Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #92 - Goldberg Retires, Evolution 2, All In, Roman Reigns' Next Match, John Cena Face Turn

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

https://cvvtix.com - Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC with VIP Meet & Greet! Welcome to AskCVV #92! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet answers questions about Goldberg's retirement match, the best matches at AEW All In and WWE Evolution, Naomi cashing in her MITB briefcase, who Roman Reigns' next match will be with, the best match build-up video ever, John Cena's final match and much more!   "Keep your face always toward the sunshine — and shadows will fall behind you." - Walt Whitman   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: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!  TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!   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   ROCKET MONEY: Download the Rocket Money app and enter “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” in the survey   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. Happy Friday. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV. Chris Van Fleet, thank you for hit and play on this episode. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a pile driver on that follow button on Spotify or Apple or wherever it is.

you're listening right now. And if you have a few extra seconds this weekend, could you leave a review on Apple or a rating on Spotify? Both of those would help the show so, so much. And the more ratings, the more reviews we get, the bigger the show gets. And the bigger the show gets, the bigger the guests will get. Speaking of guests, I thought we'd be able to announce today who the live guest is going to be in New York City. We've got Insight Live. Two weeks from today, we're kicking off SummerSlam weekend with a big one. And I thought we could let you know today, but we're like 95% confirmed on this one.

But let's just say it's going to be a banger. So if you live in the New York or New Jersey area or if you're flying in for SummerSlam, grab your tickets now. They're going to sell out. And since you're a real, real one, and you're listening to an Ask CVV episode, grab a VIP ticket,

a CVVIP. if you will. It gives you a special Ask CVV before the show and then a meet and greet after the show. So get those tickets at CVVTX.com.

That's CVVTIX.com. I'm recording this right now in a rental car in Orlando, Florida. I've been all over the place this month, but especially this week. And you might have seen

yesterday we posted the Undertaker interview from last year. We reared that episode. I was shocked by people who left a comment on Spotify being like, what, you're re-airing episodes all of a sudden? Isn't this an old episode? Guys, I wasn't trying to hide anything.

It was in the title, interview from June 2024. And in the last six days, I have been in Nashville, went straight from Nashville to New York City, then I flew home for a few days. Then I came to Orlando, and as soon as I'm done recording this, it's Thursday, obviously, as I'm recording this, because you're listening to it bright and early on Friday morning. morning, I'm going back home. And so it's been, I've been all over the place. It's like coast to coast to coast to coast, like back and forth and back and forth.

So it's not often. And if you've been listening to the show long enough, you know that we re-air like, I don't know, three or four episodes a year. Like the last time we reared an episode was January 2nd of this year. So six and a half months ago. So it's going to happen every once in a while, but I think it's just nice to take a break. like I've been all over the place with this. It's nice to just like take a pause

and also allow the catalog of episodes that we have recorded to give that a little bit of time to catch up. So it's not going to happen that often. I'd say that 98 of the episodes in a year, like if we do two episodes a week, like two interviews a week, every week, Tuesday and Thursday, almost all of them,

except for maybe three or four, maybe five, are brand new interviews. But it's also a chance, like with this Undertaker interview, the chance to introduce one of my favorite conversations to people who may just start to listen to the show

over the last few months. So just again, thank you for being on this journey with me. If you already heard the interview at The Undertaker last June when it came out, awesome. That's great.

I re-listened to it again today. And it's just, I don't know, I love how open he is. the stories he has are just, just amazing. So I just wanted to put that out there that every once in a while, there may be an episode that you've heard before. And thank you to the people who tune in and go,

man, I loved this the first time. I loved it even more the next time. So I appreciate you. And just thank you for being a real, real one. And for listening to this episode. And welcome, my friends, to ask CVV, Number 92, the Michael Strayhan, Reggie White, James Harrison, and Gabe Landisog edition. If you've got a question for next week, or if there's a jersey number that pops into your head for number 93, the Dougie Gilmore edition to my fellow Maple Leaf fans, send it in on Spotify, email me CVV at chris fanfleet.com or send it in on social media with that hashtag, ask CVV.

We didn't have a code word last week. And I saw so many comments if you were listening on Spotify, people being like, did I miss the code word? How come there was no code word? So if you're listening on Spotify, leave the word, leave the word car, since I'm recording in a car right now. Just leave the word car or maybe the word car in a car emoji.

And I'll know that you're actually paying attention to this one. Let's dive into this. Ask CV number 92. We'll kick it on. with this one from Scott Pelman on Spotify who says, Hey, CVV, what a stacked wrestling weekend we just had. What was your favorite event? What a stacked week we had?

Like, from Monday all the way until Sunday, it was just like one thing after another, after another, after another. I think it's a tie for me as to what the best events were, and it was Saturday and Sunday, Saturday. All-in was just fantastic, top to bottom, and evolution. Like, every match on evolution just brought it. Becky Lynch versus Bailey versus Lyra Valcuria. Like, what a great match.

And I love that the storyline is continuing here. We're getting Lyra and Becky at SummerSlam. I imagine Bailey plays some sort of a role in that. Eoskii versus Ria was already such a good match. And then the cherry on top. was the Cachin, which I don't know about you, but I didn't see that coming, and we'll chat about Naomi's Cache in a few minutes here.

