5 YRS AGO NXT ON USA POST-SHOW: Wells, Lindberg, and Stoup cover trio of title changes, Dakota Kai return, potentially excessive risk-taking

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1:35 Now, PW Torch brings you the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Show.

1:44 On today's Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Show, we jump back to the NXT Post Show from.

1:47 Five years ago this week.

1:49 This originally live streamed on October 26, 2021. Kelly Wells, Nate Lindberg, and Tom Staub Covered a trio of title changes, Dakota Kai's return, potentially excessive risk-taking, and more. So let's get to it. This is The Way Killer Bros Sing, post-show, five years ago. NXT Flashback for Saturday, October 24th, 2026.

2:16 Well aloha ladies and gentlemen welcome to uh pwt talks nxt nate you just muted us um i am kelly wells i am your host and you can find me all over social media at spooky milk or spooky milk that games um and muted there we go now we're unmuted for.

2:34 Real this time Sorry, we had somebody, some random person unmuted, so I'm sorry.

2:41 I thought, yeah, anyway, go ahead.

2:44 Okie dokie. And, okay, so now we're here. We're quite sure of it. We're almost positive that we are here, folks, and we are going to talk NXT Halloween Havoc 2021 on October 26th. This just happened. We had a bevy of title changes. Nate, you've got to mute yourself now. And, yeah, there we go. I suppose it's no secret that Nate is here tonight, so why don't we say.

3:14 Hi to him?

3:16 What is going on, everybody?

3:17 Take a moment while I switch from one microphone to another because I thought I was muted. Now I should sound a lot clearer as well.

3:26 I am Nate.

3:28 I am Nate Lindbergh, and you can follow me on Twitter at Nate Lindbergh.

3:31 And I am a little bit flustered today.

3:33 Why?

3:34 Because over the past couple weeks, I've found out that I need to move, and I'm trying to buy a house. And that's difficult, folks, especially when you have no idea how to be an adult. So I'm a little bit flustered tonight, but I'm here, and I'm making noise.

3:49 But I think I'm finally figured everything out.

3:53 I'm good.

3:54 So let's talk some NXT.

3:57 Well, let me inspire you, Nate. I have managed to buy a house, and I still am not really much of an adult.

4:04 You know what? If you can do it, then I think I could probably do it.

4:09 I live in a pretty decent place. I don't get it either, but it is the situation. Tom, who are you?

4:17 I am at Tom Stout on social media, and as far as real estate goes, I live in Florida, so I think that tells the full story. And contrary to recent evidence, I do know the difference between millions and hundreds of thousands, although I'm probably the only person that noticed I mixed them up last week.

4:36 I think that I missed that because I don't know what you're getting at there, champ. I don't know.

4:44 Chucky ratings, Chucky ratings.

4:46 I thought that millions and millions of people were flocking to Chucky, or at least that's what I said anyway when I was reading clear hundreds of thousands of figures.

4:54 On the Wikipedia page. I see.

4:56 I'm sure that everybody wrote to their mothers that Chucky is just the hot new thing that millions upon millions of people are watching, and I apologize sincerely.

5:07 You know, I hear it's good, but it's got Chucky in it, and historically– That's not, like, super good. That's the thing.

5:17 You know, I've watched the recaps after NXT ends, and I'm like, you know what? This actually looks okay, but it's still Chucky, so I'm not going to watch it.

5:27 I know.

5:28 Yeah, I mean, I'd love to be proven wrong. Brad Dourif's first movie role, he was nominated for an Oscar, folks, and now he's been Chucky for about 100 years. But there you go. Let's talk. Let's talk wrestling if we must. Although Chucky's well, he's he's very much in this show. He was by the way. Yeah.

5:54 Yep.

5:58 Wow.

5:59 Billy Babbitt in Cuckoo's Nest. Yes. His first movie, almost positive that. Definitely Danny DeVito's first movie and Christopher Lloyd's. So anyway, folks, yeah, you should see that movie if you haven't. But yeah, let's talk wrestling because... we've been tabbed to do so. Uh, Chucky mostly just wanted to heal on, uh, on Bron Breaker. That was, that was much of his function tonight. Yes, he did help spin the wheel, uh, tee up spinning the wheel. And he, um, Chose a street fight, the most boring of all options for a match as well. So Chucky, bad taste in wrestling stipulations. But also just got after Braun Breaker, said, I hope being a loser doesn't run in the family.

6:54 Did Chucky, when Chucky got involved in WCW, was it in a Rick Steiner segment? Because now I think... that there actually is continuity to this crap, that might be the case. And from your stunned silence, I'm going to say that you guys are not sure. I don't know.

7:16 You keep asking me about Nitro, and I. I purposefully did not watch Nitro in the 90s.

7:25 Nitro was on for six years. There are twice as many episodes of NXT as there are of Nitro. Isn't that crazy?

7:36 There are also now 10 NXT Women's Tag Team Champions.

7:41 How long has that belt been around? Those belts?

7:44 A couple weeks?

7:45 Yeah, weeks.

7:46 Weeks.

7:48 Folks. Um, two or five live is catching up to, uh, it was catching up to nitro the last time it was very close.

7:55 Um, yeah.

7:57 So there you go. That's what happens. Um, come up with one good idea and say, now we don't need any more ever. Uh, so, okay, let's talk about this match. Tommaso Ciampa versus Braun breaker in the main event. This went 1349. Uh, we're typically not getting as many wrestling minutes these days, uh, in uh nxt but we got a lot of wrestling minutes this week because of um because of the four championship matches we got 57 minutes and 21 seconds of ring time uh counting commercials whether uh it was aired or not we were at 57 21 so there you go main event uh Ciampa wins the match and is the only person of the night to successfully defend a championship, but Breaker got his win by.

8:51 Manly kicking out of the fairytale ending. First, Willow's Bell, which they barely sold as a big deal, even though Willow's Bell usually finishes, too, or often finishes. But fairytale ending did not finish. And so after that, Ciampa hits three more running knees on a bloodied brawn breaker, which I assume happened from the DDT on the concrete spot.

9:19 And then.

9:21 One more fairytale ending, and that got the 1-2-3. Tommaso Ciampa is still your NXT champion, Tom.

9:30 I wish I remembered exactly how DeVito tells it, but it seemed like since they continued to work together that DeVito and Douglas, Michael Douglas, hit it off pretty well on Cuckoo's Nest. And DeVito tells the story about how he was offered Taxi and Douglas recommended not to make the switch to TV because he could be a star and to just keep on doing movies.

9:55 And of course, DeVito and Lloyd, both in taxi.

9:59 But yeah, this, there was an argument going into the show based on my predicted finishes that Raquel and Mandy should have main evented. And especially considering those predicted finishes.

10:14 Panning out I think that I would ultimately fall on the side of that argument, but.

10:21 The argument for formatting it the way it was formatted is that it strongly continues. It's the strongest way they had to continue signaling that Breaker is an important name to watch, even though they are not, as I think is advisable, not right now hot-shotting over to a 2.0 act for the brand's top title. And quite simply, Ciampa did exactly what he was supposed to do here. leading breaker, letting him kick out of some big stuff, giving him the champ a rub and breaker sold fine. Not like with the best of them, but he sold fine, which is key because it's the main thing we hadn't really seen him do yet. So even though I would have liked to see the card shuffled a bit and this match was Opening the show, I think, would be the

11:15 best place to put it if Mandy and Raquel main events. And, you know, you can just try to rely on hit and miss Vic to be like.

11:23 Oh, my gosh, we're getting this first. Wow, guys. And make it sound important. But, yeah, they they achieved what they set out to achieve.

11:33 Uh, disappointed that the announcers were not in costume.

11:38 Um, why?

11:39 I mean, they did all kind of gussy up and they were in all black and stuff and Beth looked awesome. Um, but like last year I got in my little, uh, jab at Vic when he was, uh, when he was Waldo and I said he should finish the costume by getting lost.

11:57 I think Vic's costume was actually very subtle.

12:01 Uh, what was he?

12:04 Vick venom was he i.

12:07 Don't know but i was actually googling pictures of vick venom with vince russo's old character from back in the day and kind of similar uh he's like a similar style wasn't necessarily like a like it's complete shot in the dark probably coincidence but like it he definitely looked a little bit like vick venom there just just throwing.

