Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru - Episode 444

Episode Date: May 23, 2026

This week on the Drive Thru, Jim reviews Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, and WWE Raw! Plus Jim previews AEW Double Or Nothing, and Saturday Night's Main Event! Also, Jim talks about Jericho, Mark Shapiro, leaving boots in the ring, what if Big Bubba hadn't left the NWA, Danhausen, songs, and much more! Thanks to our episode sponsors: WILLIE'S REMEDY:  Order now at drinkwillies.com and use code JCE for 20% off of your first order + free shipping on orders over $95, and enjoy life in the high country. DK CASINO:  Download the DraftKings Casino app and sign up with code JCE to claim your Flex Spins and experience Cashingo—the feature you can’t play anywhere else! RAYCON:  The Essential Open Earbuds are the perfect addition to your everyday routine. Go to buyraycon.com/jceopen to get 15% off. SHOPIFY:  Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at shopify.com/jce Send in your question for the Drive-Thru to: [e-mail]  Follow Jim and Brian on Twitter: @TheJimCornette @GreatBrianLast Merch! https://arcadianvanguard.com/ Join Jim Cornette's College Of Wrestling Knowledge on Patreon to access the archives & more! https://www.patreon.com/Cornette Subscribe to the Official Jim Cornette channel on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/c/OfficialJimCornette Visit Jim's official site at www.JimCornette.com for merch, live dates, commentaries and more! You can listen to Brian on the 6:05 Superpodcast at 605pod.com or wherever you find your favorite podcasts!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You got nothing to complain about this week. Hello again, friends, and you are our friends. The yelling ends now. We are in a pleasant mood, and we're talking wrestling with you. That rhymes somehow. I'm the great Brian Lesterhote. We've got, obviously, the music and wrestling extravaganza you guys look forward to every week. Jim Cornett's drive-thru right here with this man, the star of the show, Mr. Jim Cornett.

For the first time ever, I didn't. know it was possible, you didn't hit any of the normal notes. Usually there's a couple in there by accident, but you didn't do anything related to the normal sound of whatever it is that you're doing there. And it was just all over the fucking place. I completely disagree. I'm sure you do. I completely disagree. I don't know what you're talking about. It sounded like somebody had gone through and disconnected half of the keys from your keyboard, so you just used what you had left over. First of all, the second half was a magic.

The first half is improvisational, and it goes in different places, but it always ends up right back into the familiar tune that the listeners have come to love. It goes to different places. It's impropositional, you said. Improvisational, improvisational. Improvisional. I got a proposition for you if you think that's improvisation. All right, here we are again.

Ready with another big week, a championship wrestling, Davey. What's on the card for today here in the studio? Well, we got a big day here. Of course, we got the Iranian assassin with Jimmy Hart. Back to you, Jim. Dave Brown was the, well, was, he's not passed. he is, but he was in those days the calmest, the nicest, the most

unflappable, just the, you know, just the most reserved person in the world, not, not reserved like Mark Lawrence where he looked like if you set him on fire, he wouldn't yell. Well, think about that. Can you see Mark, Mark Lawrence standing there

doing a show? Somebody sets him on fire. What's he going to do? He's going to look down. He's going to say, well, fans will apparently have to take a break. He's the charisma of a dedicated deacon. But Don Green was a deacon. Of Don and Al Green, the heavenly bodies, the mean greens, he was a deacon in his church.

He called himself the sneaking deacon when he was a heel. All right then. I'm hot. I'm sorry. Have I told you about my air conditioning fiasco? It began last week when I got that beautiful, ductless wall unit put up in the vault a few years ago as part of my climate control program to keep it cool and dehumidified in there with all of my

collection climate control program get out of here well it's part of it there's a dehumidifier there's a circulating fan there's a wall unit that keeps it nice and cool normally but last week when it got a little warm I turned it on a so this thing ain't cooling what the heck and I called the service guy. And this thing is bolted onto the wall of the dormer on the roof of the top floor of the house. So you have to get to the outside part, you got to climb a ladder and the roof is kind of

steep there. And they sent the oldest, bless him, he's a wonderful gentleman. But I'll be 65 this year and he's got to be five, bless him if he's not five or 10 years older than me he's led a hard life and he was up and down on the ladder like six or seven times and inside and taking measurements and readings and he determined that one of the circuit boards was bad and that's why the condenser is not coming on because it'll run it just won't cool and they had to order because they're not sure which one it was they had to order three different circuit boards from three different factories and three different states and they all came in

and now it's been seven days since they were out here, and it's turned 90 degrees the past couple of days, and it's getting sticky, and I've got fans directed, and the doors open from the other areas of the house that has air conditioning, and the guy comes over here today, a different guy, younger guy, he's very spry.

He can climb right up there with all these circuit boards. He says, let me just check on this, boom, boom, boom. Guess what is not wrong? with the air conditioning. What? Any of the circuit boards. How could that be? He said, it's a leak.

It's a little where the drain goes through the wall to the outside. He said, I'm sure it's a leak right there. He's already charged it up and it's cooling, but now he needs to wait for another guy because he's not a member of the Walenda family and they need to send another technician over with a special kind of ladder so they can get up there and examine where to find the fucking leak.

now that he's charged it up and he knows that it's working, it's leaking the cooling out and they've got to do that. But they could have done that last week. I was waiting for the circuit boards from Omaha. So what do you think the next guy's going to tell you is wrong? No, he knows what's wrong. He's waiting to fix the thing. They need to get two of them to get up there on the roof

without falling off and causing me further problems. Imagine how much trouble it would be for me if this guy broke his neck and died in my backyard. Well, it would be unfortunate. It would be a tragedy, but it wouldn't really be an indictment of you in any way. You're in your office. No, it would be a pain in my ass. An aggravation, I'd have to go out there, drag him around front, call somebody. You can't move the dead body. You've got to call the police. Well, I'm not going to have people traipsing around my backyard when I can pull him around

front where they can get him easier anyway. He's going to have your fingerprints on him. What are they going to think I did? throw him off the fucking roof. They see a ladder. They see a guy laying there. They figure what the fuck. I'll just, well, if I drag him around front,

I'll move the ladder around front too. I think the guy, they'll suspect of possibly pushing him off through. Maybe the guy dragging the dead body across the front lawn. Well, that'd be my guess. I didn't say I was going to call him until I fucking got him fixed. Got him fixed.

What does that mean? I get him fixed first. I'll recreate the scene. And then I'll call, yeah, yeah, but still it's going to be, the rest of my day.

we wouldn't be able to record the show because I'd have to deal with these people coming and fucking carting of people off and everything. You know what? Just move that body. See? Now when it gets to inconveniencing you, then you come. It's not about me. It's about the listeners.

I always have to keep in mind the listeners in their experience and making sure that they have the pleasurable experience of not missing a show. If we did a poll and said, would you rather get the fucking show one day earlier or Cornett not have to drag the body around the front yard? What you say, people would say, yes, give us the show quicker. So when do you expect the AC unit up and running? Well, it's cooling now, but it obviously won't remain cooling until they can fix the problem where the coolant leaked out and caused it not to cool to begin with.

So imminently, they just take a roll of duct tape and seal that thing up and be on their way. All right, this has been air conditioning, talk. Well, I'm just telling you, I've got problems. problems over here. And you're wanting me to have to fucking deal with coroners and inquests and ambulance crews. Why would you have to deal with the coroner? If you just call the police, you don't have to deal with anyone. You just make one phone call and it's over. You know they're going to ask questions. And besides, again, they're going to be loud. It's going to be distracting. They'll send over the same cop that said, you're the guy yelling? Yeah. And see, I'll say,

that's why I'm always yelling. There's always people dropping in on my property. on my property. Either they're dropping in in a car, they're dropping in out of the sky, but they're always drop it in. That's why I'm always yelling. I've had three raccoons, a Mustang, and a dead roofer.

Yeah. And I've got a mold that's getting really on my nerves, too. Go to the dermatologist. No, not the kind that digs in the ground. He's pissing me off, too. You know, what else is going to piss me off is if people don't know about the big promotion that I'm doing in June at Cornets Collectible. See, I'll just get this out of the way so we continue from here.

I've been telling everybody June is Crusade for Children Month. The WHS Crusade for Children is, what I say, June 6th and 7th. It's the first Saturday and Sunday. And that's when the telethon is, but they take money all year round. So this year, in addition to my normal contribution to the Crusade, I am also going to donate the entire proceeds of my book Heroes and Friends on Jim cornet.com for the month of June. However many copies sells, and you can go now at Jimcornet.com,

if you want to scope it out, if you haven't heard about it already, and see how fabulous it is. if I do say so myself, the most beautiful book on territory wrestling ever created, and I just did say it myself, and every single penny of who, it's $25. So if 100 people buy it, that's $2,500.

You get the math. I do simple, easy round numbers, but if it's 97 people, some money will go however much that is, to the WHOHS Crusade for Children, and you can go, to WHAS crusade.org and find out more about the crusade for children

and how over the last 75 years they've helped literally millions of special needs kids in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. But if you've been waiting for heroes and friends, get it in June and you still get the book, but all your money goes to a good cause. Or at least better than some of you reprobates would spend your money out there.

I've seen the cheap hooch and the flusies that our audience spends money on is just, it's embarrassing, Brian. Jimcornet.com. Jimcornet.com, the opposite of embarrassing. You know, before we move on a quick update on animals and trees, koalas and not bears, they're marsupials. We've been sent that by several people.

And also, Eric Miller tried to post this in the cult of Cornet group. When I lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana with my wifie, a medium-sized deer, not a fawn, fell out of a tree branch from pretty high up. A bobcat was up there just staring. It had drugged the deer up the tree. Oh! And I was told this is not uncommon. After hearing about Brian's bear, I thought I would share this. So there's the animal. Wait a matter, how big was this fucking bobcat? Bobcats are strong. Bobcats, if they grip you with their teeth, it's, they do whatever they want they could drag anywhere a deer a medium-sized deer no problem a medium-sized deer would it to drag something that's not wanting to go or helping you up a tree that weighs even

what do the deer weigh medium-sized deer has to weigh what 80 or 100 pounds oh at least I would think there's a full-sized deer I've got some big deer around here but how the I don't know about that much would you say what was this? I don't, I haven't ever had one step on a scale, but judging from the differences in other animals and people, if you would stand them. I would think a full-size male deer would probably go, what, 150? They're much bigger than dogs. This was sent in by Eric Miller, Fort Wayne, Indiana. I think Eric is lying.

He's bullshit. Why would he lie about that? Google, what a deer weight. What does a deer weigh? Deer weights vary significantly depending on the species, age, sex, and geographic location. What is the median deer weight in the United States? Generally, North American deer weigh between 80 to 300 pounds. Good Lord!

Though some northern species can occasionally exceed 400 pounds. So what kind of fucking bobcat is pulling 100 pounds up a tree at its teeth. A bobcat could drag a... Dragging is different than pulling... By the neck. A dragging is different than pulling straight up a tree. I'm calling bullshit. Not everything's a work, Jim. Well, some things are...

I don't think the animals... How would the bobcat... Unless you think Eric's... By the way, Eric, it says here his nickname is Bobcat. Eric, the Bobcat Miller. No, no, I can't... But why would he lie about this? This seems like something to... Why would he lie to get on the show? He would lie to get on the show.

Well, Eric, I believe you. I need video of a bobcat pulling a fucking deer up the tree. You know, we really don't need to see that. We could just take someone at their word. I don't want to watch it. Well, it would be a disturbing sight, but still it would be proof that it happened, unless it was AI. Be like watching Brock Leznor against Zach Gallen.

Now, I believe Brock. could pull Zach Gowan up a tree whether he wanted to go or not. They should have done that with Brock at some point. Just like, oh, Brock has got this guy and he's climbed a tree. And he's got him up the tree. Oh, and the guy is down and Brock is still sitting at top of the tree staring at us. Well, this has been the animal update, not quite the Reggie's corner, as we call it. But Jim, why don't we move on here and we got a lot of things to talk about?

Why don't we start with something we previewed when they first announced it? It was an intriguing concept. There's a lot to talk about for such a short fight. Rhonda Rousey and Gina Carrano for MVP on Netflix had their big spectacular fight, a very interesting card and an interesting main event. Why don't we talk about, I don't know how much you saw, so why don't we talk about what you want to talk about? Well, first of all, let's not slander the good name of MVP.

It's MVP promotions, not MVP the wrestler. Let's just make sure he had nothing to do with this. I thought the piece stood for promotions. That's why I didn't say promotions, but maybe I'm wrong. Well, I think it's the most valuable promotion, whatever they're doing over there. It's a Paul, right? We know that Logan Paul is one of the hottest things of the WWE, because people have figured out that he's really a dick.

And apparently his brother, it doesn't have very many fans either. but I'm just this was the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever seen and I don't know how they thought they were going to get by with this one to I can understand if they said okay we did it now we're going on to be furniture appliance salesmen's or something but if they expect to promote another fight to use that term loosely ever how the fuck do they think they're going to get away with it when this thing was a turd and a punch bowl, this, it was, it wasn't even, we'll get into the specifics of it, but it wasn't even an exciting flash knockout. It was two fucking friends that figured out a way to make a payoff, and one knew that he didn't, she didn't have a chance,

and the other one knew she didn't have a chance. So they just went to the ground, Rhonda Armvartor, she tapped and then they hugged and kissed for five times longer than the fight went on and told each other how much they thought of each other. It was a fucking scam.

They knew there was never going to be a fight to this. And boy, howdy, have you seen the MMA fans? They're worse than the wrestlers, much less the wrestling fans, when the wrestlers used to have people say that wrestling was fake and they would fucking beat the shit out of those people. The MMA fans are worse than that when you tell them that one of their particular endeavors was a bunch of bullshit. You've never seen a real fight.

Stick to wrestling of that fake stuff. This is how real fights go. This is how Rhonda beat everybody 20 years ago in 15 seconds with an arm bar. Jesus Christ, yeah, 20 years ago when she was hot and getting over, and that was the thing. But now, after all this time, you got two almost menopausal housewives. People wanted to see a goddamn fight of some description. They didn't want to see the obvious we got your money and we don't want to hurt each other

because that's exactly what it was. And Rhonda, she gets to have her last MMA fight allegedly, was a win because that's the most important thing to her because she cracked up before when she got beat. And so she got what she wanted. and apparently this Gino Carrano I didn't know anything about her

past that she was a fighter 15 years ago she apparently turned to acting and I knew she was doing acting years ago she got a part in one of these Star Wars programs and then ran her mouth because apparently she's one of the right wing lunatics and they fired her for it

she said being a Republican in the United States is like being a Jew during the Holocaust. Now, fuck you. Don't say that. I didn't say it. No, I'm saying, you know, that was just such a stupid. But yeah, that's, and then they wonder when they say this, when they say shit like Trump really won the election and all this other shit and that they're coming for the Christians and that all people don't want to be around you, maggot motherfuckers.

Figure this out, douchebag. that's why you got fired because people decent people don't want to be around your bullshit you Travis heckled yourself Gina so then she apparently went into a dark depression and gained a hundred pounds so here was this former professional athlete and former actress clocking in at 240 unheard of, but Ronda likes her. So Rhonda calls her up and says, hey, let's have a fight.

