Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast
Release Date: January 25, 2018
Guests: Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, and JBL
Recap By: Matthew Wilkinson
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Newsworthy Items
- Eric never wanted to shut down WWF.
- Eric regrets not letting DX invade WCW.
- JBL once made sure WWE wouldn’t sell any shirts of his.
- Sam thought Raw 25 was good, but some elements didn’t work.
- Sam is going to be on the NXT TakeOver pre-show.
- Sam thinks Roman Reigns could win the Rumble.
Subjects Covered (with timestamps)
00:00- Sponsor Ads
09:50-Interview- Bruce Prichard’s Podcast
13:40-Competing Against Each Other
15:20-WWF Almost Going Out Of Business
17:50-Eric Bischoff Joining WWE
22:00-DX Invasion
27:10-Monday Night Wars
33:16-Attempting To Sign Bruce & JBL
38:10-Working With Each Other
41:00-Heel Work
45:00-Eric Kissing Stephanie
59:00-State Of Wrestling- Raw 25
1:20:00-Missing Raw 25 Legends
1:22:50-Enzo Amore
1:30:00-NXT Takeover: Philly
1:44:30-Royal Rumble
Interview- Bruce Prichard’s Podcast
Sam Roberts kicked off the podcast and welcomed everyone saying that it’s kind of amazing seeing all of them in the same room promoting the same project.
Bruce Prichard agreed, saying not only is it their project, but WWE’s project, what the hell is going on. Sam then said it’s incredible what he has done with his podcast, telling stories of his time in WWE.
Bruce said that first of all, he lived through the time of being next to Vince McMahon for all those years and the fact that people care to hear those stories is amazing within itself as well.
Sam thinks what is really amazing is that they come from a time when wrestling was the biggest thing in the world, so the stories that they have from those five years, the people who were watching, even if they are not watching current day WWE stuff still care about those old stories from when they were growing up.
Bruce’s favorite thing is when people say what happened when, and then they fill in the rest of the blanks.
Competing Against Each Other
Sam noted that it’s interesting now because Bruce was one of Vince’s right-hand men for some time and a big part of that was when Eric Bischoff was running a show as specific competition.
Eric was after the audience, he didn’t give a damn about their throats but the audience was really important to him.
Eric didn’t want to put WWF out of business, that’s kind of a false narrative that exploded out of that era and a lot of that came from Vince trying to convince everybody that big bad billionaire Ted was trying to put him out of business.
He was trying to make himself the babyface, he was trying to galvanize a loyalty in his brand. That really wasn’t the case, there was no agenda to put anybody out of business but there was in becoming number.
Sam asked if that story that has been told of you rallying your troops saying we are going to put WWF out of business, was true or false?
Bischoff probably did and he knows that sounds like he is contradicting himself but there was a lot of things that he said or did to rally his troops.
You’ve got to remember from a talent’s point of view it was a very weird situation, he had a roster full of talent that he was asking to do things that they knew was going to burn a bridge.
Anything they could do to embarrass and put down the competition. It was one thing for him to go out and give away finishes, he had no intention of going back to WWE.
The talent knew better, they knew there was only two places to work. They were working for him or they were working for WWE and a lot of the talent didn’t want to do the stuff that took it to the top.
Sam asked if Eric was using his own bravado and trying to infuse it into the talent?
It was a couple of things, it was galvanising the troops and getting them to believe we could be number one and stay number one, Eric admitted he probably got caught up in a lot of his BS.
But he can promise there was no real agenda to put anybody out of business. He knew that the best environment we could be in was a competitive one, it was like the Coke and Pepsi war, which is what he modelled his approach to the business after.
Sam then asked Bruce, as someone who was there whilst competition was this bad before and after, whether he thinks that is the best time too?
Bruce said without a doubt, when there is somebody, you fight a lot harder when you’re getting your ass kicked. When Eric was coming after us with vengeance all of a sudden, we weren’t the only game in town.
We weren’t the ones who were just fighting for that existence and to be part of everything. They’re doing great numbers which helped us do great numbers and that’s what is missing today, some good healthy competition.
