Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #79 - WrestleMania 41 Bold Predictions & Surprises, Raw After Mania, What's Next For John Cena?

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

Welcome to AskCVV #79! On this episode Chris gives his predictions for the full match card of WrestleMania 41. Does John Cena win #17? How many titles will change hands? Will The Rock appear? Who does Paul Heyman leave the ring with after the main event on Night? What is the big WrestleMania moment? We discuss all of this and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: "The foundation you lay today builds the house you'll live in tomorrow"Please support our sponsors!   PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux  SEAT GEEK: Get 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount   TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!  STASH: Go to https://get.stash.com/INSIGHTto see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures   MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off your next order at https://magicspoon.com/cvv   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  FABRIC: Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family. Apply today in just minutes at https://meetfabric.com/CVV   ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv  HUEL: Get 15% off plus a FREE Gift for NEW customers with the code INSIGHT at https://huel.comMIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF   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   BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.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

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Fleet. Greetings and salutations, my friends. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for being here on this one. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Here's styles clash on that follow button on Spotify or Apple or wherever you're listening right now. And if it is Spotify, could I ask for a favor? Could you please leave a rating on

there? It would take you just a few seconds, but it would help the show so, so much. Happy Friday, happy WrestleMania Eve. Guys, it's finally here. WrestleMania 41 is this weekend. We've been talking about this for months, months, and months and months. It's finally here. I'm in Las Vegas right now. I'm recording this from my room at Circut Resort and Casino. What a spot. What a hotel this is. We did Insight Live here last night. It was an amazing show.

What a guest. Like, it doesn't get much better for a live show than Our Truth. Like, it pretty much just turned into a comedy show. And the great thing about truth is what you see is what you get. Like, you know the character that he plays on camera. He's hilarious. He's kind. He's all of those things behind the scenes times 10.

So it was awesome to have him as a guest. And so cool that we did the VIP Ask CVV before the interview with Our Truth. So you guys brought some very interesting questions to that one. And then we did the meet and greet after. And it was so great to meet so many of you here. And it always warms my heart and surprises me when you say that the Ask CVV episodes are your favorite of the week. and I think they're my favorite too, because as much as I love being able to talk to people who are at the very top of their game, like some of the icons in this industry, it's cool to be able to spend an hour with you every Friday. And it is not lost on me that you are giving me an hour of your time right now. And I appreciate that so, so much. If you live in the New York, New Jersey area, I would love to see you at the next Insight Live. It's Friday, August 1st, summer, summer,

slam weekend, and we are going to be in New York City. Start spreading the news. Grab those tickets at CVVTix.com. That's CVVTX.com. There is a lot to get to in this one. So welcome, my friends, to ask CVV number 79, the Harvey Martin, Eric Williams, John Kaminsky, and Ronnie Stanley Edition. If you've got a question for next week, for Ask CVV number 80. Send in it on social media using the hashtag Ask CVV. Leave a comment on Spotify. That's probably been where we've been grabbing a ton of these from.

Or shoot me an email, CVV at Chris VanVleet.com. So we're going to talk a bunch about WrestleMania 41, of course. But I think this is interesting to point out. I put out a poll on my feed on Instagram. So like the club, the members only, whatever you want to call. call it, just like click a button and you can be added to the group. So I have a group on Instagram. If you go to my profile, you'll see it. It's called the CVV feed. I put a poll there and I said, which WrestleMania 41 match are you most excited for? And I had all the matches listed. And it's

interesting that for the amount of people who are hating on this Jay Uso and Gunther match, for the amount of people that don't even understand why this is happening, or why would he win the Royal Rumble, this match doesn't make sense, it's not leading anywhere. There's no buildup to this, except there is buildup, and that segment with Jimmy Uso was brilliant. All of that said,

that match was number four on the list. So I'm going to go through the list. I'm going to start at number 13 and go all the way up. So we got War Raiders versus New Day, which, I mean, I'm excited for that match. And I saw other people being like, why is that the tag team match?

Why aren't the Smackdown, tag team titles being defended. And you've heard me say this before. I say it probably once or twice every CVV-Ask CVV episode have a little bit of patience because I feel like there is something cooking with this match that has to do with Biggie. So that's why this match is on the WrestleMania card. So I would say, just wait and see on that one. But that is in the number 13 spot.

After that, most anticipated match. Bailey and Lyra versus Liv and Raquel. Then we got AJ Stiles and Logan Paul, which I'm shocked at as the, according to this poll at least, the third least anticipated. I get that a lot of people do not like Logan Paul,

but you can't argue that he's incredibly athletic and was built to be a WWE superstar. He's going to do something insane in this match. And Logan Paul, to me, I'm already going into match predictions and everything, we'll get to all of that in a second. But Logan Paul, to me, kind of feels like what Shane McMahon was.

Like when Shane McMahon was on a card, when you saw his name in a match, he went, well, he's going to do something. It's going to do something silly in this match. And that's how I feel about Logan Paul. Then Ray Mysterio and El Grande Americano still can't believe Chad Gable is not on the WrestleMania card. Crazy.

Tiffany Stratton, Charlotte Flair. Jade Cargill versus Naomi. LA Knight Yeah, versus Jacob 5-2, Damian Priest versus Drew McIntyre, so we're at number six now. Then we go into the top five.

At number five, most anticipated, Ria Ripley versus Eoskei versus Bianca Bel Air. Then the match we mentioned earlier, Jay Uso versus Gunther at four. The third most anticipated match according to at least this poll that I put out in like 10,000 of you voted on this.

Penta versus Braun versus Dominic versus Finn for the IC title. Man, that match is going to be so good. Then at number two, it's the night one WrestleMania main event, CM Punk versus Seth Rollins versus Roman Raines. And the most anticipated match by quite a lot, at least according to this poll, Cody Rhodes versus John

Sina. So I just thought it'd be interesting to break that down because you've got all kinds of different people from different parts of the world with different favorite wrestlers voting on this. Very interesting to see these results. Let's dive into this, though.

