Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #94 - WWE Unreal Review, SummerSlam Predictions, Jelly Roll, Best Interview Of 2025 So Far

Episode Date: August 1, 2025

Welcome to AskCVV #94! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet gives his review of WWE Unreal on Netflix and gives his bold predictions for SummerSlam. He also answers questions about the best heel vs. heel matches ever, the biggest interview of 2025 so far, how the El Grande Americano story is going to end, what's next for John Cena and much more!   Quote I'm thinking about: “Don’t let your emotions dictate your actions, let your actions dictate your emotions” - Og Mandino   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: Join Rocket Money today and reach your financial goals faster: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv MIRACLE 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. Oh, here we go, my friends. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV. Chris Van Fleet, happy Friday. Hope it's been a great week for you. Happy Summer Slam weekend. Thank you for hitting play on this episode.

And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. hit a Phoenix splash on that follow button wherever you're listening. If you're listening on Spotify, hit a superplex on that rating. And if you're listening on Apple, hit a big boot on a review on there. I just could keep listing off various different moves. But if you're listening on Spotify, a rating would help a lot. If you're listening on Apple, just leave a few words on there as a review. Both of those would just be awesome.

And I will thank you in advance for that. I am in New Jersey right now getting ready for Insight Live, which is tonight, Friday night. Of course, my guest is Seamus. And yes, it is SummerSlam weekend, the first ever two-day SummerSlam. So if you're going to be there, I would love to say what's up and chat a little wrestling with you in and around MetLife Stadium. It's been busy. It has been a busy past few days already. if all goes to plan.

And I always hate putting names out there or saying things, especially if they haven't happened yet. But if all goes to plan, we're going to record seven interviews over the course of this trip to New Jersey for Summer Slam. So keep an eye out for those beginning. I think next week, I think one of the first ones. I think the first one from what we recorded this weekend will air on Tuesday. So this is why you have to hit the Phoenix splash on that follow button.

So you don't miss out on that stuff. We have so much to get into here. A lot has happened in the world of wrestling over the last week. But welcome, my friends, to ask CVV number 94, the Brendan Shanahan, DeMarcus Ware, and yes, Dwayne the Rock Johnson edition. He wore number 94 when he played for the U. If you've got a question for next week, shoot me an email. CVV at chris fanfleet.com.

Send it in on social media using that hashtag ask CVV. Or if you're listening on Spotify, leave a comment on there. And if you're listening on Spotify, drop the word bazooka as the silly and special word for this week. Bazuka will be the word. And if there's a number that pops into your mind for number 95, leave it in the comments as well. man, we've only got five of these left. Crazy. 95, 96, 97, 98, 99.

And then, I mean, it's a huge milestone. I can't believe we'll have 100 Ask CVVs just six weeks from now. But I think I'm going to miss saying the something something edition. But we've talked about this many times before. I just don't think it works to be like 117, this person's number plus that person's number or whatever would be. So we're going to go out with a bang. 95 through 99, they're going to be good. Let's kick things off with this one on Instagram from Sean Gignac, who says,

Hey, Chris, what are your thoughts and how do you feel about WWE Unreal on Netflix? Let me just pause for a sec. I got so many messages asking about Unreal. And I love that we're going to be talking about this just right off the bat here. What was your reaction when you saw yourself? at the beginning of episode number five. I, for one, was excited to see you. Huge fan from Kitchener.

That's amazing. That's right next to my college town of Waterloo, Ontario. Always love my drive to work, which is Mississauga, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, listening to all things. CVV. Vague goals, get vague results, has literally changed my life. I dropped 70 pounds from March 2024 to now and really taking my physical and mental health seriously now with specific goals.

So thank you for driving that into me. Hope to shake your hand one day for real. I missed you at the WWE shop at Money in the Bank by like two hours in Toronto. Well, I'll catch you next time. I'll definitely catch you next time, Sean. Have a great day. Cheers. Well, cheers to you as well, and congrats.

70 pounds since last March? That's like almost losing an entire person. That's incredible. And seeing cities like Kitchener and Mississauga and an ask CVV question, It just warms the cockles of my heart. I love that so much. I was absolutely fascinated by WWE Unreal. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

I loved it. I thought it achieved a really great balance of addressing things that fans like you and I who have been watching our whole lives would appreciate and understand, but also mixing in a lot of stuff that new fans who might just be tuning in. on Netflix because it's just a show that's featured on the homepage, they also can understand what's going on here too. And I think that if you think you know everything, this series will show

you that you certainly don't. There's so many things I loved about this and I love that we have some time right now to hang out and like break it all down. The thing that stood out for me so much is those interviews immediately following the matches. It was so cool to see the genuine emotion from people. And like, you could tell when moments like meant a lot to people. And I also loved seeing the genuine emotion from CM Punk and seeing how much main event in WrestleMania meant to him. And that exchange that he had with Triple H was just so beautiful. So it was really great seeing another side of these superstars who we see every Monday and every Friday and on PLEs. It was great to see a human side of them as well.

The editing in the Royal Rumble matches is some of the best editing for something like that that I've ever seen. Like at first I was like, wait a second, that person was just in the middle of the ring. and now they're on the turnbuckle. And now they're doing this other move on the other side of the ring. And then it hit me. I'm like, oh my gosh, they're just stitching together that wide shot

so seamlessly that it looks like it's one fluid shot. That was whoever did that. Whoever edited that together, whoever's responsible for coming up with that idea, I applaud you. That was so, so well done. I think that another big thing that stood out for me was the ability to change on the fly.