All-in had just so many great matches. I love the Young Bucks versus Swerve and Osprey. What a moment for Dustin Rhodes winning the TNT Championship, and if we're not counting the Hardcore Championship, this is his first singles title since he won the Intercontinental title as Gold Dust in 1999. And like he's still doing it,

And I don't know if you saw the news or not, but he just signed a six-year contract extension in AEW. So it's going to take him into his late 50s. And he's still going. Like, that's the thing. This isn't like some, like, it's not like he's slowed down. He's just, he's doing the best work of his career now. It's amazing.

And of course, we can't talk about that TNT title match without talking about Adam Cole, who made that announcement, why he wasn't able to have his match with Kyle Fletcher, why that ended up turning into a four-way match. And we don't know the whole story of what's going on with Adam Cole,

but wishing him the best in what he's dealing with, with his injuries. And I'm just hopeful that we'll be able to see him back in the ring at some point in time. I just, I hope that this isn't it. He is too good of a wrestler,

too good of a performer, too good just all around for this to be it. But if this is it, man, what a career. Tony Storm versus Mercedes-Mone, great match. Okada versus Omega might be one of the best matches of the year. And Hangman versus John Moxley. Wow. The storytelling in that match was just on another level. And congrats to Hangman, the new AEW World Champion. This is a completely different

Hangman Adam Page versus what we saw when he was the AEW World Champion the first time around. I think we're going to get so much, there's going to be so many layers to this world championship run and so many layers to just who he is as a character. I'm excited to see what he does with it this time around. Although with MJF now, winning the gauntlet match,

and MJF now getting that guaranteed shot at the title, I actually don't think this is going to be that long of a run. I predicted last week on AskCV that Darby Allen would. come back. I thought Darby Allen would have a chance to win the gauntlet match. He wasn't even in the gauntlet match, but he did come back. I think that if we're looking at who the next two or three AEW world champions could be, I think MJF's next. It's like, it's either MJF or Will Osprey. I think that Osprey has a chance to win it in England, which would be amazing. But I think it's like

Osprey's in there. MJF's in there, obviously. And I think that Derby's in there as well. And I love that we, like, it's just keeping us guessing right now. It's just keeping us guessing. And both of those shows, all in and evolution, were just amazing. Email here from Ben. Hey, Chris, I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on Goldberg's final match. I personally thought that considering his age and the current state of his health, he put on a great performance. I know he's a polarizing figure and I understand why, but regardless of the moment,

regardless of one's feelings about him, I think we can all agree that he deserved more of a lead-up slash promotion, et cetera, for this match, given the caliber of a career that he had. On Ariel Hwani Sheld Goldberg said that he contractually cannot speak freely about the whole situation for another two weeks. Maybe I'll be next. And, or he said, you'll be next.

I was just reading it like me. Maybe you'll be next and be able to get the full scoop from him in the future. Thanks so much, Ben. I thought that Goldberg's final final. match at Saturday night's main event exceeded all expectations that everyone had for him. Like if you were to read what people were saying online, I mean, there were so many dumb things that people were saying online. What a surprise, right? But people were saying, oh, this is going to, it's going to be a squash match. This match will be 30 seconds. This match will be two minutes.

This match went 15 minutes. It's the longest match in 22 years for Goldberg. It's the longest match he had since a triple threat match with Triple H and Kane. And I just thought that as a whole, this was kind of like the final chapter on WCW. Like the whole night was focused on Goldberg in his last match, but it was also this beautiful tribute to WCW. You had had a security, Doug Dillinger knocking on the door, just like the old days. Goldberg specifically chose Charles Robinson as a referee and like the history is so deep there with Charles and Goldberg and WCW,

we saw appearances by Ernest the Cat Miller and DDP. And I understand the criticism of there were too many commercial breaks. And I don't know if it's that there were too many. It's that they're poorly timed. Like, however the format is written for Saturday night's main event on NBC, it's like I know the breaks have to happen at a certain point in time. That's just how television works. but maybe like instead of all of these breaks happening so close together,

maybe we just had more commercials and have less commercial breaks. I don't know. Like, it, for the watching experience on TV, the match just kept getting interrupted. And it's interesting because Goldberg said on Ariel Hwani's show, he knew his speech was going to be cut off. I don't think he knew it was going to be cut off this quickly. And it's funny.

Michael Cole like throws it to Goldberg like this is your moment whatever you need to say whatever you want to say and you can almost see the pain in Michael Cole's eyes or maybe the fear in Michael Cole's eyes

of like oh no like they're counting down on my ear we've got less than 30 seconds oh like you can just he just looks deflated when he passes over the mic and so Goldberg knew he was going to be cut off and I think the idea was like

he would start his speech he would get into his speech and then the rest of it would be online. As it is now, it's a great speech. I encourage you to go watch it. It just felt very heartfelt, and you could tell how much that moment meant to him. So on Aerea Hawani show,

he said it was a great opportunity. He said that Gunther was an unbelievable opponent. But he also said he was, quote, pissed off about the way that he went out. And he said that he had been talking about this final match since November. pitched a different idea. He wanted this to be at a PLE. I'm assuming if they were talking about this back in November, that he probably brought up the idea of this happening at WrestleMania. But