Let's dive into the official questions here for Ask CVV number 79. Starting off with Coach Negbakes on Instagram. Hey, CVV, give us your WrestleMania hot takes and bold predictions. We're going to run down the entire card here. So we'll start off with War Raiders versus New Day.

And we'll also look at the odds here on MyBooky. And when you sign up at MyBooky and you use the code CVV, you'll get a nice little welcome bonus of 50%. So if you put in $50, now you've got $75. You put in $100. Now you've got $150 to get a little action on WrestleMania or UFC or the baseball season that just started. NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs, whatever it is.

MyBooky.orgie.org. So with that championship match, the New Day heavily favored there. And as much as I love the War Raiders, actually just recorded an interview with Eric. And of course, you guys know that Ivar was on the show. What's that a few months ago? War Raiders have been great.

And those guys are so insanely athletic. And they're just fun to watch. Something is up here with the new day. I feel like we're going to factor in Biggie into this in some way. and I think the new day are going to walk out of this the new world tag team champions. We've got 13 matches to go through

so we're going to rip through them here. Another match on night one, Ray Mysterio versus El Grande, Americano. Man, this match is going to be it's just going to be fantastic. This is one of my personal most anticipated matches here.

Ray Mysterio is a slight favorite here. But I think what's going to happen is I do think that Raymistero is going to win. I think we're going to get an unmasking here. We're going to find out, oh my gosh, the rumors were true? What? I can't believe it. It actually is?

Chad Gable? Under that mask? And I just have to say, as an aside here, it's been so fun. Seeing all the memes that have been popping up over the last few weeks about, like, Chad Gable has the same tattoo as El Grande Americano. How can that be possible? all that stuff has been so fun. But I think that this leads to something much more for Chad Gable.

Who, by the way, is in the best shape of his life. Like that, Chad Gable was already shredded with incredible conditioning. The way he's been looking these last few weeks has been amazing. I'm just putting this out there because I don't know this for a fact, but I know that most WWE superstars really dial it in for WrestleMania. the shape he's going to be in on Saturday, it's going to be wild. So I'm going Ray Mysterio on that one. Jade Cargill versus Naomi.

Like, this is going to be a sleeper match because there's like there's some real bad blood here. And I just love the buildup for this match. It's just been like just an old-fashioned grudge match. And I think that the returning Jade Cargill takes the win here. And I feel like a win over Naomi is going to propel her. her to whatever is next. Like, I think it's a matter of when, not if,

Jade Cargill becomes the women's champion. We're just going to have to see where this storyline ends up going. And maybe that ties into the three-way match for the women's championship. Maybe there's something in there, depending on who wins that match. But I've got Jade Cargill taking this one. L.A. Knight. I know you said, yeah. Yeah.

Versus Jacob Fautou is going to be just a banger. Jacob Fatu the favorite here, and it's hard to argue with that. I think that Jacob Fatu is more than deserving of holding that championship, and I can't wait to see what he does as the United States champion. So I think that that one's pretty much a lock. So that's, I'm going Jacob Fatu on that one. Tiffany Stratton defending her championship against Charlotte Flair is going to be interesting, because, as you know, things got very personal.

in that promo that they cut on SmackDown. And the odds here are almost even. Like Charlotte ate like very, like barely a favorite here. But I actually think it's Tiffany Stratton who's going to hang on to this. And this one really could be flip a coin, could go either way. But I don't know what a loss for Charlotte Flair does. Like she's just coming back. And obviously a loss there would,

elevate Tiffany on a whole other level. Now Tiffany Stratton has a win against Charlotte, but Charlotte's just coming back, coming back after that injury, coming back with some real heat. This is kind of, the heat that Charlotte has right now is borderline. Like, yeah, it's heel heat, but it's also borderline go away heat. Like there is just some people angry with the way that she's been booked for a while. Like it almost reminds me of Roman. Roman Raines heat in like, what would that be like, 20, 17, 2018-ish, like 20, yeah, right around they're like, okay, like we've seen enough here, like the same heat that John Cena had for a while. Although the difference here is at least this person is a heel.

In the John Cena and Roman Raines examples, they were baby faces that were getting booed because people were just sick. They were just sick of seeing them win, like Super Sina, like, give us something else. So I go with Tiffany Stratton here, but I really feel like this one could go either way. And I also feel like John Cena is going to win number 17. Of course, we'll get to that as our last prediction.

But then they're going to have to like really address this narrative of like, if Charlotte Flair keeps winning at the pace that she's winning, she's going to win number 16, then she's going to win number 17. And then she's just going to keep winning. winning. And then what do they do with this moment that would have just been created with John Sina getting number 17? Now he has the all-time record. And if, again, Charlotte Flair continues at this pace, Charlotte Flair will have that record within like 18 months from now. So that's another reason why I think that Charlotte Flair does not need a championship.

And I think that Tiffany Stratton has been fantastic. the role as the champion. And just like, I feel like that promo really showed us another side of her as well. Like, she's, you can't argue with how good she is in the ring. You can't argue with, like, how smooth the prettiest moonsol ever is. Like, she's an athlete. That's plain to see. But she's also really been adding layers to this character.

So I go with Tiffany Stratton on that one. Then we go with Gunther defending the world heavyweight. championship against Jay Uso. The odds, heavily favorite Jay Uso here. And it seems like that's kind of what the buildup has been here. And I can't argue against that.

So my pick here is J. Uso, whether you like it or not, I just feel like that that's where WWE is headed with this. Like Gunther is over. This isn't funny how I'm switching between Gunther and Gunther, as I continue to say his name here. Next time I say his name, I'll say it differently. Gunther doesn't need a championship to get over.