12:27 That out there i was gonna say he's pretending to be a wrestling announcer there's.

12:31 That Yes, he's almost achieved it at times. Yeah, go ahead, Nate.

12:40 All right.

12:41 I don't have a whole heck of a lot to say that Tom didn't already cover or that you didn't already cover, Kelly.

12:46 I think this was a fair match for Braun Breaker.

12:51 Like you guys said, I think the biggest complaint that I had was probably his selling, but otherwise he really looked like he was able to hang there with Ciampa, he's the champion. He's the face of NXT, one of the veterans. He's one of the guys you think of when you think of NXT, or at least I do. He looked like he was able to hang. Ciampa, he sold quite a bit for him, made him look like a million bucks.

13:15 Ciampa coming out as Kratos.

13:17 God of War, made me pop so hard. Kratos is one of my favorite video game characters going back years. to like the original God of War series. And like Tommaso Champa is one of my favorite wrestlers. So putting those two together was fantastic. I think Champa retaining was the right way to go. Braun Breaker, even though he's good, I would actually actually say he's great.

13:46 Um, his name's Braun breaker. There's that.

13:48 Uh, but also he's, he's just debuted putting the championship on him right now would feel like hot shotting.

13:56 It just, I, it wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't feel like, uh, it would probably get people talking, but not for the right reasons. Uh, so I think this is the right way to go.

14:06 I'm curious to see how they kind of bring champ around from here, because he was talking about the black and gold brand a couple times, uh, in some of his.

14:16 Vignettes here tonight.

14:17 And I don't think anybody else has brought up black and gold since this switch to tie dye NXT 2.0, the tie dye brand is I started calling it in the hits and misses. I don't think anybody started calling it black and gold. So champ, I feel like it's still that one connection to the black and gold brand.

14:37 He's kind of like that voice of, of those of us that, We just want the black and gold brand back. It's almost the way I feel like his character is being portrayed or at least the way it's resonating with me.

14:49 Um, I like it. I'm curious to see how he gets booked.

14:52 Eventually he's going to get beat and the torch is going to get passed. I feel like this was kind of the start of that tonight. Um, the torch wasn't completely passed, but it definitely was, uh, uh, it was starting to be, it started to, uh, to get there. Uh, Ciampa looked great, made Braun Breaker look great, rather. And I think overall did what it was supposed to do.

15:16 This was probably the highest point of the night and probably the most enthusiastic that you'll hear me throughout the rest of the show.

15:26 So just going to be throwing that out there.

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16:26 Either way works, go to Patreon and start your seven-day free trial.

16:32 I thought that Champa was pretty much in give back mode towards the end of black and gold. Cause he was doing a lot of jobs, even in the tag team matches and stuff. And it's funny, he's still in give back mode, but now that means he has to be champion to give these guys the rub because the, the meaning of what this brand is has changed.

16:53 So he's got to build them up so he can fall.

16:55 Yeah. So he's, so he's got another championship run that I don't, totally expected but uh but here we are so you can call us 515-605-9345 uh or you can email us at pwtorchnxt at gmail.com um we got a couple of emails we'll get to those um and in the meantime let's go to 615 first so 615 Go ahead and tell everyone who you are and where you're calling from.

17:33 I am back for one more week, guys.

17:38 Hey!

17:38 I miss you guys. I miss you all. I miss you very much. How are you guys doing?

17:46 I'm not half bad. Can't complain. Had a rough morning.

17:50 I'm doing well.

17:50 But I'm good now.

17:51 Feeling loose.

17:51 All right.

17:57 Tom, that's what I say. If you hear my voice, you just get excited. You get all tingly, and that's what I like to hear. I like to hear when I can pep up people's days. You know, you're having a bad day. It's like I tell somebody my voice, or I say something, and people are like, oh, I.

18:12 Love this guy.

18:12 No, I'm just kidding.

18:14 I'm glad you can sense the energy.

18:19 No, it's probably my last time again for a while. I just came back from my vacation today, and I was like, ooh, I get to watch NXT and talk about it.

18:26 This is cool.

18:27 And it was a good show to talk about. It was a good show, guys.

18:31 I did enjoy it quite a bit.

18:34 I guess the two main things I wanted to talk about was the first one was going back to the triple threat women's tag team ended up being the ladder match. Oh, um, it was, uh, I'm kind of with you guys. I wish they wouldn't have these kinds of matches.

18:55 For the women.

18:56 Cause they, they just, they get too eager to do a lot of crazy spots. The, it was, it was decent. I would say decent the spot where, uh, Zoe, they pushed Zoe off the ladder and just the three women had to be there to hold her fall. It just kind of contrived stuff like that I don't really care for. I mean, it was fine. The Zoe missed off the top rope or whatever. What is the move she did off the top rope when she totally missed it?

19:26 I don't know.

19:27 I forget what that's called.

19:28 It looked like a Phoenix Splash.

19:31 That's what I thought it was.

19:32 It's crazy because the Phoenix Splash.

19:33 Is the move that– Kota Ibushi broke his arm doing or separated his shoulder doing in the main event of the G1 Climax like last week. So Phoenix Splash just out there killing everyone.

19:54 Yeah.

19:55 Just, you know, of course, totally botched that. That did not look good. And then the spot with Io off the ladder.

20:04 Oh, man.

20:05 I don't know.

20:07 It was fine.

20:09 I obviously was a predicted outcome. You expected toxic attraction to win attacking titles and they do deserve them. They're getting a push and I get why they're, you know, why they're winning. Good to see JC back and, you know, seemingly healthy, you know, like they worked hard. I just, I don't know. It was fine.

20:27 Like, what did you guys say?

20:28 I just want to give it up to you guys.

20:29 See what you thought.

20:30 I thought there's too many risks and it was good for what it was, but I don't like when they do those kinds of spots. What'd you all think about it?

20:37 I'm with you. I really thought that there was a lot of unnecessary risk in this, and I thought that if you're going to make this the developmental brand, then you've got to be careful about which people you put in the matches where you're having unnecessary risks. And putting Persia Parada in that match and JC Jane in that match is risky. And I thought that... It's fun to see wrestlers loving what they're doing and eager to please, but I really, really almost couldn't get into this because of how risky it was and because some things were just kind of going wrong and some things were just a little bit awkward and sloppy at times. This match made me very nervous, but the highs were very high, so I'm not even 100% sure. how I feel in

21:36 an overall sense about this, as far as Toxic Attraction winning the championships, I thought, honestly, that picture that they put up of like, what would you think? And it's got all three of them holding the championships. I was like, that's a spoiler. Like, they wouldn't even have bothered taking that photo if they weren't going to do that sweep of changes. Like, it's not quite to the level of my favorite one of all time, which is when Um, at, uh, at TV tapings in like right before WrestleMania six, they were having TV tapings and, um, Howard Finkel's the announcer and he's saying, um, Ultimate Warrior might not be your champion, but wouldn't it be great if I could say it this one time and, like, give him this championship as

22:30 a prop? And so they give him the actual championship, and he announces him as the champion. And so, like, everybody who's at the show is like, oh, well, I guess he's winning at WrestleMania VI then. That is the biggest giveaway that has ever happened, but... But yeah, this photo I thought was a spoiler as well. But I'm okay with these two as the champions. I understand that if you're going to make any of them champ, then just doing a sweep and giving all the gold to one faction is kind of the way to go. Yeah, but the match itself I thought was iffy, Nate.

23:15 I can pretty much in agreement with you guys, the match itself, I did enjoy it.

23:21 The high spots while.

23:24 Energetic and bombastic were certainly a little bit, I mean, they were certainly risky. Like he was, he was moved to the ladder outside the ring and things like that. Just, I don't know. I, I don't, I don't necessarily want to see everybody get hurt. And I know they do them safely and as safe as possible, but it is what it is, especially when you have people in the ring that still are relatively green. You've got, you know, Zoe Stark who, you know, she's not super green, but she's, she's getting there. You've got, you know, JC Jane, Persia, you know, they're all relatively new and, and, I don't know if they were really ready for a lot of those spots. The match itself wasn't a miss for me.

24:11 I still enjoyed it. It was one of the... Literally, it was the only other match other than the main event that I actually got into tonight.

24:21 And other than that, it....

24:25 And even that, if this was just like a regular Tuesday, I would have been.

24:31 Like, yeah, this is an awesome match. But for.