WWF Almost Going Out Of Business
Sam asked whilst it was happening did he think “holy s**t we might be going out of business here?”
Bruce admitted there were times when they thought, ‘oh man, this could be it,’ but at the same time having been in similar positions they knew they just had to keep working and there would be light at the end of the tunnel, but there were definitely times when they thought this could all be over.
Eric joked, like when they were taking water coolers out of the building and that sort of stuff?
Bruce fired back by stating no, it was more like when we were flying down to buy WCW and purchase it, something like that.
Sam wondered if the actually did have to take out water coolers, did it get that tough? Bruce said they shaved expenses, and did what they had to do to survive and then come back and conquer, which is what WWF eventually did.
Sam asked if it was tough to be financially disciplined? Because that’s the other narrative right, that you didn’t have to as you had Ted Turner’s money and the narrative is you could offer big talent all the money in the world.
Eric said that it’s all BS, it’s not true at all.
Bruce added that the one thing that Eric did when people say that, is he created an atmosphere that had never been in the wrestling world before where all of a sudden, the competition for contracts and their compensation changed everything, even to this day.
Eric Bischoff Joining WWE
Sam asked what his feelings were towards Eric then?
Bruce hated his guts and he didn’t even know him. The first time he met him was for an interview in 1991, the next time he came in is when he became Raw general manager.
Eric said he had really left WCW in 1998, he thinks it was 2002 when he came to WWE so he had been out of the public eye fully for about two years.
Bruce said he was one of the guys who wanted to bring him in. Again, you have to understand when he says he hated his guts, he is just a guy who hates losing.
You judge them based on the outside perception and once they met he fell in love with him and he is one of my best friends today, if we had met in ’98 it might have been a different story.
DX Invasion
Sam introduced JBL who had just arrived, explaining what they had been talking about and mentioned how he was always loyal to WWF.
JBL said they had a friendly rivalry, they did have the time when they invaded from Norfolk, WWF invaded in the afternoon and they didn’t know what would happen.
Jerry Brisco went around telling people to be ready so they were in the parking lot, WWF had Ken Shamrock and that’s about all they needed really. We had no idea what was going to happen, we were out there until Vince was leaving.
Eric said he had no idea any of that was going on, it’s one of the things he regrets the most. He would’ve let them in and whatever happened would have happened on television, that would have been some of the greatest television in the history of wrestling.
JBL loves the fact that Bruce had a dummy tape though, if they got kidnapped they were going to sneak the other one out. He asked Bruce what they would have done had they got in.
Bruce said they just would’ve taped it and gone for it. They were hoping they were going to get in.
Eric added that he didn’t think that would have been worth the effort because honestly, there was no heat between the boys. They would’ve broken in and would have been in character and then they would have high fived each other and cracked a beer.
JBL agreed that they had no animosity towards those guys, there was a professional fight between us but nothing personally.
The Monday Night Wars
Sam mentioned how Eric was saying he did not want to put WWF out of business to get JBL’s opinion on the matter.
Whatever the narrative, it worked. JBL admitted they were scared to death, right before that business was horrible, it was in WCW as well and all of a sudden nWo goes over there and the business starts to rise and they were getting beaten for the first time and that was a scary thought.
They knew that Ted Turner had deep pockets and WWF had to stay within budget so it was a scary fight that they had.
Eric jumped in and said that he can imagine being on the WWE side of the equation, competing with WCW which is owned by Turner Broadcasting which owns a plethora of networks that had unlimited funds, it was a tough animal to go head to head with when you don’t own your own networks.
Bruce said he thinks what people forget is that WCW had a history of having old wrestling promoters to be in charge of things, which was very easy to work out what they were going to do ahead of time.
Now all of a sudden, you have this young cocky kid who wants to be in the television business and is doing things that traditionally had never been done before and the rules of the game were being changed.
Sam asked if it was tough to kind of try and figure what the next thing is because you look at all people of that calibre as you could be Ted Turner but you’re just not doing it right.
