this, is this real? Do they, do they really hate each other? And I love that we're sitting here going, I don't know. I'm not sure. It feels that authentic. So when they have a chance, when punk is healed up and ready to go again, my goodness, this is going to be real good. Feud of the year, maybe, possibly. I mean, it's only May right now. It's only the start of May right now. We've only had four months of feuds and wrestling so far this year. But yeah, it's certainly a tender this point of the year. It'll be interesting to see what happens in their next meeting,

their next match, and if they have any subsequent matches after that. But it's definitely got me interested. And I think that that moment at WrestleMania, Drew wins. Oh, my gosh, Drew has his moment. He's the World Heavyweight Champion. He gets his WrestleMania moment in front of a crowd. My gosh, this is so great. Four years coming. CM Punk distracts him, takes him out. Oh my gosh, here comes Damien Priest. What a great moment. And there's just, there's a lot of layers to this story. And I love that Drew McIntyre is also throwing this back to like,

hey, I didn't like you in 2011 and I don't like you now. Really good stuff here. So let, let's keep this going. And then, yeah, also you tie in CM Punk's return in Chicago Survivor series. Drew McIntyre walked out of the building. something else there too. So I can't wait to see where this all goes. All right, let's leave you with this quote from C.S. Lewis.

This feels very applicable to me and also to a lot of other people. My birthday is just around the corner here today. As I record this, May 2nd is, of course, not only the Rock's birthday, but it is my dad's birthday as well. So big happy birthday to Dirk Van Vleet, DVV. and my birthday is two and a half weeks away on Kane's favorite day, May 19th. And that's why this CS Lewis quote just feels applicable. Just feels like it makes sense right around that time when birthdays come around every year.

You were never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. Three things I'm grateful for today. Grateful for my family. I'm grateful that I'm going to be getting on a flight tonight. such a cool opportunity to fly to New York City to talk to Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer Lawrence, J-Lo, Jennifer Lopez. Geez, don't tell her I said that. Such a cool opportunity to talk to J-Lo about this new movie Atlas that you'll be seeing on Netflix.

Grateful for that. And grateful for our little girl. She's almost a year old. May 29th. A lot of May birthdays in this family. between my dad and me and our daughter, Logan. Yeah, I'm grateful for that. So grateful for, grateful for all of this.

Grateful for you. Thank you for always being here on these Ask CVV episodes. When we did the first one, 28 Asked CVVs ago, I had no idea what this would turn into. I love doing these every week and I love that you keep showing up. So thank you for that. Be great. Be grateful.

Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. We've got episode 599 and then the big episode 600. 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.