But the thing about Gunther is he doesn't lose a lot. So when you beat Gunther, it means something. It means a lot. Like he, I can't remember the exact number, but there was a stat that I saw on Instagram that he's won something like 86% of all of his matches. That is an impressive number. So with that said, Gunther doesn't lose a lot of matches. is there is so much momentum behind Jay Uso.

Again, he may not be your cup of tea, but he is over. And you can't argue that. This is well beyond just an entrance or a theme or a catchphrase. Jay Uso is over. And that's why Jay Uso keeps being the guy who is like the top of that list for the top merch sellers every week and every month. Like he's right up there with Cody and has been for many months. And again, you may not like Jay Uso.

That's okay. What I think this will set up is J Uso, mega baby face against someone else, another contender who maybe hasn't been in the title picture to bring some new people to that main event scene. I think that's what you're going to see. I think you're going to see another heel come up from the mid-card or the mid-ish card,

maybe the mid slash main event card and like really elevate to that level. J Uso is my pick there and I think this match is going to surprise a lot of people. I know that there have been a lot of people ever since Jay Uso, won the Royal Rumble, questioning a lot of things about J Uso. This match is going to surprise a lot of people. And if it doesn't, hey, you know me. I am not afraid to admit when I'm wrong, but I just think that with this one, it's going to surprise a lot of people.

And it's not just because Gunther is so good in the ring and always makes his opponents look strong. It's because Jay Uso is going to bring it. Like, Jay Uso knows what you guys have been saying about him even before the Royal Rumble. And then it just got louder when he won the Royal Rumble. Jay Uso knows this. Jay Uso knows there is a lot to prove at night one of WrestleMania.

So I think that Jay Uso is going to bring, it and deliver on a level that you haven't seen. Again, if I'm wrong, I'll see you next week, next Friday, and we'll chat about it. Then we go to the night one main event. It's Roman Raines versus Seth Rollins versus C.M. Punk with Paul Heyman in his corner. And that is going to be the real wild card here. Paul Heyman's going to play such a big role in this match, in my opinion. I if we go with my prediction here, I think that CM Punk is going to win this. CM Punk is also the favorite, according to my bookie.

I think that CM Punk wins this. I also think that Roman Raines takes the pin. That is a bold prediction. Roman Raines has been pinned like, I'll have to look this up like five times in the last four years or something like that. Like it's a very, very small number. In singles matches, Roman Raines has been pinned by Cody Rhodes, of course, WrestleMania 40, night two.

Before that, the last time he was pinned in a singles match was TLC 2019. So five years prior, and you know who it was? It was King Corbyn. Also that year he got pinned by Eric Rowan at Class of Champions. Shane McMahon at Super Showdown, the year before that, Bobby Lashley. And then we got to go all the way back to WrestleMania 34,

Brock Lesnar. So I think that, again, when I was talking about like Gunther doesn't lose a lot of matches, Roman Raines doesn't get pinned a lot. CM Punk is in his first ever WrestleMania main event. They've made such a big deal about that.

That has been the focus of this triple threat match, as well as Paul Heyman being the focus. But CM Punk getting to main event WrestleMania has been such a big part of this. I think, that something to do with Paul Heyman here, I think that CM Punk wins this match and pins Roman Raines.

And I think it sets something up for a feud between Roman Rains and CM Punk with like Paul Hamon kind of like hanging in the balance or like Paul Hamon kind of playing some sort of a role here. Because again, like it's amazing how they've built up Paul Heyman to be such a big part of this, to be such a big character in this. Paul Heyman is like the secret weapon. Roman Raines is like, I've been winning so much because I've got my wise man. I am the tribal chief because I've got my wise man.

Like without the wise man, what am I? And that keeps playing a role in this. And I feel like that will continue with CM Punk hinting Roman Raines. That one really could go. There's a whole bunch of stuff that could happen there. I also think that maybe we get what we got last year, where something that happens on night one leads us in to night two. And in night two, we've got Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, defending their WWE women's tag team championships against Bailey and Lyra Valchuria. Who do we go with on this one?

Well, we'll look at the odds here. and the odds in this match wait a sec do we even have odds for this match well they're not up yet I'm going to go with Bailey and Lyra on this one and there's just been a lot of momentum behind them and then this makes Lyra two belts Lyra and I think that that's just a fascinating thing to see

so I'm going to go with that one and I also love the backstory here Lyra put out this tweet in 2017 she just met Bailey and she said, I, something along the line, paraphrasing here, but she said like,

it'd be so amazing to make people feel the way that I just felt after meeting Bailey. So Lyra meets Bailey eight years ago, and now she's in a WrestleMania match

with gold on the line with her as a partner. I love that. So I'm going to go with, we got two belts Lyra at the end of night two. A.J. Stiles versus Logan Paul.

I think that a lot of people do not like Logan Paul. And I understand that. If you can separate, though, the person from the performer, it's hard to not appreciate Logan Paul, the performer. Logan Paul favored is the favorite in this match. And I just think that, look, if AJ Stiles loses here, big deal. He's still A.J. Stiles. He's still one of the greatest of all time.

He has a guaranteed Hall of Famer when he retires. if Logan Paul loses, where do we go from here? And I think that a win here for Logan Paul in a singles match at WrestleMania does a lot to continue to build his career. Like, right now he doesn't really have a character per se. Like, Logan Paul is, you know, cocky heel, YouTuber leans into the fact that you don't really like him.

And like, that's what he's all about here. if he beats AJ Stiles, then I feel like you've got another element added on here. And remember when I said, if J. Uso wins, now you've got the mega baby face as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion? I could see a scenario

where Logan Paul rides this momentum, rides the hate that fans have for him into a feud. Maybe it's not a win, but into a feud for the, World Heavyweight Championship. And maybe, I don't know, it's a little early to figure this out, but there is a possibility here.