Like we saw a lot of times where there was an original idea and if it's not working for whatever reason, if the crowd's not reacting to it, if there's an injury, the ability to pivot here is, I think one of the most interesting things that we're seeing about the inner workings of WWE.

Speaking of original ideas, we learned a lot here. Like there were a lot of original ideas that were either pitched and immediately shot down or pitched and they were going with it. And then for one reason or another, things changed and they didn't go with it. But we saw quite a lot of those different things happen. We learned a lot from this. We learned CM Punk was the original pick by almost everybody in the writer's room to win the Royal Rumble.

I think there was a pitch made for John Cena to win the Rumble. But CM Punk was like the original name that, was tossed around. Kevin Owens originally planned to win the undisputed W.W.E. Championship at Elimination Chamber. And speaking of elimination chamber, I was just, I know we had heard that like only a few people knew about

John Cina's heel turn, but Triple H talking to the production truck right before Cina's heel turn and saying, all right, Cody and John are going to hug. Then they're going to disengage. and as long as you're on a wide two shot, you're going to see what happens. And it was, then he's calling the camera angles

because Triple H is just one of like a handful of people who actually knew what was going to happen next. So he's like, all right, get a shot of Sina. Okay, now, now, wide shot. Okay, Cody's face here. It was like, it was so cool to see that all unfold. Just absolutely brilliant. And I've just always been a fan of like the,

behind-the-scenes stuff. And look, if you don't want K-Fade to be broken, if you want wrestling to exist for you, Monday at 8 o'clock when Ross starts and Smackdown, 8 o'clock, Eastern time, when it starts on a Friday, like if that's what you want wrestling to be, that's cool.

And this show is probably not for you. But for me, I've always loved to see how things are made behind the scenes. It gives me a deeper appreciation. for how it was actually pulled off. Like, I love seeing, like, an incredible trick play on a Sunday in an NFL game. And then you see an episode of Hard Knocks, and you see them, like, working through the nuances of it and working through, like, every beat of that play in practice. And it's just like, oh, wow, the reason they were able to pull that off on Sunday is because this person,

ran this way when the original idea was to run the other way. I love seeing that type of stuff. When I was working as an entertainment reporter for as many years as I did at various TV stations, they would always send what was called an EPK along with every movie. So every movie had, it was called an electronic press kit. And on the electronic press kit, there was often like a little vignette, two, three minutes of like a of the movie and there was oftentimes B-roll, like just random eight, 10, 15 minutes of just B-roll on the set, showing various different things. And you'd see things like you'd see

the green screen or you'd see the wires attached when they're doing a stunt. And for me, it gives me a deeper appreciation of like, oh, like, look at the risk that was happening here. or look at like the exact camera angle they had to have to make this work. Or like look at them talking about the script for this scene and then realizing, well, what if I said this and said? And then it ends up being an iconic line in the movie. Have you ever seen photos behind the scenes of Avengers Endgame? And again, if behind the scene stuff is not your thing, then it's not your thing.

Like I think there's a very distinct line of like there's, people that love seeing that type of stuff and there's people that hate seeing that kind of stuff. I fall into that first category. I fall into the former category of, I just love seeing how it's done. But Avengers end game, like Thanos is just legendary comic book villain. And if you look at Josh Brolin on set, he's wearing this like big padded like chest piece and he's got like the headband on with the camera attached. So it's like catching all of the like facial expressions because that's how they do CGI.

And it makes me go, wow. So like we're seeing the human performance behind Thanos here. Like he's doing all the same mannerisms. He's saying all the same lines. But that's clearly Josh Brolin. That's not Thanos with his purple skin. And I love seeing that type of stuff. And that's what Unreal.

does here. And it's given me such a deeper appreciation for all of the characters, all of the talent that were featured in the show. And yes, to your point that you brought up, Sean, in your note here. In episode five, you may see a familiar face in the first few minutes of the show. I was in, that was at, that was Chicago, that was Smackdown for the now infamous promo between Charlotte and Tiffany. And I mean, it's just a shot of me sitting there and there's 40 other people in the crowd as well. But someone sent that to me before I had seen that episode.

I was like, what? What do you mean? I made an appearance in the show. Oh, yeah. There he is right there. I think another thing was a lot of people have been making a big deal online of like, oh, that original WrestleMania 41 cars. would have been so much better than what we got.

I don't know. Is that true? Maybe. Maybe not. I think as a whole, WrestleMania 41 probably would have been just a better experience in general had Travis Scott not come out for an eight-minute entrance to then do all the things he did. And then nothing has happened since with that. But I digress. Two of the matters, as they really stand out for me on the original WrestleMania 41

card that they flashed on the screen for whatever that was half a second and someone took a screen grab of it was Bad Bunny versus Dominic Mysterio. That could have been all kinds of fun. And that I thought it was interesting that there was Bronbreaker versus Drew McIntyre

with special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin. So in the original idea of this, Stone Cold was going to play a much bigger role than the role he played, which was coming out on the ATV, crashing the ATV, and announcing the attendance. Him as a special guest referee in a match with just two guys that can go like Drew McIntyre and Braun Breaker, that would have been awesome. And now maybe I'm setting my expectations too high, and I think that's always a problem,

especially in wrestling. When you set these expectations too high and they can't be met, you're going, well, now I'm let down because I was expecting this thing. And now this other thing happened. But now I'm thinking, well, WrestleMania 42, back in Las Vegas, Stone Cold doesn't live that far away.

If there was original conversations about him being a special guest referee for WrestleMania 41, could he be a special guest referee for WrestleMania 42? Could he do something more? Like, if he was talking about being in there a special guest referee. Could he have a match?