What? She did it as a motivational weight loss program for Gina. And her friend and idol, Gina, let's get her back in the spotlight. So we'll get her back in shape. We'll promote this fight. Jake Paul

and whoever his fucking angel is with the bank account and want to start this company we'll get it on Netflix. Everybody will make a couple million bucks apiece and nobody will get hurt. And that's exactly what they did. And for the people,

again, I know it's free on Netflix. Well, free and you're paying for Netflix, but you know what I'm saying. But for the people who actually went to that and sat through which Diaz was it? Nick or Nate? Nate. Did you see that?

That was one of the bloodiest fights I've ever seen. Yes. Well, it also, he looked like some fucking drunk guy on one of these security videos on Twitter that wandered in and picked a fight with the wrong guy. The whole thing. But the main event, point is, these people went to the building. they paid however much they paid for these tickets in Los Angeles. And they sat there through all of that and they get to what they came to see and it's gone.

And again, this was not the okay, ding, dang, dang, and one guy or girl comes out and whom, whack, whack, boom, flash knockout, done. Wow, spectacular. This was, she took her down, rolled her over and put the armbar on her. And then they got up laughing and hugging and kissing. That was the part that was rubbing people's face in it. The fuck would be like, I'm 65 years old, and my friend Bobby Fulton is a cancer survivor, and he's a year older than me.

But by Cracky, we would have one more fucking match. But, oh, geez, we don't want to hurt each other. can you imagine if Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture had been coerced out of retirement and the same thing happens ding ding boom one guy grabs the other guy takes him down tap in 15 seconds and they get up and they shake hands and they hug and they're laughing they're going over old times and the guy sitting there on front road just paid a thousand dollars for the ticket to see it you mother they'd hit the ring

the fucking fans have I said anything here that is outlandish or inflammatory that people for whatever reason they're just defending Rondo or defending MMA or defending whoever they're defending and couldn't see that this

was just bullshit I'm not completely convinced it was a work it went exactly the way I thought it was going to do it's It went exactly. If you would ask me to tell you what would happen, I would say Gina could only stand up and Rhonda can't stand up. Rhonda is going to immediately take her down and go for the arm.

And that's what you see. And Gina's not a fight. I mean, respectfully, it's been a long time. Of course. But that's what people don't understand. It's not a work just because you go, okay, I'll get a headlock, one tackle, drop down, hip toss, and whatever, and you call everything.

It's a work in that Rhonda Rousey called this. out of shape fucking idol of hers and said if you'll lose 100 pounds i'll get us a couple of million dollar payday i get to win my last fight i won't hurt you maybe she even said see how long you can keep me from getting the arm bar on if you want to have fun and that's what they did i don't think she said that i don't think she said that that's what it's a friendly shoot it's a friendly shoot it's a Same thing if... It's a friendly shoot. I'll go with that.

If Hodge and Dale Lewis had said, okay, Hodge told Dale Lewis, see how long you can go before I get behind you. But they're not really trying to hurt anybody, and it's not a real fucking fight. I agree with you that it really looked bad for five, ten minutes after, whatever it was them in the background.

Even when they weren't being talked to, they were in the background, and it was really more Rhonda than Gina. Rhonda just having a great time smiling, the biggest smile I've seen on her face in a while, telling jokes are just very happy. And like you said, I think that was the big thing. She wanted to win her last match. She wanted her last fight to be her winning, and she found a way to do it.

Ruth Buzzy was booked, so she got Gina Carrano. Yeah, she knew she was going to win. I mean, she knew there was no way Gina Carano was going to be. But here's the thing Gina Carano knew she's going to win, too. If it got to that point, there was no intent. amongst these people, if it's wrestling and it's a main event, the intent of the guys going in the main event

is to give the people their money's worth. If it's a shoot fight, the guys or girls going into the main event, it's their intent to kick the shit out of the other guy and do the best that they can to win and prevent themselves from getting hurt. None of the, it was, no. All these people had to know,

know that we're involved in this thing that nobody's really going to be trying here because they've made the the participants know it's a foregone conclusion what's going to happen but they went through with it anyway it'd be like me say hey i'll take brock on in a shoot book that in the main event it's funny too because before the fight they entered see i'm punk in the crowd yeah i saw that saw that we stood out because this is not a TKO event and TKO had a problem with this event, apparently, but AJ, I'll be home in 20 minutes. 20 minutes. As soon as he said that, I'm like, fuck, he knows.

This is going to be over right away. And they hadn't started the entrances yet. And I mean, but that's the thing is that you and I both said. And that's, it's just, I guess that the MMA fans are more, as I said, sensitive to the idea that there's bullshit and going on in their sport too just of different kinds that even the wrestlers used to be because I mean it's a known fact and there was one guy on twitter been somebody bend over or whatever he was just oh it's a condescending like well so you don't know anything about real fights no motherfucker I just know a bunch of people who've had real

fights and then learned how to work shooters cannot draw money I'm not talking about their style of work. Obviously, Brock Lester, ultimate shooter, draws a fortune. I'm talking about shooters who can't figure out how to work, can't figure out how to, that's why I've had a couple of people, Chale Sondon's one of them. The way the things that he says, I don't imagine he minds being quoted about anything. Dana White didn't want anybody shitting on UFC at the start. That's why he stayed away from anything that could be construed as wrestling or, you know, showbiz or whatever, women's fights.

But then when he got the guys on top that were drawing money and they got the picture of how to cut the promos and hype the fight, he let them do their shit. And then Brock Lester was too much to turn down and then see him punk for the gate value. and people are pissing all over punk's fights, but punk had fights at least where people were fighting. But the point is that it's, if you're having a fight of any rules, of any description,

boxing, MMA, wrestling, whatever, and you're selling tickets to it, then there's, there has to be some promotion, and very often there's going to be a little Gaga. but when it's this, would you ever want to see, I know Rhonda's retired now because she got her win, and I think Gino, old Gino knows,

my God, she was almost the size of one time of Gino more, apparently. She said in the interview after the fight, she said she may want to fight again, just because she said, like, I have a lot inside, I really wanted to get out, but I didn't get to do anything. That was what I didn't get to do anything. I didn't get to do anything.

But would you ever want to see another fight from these, this fucking, these people? See, that's the interesting thing. This company, MVP, they've had a lot of these boxing matches with celebrities or Jake Paul. And a lot of them have had the whiff of a work around them. Remember Mike Tyson against Jake Paul? I mean, there's been a bunch of these things that have seemed like if they aren't to work, It seems like there's a cooperation of some sort. I like the idea of the UFC and TKO having competition in combat sports and boxing and

wrestling, well, MMA. But, you know, yeah, it was... Would you? You didn't answer my question. Yes, I would. If they get some sort of freak show and put it on Netflix, like you said, it's free. I pay for Netflix, so I consider anything I get to be wonderful bonus content. It's kind of like the old days of TV. You never know what...

Okay, so then how are they going to be? go and get a crowd to building to watch it where it looks like something. The one thing they did right was the promotion. The one thing they actually did great was promoting this thing and getting Rhonda out there. Rhonda Rousey sold this pay-per-view. Yeah. Sold this event beautifully. Sold this bill of goods.

I don't know who else they can get to do that. Tito Ortiz or someone, I don't know. No, I'm talking again, would you buy, would you spend money on something else from this after this? Well, I wouldn't have spent money on this. A second main event. I wouldn't have spent money on this, but in terms of ticket buyers,

the audience sometimes is fickle, just put a free shot. And by the way, did you see they had in the Intuit dome, they got the lights on the seats. It looked like Saudi Arabia. It looked like they got the empty arena syndrome from those fucking lights.

It was the same thing. And people were commenting on it. Like, oh, the place is empty. and then you see the next shot. When is everybody going to figure out that, yeah, that it looks like shit on television when they have those lights on the seats. There was an article on one of the news sites

about the actual lighting on the seats causing people to think the building was empty. Next one, they better just turn the lights down. That's all I'm saying is that this, obviously, the participants, whether they told anybody or not, never intended for this thing to be serious. It was a way for Rhonda to win and get her old formerly fat friend a payoff

because she's been forgotten because she's a goof. And Kurt Angle, in 2007 or whatever year that Brock was doing something in Japan or something, he said, it was because when did brock go to ufc uh 2007 right maybe well right about that time point is angle said that he talked to brock and brock pitched him the idea hey come to the ufc with me do three fights i'll win the first one you win the second one and i'll win the third one and that doesn't mean they're going to tell anybody else Jesus Christ, it's not hard to figure out

when there's all this money on the line. Everything doesn't have to be a working punch and booked by a booker to be bullshit. Well, there it is, Jim Cornett on Rhonda Rousey versus Gina Carrano. Jim is saying it was a friendly work. No, a friendly shoot.

Friendly shoot. It is the thing. You don't have to search hard, to realize that Rhonda is not exactly a shrinking violent enough to not to be able to go up to Gina and say, look, Gina, come on. You know what's going to happen. So we'll get the payoff. I won't hurt you. Defend if you want to, or we could just be friends and hug and kiss. And that was the tweet that I put out in quotation marks. Okay, Gina. We got their money.

We'll go down. I'll get the arm and tap like Jose Greco. Or Bill Bojangles Robinson, I think was the tapping reference I used. And we'll hug and kiss for five times as long as the fight last. Well, that was the big MVP promotion of Rousey versus Carrano. And here's one more thing. Yeah. One more thing.

I would not be complaining. I'm complaining from a promoter standpoint and from a fucking like I didn't pay any money for it either but I feel for the consumer and also the popcorn fartedness of this whole thing. If Rhonda had come out there

and just fucking roundhouse kicked Gina in the head and knocked her goofy or Gina had done the same thing and Rhonda's teeth had flown out of her mouth in 10 seconds, bam! That would have been the greatest fight of all time. Not this.

This was for business. And it was obvious from the start that they knew, if not exactly what was going to happen, what they weren't going to fucking do. Nobody was going to knock anybody's teeth out in this thing. All right, I'm sorry. Well, it was a long night, an interesting card, a very short main event,

but lots of hugging and kissing, and Jim, Gina Carrano's disappointment with not doing anything, not landing a punch, not doing anything except going down and tapping. That may be hard to live with, and you may want to go back to your hotel after a fight like that and maybe enjoy some Willie's Remedy. That's what they needed was a remedy for the workitis that came over them. Folks, if you need, if you would like to first, forget about a bad choice that you've made, like watching that stupid fight, without a hangover,

without all of the problems associated with alcohol, the feeling crummy and the stomach aches and all of those things that you get when you just over imbibed the devil's hooch. Well, Willie Nelson, our hero, has got your remedy. because, folks, Willie's remedy is an alcohol alternative that actually works with an uplifting euphoric buzz you can really feel without any of the negative side effects that you get from the demon rum, the bad breath, the headaches, the bad decisions, the possibly divorce proceedings. You never know what can happen when you're just a drunk laying in a gutter.

But when you're with Willie in his remedy gutter, all is. is right with the world, and you're just blasting off into clouds of soft, fluffy euphoria. With an oh hangover. So, folks, again, if you want to replace alcohol on weekdays, weekends, or the other days that don't fall into those categories, use Willys. You were going to say something? Willie! Willie? It's a low calorie, low sugar, alcohol alternative that actually works, as I mentioned,

but I didn't mention the low calorie, low sugar stuff. There's no calories, there's no sugar. I think they just dig up some things from out under the trees and just flavor it that way. There's no calories and all this stuff. And they come in five and 10 milligram doses. So smooth and balanced, you barely realize you're drinking a THC, product at all until you turn to your right and the pink rabbit is starting to talk to the purple rhinoceros. That's when you know to take another drink. Willys is a unique blend of

THC, CBD, CBG, and L. Theonine for calm, clarity, euphoria, and relaxation, and they ship directly to your doorstep in 40 plus states. In the other approximately 10,000, then they're going to have to come around back. They're going to knock. No one like that. Then no one will be coming home. Then you're going to open the door and hand them a cash envelope with no names. There will be no deliveries to those other states.

This will not be happening. Let's focus on the states. No, it doesn't officially happen at all. But the guy is going to be wearing a purple fedora. Order right now at drinkwillies.com. That's D-R-I-N-K-W-I-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L. I. Drinkwillies.com and use the code JCE.

You're going to get 20% off your first order and free shipping on any order over $95. So you can enjoy life in the high country for a low price, 20% off your first order and free shipping on orders over 95 bucks with the code JCE at drinkwillies.com. And remember in those eight states, the guy's going to, he's going to,

Once again, let's focus on the realities, and this is a great deal for the listeners. Willys Remedy, Drinkwillies.com. promo code JCE, 20% off your first order, and free shipping on orders over $95. Enjoy life in the high country. That's what I always say. And just remember, when you open the door, ask the guy, did Willie send you? There's no guy. There's only Willie.

He's going to give you a special thumbs up sign where he sticks his stuff. thumb and it is to the side of his nose, and it's like he's Santa Claus snorting himself up the chimney. Oh, boy. Okay. That's how you'll know he's official. You're fully committed to this tale that you've concocted. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, maybe Jim's been drinking the Willie's Remedy.

Try it for yourself. Drinkwillies.com, promo code. All I need is ready for me, please. All right. Chris Robinson just announced he's left music. After that disgraceful singing. Hey! I thought you were going to announce

he'd left his brother That's already happened a few times, hasn't it? Chris was the nice one. No, is it Rich? No, Rich was the note. Which is the one that married Goldie Hawn? That's Chris. He didn't marry Goldie Hawn.

He married Goldie Hawn's daughter. Oh, that's right. Well, there you go. Well, Kurt Russell didn't hear about that until it was too late. But yeah, the other brother was the nice calm brother. He's the wild brother.

We've had a Goldie Hawn and a Ruth Buzzy mentioned so far, ladies and gentlemen, let's get to the Joanne Worley part of the show. Ha, ha, ha, ho! Jim, W.W.E. Raw air last night as we are recording, and there are a few notable things to talk about. And, you know, again, I should have watched it the next day, but I almost feel like I'm making it easier if I try to get through it,

but let's talk about Raw. Well, you could have just, you could have watched the first 15 minutes and then come back two hours later, and you'd have been fine. but the noteworthy things that took place can again i am flabbergasted i don't understand how that roman rains is are they turning him and people just don't want to boo because they know it's all bullshit what does he have to do does he have to actually shoot bambi's mother How can you tell who the fucking heels are anymore when everybody's cheering everything? Because as I mentioned beforehand, they all know it's bullshit.

Roman Raines and the Uso's just three-on-one beat a bejesus out of Jacob Fatu over and over. And they're like, yeah, OTC. but they chant and cheer for Jacob Vitu in the same segment. There's no way to get heat because they're now just watching some kind of circus performance. There's no tether to legitimacy in the fan's minds anymore. I mean, they booed Dominic because it was fun because at first he was a putts and then he got over so they booed him because it was the thing they wanted to do to help him because they liked him.

And they boo Logan Paul because he really is a real-life dick, apparently, from everything that we can gather. So they choose who they boo, not based on their actions, but who they are. But if they don't particularly dislike you for something you do in the real world

or it's just not fun to boo you, they don't give a shit because they know it's all phony as a fucking football bat it's not really somebody cheating or stealing or lying or whatever we have got to that point

are you seeing that by this opening segment this has been an issue with this feud this was an issue with Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre they're treating Jacob Fatu like the fans have fully taken him in and that reaction hasn't been there they've been treating them like a baby face

who's been acting like a heel against Roman Reigns, who is what? He doesn't seem authentic, so you kind of have to believe he's one or the other. It's the role he's playing. And they're kind of doing both. I mean, Roman and the Usoes have behaved like heels and it behaved like baby faces.

