Insight with Chris Van Vliet - O'Shea Jackson Jr. On CM Punk, John Cena's Final Opponent, The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, Underrated Theme Songs

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

https://cvvtix.com - Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC with VIP Meet & Greet! O'Shea Jackson Jr. (@OsheaJacksonJr) is an actor and podcaster. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studios in Hollywood, CA to discuss his podcast "No Contest Wrestling" with TJ Jefferson and interviewing CM Punk on the first episode, dream guests for future shows, why The Rock vs. Roman Reigns is looking less and less likely, who will John Cena's final opponent be, possibly training to be a wrestler, the one wrestling moment from history he wishes he was there for live, his dream bar fight team and more!   Quote I'm thinking about: "The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything." - Frank Sinatra   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. How are you, my friends? Welcome back to another one here on Insight. It's your friendly neighborhood, CVV. Chris Van Fleet with you. Thank you for joining us in this episode. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a twist to fade on that follow button on Spotify or Apple and then finish it off with a swan tonne.

bomb on that rating or review. Hope to see all the real, real, real ones at the next Insight Live in just a few weeks for SummerSlam weekend. We're kicking it off on Friday, August 1st in New York City. We'll be announcing the guest hopefully this week. It's a big one and tickets are going to sell out. So grab them now. CVVVTX.com.

CVVTIX.com. All I'll say is if the plans are. going the way that they're going right now, this person is a future Hall of Famer. First ballot, future Hall of Famer, but they're still active right now. So that's, I've already said too much, but that's all I'll say for now. O'Shea Jackson Jr. is back on the show. He was with us like a year and a half ago on Insight, Episode 568 last February. You know him from movies like Straight Out of Compton, Den of Thieves, Den of Thieves 2, Longshot, and Cocaine Bear. but all the movie stuff aside, he is a massive wrestling fan.

Like he's been a hardcore fan since he was a kid. In fact, he's so big of a wrestling fan that he started a wrestling podcast last year. It's called No Contest Wrestling. It's fantastic. Give it a listen when this episode is done. But we get into quite the discussion here about some of the big storylines happening right now. I feel like this is the exact conversation that you would get if I went out for a beer with O'Shea and someone just happened to be recording it.

So I hope that you enjoy this extremely nerdy wrestling chat. And please snap a screenshot and let us know that you were listening along with this and tag us. It's just our names. He's at O'Shea Jackson Jr. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the show, O'Shea Jackson Jr. Good to see you again.

Man, thanks for having. to me, man. Last time you were on the show, you were not a wrestling podcaster. No, right? Yeah. Look at the time. And, boy, I still made news. Did you look at the landscape and you just went, you know what? There's not enough wrestling podcasts out there.

It was like, uh, maybe we need at least one more. Because I had always thought about it. I had always, like, pondered it. I was going to do something with my sister on Twitch or something like that. But then, uh, yeah, Rich called and I'm like, Rich Eisen. He called and, you know, he gave me this offer, even said, you know, if I wanted to bring my sister along and, you know, laid it all out. And then TJ, T.J. Jefferson, my podcast partner, he's, you know, he, the way that our show is balanced is I'm new school. He's old school.

You know, so he knows, he's a bit of a historian because he was literally there. I remember when we first, when we first, like, were talking, he asked me when I started to watch. I was like, really like watching weekly was about 98, you know, early 2000s. And then he goes, all right, I started watching in, uh, 1982. And I was like, what? How old is he? That's what I'm saying. He is like, that's, that's a like running joke on our shows that, like, we don't know how old DJ is.

You got to cut him in half and count the rings. But yeah, when it came time for it, it was like, I'm doing it on Twitter for free every day anyway. I might as well possibly get paid for it. No contest wrestling. Yeah, no contest, bro. So you've been doing it like a year? Almost. You've had some big guests.

Yeah, yeah. I had to pull the black book a little bit. And also Rich Eisen helps. Well, I mean, Rich Eisen helps. I've been at wrestling events with you. Yeah. Everybody knows who you are.

Yeah, but it's cool when your first episode could be seeing punk. Yeah. That really helps. Yeah. You came out guns blazing. Yeah, yeah. To be able to get punk. Um, he shot our show up.

The charts like first, first day. And, uh, yeah, we've kind of been riding that wave. And so, you know, it was like this before. But especially now, no one can ever tell Shay anything about team. Greatest guy in the world. Who's the dream guest? Ooh. Um, I really want a, I really want a longer talk with Roman.

Um, because at the rumble we had like six men. It's with him. So to have a real sit down 45 to an hour with Roman, that would probably be the, you know, the white whale. But of course, Duane, too. You know, Duane or Austin. Great. Yeah, that would be fun just to get stories from there. I feel like Roman at this stage of his career would be great.

Like talking to Roman a year or two ago, I feel like he's one of those people that really blurs the line between like real and K-Fame. Yeah. Getting him now where he's not as deep into the heel work. Yeah. I feel like you could get some really authentic answers from him. Right. It'd be like Kobe towards the end.

When Kobe wasn't just out to kill you every time. What a great reference. It's so true. Yeah. Yeah. Kobe was like really just passing the torch and like really nice to everybody. Yeah. I feel you.

With the rock doing smashing machine later this year. Yeah. And like really sinking his teeth into like the meat of like a. role that has that much on the bone, I feel like he's going to be doing some podcasts. Yeah. I hope I'm on that list. Right. Come on, Duane, baby.

Yeah, I, um, when I saw the, the trailer for that, I was like, oh, yeah, he's going for it. He's going. And rightfully so, you're the biggest star in the world. And they still try to shortchange you on stuff. So why not show another, you know, part of your talent? And I hope it does great. I'll support it. And it'll be around our 50th episode.

Around that time, Dwayne. I'm just saying it'll be a great 50th episode. Are you able to watch movies being in the industry and being an actor? Are you able to watch them and just enjoy them? Or do you watch them with a critical eye? No. That's been ruined for me for about 10 years. Like, I watched things and go, that was probably annoying the film.

Like, a movie where I'm supposed to be able to just turn. my brain off like Godzilla versus Kong. You're just going, it's Godzilla versus Kong. Like I'm sitting here critiquing it. But when I saw the scene where Godzilla flips the ship over and the lady's underwater and she has to hit

the bud and I'm like, that was probably annoying as hell. Are you kidding? Because I was in Godzilla. So I know King Godora whenever he's on screen, they had to bring a hurricane. So I'm getting doused with water all day. And like,

Like, I can't explain. Like, you have to be there to see how much water they use on you. And then it is, yeah, it's terrible. It's terrible. So you're looking at these scenes. You're just thinking about like on the day. Yeah, what it looked like on the page. What it looked like filming on the day.

Yeah. And it's never, whatever you think and while you're reading, is never what it's really like when you get. Give me an example of that from one of your movies. Like, like, Dinothies, for example, like you start, you see all this high. information and you're like, all right, yeah, all right, they're probably going to shoot that like this.

And then like when I get there, Christian Goudigazza goes, all right, now put on your rappel rope and jump down this elevator. Like, whoa, I'm pretty sure you know how to fake this a little bit better than me actually getting up there. Actually you, not a stunt performer? They made us repel down this elevator shaft. There's certain shots where if they don't show the face, you can like get a stunt guy in there.

But Christian be real up on you all the time. So, yeah, me and Gerard and everyone else, we had to repel. It's so weird. I thought we were playing pretend for money. Did you get a bump and pay when you're doing your own stance? No, no, no. What's you signed for us? What you get, bro?

Yeah. So you look at it on the page and you go, well, that's going to look like this or this. How about the fact that they kicked me in the middle of the ocean for real? Yeah. We were like, we got in the boat and drove for like half an hour. There's no way we don't have. a tank. Like,

didn't Lionsgate do this? We don't have nothing we can fake. Well, they wanted that big zoom out shot with the drone. Yeah, bro. Yeah. Yep.

So who am I to go against the art? And they kicked us in the middle of those. Is that the movie you get recognized for the most, Denna Thieves? Right now, yeah. I mean, obviously my dad is the first thing people see when they see me. But as far as,

like, movies that I've been talked to about, Dinah Thieves has kind of surpassed straight out of Compton. it being two of them really helps. You got a franchise. And a third one on the way. Yeah, bro. So it's, you know, it's been really nice. It's been really chill.

