Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #55 - Crown Jewel Predictions, The Biggest "What If" In Wrestling, Samantha Irvin's Next Move

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

Welcome to AskCVV #55! On this episode, Chris gives his predictions for WWE Crown Jewel and discussed a possible Randy Orton heel turn, he also answers questions about who has the best Frog Splash of all time, the biggest "What If" in wrestling history, what Samantha Irvin's next move will be, WWE's new Independent Development program, the Motor City Machine Guns winning the WWE Tag Team Championships and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: “Those we love never truly leave us. There are things that death cannot touch.” – Jack Thorne Sponsors: VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv MANSCAPED: Get 20% off plus free shipping when you use the code CHRISVAN at https://manscaped.com ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv MAREK HEALTH: Get a 10% discount on Marek Health's Optimization Package with code CVV: https://marekhealth.com/cvv BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at https://bluechew.com ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank which was designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/ PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, here we go. Welcome back to another one. Here on Insight, I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Happy Friday to you. Hope it's been a great week for you. Thank you for being with us on this episode. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. I'm sure you've done it already.

But hit a superplex on that follow button on Spotify or Apple. podcast so that you don't miss out on anything that we have coming up if you're listening on Spotify. You can leave a comment on there. It's always so great seeing those comments and hit those three little dots on the show. Go down to where it says rate show and then click the stars on there. That helps in such a huge way. I think it was like a week and a half ago. We had 3,900 ratings. And I'm like, 5,000 before the end of the year. That is the goal. Well, you know, you're You guys just crushed it. You knocked it out of the park. We're already at 5,100 ratings. So I don't, I don't know where we go from here. But if you're listening on Spotify,

and I know a lot of you are, go tap the rate show area there on Spotify because it's insanely helpful as the show continues to grow and continues to get bigger. And speaking of that, for the first time ever, we are bringing insight to the stage. Insight will be live in Indianapolis on January 31st, 2025, the day before the Royal Rumble. Tickets are on sale right now at CVVTix.com. That's CVVTIX.com. There's also a VIP ticket option there that includes a special Q&A with me before the show and also a meet and greet after the show.

So if you're going to be in Indianapolis for the Royal Rumble, I would love for you to join. us at Helium Comedy Club, 5 o'clock, Friday, January 31st for our first ever in sight live. Man, I can't wait. And hopefully, fingers crossed, if everything goes well, this is the first of many. So we would do something live here in Indy for the Rumble, something live in Vegas around WrestleMania 41, and then we're going to New Jersey for SummerSlam, and then who knows, what else. But let's knock this out of the park with the first one. And then we can we can chat about

what comes after that one. But thank you, my friends, for joining us on Ask CVV number 55, the junior seooui, De Kempi Mutumbo, Terrell Suggs, Hadeki Matsui, Oral Hirschizer, and Tim Linsicum edition. Oh yes, that's a lot of people who rocked number 55. I appreciate you sending in all questions that you did on social media using that hashtag Ask CVV. Tons of comments on Spotify from everybody who's been laying the people's elbow down on that follow button or giving it a tornado DDT or what did I say the other day? Throw your phone up in the air and give it a spinning heel kick. Sorry for all the broken phones that we've caused over these last few months, but I appreciate

you guys following the show. If you have a question for the next one, you can do all of those methods that I just talked about. And you can also send me an email at CVV at chris fanfleet.com. Let's start off with James Cooper on Facebook who says, hey, CVV, what do you think will happen with the champion versus champion matches at Crown Jewel? Well, there's a lot more than just the champion versus champion matches that I'm taking a look at here. The betting odds are up right now at mybooky.orgie.orgie. if you want to go check those out. They've been almost spot on.

Yeah, for like the last, since we've started talking about them, but like when they say that someone is the favorite, that's usually the person who ends up winning. So you can go check out the odds there at MyBooky. And when you sign up using the promo code CVV, you will get a 100% welcome bonus up to $1,000. And it's not just WWE.

You can also bet on the NFL, NBA, NHL, really anything. You can bet on anything anytime, anywhere. Am I bookie? That's what they say. So let's look at all of the matches here, not just the champion versus champion matches. Let's start off with RKO versus KEO.

And I feel like the whole point of this match is to progress this story along to whatever ends up happening with Cody Rhodes. I would guess that Kevin Owens wins this match and then it progresses on from here, Kevin Owens versus Cody Rhodes. I could also see a situation, and this is something I've been talking about for a while.

We're going to see Randy Orton versus Cody Rhodes. I think at some point in 2025, I just think that we're going to see K.O. versus Cody Rhodes in a bit more of a meaningful feud happening first. So if I'm going to make a prediction here, I'm going to say KO. wins that match. Seth freaking Rollins versus Bronson Reed,

and I've been really enjoying this feud. It's just like an all-out brawl. And I also love the rocket ship that they have attached to Bronson Reed over the last six months or so. Actually, maybe a little bit longer. Like, ever since he started getting called Big Bronson Reed, I just feel like his stock has just shot through the roof.

Like there's something about him that just feels so believable as just a menace, the six tsunamis to Seth Rollins is going to be something that we will always attach to him for the rest of his career. That was one of those moments that makes a character. And it's crazy. That segment was like two minutes long. Well, at least that part of the segment. And those two minutes were so instrumental in making Bronson Reed just the monster that he is. And what's interesting about Seth Rollins coming back here is I feel like there's some people that they didn't forget about the six tsunamis. But they forgot that like that's what put Seth out.

And they didn't realize that maybe Seth Rollins would want to get revenge, need to get revenge on Bronson Reed for that. So I love him coming back and then costing Bronson Reed the match with the stomp on the steel steps. So I just love the build up here. I love just the stakes feel high. And we already know that Seth Rollins is a main event guy. It would feel like it's an easy move to have Seth Rollins win this match. I get that. But on the flip side of things, if Bronson Reed beats Seth Rollins here,

that just immediately makes him a legitimate contender for a world championship. I would love to see that happen. Big Bronson Reed. Big Bronson Reed versus Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Take my money. What a match that would be. Just two meaty men slapping meat. Two big meat men slapping meat.

But I think that if I were to pick a winner here, I'm going to go with Seth Freak and Rollins. Although a real strong case could be made for Bronson Reed. And that's why with this match, I feel like that's kind of a, it's kind of a pickum. It could be, it could go either way. Then we got L.A. Knight. I paused there so you can say, yeah, as you're listening to this. And I know you did defending the U.S. Championship against Carmelo Hayes and Andrade.

My goodness, this match is going to be fantastic. This could be the match that steals the show. This is going to be a high octane, just fun match here. I don't see L.A. Knight losing the the U.S. Championship just yet. But the caveat here, I will say, is that we've had some rather short intercontinental championship runs recently when we talked about that on last week's episode. So he wouldn't surprise me if his run comes to an end now, but I just don't see it happening yet. What I see here, though, is an opportunity for Carmelo Hayes and Andrade to just look like

absolute stars in this match. But I think that LA Knight comes out on top. Bianca Baller and Jade Cargo. I mean, what a, what a match we've got set up here with all of these different teams in here, E.O. Sky, Kyrie, sane, Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, Lash Legend, and Jakara Jackson for the women's tag team championships. Man, I just think that Because you've got Jade and Bianca making these paper views and they're just stars. When you look at them, they just have star written all over them. I can't see them losing the championship just yet here. But what a match this is going to be.