Everyone in this thing has been beaten down. Jacob Fatu just got beaten down for minutes at a time. It was endless. To set up tribal combat, I don't think this is working. And I think, I don't think it's as simple as Roman needs Haman, but there was an element

that is gone now where Roman was getting cheers even when he was the heel, but it was about the star. It was about the star power and the spectacle of the bloodline. And it's not there. It's kind of like we're feeling,

we're running off the fumes of what the bloodline was. And it seems to me that the fans are confused and how they should react. Well, yeah, that's the thing I've mentioned it before in some of these baby face matches. That with Cody and Orton, the people kind of started at WrestleMania, want to cheer Orton more and see the moment of the title change. With Punk and Roman, they didn't particularly, you know, want to boo either guy,

but they took Punk's side because he's a bit more popular because he doesn't act like a fucking dick all the time, like Roman. Roman does. But from the start, Roman pulls up in the back and is immediately, there's Pierce, and after what he did last week, Pierce is like, I'm going to fire him.

And Roma's like, oh, I'm going to get him. Well, I want to fire him. Well, then Jacob's music plays and he goes out to the ring, and they're chanting fat to, five, two, five, two. And he calls Roman out. But the Uso's, music plays. And here comes, Jay has got a chair, and Jimmy's trying to calm him down,

but neither one of them are happy with Jacob. And Jimmy's like, what the hell? Why not just acknowledge Roman? You chose the hardest path. You've done it. Pierce is about to fire you. You're not thinking. So, Jimmy, who's been a baby face for, however long, and who had went through all of this with Roman about getting out from under his shadow, is now telling Jacob, why not take the easy way out? Why not just bow down and suck his dick, right? But at the same time, there's Jay who's been an even bigger baby face. Yeat? Remember that?

Well, now he's just going to hit Jacob over there with a fucking chair. but as he God damn here I'll settle this what the fuck Jay goes to blast him with a fucking chair but Jacob fucking nails him

and then while Jacob's on Jay well Jimmy's got to help but now Jacob grips Jimmy with the Tongan death grip but now Jay the children's idol yeat comes and hits fucking Jacob from behind with a chair.

But then Jacob puts the grip on him. And in Roman's music plays. And suddenly, the Uso's just fuck off into vapor somewhere hiding so that Roman can walk slowly down to the goddamn ring. Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by, I crept up on him. Susquehanna. I'm sorry.

I've gone back to a different vaudeville routine. Nevertheless, Roman gets in the ring, they face off, and then they just start punching each other. And then Jacob gets a grip on him. But Jay saves Roman. And then Jimmy comes off the top rope and splashes Jacob. And then they give him a 1D.

And then they tie him. him up in the ropes like heels have done to baby faces since the beginning of time, tie his arms and ropes. And in Romans, now that Roman has a, this is a heel turn. This exact thing perpetrated, and they were in Greensboro. I have seen a very similar angle to this three on one in that same building 40 years ago, which led people trying to climb the fucking rail and get. over and get Roman super sucker Superman super sucker man punches him while he's tied up.

Then the Usos double super kick him. Then another Superman. Then a double super kick. Then they untie him and they shoot him into Roman and Roman spears him. And the people start chatting. OTC. OTC. It would have been, I'm going to get my knife.

in anywhere in history for this angle. And then Roman leaves and tells Pierce, I go ahead and fire him, do whatever you want to do. And then Jacob gets the microphone and is laying there in the ring, huffing and puffing and says, Roman, tribal combat. And then Roman says, I accept. and people are like who

because they had one tribal combat and I'm trying to remember who it was between now and what was it? Was it just no DQ? Like Falls Can anywhere? And well yeah but the winner gets to be the chief of the tribe or the tribal chief or the chief of the tribe

but what the fuck? It's and it was how is there not a better way to do this to have a build up of you couldn't you even keep the usos neutral because it's all family and they could be like trying to tell roman we understood we know we had the problem being under your thumb you know we got wild and crazy Jacobs is the craziest one of the bunch of them, but it's family. And they could be going to Jacob, Jacob, we know it. Your time may have come, but out of respect for your elders, the island wave, whatever.

Just, no, let's just all beat this motherfucker up. If they're not turning heel or did they turn heel and nobody gives a shit? Because it's all bullshit. Have we... The previous tribal combat. that match was Roman versus Sol Sola Sacoa for the Ula Fala. That's right. So they get the Lola Falana if they win and they're the trai.

Now, see, that doesn't necessarily have to be for the belt. No. And Solo's career really took off after that match. Exactly. And then Sopho took off. Took off after it. I can't, again, I don't like the way that they went into it. I think they could do this man against man with Roman and Jacob

in some sort of island tribal honor of a way. But if it's a tribal combat, but it's not for the fucking belt, then I think Jacob wins, doesn't he? Then what happens if he's the tribal chief, but the other some bitch has the belt? Well, there would still be an issue there, wouldn't there? Do we know for sure?

It's not entitled? No, I'm asking you. you that I'm saying if they didn't did they say it was for the belt or they just said tribal combat because later on by the way that's the thing oh no it's for the title it's for the title

oh god damn it well I guess I just go to and the title of tribal chief then they're just going to beat Jacob twice in a row and they don't have any creativity because an hour into the program they had a package they already had the graphics up and I didn't notice whether it said

titled, be honest, but they had the graphic up, and they did a package on what tribal combat was, and the winner is tribal chief. And they had that package edited it in an hour. And then the Uso's said, oh, it's sacred combat. It's like beef, dog, and added nothing to it. And then they argued with L.A. Knight. Who's a goddamn baby thing? I just I just later on on LA night argue with Seth Rollins

as a baby family everyone's arguing with each other why again to the point that I made why not

why does tribal combat have to be for the belt why can't tribal combat be get every member of the family

that they could fly in to sit around in the fucking council dress if they're going I mean it's not like

they don't do some show busy bullshit anyway and let the fucking two guys make it a goddamn thong, the leather thong, leather strap match. Something like

that. What are you talking about? No, not the leather, but you know it's a thong that is attached to your wrist with the thing, the strap match. Put them around a fucking campfire. I don't fucking know. And just say we can't sanction

this for the title because this is to the savages recreating their ancient tribal combat and that's not what we do so we're just going to give them the ring and let them do it but not for our belt and Jacob could fucking beat him and Jacob's the tribal chief

oh but Roman's still a champion fuck what are we going to do about that or they just beat Jacob again and does Jacob get fired if he loses because they were going to fire him, right? He was about to get fired in this segment. Pierce will get a drink and come to his senses.

He's a reasonable understanding guy. I don't think they're going to fire Jacob. No. I understand. He sent an email. He said, first off, fuck Roman and Sid. We will see what happens. The clash in.

I may be able to pull that one up now that I think about it. I had just gotten my email at that point. I might be able to. Well, Roman. versus Jacob, clash in Italy presented by Riyadh season, so multiple countries

presenting this event. Why don't they have a chef boyardy death match in Italy? That's what Tony Kahn would do. It would be kind of cool. I know this is nerdy, but it would be cool

in the States, maybe not in Italy. If they had the Tonga kid at one of these things and they had the original fatu, Rakeshi Fatu, right?

They're brothers. And one's the father of the Uso's and the other is the father of Jacob Fatu. I don't know. Obviously, Alpha and Sika aren't here anymore. You need the elders of the tribe. It would be kind of cool. Well, they could, I was going to say, poor King Curtis. He could have fucking come in and cut a promo and drawn them all kinds of money.

But nevertheless. Or what about if they did the old Inoki Masasaito bullshit? business. Island death match? The island death match. Actually take them out to a goddamn sandbar somewhere and let them do their thing. That was one of those things that looks so cool in picture form. And then you saw it and it was like, man, and then you saw it. Like, yeah. Those pictures are great. Well, that wasn't the only thing on Raw. Before we get to the other big, big thing with Brock Lesnar, why don't we talk about anything else on the show that you watched before that or after that? Well, that's what I was in.

Boy, you're optimistic. Here's what else. We got a street fight between Finn, McBowler, and J.D. Donahue, tables, chairs, Kendo Sticks. Have you noticed nobody dresses for a street fight anymore? So that's another reason why it looks especially stupid, just as a very very, visual if somebody's accidentally lands on this program and there's people with Kindo

sticks and tables with Slim Jim logos and chairs laying everywhere but everything's immaculate and has never been used before and then there's two guys in fucking boots and swim trunks at least if

if the guys were dressed for the street fight and they took the tables out in the parking lot and threw some fucking dust on maybe it would look right Saul and Becky had a long promo

because I tried multiple times to fast forward and stop and how long did that thing go if you were sitting there while it happened? It went a while if I could just quickly ask you because I don't expect any review of this segment will you at least review their match Saturday night's main event?

It's a high profile Saul Ruka match I don't care if it's a high profile Saul Wingeroff match I don't I or better call Saul versus no I'd watch better call Saul versus Stephen P. New that'd be a better fight than Rhonda Rousey and Gino Caruso. I don't know Stephen's gotten into really good shape it may be over quite as quickly as a well but he'd hit harder he's got that going for him. we'll discuss Saturday night's main event when we discuss whether we're to watch Saturday night's main event or not

is this just like are they fulfilling a contract is this like shit we sold peak in Indiana that fucking fair show for $1,200 they had a six-man tag with the three Americanos against the three Americanos Do you remember, Brian, when people just almost leaped through their computer screens and phone screens to get at me when I said that to Creed's were the worst fucking tag team I'd ever seen in my life? There were people who thought you may have been unfair, yes. Where are those people now that they've been disappeared for a year and now they've come back under hoods to be fodder for fucking whatever this is that's going on?

So, yeah, so now they got six of them. Let's see what, Paige and Bree fought Rochelle and Roxanne. I watched 30 seconds of Bree Bella, and I got to be honest, I've seen radio DJs that could work gimmick matches better on their first night in. Then has, has she always been like that? Yes, she's never really been particularly, good in the ring. My favorite thing used to be when she would yell,

Bremode! And the crowd would sit there silent. Bremode? What is that? Is that when the compressor kicks in, or what happens? I don't know. It's something that makes the crowd go dead, is what it is. But yeah, no, she's never really been very good. All right. And before we get to what you wanted to get to, the other thing, the main event,

which was a nice TV match, Seth Rollins, our friend Franklin against Austin Theory, my boy, Austin. And I was going to watch this regardless because Austin Theory in a single match with somebody that can work instead of a fucking

comedy bullshit segment or multiple man match involving ladders and grappling hooks or whatever, I'm going to watch. because it's fun to watch this guy, because somebody fucking gets it. And he bumps, and he feeds,

and he's in the right place, and he's animated, and he's got the body language, and his shit looks good, and he's not potatoing anybody. And he's a puppy with paws. He'll grow into all the other stuff. But having said that,

this was, again, an example of what I was talking about earlier with it. What do you have to do? Do you serious? Do you have to take a chainsaw to a nun to get anybody? Because they just, they know. Logan Paul's out there. He's got heat for reasons we mentioned.

He gives Theory the Nucks and then drew the referee's attention. But theory runs into a super kick from Seth. and Seth gets the Nux and then the referee turns around, sees Seth with the Nux, which is an automatic disqualification, or at least was for 125 years. Instead he grabs him off his hand and says, no, you can't do this.

It's like if a bank robber, if a bank robber comes in, the bank guard doesn't go up and take the gun away and then it's okay, you're good now. I just got the gun and he'll just pull the, fucking clerk over the counter. But the referee takes the knucks away but didn't call

his qualification. And then Seth nails Logan Paul off the apron but theory schoolboys him for a two count and then they get up and roll through something and Seth hits the pedigree one, two, three.

But then meanwhile, Logan Paul gets back on Seth and they get some heat. And then out comes Darrell Dawkins of the street profits. And he makes a save. But then both heels get

on Dawkins, get heat on him. Well, then Montez Ford comes out. And he makes a big save. He cleared the ring. He did a big dive over the top. I heard a splat. The camera angle was like

you couldn't tell who landed how badly, but I heard of splat. and then he got in the ring and was starting to yell at his partner because his partner is the one who wants to get involved in other people's business, blah, blah, blah. So now they're starting to get mad at each other. But meanwhile, Braker comes out and he levels both of the street profits. And boom, but suddenly Seth comes back.

But Braun Spears Seth. and tried to hit him and decapitate him with the steps. But the referees and the agents and et cetera came out. And so the heels left and this poor Seth is selling. But Broadbreaker comes out, spear. Yay! He speared him. And, I mean, you know, it is hard to keep track of who you're supposed to be cheered and who you're supposed to be booing

when they did, hold on a one, two, three, four, five, six, about a seven phase

fucking heat segment there where first it'd be heat, then it'd be come back, then it'd be heat, then it'd be come back, and it'd be heat, then it'd be come back. So you're just popping on moves,

but they love just seeing people do, do the moves and that's what they're popping on now because again I refer to my assessment before because they know it's all bullshit. They don't believe

anything. You can't do anything to get legitimate heat where that people would have a vested interest in seeing one guy beat the other. They're just fucking doing matches where the people, I wonder

what's going to happen. You can, you can, can't, I just worry about the future because, I mean, Tony's going to fumble. Tony Khan can't juggle one ball. So he's going to fumble whatever he's fucking pitched. And these people are charging premium prices for the least that they can possibly give you. And people are now just one to pop on spears because they've been ingrained. to where it's all horseshit

we shouldn't be really emotionally invested in my hero winning because they know what they're doing ahead of time. The passion is gone, Brian. Again, I think a big problem with WWU right now, whether you're talking about the Roman Range, Jacob Fatu Feud,

or some of the stuff around Seth Rollins, even Cody Rhodes. I still think in 2026, despite people in the past, like Cody Rhodes, saying that it was a boring old trope, you need to find baby faces and heels. And when you don't have them, you lose audience investment in those wrestlers.

Because that's just people who have no morals and do anything and they'll switch from baby face to heel like that. And I don't think people really truly want that. I think you have to have people be good or be bad. Every now and then is a tweener that takes off. And obviously Steve Austin was a special case, and that was a special period of time. But I think at 2026, you still need everything to be clear cut. And I think there's a lack of investment right now, at least I think from the fans in the whole Seth Rallens' vision feud.

You know, again, it's been herky, jerky, start and stop because of injuries and stuff. Yeah, well, that's the thing is that Seth was the guy that started the group, Braun was the guy that supposedly injured him and hospitalized him to take over the group but now they've got Logan and theory having matches with the mid card tag teams and it's not the horseman and that's

you know when that's and and Heyman needs they if they were going to have a group named the vision they each need to be presented as somewhat equals all main event guys as Flair, Arne Tully were, and Paul needs to be JJ and he's with all of them.

Or it doesn't work as what they're trying to do. And instead of the theory and Paul being a team that could elevate the tag belts to where they're working with top guys who team up to face them because they're involved with Heyman and Braun and all this other's top shit, they become a team that works with street profits. You kid. Anyway.