Eric admitted that it could be and he never really did it just, the corporate environment is not one that he has been able to adjust to since that time.
Ted was a risk taker, he held you accountable, it wasn’t just “here’s a bunch of money and do whatever.” Eric had to work among budgets and when things succeeded he was given more rope, but to have the opportunity to work with a guy like Ted, CNN is here and cable news lives today because of his vision.
JBL added that Eric’s rise is one of the greatest in television history. He goes from this regional territory up in the AWA to running this company that was beating WWE soundly.
Not one person could take all the credit for this but this is an incredible story in television during an incredible time.
Attempting To Sign Bruce & JBL
Sam mentioned that it got to the place where off screen, writers were being traded back and forth, was there a point where Eric tried to get Bruce?
No, that’s another part of the narrative. There was nobody they sat back and tried to steal. When talent came over it was really them coming to us not us trying to cherry pick.
The only person he tried was Pat Patterson, people kept telling him what a great finish guy he was and he knew looking at WCW’s product they needed someone with that depth of storytelling. He also tried to court JBL once in an airport but it didn’t work out.
JBL said it got him a raise! He ran into Eric at a bar, it was the first time he had met him and he was in the middle of a contract negotiation and got a raise.
Working With Each Other
Sam asked Bruce what was his favorite thing you did with Bradshaw from a creative perspective?
Bruce said when they first started the JBL character and he was working a program with Eddie so they went to Texas to get some shots of John catching some illegals jumping over a fence and they get to this house that John has set up of this ranch.
They are shining lights and setting stuff up and a truck pulls up and we say it must be them and he stops and comes back in and says ‘who are you,’ they were at the wrong house. He thought he was being robbed.
Heel Work
Sam mentioned he thinks things like that are getting lost, when you could show a skit to be a real villainous character.
Eric said wrestling has always fallen into this weird grey area because in comedy and drama you could still do that today, but in sports entertainment you couldn’t do that today because it is viewed differently.
JBL agrees, and he thinks it’s insane. You had Carol on The Walking Dead assassinate a young girl, nobody claimed that was too far, nowadays you have fans chanting ‘that’s too far,’ really?
He has never understood the heel sections, if people are comfortable with the heel heat it’s not good heat. Why is sports entertainment held to a different standard to Game Of Thrones?
One time he saw a guy in a JBL shirt and he called Vince right away and said “why are you selling my shirts?” they took it off the shelf right away.
The last thing you want is someone to be wearing your merchandise when the guy next to you is booing you. That’s something that is missing now, a guy like Randy Orton certainly enjoys the heat, a guy like Miz does, Jericho does a terrific heel. It’s a small handful.
Eric Kissing Stephanie
Sam mentioned many people had tweeted him to ask about when Eric passionately kissed Stephanie McMahon and then it was never brought back up on TV.
Bruce said the weird thing to it is that Eric was wearing the mask of Vince and Brian Gerwitz was asking if anyone else found it funny that Stephanie was basically making out with her dad.
Eric added whilst her dad is standing five feet away, his first thought was it was a rib. He didn’t really interact with her on a personal level, but professional relationship was fine. Vince was directing it and he just thought it was very strange.
He went to WWE knowing he would be put in awkward situations, that’s the way it is. Look at the times Vince has put himself in awkward positions, honestly it was just another scene.
JBL added it’s a work, he wouldn’t ask anybody to do something he wouldn’t do.
State Of Wrestling – Raw 25
Story number five, is Raw 25. The show, the feedback, the whole deal. Sam was there as part of the Kick-Off show which to him, was incredible.
For those of you who follow him on Instagram you will have seen the side by side with him at the 15th anniversary of Raw, and he was in the audience as a fan and 10 years later he is holding a WWE microphone as part of the show.
Of course, Sam’s view on Raw 25 is heavily skewed, not only did he get to be part of it, he watched parts in the arena, parts on a TV backstage, got to interact with everyone who was there and it was an unbelievably fun night.
But, there has been some heavy, heavy criticism. Some of it, is very fair, but there are some positives that are being forgotten.