And this is eventually going to set up a breakup here between Bianca Bel Air and Jade Cargo, which is going to set up a beautiful match at some point in time. maybe it's six-ish months from now, you know, but I feel like that's what this is a vehicle for. This is a vehicle for them to continue to be the champions and then set up a split of some sort, turning Jake Cargill heel, I think would be such a huge move for her and for her career.

It doesn't happen quite yet, but between now and WrestleMania 41, I think that's what we'll be looking for. Then we got Roman Raines and the Uso's taking on Solo Sooko and Tama Tonga and or Jacob Fatu. Six-man tag team match. You want to talk about vehicles to set things up for later on. I mean, we all know that this is going to just continue to pour gasoline on the fire that is going to lead into Survivor Series. I think the rock plays a factor in that match.

I don't see the rock being in Saudi for Crown Jewel. But I think that if we have to pick a winner in this match, I'm going to give this to the new bloodline, which again, that continues to add some fuel here, continues to add to this storyline. And then it all comes to a head at Survivor Series. But I will say this. I don't think it's the end of the Bloodline story.

There's been so many moments where the Bloodline storyline like comes to like a kind of a peak. And then it dips down a little bit. And then the new high is way higher than the last one. And then maybe it dips down and oh my gosh, this thing is getting boring. It's getting stale. And then the new high is even higher than the last high. And I think that that's what we're going to have here. This is all going to lead to the rock being part of a Survivor Series match.

And I'm still going to continue to say this. I said it in the Sam Roberts episode. I've said it on many Asked CVVs. I still think that it's going to be Rock and Roman at WrestleMania 41 or possibly Rock versus Roman versus Cody Rhodes. That, of course, is if Cody Rhodes is still the WWE undisputed champion in six months. If he's still the champion going into WrestleMania 41, which I don't know. I don't know if he's going to have the title for a year. I don't know if he needs the title to be the guy. Like Cody. will, as long as he's active, will be the guy signing the autograph, staying late and taking the pictures, doing all of the different WWE media appearances. That guy probably does more interviews right now than anyone else who's on the active roster. I don't know if he needs to be the champion as we head towards WrestleMania 41, but if we're going to pick a winner there, I'm going to say new bloodline wins this one, but the story is not over yet with that one. Then we move on to Niajax versus Liv Morgan for the Ground Jewel Championship.

It's a very large title. It's a very tall championship. That's what it is. This to me feels like an opportunity for Tiffany Stratton to come in. I just don't see how we get a clean victory in either of these champion versus champion matches. without making somebody look weak. So I think that Tiffany Stratton's music hits. She comes out.

Is she going to cash in on Live Morgan? Is Nia Jax going to be shouting at her to cash in on Live Morgan? Or is she going to finally turn on Nia Jax? That's going to be the big question here. I feel like that's the bigger prediction that we need to talk about rather than who's going to win this very large prize. because it's can't even call it a championship. Go listen to the episode that came out yesterday with Sam Roberts.

You can't even call this a championship because it's not going to be defended. It's really like a prize for winning this match. Yes, it is a, it is in the shape of a championship. It is in the shape of a title belt. But it just feels commemorative. You know, it just feels like you were the winner of that match. You're not going to walk around with this title in the weeks and months to come. You're not going to defend.

defend the crown jeweled championship. That just doesn't make sense. So I get it. I understand why they're doing it. That is not the question here. But I digress. I think that this is a moment for Tiffany Stratton. I don't know which championship it is that she leaves with,

but sure would make a lot of sense for her to pin Naya Jacks. And then that ends up setting up that storyline. And so that's what I'm going to go with here. But man, that match is going to be entertaining. Then it's Cody Rhodes versus Gunther again for the men's crown jewel championship. And I know there's been this rumor floating around for a little while that Goldberg's going to interfere here and cost Gunther the match, which would then set up a feud between them down the road. I feel like, yeah, maybe. Maybe that's a possibility.

I don't know if that's something that people want to see. I want to see another match from Goldberg. I feel like he's given this business so much and he was promised one last match that he hasn't got yet. I feel like I'd still like to see that. I don't know if this is the match that is going to set that up,

but there's going to be something funky that happens in this match. I don't know what it is. And that's why we can, to borrow a phrase from my friend Sam Roberts, which we talked about yesterday, we can speculate wildly. someone's going to come in here and do something.

Randy Orton running in there and costing Cody the match. Okay, maybe that's a thing. Goldberg coming out, Bill Goldberg coming out, costing Gunther the match. Yeah, sure, that feels possible. What if Brad Hart came out, right? Brad Hart's got some heat now with Gunther. That one could make sense.

Someone's going to come out here and mess around with this match. and it's going to be a real dusty finish. And I don't mean that in the way of dusty roads. It's just going to be a, it's going to be a dirty finish here. But Cody is the guy, again. He's the guy who's been doing so much work for WWE behind the scenes, so much stuff that people don't see. I just don't see the show ending with Cody taking a pin.

But I guess, again, anything could happen. It'll be very, very interesting to see. see how this all shakes out here at Crown Jewel. So thank you for the question. James Cooper. We will see. We'll see where this all goes. Tyler Schreiber at T. Shribs underscore 05 on Twitter.

Ask CVV number 55 the Russell Martin edition. What are your thoughts on pre-taped shows? I heard that next week's Smackdown was pre-taped. If you have a ticket to the original event, do you have to pay to stay for the next show? Much love, brother. Go Leafs go. Oh my goodness. Yes, I'm a Leafs fan, but it's so hard being a Leafs fan. They haven't won a championship. They've won the Stanley Cup since 1967 when there were only

five other teams in the league. So I was at SmackDown last Friday in Brooklyn. And I didn't even know it was going to be a double taping that night. I got an email like when you, when you have tickets to the show, you get an email like telling you like, here's the time the doors open and here's the time the show starts. Smackdown, I believe, normally starts at like 730 or 745 Eastern time. So 15 or 30 minutes before the show. This email said it started at 645. So I was like, that's weird. Like that's really early. I know they tape speed before the show, but an hour and 15 minutes of speed doesn't make sense. And then someone said, oh, no, they're taping two episodes because they're going to be in Saudi next week. So it doesn't, you know,

won't be able to have Smackdown be there. So it's like, oh, okay. So the way this worked was we got the first episode of Smackdown, which was last week's Smackdown, taped about an hour-ish before. So that was on like tape delay, if you will. That taping started at, call it seven-ish. It was like a little after seven. What was interesting about that and cool about that is the commercial breaks were so short. Normally, when you go to Raw or Smackdown, the commercial breaks are as long as the commercials are. So you're sitting there in a commercial break for two and a half, three minutes. Here, like the match would end. It would fade to black. And then in some cases, five seconds later, you'd be seeing a backstage promo or five seconds later someone's music would hit and like the show,