Well, now it's the Seth Rawlins vision feud, but Jim, the big thing everyone was talking about on WWRWA was the Obafemi Open Challenge. And three in a row, baby, who would you have said, if I asked you right before this raw program went on the air, who would you have said is the most popular guy right now in the WWE? It's a people just really love to see his come out and get in the ring.

Just, yeah, just gets the road warrior pop of the day. Who would you have said? I would hate to compare it to the road warrior pop, but Obafemi is super over right now. And so, God, just beats a dog shit out of Oba Femmy and the people yeah!

Oba's music played and I think they are piping at first the Oba chant I thought so too. I'm so happy to hear you say that. That's what I was thinking also. And for people, hold on for anybody says, oh now Cornette,

thanks to Oba's chance bullshit. No, what the people sitting there in the building wouldn't know when to start chanting in unison, Oba, Oba, even if they knew that he was coming out next, you see what I'm saying, the logistical matter of, okay, are we going to cue everybody?

No, they've got an Oba thing as a preface to his music that tells people, and then they pop and you hear it, and then they start picking it up. Well, also, it's in the song. It's a little Pavlovian. In the song, I was wondering if they were feeding in the, you know, Oh, oh, down, oh, down, oh, like that. Obviously, the fans pick up on and they go with it, but how much of that is prefab?

Well, see, I don't have their CD from the truck here to really tell you to answer that question. But there's an element of that, and it's a wonderfully orchestrated entrance. And for this guy, to have a special entrance, that's lovely. And the lighting effect and the whole nine yards. and the people like the little strut, so I'm not going to dial on the strut hill. When I first saw it, I was like, what the fuck is he doing? But nevertheless, nice entrance,

and they've got to people to where they know what part that they're supposed to play in it, and some of the music cues help that. And he gets in a ring and does the pose and the lighting effect from behind, and then, bam! Brock Lester just comes in a fucking ring from behind, and blisters him and gives him an F5 and tears us. It's hard to rip the seat out of a pair of blue jeans, isn't it?

I haven't worn blue jeans in 45 years, but he does it all the time, Brock does. I was going to say, I've seen him do it a few times now. Do you think maybe it's an explosive diarrhea sometimes that he has it just weakens the fabric? Nevertheless, he gives Oban F5. and the place goes crazy. And he gives him another one, and a third one,

and a fourth one, and the fans are going bad shit. Because it's, his Brock, he's back. And they give him an incredible, and again, everybody's over here, and this is, this is money. I can smell it.

But the guy that attacks and kicks a shit out of and lays waste to the most popular guy in a company is greeted with a resounding cheer like they just found out that fucking Truman beat Dewey or whatever. It's not an inflammatory statement to make. I think everybody will agree with this, regardless of which promotion is their favorite, that the WWE audience is multiple. times that of the AEW audience. That's just factual. And I think it's also kind of obvious that the television ratings and various metrics

while that they're doing wonderful business in the WWE as far as their ticket sales, their merchandise, all that various stuff, there's not as many people watching the WWE as there was 30 years ago. And there's not as many people watching wrestling as there was 30 and 40 years ago in general. And it's even affecting or seems as it is affecting the

WWE audience that this is becoming a smaller and smaller group of people that just want to see guys do fucking moves and in the WWE case, wave, see stars wave at them and listen to stars talk. But you can't fucking get people with an actual match because they just, it's all bullshit. So they're just watching, they're watching the acrobats in the circus and they're going to see if somebody misses catching the trapeze once or twice. Well, that was WWE Raw obviously setting up.

Oh, well, now we should say now for the people who are going to say, Wait a goddamn minute there. Just to hold on a second, Ronnie. We thought Brock was retired. Well, they did have Pierce track Paul Heyman down. And Pierce said, I filed retirement paperwork on Brock. What is retirement paperwork? Did he consign him to a fucking home?

What is it got to one of those memory care centers for people with Alzheimer's? I signed a special deal to freeze his contract and hold on. to his royalties until he comes back. But Paul said Brock is retired. And then he handed Pierce a contract for Italy with Brock's name on it, his signature, all he needs is Obas. You got the biggest rematch in history. Then I don't, do you understand how this naturally followed

the guy taking off his boots and gloves? and leaving them in the ring and crying and retiring? Unless that was supposed to a fool lobe of Femmy so that weeks later, Brockwood return, he wasn't retired. I don't understand. Don, I'm, yeah, I'm serious. What connection does that have? You know what?

Something like that, something like the Roman Rain stuff. There's a lot more evidence, it seems like more and more, that maybe they are using AI to write all their shit. because it feels like there's more logicals in WWE's booking right now than there has been in a long time. It doesn't make sense. I don't think it personally makes sense other than the idea that it got people buzzing and talking about Brock Lesnar,

and now I guess they'll buzz and talk about him wrestling again in the middle of the day here in the United States in Italy. But let me ask you this. It's not the biggest rematch ever, I'll say that. I'm going to pull something out of my ass here. Just with the information that I have available. and see if this might not have been an idea of something they could do. SummerSlam is in Minneapolis.

That's the big show that's in Minneapolis that people thought Brock Rock might retire at because that's his old hometown. That's right. Is it SummerSlam, right? I believe so. Okay. So what we had was we had Obafemi flattened Brock Lesner,

beat him easier than anybody ever had, has one, two, three, and got over as the next big superstar. And then Brock sat there and took his boots and his tights or his boots and his tight out. He only did that in front of Terry Reynolds, took his boots and his gloves off and left him in the ring and was visibly emotional, if not crying for, you know, Brock or Lester, Brock doesn't cry. and people got with it and were applauding him and et cetera, et cetera, right?

But we know that SummerSlam is in Minneapolis. What about if Brock had disappeared and they'd been questioning Haman? And Haman said, hey, Brock is under contract. Brock is not retired. Brock may get emotional from time to time as great athletes do, blah, blah, blah. You can hear Paul saying this type of thing. just not with my accent, right?

And finally, Brock would be booked for maybe this particular show. And Brock would fucking call in or do a video thing or whatever the fuck they do from wherever he lives in Moose Knuckle Ontario or Saskatoon or wherever. and say, I don't know why that Adam Pierce or Triple H or whoever does this shit is advertised me

for to be in so-and-so because I ain't going to be there. I took my boots off. I retired. I'm done. If a guy like Obafemi can beat me like that, I'm fucking done.

And deny that he's going to be at the show and when the time comes for the match, have Heyman come out and say there's been just a little bit of miscommunication. Brock Lester believes that he is retired, but he's not. Because I have him under contract. I've got this contract right here

with his fucking name on it that says that he's going to wrestle in whatever matches that I book him in to make me. millions of goddamn dollars for the next nine months or whatever. I can do whatever the fuck for the next nine months. If I want to, I could have him wrestle every single week. Of course,

I don't want to devalue a major attraction like Brock Lesner, so I'm not going to do that. But what I am going to demand is that he show up here next week and so that I can publicly have him sign the contract to appear at such and such. And Brock just needs to understand that I've got his best interest at heart. That's why I'm the boss. And I'm the Oracle and I'm the visionary and I'm the fucking masturbatory fucking whatever. And then you've got the people sympathized with Brock.

he retired, it's over, but wait, this fucking prick is going to try to enforce a contract on Brock Lesner? And how's he going to take that? And then goddamn Brock does show up the next week to confront Paul and tell him that he's not going to do what a bald fat man says to him. You've helped me, Paul, but I told you when I couldn't be Brock Lesnar. anymore. I wasn't going to be Brock Lester at all, and that point came, and I'm done. I've made you millions of dollars tear up

to fucking contract. I'm going home. And when Paul says the right thing to fucking piss him off, and Brock snatches Paul, here comes Braun Breaker and beats that shit out of Brock Lester. And then you've got

SummerSlam. Braun versus Brock If Brock wins, he gets his contract back from Heyman and maybe five minutes with fucking Heyman. And Braun beats Brock. That's something that they could have done over the summer that may could have built. They don't, and Brock doesn't have to retire after that.

But at the same time, he's made Bronn. Breaker. And he could still come back and he could get even with Bronbreaker if he wanted to later on. Then maybe it's fucking Bronbreaker and Logan Paul against Brock Lester and Oba fucking Femi. Do any of these matches sound better than what we just had there? Yeah. I mean, on its face, it seems like everything's lacking. And again, remember, it wasn't just Oba beating Brock at WrestleMania and leaving his boots in the ring.

he kicked the shit out of Brock was it three weeks or four weeks in a row on Raw leading up to the match? Yeah. Is Brock going to get his win back? Because that doesn't help Obafemi if all of a sudden Brock just comes right back and gets a win back.

Not unless they're doing two out of three. Is Oba going to beat Brock again? Did the Saudis say, hey, if Riyadh seasons sponsoring this Italian show, you better get Brock there. And it is interesting. If you look at the limited amount of matches Brock has had over the last 10 years,

15 years, he rarely wins. You know, he's a guy that comes in and literally puts over just about everyone other than the Undertaker. He puts over people. Again, it's questionable the way this was all done. What you just laid out would make sense. And again, if they have them for Minneapolis, why wouldn't you do something big? It seems like a missed opportunity unless you do something big.

Can you imagine the atmosphere that they would have in Minneapolis? if Brock Lester as a baby face was trying to get even with the son of the Steiner's from Michigan who had fucking beat the shit out of Brock and his evil manager Paul Heyman who had after all of those years

that Brock Lester was his meal ticket had screwed Brock and now Brock was going to get even with both of them or we didn't do it this way, which the writer's room is really happy about. Well, anyway, I just, that's the thing is, I don't know what they're planning

and what the long-term goals are and their pie charts and their fucking flywheels and all that other shit. But Brock didn't need to come back and beat up Oba Femi. Unless, if the finish of the previous match had been Obafemi, beat him and they dragged Brock away from ringside pissed off wanting to try to get even this made

sense but since he got he's already popular because people believe in him he got sympathy from the fans he's allegedly retired everybody was they wouldn't come out and say it but pointed it's what they did and that led people to believe that and now you've got a sense empathetic Brock Lesner who's that's another thing. If you're going to turn a fucking hot heel baby face, the first thing you do, or the first thing,

the last thing you do before you do that thing is you have that fucking heel get decisively beat by another baby face, because that's the last time you're going to get a chance to have that heel make a baby face. And then immediately you go into the thing that makes that heel a baby face. And they don't care.

He just got beat. So with that, it makes no sense to bring Brock back and have him kick the shit out of the jump from behind the better man, the man that was better than him on that night. Well, I'll just jump him from behind and kick his shit out of him to be as heelish as I can be. That's where they should have pulled Haman in the middle and made Haman somehow the, the, the problem in Brock's life that Brock wants to hang it up but Heyman won't let him because he's a fucking conniving

you know a criminal white collar criminal or whatever I just keep going on about this because I kind of like it the more better than I just said it out loud the first time God damn it all right well that was raw and that was Brock and Oba we will stay on top of the story and see where it goes and maybe after watching a endless wrestling explosion like

W.W.E. Raw. Maybe you want to take that excitement and go to the casino from the comfort of your own home. Well, that's right, because what you can do is you can play with a slot your own home. And if your wife suddenly has to go to the store where you can stop playing with the slot and go to Draft King's Casino. Oh, my God. Because that's the exclusive place to play Cashingo. slots. Those are slots that are owned by the Cachingo Indians. You know, because they got all these casinos now to try to make up for the fact that we eliminated 95% of the Indian population where we took over the United States. So, you know, the Indians had the United States all laid out perfect before we got here. So Cashingo from Draft King's Casino is the, it's the exclusive place to

play that. and new casino players at Draft King's Casino. You play $5,000, that's what you play. You play $5 and you get 1,000 flex spins. A flex spin, ladies and gentlemen, 1,000 of them for only $5 that you play. And you can claim 50 spins a day for 20 days. That's 1,000, do the math.

On your choice of over 100 slots including the exclusive cashingo collection, which combines bingo-style bonuses and slots. So you put a bunch of coins in the slot machine and pull a thing and somebody yells, bingo, and then you hit that guy over the head and take his money. Nope, not exactly, and not exactly in every conceivable way. That last sentence.

So I got it all right, except for everything. Except for everything. but what you can get right right now were all those wonderful words in the copy in front of you that tell you what Draft Kings can do for everyone. Well, everyone, download the Draft Kings Casino app right now immediately without further delay in ado and sign up with the code JCE

to claim your flex spins and experience Cashingo and get it all over your body. It's the feature that you can't play anywhere else nor would you want to. These are the Kishingo Masters. If you're going to Kishingo, you need to go Kishingo here. The crown is yours

in partnership with Draft Kings Casino. And folks, once again, just real briefly, I'd like to add an addendum before we close. Gambling Problem, call 1-800 Gambler in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling.

Call 888-7-9-7-77 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly 21 plus physically present in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, only void in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply non-withdrawable spins issued as 50 spins per day for 20 days valid for select games only and expire each day after 24 hours. See terms at casino.draftkings.com slash promos. ends July 22nd at 11.59 p.m. Eastern time. I think I have a small hernia, but not bad for a 64-year-old guy. All right, we'll see what we can do about recording that

and maybe playing it back next week instead of you reading it, but the crown is yours. That's the point. From our friends at Draft Kings, download that app today. And use the code, JCE. Oh, that poor cat. Yeah, this time you may not be wrong. This time it sucked. Well, Jim, let's continue on here post-Raw.

And let's preview the competition's upcoming big event. AEW Double or Nothing, 2026 from the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York, coming up this Sunday, as we are recording, May 24th. Memorial weekend. And as I usually say every year about this time, they do this show, they, they, they, they give us double when I'd rather have nothing. And did you ever find out why Louis Armstrong got a stadium? Because it's a wonderful world. Was he like an amateur

fucking, was he an amateur athlete that we weren't aware of as younger days before he developed elephant Titus of the cheeks and became the greatest horn player? How does Louis Armstrong get a stadium? Like Arthur, I understand Arthur Ashe. He played tennis at that location. Yeah, it's a little different. Well, somebody needs to talk to the estate of Louis Armstrong. All right, well, let's get over here to this card.

This looks like a pretty good lineup. Let's see what you think. Obviously, this is the week of the show, so expect Tony to announce another five or six matches and maybe three or so on the pre-show. For the international championship, the champion, Kazushka Okada, versus Konoske-Tekeshta.

By the way, we will, for posterity's purposes, ladies and gentlemen, be watching some of this fiasco, but don't hold any hope out that I watch one minute of these two do whatever they're going to do, because it's going to be ridiculous and probably set stage for the whole night. Well, this is the big match. This is the big one. The Kesha has been waiting for the big win over our.

It's got to happen here, right? Title change. One would hope just because our friend take is at least still under 50 years old and still capable of standing up straight and drawing a deep breath. Again, I can't imagine the torture of having to watch Okada for the 20 minutes or more this is going to go,

cut every corner, take every shabre, take every shortcut, expend no energy, throw no blow that's unnecessary, react to anything in any animated way, and just sleepwalk his way through this fucking thing. He is the laziest, most boring, most uncharismatic, uninteresting motherfucker that I've ever seen Stepfoot in a wrestling ring. And I just wish that this long national nightmare would come to an end and they would get him a nice retirement spot at a community somewhere where they could be around in case he needs help.