I could see a path that leads to Logan Paul becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. But I go with Logan Paul on this one, right into what is going to be just an absolute banger of a match, the four-way match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Bronbreaker, against Penta, Finn Baller, and Dominic Mysterio. I think that Dirty Dom turns on Finn or costs Finn this match in some sort of way, some real dissension there in the Judgment Day. I'm going with the favorite here. Dom is the favorite.

I would love to see what Dominic Mysterio can do with the Intercontinental Championship. I also feel like it's so fun to boo Dom. It has been so much fun. I just feel like he keeps doing these things that are like, they're getting these good reactions. And it's like, yeah, I know he's a heel. And I know he's doing heelish things. But he's kind of crossed over into this other realm of like,

he's a heel that we like enjoy booing. Like, hey, Dom's music hits. Hey, Dom's about to cut a promo. The thing we do is like we boo him when he, when he does that. He's crossed into this other. territory of like, I don't know, he's a fun heel. Like, it's, it's, it's really interesting to see. And I think that he either continues to lean into this and somehow becomes even healier or maybe.

We start to see some glimpses of what Dominic Mysterio could be as a baby face. But I'm going with Dominic Mysterio on this one. And that is the match that I just can't wait to see how they put this all together. There are, that's four guys in here that can just go. That match is going to be so good. Damien Priest versus Drew McIntyre, a Sin City street fight. This is just going to be two big dudes just beating the piss out of each other. That one is just going to be a, a fun one to watch. Drew McIntyre, massive favorite here.

And it's hard to argue. against that. Drew McIntyre, I feel like he just keeps getting the short end of the stick. Like, he keeps winning matches and then it, like, leads into him ending up putting someone else over. And I feel like Drew McIntyre needs this win. He needs this win at WrestleMania. Yes, I know that he got a win at WrestleMania last year. He beat Seth Rawlins. He won the World Heavyweight Championship. He was the champion for all of three minutes or whatever it was. but no one can take that WrestleMania moment away from him.

But I feel like here, like, and then just somebody, it was just interesting booking with Drew McIntyre. There were so many other things that I think could have been done with him over the last year. Although that Hell on a Cell match,

bad blood with CM Punk will likely go down as the greatest Hell on a Cell match ever. But I just think there were a lot of losses that Drew McIntyre has taken over the last year. And this is a win that I feel like he needs.

and it's a win that I am confident he's going to get. E.O. Sky versus Bianca Bel Air versus Rea Ripley, triple threat match for the women's world championship. The odds are tight on this. Bianca Bel Air is the favorite here. Feel like there's been some signs. I'm sure you've picked up on it as well. Feel like there have been some signs that Bianca Bel Air is going to turn a heel.

I don't know if that's going to happen at WrestleMania. but it feels like they're cooking something up here. And maybe, again, maybe that factors into what happens with Jade on night one. But I'm going with Bianca Bel Air on this one, and that is a match that I am pumped for. And then we go into the match, the one that everybody has been talking about, the one with so many question marks around it. Cody Rhodes defending his undisputed WWE championship against the evil heel

John Sina. The odds favor John Sina in this match. And here's how I feel about this match. You don't have John Sina come back for a full year, announced this retirement tour, turn heel, have his last ever WrestleMania oh, by the way, be in the night two main event at WrestleMania and have him lose. He's only going to have a handful of matches this year.

And that is yet to be determined. We won't know that until the year is dumb. But if I had to put a guess on it, I think John Cena only has like around maybe 10 matches, maybe. I think that John Cena wins this and that's the moment. That's the shot we see at the end of WrestleMania. Is John Sina holding up that championship? Is the shot we saw at the end of Elimination Chamber,

except it wasn't his title? Now it will be. I'm going with John Sina on this, but there are so many question marks around this. What role does the Rock play in this? Because the Rock has not officially been announced for WrestleMania, but you know that the Rock is going to be part of WrestleMania. You know the Rock is going to insert himself into this match in some sort of way.

Travis Scott has been announced for WrestleMania. We don't know exactly what that role is. Is it just, is he singing someone to the ring? Is he part of John Cena's entrance? Is he coming out with The Rock? We don't know. And I love that we don't know that. But there's a lot of question marks around here.

I think that The Rock plays a huge factor in whatever the end of this match is. I know there's been a lot of fantasy booking around. well, the Rock's going to cost John Sina the match or John Sina is going to lose. And I don't see that. And I love that there's so many different scenarios that we can create for this match. But I don't see anything else other than John Sina winning this match. And there are a ton of really interesting props around this match as well. Like which finishing move will be performed first?

the attitude adjustment is the favorite for that. There's an over under on crossroads and attitude adjustments at three and a half. Well, what do you have on that? I don't have to say I'm on the under. I'm on the under on three and a half crossroads. I think there might be three, but I don't think we're going to see four or more. Are we going to see four or more attitude adjustments? I don't know.

But I love the fact that that's even a prop that we can look at there. So that is my take on WrestleMania 41. I don't want to pat myself in the back here too much. I don't want to toot my own horn, beep, beep. But I've been getting a lot of these predictions spot on. I mean, for the last bunch of PLEs, I've either been four for five or four for four or five for five. I feel like maybe I'm not going to be 13 for 13 here,

but maybe I'll be like nine for 13, 10 for 13. Like, yeah, I might get three or four of these wrong. It sounds like Chris Sharp is starting to come out as I'm talking here. I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. But what I will say with everything that we talked about here, with all of these matches, it sounds like we're going to see quite a few title changes. actually, I think the only one I said,

I think the only championship that I said wasn't going to change hands was Tiffany Stratton, right? Because I said War Raiders would lose the titles to New Day. L.A. Knight, yeah, would lose to Jacob Fatu. Gunther loses to J. Uso. My goodness. Live and Raquel could retain, but I feel like Bailey and Lyra are going to win there.