man, it went so fast. So no, you don't have to pay. for another ticket. You just, you're there and you get both shows. It's like almost like a two for one. So I'm sure you've read the results online or you can read them online if you want, but I was there. I saw it. And it's another entertaining episode of SmackDown. But that episode that already aired, they're both in Brooklyn, but I don't know I'm calling them. That's like Brooklyn number one and Brooklyn number two, but that episode that already aired last Friday, man, you're opening the show with Randy Orton. He's bringing out Triple H. So like, that's already great. Then we get to see the Motor City Machine Guns wrestle. Then out of nowhere, it's like, you want a title shot? Yeah,

you want that title shot tonight? And we know how most of those promos go. We know how it usually goes. Like, you want a title shot tonight? Yeah, we want a title shot tonight. And the crowd like starts going crazy. And then usually the heels go, well, that's not going to happen. Boo. In this case, it was like, you want that to happen? Yeah, we want it to happen. All right, well, it's happening. What? And it's happening right here, right now.

That never happens. And so I was like, oh my gosh. I actually went to the show with Sam Roberts. I turned to him. I said, so this means the Motor City machine guns are going to win. Like, you can't have them in, like, they've been here for a week. They've already wrestled only two matches. So now they're going to have their third match.

You can't have them loose. So I'm like, they're going to win. This is crazy. And then everything with Jimmy and Jay reconcile. Like, what a Smackdown to be at? What a Smackdown to be at. And then that ends. And just like that, we've got another Smackdown that we get to see.

So that was so much fun to be a part of. So no, you don't have to pay for both shows. You just get to enjoy both shows. And it's just fun. It's just fun to be able to be part of that. Today's episode is brought to you by Turtle Beach, the number one brand in gaming headset. and accessories. Their new Gen 3 Stealth 700 headset picks up so much crystal clear sound. It's basically

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mention how comfortable they are? So whether you're a casual gamer or you haven't touched grass in weeks, Turtle Beach has the right headset for you. For a limited time only, our listeners get 10% off the entire order when you use the code Insight at Turtle Beach.com. That's 10% off your order at Turtlebeach.com using that promo code Insight. Andy Guadalupe on Spotify says, ask CVVM, loving the interviews lately. Keep up the great work. Hearing about Samantha Irvin leaving WWE was very shocking and sad. Now she posted on her Instagram that a real reason why she left was that she disliked doing

announcing. from what it sounds like she wanted to do more, maybe become a manager or a general manager, but I think that she knew where the ceiling was with WWE, and that's why she left. What are your thoughts? So I just recorded an interview with RICOchet in Las Vegas this week, and that one's going to be airing on Tuesday next week. Really fascinating interview with him about his thoughts on why he left WWE, why he thought AEW was a better fit for him.

And we also chatted for quite a while about Samantha. And I'm paraphrasing here. But he's basically saying, and she's put this out on social media as well, so I'm not speaking out of school. But he's basically saying that she just wanted more. She, like, she is so incredibly talented. And I just think that she wanted more than being a ring announcer. And she also felt a lot of pressure in that position. And that's what it all comes down to.

So I think that it was crazy seeing the response from people online. Like, there were a lot of people that were really, like, mad about this. And what Rickashay was saying was like, he's like, I told Sam, I told her, like, you went against tradition. Because when you think about it, think of all the legendary ring announcers that we've had. Howard Finkel and Tony Chimel and Lillian Garcia and Justin Roberts. Like, they're around for a long, long, long, long. time. And Samantha here kind of bucked that trend and was like, she was there for, I think,

signed with WWE for about four years. And on SmackDown or Raw for, what is, two-ish, two-ish years. And I think that, like, she had won fans over. And I get it. It's almost like a, it's almost like a breakup. Like, she had one fans over. She had endeared herself to fans and then was like, you know what? I just want to do something else. And I, Totally respect her honesty in all of this. Like, I appreciate her honesty saying, you know what? This is how I feel. And here's the reason why I left.

And I don't know why anyone could be upset with her just being honest about her feelings and her being honest with the way that she felt and wanting to do something that just fuels her soul a little bit more. So check out the interview with Rikoshae when that goes up on Tuesday. but I'm happy for her. And I think that if you're making a move, whether that's in your personal life or in your professional life, that you genuinely at your core and in your heart of hearts you feel good about,

then that's all that matters. It doesn't matter what people are saying. It doesn't matter about all the noise. What matters is do you feel good about that decision? And the answer here seems to be a very clear yes. She feels good about this decision. and she's excited for whatever ends up coming next. So it will be interesting to see what that is.

Is that acting? Is that singing? Is that something completely different? She's still a wrestling fan. She's made that very clear, but she just wants to do something that's more. And it sounds also like she was kind of put in this position as a ring announcer, and obviously she killed it, knocked it out of the park.

and some of the most legendary calls from this new generation will be associated with Samantha Irvin and just just the flair that she added to some of those introductions or some of those winter announcements. It sounds like she was just kind of put in this position and then she went, all right, well, if I'm going to be in this position and I want to do something more than this, but this is a great foot in the door to like, all right, so maybe I'm an announcer for a little bit and then maybe it turns into me being a character or a general manager, or whatever she had in mind. But she knocked it out of the park.

And I think that I'm just happy for her. That's it. I'm happy for her and this decision that she's made. And I'm happy for her because she seems happy. Charles on Maine 12 on Twitter. What are your thoughts on the announcement of WWE's independent development program? So earlier this week, WWE is calling this

WWE ID. They launched this first of a kind developmental program that's designed to provide up and coming independent wrestlers just a path to be able to have that potential career in WWE.

So I'm going to read this from their press release here. WWE ID is the latest in our efforts to identify and support the journey of up and coming wrestlers. In turn, raising the profile and strengthening the independent wrestling ecosystem, says WWE,

chief content officer Paul AAA Chilvec. Following the 2021 launch of WWE's NIL program, WWIID has been constructed to support independent wrestling prospects and wrestling schools with world class training, development, and mentorship. Here's the part that I really like here. They said that they are going to be, so anyone that they kind of have their eye on, anyone that they see a lot of potential in, they are going to give them an official WWE I.

prospect designation, and they're going to support their developmental journey by providing financial opportunity and assisting with training, mentorship, and development, including access to world-class facilities, best in-class ring training, athletic trainers, and more. So they're saying that if they see something in you, they're going to, from the sounds of this, and I don't know if this is 100% correct, but from the sounds of this, they're going to pay for your training. And they're also, I think, going to pay you as well to go to training, providing financial opportunity and assisting with training, mentorship, and development. And then they've listed out five schools that now have an official relationship with WW. Booker T's Reality of Wrestling in