24:34 a special show like Halloween Havoc, I felt like this was also really predictable.

24:40 The picture that you're mentioning.

24:43 The one that Tom and I fooled you with, or mostly Tom fooled you with, we thought that for a little while, you thought that all three of these girls were already champion a couple weeks ago. But for that picture and that reason alone, I.

24:58 Kind of expected.

25:00 Well, I expected Mandy to win and I expected the SAG team here tonight talks traction to come out on top as well. So for that re those reasons, like I didn't really get into this match very much.

25:11 It was, it was kind of predictable.

25:14 I had a feeling this was going to be the case, but I am okay with the outcome. You sure I enjoy Stark on paper. They seem like an awesome tag team and two people that could have elevated the women's tag team titles and tag team division and NXT overall women's women's tag division NXT overall and. Their their reign was just so forgettable. How many times were we all just on this very show? Like, who the heck are the women's tag team champions? Like, oh, you and Zoe.

25:48 That's right.

25:49 It was such a forgettable reign. So it was time to get the belts off of them. And with all of the with all of the shine and all of the time given to toxic attraction lately. it seems like it's the right move, especially with Mandy as the champion that have now got all the, all of the golden, we'll obviously talk about Mandy and, and recall when we get there, but toxic traction now has all of the women's gold in NXT. I feel like they could do kind of like a cool, almost legato Delphine has one type of a thing is, is kind of what I'm thinking, but more like mean girls, I don't know, something like that.

26:25 But I think it's going to be cool. I am into it.

26:28 I'm not super high on Mandy, but I'm still high on the other two, and I'm looking to see what the three of them are going to be bringing to the table for NXT 2.0.

26:37 Tom?

26:40 I also reaped some enjoyment out of this despite some rocky spots, in particular Parada powerbombing Gigi on a ladder that didn't.

26:51 Really give Gigi... It didn't give Parada much.

26:55 headroom to work with for Gigi, but even still, based on what we've seen from Parada, it's just, you know, not to hone in on that too, too much, but that was the main one. When they showed the replay of Io taking the bump on the draped ladder to the outside, which looked gnarly at first, when they showed the replay, it looked much more controlled, and I think it was an illusion of her hair whipping around that made it look worse. But Yeah, I think I also come in on the middle where I feel like for the most part they did just fine. And I certainly don't have an issue with the division being booked in these matches. It's more of an issue of exactly what you guys are saying. Talent that isn't as experienced in

27:36 these kind of matches or with these kinds of. Because how are you going to get experience in these kind of matches unless you do them? I don't think they're slamming themselves on ladders at the Performance Center.

27:48 That's the kind of thing.

27:49 What was it?

27:50 I think it's Edge who famously said WrestleMania. 17 where somebody was asking him if he wanted to run through the, you know, the spear from the.

28:03 Top of the ladder.

28:03 And he was like, Oh no, I am only ever doing that once. We're not practicing that ahead of time.

28:09 Yeah.

28:12 So practice that. You're not going to want to do it again. Just like, no, that was, that was a bad idea.

28:17 Yep yep yep um but yeah i i mostly got positives out of this i like going full bore with toxic attraction i actually didn't have a prediction i felt super confident about in this match i think if i was if i had if duke hudson was forcing me to put money on it i i might have said um uh you know a retention from from zoe and eo um You know, I do wish we had seen all the entrances. That's nitpicking at this point. What I don't think is nitpicking was Vic Joseph on this match really failing it, I think, because they were not working.

28:55 The wrestlers were not working, quote, fast and furious. But I thought, again, apart from the rocky spots that were impossible to miss that.

29:02 I thought they were doing fine.

29:04 And, you know, they were working at the pace they needed to work to have everything gel.

29:08 But Vic Joseph.

29:09 Is there like going, oh, my gosh, it's so fast and furious. And I'm like, are you just calling a generic ladder match as it appears to you in your mind, theoretically? Because that's not what's happening in front of you. And I thought that did a disservice. But, you know, on a different part of the commentary desk, Wade Barrett was acknowledging that J.C. Jane had just had that incident last week.

29:33 Further evidence, as I pointed out last week, of the reasons to trust WWE's medical staff. intervention, which is why, yeah, I don't like seeing Gigi take a ladder to the back of her head, but I also trust that she is going to be going to be well looked after and if she's back in the match it's not an irresponsible decision because there's a good track record there so that's part of why i was able to continue enjoying this after uh after some gnarly spots.

30:04 Yes indeed.

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30:59 Sean, why don't we go back to you for one more?

31:05 Yeah, I do want to say, too, the EO, the one spot I did like, going back to that real quick, was the double DDT. I thought that was a cool spot. I liked that one a lot. EO is just fun to watch in the ring. She's just so dang good.

31:16 Oh, it.

31:18 Is a joy to watch her in NXT, for sure. The last match, kind of going back to where you guys, Nate, you kind of brought it up, was, of course, Mandy and Raquel. It was fine.

31:29 It was fine.

31:30 Raquel was still very green in a lot of ways. I really did not like the spot outside the ring where Mandy put Raquel in the chair and put the kendo stick in between the seat. And Raquel just got up and tried to go at Mandy. It's like, Raquel, take the thing out of the seat.

31:46 I savaged that. I savaged that.

31:50 In the report.

31:53 Yeah.

31:54 I just, that makes you look so stupid. And so I hated that.

32:00 Um, The match was fine.

32:02 I mean, Mandy's do.

32:03 I mean, I will say Mandy has gotten better in the ring for sure. I think overall her moves look a little more crisp. I think she's gaining traction. I'm still not sold on her. I need to see a lot more. I'm glad that they're going with her because they need to, because this is a good trio and they're, they are doing a lot of good things. And so I'm fine that they, in that respect, I'm fine that they went with Mandy and, But I just, I've got to see more. And this match against Raquel, I still don't think overall helped because Raquel's still not where she needs to be. And I like Raquel. I like her a lot. I think she's got a lot of upside.

32:41 The ending was, like, just kind of super predictable. We kind of, I think, expected that might happen, that Dakota was going to interfere somehow. We really didn't show it right away. But then you knew that was going to be her, which was fine. I mean, Dakota's got the feud with her, and it made sense in that way.

32:58 But.

32:59 just overall i thought the match was again it was fine it was good good enough i just i'm not sold on mandy yet and that spot was just so bad that it did kind of take me out of it and it just made me think i don't want raquel to win because she's an idiot so what did you guys think about that and i guys you guys are awesome uh hopefully i can call again sometime soon in the near future but we'll see um but you guys are awesome always good to talk to you guys thank you for taking my call.

33:26 Thank you so much. It certainly doesn't help that this was a street fight, which is like the most boring possible of all choices for a match. And doesn't really work with what brings either of these two to the table. Like, it doesn't allow... mandy to do sneaky stuff underhanded stuff because it's a street fight and it doesn't allow raquel to do her overpowering stuff uh as much because you can just use weapons um yeah yeah just the whole street it never has worked for me um and for so long it was just trading a kendo stick that I was actually openly giggling at the match while I was watching it with my wife. Just how much they were just going back to that kendo stick. Mandy is improved in the ring, which is good, but didn't get

34:45 to show off much of that because this was mostly about weapons. And honestly, I don't know how not to keep bringing up the spot where she got trapped by the kendo stick because... you would just pull out the kendo stick. It's just, it's contrived in a way. I mean, man, the best wrestling spots have had stuff going on like that, but, uh, but they worked in reality as well. And this just was so stupid. Uh, Can't say enough about it. Mandy is champion. I mean, if you'd told me this three months ago, I would have been horrified. But given what they're doing with them, if they're going to try this out, they've got to try it right away. They cannot sit on this and hope that Mandy doesn't lose steam because

35:36 historically being idle has done her no favors. So if you're going to go with Mandy... I guess do it right away. That thrilled Dakota Kai is back. Um, interesting that they talked about unburying the past, but nothing changed. Like she's not, it doesn't seem like she's a different character yet. She's still, uh, a bastard who will, um, do bastardly things. Uh, that's, I don't know what the change is supposed to be yet. I guess we'll find out. Um, psyched to see her back uh but she should have been the one to take the championship off raquel because that was the long-term story they were telling um but uh but that's not what they did so what are you gonna do tom.