You've got the Netflix effect there too. Yes. Right? Especially during that first week, you've opened up Netflix. There it is. You know, Netflix is like become your second spot to try to get number one. And for Dent of Thieves, when it came out, we were number one January. but January was, at least here in L.A., the fires were happening.

So it's hard to, like, go on a talk show and be like, I know things are bad, but go see my movie. You know, I didn't want to do that. And so promotional-wise, on this side, I did my promotion on the East Coast a lot, but on this side, it was a little, you know, a little lesser than I would have liked. But we still got to number one,

and then once it hit Netflix, got to number one again. So, I mean, how much? What else can I do? How long does it get into filming where Gerard Butler becomes just Jerry? It took me a while. It took me a while. He told me to just call him Jerry on the first one. But I'm like, you Gerard Butler, my whole life.

I'm going to call you Gerard. And on the second one, we became neighbors. And we started, like, really talking and, like, having conversations. You know, I would go to his spot for us to go over scenes and got to know him. And then, yeah, then he became Jared. And he's so chill that from the jump, that's what he wants you to call. So you have a few big movies on the way, right? Like, what do?

Dude, I got, I got, I got something funny on the way that I'm really excited about that I go to film in August with my man Dave Franco, who's one of the best friends that I've gotten from acting. And Peter Dinklitch, who I can't wait to talk to about Game of Thrones. I know he's tired to talk to. about Game with Thrones, but like, it's stuff I got to know, man. What a cast. Yeah, right?

It's, it's really going to be fun. It's a road trip comedy. And, yeah, we're going to have a ball on that. What I've been doing, what I've been doing lately in between, because before I just used to wait for majors, just used to wait for majors. But after I remembered, after straight out of Compton, I didn't get work for a year. And I was shocked by that. I was like, just had the number one movie in the country, like, you know, number one on the call sheet. I'm expecting, at least that's what I thought it was going to be,

life phone was going to be blowing up. And so I kind of had to find what the next thing was. And I did Ingrid Goes West. And Ingrid Goes West kind of fell in my lap because I saw Aubrey Plaza at a war show where I was presenting. And she was presenting too. And I went to go say hi to her. And these ladies, blessed them, stopped me and wanted to take pictures, tell me of their grandson loves Stratton Compton. I'm like, I'm trying to get to Aubrey Plaza. Look up, Arby Plaza's gone. Get on Twitter as I do.

And, you know, talked about how like I almost got to meet Aubrey, but of course that didn't happen. So the night's going well. She sees that DMs me, tells me she's got this movie and she wants me to play in it. I'm like, all right, here's my number or she gave me hers. But anyway, I text her and say, hey, it's Batman. From there, she goes, great. And then we set up a meeting. We set up a meeting.

We get to the spot that the meeting is. She goes, how do you like the script? I'm like, what script? She's like the script for the movie. I said, you didn't see me a script. What's my email? She was like, well, then why did you say you were Batman? Batman.

I don't know. I love Batman. And then she goes, well, your guy in the script loves Batman. And I kind of already told everybody that you said, yeah. So I was like, all right. So I got to do it now. So that's how I got Ingrid Goes West. And Ingrid Goes West has done more for me in circle-wise than I would say a straight-out-a-com.

Straight-A-Compton obviously still backed me. But I've gotten maybe four roles strictly because they watched Ingrid Goes West. I got Obi-1 Canobi because of Ingrid Goes West. So look, we're talking about all these movies you've done, all these massive names. You don't need to have wrestling pockets. I love that you do. I love that you do. But why?

It was obviously I love wrestling. I'm always going to love wrestling. I'm always going to have an opinion about it. And in my adult age, what I've learned to love about wrestling, especially since becoming an actor, is that they're doing in a way very similar to what I do, but with no cuts, no redos.

And they have to add to their character every week. It's not like, you know, they got season two in a month's couple of time, you know. So it was a newfound appreciation for it. Broadway with violence, baby. And so, like, that's why I'll always, like, now have this different attachment that I have to it. But the strike, when we went on strike, that scared the hell out of me. It was like seven months of no income after I just had probably my second biggest movie I ever had with Denny.

It's like on the day we stopped filming, we went on strike. And Swagger season two comes out the day after the strike starts. So I can't promote Swagger season two. And then we get dropped by Apple. And so like now I was in a weird spot of just like any time because there's an argument between people that I probably will never meet, they can cut off my income. and I'm just here. So I needed to find something that I could rely on.

And wrestling don't give a damn. Wrestling going to wrestle. Like, they're going to be there no matter what. So it's a job that I'll always have. Yeah, you're on Twitter a lot. Yeah. And you don't seem to be afraid of giving your opinion on there. No, no.

You become somewhat of a Twitter heel. You know, and I don't want to be that. But it was because of the Chris Van Vlead show that really brought that out of me. No. Absolutely, dude. Absolutely. The day that clip went out, and it was near my birthday, the day that clip went out, I became just this evil man to everybody who chooses their own brand of wrestling. And if you watch the full episode, which I will give you, I specifically say that I am not trying to trash anybody.

I just have my opinion on things. But after that, after experience. explaining myself over and over and over and over again, I realize that there are some people who know that information, but just want to poke me anyway. So if you want to see a bad guy, I'll give you a bad guy. You're gonna turn into a villain? Bro, I know problem at all with that.

It's so unfortunate that if you like AW, somehow that means that you have to hate WW. And if you like WW, somehow that is interpreted as you have to hate A. A. A.A. Which is not the case. And I just don't get it because, like, I love wrestling.

And I've always loved wrestling. I watched WCW and ECW and WWE. And then when TNA came around, I watched that. I think the more, the better gives our friends more opportunities to go wrestle all over the world. I don't know why the fans are the ones who are saying, like, you can only watch this one company. And if you only watch this one company, you have to hate the other companies. Yeah. And it's, I have so many friends in both companies.

I want to see them succeed. And also, like, it's just, there's also people on Twitter who aren't even real people. They're literally machines, their bots. And, like, it's just, just this hate suit that they put together. And, you know, the people who know who can read, you know, what I'm putting out and comprehend what I'm saying,

they get that I look at both sides and I, you know, I don't like everything that's happening at either, right? You know, so they just see my words for what they are. Other people think I got an agenda to push. And I stopped caring about wanting to prove them people wrong. It was like, bro, if you think I'm a villain, I will, I will give you the heel that you think I am. Well, the problem is people will only see, like, the one tweet that goes viral. Your negative tweets get more spin than your part of the one.

Which is so unfortunate. Yeah. So you got to put, you got to whatever. What I learned is anything about it. Just put a hashtag on it. That way they could search up what you said about it and then get their opinion on it. But yeah, your negative tweets are going to get the most spent. Yeah, so you could say all kinds of things about how you like this, you like this, you like this.

And then the one tweet. That was weird. Two million views. Yeah, and it's so, oh, man, it's just so unfortunate that that's where we're at. Yeah, I mean. And look, it's not just wrestling. I think it's important to point that out. Yeah, it's, it's hardcore fandom about whatever it is.

Stans, it's whatever. It will go at your neck. NBA Twitters like that, NFL Twitters like that, Major League Baseball Twitter, all of it, right? Star Wars, Twitter, you name it. If there was a passionate group of fans, they will be at either ends of the spectrum going, I love this. And there will be people on the other side going, I hate this. I used to have a bit on Twitter. And it's not even close.

where I would pin something against something else and just talk about how much is better and say it's not even close at the end of it, when I say instant, instant, just fire would be spewed at me from that. Because it'll be something crazy like, uh, uh,

monsters the best and it's not even close. You see what I did there. I do. I see what you're dead. But it's not even close. Yeah. And it's not even close. And then from there,

anybody who likes anything else is just, going to flood you. But from there, brands used to send me stuff because it'd be like, hey, man, thanks for that. Yeah. Is that how you got the Monster sponsorship? Oh, no, this is my, you know, part of the Big Three. Shout out to the Big Three. What?