Houston. Cody Rhodes, Nightmare Factory in Atlanta. Seth Rolland, Black and Brave Academy in Davenport, Iowa, elite pro wrestling training center in Concord, New Hampshire, and Knox Pro Academy in Los Angeles, which is Rikishi School. So if I am a pro wrestler or an aspiring pro wrestler, and I get this question all the time, but I'm sure that independent wrestlers or WWAW, TNA wrestlers get this question probably 10 times more often than I do, it's always like, where should I train? Where should I train for the best opportunity to get noticed? Well, now you've got five schools. in the U.S. that you know you can go to that have a direct pipeline to both WWE and the WWPC. And I think that this, I love that there's now a clear path. And I also appreciate that

the independent league isn't just like going to be, you know, you're not just on the independence, just slogging it out, hoping to get noticed. Like, you know, you never know who might see this clip online and where that might lead to. Now there's a direct pipeline. Now you can like be in the WWE system by training at any of these five schools that I just listed. And I think that if you are serious and if you're listening to this, maybe I'm speaking directly to you, but if you are serious about wanting to be a pro wrestler or more specifically when we're talking about this program, if you want to be a WWE superstar, you now know where you've got to train and you'll now be working directly with the people who have some say, to have some people who

have the ability to go, you know what, next time you're down here checking out my school, make sure to go look at Chris Sharp, you know, he's this, he's this badass Canadian kid. No, I don't know. Could you imagine? Maybe if this was 20 something years ago, that could have been the case. But it just seems like there's a lot of things being done. in the Triple H era that is really helping to fuel the next generation. Just things are really good right now.

And when you look at particularly the WWE roster, it's stacked. You got to look ahead, though. Where is this going to be in five or 10 or 15 years when a lot of people right now that are wrestling are going to be retired? We know John Cena is retiring. I don't know how much longer we're going to see Randy Orton wrestle for. or AJ Stiles. And there's a few other handful of wrestlers

that are in their early to mid-40s. You know, how much longer are we going to see them wrestle for? So we got to think ahead to do, what's the next generation? And maybe the next generation is already on the roster. All right, well, what's the next generation after that? And I just appreciate the efforts that are being put into, being put into that.

And also just, it feels like it's a real respect for where everyone has come from. for the most part, and it certainly doesn't apply to every pro wrestler, but the vast majority of people who are assigned to a major company, they spend some time on the Indies. And it just feels like this is kind of a show of respect for like where they came from. This one is from Dennis underscore the underscore real menace on Instagram. That's a great, great name, Dennis. Hey, CVV, long time listener.

I really enjoy the AskCTVV episode. I love the fact that you like the best show ever created Seinfeld. Who's your favorite character on that show? Mine is George Costanza. Also, what's your favorite episode? George Costanza, I'm with you. He is also my favorite character for sure. Although I will say that as I've gotten older

and as I've gone back and rewatched a lot of these episodes, some of them multiple times, I have a new appreciation for Jerry. I don't think that as this show was airing in the 90s, I appreciated Jerry and his humor, nearly as much as I do now. I think I was really taken by George is like so over the top, right?

The summer of George! So by George! Like so over the top. And then you got Kramer who's even more over the top from that, like a total character. But Jerry was just always delivering the zingers. I mean, he is the comedian here. This is based on his comedy. I get that. I also think that Elaine is super

underrated. Like Elaine is way funnier. I, I, I appreciate how much funnier she is now than when I first watched the show. But George is my guy. George is absolutely my guy. And I think that if I had to pick my favorite episode of Seinfeld, and that's hard because so many of them are brilliant, brilliant writing and brilliant delivery and so many, it's one of the greatest shows of all time.

But my favorite show is Master of Your Domain. That's my favorite episode. The writing in there, the way they're talking about the thing that they're talking about, the subject matter that they're talking about, but they never actually say it. And then when Elaine comes in, slaps the money down, like, it's brilliant. Everything about that is just so well executed. And the fact that this aired on prime time, like they're talking about touching yourself and having a bet about that.

And it's being put out on prime time, but you're never actually saying. it, you're just a lot of innuendo and a lot of just playing with words very carefully. That's the one. Master of your domain is just, it's one of the all-time great comedic television episodes of all time, not just one of the greatest Seinfeld episodes, just one of the greatest comedy television episodes ever. So, yeah, that's it. Now I want to go back and watch it again.

I probably should have watched it before this episode. but so, so smart. And I haven't had the chance to interview. Oh, I've interviewed Elaine. Yes, I've interviewed, I interviewed, uh, Julia Louis Dreyfus for the movie Plains. We're going back, what was that, 2013, I think, 11 years ago.

She was so sweet. So sweet. Zane on Spotify says, Ask CVV, who's one wrestler that you've interviewed that you wouldn't have believed you could have when you were younger? I love your work, man. I'm listening all the way from London. keep up the amazing work.

Appreciate the very kind word, Zane. At the risk of giving a completely cliche answer here, most of the people I've interviewed, I don't think the younger version of me would be able to comprehend that. But the Rock's at the top of that list. Like the Rock was my guy in the late 90s. And fast forward years later,

for me to be able to walk into the room, when The Rock's doing interviews and like him to like know who I am and know my name. Like yeah, that one still blows my mind. And now that I've interviewed The Rock, you know, 10 times. Not that I'm counting or anything. The Rock for sure. Stone Cold, like the last time I interviewed Stone Cold, like super quick interview with Stone Cold for his reality show or his, like, travel show.

Stone Cold takes on America. That one was over Zoom. And as soon as I popped up on the Zoom, window. He was like, what are you doing here? And I'm like, what are you doing here? Like, that was crazy. I've never met Stone Cold in person. I've done two remote interviews with him. One of them, this one recently over Zoom, and then I did one via satellite. Eight, no, ten, ten, twelve years ago. But for him, that means he's like seen maybe a clip or something online somewhere, but that was, that was mind blowing. But then, like, also, I went to

Edge's house for an interview. Like, and I sat in his gym and was able to share a conversation with Adam about his entire career. Like, what? And then he drove me to the airport, drove me and my buddy Jamil back to the airport Nashville. Crazy. Yeah, like, wild. Ray Mysterio. that was another one. It's like there's a guy I watched in WCW way back in the day. And now I'm spending a conversation, spending an hour with him, sharing a conversation, did an interview at the Undertaker's House. I was a guest on the Undertaker's podcast.

This version of me sitting here right now in 2024 still doesn't believe that. Crazy. Like the interview I did earlier this year at Goldberg's house. And like I go through the gate to his house and like, He, his property's so gigantic. It's like 200 acres just outside of San Antonio. He greets me on his like little four by four. Like comes up and like greets me at the gate.

Like what? So a lot of them. Booker T. Ken Shamrock. Christian Cage. Yeah. So there's, there's a lot of them. I mean, it wasn't this year, but last

year the day when I interviewed Rick Flair in the morning and then Hulk Hogan in the afternoon and then later that night had a drink or two or maybe more with Rick Flair and Mike Keota joined us like what what kind of world is this that we're living in so there's a lot of them and I am still like so eternally grateful for every single opportunity that I have. Like, it is not lost on me. How cool all of this is. Okay?