36:24 So of course there's the element of fun in in getting a prediction right, just beat for beat. I think this is the most right I've been about something and how it was going to go down since El Hijo del Fantasma was behind the kidnappings. But that's just selfishly for me. It will also be fun to see Dakota and Raquel renewed since there was meat left on that bone.

36:53 The question, of course, is which 2.0 wrestler will get involved since we can't have the segment without one. But as far as the match went, yeah, I can't disagree too much. I felt like they relied on the weapons far too much.

37:08 And it's extra funny that, I mean.

37:12 I don't, neither of the spin the wheels that we got tonight were particularly inspiring gimmicks, but they did this one as, quote, Chucky's choice. So we had Brad Dourif saying, let's do a street fight.

37:23 And I was like, well, that's all you got, Chuck? Okay. Thanks, Chaz. I should have said Chaz the first time. That's funnier.

37:36 But yeah, they relied on the weapons too much. It seemed like they thought... Okay, Mandy's been doing well, but she's needed her opponents to help her. Raquel's been doing okay, but she's needed her opponents to help her. Oh no, they're against each other. Let's throw a bunch of weapons in there. And yes, that Kendo stick-through-the-desk-chair spot was ridiculously dumb.

37:58 I did like.

38:00 Mandy trying to get the pinfall on the outside immediately afterward though, because I think it just plays into the heat of her winning the championship because people who don't like her are going to say that, like, I'm sure I'm going to listen to three podcasts this week that are going to say, she didn't even know that.

38:15 You can't pin outside the ring in a street fight. Why are they putting the title on her?

38:18 It's like, well, Oh, so what you're telling me is that her character is working.

38:22 Okay. Gotcha. Um, so I like that. Um, you've also got, uh, uh, Raquel.

38:29 Uh, still playing on the Jason Voorhees thing. Um, you know, she doesn't bring it out that often, but you know, she brings it, she brings it out as often as, as Rhea Ripley brings out the nightmare thing. But I'm like, okay, I thought that was cool on the coconut loop. And I enjoyed the references to it. Cause I was like, Oh, Hey, I'm, I'm cool because I was there and I know what it is. But at this point, we're so far removed from that, that just randomly putting on a Jason mask, uh, Uh, even with the context of Halloween havoc is just like, what, what are you doing?

38:58 This is totally random.

38:59 Plus she did the Michael Myers head cock as Jason Voorhees. It's not a Jason Voorhees thing. So if you're going.

39:06 To do it, do it right. Um, but yeah, I, I, as, as, as down as I am on elements of.

39:18 For me, uh, Yes, perhaps selfishly, because I was really hard selling that I thought Mandy was going to win, especially after I realized that Dakota was probably going to be the reason for the win. So seeing it all play out the way it did was just, you know, patting myself on the back.

39:35 Yeah, it's fun to be right. But then also kind of like empty, hollow feeling like, oh, well, shouldn't they have surprised me a little more? Oh, well, yeah, Nate.

39:47 Someday I'll know what it's like to be right.

39:52 Uh anyway so i i've had very similar feelings to you guys i don't think i was nearly as high on it um not that i'm saying you guys were were high on it but um i i just could not get i couldn't get into this match tonight at all um mandy versus raquel didn't excite me at all.

40:12 Uh, like I.

40:13 I really, it just like Sean was saying, I really want to like Raquel.

40:17 I do like Raquel. I like the character. I like the gimmick. Um, I like her presence.

40:23 She still does need some work in the ring and they're not doing her any favors by booking her against somebody like Mandy Rose.

40:29 Now, Mandy, she's, she's a decent wrestler. She's okay. That's all you're going to get out of her is a decent match.

40:37 And I feel like that's part of the reason they put them in a street fight tonight was to try and hide some of those weaknesses. Right now, another thing that I can't stand, and I actually talked about this with Wade on, on one of the post shows a couple of few weeks ago was one of the raw post shows. We can't like, I can't stand a stupid baby face. And that one spot where she gets tied up in the chair, where Raquel gets tied up in the chair with one Kendo stick going through the two armrests, my God, like I get what they were going for.

41:10 Right.

41:10 And.

41:12 But yeah, you just pull the frigging thing out. Like it, it wasn't fooling anybody. It just made me go, Raquel, how stupid are you? How dumb are you? Like, what are you doing? I, I do like the Mandy thing where she was trying to pin on the outside and like, Hey, no, this isn't false count anywhere. Because again, what Tom was saying played into her character. So I certainly appreciated that.

41:38 I liked that aspect of Mandy Rose.

41:41 Now, like, Look, I'm not jazzed about Mandy Rose being the next NXT Women's Champion.

41:46 Kelly, I think you said it earlier.

41:48 This probably was the worst women's title match that I can remember in NXT.

41:55 It wasn't a bad match, but.

41:59 How many times have the three of us gushed about how protected the women's championship was and how special all of them, just about every one of the matches were?

42:09 Not all of them.

42:10 They all weren't super special, but they all usually felt like they meant something and they had meaning and prestige.

42:16 And this didn't.

42:19 I don't feel like the entire show did, to be honest with you, but this match in particular really didn't. Mandy just doesn't excite me. This new character does intrigue me. I'm curious to see what they do with it, and I'm hoping that she can do something and NXT can do something with this character to reel me back in with her. I shouldn't even say back in because I've never been on the Mandy Rose train, but reel me in with her and kind of get me on board with the character. Um, because I kind of like the direction it's going, but I'm not there yet.

42:48 I'm not sold.

42:49 I do like the direction of Gigi Dolan and JC Jane. I like toxic attraction and what they're doing, but I, um, I feel like they either don't need a leader or they could have had somebody out. I don't know who, don't know who it could have been, but they could have had somebody else as the leader of that faction. And, and I don't know, we'll see what happens. Maybe, maybe she'll pull something out and as a champion and she'll surprise me.

43:12 Let's hope so.

43:13 Fingers crossed, trying to be positive and glass glasses, half full man, glasses, half full. but this, this match overall didn't really impress me. I want Dakota, Dakota Kai thing. Now I was thinking she might interfere tonight when she, when Raquel got hit with the shovel immediately, I thought it was either Gigi Dolan or.

43:37 JC Jane.

43:39 I figured we were actually probably going to get like another, I'm going to call it a druid, whatever it was, get another druid to pop up. So one would be JC and one would be, um, um, the other one, uh, Gigi Dolan, um, But that obviously didn't happen because they came out and they showed them right after. As soon as I saw the two of them on screen, I'm like, yeah, that's Dakota Kai. It was, that was the highlight of the match for me because now we're actually going to get to see the match that again, what Kelly just said, the match that they were building, the match we all wanted to see the one that should have been for that title, Dakota Kai versus Raquel Gonzalez.

44:17 And that's the match we're looking forward to.

44:19 JB emailed us hi team I can't believe I'm saying it but I'm a little disappointed with the return of Dakota Kai obviously it seemed inevitable after we learned she would not be drafted to our Smackdown and staying in NXT but I just don't see the need to change her gimmick or character in my opinion she had her character nailed down as a heel or a face in her previous incarnation and I'm not sure why he would try to fix it when it's not broken in this case she's not some new green wrestler that they need to try a bunch of 2.0 gimmickry with with to see what sticks they had the working model Also, is she supposed to be some sort of witch or sorceress now?

44:52 That zaniness kind of scares me. What are your thoughts, particularly Kelly's? Love the show and go VIP! Yeah, I mean, she doesn't need a character change, but if this character isn't getting her drafted, then I don't know what else to say. Like, she absolutely, in this version of her that she has been playing, could and should be a star now. on the main roster. And yet we're seeing boring wrestlers like Toni Storm get brought up there and Dakota's still there. So I don't know what to say about the fact that she has not been drafted. It's very strange that she's still here. I'm glad that I still get to see her on a regular basis, but it makes no sense given how good Her storylines have been– she's been in some real winner storylines with her

45:52 turn and then the stuff on Raquel. And how good she's been at every step of the way and how that has– how it just hasn't happened for her. So I guess my feeling is if they're not going to call her up under that gimmick, then I guess the next best thing is– giving her a new gimmick or, uh, or tweaking it some because the next thing after that is letting somebody go. Uh, because if they're, I mean, that's what happened with Bronson Reed. They decided we're not going to use him on the main roster. So why do we have him here at all? Um, so it's just, it's better than her getting kicked to the curb. Um, even though she should be their champion or the raw women's champion or the SmackDown women's champion or all three concurrently.