So it sounds like you're predicting Takeshita. I hope so. I will take your hope as prediction. Jim, our next match. And I quit match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. If Cage and Cope lose, they might. must retire as a tag team. FTR, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler with Stokely

versus Cage and Cope. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage. Well, and I quit tag team match is going to be interesting. I mean, where is this, what city are they in here in the world for this? Queens, New York. Oh, that's right, Queen. well, Louis Armstrong was a king, the king. They should have put their careers up in Ontario, shouldn't they?

So, you know, is the retirement necessary? Do we have a hat on a hat? Edge and Christian and FTR again can have a wonderful tag team match. And then they'll go five to seven minutes past that. I would imagine that Edge and Christian it's pretty much foretold that they are going to win this unless they never want to ever team up again.

All right, so I'll count that as your prediction. Jim, here's a big one. Was I ambivalent about that? No, not at all, not at all. I'm sure it'll be great. Jim, in a stadium stampede match, Oh, Jericho, the Hurt Syndicate of Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin, and the elite, Kenny Omega, Jungle Jack Perry, Matt and Nick Jackson, versus the demand. Wait, wait, wait, but hold on, hold on here. How many fucking people is this? Uh, one, two, three, three, four, five, seven?

versus the demand. Rickashay, Bishop Conn and Toa Leona, and the Don Callis family of Mark Davis and Andrade El Edelow and the dogs. A match for the dogs, ladies and gentlemen, Clark Conner. Boy, it's, it's the best advertising

that they've ever done. This match is going to the dog. Who are the dogs? Clark Connors and David Finley. Oh, good Lord. I remember Chuck Connors and we said David Finley. Yeah, somebody beat him his first night end, didn't they?

So what, this, Christ, and they're going to fight all over the stadium and there's 14 of them. So it'll be, and because there's no rhyme or reason as to who's on whose side as relates to any personal interaction these people have almost ever had with each other, it'll be easy to keep track of who's doing what,

when there's 14 people all fighting at the same time in different parts of the building. It sounds like shit Russo put on T&A TV one time. What do you think of the chances someone will use a trumpet? Because it's a New York State. Well, that's not a prediction there, but I don't know. Well, hold on here. The prediction is, well,

okay you've got chris jericho and regardless of any personal feelings on the side of the alleged i guess baby faces here you got chris jericho who's been a major star has just returned lashly and benjamin who could kick the shit out of the entire locker room kitty omega who's one of their top baby faces mattie and nicky who worked like the road warriors and jungle jackal against Rikoschet. I've taken bigger shits. His stooges

who which is the one that can stick his thumb and his ass on a first try the smaller one? I think he's the mission. Yeah, well, T. Leone is the shits then.

Mark Davis who just won one match. He won a title in. he's won one match in AEW. Andrade, he's still around, and Chuck Connors and David Finley. How the fuck? I think the ricochet's team needs another four or five guys

to make it even, don't you? There's no heel star power on that team. All the stars are on the baby face team. The baby face team for AEW is packed with SARS and the heel team is a joke. Well, Jim, the next match, a four-way match for the AEW Women's World Championship. Even better.

The champion Tecla versus Hikaru Shida versus Jamie Hader versus Chris Statlander. Well, I'm looking at this like there's some more time I can save because you know this thing's going five hours. So I can skip Okada and the four-way women's thing here.

All right. Sounds like you predict who now? Who's going to win? One of them. One of them will be the winner. All right, Jim. In the men's Owen Heart Cup quarter final, Samoa Joe versus Will Osprey.

Okay, this actually this will probably be the best match of the night. Unless they go on one of their tangents where, you know, somebody gets set on fire, whatever. But Joe

is not going to do goddamn cartwheels along with Osprey. Osprey's like Rollins and some of the other guys that can do all this different stuff. And when they get with another guy that can do a lot of stuff, they do too much stuff because they can.

Well, Joe will brook none of that foolishness and Joe will beat the shit out of Osprey and let him sell and come back and be fiery. So I think it'll be the best match and again, good Lord, Osprey better win this one. And one would think that, well, one would have thought a lot of things, but one would think that it's almost

impossible that that could go any other way than Osprey winning this because now with the winner of the Owen Hart tournament gets a shot at the title. So is this the way he's going to redeem himself by getting a shot at the title that MJF hadn't won back yet? It should have fucking...

Well, again, this is just a quarterfinal match. The other men's quarterfinal for the Owenhart Cup, Bandito versus swerve Strickland. Well, and that good Lord have mercy certainly ought to be swerved because

what unless Bandito is going to star in another cowboy movie and they've spent some money on it then they might want to put him over where do they find silver dollar city where they can just go in and shoot Bandito

riding a horse down Main Street every time they want to Net Kong, New Jersey well swerve whether it's Net Kong or Viet Cong ought to win this one would think. And although it's not... And he turned heel too just recently, didn't he?

He did, and then... Before we quit worrying about that. I don't know if he's been on TV too much since then, though. But he did turn heel against Kenny. And obviously it seems to set up him in Osprey, which will be a forbidden door. And unless they've lost their mind, Osprey will be winning that. Jim, the women's Owen Hart Cup... quarter final. Of course. Willow Nightingale

versus Alex Windsor. Alex Mountbatten Windsor returns. I would imagine that I'm going to be so overcome from watching the thrilling bandito and swerve confrontation that I'm going to need a 15 or 20 minute break about the time that that takes place. So you're predicting Willow Nightingale? Sure. All right. Well, finally, the last announced match as of now, and there's a lot of people not announced. Oh, wait a minute. Hold on. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. That'll only be eight matches. Yeah. And so there will be another five. I thought you were kidding. No, there's no wheeler you to match. So there has to be one of those somewhere on the card. And there's probably another 20 women want to get on the card. Jim, the main event.

Yes. Title versus Hair. For the AEW World Championship, Darby Allen, the champion. versus MJF the haired. The, what is the site that gives odds on the wrestling these days? Like it's, I don't know how they get away with that, but there are odds. And you see Uncle Dave prints them and they put them on the interwebs all the time

that one guy's up plus 500 or minus 200 or however they figure the odds. would it be like the longest odds in the history of wrestling odds making that anybody in their right mind would even put a penny down on thinking that MJF is going to have his head shake help me help me would MJF have his head shaved if he found the way to convince Tony to give him a lot of money to shave

no because Tony already gives him a lot of fucking money and apparently from what we're told on television he just flew all the way to Istanbul which to me is a lot of bull not Constantinople no no they don't they outlawed that process there but they've just now legalized heroin so well I don't know about that let's not make any yeah well you know though over there with all of the opium and etc you know it's a whole den of iniquity that's why that's why they do the hair transplants there because all those people are whacked out of their minds but anyway the point is no Tony's no it I did no and it doesn't make any business sense for Tony's business that this charade should go any on any longer

the Darby Allen is the world champion all he's doing is going out there and having match after match week after week where everybody in the company does everything but shove a hand grenade up his ass and pull the pen and he comes back and beats him so he slowly systematically kill it off the fucking roster. Nobody can hurt this tiny emaciated mental case. And now to again, to the think that they would have him not only beat MJF but shave his head when they have a fucking stadium.

And their crowd's already going to look like a pisshole in a snowbank. And they've got a chance put the bell back on MJF. Hopefully people will forget about this diversion. And Osprey beats Joe and everybody else in this fucking tournament and have the match at Wembley. And I don't know why it's now almost the end of May. And this is, they've even taken all these detours. You fucking morons.

I'm personally offended, God damn it. It's malpractice. I'm like, I'm a goddamn noted heart surgeon, and I'm walking into an operating room to stare at some other doctor who's operating on the patient, and the doctor's got a cigar hanging out of his mouth, that he's operating with a fishing knife. I'm offended for my fucking profession. Stop me before.

I cause any other similes to take place. Once again, AEW double or nothing, Sunday, May 24th, 2026, Louis Armstrong Stadium. As of now, the show is sold out. So this is one of the biggest houses they've had in the States. How big is that stadium? Tickets distributed, 14,028. Well, that ain't bad for them these days. Not at all.

In New York, one of the biggest. And there's only 10 million people in New York. I mean, they sold out. I mean, you know, they can't get the garden. What do you want them to do? They can all do so much. That's double or nothing. We will review at least portions of it.

Jim, on the topic of upcoming events, WWE has a Saturday night's main event that I don't think anyone's excited for. Why don't we talk about this? Yes, that's what I was going to bring this up earlier, and I knew that we'd be getting to it. because from what I have seen, is this a Saturday night's main event that is it meant to follow in the veins

of other Saturday nights main events that was a big event, a special occasion with a major match or happening or something to hang your hat on? Or is this Saturday night's contractual commitment we're letting the cock down easy over on peacock. We don't want to just do a complete breakup,

just not speak or anything. We still want to be friends. We just don't want to fuck the cock anymore. So we're just going to give them shows that use the main event term loosely and contain some more television that we do like we do when we do other television. Well, let's see what you think of the card, a big five match card. Same as a premium-life event, isn't it nice? For the Intercontinental Championship,

the champion Penta versus Ethan Page. Is this NXT or AAA is going to simulcast this or what? Yeah, all right. Ethan Page has been getting a pretty nice push on Raw, and you got to think maybe they were giving the belt here? Good Lord. I've never seen it. All right, this is sounding promising so far

for the tag team championship. The Vision, Logan Paul and Austin Theory, the champions, versus the street profits, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford. And that's what I referenced earlier in the program we were talking about these guys. If Logan Paul and Austin Theory as champions had,

if they were under Heyman's umbrella and part of his group along with Braun and we're trying to put together a legitimate top heel stable, then a horseman-like situation, then they should have had the other top single baby faces, like L.A. Knight and, well, what, I don't know, are the Uso's baby faces now? Are they heels? Who knows? They beat people up in gang fights. but top

level guys to challenge them to establish the belts are more important now. Instead, it's the street profits who is interchangeable with goddamn the Vikings that are interchangeable

with the Motor City machine guns that were interchangeable with the other team that I can't remember who the fuck they were now. And that's the problem. All the tag teams that they've had for the past 10 years

that are established teams have just, are bleh. And it's like, you know, I don't, if they try to push these guys, I don't get Dawkins at all. Ford is athletic, but personality-wise, I don't see where it is or what it is if it's there. Jim in a six-woman tag match. Of course it is. Ria Ripley and Charlotte Flair.

And Alexa Bliss. versus Jade Cargill, Meachin, and B-Fab. See, okay. Now you got a real Sophie's choice. Well, I'd rather have Sophie Tucker on this fucking eel team than, you've got Ria and you got Charlotte and there's Alexa, but it's Jade, it's K-fabe, and poor Mia Yim, she can work. It's just nobody cares because she's a student.

to the other girl who didn't get over because she's not really gotten any better, so they gave her stooge's to hide that she's not really that over. Yeah. All right, I want to ask for a prediction there, not worth it. Well, Jesus Christ, it's dusty flair and, I don't know, Cowboy Lang versus George South and the Mokies.

So who would you? Pick. All right. Becky Lynch versus Saul Ruka. I thought we just got. We get more girls matches? All right. I guess I'll watch Becky and Saul.

Because it's not a six girl. And Becky's over and everybody's making it over Saul. But Jesus, H. Christ. I didn't like the flippy do she does before she says. before she started botching it all the time when she got to the main roster because it doesn't make any sense but we'll see what happens

I'll watch that and finally Jim for the women's world tag team championship are you wait a minute what the champions Paige and Bree Bella versus the irresistible forces of Lash Legend and Nia Jax oh cry okay

So basically what you're saying is we're going to review Saturday night's main event of me watching Becky Lynch and Saul Ruka. Is this a real? What about Pentah? What about Penton, Ethan Page? I guess five matches and three of them are girls' matches. Talk about your contractual commitments. All righty. Yeah, we'll watch a couple of those contests.

if I bought tickets in advance and spent a bunch of money to go to Saturday and this was the card I got I'd be pretty pissed off I'd be pretty fucking pissed off and what's what's the what's the building what town uh yeah

the Allen County oh well no yeah that's the old the old coliseum they're still there by the way the record for people in that building is for Dick the Brewser and Baron von Rashkey in 1972 for anything.

They've never beat it yet. And they won't hear. Yeah, they'll be happy in Fort Wayne, though, because it's Fort Wayne. If everybody just comes out and doesn't puke on the way to the ring, Fort Wayne will buy it. Isn't that the place where the guy emailed before and said that there was a bobcat on top of a tree in Fort Wayne with a fucking deer in his mouth? Was that Fort Wayne? I don't know. That's your story. Was that Fort Wayne?

I think it was Fort Wayne. Well, see, that's why, you know, anything in Fort Wayne gets over. Well, people wanted a Cougar division. There you go. As Troy Graham said, ain't nothing plain about Fort Wayne. And Jim, that's Saturday night's main event. And, of course, Saturday night's main event makes you think of Saturday night, which is supposed to be better than this.

And some people go out on Saturday night and they enjoy good music, but the party has to stop and you have to go home. You may want the good music to continue, a spot to end, or at least my talking. Jim, tell everyone about the wonderful, wonderful products from our friends at Raycon. About music and how you can listen. You don't have to go out. You can stay in, you put your earbuds in.

That's the point. Raycon can bring you music as well as spoken words and enlightening thoughts of other people that can be sent directly into your brain through your ear canal picked up by the neurons and the sensical particles that exist inside the aerial canal. And you don't need to leave the house for that. Raycon's essential open earbuds fit outside the air canal so you can still hear the things you need to hear. For example, a baby crying or a woman screaming or a guy going, I'm going to kill you.

But otherwise, you can still hear your music and or thought-provoking commentary from podcasts. Absolutely as clear as a bell. Why do they say bells are clear, Brian? Most of the bells that you can't see through. If you made a bell out of glass, it would break. Then it would shatter and then it'd fall on the people and the people coming to the church to pray and to worship

would be hit by falling shards of glass at high speeds. It would rip the flesh from their bones. So folks, that's why you don't go outside. you just stay in, pop in your Racon. Essential open earbuds, and you don't have to worry about being ripped to shreds by shattering glass bells. And you can wear them if you do need to go outside also,

but just be prepared that you may have to at any time, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye just with what's happening around you in the world. Nothing to do with the earbuds, just a fucking fact. But those essential open earbuds, can help you listen to not only the music, as I said, but also podcasts like this. And maybe sometimes just you can record yourself and what you'd like to do to all the people in your life, I mean, for all the people in your life, and just play it over and over in your head

until it's programmed again past those follicular sensory mechanisms in your ear canals, and then it's right directly ingrained on your brain. and they're the perfect addition to your everyday routine. All you need to do is go to buy Raycon, B-U-Y-R-A-Y-C-O-N-B-R-A-C-O-N-B-R-A-C-O-N-B-R-E-R-E-O-N-E-O-P-E-E-O-P-E-E-O-P-E-E-E-O-P-E-E-W-E-E-W-E-E-W-E-E-W-E-E-W-E-W-E, or climb up to the top of the bell tower, whatever it's saying, you'll be thankful that you've got the essential open earbuds to help you hear things, including the voices in your own head more clearly. Buyraycon.com slash J-C-E-O-PEN, 15% off from our friends at Raycon.

A great deal. Loved here in this household, I love my Raycon earbuds. Get yours today. Buy Raycon.com. slash JCE Open. Jim, as we move on here with the show, I have a couple different things and they cover the same topic. Let me get to this.