First of all, we’ve got to talk about expectations for the show, because that’s what so much of it is based on and the expectations for the show were sky high and that’s not the audiences fault, the show was built up that way.
When you get expectations as high as ours were for this show, no matter how much you announce, it becomes a problem when you don’t have a surprise, even if you announce Stone Cold, Undertaker, a DX reunion and all this stuff, there is still a feeling that if all this is announced, imagine what they haven’t.
In this instance, all the good stuff had been announced and to be fair, they announced a ton, there was a lot on the show, so all of us that were expecting a surprise, we didn’t get one.
Number two is the expectation, we thought this was going to be a happening, that Raw 25 was going to be something that you couldn’t miss in terms of it will make history and not celebrate history.
People who went in just looking for a good time and to see the legends were fine, they had a good time, but people looking for a happening would’ve gotten disappointed.
The idea of the dual arena show, on paper it sounded amazing, the Manhattan Center, it looked amazing.
That arena was designed to be what the arena looked like, Sam was blown away with how good it looked. It wasn’t until after the show that he realized how mad the fans were.
When stuff was happening at the Barclays Center, the Manhattan Center is quiet and people thought it would’ve been split up a little differently and perhaps it should have been 50/50 but it wasn’t.
They only got three segments, and they were all relevant segments; the Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt match was cool to see in that setting, the DX reunion and Undertaker promo were all important segments.
The Undertaker segment left people wanting more but that’s because they wanted an answer and Sam doesn’t think we are ready for one yet.
People were furious and, what had happened was we can’t have 20,000 people watch most of the show on screens, if you think 600 people is mad and loud, you should see 20,000 mad and loud.
The issue is, people paid a lot of money to get these tickets, $800 + for them, which he can’t blame them for. If Sam was going as a fan he would want to go to the Manhattan Center.
On paper it sounds good, but in execution it just didn’t work. In future, you need to just decide either the first hour or the last hour is from the Manhattan Center, you have to do something that is defining what is going on at each building otherwise people will be left feeling ripped off, and you can’t blame them.
He also thinks the show was lacking a through line, if you saw the promo Stone Cold did backstage, stuff like that would have been amazing, so it felt like you couldn’t change the channel. Instead it felt like a series of bits.
Things like The Miz’s promo, he wins the title at the Barclays Center and cuts a promo at the Manhattan Center, that should have interrupted the broadcast to give a feeling of spontaneity, a feeling of chaos and less like here is the time to do this and that, just so you have the feeling of not knowing what would happen next.
It could have been done with The Miz going to two buildings, he could have cut from a match into what he was doing and then go back to the other, maybe do something back and forth.
Have Vince throw Stone Cold out for stunning him and then have him show up at the Manhattan Center, little things like that would have been interesting.
It was interesting who wasn’t there, Lita wasn’t there, which feels like it must be intentional, not in a negative way, she must be in the Rumble or something.
Mick Foley wasn’t there for storyline reasons he said, Rock and Edge were both shooting movies or TV shows, you would like to see those people but we saw a lot of people.
The Miz winning the title was a huge positive, he looked like a million bucks and it feels like we are jumping on a Miz train, his stock has been rising and rising and it really feels like he is going a long way.
The match was great and he came across like a star, which is what you want. The opening segment was one of the greatest things, it was priceless you can’t say anything negative about it.
We got to see The Balor Club and DX working together and how amazing was X-Pac’s X-Factor, he nailed it perfectly.
Some people said it should have been Stone Cold and the McMahon’s at the end of the show, but at the end of the day you have to figure out what happens on Raw’s 26 year and 27, which starts with the Royal Rumble.
You have to finish the show with a segment that is pushing things forward and Stone Cold stunning Vince has no bearing on the Rumble or on what we are doing moving forward so they made the right call.
They have done a great job in terms of promotion for the Royal Rumble, on paper some people were not excited about Kane vs. Strowman vs Lesnar, but over the course of a couple of weeks they have left people excited.
If that hadn’t been promoted properly it would have been easy to miss, but over Raw they have put some effort and time into building it. The Rumble match will sell itself, so the fact they are spending so much time selling the Title matches is valuable.