46:50 Um, anything actually, if she actually has something new going on, I will say that we have yet to see it because the whole meshes of the afternoon get up is there's a, there's a nice 1940s reference for you. It mentions the afternoon, um, all.

47:07 The kids ears perked up like, Oh, I know that movie.

47:10 Um, The cloak, the cloak, you know, father death or the ghost of Christmas.

47:17 Yet to come. You know, it's a Halloween havoc thing. So it's that's that's all it is.

47:22 It's it's slightly more tasteful than the the actual father deaths, the the scream masks from from last year. But that's all it is. Unfortunate that she had trouble pulling the hood off. If anything killed the moment, that was it for me. And yeah, it could have been more dramatic for her there. Again, yet another reason, along with what Nate was talking about with this not feeling as significant, why this, I feel, should have been the main event, even though I understand the breaker argument that I made myself.

47:54 But yeah, I think that... tonight's Dakota was the same Dakota. And if we get too radical a change, I will be surprised. So I'm not jerking any knees just yet.

48:06 You essentially spoiled that for me, because when you said that it was probably Dakota Kai last week, I was like, well, those pieces fit. And I just abandoned what I was thinking and just co-signed it immediately to the point where that happened. My wife goes, OK, so who's that going to be? And I said, Dakota Kai. Like I didn't even, I knew already, like I forgot that I wasn't supposed to know. That's how sure I was. I was like, that's Dakota Kai under the mask. I just told her that, even though technically I did not know yet. But there it was. There is no shade of pink that is too pink for the head of Dakota Kai. She keeps making slight changes to brighter pink as her heart keeps getting blacker and blacker.

48:54 As a character.

48:55 So there you go. That is that match.

49:00 Just a reminder, you can reach us at wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com if you're interested in contributing to the flagship or wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com if you're interested in submitting a question or a topic or even a rant on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Shows.

49:16 Let's go to our friend Darrell in Georgia. Darrell, how you doing today?

49:24 How you guys doing today?

49:27 I am not half bad. Feeling better with every passing minute. There you go.

49:31 And Kelly, you did call it. Continuity is right. Rick Steiner did have a segment with Chucky.

49:41 Hell yeah. Okay. So that did happen. All right. I guess I was wishing I.

49:47 Had dreamed of that.

49:49 Oh, boy.

49:51 I just remember how much they booed the segment. Yeah, the fans.

49:57 I put it up for you. I tagged all y'all on it on Twitter. It wasn't there, but a little three-minute segment.

50:05 Okay.

50:07 I will definitely be watching that.

50:08 You know what?

50:09 I'm going to– no, no, if I watch it right now, then I'll miss your first topic.

50:13 Well, pay attention. I'll pay attention.

50:16 I don't know if you want– my first topic is really going to be a little mini rant because I've been feeling this way about this group, and this will be the last and only time I speak on them until they get a real character. Not feeling the toxic attraction, neither– Neither of the three. And it's a bunch of different reasons, but one main reason is because they are the only type of people who will be able to get to consider themselves as beautiful, attractive. A big girl can't consider herself attractive. A woman of color can't consider herself attractive. Somebody like Io Shirai can't consider herself attractive.

51:01 So for them to be only getting pushed is because of a sex appeal or something like that. It's so stereotypical and going down a road that WWE shouldn't even be wanting to go down anyway, but they always do it. So I refuse to look at any more matches of them, especially they're not, as good as you want them to be.

51:25 But we know the only reason why they're getting it is because you did so-called sex appeal that only a certain type of person would gush and say about their sex appeal. I think they went back a lot, especially with that match anyway. And the best part of the match is what happened after the match, after somebody got hit with a shovel. So that's the only time. And last time I speak on them or listen to anybody talk about them until they give them three women, all real characters, because being beautiful or talking about your attractiveness is not a character. That's just a trait that you might have, but it's not a, or something that you might have that's not something you can build a character

52:11 off of and don't give transferable heat, especially if you're going to build a feud and hopefully pass that off on somebody. So that would be my first point. It don't even have to be speak on, but my second, my real first point would be that tag team match. I think that was the best part of it today is because they got that tag team off a group that probably needs to get that tag team off of, and they need to figure what they want to do, have them go full-blown heel or find something different. But I was happy that they got off of them, and it was so interesting that before the match, when they were interviewing Imperium, the first thing they wanted to ask them about is about Walter, and kept pushing Walter. No

52:57 matter what Imperium was saying, it was about Walter, Walter, Walter. So I wanted that some type of... um, teasing of something, especially what happened in the main event. Um, I wanted to have some teasing or something. And they saying they had to get gold because of, uh, Walter, Walter, Walter. And they say a Walter name all throughout that match. But, um, I'm happy. That was the most exciting change, uh, match for me the whole night, even though I liked the main event, but that was the most exciting because I wanted to see them do better with that, um, tag team, MSK, and see what they can do with them after this and everything they don't seem about it. What do you guys think about that whole thing?

53:39 Okay, so first on, yeah, I'll talk the rant a little. It's interesting, and it's inevitable that when Vince takes more control and when somebody like John Laurinaitis, who seems like a total dog, takes control, of course something like this happens, and they forget that that their results are not typical.

54:04 And I don't mean maybe not typical, but they don't speak for everyone in who they find attractive. They seem to have these feelings in common, share these feelings in common about what type of woman is attractive. And it's what you see there, and they've gone to that well. I mean, back when there were only... in the days when there were like six women in the entire division, they would have like three women who played this character at just about any given time, basically. And it was just, it seems like it doesn't have a lot of, like these boringly pretty girls that know it seems to have a really, really low chance of like really popping, like as a story, I just don't remember the last time that made for an awesome, awesome storyline that somebody in

55:07 those characters, um, cause it's just so vacuous and it's so empty and it doesn't seem like a goal. It, it kind of like, it's a flop for me. Um, I, I didn't even think about it in terms of anything can be beautiful, which is true. And if I were to only because the topic is coming up and it keeps coming up because they are presenting these characters. Um, if I named, uh, the top 15 women I find attractive in all of WWE, uh, I think I'd name one of this faction and that's it. Uh, so I get it. Um, And I get what they think of, I get how they think this works character-wise, because these characters are supposed to think this of themselves, and that's supposed to be what makes you hate them. I just

56:08 think it's kind of just like a mild irritant in an eye-rolling sort of way. I don't know that it creates any heat for me. Because even though I typically have not liked Mandy Rose, this has not made me care for, like, like super care about her matches yet or anything like that, even though this is the best thing she's been a part of, which is weird to say, but it's probably true. Um, so yeah, I, I don't know what else to say about that. Um, On the match, on MSK versus Imperium, yeah, I thought this was probably the most exciting match on the card, which is funny because it's the one I had forgotten about. I just totally forgot that it existed, and after Imperium cut their promo, I forgot it again until it was worked. So this

57:00 was in the semi-main spot. I like a Lumberjack match, especially when you have reason... For the Lumberjacks to be something other than just, you.

57:12 Know, the dregs.

57:13 This one, you had the visual of everybody in their Halloween costume. A lot of them in Halloween costumes. So it was, you know, just a little extra bit of fun. And they got involved. And then, in a spot I have never seen in a Lumberjack match, and I've seen a lot of them, the Lumberjacks were... they fought their way to the back and they weren't there at the end of the match. Um, lots of good spots in this.

57:41 I also thought that it was just bonkers that finally the boo birds for MSK didn't seem to be there. They got chance for them, didn't get booed and they lost that. This is when they lost the championship. Uh, that's crazy. Um, JB did email us, um, about Meltzer confirming that Izzy's parents are the, a major reason why, uh, the NXT crowd boos MSK because Nash Carter, when he was on the Indies, um, criticized a, uh, an Indy show because, um, Izzy took, um, a choke slam at a show, which I agree. That's a crazy thing. And she was 13 years old. Um, Why aren't more wrestlers speaking out against something like that? And that's why they got the hive mind that is sometimes alive in Full Sail.

58:46 Not Full Sail. God, that's been a while. The CDC. Not the CDC. You know what I mean. Got all these people kind of booing them because Nash Carter said smart things about being safe. Tom.

59:07 On that subject, I will just say.