Like, there is not a more grateful person in the world than me for the fact that I get to do this for a living. It's wild. Jay Mend Music on Spotify says, Ask CVV, long time watcher on YouTube, long, newly following on Spotify after hitting a frog splash on that follow button. I'm amazing. I'm a massive Eddie Guerrero fan.

My question is, who do you think executes the best frog splash in wrestling history? One of the things I love about the frog splash so much is everybody kind of puts their own little spin on it. It's like Eddie's frog splash kind of comes in, like the knees almost touched with the hands, and then he flares himself out.

then you have like DeLo Brown with the lowdown where his hands go all the way through his legs. AJ styles frog splash when he would do it actually looked a lot. Like it was a similar version to the lowdown. Obviously, AJ like spread his legs a little bit wider. But I just love how everyone has their own little spin on it. Like when Kevin Owens comes down with the frog splash, like it's a little bit bigger than a lot of the guys that do them. And just like looks so devastating. Then you got Christian who just like goes for it.

with his frog splash, kind of like a Seth Rollins frog splash. Like Seth Rollins just like extends his body all the way out when he does his. Now we're just like listing off every person that's ever done a frog splash. I'm going to go with Rob Van Dam. He, from the first time I saw him do it in ECW, it just blew me away. And that's my favorite frog splash,

just with the sheer height that he gets. And there were times in ECW when he's like twisted, to hit the guy, like the guy's not, like, laid out, like, in a perfect, like, straight line. And Van Dam would, like, jump up, like, so high and then twist in the air and then land on the guy, like, almost, like, sideways. And then I always appreciated that, like, it's a move that hurts both men, or both individuals, I should say. And I appreciate that he always sold that. He always sold that, yeah, he just hit this devastating move. And with the height that he got, he's probably.

probably coming down realistically, like without exaggeration, he's coming down from eight or nine feet in the air. And then he's selling the fact that like, oh, man, this really hurt my ribs or my stomach. And he's selling it. And then sometimes he's kind of, you know, he's the opportunity for him to go immediately for the pin can't happen because he's selling it. It hurts him. And then he goes for the pin. I always love that. So for me, personally, Rob Van, damn is at the top of my five-star frog splash list. And now it's time for my favorite part of these Ask CVV episodes. It is time for Ask RVV. We're my beautiful, wonderful, incredible, and glowing wife. Rachel Van Fleet joins us. This question's from stuff smiling like that.

This is from Chasey Wacey 93 on Spotify. Ask C.com. TVVV and RVV. The holidays are upon us. What's your signature dish? What are you literally bringing to the table? I'm all about the mac and cheese, says Chasey Wacey. What is your signature dish? I don't think I have a signature dish. I think typically what I literally bring to the table, I'm pretty well known for my baked goods. So I'll typically, if we're going somewhere and we're not hosting anything, I'll offer to bring some kind of dessert. And those are always usually a hit. I always try to find something a little unique versus just like a regular old pie.

Remember like the cinnamon roll bars? Oh, man, so good. I mean, everything you make is really, really good. I locked out here, guys. I locked out. I don't know, that thing you made last Thanksgiving, the sweet potato. casserole thing. I don't know. I don't know either. I don't know. Everything you make so good. You're like, I've forgotten all the great dishes that I made. The, what else was there on that?

I mean, look, like every, I feel like every day here is like just like the like restaurant quality meals. Oh, you're such a good suckup. It's true. And by the way, everybody, this wasn't something I learned until like almost a year into dating. after he proposed. Okay, so it was after a year into dating then. We were hanging out with some of your friends in New Jersey, and your friend Tarek was like, oh, man, she's the best cook, isn't she?

Has she made you any of her favorite meals? And I'm like, pardon me? What? You cook? I think he asked if I had made you that chocolate peanut butter pie yet. Yes, that. And I was in the background going, Tark, stop, stop. I haven't even cooked for him yet.

I'm like, what is, what are you, what are you, what is going on? What do you mean you, you cook all the time? She, she's cooked nothing for me. At that point we had, we would cook like little things together, just like quick dinners and stuff, but yeah, we never really did any like crazy baked goods or holiday. We, did we cooked Thanksgiving, though, before we were engaged. I cooked you my specialty. which is toast. Very good at making toast. You made one of our first dates you had cooked me salmon and asparagus. I feel I feel like air fryer salmon is one of my specialties. Now it's more like grilled. I've figured out the grill a little bit more over the last little while. Yeah,

grill master now. Yeah. But the thing is like when we get invited somewhere and we're going to bring some sort of dish, you're not just like, um, man, I'll make like, I don't know, insert something that's completely cliche or boring. You're like, oh, wow, I looked up this recipe for this thing and I'm going to put my spin on it and add this ingredient instead of this other ingredient. What? I love doing that. The thing that blows me away is you will look at a recipe once, once. And then you will somehow know how to make it for the rest of your life. Yes. But because I never make the, unless it's baking, which is very, specific. I like to just kind of wing it and just put things together that I think would taste

good and, you know, flavors that complement each other. Well, I don't know what we're going to have to have here for Thanksgiving. And then Christmas as well. And I don't know, maybe this is a Canadian thing. Maybe this is just like what my family did in Canada, but we ate turkey for Christmas as well. And you're like, that is insane. Yeah, I don't know. I guess maybe there are more people that eat turkey for Christmas than I realize, but it was always like the turkey for Thanksgiving, a ham maybe for Christmas or something like that. This might be because in the U.S., Thanksgiving and Christmas are four weeks apart. Canada, it's the second Monday in October for Thanksgiving. And then you got to wait another,

what's that, two, two and a half months for Christmas. It's spaced out a little bit more. And it's, I mean, it's fine. It's Turkey. It's not anything that like, it's not great, no matter how. Herky's not great? It's fine. It's great. No, it's good, but it's just not my favorite part of the meal. So I wouldn't care to have it back-to-back times like that. Especially because it takes an entire day to cook it.

That's the point. Because then you're like the whole house smells like turkey, the whole day, and then you sit down. And I do appreciate, if nothing else. Thanksgiving in America is amazing because, again, your house is smelling like turkey. You got football on the TV. In our house, we'll probably have the Christmas. tree up like it just feels like it's festive and you're eating at like three o'clock or something we didn't we didn't do that back home no dinner time yeah like five six yeah and of course it's it's on a

monday so like i don't know it's thanksgiving's very it's it's not nearly as big in canada as it is here in the u.s but i think stuffing is one of my you make a great stuffing the stuffing is yeah i like all the side dishes. I love the turkey. Don't get me wrong. It's just not my favorite part of the meal, especially for it to be like an all-day cooking thing. And then it's just, you know, it's there. It's good. It's fine. Yeah. Well, now I'm hungry. Same. Yeah. Well, thank you for joining me as always, my love. You're welcome. And geez, well, we've got... Jaycee made me want some mac and cheese. That's for sure. Well, you make a great mac and cheese, too. So, guys, I can't tell you how lucky I am.

I just fell backwards into marrying this beautiful woman. And then I find out she cooks. Incredible. All right. Thank you, my love. And if you have a question for the wonderful, beautiful RVV, use the hashtag, ask RVV. And what other kind of nostalgic trips can we go on during this? I guess, I don't know.