Yeah, the Big Three, you know, they were sponsored by Monster. And so when me and my dad being two celebrities that we are, we sponsored by Monster. It's so true, though, because if you can say, like, I'll give you a perfect example, Cody is the best and it's not even close Yeah Cody is the worst and it's not even close Yeah And you're gonna have passionate people on both sides of that

Yeah Fighting for how good he is or fighting for how bad he is And it's not even close It's so disrespectful It's not even close Yeah so they gotta talk But it just seems like you put out your takes And you don't seem to care

What people think about No and I'll learn that from Skip Bayless Skip Bayless Skip Bayleis will say any dumb thing and just put it out there and mute his tweet and there it is. I feel like though sometimes that there's people that are just like

that's genuine rage bait. I don't feel like your tweets are not rage bait. No, I've never done anything, you know, that wasn't between two companies to send me free stuff. That was rage bait. That's, that's, I don't like that. It's just like mean, spirited. And it makes you,

it makes anything you say afterwards just like with a grain of salt. That's not really you. If somebody doesn't like one of your wrestling takes, they immediately go, well, you're just a Nepo baby. Yeah, and I'm like, you damn right I am. You damn right I am. You had one tweet. I suggested for everybody.

You were like, am I supposed to apologize for like, you know, like, oh, you had a good family. Like living, being raised well? Yeah, like, what do you do? It's not nothing I chose, but it's not nothing I'm going to throw away either. It's like you, there's no way to make me feel bad about Ben. I wear that with such a badge because, number one, how much I, I love my dad. But then number two, like, there's no real disrespect there.

There's no real anything that can really affect the person you're telling is an apple baby. So I'm like, yeah. Hey, what was you, you said, like, specifically you said, like, am I supposed to be mad for having an easy childhood? Yeah, but like, oh, you had an easy life. You got me. Oh, man, what do I do?

I'm not being, like, there's nothing you can go from that. And it just shows me that, oh, you're mad. And to quote my man, TJ, I'm going to buy you a cape. So now you're superman. Yeah. I saw so many people, though, jumping on that going, like, that's a, that's the perfect response. Yeah, like, that is the great response to, like, you didn't choose how you were raised. No, I just, I'm sorry I hit the baby lottery.

What do you want me to do? Sorry, my dad's super successful. Yeah, bro, don't yell at me. Yell at your dad. I don't know. What do you want me to do? What do I do with that information? I think, though, on the flip side of it, you could go,

your dad's Ice Cube, that is setting you up for a difficult time, right? You're always going to be compared to him. Not just because your dad's Ice Cube, you share his name, too. Yeah, and it look like, which is, you know. You look just like it. Yeah, so it holds its challenges. I'm sure there's unseen things that I have to deal with that I'm not aware of. I remember Freddie Prince Jr. saying that what's,

It's difficult when you're named after your dad is you're kind of like a statue for your dad, right? For sure. And then there's always going to be the comparisons of junior to senior. Yeah. And he's like, Ken Griffey Jr. to Ken Griffey, senior. It's like always the comparison of like, will you live up to the life that your dad lived, the career that he had? Yeah. You know, the two heaviest letters in the alphabet when they're next to each other is JR.

Like that is like a real thing that you have to personally overcome and then realize that the idea of a shadow or like, you know, any of that type of talk is from third parties. It's never really how you're treated at home or anything like that. And even when it came down to picking my career, I know that my family name and music is just untouchable. But in film, I could take us to new places, you know. And I feel like I've been on the right track in these first 10 years. Actors, you can act for a long time.

So I know I'm still on just the beginning of where we're going to go. And it's things like the No Contest Wrestling podcast where I can show a little bit of more of my personality and also connect with people that I think will also aid the film career. When I first did media training, the first thing they teach you is relatability is likability. And so when you have somebody who is looked at as a celebrity and then they show you like, oh, no, you like the same things I like, yeah, I'm human, bro. I got a cool job. And so from there, I've really gotten a positive response from people. Like Instagram, respect to Instagram, but Instagram is just so much kissing my own ass,

like posting pictures of me all the time. That's why if you look on my Instagram, there's not a lot of pictures of me. I'd rather show people cool things that we all can connect with. Muhammad Ali had a quote, and I'm paraphrasing it. instead of selling myself, I'd rather get you to buy into you. So then from there, you have that relatability. And it's like, no, this dude's cool. And that's all I need from you to have a fan for life.

And it's interesting that when people find something, like you're wearing a one-piece shirt. Yeah. Right? Piece is real, bro. And now you have a whole bunch of people going, Shea loves one piece? Oh, man.

I got Tony, Tony Chopper on my back right now. Like when you showed up today, and I was like, are you wearing the same shoes? me and we are both wearing the same Jordan horse. Come on, bro. Look at these. You see it. You see it.

High five. Slam me. But yeah. It's like there's some sort of relatability in that. Like I love bass fishing. And I talk about that. And there's a lot of people are like, oh,

you're in fishing? Yeah. It's like a same, same. Same. It's like the scene in stepbrothers. Did we just become best friends? Yep.

Exactly. And that's what pro wrestling was for you. Like that that was the connective tissue for wrestling fans. Bro, that was all I needed back in school. You know, when I found out somebody was talking about Raw. Oh, man. Dude.

I remember walking down the hall of my high school, and there was someone wearing an Austin 316 shirt. And he had never worn a wrestling shirt before. And I was like, yeah. Hey. What? One of us? Exactly, dude.

That's how I still want to see Laker jerseys out of town. Just that point right there. Eight or 24? Yeah, bro. It's just like a moment. Yeah, all day, dude. What are you saying? Eight or 24.

I mean, eight, the thing about eight is I will watch number eight, Kobe, not thinking, like, we're going to win. We're going to win no matter what. The days of that early staples, you know, Shaq, Kobe and Phil, there was no, like, everything else was just so beneath me, especially like I was a kid. So like our first championship in 2000 with Shaq and Kobe. I'm in third grade. So like during that time, I'm not really invested. That 24, I was trying to prove people wrong about Kobe every day. All right.

I had like full on arguments with people about Kobe every day. So that 24 is different. And 24 is my favorite number. Oh, well, there we go. Yeah. With what you're doing on the podcast, have you had some of those conversations off camera where someone tells you something? And you're like, oh, man.

I'm glad we're not rolling because I'm privy now to this information, but man, you just dropped a bomb. Yeah, it's always right before they leave. Yes. It's always right before they leave, I'll be like, man, you're lucky, I'm a good man. But you're also like, well, that's a lot of trust.

You're telling me you that. Yeah, and I have to wear that trust like a badge of honor. Same because I want you to come back. Like I knew about, I'm not going to say any names here, about a specific match. Yeah. And it was like, wow, you're telling me about that thing.

Yep. Okay. Yeah. And thank you. And then the match came to fruition. And I was like, I knew about that six months ago. Yeah. Okay.

You know, there's a, yeah, there's a pretty big match that I'm not sure I was told the finish to. But if it happens the way that I was kind of told, then I'm going to be like, wow. You and I. He's the homie for real. and I about a month ago were in a conversation. Yeah. And a piece of information was kind of. Yeah.

Kind of said, but not really. But like, kind of said. And then you called me up and you were like, did that? Did he say that? And I'm like, yeah, I think he said that. Listen, if it leads to, if things pan out the way that we think we heard, that dude's my homie for life. Like, is that the thing that he said?

Yeah. If that happens, that changes, bro. Everything. First of all, the internet's going to explode. Uh-huh. The internet's going to explode. And it was just like, man, there it is. Men, the only thing worse than losing your hair is waiting forever for it to grow back.

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See website for full details and important safety information. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinembourg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really stake their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it.

Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. what a time to be a wrestling fan right now what a great time i mean there's so much going on right now and i feel like every week on raw or smackdown if there's a pla like there is the capability of something to happen that can like the changes everything for the next few months or even beyond that yeah it's it's such a and with this time they found this this this pocket right now that i feel because with social media with just how much access people have, it's so hard to put things behind the curtain.