Sam doesn’t think by any stretch of the imagination that Raw 25 was a failure, but he does think people are fair for expecting more, but that is something you have to pick up and learn from in the future.
The execution could have been smoother. People said the only thing good was the opening segment but The Miz was a huge win and ending the show going towards the Rumble was a good thing to do.
The reaction that Brother Love got from that silly wrestling podcast was amazing, Jericho getting away with his Alpha Club t-shirt is brilliant, it proves he is just one character over so many amazing years.
Missing Raw 25 Legends
Let’s go to story number four, which is the people who were not at Raw, starting with CM Punk, Sam was actually quite shocked that people thought he would be appearing.
He didn’t think Punk would be there, and he didn’t think Hogan would be, the other guys had explanations.
Sam thought Hogan was more likely than Punk, there is a lawsuit going on and he has been announced for another UFC fight, both parties have moved on, it is not something that is about to happen.
People thought that because he was put in the Raw 25 opening it meant he would be there. Sam likes that they put him in because it would have been dishonest to not have a reflection on the Pipebomb.
Now people are saying that he is going to be in the Royal Rumble, he is not going to be in the Rumble. It is very obvious that he is not going to be in the Rumble, do not place bets on CM Punk.
Sam put him down as story number four because so many people are now talking about him, someone on Facebook is asking if he will be part of the ALL IN show.
He doesn’t know if he will be part of it but he would say it’s more likely, Sam doesn’t think he is interested in wrestling right now. The desire to do it is not hitting him and that’s fine.
Him returning to WWE or wrestling a match is not a conversation to have after his next UFC fight because after the first it was clear he wasn’t ready for this, so we will see where he is after the second one.
Enzo Amore
Let’s move on to story number, three which is really something we have to talk about and he would like to put this into as much of a wrestling perspective as possible, Enzo Amore.
Enzo was at Raw 25, he was in the Barclays Center and this story came out on Twitter that there was a woman accusing him of rape, Sam did not see him at the Barclays but he read that he was there.
From what he has read he was suspended and sent home and one day later fired from WWE. Now, more news has come since then, the woman has accused him of rape has done an interview with TMZ detailing a really brutal scenario a really disturbing scenario.
There are other YouTube videos discrediting her, she isn’t famous on YouTube but she does do YouTube stuff. There is other stuff about her, she has had a history with drugs and did a video about faking a pregnancy that doesn’t help her credibility, but it certainly does not make him say she didn’t get raped.
Rape is a very, very serious thing and the most terrible thing you can do is do that to someone. It is also really bad to accuse somebody of that if they haven’t done it.
Not only does it damage that person but it also damages the cause, Sam doesn’t think women or men that have had that happen to them should be questioned, that’s why they stay silent, because they don’t think anybody would believe them if they said that and people who have to experience that should never have to feel that way.
Either way Sam really hopes Enzo didn’t do this, he is not best friends with him but he does know Enzo, they speak and get along very well and Sam has always really liked him.
Enzo has released a statement denying it, but he was fired from WWE. He doesn’t know why he was fired within 24 hours, he would assume, unless there is a heaping pile of evidence that is about to prove he is guilty.
So, with all of that said the Cruiserweight Champion is gone and he is accused with this horrible crime and we can only hope that it goes away, in the sense that he didn’t do it.
But, we should talk about the cruiserweights. It was announced there would be a general manager put into 205 Live as the whole thing feels snake bit.
TJ is the first champion and it doesn’t work out, he doesn’t really connect with the fans and the whole thing doesn’t work out.
The tournament in general was snake bit when the big names such as Zack Sabre and Ibushi didn’t sign to stay.
Then you have Brian Kendrick who gets injured, you have Neville who apparently leaves the company, Rich Swann who had his legal troubles and Austin Aries is gone who would have been a huge asset.
So, what do you do? Name a general manager, you go one of two ways, bring someone in for star power or give it to Drew Gulak and Sam would lean towards that.
In terms of star power, that needs to be injected into the division. You do whatever you can to get Neville back into 205 Live, you need him.