These are the things I'm thinking about here. But as a whole, I really enjoyed WWE Unreal. And I feel like it was like a WWE 24, but like turned up a notch. And I'm interested to see

if this continues. I would think from what I've seen online so far and the excitement around this and the amount of you guys who have ask different questions about WW Unreal. I would think that they continue this, but it was, it was really,

it's been really, really interesting to see. And I'd love to hear what you guys think of it. Michael Dunn on Facebook says, what are your SummerSlam predictions, CVV? Do you think we'll see any major titles change hands? I think for sure, we're going to see quite a few titles.

change hands. So let's go through match by match here and we'll also check the odds at MyBooky. Of course, when you sign up at MyBooky, use the code CVV and you'll get a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez

defending their women's tag team championships against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. I think Roxanne Perez, who I just recently interviewed, I've said too much. I've said to I said I wasn't going to do this. But I just interviewed Roxanne Perez yesterday.

So that's one, hopefully, you can keep an eye out for soon. Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez representing judgment date, they just won these titles. And I feel like Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, while they're fantastic and so incredibly talented, they're just kind of thrown together as a tag team here. Like, they're making it work. Don't get me wrong. but they're not tag team wrestlers. And I feel like they're just put in this thing right now

until they move on to whatever the next thing is. That's not to say they can't win championships. I mean, we've seen plenty of hodgepodge tag teams win championships like Cody Rhodes and Jay Uso. And that could be something that kind of happens here. Like even if it's just a short reign of a few weeks, Charlotte Flare and Alexa Bliss, given the championship, and then the tag team division moves on to something else.

So I actually think that's what's going to happen. And the odds are in favor of that. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, pretty heavy favorites, and that's what I'm going to go with. Jelly Roll and Randy Orton versus Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre. And I think that people are going to be very surprised by what Jelly Roll does in this match. I think the expectations were low for whatever reason,

even though Jellyroll delivered one hell of a choke slam last year at SummerSlam, which I think kind of got the wheels turning for both him and for WWE of like, could this happen? Like, do you think you could make this thing happen? Could you lose some weight? And next year, maybe we talk about this. But jelly roll looks like he knows what he's doing in there. Like he has clearly been paying attention in these training sessions that he's been having

at the PC. And I thought his promo last week on SmackDown was like the promo of someone who's been doing this for a while. Like this wasn't your typical celebrity going out there trying to remember their lines, but also pretending to be a wrestler and delivering it like in the cadence of what they think a wrestler should sound like he sounded like he belonged in there. And I've seen so many veterans online. Like Mark Henry had so many great things to say about Jelly Rule.

just like seeming like he knew what he was doing in there. And like his punches are really crisp. So all of this is to say, I think this match is going to exceed whatever expectations you have for this. And I don't know what this is leading to other than like a match that I think a lot of people are going to be talking about. This is going to be a match that gets a lot of mainstream press. I think it's going to lead to jelly roll beating, pinning Logan Paul. I think maybe it's a choke slam,

Jelly Rule delivering a choke slam, and we're going to get that visual in that match of Jelly Rule, pinning Logan Paul, 1, 2, 3. The odds also favor Randy Orton and Jelly Roll for that match. Roman Raines and Jay Uso versus Bronson Reed and Bronbreaker. Team Braun, I'll call this. This is Roman Rain's first match back, which seems to me like pretty unlikely

that he's going to lose this, and this is actually the match that has the biggest favorites for it. Roman Reins, Jay Uso, they win this match. Cary and Cross versus Sammy Zane, they've been feuding for months here. And Zane has been attacked so many times by Cross backstage.

This feels like the match that's going to be the final match in their feud. That's what I feel like this is leading to here. And I think it's Sammy Zane who's going to get the win here. I'm very curious to see where things go from here because this match has brought out a lot of great stuff from Carrying Cross.

And we have known for years, how talented he is. And Sammy Zane's just at that level where he makes his opponents look great. And Carrying Cross, great on the mic, great in the ring. Sammy Zane has brought out like the best of him. the odds say Sammy Zane I also say

Sammy Zane with this one as well Tiffany Stratton defending her WWE Women's Championship against Jade Cargill I feel like it's pretty much like so Naomi cashed in

money in the bank she's on raw I just feel like Jade Cargill is going to be the one here who is leaving as the champion like she's a favorite on my bookie, and it just feels like this is going to lead to some other things from here. Like when Bianca Bel Air is healed up and ready to go, I feel like Bianca Bel Air slides right into a championship situation, whether that's with Jade Cargo, whether that's with Naomi. Like, she's in the mix there somewhere. I feel like it's just a matter of time before Charlotte Flair is also in the mix for a championship.

but I see Jade Cargo winning this one here. Gunther versus C.M. Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship. I'm so excited for this match. And I think that just, they say styles make matchups. And just the way that Gunther works that like, just he just is what it is what it is.

Like, what you see is what you get with him. And with CM Punk, he's just got this incredible legacy behind him. and I feel like CM Punk's been back in the company for almost two years. It'll be two years at Survivor Series. And this is his first opportunity at a world championship.

And I feel like this is CM Punk's chance to take this. And it may actually be his last world championship. Like I don't know how many more years he's planning to wrestle. Hopefully he wrestles as long as he wants to wrestle. but there's a chance here that he wins this title and that's his last world title. I see CM Punk winning this match, but I think that this match has the potential to steal night one.