59:10 That having been among that circle and having not closely been around them, seeing who the ringleaders are, How easily their influence catches on in the crowd setting with the cameras on.

59:26 That whole situation is. Highly believable.

59:34 It's one of those things that's been sent to me throughout the week and always framed as like, hey, here's this rumor. And I'm like, OK, here's another freaking rumor. So I'm already going in skeptical. And then I read it and I'm like, oh, no, I 100 percent believe that. So I will just leave that there on the first topic.

59:50 I appreciate the nuance there. that, Darrell, you are bringing to the conversation because, I mean, just as recently as last night regarding Carmela, this is something that I have, over the past couple years, gone on record multiple times in defending, that we can have shallow, especially heel characters that are focused on how good they look. because it is no longer the status quo in the women's division. And, you know, up and down the card, you've got, uh, you know, women backing it up with good promos about things, not that aren't their looks and, and women backing it up with good matches and main events and, and everything.

1:00:31 So I have been a defender of that, especially in cases that I feel are pulling it off. Well, like Carmela has been doing for a while and like Mandy Rose is starting to do now. Um, but yeah, I do acknowledge that it's a topic that I've talked about a lot, and it doesn't seem like they should constantly be recycling the same character and constantly be... It's been the exact same argument that I've given every single time, just like once it was about Lana, and once it was about Eva, and once it was about Carmella.

1:01:04 And it keeps coming up, so that is an issue, but especially.

1:01:08 I appreciate you bringing up that it is always the same type of bombshell white woman that is in the role. And and that is an issue. So thank you for going into that. As far as this match goes.

1:01:24 I'm sorry, guys.

1:01:25 It's MSK versus Imperium, and it was my catch-up on Twitter part of the show. I do not care about these guys doing work-ready stuff against one another. And one good thing about it was that it made me feel a little bit better about.

1:01:42 putting on my, my not.

1:01:44 So I do not use my gloat hat often, but I was like, I I'll, I'll put it on briefly to talk about what happened in, in Mandy and Raquel, because I was even more wrong than I was right about that, about what was going to happen here. If I was certain and going really hard on, you know, predicting exactly what was going to happen in that women's title match, I was even more certain that, less vocal because i don't care as much about it but i was even more certain that of course msk is going to defeat the lowest what should be the the what comes off as the lowest ranked tag team on the show right now when there's been barely any build at all there's no reason for imperium to be in this spot of course msk is gonna win um so they

1:02:32 didn't and just like.

1:02:35 Okay i i Weird. But I guess on one.

1:02:41 Hand, it is a chance to refresh the very forgettable MSK.

1:02:45 I'll believe it when I see it, but it is a chance.

1:02:47 And as Darrell pointed out, yeah, the name of Walter gets brought up like once per Imperium appearance, but his name was mentioned a lot throughout this.

1:02:58 So, yeah.

1:02:59 Probably a pretty heavy signal that that is forthcoming, but doesn't change the fact that my very favorite thing about this entire segment was Jeet Rama in a banana costume because he was Bananarama.

1:03:13 Oh, my God. How did that not grab me?

1:03:15 That's fantastic.

1:03:17 At my collectible shop, we have a record section, and it just so happens that where I'm usually standing at work, the one I'm looking at is Bananarama. So I think of them like literally every day that I work because that's what that's where their records are. So I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get Bananarama. But but but it's so rewarding now that I know that's pretty funny.

1:03:50 Hey, everyone. Longtime PWTorch columnist Sean Radican here to let you know I've revamped and renewed the Radican Worldwide Podcast for 2026. a weekly VIP exclusive. Every week, I break down four or five of the biggest trending topics in pro wrestling. I also present my analysis, providing insight that helps you understand the story better or see it another way than maybe is the controversial take out there. Then I bring on a special guest for the second half of the podcast. Sometimes it's a wrestler or someone else who works in the business. Other times it's a guest analyst who brings their specialized point of view on a particular key topic in the news. Recent guests have included Bronson Reed from WWE and PCO. One of my areas

1:04:32 of specialty is the Japan wrestling scene, so I often cover a big topic from Japan with PW Torch's own Alan Farrell, Kelly Wells, and Chris Lansdell. I don't just cover the news. I don't just riff on the news or give a standard hot take. I'll bring my decades of studying this industry and talking one-on-one with dozens of wrestling promoters to each week's show so you understand not just what's happening, but the context of why. Get ahead of the news. Get ahead of the pack with Ratican Worldwide only at PW Torch VIP.

1:05:06 Yeah, Nate.

1:05:10 MSK and Imperium, I kind of, I really forgot.

1:05:15 About this match before it went on, before.

1:05:18 Well, the vignettes and things like that.

1:05:20 And I also really didn't care about it.

1:05:22 It wasn't a bad match, but the way I felt about it is, is even though it was a lumberjack match, you could have, they could have had the exact same match for the most part without the lumberjacks and gotten more or less the same result.

1:05:34 The lumberjacks are out there for the costumes.

1:05:37 They were out there for the visual of all of the suicide dives and things like that. Everybody falling down. But they didn't really– there was obviously a story there and a reason for them to be out there, but there wasn't– they didn't have a real big involvement in the match from my takeaway from it anyway.

1:05:57 So I don't know. I couldn't really get into it. It just seemed like it.

1:06:01 Was out there for comedy type of a deal with the Lumberjacks and everybody in costumes. And I feel like we've seen MSK and Imperium a dozen times at this point. I was just kind of like, all right, been there, done that. I really expected MSK to win, to be honest, for a lot of the same reasons Tom just brought up. Imperium, they've been losing and losing and losing and losing. I was just kind of surprised that, you know, the lowest on the totem pole tag team for the most part, they've kind of been relegated to jobbers.

1:06:32 And now they're the tag team champions with all of the mention of Walter.

1:06:36 And that was certainly something that I picked up as well with all the mention of Walter. I'm sure that's foreshadowing that he's coming. He's going to be on the brand sooner rather than later. And I'm hoping that since Walter's coming, this is a, a push for Imperium as well. I'd like to see them move back up the card. Now, I mean, they're kayfabe at the top of the tag team division. So yeah, you know, Hey, whatever. Hopefully this is a push for them and they're going to have, you know, have some, some they'll be affiliated with Walter right off the bat. There'll be a dominant force. I mean, we've got a whole bunch of stables right now in NXT.

1:07:15 So why not add another one? I mean, and I don't mean that sarcastically, why not add another one? One that's been there, they've already got a history.

1:07:23 They're already established. So I'm fine with it. I'm cool with it.

1:07:28 So, yeah, that's kind of really where I was with this match. It didn't grab me. It was it was energetic and bombastic, but it really I feel like we've seen this match before. There was just some there was just some gaga outside the ring with the lumberjacks and things like that.

1:07:45 Yeah, even though I say that this did end up exciting me and I thought it was fun, I don't want that mistaken for the fact that I cared about it. Like, I didn't care about it going in. I forgot about it going in. And coming out of it, I don't feel any different with Imperium winning those championships as MSK having them. And if anything, I think that it just.

1:08:08 It's sort of the Vince McMahon backup plan of just kind of throwing the tag championships wherever when he doesn't have anyone he super, super feels strong about. Yeah, it was definitely there. We're going to give Darrell one more because we do have another caller behind him as well. uh i don't know if you uh are there durell but um but yeah.

1:08:45 I think he was going to point out that mandy rose is the women's champion who took the longest between her nxt debut and her title win i was just thinking about that myself so good observation durell oh i wonder.

1:08:58 If his call dropped and then it came back because he was muted again which usually means that the call dropped um usually means the call dropped uh durell are you there like three callers.

1:09:09 Wow yeah yeah oh my call dropped yeah okay it knocked me off but um okay Hopefully we're getting back to the storytelling on NXT and they build it up fuse. I'm glad that we didn't have a rush match with the Carmelo and Trigna. I didn't mind multiple segments of the pre-recorded news. They tried to explain how did Johnny do it by having him say that he had help setting up. He got multiple cameras everywhere. And stuff like that.

1:09:44 So that was interesting and cool. And I also like that they reintroduced Kaylee Ray. Hopefully she can get back up there in something. So what do you guys think about that segment that they sprinkled throughout the show? And what do you guys think about Kaylee Ray and them reintroducing her in more of a rage type of way?

1:10:08 All right.