And when they do flip things on their head, it's got to feel good. Whether or not we, the fans are loving it or hating it, the fact that they still can do that is like, that's got to be the best feeling for somebody who's really behind it. John Cena made some comment in an interview recently and he said, like, we've been listening to the fans a lot and we've made made some pivots. And I was like, so like, that means they've been making like last minute, maybe last second pivots. And we don't even know that they're happening.

Yeah. And then we end up getting what we get on screen. And I think that that's the beautiful thing is like, we don't know what the original idea was. Yeah. We're just seeing how it's playing out. And that's what I, you know, the bigger, no contest wrestling gets, I would love to have some of those who are behind the curtain,

let us know original plans. once they've already happened, you know. We're still so fresh. We're still coming off the last bits of, uh, WrestleMania, you know, as far as like what we're talking about. Like, so it's, we still got some time. You and you gave me and TJ such great, uh, advice one time when we asked, like, you know, how can you move as freely as you do as far as guests and things like that?

You're like, listen, I'm on, I'm in the 700s, you know? We were like at 30 at the time that we asked you. So, you know, we've been giving it some time. But, yeah, the, the pivots also injury-based. We don't know what Zoe Stark was about to have done for her. Live. I'm sure Liv shook the core of the entire locker room where things were going to go. Think about when CM Punk got injured.

Yeah. And how much that changed things, especially leading into wrestling. The first Cody injured. Right. You know, that probably, you know, the tribal chief was always going to hit 1,000, but it probably would have shook it up a little bit. What would WrestleMania 40 have looked like had the fans not turned on the original plan that the Rock had? It would have been having our tribal chief with the title.

That's what it would have looked like. Like you think it would have been Rock and Roman? Rock and Roman. Come on, man. Rocky and Philly. It goes together, bro. And they've been teasing the Rock and Roman for years now. It sounds like we were really close at 39.

And the Rock basically said that something the last minute, like, didn't feel right about the deal they were making. I wonder if it happens now. I know. I know. Like the further away we get from it, the less likely it seems like it's going to happen. Yeah, because then it was, because then after the 39 thing, and it was kind of like the final boss situation when him joining the bloodline, the thing that they did with Solo in the new bloodline kind of felt like what they were supposed

to be doing with the Rock and Roman, of having just like the Rock with the New Bloodline, Roman with the OG Bloodline. But then it kind of felt like rock dipped and they gave it solo. And solo's been doing great. Solo's been doing great. And he's hilarious, too. He's hilarious. What a guy.

But yeah, I don't know. I don't know if we get it now. It's always going to be there. But it's so important that they put it in at the right spot, you know, and then get the proper buildup. Because fans nowadays, when they can feel. when it's just throwing together. Yeah. And it's just,

it just doesn't have the buildup that it needs. So, yeah, they have to treat that right. They know it. We've got a long time before WrestleMania 42, but if things keep going the way they're going with Rock as a big heel,

Roman hasn't officially turned baby face, but he's getting a lot of baby face reactions. Maybe that's when we see Rock versus Roman. Vegas. Oh, man. You saw my post. I'll never financially look up from this one. this is it for me.

This is going to be, because not only is it the event, but like it's a two-nighter, plus I go to NXT, plus I go to Raw. And like if I'm trying to hit the Smackdown 2, and I got to get rooms. And then I'm going to go out. I can't do that back to back. It's a lot.

It's a lot. All the Travis Scott in the world can't save me right now. But it's a possibility. It's always a possibility. They know the talk. that happened after 41 and they know 42 got to be crazy. Yeah. So I'm excited.

Who do you think is John Cena's final opponent? I, man, the punk thing hurt. The punk thing hurt because I thought in my mind and my fantasy booking that all fans do, I thought they were going to save that for the Saturday night main event in Boston. because, you know, rewind a little bit when punk and Sina were going at it, when the roads were reversed, and punk was the one that was trying to take the belt and leave. It was in punk's home. So I thought they were going to do that same thing in John's hometown and, like, have it that way.

But they just did it in Saudi. So, man, I don't, I don't know. But I think if I know how John is, it's going to be somebody to pass a torch to a little bit. He's going to put somebody over as opposed to somebody who's a vet, you know, and who's been doing it. So like a Randy or any of his past rivalries, I don't think is going to be the person. I think it's going to be someone of the new school that he's going to put over and kind of have that traditional wrestling look up at the lights for your last match. I thought for sure it was going to be Randy Orton because there's so much history there. And when they called their match at backlash one last time, I went, well.

Yeah, right. Okay, all right. Well, that's out. I felt the same way that you felt about CM Punk. I thought, okay, well, that would be a really good final match. When they called that at 90 Champions one last time, I went, all right, well, I guess that's off the list. Yeah, it's like, what do I do? And then it's like...

Edge is gone. I don't know, though. Honestly, so let's think about this one. He was on my podcast last May, and he said he had about a year and a half left on his contract. And he was just talking about, like, I don't know how much longer I want to wrestle for. I'm in my 50s. So he debuted on October 1st, 2023. So if he had about a year and a half left,

I'm assuming it's a two-year contract. So that would take us to October 1st, 2025, except he has injury time. Broke his leg. Is the injury time going to be added on? How much injury time is going to be added on? There's a lot of questions there. But could you imagine there's a scenario

where John Cena has a mystery opponent? And out of nowhere, we hear, on this day. Oh, my God. I mean, number one, the pop would be insane. There's so much history there. Yeah, there's a lot. And he does really feel like the missing piece as far as this farewell tour.

That would be crazy. But I feel like, I don't know if, I feel like if one of his opponents is one of his old rivals, John is leaving with that title. I just, that's just how I feel in my heart. I think he loses it at SummerSlam. Whoa. Yes. Okay. Why else would they set up Cody, John Sina again, for Cody to lose again to John Sina?

Cody is the guy right now. True. Why would you give him a rematch for him to lose again? Unless there's some, you know, funny business going on there. You know it's funny business, man. It's always funny business. It's always, and then you got Seth looming over the whole thing. So, like, there's always funny business.

And I was one of the people who at the, at WrestleMania, sure, I was happy because I needed payback for 40. I needed payback for 40s. Because you're a Roman guy. Man, I'm a Roman guy, dude. And so just that cold Philadelphia air after you lost the title. I needed that. I wanted to be excited as everyone to see The Undertaker. But I was like, what are you even doing here?

You've never even like talked to God. But so like I needed my payback for 40. After I got my payback, I'm like, all right. So what's John going to do? And at first I was amongst the party of just like, what is this? You know, what's happening? And then I, you know, speaking to people that are, you know, in the works, John Cena has done so much.

He is allowed to go out however he wants to go out. whatever he wants to do. And I think that John Sina will be the one to tell you, it's not up to me. Yeah. So who knows? Whatever they want me to do, sure. Yeah.

I think they made a big mistake in the main event at WrestleMania 41. When the crowd was cheering John Sina and booing Cody, reminded me of WrestleMania 18 where Rock and Hogan went in and basically went, are we got to switch things up now. Like, you're going to work as a heel and I'm going to work as a baby face. I feel like they just worked the match that they had already planned. So Cody's doing these baby-faced things and getting a heel reaction and vice versa. And it's like, I feel like they should have listened a little bit to the crowd and reworked the match a bit.

Yeah. And it's one of those, you know, I'm sure every wrestler sees every match they happen. And like, you know, if I had it back, you know, this was what I would do. But yeah, it definitely ended with a, oh, that was it. But I mean, while me and my little brother, shout to Sharie, who has been a member of C-Nation from the. beginning and I couldn't stand every single victory but that day I got to take my little brother to John Cena's last time winning a title at mania we went night one and night two night one you know I get to see punk in his main event so you know I take the chair right uh they didn't

take their chairs but night two when he saw Sina get that victory let me get this one get this took a chair, got his ticket. So, you know, I was really happy about that. But now that you mention 18, which is the answer for something coming up, by the way. But now that you mentioned 18, yeah, it did, it did feel like that. And that's another thing I want to bring up the WWE crowds,

as much as I love. They don't know they roll. They don't know their role. They don't, like, I'm so tired of y'all singing Seth Rallin's song after he just trashed you. Or like, thank you, Sina, after he just committed a crime. It bothers me. I get it.