I don't know, we'll see. Rich from Belleville, which is in my home province of Ontario, he wrote this one in on Instagram, Rich Gold 19. Good evening, CVV. I hope you're having an awesome week so far. For AskCTV number 55, the Dekempe Matumbo edition, do you have a favorite match that wasn't a main event? Or that you can watch over and over again. I know you love Rock v. Hogan from WrestleMania 18, but any other underrated sloburn.

that you just love to watch. Being a real, real one for some time, I love listening while I'm driving and at work and your insight helps me see the greatness that each day brings. Keep up the great work. Well, Rock Hogan will be at the top of that list for sure. It still blows everybody's mind

that that wasn't the main event. It wasn't even the match before the main event. It was the third last match on the card at WrestleMania 18. But that is an easy answer. And since you already pointed that one out, that one is, it's not really fair to list off. So I'm going to go, like, there's a lot, okay? There's a lot of matches. I'm going to go to the

Royal Rumble in 2000. And the main event of most Royal Rumbles is actually the Royal Rumble match. So the Royal Rumble there was won by the Rock when he eliminated the big show. That whole card is just filled. That whole card is filled with like, like, top. to bottom, that might be the most solid non-Resslemania pay-per-view, certainly of the attitude era, but maybe, I don't know, maybe of all time. Look at this. Taz defeats Kurt Engel. The Hardy Boys defeat the Dudley Boys in the inaugural tables match. Oh, my gosh.

That was one of my favorite matches that I would go back and rewatch because I had that taped on VHS. like don't tell WWE, but I might have, I might have just put that on like a tape where I hit, you know, record and play at the same time. Chris Jericho defeats China and Hardcore Holly in that triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship. The New Age Outlaws defeat the acolytes for the tag team championships.

Then. Oh, then. Triple H defeats Cactus Jack in that street fight. for the WWF championship. And if you have never seen that match, or maybe it's been 24 years since you saw that match last when it aired in 2000,

what a match. And that's really the match that I think really helped to cement Triple H. He was the champion at that time. But it really helped to cement him as like, this guy is willing to do anything. Like when his knees hit in that pedigree,

into the thumb tax. I was like, oh man, he's willing to do that. And then also the fact that, like, Mick Foley didn't, like, he took that pedigree the way he always takes that pedigree. It didn't matter that there was a pile of thumbtacks in the ring. So I think that, like, I was originally just going to say that was that match,

Triple H defeating Cactus Jack, because that's one of my favorite matches from the attitude air with my favorite Mick Foley match. But then I pulled up the card and I went, oh, man, Taz defeating Kirtz. Herdangle, that tables match was so good. And that kind of like, it kind of like set the table for what would be next for the Hardys and the Dudleys and then throw an edge of Christian in there because this is January

of 2000. And then SummerSlam 2000, we end up getting the first ever TLC match. And then, of course, fast forward to WrestleMania 17 in 2001. And then we get that epic. epic, incredible TLC match that, you know, we still talk about to this day. So there's a lot of matches, right? It could only be one main event for each night of each show because I know, I know it's some of you guys are going to say, no, no, no, WrestleMania gets two main events, and you're right. It's a Saturday main event, a Sunday main event, night one, night two.

But you can only get one main event per evening, I guess, of a PLE. So there's a lot of other matches, right, especially on a card that has eight or ten matches. Yeah, now you've got seven or nine or maybe more possible contenders for what we're talking about here for like having just an amazing match that wasn't a main event. But there's just something about Royal Rumble 2000. I was 16 years old. I remember watching it and just we got to go back and we got to go back guys. We've got to go back. just like let me know. Let me know that you went back and rewatch that match because not that match, just the whole cart. We watched the entire event. Amazing. Frana Bolin on Instagram. Can we get a Grayson Waller interview on the show? Yes. I already recorded it. I recorded it last week in Brooklyn.

It was Austin Theory immediately followed by Grayson Waller right after that. That was on Thursday last week, right after I landed in Brooklyn, and then Friday morning did the interview with Nick Aldis. So those are three interviews that you'll be seeing in the next, let's say, see, probably two-ish, two to three weeks is what I'll say, comfortably two to three weeks. So within the next four to six interviews, I think that's pretty fair. You know, some things could pop up. Like, I felt like the Rurkishay interview needed to air like pretty soon just because it's so fresh.

She was talking about, like, just debuting an AEW and he's talking about the situation with Samantha Irvin leaving WWE. So I wanted to get that one up relatively quickly. But you guys are going to love this Grayson Waller interview because I don't know if we've really seen a ton of who Grayson Waller the person is. And while there's a lot of times in the interview that he stays in character, like one of them where he goes to shake my hand and I go to meet him in the middle and he, like he pulls his hand away.

I'm like, come on, man. But there's a lot of like, actually pretty heartfelt moments in that interview. So I look forward to you guys checking that one out in the next few weeks. Jason Officer on Spotify. Ask CVV number 55, the Terrell Suggs edition.

By the way, quick pause here. I love when you guys add in your own version of who you think these additions should be. Because there's always like some nice deep cuts in there. I'm like, oh, yeah, I never thought about that person wearing number 55 or whatever the number is. So for Ask CVV number 56,

give me some deep but like relatable cuts. Like it can't be like some guy who wore number 56 for like 17 games for like one MLB team in like 1974. Okay. Like let's let's have something, someone who like when we say the name, you go, oh yeah. Man like when I saw Tim Linzigum, it's like, yeah, that's right. And what happened to Tim Linsicum? He was unhittable for a few seasons. And then,

I don't know, just went from like being one of the greatest, actually the greatest pitcher in the league at one point to like, it's kind of fizzled out. And it just didn't really, you know, the start of his career so much better than the end of his career. But continue to write in with who you think these additions should be. Back to Jason officer's question here. I really like your non-wrestler interviews with people like referees or announcers. Who has been your favorite non-wrestling interview? It's Jim Johnston. When I did that interview with Jim, it was three years ago. I feel like we need to do another one in person because that one was done over Zoom. That was it. Jim Johnson is the soundtrack to our childhood, especially if you're around my age,

give or take, all of the iconic themes that he came up with. So being able to just dive into what makes him tick and what his process looks like. Sometimes he's turning these themes around in like just a few hours. Like sometimes he doesn't even know much about the character other than like their name. Like, and he just has to come up with a song for them. That was my favorite. Like I rocked out so hard to WWE the music volume three and volume four specifically. Of course I listen to all the other themes, all the other albums, but WWE the music volume three and four.

were those, I wore those out. Like there was a point where I think it was volume three stopped working because it got scratched and it just been, it's wore it out. I played it too much. So that's the interview for me. Honorable mention, I mean, there's lots, but Mike Kyoto tells such good stories. And we've become really good friends from him appearing on the show for the first time via Zoom.