That match will be very interesting to see how that one goes, Bronbreaker, I think loses it for sure. If it's not Dom, it's Penta. Okay? That'll be my little caveat. I'll still take the L if I say Dom and Penta wins, but I'm just saying, if it's not Dom, it's going to be Penta. E.O. Sky, I think, loses there to Bianca Bel Air and then Cody Rose to John Cena.

My goodness, are we going to see that many title changes? Now that I'm saying this out loud, maybe that's too many title changes. but go in my gut on this one. And I also just appreciate how we are in an era of WWE right now where things truly feel unpredictable. There's also a lot of other question marks. What's going to happen with Randy Orton? I think Randy Orton's music hits on Night 2.

I think he goes out to the ring. I think it's a very similar situation to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38 where it's like, who's his opponent? Who is the opponent? And we went through this last week, and my answers have not changed. Well, I guess they've changed a little bit. I think that some real possibilities here. I'll run through them again real quick.

Nick Aldous is the obvious one. It's the one that all of us want to see. And it's also one that Nick Aldis has earned. Like, he is a world champion in the NWA. He's a world champion in TNA. He's such an accomplished wrestler. And it's just so unfortunate. that there is a section of fans who have never seen them wrestle.

And I hope that we all get that opportunity this weekend to see Nick Aldous wrestle in WWE for the very first time and also wrestle in WWE at WrestleMania. So that's what I'm hoping for. We've also got the possibility of, is it Rusev? Is it Malachi Black? I would love to see Kerry and Cross in there. That was just kind of me, just like fantasy.

booking it myself and throwing that out there because I think that carrying Cross is so underappreciated. It sure seems like Solo Sacoa is what they're lining us up for. Maybe that's a swerve to then give us Nick Aldous, but it sure feels like we're going to see Randy Orden solo Sacoa, but a lot of question marks. A lot of question marks. Is Stone Cold Steve Austin going to be part of WrestleMania in some sort of way?

We all know that he's here. his appearances at WWE world are literally on the same days as WrestleMania 41, so we know where he is. But is he going to be a WrestleMania? You know he's going to at least be backstage. Is he going to be there? Again, so many question marks. And I love that this is where we're at. Just with WWE, just with wrestling in general.

Roger McFly underscore on Instagram says, what will be this year's WrestleMania moment? McFly, are you related to Marnie? Are you related to Marnie? Think McFly. Think. I think that there's going to be a few WrestleMania moments. Whatever we see at the end of night two,

I guess whatever we see at the end of both of those, but the image at the end of night two is going to be the big WrestleMania moment. Again, I'm picturing this, John Sina holding up number 17. That's what I see. It's possible. Sure.

anything can happen in the WWE. Anything can happen in the WWE. But I think that that's going to be a big moment. I also think whatever Logan Paul has cooked up here for his match with AJ Stiles, whatever that viral moment is, because Logan Paul is known for these, whether it's the mid-ring collision in the Royal Rumble with ricochet, or it's the drone going around him as he's dropping the elbow from the top rope to the outside through the announce table. Logan Paul is definitely the springboard.

My goodness, it was so insane how he pulled that off. The springboard at SummerSlam in his match against L.A. Knight. Yeah. Whatever Logan Paul is cooking up here is going to be a viral moment. And it's interesting that he kind of approaches his matches with like building around that. Almost like, what an interesting analogy I'm about to present you with. But it's almost like how the Mission Impossible movies are just built around one or two main Tom Cruise stunts. I actually watched a video the other day that said, like, they come up with the stunts first.

And this is a real thing. They come up with the stunts first, and then they build the script around that. And I kind of feel like that's what Logan Paul does with his matches. He comes up with the spot first and then figures out how can I integrate this into the match? Because if I do this thing, it's going to get hundreds of millions of views. How can we now build that into a match and make it make sense? I think that those are like going to be the two big WrestleMania moments. And I also think, I wonder if it's going to be the opening match.

But J.U. So, again, my prediction, winning the World Heavyweight Championship, I think that's another moment there as well. And then whatever we end night one with, I would think it's CM Punk, but there's going to be, there's going to be some emotion in that match. And Paul Heyman's going to play a huge role there. Man, we all know how good Paul Heyman is,

but somehow he just keeps getting better every single week. Like we keep seeing these deep emotional performances from him. And I think we're going to see that. Like, it's clear that, This is like tearing him apart inside. To quote the room, the best worst movie of all time. You're tearing me apart, Lisa. For the six people that got that reference,

I'm fist-bumping you right now. But this is, it's clearly tearing Paul Heyman apart. That he, ah, man, Roman Raines, my tribal chief, but CM Punk is my best friend, and I owe him a favor. And also, we didn't even talk about it. there's another favor here with Seth Rollins. That is another wild card in that match. So whatever the outcome in that one is,

it's another WrestleMania moment there. Cito Dog on Instagram says, who is the biggest return on the Monday night, Raw after WrestleMania? First of all, I'm going. So I'm going to Raw After Mania, and I'm excited because I've been to a lot of WrestleMania's, but I've never been to a Raw after WrestleMania.

So I am stoked for that. I can't wait to go. If you're going, I'd love to say what's up, shake your hand, give you a high-five, chat a little wrestling with you, but I can't wait. I mean, obviously, I'm excited for all the other stuff I'm going to this weekend. But, man, raw after mania is going to be wild. At least one of those two big WWE returns, the Malachi Black or Russo, leaving AEW, I think one of those, if not both of them,

happen at the raw after WrestleMania. So I think that that, I don't know where this factor, well, I guess, yeah, I don't really know where that factors in, but I feel like we're going to see at least one of them. And I feel like there's a good chance it's going to be Rusev. I'm actually pretty sure, pretty sure Rusev is staying in the hotel that I'm at Circa. And like, that's not news.