After you get Neville back you immediately push Ricochet right on to 205 Live, he should be doing his style and you have to put him on Tuesday, next week.
The next battle for the title should be Neville vs. Ricochet to help this brand that has been struggling. Some people are saying they want Ricochet on NXT, Sam understands you want the best for him but you need to put stars on 205 Live and if he is on you see Ricochet matches on Raw right away.
It might not be the most popular thing right now but if you get the right guys you really can make it better. If fans know that Ricochet is battling Neville fans will be attracted to the show, that’s what I would do with the cruiserweight division.
NXT Takeover Philly
Alright, let’s talk about Takeover Philly Saturday night, Sam will be there for the pre-show and he thinks it is turning into a really cool Takeover. No gimmicks, no War Games, it is relying on the card and it is really good when you go down it.
You have the Women’s Championship match with Ember Moon vs. Shayna Bazsler, she has been pushed right away, you go “who else?”
The names that come right away are Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, because we have seen Moon beat them, the whole point is that you want to believe one of the titles could change, so you have to pick the opponents carefully.
Sam doesn’t believe that Royce or Kay could win it right now, but Shayna could. She is a heel in every sense of the term, she just wants to win, she also has the MMA background which Ember isn’t used to fighting and number three, it leads you into this scenario with Moon trying to get a rematch.
The next show is on WrestleMania weekend and if she has taken out Ember Moon, who took the crown from Asuka, who we expect to have a long run, if Shayna spoils that then imagine Kairi Sane going into the match at ‘Mania weekend.
We aren’t going to believe Sane beating Shayna but she is popular enough to have fans behind her. Then you have the Tag Team Title match with Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish against AOP.
Undisputed Era needs to win that match as they need to look tough and two this is the weekend, bring the Authors of Pain to the main roster.
Only 17 names in the Rumble so far, have both of them come out together and clean house, they should have a match at WrestleMania. War Machine should replace them in that spot, but I would have AOP lose at Takeover and have them go right to the main roster.
You have Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole. Sam could see Cole winning by cheating and having a rematch. Sam loves the matchup and it shouldn’t be a one and done, have him win by cheating.
Then you have the NXT Championship match with Andrade Cien Almas and Jonny Wrestling, it is really cool because Jonny’s story is the mirror image of the Andrade story.
A guy who was just losing and losing every match and then finally got something to lift his spirits and made his way all the way to the Championship match, the last person to do it was Almas and he won.
Sam doesn’t know when Ciampa’s coming back to NXT but obviously that is the match we want to see at the WrestleMania Takeover show.
We could see him come back and cost him, or we could see Jonny win and have Ciampa challenge him, or one of them wins clean and the Ciampa stuff comes later and announces he is back, a lot could happen.
Because of the story there is this idea that Andrade could lose the title and it could make sense, making it an interesting match.
These Takeovers are so well done because so much happens during NXT TV, if we had predicted Takeover Philly at the last Takeover, Andrade wasn’t even in the conversation at that point, a lot happens and changes.
It depends on injuries, for the ‘Mania weekend you want the rematch between McIntrye and Andrade, Ciampa vs. Gargano, he likes the idea of Baszler vs. Sane and maybe War Machine vs. Undisputed Era.
There’s a lot that could happen and Sam is very excited about it, there is a lot that could happen and it’s interesting.
Royal Rumble
Story number one is of course the Royal Rumble, let’s go over the card. Obviously, the Cruiserweight match isn’t happening but you have The Bar vs. Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins, Sam wouldn’t be surprised if The Bar gets their titles back, although it seems like hot potato.
That bout will be about furthering the Jason Jordan storyline which is being told really well. You have the two Rumble matches, the WWE Championship handicap match.
Sam wouldn’t be surprised if AJ loses the title but wins it back before WrestleMania, it wouldn’t shock him if he loses it and wins it back, both brands have a PPV before WrestleMania so there is wiggle room.