We're all happy to be there. But we have a role that we got to, like, play. And we just don't do it. I think that the Sina appreciation, I understand. Because it's like, this is the last time we're going to see him in our city. Yeah. And like, yeah, he said all these mean things about us. It's like, hey, but it's John Sina.

Yeah, that's John Sina. It's like, you know, Anthony Hopkins has this incredible performance as Hannibal Lecter. And you're like, yeah, but. is Anthony Hopkins. Who cares what the character was doing? Yeah, right. What a performance. Yeah, right.

Wait till the cameras cut off and John come out and say bye. Like, you know, but like during, like, when Shinske Nakamura turned heel, they changed his music so we wouldn't sing his song anymore. They did it with AJ Styles too. Yeah, Seth, Seth turns here.

We're just, it doesn't make any sense. Yeah. So I think it's, I think it's easy to turn heel. And we saw that with John. Sean Sina, right? It's fun. You know, you take the biggest baby face, you kick him in the nuts. That's it. Boom. It's in a heel. It's hard to turn face. Like there's not, there's usually not a singular

moment that allows you to, like, become a baby face. But I feel like John has had these moments of good guy tendencies over the last few months. So let me, let me bounce this one off of you. Okay. What if at SummerSlam Cody Rhodes beats John Sina. Seth's music hits. Seth comes out, he's going to cash in. He cashes in, he's about to do it, and John Sina takes out Seth Rollins. Instant.

Saves Cody Rhodes. Instant. I've been thinking about this one for a while. That seems like the moment that could make John Sina officially a baby face again. Because he can't be a heel this entire run. I don't think that's going to happen. Right.

And people don't want that. People don't want that, you know. And I was a part of, the crowd who didn't like Sina. Because I was like, he's so, such a goody, two shoes, like Ray Mysterio, I never want to see Ray Mysterio. There were moments when John was the doctor of Thugganomics

where I was like, this dude is dope. Like, this guy's cool. And then he's, you know, he, once he do a couple Marine movies, he just became like this, this guy was just never, he never veered. He was always face, face, face. And then the super seen him.

So I had my issues with it. And even now, once he is turned heel, I agree. He has to at some point, give a nod to C-Nation. They're lost without you, right? Yeah. And that's how he's going to go out, I think. Yeah. Peace, full piece, me.

Go out playing the greatest hits. The problem with Sina's baby-face run is they didn't listen to the audience. Like, the audience was booing him for so long. Vince don't care. Same thing happened to Roman Reigns in the late 2010s. Yeah, well. He was getting booed even though he was a baby face. Hard.

Yeah. And the best thing to happen to Roman was a little bit of time off, comes back, and he's a heel. That go away. That go away sometimes is what you need. Yeah. And, yeah, I remember Baron Corbyn, who is my guy? Love Baron Corbyn, man. When he poured dog food on Roman, I was like, this is crazy.

Like, this is insane. And then the next time I saw Roman, he didn't lose forever. 1,316 days as champion. Usos did get a pin on him before that. But like, yeah, it was, that go away is so pivotal. And sometimes they don't want to accept that. They're like, you know, maybe you should be off TV for a little bit, get you some time with the family.

But during that time, no, John was in your, face all the time. Yeah. It's the go away. And then you need people to be able to miss you. You know, that's it. You need people to be able to go, oh, we'd love to see that guy again. Yeah. We did see that with Cody. Yeah, for sure. Because, man, when I first heard that, that, when I heard it again, I was like, man, I'm, I missed that for so long. And everybody thinks I hate Cody. I'm just a Roman guy. Love Cody. So if we think about John Cena's retirement tour, he probably only has six to eight-ish more opponents, six to eight-ish more matches.

What do you think those look like? So we know we've got Cody at SummerSlam. Yeah, we got Cody. Okay, so then if we look ahead from there, we've got... I mean, if your theory happens, he has to go against Seth. And I think a match with Seth does have to happen at some point in time. That would be great. An AJ Stiles match would be...

Solid. Incredible. Solid. Oh, yeah. We still haven't had any sort of young talent. though. Like a brawn breaker match would be amazing. Which would also make sense with your theory. Sure.

Because then, you know, you don't have, you don't, I think Bronson is so tight up with Penta that like Braun going after Sina would be good. Yeah. I mean, we know who the, you know, the top baby face is right now. And the internet would hate seeing them going at each other. But, you know, four letters, one way. word. Do we get John Sina versus Roman Rains?

Like it would be crazy that on John Cena's retirement tour, he doesn't have a match with one of the biggest stars in the company. Yeah. But, you know, you know, as much respect for John, you know what time is. Y'all know what time it is, bro. Roman's getting that done. So I feel like that's a match that has to happen. And one that's just sitting there.

And there's a story that has to be told is John Cena versus the Rock. I was about to say the final boss. For the third time. Come on. Why not? And we need an explanation as to why the rock was the pivotal...

Right. What was that? What was that at Elimination Chamber? Why was the Rock telling John Cena? Why do you slick your throat so weird? And I... And I don't want the answer just to be it was the easy out.

The Rock's a mega heel. If you do something that sides with the rock, that makes you an instant heel. I want an actual explanation for what the Rock's role in John Cena's heel turn is and why the heck Travis Scott was there. Right. Explain that. Travis, respect to you. Of course.

You walk down that ramp for so damn long. It was crazy. It was like, Cody could definitely get up by now. You know, we got to still be in the round. I know you're digging in your moment right now. The time's sticking broke into that ring. We just need an expert. explanation. That's it. It can be one sentence. Give us an explanation. Right. Make Rickishi do it.

He did it for the rock. He did it for the rock. So then who's John Cena's final opponent? If it's not Randy Jordan, if it's not CM Punk, who is it? Yeah. I don't know. It's just, all of it really depends on if he has the title. If he has the title, I think it's going to be somebody from the new school. if he doesn't have the title, it's got to be a rival. It's one last time. But I know if he has the belt, he's got to give it up. But like I said, also, if you have a rival going for the title,

I don't think they went. Just like this, not Tavir. Shots of Veer Mahan still waiting for you to show. That's a veer. Veer is coming. Yeah, Veer's coming. I'm telling you. But this Goldberg-Glainter thing.

Now, here you have John Sina, and John Sina threatening to leave the WWE with the title and yada, got, got, yeah. Now you got Goldberg talking about one last match and it's going to be for the title. So are you going to let, so is Goldberg going to win

and leave WWE with the title? Because that's what John Cena is trying to do and that seems like a bad thing. So it doesn't really feel like Goldberg's going to win. I feel like we know who's going to win that match. Yeah. And that's crazy.

That's like, it takes all this judge out. I mean, I'll get to see Goldberg one more time, hit me with the hits. but I need the judge still. They're like, oh, it might. It won't. People say what they want about Goldberg online, but if you listen to the reaction in the arena,

Goldberg is still an attraction. Just love to see him. Like when he returned on Raw, it was a huge ovation. Like he gets a big reaction. The entrance is still an iconic thing. Yeah. And I think that people seem to forget that for some reason.

I think a lot of, of a lot of the the bravery that the screen brings you, you know, of saying, yeah, like you say these things and you say all of it is based in nostalgia. But when you're there, nostalgia is all in the world. And I say this. It takes you over. I say this all the time. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Man, it is addicting. It makes you feel good. And you might sell a VCR for it. But it is, it is a feeling like we've all seen crowds chant Goldberg, Goldberg. I, as many wrestling events as I've been to, I've only seen Goldberg come out one. And that chant does feel good when you see it. He wasn't wrestling. I've never, I've never been to an event where Goldberg wrestled.

But you, as a kid, you wish you had. So when you're an adult and you get to be there, it makes you feel good. Yeah. I just watched my first. Hardy Boys matchlock. Wow. Right. At T&A.

So when you have those moments that you feel like you missed out on and you get to do them as an adult and do whatever with your money that you want to, it feels good. Yeah. So speaking of nostalgia, back to the future is my favorite movie of all time, greatest movie of all time. If you could jump into a DeLorean and travel back in time to any moment or match in wrestling history, What would it be? Rock versus Hogan. Rock versus Hogan is so like... I was there, by the way.