So that's night one. Then we move on to night two to Sunday. Naomi versus Ria Ripley versus Eoskeye. How good is this match going to be? how good is this going to be? I feel like with Naomi recently winning the championship with the cash in,

that being so memorable, I can't see Naomi losing this just yet. The odds, though, say that Eoske is going to walk out of this as the champion. That's actually surprising. Maybe do they know something

that we don't know? I see Naomi winning this match. TLC. Six-pack challenge. Man, this match is going to be so good. Wyatt Six versus the street profits versus DIY versus Motor City Machine Guns versus Andrade and Ray Phoenix versus Fraxium in this TLC match for the WWE tag team champions. Wyatt Six are going into this match as the champions.

Honestly, I don't know if I care who wins this match. if this is even half as good as the TLC match they had on the Friday after WrestleMania 41, that Smackdown TLC match was so, so good. I feel like a lot of it was just kind of them going. So you didn't want to have this match at WrestleMania 41? Well, here's what you missed out on. If this match is half as good as that TLC match on Smackdown, we are all in for such a treat here.

I guess since I got to pick a winner here, I'll go with the Wyatt 6 because they just recently won the title three weeks ago. The odds have this actually pretty close. They say Andrade and Ray Phoenix are the favorites here. Then the Wyatt 6 have the next best odds. Honestly, I don't really care. I just know it's going to be so, so good. And I'd be surprised if this match doesn't open the show

because I think it's just going to be such a banger, such a banger of a match. Becky Lynch versus Lyra Valkyria for the women's intercontinental championship. This is now a DQ match. And there's a stipulation in this match that if Lyra loses, she can't ever challenge for the title again. So I guess the stakes are raised here, which also makes me feel like, all right, no DQ match, someone's running it. Why else do you make this a no disqualification match? match. And the fact that if Lyra loses, you can't challenge for it again, I think Lyra wins. I think that this has been set up for Lyra to win that championship back and become the Women's Intercontinental

Championship again. I think that what this is setting up for is for Bailey to run in and then we get Becky Lynch versus Bailey, which they've been teasing for a little while here. But Lyra Valcuria, I think, walks out of this as the first ever two-time women's intercontinental championship. champion. So not only was she the first intercontinental champion, she'd be the first woman to ever win it twice as well. Wow. She's just making history left and right here. Dominic Mysterio versus AJ Stiles for the Intercontinental Championship. The build to this match has just been so fun. Like, so fun with AJ Stiles in his various different disguises, scaring Dominic Mysterio from every angle.

I love it. And it's been just, I don't know, it's nice to, like, have a little bit of humor from someone who's one of the all-time greats in the ring. I don't feel like

AJ Styles needs to win the Interfrontal Championship. I know that this is going to be an amazing match. I actually think that there's a possibility here for this to be Dominic Mysterio's best match to date.

And I, there's just something about Dominic Mysterio on a big stage like this. We saw it at WrestleMania with the match that he had when he won the Intercontinental Championship. And I think we're going to see it here as well. Like he's going to pull out all the stops and make sure that this is the match that you remember.

I see Dominic Mysterio walking out of this and retaining that Intercontinental Championship. And the odds are real tight on this. Like the odds are pretty much like coin flip on this one. Solo Sacoa versus Jacob Fattu and a steaming. Cage Match for the United States Championship. The odds on this one also like almost dead even here. They're making this a steel cage match between two guys who you know are going to have a great match.

And it's a steel cage match so that like Solosacoa and his boys don't get in there. Feel like that's inevitable in some way, shape, or form because that's just what happens in steel cage matches. But Solosacoa just won this. and I think Jacob Fatou will be the United States champion again at some point. I also think that he will be a world champion at some point. I just don't see him winning this back yet. And I think that Sola Sacoa, he's just, man, such a nasty heel.

And it's been so fun watching him be a heel with a championship. I think Sola Sacoa walks out of this retaining the championship. And that brings us to our night to, main event of the evening, John Sina versus Cody Rhodes for the WWE undisputed championship. I've been saying this for weeks, but I don't see any other reason to have a rematch here if it's not for Cody Rhodes to get his win back. Cody Rhodes lost at WrestleMania 41, and I just feel like they wouldn't be having a rematch if Sina's going to win again here.

So I see Cody Rhodes winning this. I know we've seen some healed tendencies from Cody. We've seen some kind of like just questioning. I don't know if they're baby-faced tendencies, but John Cena's just been questioning his ways over the last several appearances. I think the fact that this is a street fight, just like when we were talking about the Becky Lynch

or the, yeah, the Becky Lynch and Lara Valcurea, about Curia being a no DQ. There's a reason this is a street fight. And I think that it's for two reasons. One, it'll make this match stand out from the WrestleMania 41 match, that it's a completely different type of match, more of a brawling match versus what they had a WrestleMania 41.

And number two, we're going to see some funny business. I don't know what it is, but I think we're going to see some funny business here. There's lots of different possibilities. There's lots of different chatter here. I obviously have no clue what's going to happen, but let's throw out some possibilities, shall we?

What if Seth Rollins isn't actually injured? And he makes himself known in either this match or the Gunther C.M. Punk match. That is a, that's a possibility. I think that's going to be in the back of everybody's mind. And I love that, I love that that's just the case with money in the bank, that it just kind of lingers back there. Like both champions, I guess all champions,

because you could cash in on any championship, all champions just kind of have to watch their back a little bit. So that's a possibility. Does the Rock come back? That's another thing. And actually, that's one of the odds. Does the Rock make an appearance here? And the odds say no.