he got Saturday Night's main event. He got Goonther. He got a world championship title on the line. And I just thought that the match itself is realistically, probably one of Goldberg's best W.W.E matches. Like, top three or top five for sure. I think, like, top 10-ish, like, of all time Goldberg matches. Like, he over-delivered on everything here. And, like, there was all the jokes online, oh, I can't even hit a jackhammer anymore. That last jackhammer that he hit on Gunther was perfect. And there's this beautiful photo, like this beautiful wide shot of the ring and he has him up perfectly. It just went great. But I'm curious here when Goldberg says in two weeks he's going to spill the beans on why this was, quote, less than to be desired. I'm just curious to know what the

whole story is here, or if we'll even get the whole story. But I thought that the match itself over-delivered, I agree that we would have got a much better scope of the match, no commercial breaks and the full speech had this been on a PLE. But Goldberg got a such better send-off than so many other legends get. Got a better send-off than Kurt Engel. Yeah, Kurt Engel had a match at WrestleMania, but it was in a storyline that just kind of needed to be wrapped up. If you don't know the whole story, Kurt said, I want John Cena.

Vince said, you can have him, but that's not until next year. So if you want him, you can have him next year. which would be WrestleMania 36. Then Kurt said, I won't make it till next year. And he goes, okay, well, then you've got to finish up your story with Baron Corbyn. And that was it. Kurt Angled Baron Corbin. Kurt wasn't in the main event.

Kurt didn't get the farewell speech like that. You think of legends like Triple H, who didn't even know he was wrestling his last match when he had it. And that is, like, so often the case with wrestling. Where you go in, it's just another week, right? It's just another Raw. It's just another Smackdown. It's just another match.

and your body breaks down on you, and you get an injury that you don't know it at the time, but ends up being career-ending injury. Like, that is most often the traditional story of how a wrestler goes out. Goldberg got to go out in his own terms, and I'm really happy for him that he got to go out the way he wanted to go out,

or at least in a match in the way that he wanted to go out. But if you read between the lines of what he was saying in that Ariel Hwani interview, he sounds like he's referring to just how WCW guys weren't treated the same when they got to WWE. Like if they made their name in WCW, if they were a born and bred WCW guy, they just didn't get a fair shake in WWE. There are exceptions, the main one being Booker T.

I know a lot of people will also point out Ray Mysterio, but Ray Mysterio wasn't on that level yet in WCW. WWE is what made him a star. But if you think about guys like, look what they did with, DDP. Look at the storyline they gave him in WWE. Look at the storyline that they gave to Scott Steiner. They didn't give him a lot of opportunities. Buff Bagwell got a match.

Like these people that when you think about WCW, there are some of the names that pop into your head. And then when they went over to WWE, they just weren't given a fair shake. And I think that that's what Goldberg's kind of referring to here. But I enjoyed the match. And I'm very curious. to see what he has to say.

Men, the only thing worse than losing your hair is waiting forever for it to grow back. That's why you need Hymns. You can start seeing your hair grow back in as little as three to six months. Hymns provides you with convenient and quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work all from the comfort of your couch. Choose from personalized chewable, oral, spray and serum treatments to find what works best for you. The process is simple and 100% online. so there's no uncomfortable doctor visits.

You answer a few questions, and a medical provider will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your treatment is sent directly to you in discrete packaging for free. Hymns has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers, and they can help you get your confidence back to with visibly thicker and fuller hair.

Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash insight. That's HIMS.com slash insight for your personalized hair loss treatment options. Hymns.com slash insight. Results vary based on studies of topical and oral monoxide and finasteride.

Prescription product require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. You guys know that when it comes to health and well-being, I'm always looking for an edge.

And that's why I've been taking mitopure for months now. Because I want to be the healthiest version of myself for as long as possible. Like, I want to be in my 90s and still going on hikes, or like still playing with the grandkids, or I guess at that point in time, it might be great grandkids. Here's how this works.

Mitochondria is our cells power generators. They're a key influence in how we age. But as the years past, mitochondrial efficiency starts to decline. And it starts to represent this big gap between the quality of life we expect when we're older and the one we actually experience. One way to think about mitopure is like they're the little Pac-Men in your cells

chomping up the damage mitochondria that make you feel old and tired, and we're cycling it into new healthy ones. For me, taking mitopure is really helped with recovering after a workout. I start to feel myself getting stronger with more energy and experiencing less inflammation. I think it's worth you checking out as well. Timeline is offering 10% off your first order. of Mitopur. Just go to timeline.com slash insight. That's timeline.com slash insight. Connor Wolf Flanagan on Instagram says,

how did you feel about the Naomi Cashin? We have so few genuine surprises in wrestling that this was an amazing twist to what was already a five-star match, in my opinion. Yeah, no one saw that coming. No one saw that coming. And Naomi made history with that. There have been nine women's money in the bank winners. And this is the first time that the briefcase has been cashed in to turn the match into a triple threat match. And man,

like, that match was already so good. And out of nowhere, Naomi's music hits and it's like, oh, man, it's happening. I do appreciate that she got the pin on the champion. Because so often in a triple threat match or a four-way match, you get the pin on,

on the challenger. But I appreciate here that she got the pin on EO. Like they could have protected EO. They could have had Rea take the pin and maybe that ends up being something else in the future. But the champ got pinned.