You sick. I've never been flexed on like this since Jalen Rose's haircut. What? Jalen Rose got the best lineup in the business. But yeah, that was crazy. I can't believe you flexed on me like this. I took a Uber here. That's wow.

I'm from Toronto. Yeah. Dude. It's 18 years old. Russellman, 18. Oh, that's the best. So yeah, dude, that match to me is like, as far as you hear so much storytelling, you know, what exactly is storytelling in a match.

That match right there, bro, is S-tier blueprint telling a story right in front of you. The old guard passing to the new, both of them getting their stuff off, a fan of Hogan in the Rock, getting to play one-on-one with, you know, just, I'm not going to call him Michael Jordan. Y'all know how I feel about Hulk Coke. But just to be able to go in with one of the greats while they can still go,

that reaction from the crowd at Mania, like 50-50 crowd, what do you want? That's it right there. And then not only was the torch passed, but they teamed up. Yeah. Like, come on. That was the end of the NWO.

Yeah, like, dude, that was everything. That matches, that matches goosebumps every time you watch it. When J.R. says, three out of five stars. Crazy. When J.R. says a lot of fans cheering for the Rock. Why, frankly, a lot of fans cheering for Hollywood Hogan. It's like the fact that they admit that, like that they recognize that, I was like, it feels like a heavyweight fight.

It feels like a heavyweight fight. First time I met The Rock. and interviewed him, I said, I was there for WrestleMania 18. He's like, oh, that's amazing, man. Who are you cheering for? Yeah. He said, I was, I was cheering for Hogan.

He goes, me too. Hell yeah, Rock. Damn it. He's so good at being political. He should be president. Oh, yeah? No, no, no. I would not wish that on anyone, any any friend I've ever had. The moment that I would go back to

is June 28th, 1998. That's amazingly specific. Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, King of the Ring. That's a good one. Mankind Undertaker. Just because, like, no one is expecting that.

Okay? He's dead. No one is expecting mankind to be thrown off the cell. Yeah. Like, to start the match. Like, so that's the thing. Like, they're climbing up, and you're like, wait a second.

Yeah, to start. The match is going to start on top of that thing. Yeah. And boy, that does not look safe. Yeah. Every time they step, it's given way. Yeah, bro. Oh, man.

And then out of nowhere, like, there's no build to it. They weren't like hinting that someone might get thrown off. No. There wasn't even a... No, there was... Exactly. No of that. Taker just grabs him and goes, here we go.

Yep. Bumps away. Yeah, and then... Can you imagine being in that arena? Bro, no. No. You would have thought... dead silence.

You would have thought you just witnessed a murder. Yeah. And like, what are they going to do now? Yeah, like, it's over. Yeah, it's over. What are they going to talk to me about on Monday? The stretcher's coming out. Yeah.

When Terry Funk came out, you're like, okay, this is legit. In street clothes. Yes. You know, he's out there, track pants, sneakers, hat. Yeah. You were like, it's done. This is it. And I was here to witness him.

I'm going to save the ticket. This is the last time I was seeing Mick Foote. And then he gets off the stretcher. Yeah. And he's like, get away from me. Don't touch me. I'm going to climb back up there. And you see The Undertaker being like, we're going back up?

You got a pretty terrible batting average going up there. I wouldn't do it. And he's climbing like with one arm essentially. Yeah. And then he gets slammed through it. Chair hits him in the mouth, which was the kill shot. His tooth is coming through his nose. Yeah.

Which four years thought was snot. I thought it was snot the entire time until I've seen the interviews where he was like, no, my tooth kind of shot into my nose. that's gnarly. I hope to never know what that's like, you know? And I had Mick on our show, and of course he, when you interview Mick, he's got to talk about it. You know, you got to talk about it. And I'm like, I told Mick, you are the embodiment of for the love of the game.

And like, you don't have to do everything that you did, but you do it for the pop. And he goes, yeah, he talked about almost, was losing his eye on some thumbtacks and he was like, I could lose an eye. But think of the pop. That's insane. You don't have to, but he did it for us. That's why he's a wrestling guy.

In sports, they always say you're only as good as your last game, right? You're only as good as your last match in wrestling. But then I think of like Mick Foley, and that was 27 years ago. Dude. And we're still talking about it so passionately. Yeah. He said, you know, he doesn't have the, ability that, you know, the rock or, you know, like athleticism or whatever that any of the

other stars had. So he said, what he was looking for was moments. I'm going to have the moment, you know, the moment that you're talking about in the car on the ride home, you know, and that right there is everything that we know McFolly to be, and we are still talking about that moment. And when I show people who are new to wrestling that moment, they're like, how old were you? And I'm like, don't worry about that. Just pay attention to what I'm showing.

And he's fine and he's funny and he dresses up at Santa. This dude went on to live a great life. You know? That's wrestling. Do you want to have that moment of wrestling? Kind of. I don't want to, I'm not, not no hell in the cell now. We always see you in the audience.

Yeah. We always, the camera's like, hey, look, O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s here. The star of Den of Thieves 2 is here. I was there at the raw debut on Netflix. Yeah, and I disrespected the clipper crowd. Yeah. In their own building. So would you want to step into the ring?

Right now, I'm doing training for Genitive 3. There is no date yet. I'm just getting training in right now. And so when I get that, when I get ready, I'm definitely going to be hitting up Booker T. Because Booker T, every time he sees me, he's like, when are you coming to reality wrestling? I'm like, all right, chill out.

It's your birthday. I'm trying to tell you happy birthday. But yeah, so I'm definitely going to check out book. And I want to. I definitely want to, but I don't want the celebrity spot because I don't earn wrestling fans respect that way. You know, I don't want the John Stewart spot. No, disrespect to John Stewart.

I love John Stewart. But, like, I don't want that type of spot. I want to go. And Logan and Bad Bunny have kind of set the bar right now. Yeah. So I got to go. Just so wrestling fans can give me that nod of like, no, that did it. So you want to do it.

You want to have a match? Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. And like, it's got to go hard. I'm not going to do anything less. And I got to make sure I'm not under contract with any movie when it happens. Because when you go on contracting movies, they like, you have to sign something that says, you know, I won't go scuba diving.

I won't, like, ride a motorcycle. I won't do anything that will put me in danger. So they will not go for it. But, yeah, I need to go hard. Would this have to happen in WWE for you to be happy? No, I feel like I'm going to do a bit of a tour before. before I get there. I don't want to just jump into it. You're going to do like the David Arquette thing, the Paul Walter Houser thing. Yeah, that's my boy.

He is crushing it. That is my boy. But yeah, absolutely. And I got to figure out how I'm to do it because I have such a recognizable face that, I don't know. I don't know. It's me until I'm ready to show you. Well, that clip's going to get played at some point in time. Maybe you're already doing it. Who knows? And we don't know. Right, right. I mean, unmasked myself when it's time. So you want to have a match? Okay. I want to go hard.

Not just one match. No, no. I want to go hard. I need a payoff. I need a payoff, baby. Yep. Well, Stephen Amel had a match a SummerSlam. Right.

Stephen Amel had a match at the very first All-in. Like, there is precedent here. I do. I do. I've said a lot, actually, that Stephen Amel crawled so the guys like Logan Paul or bad money could run. Yeah, I ran into Logan at a... Where were we?

Where were we doing in New York? Oh, Fanatics. It's Fanatic Fest. Yeah, my God. I couldn't think of that word. Yeah, so I met Logan Paul Fanatics Fest, and I was like, no matter what they tell you, you go, bro.

Like, you do some stuff you don't have to do, and fans appreciate that, but they will never tell it. We'll never tell it. He was like, yeah, I mean, I feel that. You know, people in the back give me praise. You know, I'm cool with it, but I know. They'll never tell me.

But he's got to be the guy that, like, if he gets praised from someone like, triple H. He's got to go. Okay, then none of the rest of the noise matters. If that guy says I'm doing a good job, he knows. If Sean Michael says I'm doing a good job, I think that it's probably pretty good.