1:10:08 So, yeah, Kaylee Ray. What's funny is that that happened. It was a segment at the end of a couple other short segments. And even though I was really excited about it, I forgot to put it in my recap, I think. I don't think I wrote about it. And it was very brief. But, yeah, hopefully this is not much of a tweak. She does not need one. She just needs to go in there and kick ass. So just psyched that they are bringing her back because, yeah, I don't know. I realized how much I missed her until last week when, uh, Tom said, Oh, and by the way, where the hell is Kaylee Ray? And I realized that suddenly I wanted to know very badly as well. Um, as far as the haunted house stuff, I actually really liked it. Uh, I thought that it was a lot

1:10:55 of fun. I thought that Carmelo and trick in this setting were perfect. It is very funny to me to take these two cocky guys, put them out there. Um, And I absolutely ate up the moment when they first went into the haunted house. They see this picture of a sad-looking woman from the 1800s, and one of them goes, damn, she fine. Like, it was so, so ridiculous to me that that was the– they're, like, in this house of horrors, but they still had to take time to lodge their mention that one of them found this– Woman of the 1800s hot. So I like that. And I also was amused at the internal logic of the fact that, I mean, this is a brand that doesn't explain... why there are cameras in the bathroom capturing Kushida going to the bathroom.

1:11:51 And Kushida would know that the camera is there and apparently didn't care. But they were very, very clear about explaining how exactly Johnny Gargano pulled this off and bringing in Andre Chase. in this way, should be too dumb. For me, it was not. I really liked that this was done, and then they just immediately wrote him out by having him be the first horror movie guy to get killed, essentially, in the segment. I enjoyed this, and I thought that in the Halloween Havoc setting, this is probably the thing they did most right tonight.

1:12:32 Tom?

1:12:34 The Rage, Kaylee 2, tagline, point O.

1:12:38 Yeah, probably not a radical shift to her character, but maybe it's like what we're seeing with Damien Priest right now, where they decided that he gets angry when certain things happen, and it's just like, okay, they're not... fundamentally changing him they're just giving him a layer so they have something else to work with they got to try a different angle kaylee ray didn't really have a thing so maybe they're giving her a thing but i don't know we'll we shall see just glad she still exists um I think the haunted house stuff is just sort of a running through my bullet points kind of situation.

1:13:16 I did write that.

1:13:17 I thought trick and mellow did well with what they had to work with overall. I wasn't super high on this, although it did have its moments. Um, you know, the, the only second time that we've heard, did someone say chase out of complete nowhere made me actually laugh out loud. Um, that, that was the kind of thing that like, I forgot that I was waiting for that to happen again. And when it did, when I least expected it, I, I, I let out a good guffaw. Um, but you know, you've got, Contrary to last year's, they had a specific name for it, but last year's Dexter Loomis haunted house thing, they weren't asking us to believe that just all of a sudden I've been calling her B-Fab long enough that I've now forgotten her name.

1:14:08 It's Brianna Brandy.

1:14:10 Thank you.

1:14:12 You know that, that Brianna Brandy is just a zombie now. And you know, this is long before they did. They brought back the zombie.

1:14:19 And so I don't know.

1:14:20 He's just a guy, you know, last, last year it asked like they were, it seemed like they were asking us to believe all of that this year. You've got Gargano, like Darrell pointed out, actually saying like, Oh no, I just set up all this haunted house type stuff and I've got cameras everywhere.

1:14:35 Issue with that is, we weren't looking through those cameras. So he gives the excuse and then.

1:14:43 We're still looking through the, the Jeremy Borash cameras. Um, so, so that was weird that they, they set that up and then didn't utilize it. Um, But they didn't do a mummy joke for Candace. I think that's a missed opportunity. And I let's see.

1:15:04 Oh, my other notes are positive. I think the the thumbs up that they've been doing is absolutely adorable. I like that that is sticking around.

1:15:12 And, you know, with of course, with Dexter Loomis initiating it, it's him seeking approval from his fans. in like twice removed, not really surrogate father, what, you know, in law or whatever. Um, but I, I was so worried and I guess I should be thankful it didn't go this way, but I was so worried that after Gargano made it so clear that this wasn't actually a bunch of like zombies and spooks and, and whatever, and ghosts, I was expecting someone like Indy or perhaps Candace or someone to show up or Andre Chase, uh, to find Johnny and say like, oh, wow, guys, I love it.

1:15:49 You did such a good job. The ghosts, the zombies.

1:15:52 The vampires and then johnny's eyes go wide and he's like i didn't.

1:15:55 Hire any vampires oh god.

1:15:58 And then you you're supposed to think that there actually is a real uh horror entity chasing them i i i just thought that had.

1:16:05 To be the way that they were going so i guess thankful.

1:16:09 That they did not but um but yeah highlights among something that overall i just didn't think was great oh and And finally, I thought it was hilarious, not laugh out loud, but hilarious when they were about to step into the house, because, of course, the idea is Mello getting his title belt back from Loomis, who is currently in possession of the physical object, if not the championship.

1:16:33 And Trick, you know, being being scared is just like, um, I'll just buy you a replica, trying to convince.

1:16:41 Him not to not to do it. So I thought that was a good line as well.

1:16:45 There you go. We are going to be going to caller 410 next, Nate.

1:16:52 All right, so then I will be brief. Kaylee Ray, I'm excited to see her back. Again, I don't think it's really a new character. I kind of agree with Tom. I just think it's added layers. And, yeah, the– I really don't have much to add, to be honest.

1:17:09 Let's just go.

1:17:10 Let's go to 410.

1:17:11 Wow, Nate. There we go.

1:17:14 I'm just going to be brief.

1:17:16 I didn't know you had it in you, pal.

1:17:19 Every once in a while, I'll bust it out, man.

1:17:21 All right. I guess we did kind of cover it.

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1:18:07 410, go ahead and tell us who you are and where you're calling from.

1:18:14 Reverend Keith in Baltimore.

1:18:16 How are you?

1:18:17 Oh, I knew I recognized his phone number. I just hadn't seen it in a while. Reverend Keith, I am doing well, sir.

1:18:24 How are you?

1:18:26 Great.

1:18:26 You guys are doing a wonderful analysis of this show. And I just want to be brief and to the point. I like how they are building up toxic attraction. It's just a matter of giving Mandy something to do and making her the leader that she should have been a while ago, or at least part of a tag team or something, because she has.

1:18:49 A lot of potential.

1:18:50 But they never really gave her an opportunity to shine. So it's good that, you know, she's the leader of toxic attraction. She's working with two, uh, youngsters so she can help groom them but i agree with you in the match tonight there wasn't a rain general because raquel is just learning the ropes.

1:19:06 Herself so hopefully dakota kai.

1:19:09 Can get in the title hunt somewhere somehow or at least renew that rivalry with raquel what i really wanted to point out tonight was i think it was a good move not to put the strap on braun breaker simply because it would have caused a lot of backlash. The same people who are saying, yeah, Ciampa should have passed the torch tonight would be the same people that would have turned on Bron Breaker two months from now saying that he got the title too soon. And that's what I felt that Triple H did with MSK. I felt that he put the straps on them too soon when they should have been chasers. like how they were in Impact Wrestling as the Rascals. So that's all I wanted to talk about. I didn't, you know, I'm going

1:19:50 to step aside and let you discuss that. But gentlemen, as always, it's a pleasure. Thank you so much for taking my call and let me know what you think about my points.

1:20:01 Thank you so much, Rev.

1:20:01 Keith.

1:20:02 I could not agree more with you. This absolutely would have been a moment where this crowd would potentially have um have turned on braun breaker and braun of course already has had more of a journey than msk did because msk just came in to a tournament and uh and they won it uh there was no long-term story for them there's been no short-term story for them all we know is that uh nash carter lost his father at a young age and they didn't give much of anything more to that uh and and The MSK thing, you know, it's more nuanced, and we know now a little bit more about why they're getting booed, why they were getting booed. They didn't get booed tonight. But yes, I thought they were done no favors by the fact

1:20:55 that they were given no hero's journey. And Braun, we don't know for sure if Breaker's going to settle into a babyface or a heel roll situation. my opinion on his character right now is they're essentially working in baby face more or less, but they're in a position where they can easily, easily pivot that to make this heel and make it organic and make it feel right. Um, and they're just trying out to see what they have with them. That's what I feel is going on today. And, but yes, I, I do think that, a certain part of the fan base is just born to complain. And, um, I mean, that's not, that's not a hot take in wrestling.