I have an article that was sent in from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter website by Vincent Verhi. Mark Shapiro concedes WrestleMania in Las Vegas may have been a mistake. Oh, I almost spit. They're actually admitting one.

In this, this is quoting, yeah, this is the other link I have, the Yahoo Finance article. Here's a quote from Mark Shapiro in an interview he did shortly before WrestleMania, although just released now, about moving WrestleMania 42 to Las Vegas from the original announced location of New Orleans. Maybe it's a mistake I made, because Vegas was so huge last year and such a winner for our fans and the product, that I said to Nick Kahn, we've got to go back to Vegas next year. We have to move New Orleans down the road, and we got to come back to Vegas.

Absolutely no regrets are going back to Vegas, but the only reason you're hearing some of the, hey, it's not what it was last year, it's because we're not benefiting from the first mover experience. Boy, everything you hear from this guy makes you hate him, doesn't it? for the first mover experience. He's like Cort Bauer on steroids, just buzzwords up the gazoo.

Fuck. Hey, how do you know what court's got in his gazoo? 20 million dollars. 20 million dollars. Mr. Gazoo? Mark Shapiro, we talk about how smart the Hollywood agents are and the big deal-makers. and the corporate businessmen and all that stuff, they're very good at that field.

But the one thing that they haven't done is they haven't run fucking entertainment shows at the basic level. And they don't understand. They think it's, and also it's because they don't have to worry about ticket money to anything. So they don't necessarily identify. But they're,

they may be big deal makers and great. agents for, you know, getting the best monetary residuals and things of that nature. But there's some elements of grassroots promotion at any level that it's magnified many times, but it still holds true with wrestling or anything. Imagine if it was the Rolling Stones. How many times when the Rolling Stones announced their tour, it would go a year and a half, right? but how many times did they come back to the same place in that year and a half? We talked about all the reasons why that because Las Vegas with the expense and the distance and the,

you know, all of the factors, it was going to be hard and not novel anymore. And it's not like the days when the territories came back every week or every month, but it was a much cheaper ticket and you were drawing a completely local audience. If you run a destination event like that and you take away the novelty of the destination for the people that travel and then price it out of a lot of more people's pocketbooks and then take into account that most of the people from other countries don't want to come to see wrestling or goddamn tidily winks in this fucking country and all the things that we went over. no you don't go back and do the I did Vince ever repeat a WrestleMania city every five years In the early day he did Trump Plaza twice

because he got a site fee Well and also it And number four and number five wasn't really WrestleMania yet it was still WrestleMania 3 was big but it was still on the road to stadiums Yes well and it was still on the road to Where he could get paid to be in a place and it would more than make up for a fucking gate anywhere else.

The economics have changed. But anyway, so it's nice to know that Mark Shapiro recognizes that maybe he shouldn't have done the greatest show ever twice in a 12-month period. I got some more quotes from this. Yahoo Finance put up an article, and the podcast is the power players with Brian Sazi. Here's, let's see, Mark Shapiro, known in the industry as a relentless. high-energy dealmaker, Shapiro built his early reputation during a 12-year tenure at ESPN, where he rose to executive vice president of programming and production and drove massive brand growth.

He subsequently expanded his executive portfolio, which stints as the CEO of Six Flags, and Dick Clark Productions, before joining Endeavor's IMG subsidiary in 2014, eventually rising to the president of Endeavor in 2018. So let's get to a few quotes here. On the business model of TKO group, it's very much AI proof because you want to be in it. And of course, all the youth of today suffers from FOMO, fear of missing out.

So they want to be able to show people that they were in it. What? That's his quote. What is happening? What is he saying? Are they say, okay, we're going to let the, Fans all get in the ring now? Well, basically they understand that people want the cloud of being able to say they were a part of something,

so that gives them reason to jack up the ticket prizes until people say, I can't afford this, which they haven't said yet. On getting ahead in business, you've got to jump in with both hands and both feet. You've got to be willing to get sweaty. You've got to be willing to put your blood and tears into it. Jesus Christ, this sounds dirty. There's no substitute for hard work. Yes, we have more.

mechanisms and devices and tools and resources to make our jobs more efficient to get answers on the fly. But at the end of the day, it only supports the fact and the theory that you just have to sell. You have to be all in. Let's stop there. Any thoughts on, sounds like Steve Rosenthal from Power Town. Any thoughts on the salesman, Mark Shapiro?

Yes, he's very convinced and also all in. You know, Tony has that trademarked. He might have to take that back. He's very energetic and excited, is Mark, is what my comment is. On the future of WrestleMania following two years in Vegas, it's going to go back to its OG ways of a new spot every year. And in fact, in 2027, we're going far away from the U.S. We're going to Saudi Arabia for WrestleMania. So that's going to be a massive, massive show. Yeah, I bet it is. Do you think they should be just full-throated screaming about this this far out,

like that they're really going to do it? And I don't see how they're going to do it, because this shit will never, it will never be over. Now that it's been started by this buffoon. They're actually doing three shows this year at Saudi Arabia and three other events in anticipation. Who is going to go? Remember it used to be, they said, well, it's all completely optional.

And then they've dropped that and they hadn't said that in a while. Nobody said they weren't going to go. But is everybody, there's not you telling me there's not one of the son of a bitches that has any pull that's going to say, no, I'm 40 years old. I'm worth multiple millions of dollars. I have a family Fuck you, fuck your fucking orange friend And fuck this fucking war I'm not going to Saudi Arabia

Well here's another quote on holding events in Saudi Arabia Amid the Iran conflict We're not like F1 We don't have a lot of events at this time right now That would be impacted Because of what's going on over there We have an event at the end of June Our next event

As you'd expect we're going to monitor the situation and if we have to make a move or to have a schedule change, we will do the right thing by our audience, and more importantly, by global affairs. Not the talent. What? What about for our own asses? What about so none of our fucking guys get shot? Well, one more quote here.

A fucking bullshit mealy mouth. On having the rock on the TKO board. He's everything. and more. I mean, he really is. And he also gets back to you like that. Not just because he's on the board. That's who he is. I'm not sure he sleeps. He's an investor. He's an entrepreneur. He's an actor. He's one of the biggest stars in the history of WWE. He's an owner in the UFL. I mean, he's just a magnetic personality, and he's kind of what you see is what you get. he truly cares about his audience in a very real, personal, and meaningful way.

Good Lord, can he describe the scent of his aftershave? And he'll tell you more about it when he gets back from In-N-Out Burger for the very first time later on today to authentically try a hamburger from In-N-Out for the first time. Jim, this is why I think a lot of people are concerned about the future of WWE. It's not the idea that, you know, Turner Broadcasting bought the company, which had its own problems obviously. It's these guys, the way they're talking about WWE, the way they're treating WWE, Nick Kahn is smooth as fuck. But if you listen to what he's saying, he's a nihist. I mean, he just wants to tear it all that and get all the money. And Mark Shapiro is a smooth

talker, and I'm sure he could really impress investors. But if you listen to what he's saying, it's all bullshit and nothing screams that anything is going to be. fan friendly or fan friendly doesn't just mean cheap it just means they know what they got and they don't know how to treat it and I fear what's going to happen.

That's the point. Fan friendly means something that does not offend the they're not suddenly going to turn this into what WCW under Jim Hurd and Turner Broadcasting

turned the NWA into that ran off all of those fans for so many years. There was a certain level of ignorance and or lack of respect for the product and the people that liked it and the reason they liked it. And now with these

they just, at least at least these people want to squeeze blood from a stone and grab everybody's money, Turner Broadcaste. He was losing money at the same time they were running people off. But I get what you're saying. saying is that if they don't have a sense for what this is or why are the people who like it,

like it, they don't know what not to do to avoid pissing those people off that do like it. Well, we will stay on top of this and see what embarrassing quotes we get from him last time. It was a group of students and was a secret recording. And this time it's CNBC or Yahoo Finance or whatever. That's right. Did we ever find out why that he just wanders the country, speaking in front of groups of 15 students at random universities? I don't know, maybe he's single.

Uh, Jim, let's move on here with the show. Several people have sent over this quote. Apparently, it's from an interview with Ringer Wrestling. Chris Jericho on why he changed his name to just Jericho. I don't know if you've known this because you don't watch Dynamite anymore. He's no longer Chris Jericho. Seriously. They only refer to him as Jericho.

The graphics only show. show the word Jericho. Oh, Christ. Here's his rationale. I like the idea of what I'm doing now with Jericho. And by not using that first name a lot, it created this whole intrigue online. Like, what's he doing? What's the idea?

What's the reason? Honestly, it's like a self-titled album. That's where I kind of got the idea from. I could create a dozen other nicknames, but how many more do I need? Everyone knows who Jericho is, and when you hear that name, then you can go remember whatever memories you have on your own. So it really is like Metallica, the Black Album. It doesn't need to be called anything.

You know who Metallica is. You know what's going on. What the hell is he talking about? The Beatles, the White Album. Same thing. That's kind of what the idea is for the job. Jericho era, and I like it. I like what's been going on and going with the flow, seeing what's working, and what's not.

So, Jim, like I said, a lot of listeners have sent this in. I wanted to get your thoughts. This is fucking gibberish. This is complete gibberish. Everybody knows his name is Chris Jericho. And why that it would be a revolutionary thing. What is, why are they, the only thing they're wondering is, why? don't they just call him by his fucking first name anymore?

That'd be the only thing people would wonder. It's not like this suddenly makes a mystery like, oh, my God, has he gone to a Tibetan monastery and gotten a completely different outlook on life? No, it's just his last name that it's always been. Why wouldn't you call the... And we know what his first name is. So why would we stop calling him that? And why would it matter if we did?

And it stands out in a bad way when all of a sudden the commentators can't call him Chris and all of a sudden no one calls him Chris everything is Jericho. It's like when Vince would insist on guys dropping their bullshit first name. But it doesn't make any sense because he's an established star. He's not some guy who's just got called up from the main roster

and was told, you're no longer Alexander. But that's again, what would make it different about him in any way? Oh, he's just using his last name now. Okay, that sounds strange. Next. What mystery is there here? One of the listeners, Doug Street, wrote on this on the cult of Quinet group, If a learning tree falls in the forest.

Oh, there goes my chair. My chair is starting to squeak again, this fucking chair. Oh, you and those squeaky chairs. It's been a while. Is he not huffing his own farts here that he thinks that this meaningless, trivial move that he has made is sparking such tremendous commentary and creativity?

Imagine if any other established star with his longevity pulled this. Look who's here, it's Flair! Savage is here. Just anyone. Savage. It's Michaels, Michaels! Yeah, I don't know.

I think he's overthinking it. You know, I think that's part of the problem. He always thinks that he has to reinvent himself and, you know, be Bowie or Madonna, maybe, do something different every time. But at a certain point, just be you and people will be happy. But it's always a- He ain't got that much longer left to be anybody. So just be the fucking guy you've always been.

And I'll just say this here, because I've talked to people in the locker room, and I was just talking to someone the other day about Jericho. they say he's been in a great headspace. He's been wonderful to work with. They don't know if he's been humbled by some of the reaction to his stuff the last few years, but I was told it was night and day, and he's been very easy to work with and a team player since he's been there since he returned as just Jericho.

So maybe Chris was the problem. That fucking Chris, it was Chris all alone. Once we get rid of Chris I mean right I mean an established guy like that we're not talking about someone going from one territory to another an established guy in national TV just all of a sudden dropping their first name

it stands out for the wrong reasons it just it's it seems odd and it doesn't that's the only purpose it serves is to be odd so I don't I don't know what but I'm glad he's he's excited about it He sounds like he's very happy.

Maybe he's entering the Sean Michaels. He already found God before. So maybe he's entering the Sean Michaels. I've found God and nobody will talk to me, Fates. I don't know. Maybe it's I found therapy. Who knows? But Jim, Chris Jericho may have made the decision to drop the name Chris,

which will make it even more awkward when he reintroduces it at some point because it's not going to go away forever, folks. but maybe he needs to go shopping for a new name. And maybe if there was some entrepreneur out there who had a website to fool people like Chris Jericho with the buying a name, maybe they would partner with our friends at Shopify. Well, I'll tell you what,

it doesn't take a lot to fool somebody like Jericho, but it does take a lot to fool you and me, Brian. And we say no fooling that Shopify is a company, that we trust because they have their tentacles spread into the pockets of the consumer all over the world. They know how to reach into people's bank accounts, piggy banks, pillowcases, and underneath their mattresses and extract the maximum amount of money from these unsuspecting people. That's not how this works. That's not how this works at all.

Stop shinging. Well, they do that. And in return, all these people that get their money extracted, get services, and goods and products, the easy way through the internet where people just bring it to your door, whether the front door or the back door, remember the knock.

But nevertheless, Shopify is your commerce expert. And they can take your name and make it a name brand. They can take the name Hickenbottom or Hukentoot. And they could take your name. If your name was Sean Michael Hickentoot, And you wanted to make a brand name out of that. They will spread the name Hick and Toot around the world with a social media campaign and emails.

They'll find everybody because Shopify is 10% of all the e-commerce in the United States and has millions of businesses around the world integrated with them. So they're going to spread Hick and Toot all over the world until people, that's all they got is Hick and Toot on the brain. they will know your name and they'll know what you're selling and they'll want to buy it and even if they don't want to buy it

if they turn their heads for a second Shopify will engage into stealth mode and secretly go into their bank accounts or bank account. Oh, God damn it. No, they won't. There's no stealth mode from Shopify. They won't be getting into your bank account.

If you get one of the platinum plans, they have the stealth mode where they don't tell people, have taken their money for at least seven days. They don't. And that way, you got time to be Scott free away from this thing. You will be Scott free away from all this because it's not possible. It's not happening.

It won't happen. And of course, Shopify, Shopify is a company you could trust like we do for Arcadianvanguard.com. Yes, we trust them because they're working for us. That's why you need folks. You need to have these people working for you so that they don't go into stealth mode against you. They're not going to go. God damn it. There's no.

stealth mode, there's no stealth mode, and of course, everything's out in the open, full transparency. That's what you could expect from our good friends at Shopify. That's right, it's like one of those things where the magician is cut the girl in half and they got the mirror apparatus, so it looks like you can see right through when really there's something hidden beneath. But folks, it's time to turn... What's hidden beneath, Jim? It's time to turn those what-ifs.

Into money. And chichinging, yes, with Shopify today, all you've got to do is go to Shopify.com slash JCE and sign up for your $1 a month trial period today. That way, for only $1 out of your pocket, Shopify will show you how to extricate many dollars out of other people's pockets, and they'll prove their worth to you. And then you can get these people on your side, and they'll be pissing out instead of pissing in. Shopify.com slash jCE

for a $1 a month trial period. Sell your stuff or yourself or your sell other people. No, whoa, whoa. You can sell your items. Well, you could sell pictures of other people or possibly. If you have those rights, if you have the rights.

In some places you can sell certain names and then other people can use them until they're used up. Shopify. What is this iron What is this iron butterfly? You know, it's just not happening today. It's not happening today. I wanted to play it one way, and it kind of went the other way.

My thumb was just kind of... Yeah, it was dangling there. Yeah, I'm sorry. I apologize on behalf of all my fingers. Jim, let's get some questions. here on the show. You might be concerned with what I'm doing with one of my figures too, but nevertheless.