The champ was the one that lost the championship. And just this new version of Naomi is just miles better than anything she's done before. And I love seeing this gritty or something. of her. I am very interested to see where this world title run goes and where does it go from here. Like, is the story with Jade done? Is, is Jade going to get a championship match here? Does, is that, well, we know that Jay's getting a championship match at SummerSlam, but is

Jade going to be the next champion? Is that where this leads to? I'm excited to see where that goes, but great moment, great moment there. The Jareed 82 on Instagram says, this is my first question for an Ask CVV episode. Are you tired of the Lyra and Becky feud? Becky versus Bailey interests me more. The thing that I love about this Lyra and Becky feud is it's brought out the best in both of them. It allowed us a vehicle for Becky to turn heel,

and this also allowed us an opportunity to get a ton of personality out of Lyra. And I think that both of them are better because of this feud. I agree that Bailey and Becky have a lot of opportunity here

and I think that we're going to see that in the next few months but I don't think that we're done here. I think that we'll be done after SummerSlam. I think that Lyra and Becky will be done after SummerSlam. I think that Lyra gets

the championship back. I don't see why we'd be running it back otherwise. But I think that maybe Becky's the one who interferes. Maybe that's the reason why Lyra wins that match.

But I think that there's a lot to this. And we've gotten, we've just gotten some really good stuff out of Lyra and Becky because of this. And I got no complaints here. Email from Tyler. Hey, CVV, real, real one here from Regina, Saskatchewan. I've seen your show in Toronto and again in Las Vegas.

I have a ticket to Survivor Series. So looking forward to meeting you again in San Diego. I am planning to do that show. Friday night in San Diego, hopefully we'll be announcing that pretty soon. All three times, it's been a pleasure to kick off the weekend with positivity and a message of gratitude.

I have a question for Ask CVV number 92. What is your opinion on the hectic summer schedule WWE has put out on this summer with two or three weeks tops between major shows? I personally love it. I love baseball, but other than that, there's a massive void in professional wrestling during the summer months,

So an overload of professional wrestling is just what the doctor ordered for me. I see a lot of complaints online, and I'd be interested in hearing your take on it. Keep up the good work, Tyler. Well, Tyler, hope to see you in San Diego. And I agree with you. Like, other than baseball, football's obviously done. Basketball just wrapped up. Hockey just wrapped up.

It's wrestling in baseball. And if you're not into either one of them, you don't have a lot of options here. Look, I think people are going to find a reason to complain online about literally anything. at all. So I just love that we're just in a place right now where there's just so many options with wrestling, so many flavors of ice cream here. I've got slam aversory right around the corner here.

We just had All In. We've got SummerSlam two weeks away. I just love it. And I think that WWE, for the most part, with these big PLEs, have found a way to build up interesting stories on a week's notice or two weeks notice. I'll give you a perfect example of that.

AJ Stiles and Dominic Mysterio. We've been building to this, building to this. Like, AJ's trying to, where's that match? Oh, I'm not cleared. Here's the doctor's note. It's just fun. And I feel like it's been so fun to watch this thing over the course of a few weeks. And I also think that they're really good with some acceptance.

of course, but they're really good at being like, well, this person's going to get a match with this person. I've pointed out in the past, there's been some examples where it's like, wait, wait a second, why is that person, why is that person getting a match? Or like, I've got a really good one. Why is Bronner-breaker still, why is he still not had a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship? He didn't even get pinned for it at WrestleMania. There's been a lot of examples of that, too. But I love this.

Like, give it all to me. Like, just inject it into my veins, baby. I think it's great. And I also think that, like, summer's kind of like when, I don't know if this is by design, I would imagine it is, but wrestling just goes hard in the summer. It goes hard in the summer because when you look at the rest of the PLE schedule, especially as it heads into towards the end of the year, it just kind of like, it kind of fizzles out.

So I enjoy it. Greg Morris on Facebook. Hey, CVV, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your interview with Steve Blackman. Interviewing him is like interviewing Bigfoot. I don't think I've ever seen an interview with him. Who else would you be, who else would you consider to be an ultra-elusive guest like that? I just loved that conversation with Steve Blackman. I mean, and when we're talking about traveling, that was last week.

I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when I recorded that one. So, like, I've been all over the place here, but nothing beats having an interview, having a conversation in person with somebody. And is it a coincidence that WWE put up the SummerSlam 2000 match between Steve Blackman and Shane McMahon on the WWE Vault YouTube channel? Is that just coincidental timing? Or did perhaps they see the interview with Steve Blackman?

I don't know. Either way, I think it's really cool. I rewatch that match on The Vault Channel, went, man, a classic. But I think the other name for me that's on that list is Stacey Keebler. When was the last time you saw a Stacey Keebler interview? When was the first time?

I haven't looked this up, but I don't know if she's done like a long-form conversation where she's talking about her wrestling background and her whole wrestling career. Actually, I'm going to look right now. Looks like she did an interview with my good friend Sam Roberts 11 years ago. Like so long ago that Sam still had the sideshow Bob hair. She was on Howard Stern 24 years ago.

Yeah, I don't think she's done one. So I think the next ultra-elusive guest would be Stacey Keebler. The other one, and I've already got him, but like another one who falls into that category is Spike Dudley. I did an interview with him five years ago, and I'm sure you've seen the recent one or the recent clips he did with Maven. And they go way back. But that was another one where it's like, oh my gosh, I knew somebody who knew somebody who could get me to Spike Dudley. And we did the interview via Zoom. And I actually was talking to Spike recently.