That will also further the story between Shane and Daniel Bryan. He is quite sure we will see the title stay on Brock Lesnar. There are a couple of scenarios that could happen, we have to realize that at Raw 25, Roman Reigns lost and there could be a couple of reasons for that.
Roman Reigns could have lost it and let The Miz look strong because he will win the Royal Rumble. As much as we enjoyed Miz winning we have to be aware that it could have been so he wins the Rumble, there is a likely chance.
No matter what, Roman is going to get an even worse reaction from Philly than in 2015 if he wins, but Sam wouldn’t be surprised.
There is talk of John Cena winning the title at Rumble but Sam doesn’t see that happening as he doesn’t think he will be in the title match at ‘Mania.
He doesn’t think he will be wrestling The Undertaker either, if you had to ask right now he believes he will face Elias.
Believe it or not, we are going to see a WrestleMania match between them and Elias could go over. Sam thinks that they are trying to do something with Elias and it feels like they are behind him and they will give him that WrestleMania moment.
There is also the idea of Nakamura winning the Rumble, he maybe 2018’s- 2015 Daniel Bryan. We all went into that wanting Bryan to win and we didn’t get it, Nakamura is the guy that people have been talking about winning this match since the Fall.
We have all had the idea with him winning the Rumble and going to face AJ Styles, it’s the fans choice and because they want it so much, we aren’t going to get it.
Miz is in the Rumble, Sam doesn’t think he is winning. Here is what he fears, Roman wins and eliminates The Miz last, but he will get cheered through the roof and Sam doesn’t want Miz to get cheered like that.
He will be excited if Nakamura wins, that is the fans choice, Cena winning is a safe bet, but the company choice is what he thinks will happen and that’s Roman Reigns winning and going on to face Brock Lesnar.
You cannot leave saying that you can’t believe Roman won, you have to believe it, otherwise you are setting yourself up for a world of disappointment.
You have the fan choice, Nakamaura, the company choice, Reigns. Here’s what Sam would do. Triple threat happens, Braun Strowman collapses something but they move and chain him so he is stuck, Brock pins Kane and Strowman is furious.
He breaks whatever is stuck on him and Braun at number 27 here he comes. He wins the Royal Rumble, he eliminates everybody, he will eliminate Kurt Angle and Triple H. Roman eliminates Nakamura and it’s just them, Strowman eliminates Reigns, can you imagine the surprise.
Strowman goes on to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, that’s what Sam would do. To him, that’s money.
Strowman vs. Lesnar looks awesome, you can put it on a billboard, you can send him to do media and babyface him all you want and there are plenty of spots for Roman Reigns after that.
You have the potential to make a superstar, people are cheering Braun Strowman, Sam said it a year ago! Now we have a guy who is as unbeatable as Brock but is actually on TV every week, it’s amazing.
That’s where we go. You don’t announce it, so you think that Strowman is done for the night. As far as the women’s Rumble goes, he wouldn’t be surprised if Ronda Rousey is in the match.
Sam doesn’t think she should win, it wouldn’t be good for the roster and you should respect what they have done to not have her win.
Personally, he would have Asuka win, there is this cop out where undefeated streaks don’t count in battle royals but he thinks it would be so strong to see an undefeated person also win the Rumble. How is the champion going to compete against her?
Maybe has Asuka lose at WrestleMania, but still do Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte, she is the only opponent for Rousey.
She might not be coming at all, but only 18 women have been announced, you will see Peyton Royce and Billie Kay and you will see Lita pop up.
Sam wouldn’t be surprised if you see Medusa, both of those Rumble’s he can’t wait for. Sam just hopes that it turns out as great as it could potentially be.
Rating 9/10
That was an incredible podcast. Both elements on the show were superb, hearing the stories from all three guests and just listening to them shoot the breeze and go back and forth had a really natural flow to it and it was a really interesting listen to hear both sides of the story. The State Of Wrestling was equally as good with so many interesting topics to discuss.
About The Writer
Matthew Wilkinson is from Bradford, England. He’s been a fan since the late 90’s with the Attitude Era and was then heavily invested again through the rise of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. He can be found on Twitter at @MC_Wilkinson1
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