He leans into it so well. He's so perfect for it. Like, Logan is so such the perfect bad guy because he is good and he knows you know it and he knows you won't say it. And he's going to tell you that he's good. Like, that's wrestling. You jerk.

You did a segment in TNA. Yeah. That could have been. That's true. AJ Francis. Could still turn it into something more. Who knows? And TNA is so dope.

Let me give a nod to TNA. I've been to plenty of wrestling events. TNA is the most fun I've ever had at a wrestling event. TNA fans are so hardcore. Dude, I love it. And I am one of them. I've been a loyal TNA fans since like 05. Yeah, TNA is sick.

0-4, actually. Yeah, when it starts. TNA is sick. Tommy Dreamer always takes care. Started in 02. Sorry. Everyone's going to be like, I'm actually starting to go too.

Exactly. Everything you say, you have to think about what the conference is going to say. Started in TNA started in 2002. Yeah. I've been a loyal fan. Back to the conversation. But yeah, Tommy Dreamer's been looking out for me.

And yeah, TNA, I had such a great time. Got to kick it with the Hardies. Which me and my sister just freaked out. Every cool person that runs into me, my sister just happens. to be there.

And I look so cool. But then as soon as they walk away, I'm just like, God, I got to talk to the Hardys. I got to, Mick Foley came up to me at the first Smackdown on Fox at Staples

when they robbed Kofi Kingston in front of all of us. Mick Foley kind of tapped me and was like, hey, I loved you in Longshot. I was like, yeah, thank you, McFoly. I loved you in Longshot, too.

Thanks, Chris. That is such an underrated movie. Man, thank you. I love, shout out, shout out to Seth and shout out to Charlize, the first woman African American. She was. She was, dude. I did the junkie for that movie. I interviewed you for that movie.

I should pull up the photo. I'm sure it's somewhere. Absolutely. Did I send it to you? Yeah, you for sure did. Right? 100%. Let's look at this thing.

Well, yeah. To see how little we've aged since then. In, in long shot, Charlize Theron becomes the first woman African American president. Because she's from South Africa? Because she's from South Africa. She's in, where are you woman? Like, bro. There it is.

Look at that. Absolutely, bro. Wow. My God. Little did we know. We're going to talk about wrestling. That was 2018? Yeah.

Right? Yeah, it had to be. Yeah, because we shot it in 2017. So that's 2018. Wow. Yeah, man. I'm three years into acting right there. Man.

Right. And crushing it. And now I'm in Star Wars. Didn't die. Remember, I didn't die, Disney. and now we're talking wrestling man who's the all-time who's your all-time great in wrestling like who's your all-timer um the rock has always been my guy because the rock when i was a kid i was a very shy kid and uh you know really wanted to be out the way type kid and the rock watching him and his promos

and just who that character is as a kid i needed to see that because i was because i was he was he was because it taught me to always have something to say. People are going to throw stuff at you, and you always got to be, you know, quick as a whip and just have something in the pocket to say. And so the rock kind of helped me get out of that shyness a little bit and, like, use my voice a little bit more just because I was watching wrestling every week.

Yeah. And now with where I'm at, because I'm a heel, it's Roman Raines, maybe. He's not a heel. He's the greatest of all time. 1,316 days carried the company on his back during COVID when all of us were just LED screens, giving a cinema after cinema after cinema. You damn right, he deserves time off.

Take all the time off that you want. Show up for the big four only if you want. I don't care. It doesn't matter who you grew up with, watching with your dad while you sat on his lap. the goat greatest of all time is Roman rains. My, your, our trouble.

What a promo. People are like, people just love to be angry. Yeah. There's no way because such as such and who gives a damn did. No. I think it's so funny when the argument is made of like, well,

he never shows up. It's like, well, makes it interesting. Yeah, that's what makes him a draw. It's meaningful. It's the Brock Lesnar's schedule. Yeah.

Like when Brock Lesnar would wrestle three times a year, you're like, oh, well, this is meaningful. Yeah. This means something. When you hear that guitar riff, that, that, dude, that guitar riff in the beginning sounds like a, like a robot T-Rex, like that. Oh, my God. I love the little record scratch. Yeah, right in there just cutting up for no reason.

That song goes way harder than it needs to. It's in the playlist for sure. That comes on. My favorite thing to do is like we all got our playlist that we play in the car or like at the gym. Throw in a wrestling entrance right there and tell me you don't pop when it randomly comes up. Every time. You start doing a little bit of Brocklands there. Yeah.

Just the back and forth. Like you're driving and like Lauren Hill just went off. But then you hear here comes the money. Here we go. Money talks. It's the best feeling. What's the most underrated theme song? Oh, bro.

My, they changed in a little bit. Alexa Bliss's theme, bro. That bana, ban on, that, if you listen to that, whoever was in the studio was on one. They're killing it. It has a bunch of different layers to it.

It's all over the place. And she's so tiny and the beat is, so big. And I, like, I sound out to Alexa Bliss, five feet of Fury. That, that right there. I think it's called spiteful. I think the name of the song is spiteful. But yeah, that song is a banger. There's so many Jim Johnston themes from like, oh my God, early 2000s, late 90s. Yeah.

That goes so hard. Like, Ken Shamrock's theme song. I would, huh, Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman, like. Steve Blackman was just on my show. No way. Oh, he hasn't that an I've been I think since 2007. Dude. Yeah. These are, like, these were my guys.

I was like, there's no reason why they shouldn't murder everybody. Right. Like, Steve Blackman, lethal weapon, dude. I was like, this dude is the man, and I really believe him. If I believe you, you should go to the moon. But yeah, but yeah, Ken Shamrock. Ken Shamrock. That one, I think, Gangrel's theme song.

Yeah, that's a, oh. That's, that's, that's. Oh, bram! I just interviewed Nikki Blackheart, And Gangrel's like, that's like her mentor. So like, yeah, gang girl, shout out to Gangrel. Another, scare the hell out of me. A current one is Jacob Fatu's theme.

Yeah. Man. Jacob Fatu, brother, it's, it just, it feels perfect. It's the, even the hyro. Yeah. It's on point. It's solo. Don, don't, da, da, da, da, darn.

There's some of them, them drums, dude. Them drums when you hear solos coming. And solo is so weird because, like, yeah, his, uh, you know, his, uh, you know, his, entrance and his big boss like persona but then he'll he'll do with like what he did with the uh shaking the knees and like he's just like

he's so funny but he's menacing at the same time which is hard to do. Hard to do. So what's your all time favorite W.W.E. Entrance favorite. Stonecoe got to be up there because there's nothing when that glass breaks that's your ass. Yeah. But

one that I feel like doesn't get a lot of love that uh, Oh, I also like a, is it slow chemical? The cane one. Yeah. That's a solid one with the lyrics too, with the lyrics. And, but my favorite, I said this on no contest, my favorite theme that I feel like don't get enough love is one of a kind by Rob Van Dan.

That's such a good one. I used to, Chris, when I tell you this song would make me run through a wall, bro. Like, when that drops, can't tell me nothing. And the way it starts to the... Down, down, down, down, down. One of a God. That is such a, like, party anthem. The fair I see when I look in your eyes.

Makes you believe I'm one of a kind. One of a God. It's the best. You know, someone's coming out to Go Hard. And it's Rob Van Dam, Mr. Monday Night. And the bar was set high. Because in ECW, his theme, song, Pantara Walk.

That's one of the best ECW theme songs. Right up there, of course, with Samman's theme song. But like, how are you going to top that? Yeah, one of a kind. Oh, well, check this out. One of a kind goes hard, dude. That is an excellent selection. Thank you.

Very good. I'm about that. You asked this question in every single one of your episodes. I'm sure you have an answer, but who is on your wrestler bar fight team. So set this up for people who might not know what we're talking about. Okay. On the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, what I'll let you ask people is you are in a bar with 50 dudes who don't want you in there. I need you to pick a team of you and four other superstars to make sure you're getting to the car.