And the hope and the plan, if our schedules align, is to do the next interview in person and chat with him again. But yeah, how great with a Stacey Keebler interview do? It would just be so awesome to just have a chat with her and just like see what she's been up to. And if you look at her, if you look at her on Instagram, and I'm pulling it up right now, her bio says, WWE Hall of Famer, Wellness Warrior, reclaiming your natural vitality, empowering you to thrive. And like most of her post just, it looks like she's just, like, she's just, like health and wellness, like lifestyle type of stuff. She also looks like she's aged about 17 minutes in the last 25 years.

Like she looks identical, but she's the one. So if you were listening and you are able to get in touch with Stacey Keebler, or you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody, please put in a good word for your boy. wrestle guy 44 on spotify CBV I love the show why are they wasting guys like Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre in a celebrity match

with jelly roll at SummerSlam I'm actually excited for that match and I understand that Travis Scott has left a bad taste in people's mouth when it comes to celebrity involvement in wrestling I think though that if you look at actual matches like Travis Scott

has not had a match. If we look at actual celebrity matches, not moments, not moves, matches. The ones that really come to mind here are like in recent memory, we're not going way back. In recent memory, Bad Bunny knocked it out of the park. Logan Paul before he was doing what he's doing, like we're just talking like first and second match. Same thing, like exceeded all expectations. Pat McAfee in the early matches he had in NXT. And even the recent, the stuff he did with Gunther, like, knocked it out of the park. And as I understand it, Jelly Roll had that big moment last year at Summer Slam in Cleveland, where he chokeslammed Austin Theory like 14 feet into the air. It was Austin Theory took a mega bump on that. As I understand it,

it was, jelly roll was told, hey, if you can lose 100 pounds by next year, you can have a match a SummerSlam. Well, Jelly Roll went and lost 200 pounds instead. and he looks amazing. He looks so good. And this isn't just like jelly rolls of fan of wrestling, so throw him in the ring. He's been training at the PC.

In fact, he spent a bunch of time in the P, like in Orlando living around the PC so he could go in and train. And he's been training with the Undertaker, Kevin Owens, Michelle McCour, Michelle McCool, and Jacob Fattu. And they've been helping him put this all together. So I think whatever your expectations are

for this match, they're going to be met or he's going to just blow them away. Did you watch what he was doing on Jimmy Kimmel? He was guest hosting on Jimmy Kimmel. I was interviewing Randy Orton. Drew McIntyre interrupts. Randy Orton and Drew end up fighting

and then going off stage. And then Jelly Roll gets interrupted by Logan Paul. And he chokeslams Logan Paul right through the table. And this isn't like a WWE table. I'm sure this table was gimmick, but this was the table that Jimmy Kimmel sits at, like an actual, like, desk-looking table.

Jellyroll got Logan Paul up, put them right through. And I, for some reason, I think the concept of celebrity involvement in wrestling seems to be lost on people recently. Like, this is not a new concept. Like, WrestleMania won. WrestleMania 1 was built on appearances by Muhammad Ali, Liberace, Cindy Lopper. Oh, but they weren't in matches.

No, they weren't in matches, but Mr. T was in a match. Mr. T was in a match at WrestleMania 1 with Hulk Hogan as a tag team partner. Like, this is not a new concept here. And I'm sure you already know this, but it bears repeating. Like the idea of putting a mainstream celebrity like Jellyroll into a match like this is it gets mainstream attention. If you're not a wrestling fan, but you're a jelly roll fan,

now you're thinking about SummerSlam. Now you're talking about SummerSlam. Maybe there's a chance you're going to tune into SummerSlam. Maybe there's a chance you're even going to go to SummerSlam. It gets more eyeballs on it. And I think that if you are JellyRull and you're going to be in a match, who better to be in a match with than absolute legends like Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre. JellyRole is going to surprise some people here.

I think that if this was jelly roll from last year, he wasn't really in the shape to put on a match. And I think he knew that. But from what I understand, and I don't want to say too much, because maybe I do know a little bit about this, but jelly roll has been working hard on this match. And I think you are going to be quite surprised.

Brian Kreego on Facebook says, Hi, Chris, we are headed for Punk versus Raines for at least one match post-Somerslam? It is obvious that there are differences to be settled there. I agree there. And Roman Raines is announced for the next two episodes of Raw, which definitely makes me think that they're setting something up here for SummerSlam.

Only six matches have been officially announced for SummerSlam, so if they're doing, doing four or five a night, then we've got room for two to four more. I think Roman Raines gets involved, the obvious choice here, especially with what we saw this week. It feels like we're going to get Roman and Jay versus Braun Breaker and Bronson Reed. That feels like what this is setting up for. But what a pop. What a pop for Roman Raines return. What I'd like to see. And maybe this is something that we see in the future. I actually, I totally think we're going going to see this in future. Instead of a tag match with Roman and J. versus Breaker and

and Bronson Reed, I would love to see Roman Reins versus Bronner just straight up. Give me that. Like that match would be so, oh man, be incredible. I agree with you that CM Punk versus Roman Raines feels like there's something there. Feels like we're headed towards that. Although Roman Raines is, he's a baby. face now. I know I keep talking about it's it's difficult to like turn baby faces doing baby face things again baby face reactions he's siding with the baby faces Roman reins is a baby face it's not a tweener anymore like Roman Raines full on baby face especially with this return and like him siding with Jay baby face Cm Punk also a baby face they can definitely make it work they often do when it's baby face versus baby face or heel versus

heel, but I just, I'm curious for what Roman Raines next move is. If Roman Raines is still going to continue the schedule that is on wrestling five-ish times a year, give or take, I don't know what the next program is for him. I still think it would be a massively missed opportunity if we don't get Roman Raines versus John Cena at some point in the next five months. At some point before John Sina hangs him up. I don't think it would take much to get there. I think that if John Sina remains a heel and Roman Rains keeps getting the reactions that he's getting, that one feels obvious.