And then he appeared on the show again, about a year ago, actually. Yeah, wow. Wow, about a year ago. And I've seen him a few times. I shared a table with him at RussellCon last year at WrestleMania. So there was just a lot of like, that was so cool being able to spend some time with him in Philly. I love Mike. And we chat relatively frequently.

So that was another one. But there's lots. And I would love to have more of these more non-rustler wrestling interviews. I've become good friends with Charles Robinson. I ran into him. in the hotel lobby when I was in Brooklyn. And I've run into him a few times, but I ran into him in the lobby. I ran into him at the airport. We were both in the same lounge in Toronto after money in the bank. Just what a what an amazing human being. What a kind, kind man. And I said to him, I don't know if we're

going to have enough time. Like I feel like we need to give you like five hours to tell all of the stories that you have. But that's one that he's like, I promise you, we will do that interview at some point in time. we've got to figure out when that is. So that's one that may bump its way up the list. I don't know if that's going to bump off Jim Johnston because that's one of my all-time favorites just in general. But let's just plant that seed that a Charles Robinson interview needs to happen at some point in time.

And if Charles, you're hearing this, I love you, buddy. You're awesome. Tatee on Spotify. Ask CVV-55 to Carlos Sain. one. I don't even, I feel like I need to look up Carlos Sains. Ah, yes. Yes, here it is. Deep cut. Talking Formula One here. Okay. This is what I'm talking about. Give me some deep cuts that, I mean, nothing against Formula One, but all you Formula One fans are

going, of course, of course, that's Carlos's number. Come on. I love to see the Motor City Machine Guns win the tag titles. Who would you like to see them face in this run? I'd love to see a series with DIY. Well, you took the words right out of my mouth. I would love to see a series with DIY as well. And what's, I think, so interesting about both teams is that individually, all four of those guys are amazing wrestlers. Johnny Gargano, Tomaso Champa, Alex Shelley, Chris Saban, in their own right, individually, they're awesome. But as tag teams, there's just some sort of magic that happens here. So that's the one. You took the words right out of my mouth. That's the one I need to see. And hopefully we see this. Hopefully we see DIY chasing for a little bit. But I just think with the

Motor City Machine Guns as the champions, you're in for just such entertaining matches every time. Whether they're shorter TV matches or whether they're a little bit longer like PLE matches, you know that those guys with the experience that they have, they're just going to bring it every single time. Kate Rodder. It's all one word this. So is this Catrotter or Kai Trotter? I'll go with Kate Rodder. I don't know. Ask CVV number 55. Hello, Chris. I love the podcast. My question is, what is your favorite cheat meal? The reason I ask this is because you are so ripped. It's pizza. Pizza. And thank you. I don't feel like I'm very ripped these days. But it's pizza. And when I was in Brooklyn last week, the very first thing I did was I went and got some

incredible New York style pizza. And I knew it was a good spot because there was a line that was going out the door. So I'm like, oh yeah, this pizza is going to be good. And it did not disappoint. Little pizza parlor in Brooklyn, New York on Duffield Street. Huh. Chef's kiss. So good. So yeah, pizza. Like I could. I'm like, I'm like Dom. Dominic Mysterio, how he is with chicken tenders, that's how I am with pizza. Like, if it was quasi healthy, I would and could eat pizza every day. I would and could eat pizza for every meal of every day. But then I'd be like twice the size that I am right now.

And we can't have that. I don't want. I mean, I love pizza, but I probably eat pizza now once a week. But that's the cheap meal for sure. Jesse Cooper on Facebook says, which old school finishing move that became a standard move for many, the DDT, for example,

is your favorite. Love the show, by the way. For me, it's the fisherman suplex. When I first saw Mr. Perfect do that, the perfectplex, I was like, man, what a cool move. So I always love seeing that move.

And I don't feel like that says overused as the DDT or the diamond. cutter or the cutter in general for that reason or for that matter. But it's the fisherman suplex slash perfectplex slash when he was in WCW Henningplex. That's the move for me. There's just something that's just so smooth about it. You hook the leg. You go over the bridge for the pin. I love it. I love it. Travis Manley on Facebook says, what made you a fan of wrestling? I've told this story when I've been interviewed, but I don't know if I've told it here before. So the thing that

got me into wrestling was I had a friend when I was, like my best friend when I was like 15, 16, Vince Reynolds. We loved fishing. Like he was my my fishing buddy. He lived in Scarborough. I lived in Pickering, about 20 minutes away from each other, taking Kingston Road. And we, you know, this is late 90s. You did this crazy thing when you had a good friend called talking on the phone. You would come home from school and you would call up your friend and you would just chat. He would just hang out because I didn't go to school with him, right? He was in one city over. We chatted all the time.

A lot of, you know, a lot about bass fishing. We did a lot of steelhead fishing, a lot of salmon fishing as well. We just chatted all the time. And I knew that on Monday nights at 9 o'clock, our calls. would abruptly come to an end, no matter what we were talking about, because Raw was coming on TSN. And one Monday night,

and I was not a wrestling fan at that point in time, I was aware of it. I didn't have anything against it, but I was a high school wrestler, like amateur style wrestler, and that was wrestling to me. And I appreciated pro wrestling, but I just wasn't really following it.

And one Monday night, we were in the middle talking about whatever it was that we were talking about, about. And I said, all right, man, look, look, I'll put it on TSN. And I will watch this with you so that when the first commercial break comes on, we can finish talking about what we were talking about. And I just remember being just so, like, sucked into the storylines and the characters. And it was McMahon and Austin was the big storyline at that time. And there was just so many, I don't know, I just loved the larger than life characters. And I loved, I was just at that point in time,

starting to get into working out. And I was like, man, I'd love to look like these guys one day, which is not really attainable. I didn't think for me. But I was like, it'd be so cool to have like, you know, to be jacked like these guys. That was what made me a fan. I was just immediately in. And when I get into something, I dive all the way in. I don't check the depth of the water. I don't check the temperature of the water. Just dive in. And I went from watching no wrestling at all to watching everything. Like I watched everything. And I was just hooked.

And it gave us one more thing that we had in common. And I became as passionate about wrestling as I was about fishing. And I was like mega passionate about fishing. So that then became like two things that Vince and I were like crazy about. So that was it. And I like very quickly was like attending. I went to like my first ever house show at Skydome. when it was still called the Skydome, by the way.

I remember going to autograph signings with the Dudley boys and also the Hardy Boys did a separate signing at the Pizza Pizza near me. Yeah, that was it. And then 2001 rolled around and I found out about independent wrestling and that changed everything for me. Remember it was 2000. Apocalypse Wrestling Federation. AWF.

It was put on by Ron Hutchinson, the same guy who trained Edging Christian in Toronto. And I just started going down this deep rabbit hole of finding out another thing I loved about wrestling, finding another thing I loved about wrestling, and then this and then that. Yeah. So that's it. In a nutshell, a relatively quick story, that was it. And then we had a friend with a trampoline that we would, their house. Like we walked home from high school in like a group.