Like, he's wrestling in an event, Knox Pro, that is happening here at the hotel. So it's not like it's not crazy that he's here. And I think he's also doing wrestle con. So it's not like wild that he's in Las Vegas. That is not a spoiler by any means. But I think that Rusev makes his return. And I just checked the calendar.

And yes, Monday is in fact Rusev Day. I think there's also a chance that we could see the Hardy Boys on Raw. TNA is in town. They just ran a show here. I think that there's a, that's just a possibility. I'm just throwing that out there. But that would be so fun to see, and I feel like the reaction for them would be just massive.

But, I mean, think about that. Like the new days out there, celebrating they just won the championship, and then out of nowhere, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Could be a fun moment. That could be so fun to see. James Brantley emailed this one in.

Greetings, Chris. First of all, thank you for all. you do. I don't listen to any wrestling podcast except yours. So thank you for giving a positive perspective as a true fan. Well, man, thank you, James. Our son's middle name is James Cooper James. My question is listening to the COO interview and hearing him talk about the fans at the airport. I've often thought about how do you approach and express to the wrestlers your appreciation for them without feeling like you're bothering them. I've been to several meet and greets, but I always try to keep them short and sweet because I know that they've already heard

from so many other fans, the same things that I would say. Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes, James. So I want to address the comments that Keo made. And he was speaking to a very specific type of fan. He's not talking about a chance encounter at the airport. He's not talking about like, you're going to your gate and, oh my gosh, is that Kevin Owens right there?

He's also walking to his gate. It's not what he's talking about. He's not talking about randomly bumping into someone at a hotel or randomly bumping into someone at the grocery store. He is talking about the fans who track wrestlers' flights, know exactly what time they're going to get in, then wait in the baggage claim area with boxes or bins full of things that they are going to have signed, not personalized, just signed so they can sell on eBay. That's who he was specifically talking about. about like the autograph hounds because he he said like i don't sign at the airport i'm happy to

take a photo with you and he said that like 20 people will just walk away then oh you're not going to sign oh well forget that so like they're not true fans if they don't want to get a photo with kevin owens so he is talking specifically to those people the the people who were like waiting in baggage claim and know the exact times of all the different flights that are coming in, that's who he's talking about. And I saw so many people in the comments being like, well, I met so-and-so at the grocery store or I met so-and-so at the gym. Amazing. And I think that for the most part, when you're a public figure, whether you're a wrestler or an actor or a comedian or whatever, when you're going out in public to the gym or to the grocery

store, you know that it could happen, right? You know that it could happen and someone could come up to you and ask for a photo or an autograph. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about the groups of people that go to the airport and it's just like, this makes everybody else look bad. So in terms of saying something memorable, I would say just speak from your heart. Like, I think the biggest thing is like, if you're going to go meet somebody at a meet and greet or if you do run into someone at a chance encounter out and about, and you have been there for one of their most memorable matches or the match really meant a lot to you and you were there, say that to them. Like, that always, I feel like goes a long way.

Like, especially when it's an obscure reference when you're like, oh, man, I was at, you know, this PLE in 2017 when you faced this person and you did this thing, a lot of times will be like, oh, wow, no way, you were there for that? That's crazy. or like if you take it one step further, like if they had a storied indie career, you'd be like, oh man, I remember seeing you at, and you could like, I remember seeing you in Cleveland at AIW,

and it was you versus Johnny Gargano. And they're like, oh, no way. You were there. And like, when you think about those scenarios, you know, there's 350 people in that place. And like, you were one of them? Oh, my gosh, that's awesome. It's why, like, you've seen me do it a few times.

like the first time I met AJ Stiles was 2007. And then full circle, 18 years later, I show him the photo. And it's like, oh, my gosh. Like, look at us. Like, it also kind of reminds, like, who was I 18 years ago? Wow, it takes them back. And I always think that that's an interesting thing. But you're right, short and sweet, because I've seen this happen.

Like, there's been a lot of times where I'm at a meet and greet table and, like, I'm next to someone who has a big line. and there's there's only so much that person can oh wow man that's really cool oh man no way there's only so many wow that's cool and yeah man's that you can say to somebody before you know they they need to get the picture of like okay you've told me seven things and there's you know a hundred people in line here like so i think it's keep it short keep it sweet and just be honest like you know, if that person had a match or a moment or a promo that really meant a lot to you, like, tell them that. And even if it's a cliche moment, like, I think that they enjoy hearing that.

Like, the whole point of wrestling is to make people feel something. And I think that if someone had a heel run or if someone is a heel now, it's, I think that it's always fun. And I've seen these interactions again at like conventions or like conventions or meet and greets where I'm at the table next to somebody. And it's cool when someone's like, oh, man, when you cut that promo and like, you made fun of my hometown or you cut that promo on, you know, my favorite wrestler at the time was whoever, name someone.

And you made fun of them. Oh, man, I hated you so much for that. They love hearing that kind of stuff. But I think it's just, like you said, short, sweet, to the point. And like Kevin Owen said, stop following them at the airport. Like, stop being those weird fans. And I think that every wrestler would agree with that one.

Joseph Guzman emailed this one and happy one million subs on the Clips Channel. I'm happy for your growth on the main channel, but give it up for the Clips Channel. Anyway, if you can or want to, I want to ask a question as well for Friday's Ask CVV. My question is, were you surprised hearing the familiar Cody Rhodes chant in Chicago, Illinois? That was at SmackDown a few weeks ago. I know that on the last Ask CVV, you said you were going to miss the European crowds chanting, but Chicago definitely seemed to bring in at least one of the overseas chants. Congratulations again on the one million milestone on the clips channel.