Punk versus Rains going to happen at some point in time. I just don't know if it's now. I would just have to think. We went through this recently, but if John Sina only has five-ish matches left, we already know it's him versus Cody Rhodes, SummerSlam, I'm guessing it's the night two main event. Who are the other four-ish opponents? It just seems like Roman Raines needs to be one of those.

So I guess we need to see what happens first at SummerSlam. Will John Sina still be the WWE champion? As I sit here right now in this rental car in Orlando, Florida, and where we're at with the storylines, I think John Cena is not the champion anymore. I think that Cody Rhodes beats him at Somerslap. I don't see any other reason why they would set up a rematch if it's just for John Cena to pin Cody again

and do it in a dirty way again. Like, Cody needs to get that win back. Yeah, sure. Cody pinned him at money in the bank, but it was a tag match. He pinned him with Art Truth's interference. Like, it's not the same. Cody Rhodes needs to get that win back. And I see that happening at SummerSlam.

And I see that either being a moment where John Sina becomes a baby face or the start of that. We've already seen moments. We've already seen glimpses of John Sina second guessing himself. Was it worth it? Should I be a heel?

Am I doing the right thing by quote unquote ruining wrestling? I've already seen glimpses of him doubting himself and doubting these decisions. Could SummerSlan be the moment where he goes, you know what, I wasn't worth it. This is not true to who I really am. And I think that until we see what happens

with John Cena at SummerSlam, it's hard to look ahead and see what the next storylines for him or anybody that's on that main event level might look like. SMS5-441 on Instagram. Gutted for Seth's injury. How would you handle that and how would you handle money in the bank? Let him keep it or make it up for grabs again. Also gutted by Seth's injury.

And he said he was a guest host on the Rich Eisen Show this week. And he says he feels like he's going to be out for what he called an extended period of time. And I guess that's open to whatever his interpretation is of an extended period of time is extended three months, is extended six months, is extended more than that. but I think it's important to point out that when you win the Money in the Bank briefcase, you have a full year to cash it in. So he won this at Money in the Bank on June 7th of this year. So he has all the way until June 7th next year.

I am not a surgeon. I am not a doctor. And none of us outside of Seth Rawlins and people close to him know the extent of what this injury is. but I don't think that this is the type of injury that would have him out for 11 months. And the great thing about the position that he's in right now, being in a faction, is he could still appear.

Like, he could still appear on TV and just be there. Just be there with Paul Heyman and Braun and Bronson. And is he ready to go? Is he not? Like, that would be the cool thing. The question would just always be there. It would always be this thought

in the back of the mind of the champion of like, is Seth Rollins healthy enough to cash in? Hmm. I don't know. So I would keep this on Seth. I would, when he's ready and maybe off crutches, I imagine he's on crutches, when he's ready, just have him out there.

Just have him be there. Just have him be present. And then the constant threat of a cash in is always there. But if this is three months, if this is six months, that takes us to Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, if we want to make it real interesting, maybe it's WrestleMania, but I would keep it on them. I don't think this is an injury where you need to take it off of them. I know it's happened in the past. It happened with Mr. Kennedy.

And Ken Anderson told that story when he was on the show. He was misdiagnosed. They didn't even get it right. they told me tore his tricep and he didn't. And then it was too late. He had already lost the championship or already lost the championship opportunity that comes with money in the bank briefcase.

I would keep it on Seth. And very curious, what were the plans here? I think he was supposed to win that match. It just seemed to me like it was a last minute kind of, last second kind of scramble of like, all right, well,

LA Knight's going to give his finisher, one, two, three. and the match is over. But I think that there may be a surprise or two in here. And maybe that's like an earlier return than people thought. I've seen the theories online that what if this is all a work? And I suppose that's always a possibility. And I know that there's always this conversation about, man,

K-Fabe is dead. K-Fabe died decades ago. what if there's like an ounce of truth to that, like to the idea of like, what if it, what if this is a storyline? And going back to our truth getting released and then brought back at Money in the Bank, Triple H saying it's all part of the show,

I still interpret that as like, if you didn't know, if you didn't know if this was part of the show or not, that's part of the show. Like, that is still the, the abracadabra of all of this. It's still the magic that exists within this. And I'm not saying that this is a work at all.