I would love to see it happen. And I think the Rock has some explaining to do. We're going all the way back to elimination chamber. Like there's still some explaining that needs to happen here. The Rock could be a condo. it for what's next for Cody Rhodes. But I see Cody Rhodes winning this match, and I think that there is a very real possibility of a double turn here. Cody Rhodes turns heel. John Sina becomes a baby face again, and John Sina finishes the rest of the retirement tour as a baby face. And we are in the

home stretch of the John Sina retirement tour. He has 14 dates left right now. He has a date tonight. He'll be on Smackdown. So then it's 13 as he heads into SummerSlam. He'll have 12 after SummerSlan. 12 dates left. That's it. And we've done the math.

Maybe that's four, possibly five matches left. And that's it. That's it. It's only four-ish, five-ish more stories to tell. And I just think that those stories will be better told as this. Like, it'll be full circle. It'll be full circle of starting the retirement tour as the John Sina that you knew and loved. And he's ending the retirement tour as the John Sina that you knew and loved.

And I think that that's the way it has to go. Like, whether he becomes a baby face this weekend or not, it's happening at some point in time. But I feel like that's where we're at right now. where like it has to have, if four or five more matches left, that's what we gotta see. So that's my predictions for SummerSlam. I would love to hear yours.

Am I way off in your mind? Are some of these just absolutely crazy to you? There's also a whole list of wild prop bets on my bookie if you're interested. Like some fun stuff like, what's the total number of tsunami? hit by Bronson Reed in a match over under two and a half.

I think I'd take the over on that one. What is the total number of spears in the match with Roman and J. Uso and Bronbreaker and Bronson Reed? You've got three out of four of those guys are doing spears. The over under is five and a half. You've got Will Cody Rhodes turn heel.

The odds are dead even on that. Dead even. Will Jelly Rule, pin Logan, to win the match. I actually just talked about that, right? The odds are in his favor, that that'll happen. So again, if you sign up at my book, it used the code CVV, you'll get yourself a nice little welcome bonus on there. Gary Creighton sent this one in on Instagram. Question for AskCTV. I literally woke up to your follow and you liking the tweet that I messaged all my wrestling friends and even

told some of my students in the high school that I teach in Ireland. And it's legendary. They all listen and love you. Love the show, CBV. Congrats again on your new baby. Well, thank you so much, Gary. My question for whenever you see this, which is right now, Gary, can you name the best heel versus heel matches in your view, either in WWE or TNA? Gary in Sligo, Ireland, Sligo? Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry if I said that wrong. But Gary, thank you for sending this in. It's funny. heel versus heel matches are so rare because even if it starts out as a heel versus heel match, by the time we actually get to the match, like if the feud starts out as heel versus heel, by the time we get to the match, the crowd's just backing somebody.

So like at best you get like heel versus tweener. Like there's still a heel, but they're getting a baby face reaction. one that pops into my head immediately is Triple H versus Kurt Angle, like 2000, 2001. Such a great feud with Steph and her involvement in there, but by the end, Triple H had turned face. So like started off heel versus heel, but they ended up using this as a conduit

for Triple H to become a baby face. You know what is heel versus heel, like not technically, not on paper, but if you really think about it, WrestleMania 18, Rock versus Hogan, Hollywood Hogan, Heel. He's with the NWO. He's a heel. The Rock at this point is starting to get some like booze because like, you sold out to Hollywood.

Like, you know, in a way, like that kind of was heel versus heel, although not really intended to be. And then we obviously remember what happened in the match. The crowd just turned Hollywood Hogan babyface. the NWO broke up at the end of the match as a result of that because Hogan was just so over in that match. But you know what match that was not intended at all to be heel versus heel, but the crowd couldn't stop booing both people.

WrestleMania 20, Goldberg versus Brock Lesnar. The crowd knew that both of them were leaving and not even Stone Cold as the guest referee could change the reaction or save that match. Goldberg wasn't going to renew his contract with WWE. And then fans knew that Brock was leaving to pursue a career in the NFL, which ended up turning into him going into the UFC when the NFL didn't work out. I think the only like saving grace in this match was Austin hit stunners on both of them at the end of the match. And we got like a nice reaction.

But like the crowds like chanting all kinds of terrible things at them. And like they're halfway through the match and the crowd's singing, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, goodbye. Like, that's not what you wanted a WrestleMania match, especially with two legends like that, a Hall of Famer in Goldberg and a future Hall of Famer and Brock Lesnar. So it's funny. While not intended to be a heel versus heel match,

you got the reaction of what a true heel versus heel match was. We're like, the crowd hates them beyond what their characters. are like they're just like vitrial. It's just like we get out of this ring. Wrap this match up and get out of the ring. Ethan Flores on Spotify says, Hey, CVV, I've been listening to you for over two years now. So I'd like to think that I'm a real, real one.

Ethan, you are, in fact, a real, real one. Anybody who listens to an Ask CVV episode and listens all the way until the very end, that's it. You instantly become a real, real one. and anybody who's coming to Insight Live tonight, you instantly, just by walking in that door and hanging out with Seamus and I,

you instantly become a real, real, real one. Me and my buds, Drew and Josh, love listening to your show. Well, hello, Drew and Josh. One thing I'd like to ask is, with the lengths they've gone, with the El Grande-Americano story, where do you think the big payoff is?

I have this ridiculous idea of an El Grande-American Battle Royal, where all of the non-featured mid-card talent are dressed as El Grande, and Omas and others clearly stand out. I shared a funny graphic on social media this week of an El Grande Americano battle royal, and you guys seem to love it. I love when wrestling is silly. I love all aspects of wrestling. I love the buffet that wrestling is, and I've always been this way. And that's why while I loved watching WWE and WCW in the 90s, I also loved watching ECW.