That's not nice. Jim, this one was sent via the Colta Cornette Facebook group by Carlos V. Who was more of a pain in the ass to work for? Bill Watts, Jim Crockett, Jerry Jarrett,

or Vince McMahon? Wait a bit, who was more of a pain in the ass to work for? Jerry Jarrett, Bill Watts, Jim Crockett or Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon by far, but it may not be a fair comparison because I had to work directly with him,

whereas we never saw Jimmy Crockett except for Charlotte shows, Greensboro, and, you know, most TV tapings, not even the Atlanta tapings, just the Carolinas ones. and hey Jimmy how you doing that was it so easy as pie it wasn't it wasn't particularly easy when he didn't pay us all that money he owed us that time but he was never a pain in the ass by any means uh jerry jerry we saw jerry at television where he told us what to do if he wasn't the booker sometimes he wouldn't even go to TV and he was in Memphis and, you know, everything was fine.

If you weren't mad at his check, who was the other guy besides Vince? The cowboy. Watts. I mean, Watts could be a pain in the ass if you were one of the guys that took it that way, but because I loved the experience because it was a four-year college course in wrestling in 12 months. you know, I thought he and still think that he was running the most well-run wrestling territory at that point in time in the country. But Vince could be a pain in the ass for all the Vinceisms that we've talked about and the changing of the mind and the hours that he expected to keep and his driving habits and his meeting habits.

and all of his habits. Yes, Vince could be, and also the closeness and proximity of me to him all a fucking time. But to compare him to your experiences with the other guys, your first two years in WWE, 93 to 95, was it the same? Or did you not think of him as a pain in the ass? I don't know if he was a pain in the ass at that point, but it was still, I was rolling my, honestly at the whole way that the WWF at that point was done and the difference in the wrestling philosophy.

So I can't say he was a pain and he asked at that point, but if you asked me who out of those four rank from one to four, who were my favorite promoters to work for for just the overall enjoyment of the experience of being in a wrestling business, Vince would be number four. Jim, our next question sent via email to cornyid drive-thru at gmail.com was sent by Chad. What if Big Bobber. Oh, Chad.

Chad wants to know now something. What if Big Bubba Rogers had got the pay he was owed? So without that issue, he never leaves for the WWF in 1988. How would this have changed a Midnight Express in 1988? and the following years. Would it have changed storylines, feuds, or being heels to faces? And that's Chad's question.

Well, first of all, phrasing, phrasing is everything. Bubba didn't necessarily not get money he was owed. I've told the story, he was offended, his feelings were hurt. At Starcate 87, everybody in the match, the rocker roll, and midnight myself, got 10 grand apiece, and he got five, even though he did the spot where he climbed up on the scaffold and did the little duck through the legs with Ricky Morton. He was still up on a fucking scaffold. And that just kind of rankled, ruffled his feathers, as they said about the cockatiel

on the other show the other week. So that's when, and, and at that point, Bubba had already been separated from the midnight for a while there when Dusty sent him first to Kansas City for a while and he wanted to get him experience working on top there and then when he sent him to the UWF when they bought that from Watts he became the UWF champion he was managed at one point I think by Akbar wasn't he? Yeah that's one of the best big man matches ever Bubba Rogers coming in for the first time and winning the title from the one man gang who was the UWF champion.

Yes. And it's the only time he's kind of a baby face, even though he's the heel because he's wrestling the gang. But that's a great match. And gang could still go at that point. He was young and could still move around. But point being, Dusty had plans for Bubba to always be,

or always had plans for Bubba to be a major single guy, not just in our corner. That's why, and then he had come back at that period of time and was going to continue to be with. this maybe until Dusty might have done something to where he was a top heel in the Carolina territory and working on his own, which he had done in programs with Ronnie Garvin and Oly Anderson. But he wasn't really contingent.

What we did wasn't contingent at that point on what Bubba did. He was just identified with us. And I mean, he had to realize at that point people were telling him also that he had to had all kinds of potential. Hogan, you're a tailor-made opponent for Hogan. Look at the size of you. And you can work. It's not like Giant Gonzalez or whatever, you know.

When did you realize he could work? Well, pretty much, see, that's the thing. I realized he could work, he could work before he really knew how to work. and it's a subtle distinction, but when you see a guy that can move around like that in the ring, I'm not talking about a guy that can do cartwheels or whatever, you know, on the basketball floor,

Bubba could move around in the ring. He had an unorthodox style because he learned, as we've said, not only very brief training and then kind of learned on the fly, working with the top guys to business, but he developed it around the bumps that he took the way he took those bumps. Or the things that he could do with that big, he could do an insigiri

when he was six foot, six and three 50. So he did that. Or actually it wasn't even really the insigiri. He said, I mean, he just stand there and bring his foot up at a sweeping kick and kick the guy on the side of his head. but so he that's why his style was different and how he worked different from other people is because of that abbreviated training he had but you could that's why dusty saw when he took tully's slingshot suplex okay this guy may not know how to work but he can work we just need to show him so everybody knew

from the beginning that he was special because he was that good, that quick at doing shit, he figured out himself. And then we just polished it. And if he hadn't left, how does 89 play out? How does midnight versus midnight play out if he hadn't left? Well, no, remember he left at the start of 88. Yeah. So.

He's there throughout 88 into 89. How does it change things? It wouldn't really have for the midnight. That's what I'm saying, because. we would have still needed opponents. We would have still probably pitched the fantastics. We would have still had that fucking program. Then by the fall, if Dusty wanted us to do the thing with the horseman,

he may very well have sent, well, by then there was no place to send anybody. But he may very well have split me and Bubba off and Bubba be a single on his own so that it would be easier for us to do the program with the horsemen. But I think that if Bubba had stayed, he would have been, the thing that would have changed would not have been the Midnight Express and Mize, angles, programs, runs, whatever, it would have been what he was able to do with other guys there instead of going to work for Vince and working with a whole different crew,

he would have been working with the baby faces in the Carolina territory. And then he would have been at the mercy as much of Jim heard as we were starting in 1989. So he got out at the right time. Jim, in a similar tone as a question. This was sent via the call to Quartet Facebook group by Lee Clayton. If Jim could go back and participate in one feud that was cut short abruptly or just generally screwed up by other people, which would it be

Vader versus HPK to make Vader as the new top star for WWF? Original Midnight versus Midnight? The Midnight being part of the Four Horseman? Building Brian Pillman as a top baby face? Or Tully and Arne returning after they left the WWF?

They've all been mentioned before, but I wondered which one could be revisited and how that would have changed a box off. office and plans for the company afterwards? Well, the one that I was going to immediately jump on is the only one he didn't mention. The Midnight Express, Eaton and Lane against Tully and Arne, the horseman. That program that got cut off and screwed up and whatever, that's the one I would go back and revisit and run for months and months and months.

because the original midnight was maybe my personal favorite because it was all mine, but we wouldn't have drawn nearly the money, even if that had gone right, that we were drawing and would have continued to draw with Tully and Arne six months earlier. Having said that, what were some of the other examples now? Because of the... Vader and Sean Michaels. this well again i hate to be flippant and frivolous but i wouldn't really having fun with that either way that it went so let's keep with the midnight express run um midnight is members of the horseman

well that and i really didn't give us i didn't want to do that anyway that was a what's the word i'm searching for a compromise no wonder i can't find the word i'd never do it because whenever I've compromised with anybody, it's turned out to be a rib on me anyway. That was a compromise to get Hurd off of our backs and to continue their, get them resigned, continue their contracts, and still keep things open so that Bobby and Stan

and I could reunite at some point, whether there or somewhere else. So that it didn't, then Hurd went back on it after it had been agreed to, just was more aggravation. I would have loved to have gone through with the whole thing with Pilman, but again, that wouldn't have put us in the main events

and created the matches and the gates that Tully and Arne did. And Tully and Arn coming back and being reunited when the herd screwed them, as we talked about the other day, because of Tully's drug test, that would have been great to go back and do that right, but it wasn't an angle of mind that I was directly involved in,

so it wouldn't have been as personal to me. But those are them. Who called Oly? Because he wasn't around before that, was he? No. I don't know whether I can't remember truthfully with a flare in a pinch here's the other horsemen, the one we can get, because they weren't mad at each other at that point.

And Flair was the Booker, so probably Flair. Jim, our next question was sent via the Colta Cornett Facebook group by Joe Wooding. Yes, that is his name. Joe Wooding. What do you think about wrestling attire these days? A few years ago, it seemed like everyone was wearing kick pads over their boots. Now it seems everyone is wearing tracts.

trainers or sneakers, and only a handful wear proper wrestling boots. So, Jim, modern wrestling attire. Well, the kick pads, I didn't mind that much because they were over wrestling boots. And, you know, the martial arts, artists wear them, so it's cool, whatever the fuck. On some people, it looks a little goofy,

but that's not a big deal. But the tennis shoes thing is just ridiculous. And it's because I guess that's the gimmick of the, the urban street crowd like the Uso's or whatever, they all, and, or the fucking diminutive white kids from Oxnard that think that they're somehow goddamn celebrities that have their big sneaker collection. But it looks kind of low rent and indie and outlaw,

unless it's somebody with a gift, I mean, Jay Uso, okay, when he's really over with the yeat, he's wearing tennis shoes, okay. But otherwise, I also don't know why these guys aren't all breaking their ankles when they're, because even, I never had a pair of boots because I didn't want to dress like a wrestler. but I always had those giant stiff high top leather, you know, shoes that I could lace up and get some kind of ankle support, but I wouldn't doing drop kicks either. So I don't, you know. When did you settle on your probably most well-known in-ring gear, the red and black outfit? Because I remember you wearing other things earlier in your career in Memphis and maybe even after Memphis, but when did you settle?

settle on that gear? I think I got that for the match with Paulie, didn't I? No, you weren't a tuxedo. No, but no, the six man.

Oh. The sixth man that in Chicago. Or did I have that before the mate? No, I wore that. I wore that. I had it sometime in the fall of 88 because I believe that I wore that against JJ and Philly in September. I just, you know, I'd worn some stuff that Bobby had had that here you go, Corny.

And I even had a Lawler strap because he had one of Lawler's paratites that he gave me one time. The match was sunshine in Fort Worth. I was wearing a Lawler strap. But I think I just broke down and ordered that outfit. and from K&H and I had it from 88 to that was my wrestling outfit all the way through.

I think I wrestled Jose Lothario in that fucking thing in 96. And finally my knee braces made holes in all the tights and I wasn't wrestling anymore. And I actually, you know what, at one of the wrestle reunions to make sure, or at least I hoped, but of course I went back on it, to make sure that I didn't wrestle anymore.

I sold that fucking outfit to one of the fans after the match at wrestle reunion. It was still sweaty. You know what clip's been going around? The clip of you in 88 throwing punches to Tommy Rogers and then you give him an elbow draw.

Well, yeah, that's awful. People are remarking about just how good your work actually is. The punches look great. that is off the DVD that I put out with the Middite Express book years ago because I got that that was one of the great American bash matches

it was me and Bobby and Stan against the Fantastics in the Bunkhouse Stampede match or Bunkhouse match in Greensboro at the bash we had those three on two handicapped matches and a lot of the buildings across the tour and they shot that but never aired it on TV. There's no commentary, but I got

Wayne Daniel and those guys that worked in the truck to make me copies of a couple of those matches. And then I had camcorder stuff of some of the other midnight matches and the managers bunkhouse Battle Royal in Atlanta with me, JJ, Paul Jones, Gary Hart, Paulie, and poor Humperdink. But that was it was easy to work with Bobby and Tommy

because they weren't big giant baby faces so they could, you know, believably sell a little bit for me when my guys had got them down and then they'd tag me in and I'd go and get some cheap shots for some heat and then they'd bow up and, you know, and I would get out

and my guys would save me. But that clip there kind of illustrates something that people don't understand about selling or, no selling or whatever, there's different stages. The spot that we would do is Bobby would stop Tommy Rogers, he'd body slamming, right?

So he's down on the mat. And then I've been trying to avoid getting in there and trying to avoid any kind of contact. But now give him to me, Bobby, and I tag in. And he's laying there, and I drop a fist on him, boom. And I get up and I drop the elbow on him, boom. and he's selling and I pick him up and I get cocky and I throw one punch and he sells it. When I throw the punch, he sells it.

He boom, he reacts back and fucking, oh gosh, it really hit me. And then the second punch, he registers. Registering is different than selling. You register that a blow has been made to you, but it doesn't really. rock you and affect you that bad. And then the third punch is what he knows sales. That's when I hit him and he bows right up at me. And I go, oh, shit.

And I stick my hand out like shake, friend. And he grabs me with both hands around the neck. But in doing so, he forces me back against the ropes where my guys are. So as he's trying to throttle me and kill me, they reach over and they fucking blind him. And I tag out. and the people have come up and oh shit we pull the rug out from under and they're going to have to wait until the finish

to see them finally really get a hold of me it's just elementary shit but if you go up to a guy today and say okay sell the first one register the second one no sell the third one they don't necessarily know what the fuck

you're talking about Tommy Rogers there did it perfectly so we could call it the ring. What was I talking about? What were you asking? Well, it was modern wrestling attire, but it went into the video of you punching and doing what you talked about from the Bash 88 on Tommy Rogers. Well, yes, and that's the thing. Why would I go there, in there, and try to do a bunch of complicated shit that I didn't know how to do and would look like shit?

The fist drop looked like it connected. The elbow drop was nice form, and I can throw a punch. And that exchange took about one minute and it got a little heat on us and it got the people up and then we got some heat again and then finally they're ready to see me get mine at the finish where they beat me in convincing fashion. But yes, my shit does look better than about 90% of the fuck because everybody's worried about doing fucking moonsaults off the top rope and nobody can throw a punch that you can't see through, whether you're slow-mo in it or not. It's fucking ridiculous.

It's a weird question, but I remember you doing it, I think, at least in 88, or 86, I should say. But did you ever do the Fargo strut in Memphis when you had matches in Memphis? Well, I did it anywhere because it didn't, it wasn't just in Memphis because... You jumped in with that. You were, oh, yes. Oh, yes. Well, because that, that's another spot.

Bobby Eaton came up with this one. And again, we were working with the Fantastics. And I liked when we got the heat on Tommy and gave Bobby Fulton the comeback, not only because Bobby Fulton had a really fiery comeback, but because when we got the heat on Tommy, I'd be slamming him. And he went up like a goddamn feather. Bobby Fulton was the heaviest 205 pound motherfucker I've ever seen in my life.

I almost herniate myself. But Bobby Eaton came up with his spot where they'd stop one of them, one of the fantastics, and tag me in and I would go to slam him. And I'd reach down and crotch him and I've got one video of it. I think it's the same match.

We did the same spot where you see my face, it's perfect. I'd go to pick him up but you see on my face oh shit can't pick him up Bobby Eaton jumps in behind me and

reaches around with his left and right arms like mine so he's got his right arm in between the Fantastic's legs and he's got his left arm over his shoulder and then when I pick him up for the slam it looks like Bobby is helping me

from behind and we both body slam him and then I fucking give my double bicep and he's clapping for me and I do a little strut. Seeing me do anything to the baby faces when they'd been stopped and they were down and they couldn't defend themselves or whatever and then I make any offensive move and then strut or fucking hot dog the people wanted to kill me. Look at that no good little shit, that fucking wimp.