I'm not saying that Seth Rollins is not actually injured. But what if he's not injured as badly as we think? What if this is something that, what if it doesn't require surgery? What if this is just something that's going to keep him out of action for a few weeks instead of a few months? Then I guess, then you get that opportunity

to have a real surprise. And again, I just love that we're in 2025 right now, and there's still just that hint of like, what if? I know I saw it with my very own eyes, and Stevie Richards had a great breakdown video of it. Like, you see Seth's knee buckle

when he gives the, like, the springboard centon or whatever you want to call that, like swan on over the ropes. And then he goes for the moonsault and lands on his knee, and then that's when the actual injury happens. But you see the buckle. So like you see it with your own eyes. But I love that there's still just this hint of doubt of like,

wait a second. What if? Daniel Tidwell emailed this one in. Hey, Chris, long time listener, first time asking a question. I love the longtime first time. Love that. Do you think there's any chance that seen his final match? Isn't a traditional one?

isn't a traditional one-on-one match and instead could be a tag-team match just so Randy Orton can still be involved. Or it could still be an extreme rules match that way that there could be some shenanigans and Orton comes to the rescue. Love your podcast and keep up the great work, Danny. I think that John Cena's last match

is going to be a traditional one-on-one match. It's going to be a beautifully told story leading up to it with one person and it's going to have us invested into why that person is John Cena's final opponent. And I also think it's going to have us going into the match of like, I know John Cena's probably going to lose

because that's the tradition. You go out on your back, you go out, putting the other guy over. You're looking at the lights. But again, like, what if? Actually, it kind of makes sense. John Cena could win this one, right? He's John Cena. I called him the goat.

He won the Never Seen 17. What if he goes out with a woman? win. And I just, I think there's going to be a lot of different components to this. I, I originally said it was going to be Randy Orton. That was my guess, like a year ago when John Cena announced that he was going to have this retirement tour. I very firmly believe that is not going to be Randy Orton. I think that they did what they did at Backlash. And they very specifically called it one last time. And I think that that's what it is. I maybe there's a moment afterwards where if john sina loses the match randy orton's maybe the first one to go out there and help him up or first one out there to give him a handshake or a hug but i don't see this match being against randy orton and tune into last week's episode i went through an entire list of all the different people that it could be for john sina's final opponent and i don't think we need to rehash all of that again here now and as the year continues to go on and as john

Sina has less and less appearances and less matches left. Maybe some of those names will drop off or maybe a new name might be added on. But I think that this is just a straight, straight up one-on-one match. And I am inclined to believe WWE's marketing of the CM Punk match and the marketing of the Randy Orton match that those were indeed one last time. So I have removed those people from the list. I think we're going to be shocked here just with how this thing all ends up.

And whatever that final event ends up being, whether it is, in fact, what the rumors are, that it's a Saturday Night's main event, or it's a PLE, or it's something completely different, I think that this is going to be something that transcends wrestling. Like this, to me, feels like, even if you weren't a Lakers,

fan or a Kobe fan. You know, a lot of people tuned in to Kobe's final game just because it was Kobe, you know, someone who was a pop culture icon, someone who just meant so much to not just basketball, but sports in general. And I feel like there's going to be a lot of people tuning in to John Cena's final match that were lapsed fans, people who haven't watched wrestling in 10 or 15 or 20 years. I think there's going to be a lot of John Cena movie fans that are going to be like, I've heard so much about this.

This is the last hurrah here. I think it's going to be a spectacle. And it's also why I'm kind of leaning into this idea that it's going to be its own standalone thing. I'm not saying it's going to be an event that just has one match, but I feel like this is going to be a PLE or just a big event that is centered around John Cina's last match. Oh, my, could you believe? My phone is.

ringing right now in the in the car see if i can turn this down here it's john cina calling me it's not it's not it's not actually john cina calling me i think that from a marketing standpoint and a sales standpoint business standpoint that this is going to be this is going to go to the highest bidder i think that this is going to be this standalone event that maybe it's on netflix maybe it's on peacock maybe it's Wherever it is, I think it's going to be its own thing that will be given ample time to pay tribute to John Cena's entire career and then take us to this moment here with his final opponent. But I just, I think it's no shenanigans. I think it's a straight up, just like great match and just a great way for John Cena to go out. Adam

Casscheck, Cass check, on Facebook. Hey, CVV, you often talk in interviews about maximizing your minutes, and we got to talk about how brilliant

AJ Styles has been over the last three weeks. He's on screen for 45 seconds, and it's so hilarious and memorable. At this point, I almost don't want Dom to get healthy,

so I could just see AJ's creative ways to continue. What would you say has been your favorite backstage comedy skit? Love the podcast. keep up the great work. The first time I heard that quote,

maximize your minutes, was from Cody Rhodes. When I interviewed him years ago when he was the Ring of Honor World Champion. So what would that have been seven, eight years ago? I interviewed him in Fort Lauderdale, actually, for that. It's online if you want to look it up. Cody Rhodes is wearing a bright red blazer and doesn't have the blonde hair.

And I'm wearing a Back to the Future T-shirt. I remember this very specifically. But I asked him, what was the best advice that he got from his father. And he said he would always say maximize your minutes. And it's something I hear echoed quite a bit. It's probably a dusty quote that has been echoed by so many other people because Dusty's had such a profound impact on just the business in general.

It's also something I think about a lot just in life. Like it's not just a wrestling quote. It's not just a wrestling idea to like maximize your minutes when you're going to be on screen. But it's just like, that's just something that can apply to, every different area of wrestling. I think that the stuff that AJ is doing right now is so funny.

And I truly believe, like I said before, that I think this is going to lead up to an intercontinental championship match at SummerSlam. I actually don't know how that's going to go. Like, AJ doesn't really need to win it. He's AJ Styles. And Dominic Mysterio getting a championship,

like championship on the line and retaining against someone like AJ, that does a lot for Dominic Mysterio, who's, man, he's just doing such great work. But it's been so fun. AJ on his knees, like, praying recently. That's so good to see. And I think with our truth,

being so much more serious now, it's cool to see other characters embracing their comedy side. And this isn't new for AJ. AJ's embraced his comedy side. for years. Like the whole like, oh, my phone is ringing again.