Now, this changes every week. Every week it changes. But number one pick people that I'm like, yeah, I need you in my corner. Brock Lesnar. 100% because I took my sister to the raw after mania after 39. And she had never seen Brock in person. We're like second row. We ended up getting bumped up to first row.

And she saw Brock and she goes, Shea, Brock is big as hell. This dude is a refrigerator walking. And he will fight you. And he's okay with that. So Brock Lesnar, Brock Lesnar got to go number one. might not need anybody else.

It's like, oh, he's with Brog. Never mind. Let's just send him some beers. Brog Lesnar for sure. Number two, because I just had a conversation with Ray Mysterio. And I'm going to pick Eddie Guerrero. Yeah? You're going to pick Eddie Guerrero because Eddie will have your back.

Eddie will have your back like none other and Eddie will go. Eddie will go. The fact that there's that story where Eddie Guerrero went for a double leg on Kurt angle. Yeah. Tells you, he's just, he's crazy. Yeah, he's crazy. He's going to fight.

He's crazy. Who goes for a double leg on an Olympic gold medalist? Exactly, dude. Next, I got to go Jacob because I feel like... Sure. What are we talking about here? And he's, he's been there and done it. I got to go with Jacob.

Now, four was Kurt. I usually, you know, I like to... I've been picking Kirk because wherever I watch a few times, like during that week, I'm like, oh, yeah, he should be on my bar fight. He should be on my bar fight. He should be on my bar fight. He's Kurt. Now, if my man, T,

was here, I would pick Andre because nobody's messing with Andre. But I don't know what age Andre I'm getting, so I'm going, Craig. Anybody want to peanut? Like, you know, I'm going, Craigang. Hard to argue with that one. Yeah, I'm going athleticism, speed. And then, like, Jacob, I know it got my back.

Pretty sure he's a nice kid. You're getting out of there. Yeah, I'm out of there. Pretty sure he's a nice kid. Yeah, some about him. Some about him just makes me know he's an ice ski. Could you believe they released Archer? truth.

No. I couldn't believe it. No. And I text him immediately. I was like, don't do this to me. It's nine in the morning. Just tell me if this is for free. He was like, no, it's the truth, truth.

And I was like, don't say that. There's no way. He was like, I just found out. Like, yeah, it's happening. I was like, there's no way this is a storyline. Because, like, you don't joke about people being released. Fire. Like, it's too serious.

You don't, especially at a time when other people had been released. Yeah. You don't make that part of a storyline. Yeah, it's just, it's in bad taste. And I, not to say, you know, WWE hasn't done some things in bad taste before, but just firings and, you know, releases just doesn't seem like the right way to do things, even from a business standpoint. And business is the bottom line with that. And so when the, when the, when the, truth thing happened, you know, I sent out a tweet. And all I really wanted was, that's the person you let's say goodbye. You know, they don't, they don't get dropped in an email.

You know, good luck on your future endeavors. They don't get that. You allow somebody like that, somebody who has been the sands of time within your company, you let them say goodbye. Beloved by everyone. Yeah, everyone from multiple eras. Yes. So, like, you let them say goodbye.

And that was the thing that really was making me. is that they, they never let truth get a thank you, truth. Yeah. Like, they never let him get that. So it was really bugging me for a while. And then for the first time in a long time, wrestling surprised me when he came in the ring and it interfered and, you know, took the hoodie off and it was truth. By the way, you could tell it was truth because the hoodie goes up a little bit and I saw

that black ass back. I knew that starts true. But when that happened, that's the first time, like, I can't even think of the last time that wrestling really shocked me. And I was surprised. And it was like a feel-good moment. I was a kid again for 30 seconds. And that is why you have to watch.

And the beautiful thing about it was it reminded the fans that what they say does matter. Yeah. And, like, WWE is listening. Because without the we want truth chance, without the outcry online, that wouldn't have happened. It doesn't happen. And, you know, I know that there is still the, well, they said it was a work. And I'm like, oh, well, you know, wouldn't it be better if they just said? You got to look at it from this point.

If me as a company tell the people directly that they have that much power, that's how you get Zaza Pachulia in the All-Star game. All right. That's how you get. some stuff that just doesn't really like, like they, there's going to be abusers of that power. And so that's why the NBA took away your fan vote. It just Zaza just shouldn't be there anymore.

And that's what happened over there. In this instance, yes, we all know what happened. We all know what we saw. But they could never really tell you directly. It was because of you because they know not all of that is going to be genuine all the time. When Triple H was asked about it, the press conference. And he said, are you enjoying the show?

Yeah. It's all part of the show. Yep. People interpreted that as, oh, well, he's just telling us now. It was part of the show this whole time. I interpreted it, and I don't know what he meant by it, but I interpreted it as, you don't know? You don't know if this was real or not?

Yeah. Well, you're welcome. That's all part of the show then. And that's the magic. Take it. Take it. And I think that that somehow was lost in translation. but like I think, I feel like what he was saying was,

if you don't know, then that means you're enjoying the show. Yeah, which is a solid response. Because, like I said, I don't believe in telling them directly, but I do believe in also paying attention to the people who are paying to come see you. So, yeah, that's a perfect answer for a balancing act

that you have to put on. And there's been a lot of moments, the We Want Cody movement leading up to WrestleMania 40. Yeah, garbage. Trash. But it led to arguably one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time. Yeah, arguably.

I'm more of a 39 fan myself. Roman through and through. Yeah, that was great. What if Roman turned heel on you? I probably deserved it. I still love it. Great guy. No, still a supporter.

Man, 1,316 days. Oh, by the way, WWE, still mad at you because how do you not make Roman 1-316 merch? how do you not make that? That would have been like, you know how angry people would have been? Roman 1-316. Oh,

anyway. That's a good point. Yeah. I try. So good to see you, man. Good to see you, man. We could chop it up about wrestling for the next four hours.

Van Vleet, the Vleet is van I know, dude. I'll ask you the question that I asked everybody. I asked you this last time. Maybe your answers have changed. I don't know. Okay.

But, Shay, what are three things you're grateful for right now? Oh, three things I'm grateful. for are I'm grateful for the No Contest Wrestling Podcasts. I'm grateful for it because it does give me a level of

stability. It's got me somebody who I consider a really close friend of mine, my tag team partner, T.J. Jefferson. And I get to go on the Rich Eisen Show whenever I want, which is really cool because I get to spew nonsense. I'm grateful for

my, this has been different from the last time I was here, but my nephew, Zique, my guy, my, you know, my nephew, he's healthy. I got a niece on the way. Thanks, Daryl. And my baby girl, Jordan. And, yeah, just health. I've been to, I've been to three funerals this year alone. So I'm grateful for the health of everybody who's close to me.

And, yeah, so my new venue. my family and my health. Well, everybody go download or go listen to, go subscribe to no contest wrestling podcast. Right. And if you start off with CM Punk as your first guest. I mean, right now, like, our ends are CM Punk and Ray Mysterio and everything in between. We're kind of killing it right now.

It's pretty incredible. And the way that I tell everybody at the end of every episode now is you guys have a good day, but not too good. It's who the hell do you think you are? What a What a way to end this. Oh, that's great. Thank you, bro.

No problem. Okay, there we go. A lot of hot takes in there. Just a lot of takes in general. Obviously, my SummerSlam prediction with Seth Rollins unfortunately won't be happening with that knee injury that he suffered at Saturday night's main event. So wishing him a speedy recovery.

Very interested. see what they do there. Like Seth Rollins has 11 months to cash in. So really good chance here. I mean, it depends on what the diagnosis is on his need, but good chance that he could still hang on of the briefcase, still be part of the faction with Braun and Bronson and Paul Heyman and just have that like kind of lingering there. Who knows it? You know, is he out for two months? Is he out for six months? Maybe they don't announce that. And then that idea just continues to linger that he could cash in at any moment. But we talked about a lot of things here. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Go give O'Shea's podcast a listen and a follow now that this episode is almost done. It's called

No Contest Wrestling and snap a screenshot and post it online and tag us. He's at O'Shea Jackson Jr. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And I love Frank Sinatra. So I'm going to wrap this episode up with a quote from him. The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything. Be great and be grateful, my friends. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. 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 banj of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.