Best wishes and support all the way from Illinois. I had a blast in Chicago for Smackdown. again some eagle-eyed people saw me sitting behind the announced table thank you for all the messages and photos online that was so cool to see that i was i was on for like just a few seconds sitting behind wade barrett and joe tessitore but it was cool how many of you guys pointed that out so the cody cody rhodes chant did make its way to chicago but it was not televised and this is the interesting thing I don't know if everybody knows this. So when tickets go on sale, they will be like,

they will usually guarantee like one big star will be there. So Cody Rhodes was guaranteed, was the name that was announced for SmackDown. So you sell a bunch of tickets because, oh my gosh, we get to go and see Cody Rhodes. Well, just with the way that storylines had been going, Cody had been appearing much more on Raw. And he wasn't part of the show.

for Smackdown. So Smackdown happened, as you saw, and Cody Rhodes was not part of it. So then Cody Rhodes had a dark match after with Solo Sokoa so that he could be part of the show because he was announcing the show. And he came out, and yes, the European chant was there because it was one week away from the European tour. It made a lot of sense. It was so cool to see. And you could tell that it meant a lot to Cody. He even got on the mic after the match. And he's like, oh, man, I hope that that chant continues because I really like it. Like that's what he said in the promo. It's like, man, if he could only be saying that on TV, if Cody said on TV that he enjoyed that chant, it would be there every single week.

I wonder if we continue to get that. I would bet that the Rafter Mania, if slash likely when Cody Rhodes appears on that show, just with the international crowd that you always get with the Rafter WrestleMania. and just the rowdiness of that crowd, I know that we'll get it there. I just hope it continues. I just hope it continues in some of the smaller markets that, like, yeah, maybe they get wrestling

frequently or even not just the smaller markets. I hope it continues in some of the bigger markets where, like, you know, raw comes to, I point this out a lot. Raw comes to the L.A. area a lot. W.W.E. comes to the L.A. area. A lot. Comes to the Chicago area. A lot. Comes to the New York area.

a lot. I hope that you can have enough fans, enough passionate fans in those buildings that those chance continue to continue on. So I love that. I thought that those chance were so much fun. So I hope that they continue. Fingers crossed that we hear them on night two. Mark Robinson left this one on Spotify. Congrats on hitting 1 million subscribers on the CVV clips channel. I was surprised to see that your main channel only has 650,000 subscribers. why do you think it has so many less? Is it short attention spans? Well, first of all, thank you for the congratulations.

I'm grateful that both channels have as many subscribers as they do. Like, 650,000 subscribers on the main channel is a mind-blowing number for me to say out loud. And I still can't believe we hit a million. And because this is an Ask CVV episode, because it's me and you hanging. hanging out right now on a Friday. I will tell you this, that I have a whiteboard in my office that I wrote on it in October of 2023. I had 353,000. I don't remember the exact number. It's something like 353,000, 456 subscribers at that point in time. And I wrote on the whiteboard that I would have a million subscribers on the clips channel by my birthday.

of 2025. So May 19th, 2025. So I predicted this like a year and a half out when I still had 647,000 subscribers ago. Like, that's a very, it's a bold prediction. That was a very lofty goal that I had set. Like the odds of getting almost three quarters of a million subscribers and that many months seemed insanely unlikely. But I'm a big believer that you, in order to achieve big things, you've got to set big goals. And my goodness, we hit the goal

a month before that. Like we hit it. It was over the weekend. So, wow, wild to me. To answer your question, the Clips Channel has way more content on it. Like way more content, way more views. So I'm not surprised at all that the Clips Channel has more subscribers than the main channel. The Clips Channel has 1.8 billion views total. One point, that's insane. And the main channel has 256 million. So like way, way more views. Granted, a lot of them are from shorts, but way more views on the Clips Channel.

And I just, I've always had the same approach to, it's the same thing I do on Instagram. or TikTok or Facebook. And if you're into social media or if you're a content creator, I'm talking to you right now. I always think about the full episodes, the full interviews as like the loaf of bread. And I understand that you're not likely,

you're not likely to listen to an entire podcast or watch an hour-long interview on YouTube, unless you're invested in who the guest is or unless you've been listening to the show for a while. like if someone were to text you a link for a podcast that you've never listened to before and they go, oh, man, you've got to listen to this show. It's so good. And you click on it and it's an hour and 19 minutes. You're not even going to start it. I am fully aware of that. Or you might start it, but you're only going to listen to a few minutes. I'm fully aware of that. So I like to think

of the shorts slash clips slash, well, to the shorts slash TikTok slash reels as like the breadcrumbs. So like, you know, here's 30 seconds. Here's 42 seconds. Here's 53 seconds. Like here's one thought. Here's one moment. So if your friend texts you that, like, oh, my goodness, you'll never believe what Scott Steiner said in this interview with CVV or you'll never believe this funny moment with

Dominic Mysterio and you send them that clip, well, it's a pretty good chance they're going to click play. And if it's only 42 seconds long, yeah, really likely. that they will watch the entire thing. So that's the breadcrumb. Hopefully, if you like the breadcrums, you'll go searching for the piece of bread, the slice of bread, which is the longer clips, the two to five-ish minute clips on the CVV clips channel. And then hopefully, if you like those, maybe then you go looking for the entire conversation. Maybe you go, man, I saw one or two or three of those clips. I got to see this whole thing. Like this was really intriguing. What I saw was really interesting. So that's kind of been my, you know, just the big macro view of content creation.

And it's been so cool watching the CVV clips channel grow at the rate that it has been growing. Like I really didn't start putting any real effort into that till like 2021. And then I think like 2022 is when I was like, you know what? I'm going to try posting a real, a day. Like that, what a lofty goal that is. I'm going to try posting a real a day. And at that point, I posted like maybe one a week. And a real a day was a lot. But that continued to build and that allowed more people to find out about the show, find out about previous interviews, find out about who the next guest is. And it's kind of built from there. But the clips channel is like four year's old and the main channel's 14 years old.