That one's actually DDP. I'll answer it late. I won't, I don't want to answer it while we're recording here. With that noise of my phone ringing in the car on Bluetooth, did you think your phone was ringing? It's so funny. But I, like, AJ's always had a little bit

of a comedy element to him, like the beat up John Cena stuff. That would, man, it's just so funny. So I can't wait to see where this goes, but also like, I know AJ doesn't need it, but I love seeing AJ styles with the championship. I do. I love it so much.

I don't know if he needs the Intercontinental Championship to push him forward. I mean, he's AJ style. He's a Hall of Fame where he's an absolute legend. But it's been fun. It's been, like, those are two funny guys, too. like as serious as Dom's character is, I love how he's not afraid to poke fun at himself.

And Dom may be like when it comes to the comedy stuff over the last few months, I mean, really year, year and a half, he's been like, he's been the MVP. He just, and it continues to endear us to him. Like, you want to boo him? Because of the, just the type of character he is, But it's hard.

It's like it's fun to boo him. It's almost like his music hits and you're like, boo, but you're like really like, ah, it's fun. Like, that's the thing we're supposed to do. Sherman Culbertson on Facebook says, what is the most impressive feat of strength that you've ever seen in professional wrestling?

There have been a lot of different moments, and a lot of them have Mark Henry in mind. I think that, I mean, the double attitude of just, from John Cena is a pretty crazy one. But I think it's Mark Henry breaking the chain off of the steel cage. He told the story when he was on the show last year,

but the lock was supposed to be gimmicked. Like the lock was supposed to be sod like almost all the way through so then he just gives it one pull and, and pink, chain breaks, lock breaks, cage door opens. Instead, either it was a rib on him or they just forgot. that was just a legit padlock

that Mark Henry with all of the force of the world's strongest man used to break it. And I know it's not like this impressive thing like lifting a person over your head or like slamming someone

a certain distance or whatever, but like when you think about that, the idea of breaking a padlock with your bare hands It's wild. It's that for me. If you haven't heard the story, go look it up on the CVV clips YouTube channel.

It almost seems unbelievable. But it's Mark Henry. And calling him the world's strongest man is not just a title. Like dudes like deadlifting cars and like bending skillets. Like with his bare hands, just taking a frying pan and bending it in half.

Like, he is crazy strong, but at the same time, just an absolute teddy bear of a human being. Like, what a great, great guy. So, but that's my answer for sure. Pro wrestling isn't dead on Instagram. Hey, Chris, a real, real one here. Wanted to know what is your favorite video package for a match? Mine is a 2002 elimination chamber with saliva as always. excellent choice.

But the answer to this will always be WrestleMania 17 Limbiscuit My Way. From the first note of that song, check, check at the melody. It's like I'm in. I'm invested.

Oh, man. Rock, Stone Cold, hell of a match. That is the absolute best match promo ever, in my opinion. I'll watch that, and it'll make me just want to run through a wall.

I'll watch that. It'll make me want to fight a bear. This gets me so pumped up. And there's a moment, like, halfway through, like two and a half-ish minutes in where it's the part of the song where he goes, yeah, this time. And then, like, they time the yeah,

to the punching, like Austin and Stokel, punching each other at the same time. So good. Sometimes, and this actually happened recently, I'm such a nerd. Sometimes, I'll just be driving to the gym. Or I'll just be driving in general. And I'll just put on Limp Biscuit my way

and just like crank it up real loud in the car. And it's funny, I think Spotify has figured me out. Because the first few times I would type my way into Spotify, the Frank Sinatra song would come up, of course, right? Legendary songs, Frank Sinatra. The last handful of times I've typed in my way, Spotify goes, we know where you're going with this. We know exactly what you mean,

and limp biscuit is a top result. But I don't know. I say all the time that nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but there's something for me about that song, those two guys rock, Austin, that time in my life, that time in the world, 2001 is when that match happened, all of those components come together for like this just perfect potion, if you will, of nostalgia. Like this, just the absolute perfect dosage of nostalgia for me.

I was 17 years old at that point in time. And I think that there's something that's, I don't know, it's so crucial about those formative years of your life. It's funny how like something like a song can take you back to a place in time. Smell too, right? This is going off on a tangent, but it's not funny how a certain smell can take you to a restaurant in a specific moment or can take you to, oh man, that smells like grandma's house. And then you start going down the thinking about grandma and all the great moments you had with her. I don't know, but that nostalgia. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

That, my friends, is the final question on this. Ask CVV. Number 92, the Michael Strayhan, Reggie White, James Harrison, and Gabe Landisg Edition. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for being a real, real one, and for listening all the way. Until the end, if you're listening on Spurs, Spotify, just leave that word car as I'm getting all these phone calls in this car. Why did I record

in the car? I'll tell you why I record in the car. I was busy earlier recording an interview and I had to check out in my hotel room. So I am sitting in a rental car and my next stop is the gas station to fill up the rental car. Get on that plane. Get home to those babies. But I hope you have an amazing weekend. We'll wrap this up with this quote from Walt Whitman. Keep your face always towards the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you. Be great and be grateful, my friends. 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?

To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.