But I would always, we'd always construct everything like that door. needed some kind of a help or I got a lucky shot or it can't it you know backfired on me or whatever the fuck. Jim, our next question sent to corny drive-thru at gmail.com is from Mark Lupo, Albany, New York. Dear Jim, I must admit I am not a Danhausen fan. I do not understand his appeal. I personally think the gimmick is cartoonish, over the top.

ridiculous, and insulting to the wrestling business. It sounds like one of those lawyer commercials. It's ridiculous. It's confounding. It's preposterous. I feel the exact same way about Orange Cassidy. I understand that for whatever reason, these two wrestlers pop a crowd and sell merchandise. But it doesn't make their gimmicks any less absurd or their in-ring work any less abysmal.

I ask you, with respect and honest curiosity, how is Danhausen any better than Orange Cassidy? How is putting a curse on someone any less dumb than wrestling with your hands in your pockets? How is painting your face like a demon any better than wearing all denim and giving little kicks to your opponent's shins? I would love to hear your opinion

and see how you differentiate between oh, well, you get the question here. Thank you, Mark. I get the idea. Thank you, Mark. It's not, it's not any fucking different. That's the, that's what. Danhausen was funny and cute.

And remember, we said we liked him. When we first saw him, we said, we just, we don't want to see him wrestle or this is not, he'd be wonderful as Spenguli's co-host or whatever. he's a very nice young man he's a determined hard worker blah blah blah

but no it's not of course and he hadn't cursed anybody at that point that was before he started flinging power up people's asses no it's not really the difference is I will say this and this is

probably the main difference is that from the start with Orange Cassidy, our little dog pockets, everybody was treating him like he was a legitimate fucking thing, like we should take him seriously, like he should be booked in competitive matches against actual talent. At least Danhausen has not been presented in that fashion.

Everybody thinks he's, fucking nut. They're not having him go out there and literally have competitive matches for 15 or 20 minutes and beat top wrestlers.

But I can see what's the guy's name that asked the question? What was allegedly? What was his name? Mark Lupo, Albany. Mark, I can see where Mark's coming from and he's right. But that's the difference I and see that can you imagine even what the current WWE fans would do if they put Danhausen in the opening segment of Raw every week and had him go 20 minutes with top guys and beat

many, if not most of them, like Pockets did. That would be the way to make it worse. But if you just compare concept to concept, there ain't a lot of difference. No. And I've said it before if Orange Cassidy was dropped into the WWE right now, and they used him the way Tony used them. The same thing would happen. It would sell a bunch of merch,

but I do start to wonder with Danhausen when, if, I shouldn't say when, if the burnout will start happening because it's not as funny as it was to me early on. He's interacting mostly with job guys. I don't know. I mean, I don't know how much longer everyone's going crazy about him,

but maybe they'll release a cool shirt. That sometimes does it. What about Dan has an underwear? That might be next. See, they could keep doing a different piece of apparel. First the t-shirt, then the underwear, then maybe socks. Then you'd know when they get down to like corsets and things of that nature that maybe we've gone too far. Jim, our next question, likely our last one here this week,

was sent to corny drive-thru at gmail.com from Arthur Pryor. I really need Jim to unleash his historian with this one. I need all the information he can give. Jesus Christ, demanding already. You know, Arthur Pryor is a longtime member of the cult, but he's demanding a little bit now. When did leaving your boots and whatever else in the ring start? I started watching wrestling when I was...

What is happening? I started watching wrestling when I was 82 weeks before WrestleMania 2. And aside from a two-year period around the end of the alliance, I watched wrestling for all that time. I never heard of this or saw anyone do it until Cody did his fake out when Alistair Black debuted in AEW. So, Jim, let's cut to the chase. Leaving your boots and any part of your gear in the ring, what do you know about the history of it? Well, Brian, help me with this if you think I need it,

but it's not been done historically in professional wrestling all through the years because, for one thing, nobody ever retired. And for another thing, retirement ceremonies except in a big, retirement match was Vern Gagnets because he was also the boss and he had been the top guy for 25 years so that got a retirement fritz von eric that type of thing retirement matches weren't as prevalent in the old days as they are now but it's an amateur wrestling tradition is it not first of all that that's what amateur wrestlers do and secondly there is some precedent

in mixed martial arts, which Brock is also identified with. And that's why the commentators were, when Brock did it, were kind of educating people to what that meant. And for, when did they do that? Who did it in the WWE last before Brock? God damn help me.

I don't remember. Somebody else did. AJ. There you have it. There you have it. So it's kind of been a thing that is being adopted more in the modern era, Arthur, but I can understand why if you've just followed wrestling for a long time, you might not have caught up with it,

but it's kind of becoming a thing to the young people. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm thinking of, I must have seen images of it in some of the Japanese magazines. I think of it more of a memorial thing than a retirement thing, but they always had these great, not celebrations, but like people would be standing in the ring holding framed photos of the wrestler that died and there'd be flowers everywhere.

And they'd have the boots in the ring or whatever. But also, I believe it is also a Japanese ceremony for in some cases that they have imported like they do everything else for these purposes. But it's kind of like the warrior putting down his shield and his sword. You know, he's leaving his gear on the battlefield. He will fight no more.

He's going home to breed chickens. And goddamn, when the chickens heard about it, they were like, this son of a bitch will never leave us alone. I lied, one last question. Jim, this one was sent to corny drythru at gmail.com from John Williams, Pleasant Hill, Missouri of the original four horsemen

who was the best in-ring worker? actually he wrote worker he wrote performer i i said worker but in ring performer well in the original i assume we're talking about rick flair tully blanchard arn and oly anders yes but let's let's open it up to 88 include luger and windham oh god damn it see now in 1988 it was hard to say that anybody was a better worker than Barry Windham. However, you know, Flair was so good and so consistent for so long, but then again, some might say that Arne was really the worker of the bunch of them. He was just the workhorse and the smoothest guy that could have the widest,

variety of different matches against, you know, against almost anybody rather than, you know, Flair obviously catered a lot of his matches to the guy that he was working, but it was always Rick doing the same stuff. And Tully was just, he was just the little rat that was running around, you know, in perpetual motion where he didn't stand out as the best at anything. but he was good at everything. And of course, I'm considering psychology and mental work as well as physical work. You didn't even mention Oli.

At Oli's Peak, how good do you think Oli was because you have a lot of the film footage? Well, yeah, and that's the thing. Still at Oli's Peak, Oli wasn't the physical performer that fly. Lair or Arne or Barry or even Tully was, but Oli was probably smarter than in some case, and Barry, says the thing, Barry flamed out, and

Barry could do it, but he wasn't mentally driven to do it all the fucking time. Oly ended up being probably the smartest one all the way around because he's the only one of the bunch that ended up being an owner and independently wealthy without making modern wrestling money. He's the only one who actually got to tell Eric Bischoff

to go fuck himself. Yeah. See, that's the thing. Only was making a lot of fucking money in the goddamn wrestling business when Flair and Tully and were rookies and Arne was 12 years old. So I you know but overall who was the best performer in the ring

it would go down to Flair and Wyndham And I mean then you'd just pick it based on Do you like the way Flair always was or do you like the way that Barry was between 85 and 89? Yeah and I think Arne is spectacular in there It's not to take anything away from him but watching that documentary on A&E last week It's been a while since I watched

Perfect Quality 88 Barry Windham when he turned heel. It's like, fuck, he was so good. He was just so good. So smooth. And you know, another case of what could have been. He would do, especially I love the bump where he could just he could get nailed and spin around

and effortlessly without grabbing the ropes fall over the top rope, spin off the apron, fall into the ringside barricade head first and take a bump to the floor. And that's what I've told you a story. It's been a while. but he and Bobby Eaton, if we were in Lancaster, South Carolina, or Murphy, North Carolina, or whatever the fuck,

he and Bobby to entertain themselves would have the match on their knees. They would do something to where, Barry ended up on his knees, and Bobby would grab the goddamn headlock while Barry was on his knees, and Barry would shoot him off, and Bobby would go in and hit the second rope. and come back and Barry would arm drag Bobby while Barry was still on his knees and then Bobby'd spin up and Barry would scoop him up and while he was on his knees

he'd body slam Bobby and it was like I said these guys are so good they're making it more difficult on themselves just to have fucking fun well there it is and with that uh oh I but that the drive-thru is closed My back is all messed up again. You sound like a man that could have somebody work on your back and improve your quality of life. I'm a man right now looking for a very good massage therapist.

I need help. Well, I'd give you mine, but she started revving me the wrong way. All right, we're talking about professionals. I can't put that way either. We're talking about people who went to... That's what you need is to be serviced by a professional. Let's get away from this. Jim, we have some songs this week.

It's been a little while. It's been a hot minute, but let's play some songs. You may remember we referenced Ken Barry's One, Two, Three several times a few months ago. Well, a frequent contributor, Aaron D. Donato, a.k.a. Captain Corum from Wilmington, Delaware. This is the first song he ever wrote and finished in just under 24 hours. Let's go to this. One, two, three. Jim can't distinguish fiends.

By their species Or a croon or pig or horse It ain't cheesy They all taste nasty Just like coffee A.B. As Jim gets older, he loses His memory knows so much music

And it's easy to forget oldies Bylan Ferry Never miss a podcast episode Or the callbacks will pass you by They'll call him Seth Franklin Rillans for years And you will have no idea why One, two, three

One, one, two, three It's so easy like going four foot surgery I should listen in order to it so if you're like OCD 1, 2, 3 CBC I don't even remember what conversation he's referencing there about the feces.

I remember one time we did have a discussion. By the way, thank you very much, Captain Corum. One, Dillie Dillie Deneutie there. Donnie Danucci. We had a discussion on what you could tell what kind of poop that it was from the different animals or how you could. Or did you have to taste it or, you know, what was the deal? How could we tell it apart? I remember something about that.

And now it's starting to sound familiar, unfortunately. But thank you, Captain Corum, Aaron D. Donato. And, of course, if you have a parody song or an original song, no AI, you can send it to corny drive-thru at gmail.com as this man has many, many times. Let's give this a shot. Stefan from Auburn, Maine. I've changed my mind about that one, played this. Hold on.

He's got a whole bunch of stuff here. Let's try this. Uh-oh. Let's try this. High maintenance guest here. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back.

Welcome back. They gave you a title bout. Welcome back. From a former place you were casted out Weird name was changed when you were bound But it seems the invasion angle came around Who knew that Soraya? Who knew that Soraya?

Red turns a dumps to fire. Yeah, we're pleased that she's not on an AW slot. Welcome back. Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back

Alright let me stop this from Because there's a few more minutes of welcome back Surrey More minutes? Yeah, well Let's see what this one is This is

R-HPS parody Cornese Drive-Thru Let's see this Let me Bechapal how you use our logo in whatever this is Whatever this is Let's go back to this Whatever happened to Jimmy Delray

Pritchard That duo from me of my eyes lately Dufa No tag team Currently All the same

Let me stop this one now Okay Are these all from the same fellow This guy just sent in a whole bunch of What's this one? He did A whole bunch Welcome back

Welcome back Oh no, I'm not playing that again How many times you're sending this fucking Welcome Now that he sends you a virus, everything you play is going to start. Welcome back. Welcome back. That's one more of a try from this guy.

Has anybody told Stephanie it's a fucking work? What the fuck is the matter with Stephanie Backer? I've had this segment every week for so long now. I can't imagine why. All right, well, thank you. Thank you, Stefan. Your music really moves me, man. Thank you, Steph.

from Auburnman. Let's get one more. Here we go. Rocky the Ramon. Oh, Rocky. Save the show, Rocky. Here we go. Rocky the Ramon's latest.

He just sent this in this morning, featuring Laura. Let's go to this. Almost everybody is like, I bought every single pay-per-view they've ever done. I buy every single one. That's on our site. We're talking about normal people.

Normal people. It's super fragile condescending notes for explanation Lipsurice to Tony conscious reaps of desperation Opinions filled with bias that destroy his reputation Super fragile condescending notes for explanation Um-lidlidly um-lidly on the lie Um-lidly um-lite He tried to justify his numbers with Brian Alvarez

Patronizing undertones and everything he says He's been at this for 40 years and everybody knows He is nerdy and a hoe, and this is how it goes. Super fragile condescending Meltter explanation. Brian Alvarez exposes his exasperation. Maybe he's balkers' brain is on a fan of an invitation. Super fragile condescending, meltur explanation. Munderly lundle, lundice when made him pay, but stop home syndrome said, and it just took a couple days.

Alvarez's Tony's train of logic is a mess. Meltzer's got no option but you feel a yako-o-o-y-huis. Super fragile condescending, Meltter explanation. All you know the compensation. Listening to Meltzer only causes aggravation. Super fragile condescending, Meltzer to Elton Nation. All you know is on Dynamite last week. Bill Osprey was kidnapped, and a week later, he's now friends with him and training with him.

But they did explain. No, they did. Melcher's crazy logic ever causes you dismay. Remember that it's Tony Khan and wanted it this way. Alvarez has never heard such bullshit in his life. Dave, this sucked. Those people went from this fucking guy got kidnapped to now he's training with them. Right.

And the only explanation is they had a talk on collision. You should have showed the fucking talk. Super fragile condescending, Meltzer Explanation. Super fragile condescending. Super fragile condescending. Hey, that was, that one made no sense at all. Well, there it is. The return of Rocky the Ramon, super fragile condescending Melser.

explanation. Now with Laura. Now with Laura. It literally has an exclamation mark with Laura. You're in this. Bravo. Bravo. We're not going to top that. Once again. Send in your song submissions. Be like Rocky. Corny drive-thru at gmail.com. But with that, the drive-thru is closed again. It's still closed. Just more music. It's more closed now than ever before. And ever before. Of course, you can hear the experience in a few days, which will be opening up and of course next week the drive-through there's a lot of stuff from biographies to premium live events to

medium-grade live events that'll be available that we'll be talking about here on the show including NXT, Mason Rook's debut and the Road Warriors biography. Stay tuned, the experience in next week here on the drive-thru. Go through the archives, patreon.com slash cornet. $5 a month gets you access to the archive going back to 2013. Patreon.com slash cornet

The official Jim Cornet YouTube channel subscribe today full episodes Clips City episodes Omnibus Collections here are the show at least parts of it

before it comes out in the podcast feed the official Jim Cornet Just random parts Words in jumbled order That very popular George Livonitis artwork I should add

He's speaking of people that are in jumbled order Hey don't say to be better He's a nice guy Anyway, Cornettes collectibles at Jim Cornyn.com. What's going on, Jim? I remind everyone that all the proceeds from my book, Heroes and Friends at Jim Cornett.com in the month of June

will be contributed to the WHS Crusade for Children. That's at Jim Cornett.com. At Jimcornett.com. The drive-thru is brought to you by the law office of Stephen Pneau. 87750, Steve. Get even with Stephen. And I understand that Stephen P. New is going to contribute all the revenue from all of his cases in the month of June to the crusade for children as well once he hears about this. I don't know about that, but send all media inquiries to new law office.com.

But until the experience in a few days and the laughter continuing next week here on the drive-thru for Jim Cornett, I'm the great Brian last. Made up chords. Callie-ho!