And then when TNA came around, I loved watching that. And I loved buying DVDs of indie companies that I had never heard of or indie companies that I had heard a ton about and just wanted to see what they were all about. But I love the buffet that wrestling offers. And when wrestling gets a little bit silly, sign me up for that. and El Grande Americano being one person who, I don't know why, but people thought online might have been Chad Gable, clearly not possible, he's injured. Then El Grande Americano got taller and then he got shorter and he had more muscles and then he had less muscles.

All very interesting. I can't wait to see what the payoff is. And this is also another thing is like, I love when you're a. invested in a story like this that doesn't involve championships on any level. This doesn't involve the World Championship. This doesn't involve the WWE Championship. I see title or a U.S. title. It's just its own little thing that exists on this island. And I just, I'm, I can't take my eyes off of it. I'd love to see a new El Gras and Americano character every week. Like you said, like Omas or Hornswoggle, love Hornswoggle. He is a good. He is.

signed to a WWE Legends deal. I actually just saw him in the lobby of the hotel before I came up here to record this episode. Like, that's a real possibility. I joked about this before, but like, what if Chelsea Green or what if El Grone Americano looks like Chelsea Green, I should say, one week? I would love that. What if one week it's Ron Simmons and he's saying, damn?

Like, that stuff would be so fun. But I think that this silliness continues on until Chad Gable is ready to come back. And I just feel like what we're going to see is El Grasio Americano is out there either cutting a promo or he's in a match. And Chad Gable's either going to walk out if it's a promo, like a backstage promo, or is music going to hit? And it's going to create this interesting thing of like, oh, wait a second. There were people online that had this ridiculous belief that Chad Gable. was El Grosne Americana. Well, it's very clear that he's not. Let's have a match and see what happens here. Because this whole thing started because Chad Gable hates Luchadors. So that's where I think this

thing leads to. I don't know if we see someone who is Chad Gable's size and stature and wrestling ability, wrestling like El Grande Americano. I don't know. But whatever the case is with this, I wish Chad Gable a very speedy recovery. I hope he's back as quickly and healthfully as he can be. But I'm invested in this. Jay White 6 on Instagram says, what's the best interview that you've had in 2025 statistically? Statistically, it's Seth Rollins.

And obviously it has a bit of a head start. It's one of the first interviews that I recorded in 2025. But it's also, Seth Rollins. So I feel like that interview could have dropped it any point this year, and it still would have had the big numbers that it's had. If you haven't had a chance to listen to it or watch it, I encourage you to. It's one of my favorite conversations of the year. And I mean, Seth Rollins is in the position that he's in because he is so talented. And he's, I don't know if he gets enough credit for the amount of times he's reinvented himself and he's made it work. he's just so versatile. Shield Seth Rollins, architect, he'll slayer slash beast slayer,

Monday Night Messiah, the visionary drip god. There's just so many different layers to what he does. Seth freaking Rollins. And I don't know if he gets enough credit for that. He gets a lot of credit for just being amazing in the ring and all of his matches being amazing,

no matter who he's working with, but I don't know if he gets enough credit for just taking whatever the gimmick is and making it work. So that statistically is the best interview of 2025 so far. I don't see that changing. I don't know. I mean, I think I've spoken too soon on this.

We have five months left in the year, okay? there is a possibility of getting another guest who could top those numbers, but as for right now, that's number one. KM Powell on Spotify. Hey, CVV, at this point, maybe they should stop using the term babyface and heel and just call them heroes and anti-heroes. Heels don't really get that kind of hatred reaction. Crowds nowadays just appreciate a wrestler's commitment to trying to be hated and get cheered because of it. What are your thoughts? Yeah, it definitely is not as cut and dry as it was in like the

80s and 90s, for sure. You're absolutely right on that. Like, it's way more nuanced than it ever was. Like, Stone Cold was really the first one to kind of flip this all in its head. Like, he was saying and doing like traditionally heal things, but ended up being like more of an anti-hero and like got massive cheers and became, you know, the huge star that he was. because of that. What's really interesting about the era of wrestling where it now is like the lines are really blurred. The lines are really blurred between where the character ends

and the person begins with a lot of people. Like, for example, Randy Orton's name is Randy Orton and he plays a character named Randy Orton. Same with John Cena. Like, John Cena is, when he's in a movie, he's John Cena and when he wrestles in the ring, he's John Cena. Whereas like when the rock is doing things in wrestling, he's the rock.

And then he's credited in movies as Dwayne Johnson. Although, you know, there's an interesting history to that too. He was first credited as The Rock. Then he was credited as Dwayne the Rock Johnson. And then he was just credited as Dwayne Johnson. There's like there were different, almost like very clear stages of his career when he was doing that too. but one of the fun things in WWE Unreal has been the thing where they introduced themselves to the camera and they're saying what all their different names are like when Triple H is like,

oh, my name is Paul Levec, but up until recently everyone called me Triple H or Hunter or Trips or H. My name's CM Punk. Some people just call me punk, call me Punker, Pepsi Phil, but my government name is Phil. of Brooks. Like, it's interesting that, like, that exists here. And I think that fans are obviously well aware of that just with everything that we have access to now on the internet. But I don't know, the term babyface and heels never going to go away. But I do believe that being a heel in 2025 is very, very different than it was 25, 30 years ago. Like, same with being a baby face. Like,

I think it's so, so hard to be a white meat baby face now that everyone loves. Like, just look at Cody Rhodes or Jay Uso. Like, theoretically, their characters are supposed to be loved by all. But, and you know this just as well as I do, just ask a few wrestling fans their opinion of those guys, and you'll see exactly what we're talking about here. Like, they are not universally loved in the roles that they're in because it's like, well, we're being told that we have to love them.