And it's just, it's really been so cool watching them both grow and watching them both grow in like their own kind of different way. It's, I love it. Mr. Mantheo on Instagram. Of all the iconic WrestleMania matches, which one would you say is overrated or overhyped? The one that immediately pops into my head is Brock Lesnar. versus Goldberg at WrestleMania 20.

That match any other year, I think would have been huge, but going into WrestleMania 20, everybody knew that both of them were leaving. You even add Stone Cold Steve Austin into this as a special guest referee, and it couldn't save this match. The crowd is booing both of them

from their entrances, very loud, you sold out chance, immediately followed by nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, goodbye. Like, all of the worst things that you could imagine happening in this match happened. And I think what the funniest moment is like there's a shot of Austin who's just like kind of smirking and laughing at what's going on here. That's the match that I just feel like it was right people, just wrong time.

And I think that that's, it's just unfortunate. Like, and I think that had Goldberg come in a little bit earlier, I feel like this match could have been better. There's just a lot of, it's just bad timing. Just bad, bad timing on this one. So that's the match. That's the match that on paper, like super hyped up. But as soon as it came together, like, oh, my goodness,

they not what any of the people in the ring were looking for in that match. An email from Cameron Smith, Ask CVV number seven. Oh, this is for last week. Ask CVV number 77, the Valtry Botas edition. Oh man, that is, that is a, I didn't expect.

I've been naming so many football players. Yeah, okay. Good one. Motorsports. I love, I love when we're always getting them to like I've never, wasn't even thinking about. Hey, Chris, real, real one here from Australia.

Fun fact, the three digits in the back of your card here is the, CVC card, a CBC, not the CVV card verification code, not the card verification value. Well, either way, I'm still the three numbers on the back of your credit card. Anyway, I know WWE have announced that they're returning to Perth in 2025 for Smackdown, an unnamed PLE and RAW. Also, UFC, by the way, I'm just throwing that in there.

Do you have any idea on which PLE that they might be bringing down under? I've heard money in the bank is rumored. Also, did Michael Cole accidentally give away John Cena versus Randy Orden for backlash. On Ron Monday, he said the backlash was in St. Louis. Randy's hometown, he also said that John Cena would be there. Am I reading too far into that? Would love to hear your thoughts. Cheers, Cameron. For the first one there, I have no idea which PLE is going to be in Perth. I do know that it is not money in the bank. I know that money in the bank is going to be in the United States of America. I'm sure you've seen the rumored city for it.

But it has not been confirmed yet, but I do know that money in the bank is not going to be in Australia. I don't know which one it is. But I guess we've only got a handful of other options. We know where backlash is. We know that money in the banks in the U.S. We know where SummerSlam is. So, you know, I guess you can probably put the pieces together and figure that one out. And no, I think you are reading into this too much.

Randy Orton is going to be at the raw after backlash. because it's St. Louis. Like, they're really hyping up that this is where Randy Orton is from. It's where Randy Orton still lives. So they're really hyping up that Randy Orton is going to be in St. Louis because that is Randy Orton's town. They haven't done a PLE there since the Royal Rumble in 2022. That's what they're talking about here.

And also, a ton of dates for John Cena's retirement tour have been announced. That happens to be one of them. I think that you are reading a little bit too much into this, or it could be a happy coincidence that that's what ends up happening. But as it stands right now, I just feel like those were two separate announcements of like, you should buy tickets when they go on sale because Randy Orton's going to be there. And also, you should buy tickets because John Cena is going to be there.

But I have been saying this for a long time. We are leading up to John Cena. versus Randy Orton at some point this year. Why not? Why not do it at backlash? Maybe it's too early. A lot of it obviously depends on what happens with John Cena this weekend.

Again, think that he's going to win number 17. Will Randy Orton be his first challenger? Because we're not going to be getting John Cena in these tune-up matches on Raw or Smackdown leading up to the PLAs. There might be one, but it's not like John Cena is going to at least right now the way it seems, especially the heel version of John Cena,

it's not like he's going to be having matches just like to give people a chance. Like it seems like John Cena is going to wrestle at PLEs and maybe that's it, maybe some Saturday night main events, but it seems like his matches are going to happen at PLEs. So I think you might be reading too much into that, but boy, what a match that would be.

and what a match that would be in Randy Orton's hometown. That was our final question here for the WrestleMania 41 edition. Ask CVV number 79. Thank you for all of these questions. I am pumped for WrestleMania this weekend. I would love to hear your predictions. If you're still with us right now, yes, that makes you a real, real one. I appreciate you for listening all the way until the end.

If you are listening and you're listening on Spotify and you've already laid the smackdown on that rating. Leave your WrestleMania predictions in the comments on Spotify. I'd love to see where you agree with me. And I'd love to see where you're like CVV. You are bonkers for thinking this or that. I would love to see where you think that I am just way off. Because I, like I said, I have predicted a lot of title changes here. And that would, I just feel like it might be too many. But we shall see. But leave a comment on Spotify. and let me know what you think. We'll wrap this up with a tweet that I saw from Chris Bay this week.

He has been dropping some real wisdom. Like John Sina-esque wisdom. You know how John Sina on Twitter is just like full of like insightful quotes? And then on Instagram is like posting a picture of like a bottle of ketchup or a hippopotamus or something completely obscure. But on Twitter, he's just dropping like, pearls of wisdom all the time. Chris Bay says the foundation you lay today builds the house you'll live in tomorrow. That's good. And if you haven't checked out the interview with Chris Bay, it is a powerful conversation. I hope that you check that out. If you haven't already checked it out,

it's such a good one. It will 100% make you a fan of Chris Bay. What a great, great guy. Have an amazing WrestleMania week. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one 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? Fuck bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987.

I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.