It was like, you know, a handful of us, like six, eight, ten friends, whatever it was, like our group of friends. And our one friend, Becca Sears, lived really close to our high school, Pine Ridge Secondary School in Pickering, Ontario. And sometimes we would hang out in her backyard as we like all continued our walk home. She had a trampoline. And me and my friends, specifically, my friend Mark Teseggy and also Derek Suckling, we would get on the trampoline. And Andrew McElwain as well, we would get on the trampoline and we were like, choke slams were really easy on the trampoline. rock bottoms were really easy on the trampoline,

DDT, suplexes. And that's kind of like laid the groundwork for, we were doing these pretty frequently. And then it turned out that a friend of a friend had this little backyard wrestling federation, and then we joined that, the HCW, which Chris Sharp was a two-time champion of the HCW. This story just keeps getting longer and longer and longer.

But that was it. that was the the germ of the idea of why I started liking wrestling that was like that was the inception of it was you know I'm just such a big believer in in fate and I really truly think all of these years later and my friend Vince isn't with us anymore I really truly think that if we go back to that time Vince was put in my life so that I could find wrestling may God rest his soul because wrestling now is such a huge part of what I do for a living. And it all goes back to just having that friend at that point in time that led me to love wrestling. Travis J. Harmon on Facebook says,

What is your biggest what if in wrestling? Oh, man. I feel like we could do a full episode of what ifs. in wrestling. Maybe that's a next time I have Sam Roberts on the show. I think that's a good one-off question for Sam Roberts. Like when he gave me the great answers about like, who's the most underrated wrestler? And he gave this great story about Doink the Clown and a very specific part of his career. I'm like, oh my goodness. Never thought about it that way. I love it. I think the biggest what if in wrestling is what if the Montreal screw job never happened. Red Hart would have stayed in

WF. Vince McMahon probably wouldn't have become the Mr. McMahon character. Because that was really the genesis of it, was fans started booing him because, you know, the whole Brett screwed Brett. And then he'd turn this into like, all right, well, if you're going to boo me for being this

billionaire owner of the WWF of the time, well, I'm going to really lean into this. And we saw a lot of that in the Mr. McMahon docu series. But I think the biggest what if it is, is where does that go? Like, what does WCW then, like are they still able to get as much traction

without a big star like Brett Hart going there? If Brett Hart stays in WWF, does he become, like, does his legacy look totally different? Does, he never ends up. If he stays in WWF, he doesn't end up having a match with Bill Goldberg. He doesn't get kicked in the head.

And then, but then does the attitude error get created? because one of the first things in the attitude era, it's not DX. It's Mr. McMahon becoming the Mr. McMahon character. I should say Vince McMahon becoming the Mr. McMahon character. So I think that's the biggest what if. That is one of those moments that if one of those elements changes, then I don't think we get all the things that come after that. Again, why back to the future is my favorite movie of all time?

because if this doesn't happen, then that thing doesn't happen. If that thing doesn't happen, then this thing doesn't happen. So that's it for me. There's plenty of wrestlers we can look at. Oh, what if? What if this person had gotten a bigger push? What if this championship run had been longer? What if, what if?

That's the one for me because if the Montreal screw job doesn't happen, the domino effect that comes after that one, it's huge. It's so many other things. and it affected so many people that were not even directly related to it. So, yeah, that one is it for sure. Alex Vrella, ALV-21 underscore 42 on Instagram. You've listed off all the same people, Dekembe Matumbo, Terrell Suggs, Hadeki Matsui,

Oralershizer, and the freak Tim Linzicum edition of Ask CVV. Hey, CVV. Thank you for answering my question on AskCV number 48. My next question for you is you brought up multiple times that you and your dad are going to go to all 30 MLB ballparks. After that, what are you guys going to do next? Is it all the NFL stadiums? Are you going to go international to tie it to wrestling? Are you going to catch a ball game in the Tokyo Dome? So we have five stadiums left for anyone who doesn't know this. My dad and I've had this tradition where we go to a different major league baseball stadium every single year. And this year, we went to the Seattle Mariners ballpark, but we have five left.

Can I do it off the top of my head here? We still need to go to Rangers, Royals, Mets, A's. That one's going to be tough, seeing the A's, and Cardinals. So those are the five left that we haven't done yet. Now, with that said, there have also been some new stadiums that have popped up since our tradition began. So I've been to new Yankee Stadium myself, but my dad and I haven't been there together. So I think that what happens with this tradition is then we start to hit the new stadiums that we haven't been to. So then the twins also have a new stadium.

We went to the Metro Dome. Boy, my goodness, the Metro Dome is way down on the list. It is in the last place position. It's even worse than Tropicana Field. So, yeah, sorry about that. So I think that we start to hit the new stadiums. And by that time, Vegas will have a stadium. And maybe that's when we check the A's off the list.

The Tampa Bay Rays will have a new stadium. So, like, I think there's just a few like that that we have to go and check out. Then where do we go from there? I don't know. The tradition, if I'm being totally honest, isn't about seeing a new stadium. It's about spending time with my dad. So I don't, it doesn't really matter to me if we're seeing a new stadium after we've

checked off all 30. I just want to, I mean, it's just so, I just love that we have this tradition. And we started when I was 17 years old. I wanted to go to Chicago because the Bass Master Classic was happening in Chicago. And my dad said, yeah, sure. We can go, but we got to go to Wrigley Field while we're there. I said, sure, absolutely. I mean, I played baseball my whole life growing up.

So it was like, my gosh, I get to combine the two things I love. I got to go to a fishing, like the biggest fishing tournament, biggest bass fishing tournament in the world and also go to see one of the most legendary baseball stadiums in the world. Okay. Amazing. And that's where the tradition started. Now that I'm a father, we have our little girl, Logan.

We got a little boy on the way December 11th. a due date. I think about I got to have some sort of tradition with both of them that we're still carrying on 20, it's been 25 years of doing this tradition. But yeah, that's it. That's what it comes down to is being able to spend some time with my dad. And that is the last question for this week's Ask CVV number 55. I've already listed I. Do I need to say the names again? I just listed them off again there, but Ask CVV number 55. If you have a question for AskCV number 56, leave it in the comments on Spotify, if that's where you're listening. Leave it on social media using the hashtag AskCTVV or send me an email, CBV at chris vanvlet.com. And since you are a

real, real one, and you are listening all the way until the end here on this AskCTVV episode, I want to share something that's that's really personal with me. It's been it's been a tough week. It has been a really tough week because my sister, Kimberly had been battling cancer for the last two years. And over the weekend, she lost that battle. And she was only 45 years old.

So young. And Kimberly was the most thoughtful, and the kindest person that I've ever known. The type of person who always puts others first. And this has been so hard on us. Because we just thought we had more time. So please tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. And Kimberly, I know you're listening right now.

I love you. I miss you so much. And we will always be thinking. of you. And I will wrap this up with a quote from Jack Thorne, which is so fitting for this. Those we love never truly leave us. There are things that death cannot touch. So be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. Thank you for being with us. And thank you for listening to that. And it's been tough. But I love you guys. And I will see you next week for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary.

Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley.

Ever heard of then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite. favorite platform.