So, like, there's an element of that where it's like, well, I don't want to like them now as a result. But I think that the terms themselves won't change, but there is so much more to it than there ever was before. Will's underscore treasure on Instagram. Okay, CVV, here's your mission. Get in the Delorean and travel backstage to a WWF show in. 1998 and interview five superstars. Who are they? Wow. Well, first of all, thank you for the DeLorean reference, back to the future. Greatest movie of all time. And I want a DeLorean so bad.

So remember when I interviewed Fluffy, he had one in his, in his, I was going to say garage, but it's more of just like his compound. He has all the Volkswagen But and he had a Dolorian and I'm like that right there. My friend is the dream car. All right. So I'm going back to 1998. I'm interviewing five superstars. I like that you've been very clear that it's 1999 and it's WWF. So that eliminates all of the people that were wrestling in WCW at that time and hadn't come over to WWF yet. So like can't interview Chris Jericho, can't interview Eddie Guerrero, can't interview anybody who hasn't debuted yet, can't interview Kurt Angle.

I like this. This is very specific. So I've got to interview Stone Cold. Stone Cold at that point in time, I guess it depends when, when, but he would have been like, he would have just won his first WWE championship and would just be like riding that high

off the Austin McMahon storyline. I love it. So we're going to chat with Stone Cold, for sure. We're going to talk to the Rock. Like, if we're going to the Delorean and we're, like, going back 27 years, Rock won his first WWE championship that year as well.

So we're going to have a conversation with the Rock. November 15th, 1998, 21, his first championship at Survivor Series. So, all right, so now we've got, and, like, think of the, think of the conversation that you'd have with them then. at that point in time. And I'm assuming that maybe the conversations

are kind of like the ones we have on the show now where we get to talk about things that are happening with their character, not talking to the character. So Stone Cold, Rock, China. Especially in 1998, we had never seen anybody like China before in wrestling. It'd be so fascinating to talk to her, about where she was at in her career at that point in time.

I'm going to selfishly say test. I think that test was so, so underrated. And I mean, selfishly, because he's a fellow Canadian. He grew up not far away from where I grew up. I understand in 1998 this would have been very early test, like right after his debut, but there was something. about him. It was the size and the look and just the way that he carried himself. Like, you looked at someone like him and you went, that guy has so much potential. So like him in 1998

would have been like aligned with the corporation and everything that was going on in the corporation. Obviously like, again, very early, but like what a conversation you could have with him about like, well, where does it go from here? What are your, what are your goals? Who are the matches that you'd like to have. But man, may test rest in peace. He left us when he was 33 years old. Wild. Then we got one spot left here. Triple H would be an interesting conversation, but he's not on the list because he didn't win his first championship until the next year. So we'd be talking to a different version of Triple H. Like the version of Triple H I'd want to talk to was the one who was the game like the one who was deep into what he was doing as the game and

and everything there and the McMahon helmsley like actually test is tied into that and that's so funny I didn't even intend to do that but the next person that I would talk to man it's tough to narrow it down to just five can't talk to Brett Hart because he's gone now but you can't can talk to Sean Michaels. And if I'm going to get an interview in early 1998, and we can talk about the fallout that happened at Survivor Series 97, the Montreal screw job, that happened just a month and a half-ish prior, but what a conversation. And then you can also just talk to Sean Michaels just about everything that had happened before that. And the amazing career that he had had but if we can talk and get something about the screw job and everything that happened there,

yeah, that'd be, that'd be really interesting. And 98's an interesting year to pick because that was, that was pivotal. Like, the Montreal screw job really changed just the way that WWE presented things moving forward. the Mr. McMahon character was born out of just the way that that night went. And Brett screwed Brett was just an interview that kind of became like this through line of like, oh yeah, like I'm the boss here and you don't cross the boss. And it changed Vince McMahon from what he was into this Mr. McMahon character. So 98, excellent, excellent choice with this one, Will's.

Love that. there's my five. I think that if you ask me this one tomorrow, I might change some names in. Undertaker would be an interesting one, but if we're in 1998, he would be deep in character and I'd be, I'd be just talking to someone who would, he was just saying, rest in peace the whole time. So while I would love to have an in-depth conversation with Mark Callaway in 1998, that's probably not who I would have got. Chris Young on Facebook said, at what point in your life did you say, this is what I want to do. Not necessarily the specifics, but realizing that you wanted to do interviews and provide the public with content. I've always been really passionate about broadcasting.

Like, I remember being a four-year-old kid with a Fisher-Price tape recorder and pretending to be the radio DJs that I heard. And I just love the idea of storytelling. And that is what is at the core of broadcasting. It's what's at the core of content creation. I've always loved that idea. And I took communication studies in high school, and we were so, so fortunate, Pine Ridge Secondary School in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. We had like a mini TV studio in our communication studies classroom, where we had a little set, and you would rotate around.

You were the cameraman one day, cameraman two the next day, then you were the floor director, then you were host one reading off the teleprompter, and then you were host two, then you went into the control room and you were running the audio or VTR, or you were assistant director, or you were directing the show and calling the shots. I loved that.

I loved it so much. And like, I couldn't believe it. There was a class in my high school where they just gave us video cameras and it allowed us to shoot, like they were segments, I guess, TV segments, and we got to edit them together. I fell in love with it.

