Notsam Wrestling Podcast
Episode 211: The Undisputed Era
Release Date: November 8, 2018
Recap by: James Hayes
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
From New York, Sam welcomes you to the show!
It’s like a dream, a hoop dream for Sam to interview all four members of The Undisputed. Well, kids ‘dreams come true.
The Undisputed Era Interview
Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish are in the house!
NXT growth:
“It’s so cool to be a part of this growth since we’ve gotten there. It seems to get bigger and better with every show.” Kyle says.
NXT development:
“It’s almost a crime calling it a development brand because NXT is the cool thing in wrestling right now. Everybody is watching it. I think it’s the best product, in my opinion.” Cole says.
Fish adds, “If this is developmental they better get moving on me! I don’t have much more developing I can do before I’m dead. I’m hoping to hit 6 foot by the age of 50. It is what you would think the epitome of a developmental system would be. You get a great group if echelon talent, you mix them in with some guys that kind of start breaking out, but don’t have a ton of experience at the top of the cards for the indies, and you get people who just don’t know what’s going on. And then you mix that and you just have them be around each other. Having experience used to go against you, but now they see the value in that.”
Together in WWE:
“To be here is the goal. But to be here and get thrown into it with your buddies. Can you make it any better? If I could have it any way I want, it would be this way.” Cole says.
Trust in WWE:
“These guys know what they’re doing. They seem to have the right answer. It’s very impressive I feel like sometimes they know you better than you know yourself.” All four guys agree with this statement.
Roddy Strong is the man:
“I think Roddy could fit into a few different categories and I think that is part of what makes us unique. Obviously, the brand is what we’re pushing, but individually, it was pointed out to us by someone in the industry, that what makes us cool is there is this individual thing we can get into but the group also stays solid. I feel we are all capable of multiple things.” Cole says.
The guys agree that Roddy brought the team to another level.
Roderick comes into the Era
Shawn Michaels:
Bobby Fish says, “He’s our head coach. We haven’t had a lot of time to spend with him recently he’s been busy getting ready for his big return. He’s got to take out a couple of Brothers of Destruction. I’ve had the chance to be in his class since he first started and it’s unbelievable. It’s like going from high school to college. He is arguably the greatest performer ever.”
Adam Cole adds, “Not only is he a wrestling genius but he cares so much. He’s not coming to the Performance Center because he’s punching a clock. He didn’t just show up to work when he was a performer. He’s the best coach.”
Triple H:
“He is truly brilliant. Anytime someone has a question, it could be us, or anyone, he just has it. And the level of busy that man is. He is able to stay sharp. He has his hands on the pulse of everything.” Adam Cole.
“It’s almost like he’s a savant.” Fish says.
Roderick Strong’s Lady:
“Honestly, its something that I never early wanted and Marina never had any interest in wrestling other than being a fan of it. But she admired all my friends the more she was around it, and then Ronda started doing it. I was against it. Then I realized it was more just fear on my behalf, just holding someone to a certain standard. Like, if they don’t have the same mentality I would have an issue with that. But she’s a maniac like I am, and she takes it very seriously. She’s a natural at showing her personality. Which was hard for me to do. At first, I coached her and it was bad for us. I enjoy just watching the progress now, instead of making the progress.”
Marina Shafir makes her debut
Adam Cole’s Lady:
“I had met Brit and Brit was already wrestling at that point. But as far as having Brit around? I loved that. The thing I like most is that she is still early in her career so getting to see her experience things for the first time, like she went to Japan for the first time, to see how excited she was that she got to go over there and wrestle. It was awesome. It’s like I’m getting too relive it too.”
Brit Baker vs. Shayan Baszier
Who they want in NXT:
Adam Cole answers, “I’d say Ricochet again, Velveteen Dream at some point, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano.”
Speaking of Ricochet:
“We had wrestled a hand few of times before. We would do local Florida shows. We had not wrestled on television or on the road. On the independents, we wrestled one time. It was fun.” (Wrestling him at NXT)
Ricochet vs Adam Cole Highlights
Undisputed Era entrance
State of Wrestling:
5. Daniel Cormier calls out Brock Lesnar
Sam feels the Universal Championship is cursed. Finn got injured. Kevin Owens loses to Goldberg. Goldberg defends once then leaves. Brock hijacks it forever. Roman gets it and then has to walk away. Now it’s back on Brock.
Sam says, “The idea that Lesnar is champ again does not bother me because it’s like the title has not debuted yet.”
Here is Sam’s theory:
Cornier called out Brock to introduce himself to the WWE Universe. Sam wonders if the goal is to have Lesnar take the WWE Universal Title to UFC and beat DC, then bring the UFC title to WrestleMania. He thinks WWE wants the visual of seeing Brock with both titles. Then maybe we get Daniel Cormier vs. Brock Lesnar in WWE. We could have two super athletes battling over both the UFC and WWE title. Sam feels this could happen in one maybe two years.
(Brock will NOT beat Daniel Cormier, they should just put the belt on Drew McIntyre already.)
DC calls out Brock
4. Shane is The Best in The World?
Sam says the problem is WWE sold this Cup as a big deal then they just gave it to Shane. Sam feels this does add another layer of competitiveness for The Survival Series, but the end may not have justified the means.
3. Kurt Angle
Angle lost at Crown Jewel to Dolph Ziggler and was then destroyed on Raw by Drew McIntyre.
Sam sees no problem with this because Kurt has nothing to prove. He has done it all. Why not help get Drew and Dolph over?
2. Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey
“You didn’t think Becky could get any better and she does. She is amazing, this Becky Lynch. And she’s bringing out the best in the people around her. We were all blown away about the story Ronda told with Nikki Bella. Ronda was amazing on Raw with that Becky Lynch promo. We walk into Survivor Series and the Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch match will be the one we are most excited about. And that says a lot.”
(Agreed. This should be the main event.)
1. WWE 5 Greatest Survivor Series Teams
WWE List
5. Hulkamaniacs
4.Team Smackdown 2005
3. The Ultimate Warriors
2. Team Raw 2017
1. Team WWE 2001
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
For more of the Undisputed Era interview click the link above. They get into motivating each other, the strength of friendship, and what WWE has taught them about work ethic. You can also check out Sam’sTop 5 Survivor Series Teams at the 1:50:51 mark.
Overall Observations:
I’m not big into multi-person interviews. They can be confusing and convoluted. This was slightly above my expectations. They have chemistry, obviously, and this interview does make me want to see more Undisputed Era matches. However, I did walk away wanting to know more about them on an individual level. The stand out here was Bobby Fish. I would enjoy seeing him get the same amount of time Sam gave the group. There is something there and I am curious to see what he will do when he gets to the main roster.
Sam’s interview style works for him. Part of his charm is his unrelenting fandom. I’m sure it’s reassuring to his guest. Notsam is a safe place for wrestlers to visit because you know Sam will take care of you. And that is a good thing.
And this was a good show.
See ya next week!
About James:
Based out of New York, James Hayes is an independent filmmaker and podcaster, currently working on a true crime series focused on African American crime. When he needs a break from the seriousness of true crime he turns to pro wrestling. His favorites are Bret Hart, New Day, Samoa Joe, and Becky Lynch. James has 27 years of following the sport. Here is a link to his film credits https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2026980/, as well as his Twitter @JamesHa34395813.
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