Like, I always was passionate about it, but that's where I, like, really fell in love with it. And I didn't know if there would be a future there, but I just loved the idea of storytelling and presenting. And I ran for vice president of my student council in my final year of high school, mostly because that was in that position, I'd be able to do the morning announcements,

which I kind of treated like my own radio show with my best friend, Mark Taseghi. And also I got to host the fashion show and the talent show and just, like, get a mic in my hand. And I love the idea of being able to elicit a response from the audience just by speaking words into a microphone like this. I love that. When it came time to pick a college major and apply for college, I was like, well, communication studies, I was a fun class. Let's apply for that. And like, it's so broad that if it doesn't become broadcasting, it could

become marketing or advertising or public relations or whatever. Like, there's lots of different things that it could fall under. But fast forward a little bit. I remember specifically in my senior year of college. So I'm in year four of four. And I was having the best time. I was living in a house with four of my best friends and just partying it up, having fun, going to class in, you know, when we went to class. And I just remember waking up one morning and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh my gosh, when we graduate at the end of this year, that's it. All of this fun just disappears. We got to go work. Like the real world is just going to slap you right in the face and you got to go work. Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, 40 hours a week for like the next 40 years.

50 years. And it was in that exact moment that I said to myself, I just don't want to have a job that I hate. Like, it wasn't I want to have a job I love. Or I want to have a job that, you know, I don't mind going to. It's just, I don't want to have a job that I hate. That was my entire goal. I don't want to be the guy who can't enjoy Sunday because Monday's the next day.

So that was the exact point, Chris, where I was like, I need to do everything I can in these final, I think it was seven months left of school. I need to do everything I can in these next seven months to just stack the deck and get as much experience as I can on top of what I was doing with my classes. But how could I make my resume look somewhat appealing to someone to maybe give me a job when I graduated? I reached out to every radio station and every TV station in my college town and just basically said, hey, I am a communication studies major. I am passionate about broadcasting.

And I just want to come in to your radio station or TV station and see how it's done in the real world. And that led to me getting a volunteer position at Rogers Community 20 television, which is a TV station, like a local TV station basically run by volunteers, which was so cool. and I got to do so many various jobs there and wear so many hats. There was a radio station, 92, 3, 925 the beat. Wait, 915 the beat, got my numbers mixed up. 915 the beat who said, yeah, you can come be part of our street team,

hand out stickers at different events. One of those events was a house show for WWE. So I'm handing out stickers, like, it's amazing, like how that was, I was quote unquote working outside of WWE show all those years ago. And then one radio station, 570 news, a news radio station said, well, we don't take on volunteers, but how would you like a job as a board operator? And I was like, what? And I just because I asked and I had a few little, very little things on my resume,

they gave me a job. And that's all I needed. All I needed was an opportunity. All I needed was for somebody to say yes. And I use that same mentality with interviews. Like, you know, send a DM or I'll send an email or I'll ask someone who might know somebody, hey, do you any chance you know, if you listen to the interview I did where Chris Jericho interviewed me on Talk is Jericho.

He's like, who's your dream guest? And I said, that's Stone Cold Steve Austin. I've never done an interview with him. him. Any chance you know him, like, I'll just do whatever I can to try to, like, put that out of the world. And that's what happened with 570 News. They said, yeah, we'll hire you and see how it goes. And that was it. So that was the moment for me. And obviously, broadcasting has changed quite a bit since I graduated from college in 2005. I have had an amazing career in broadcasting. Love radio, love TV. And I love what it has.

morphed into now with just content creation. The screen that people are looking at the most these days is not the TV screen, not the movie screen. It's the screen inside your pocket. It's the device that you are listening to this on right now, most likely. So I love what it's morphed into now. And it all began with that conversation that I had with myself back then was just like, I think a lot about life is about the questions that you ask.

And like I was just saying, if you don't ask, the answer is always no. But I think that one layer deeper on that is life is about the questions that you ask of yourself. And that was just a random moment that I had. It was an epiphany. but it didn't come from anything specific like, oh my gosh, like my friend just got this job or something like that. It was just like,

it just hit me that like, oh, I've only got seven months to figure this thing out. Let's get started today and try to see what we can come up with here. And that was just me asking myself the questions of like, all right, what do you want to do when this is done? Where do you see this going from here?

what would a what would a a Monday morning look like if you were excited to go into work? And I was just asking myself these questions. So I think that a lot of life is about the questions that you ask yourself. So thank you for that question. Chris Young on Facebook. And thank you for all of these questions. That was the final question on this. Ask CVV number 94, the Brendan Shanahan,

DeMarcus Ware and Dwayne, the Rock Johnson edition. If you've got a question for next week, for Ask CVV number 95, leave a comment on Spotify with the word bazooka, of course. Send it in on an email, CVV at chrisfamily.com, or leave it on social media with a hashtag,

Ask CVV. This was a fun one. They've all been fun ones, but I just feel like maybe because I'm sitting here in New Jersey right now, SummerSlam weekend, got the live show tonight, I just feel a little extra amped. Hope to see all of the real, real, real, real ones tonight at Insight Live with

Seamus. And I will leave you with this quote from Og Mandino. Don't let your emotions dictate your actions. Let your actions dictate your emotions. Be great and be grateful, my friends. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insights. Jim Rome takes on sports

Why? Because I have a job to do With rapid fire takes So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs On this notion today No idea what you're talking about You're complaining more than you like to breathe air It's like you get up in the morning Only to complain and cry and moan on social media

About things that you don't even understand He's the spitfire of sports smack Ticket banjov But get up in here The Jim Rome Show podcast What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.