1:21:42 That's obvious. But I, I think that a lot of those complaints come from the exact same people. They should pass the torch and, uh, he's not ready. And it mostly boils down to, but this isn't who I wanted to be champion right now. Um, and it's more market than anything, but, uh, but what are you going to do? So, uh, Yeah, I'm glad for Braun Breaker's sake that he did not become champion tonight. I don't know that he will ever become NXT champion before he moves on up. But right now, let's just work on getting him some better in rings on Mike skills. And yes, in ring too. He's pretty good there, but he's got a long way to go, but certainly has a very long way to go on the mic. What I find interesting about him on the

1:22:37 mic is he's so, so, so good. what you would expect the son of an 80s and 90s wrestler to be because he yells out everything at the same exact volume. It's such a throwback to a time when promos were really bad, Tom.

1:22:58 I liked that he referred to himself as a genetic freak as well. That's not usually a term that they use to refer to that a wrestler uses to refer to themselves. Also, Chucky calling him a puppy faced gremlin was a nice touch. And a young age, that is, in fact, the only sort of age that Nash Carter has ever had.

1:23:19 I suppose that's true.

1:23:24 I would have to look at his exact birthday, but I think he's just barely older than Jim Morrison. But anyway, or, you know, any other pick your favorite member of that particular club. No, I will also be brief and just say that I am very happy to hear from Keith, particularly on such an agreeable subject. Keith, while you were speaking, I was just sitting.

1:23:47 Here and nodding along with you.

1:23:51 Nathaniel.

1:23:54 More or less, same thing. I'm pretty much right there with you guys. Braun Breaker, I really like him. I think he's going to do great in the NXT system. I don't think tonight would have been the right move to put the belt on him for all the reasons we've discussed.

1:24:13 Two matches we have not talked about tonight. Malik Blade versus Joe Gacy. the stuff they're doing with Joe Gacy is so broad and so stupid, but like Tony D'Angelo, he's throwing himself into the role more and more every week. And it's kind of starting to work despite how dumb it is on the page and how like just bankrupt it is on the page. And the addition of Harland is making it infinitely more interesting. Um, I'm very excited about what the hell's going on with the relationship of these two. I think that this is actually pretty good stuff.

1:24:58 Odyssey Jones versus Roderick Strong was the other match. Malcolm Bivens made a pitch to anyone to try to take down anyone in his squad. And when Odyssey Jones shows up and said, I want Roddy or whatever he said.

1:25:18 I.

1:25:20 Love Malcolm Bivens. God, I love him. He said, brother, brother, brother, all due disrespect, but you are not 205. But he did insist on the match and through hook and crook, Roderick Strong defeats Odyssey Jones at 355 on the last two matches, Nate.

1:25:42 So I, Odyssey Jones, I liked the guy and I think he's got a lot of potential. He's still green. He's still got some way to, you get some way to go. What, And clearly they certainly see something in him because they're pushing him quite a bit as one of these new NXT 2.0 guys, even before NXT 2.0 with the breakout tournament and things like that. He's clearly got potential. And I really want to see this guy, this guy win and succeed. But I feel like they need to have him start winning. Now, I understand why they put Roderick strong over tonight. They're trying to just build diamond mind up. They're trying to put the cruiserweight title over to be, you know, a bigger deal than what it was. Like I get all that and it

1:26:26 makes sense. But at the same time, Um, and, and still, you know, and, and honestly, Jones still didn't lose clean. You know, he, he, there was still some interference there.

1:26:35 He didn't look super.

1:26:36 Weak and I'm sure he'll wind up getting his wind back at some point, but I feel like he's lost a lot so far. And I, I'm hoping that is not the trajectory that we see him. There's so many big guys, big men in, in wrestling, especially.

1:26:48 In WWE that, um, They push them.

1:26:52 And they're these monsters and they become that force, that gatekeeper that everybody's got to overcome. And then everybody overcomes them, which means they lose all the time and.

1:27:04 Yada, yada.

1:27:05 So I'm sure that's probably some of the trajectory he's going to see in his career to an extent.

1:27:10 I just don't want to see it this early. for him. At least not right now.

1:27:15 So I'm kind of hoping that this is, is an upward trajectory for him.

1:27:19 I did enjoy this match for what it was. And I do like, I did like this.

1:27:27 Whole Malcolm Bivens diamond mine open challenge thing. Cause I was trying to think who, who was it is going to come out.

1:27:33 It could have been literally could have been anybody.

1:27:37 I was in a way, I was hoping that we might get another women's women's match on the show.

1:27:41 And cause I kind of.

1:27:42 Do want to see some more out of Ivy Nile. But ultimately I think this was, you know, a good way to go, especially to get the cruiserweight champion on the show, even if this wasn't for the, for the title. um at least to get him on the big branded show since uh i don't think they're going to be branding takeovers anymore.

1:28:01 I do but i wonder how long it will take before we get that next one and i wonder how different it will feel um and look and if it will travel or if they'll just do what they did way back in the beginning and uh present those in the same building um tom on those last two matches.

1:28:20 Have they said Hangle Drangle's name on TV before?

1:28:25 Yes, they did today, and I believe they did two weeks ago.

1:28:29 Harland.

1:28:29 Okay, the second part of that is what I was wondering, because I noticed when they said it tonight, and they said it like, well, that's Harland, and they said it right after the Haunted House segment. with Johnny talking about surveillance cameras and they showed him coming in on a surveillance camera doing the Michael Myers walk like Dexter Loomis does and I was so I thought we were cutting back to the Haunted House but then Vic says well that's Harland.

1:28:55 Oh okay and.

1:28:58 That is all that I have on that match. Nothing else going on there. Um, and then, uh, strong versus Jones. I like Jones being proactive. I thought that he should have been more proactive in the, uh, yes, very undercard, but still feud against Andre chase. Uh, so I like him being proactive and going for the challenge and I thought the finish was good.

1:29:20 All right. And we had, um, I mean, we've essentially talked about the House of Horrors and all that. We had Grayson Waller and Ellie Knight. Ellie Knight won a match to become the host of this show. Then Grayson Waller mostly did it, and Ellie Knight had some car trouble, ended up in one segment, and then was run off.

1:29:44 Odd.

1:29:45 Then we also had the Halloween party. From that, we got an exchange between Lash Legend and Tony D'Angelo. Will they bury the hatchet? Find out next week. Zion Quinn once again shows that he is a man of a ridiculous amount of temper, and he breaks Robert Stone through a table. Robert Stone in an impressive Elvis getup.

1:30:15 Hey, Steph, do you ever watch WWE and think it used to be better?

1:30:18 I don't know, Josh.

1:30:19 Sometimes I think it used to be a whole lot worse.

1:30:21 I mean, whether it's WrestleMania main events.

1:30:23 Old dudes at the top.

1:30:25 Too many titles.

1:30:26 Or women's wrestling.

1:30:28 We're here to answer the big question, is it worse or better now? Join me, Joshua White.

1:30:34 And me, Stephanie Chius.

1:30:35 For Worse or Better, part of the PWTorch Daily Cast lineup dropping on Monday nights.

1:30:40 Search PWTorch in your podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify... to subscribe for free or get a commercial free version with the PW torch VIP membership. Check out pwtorch.com slash go VIP for details on going VIP.

1:30:56 Worse or better. Finally, something for wrestling fans to do on Monday nights.

1:31:02 Um, and then one other thing came out of this. Um, Oh gosh. And it's something is coming next week that happened because of what was in the segment, uh, And now I can't remember it, guys. So anything else that happened at the party, feel free to comment on it, Tom.

1:31:24 Yeah, that's going to be another bullet point thing. And I actually mostly liked it. Usually when WWE does these backstage holiday parties, it's atrocious, but I kind of enjoyed this one because everybody got a little chance to show off some personality and it actually resembled a basic Halloween party that real people go to. And so I it was actually like, oh, yeah, that's actually that's kind of what it looks like for the first time ever in one of these.

1:31:55 The the women that Grayson.

1:31:57 Waller was hitting on might have been Tiffany and you, Lisa, but I'm really not sure I'd have to see them more.

1:32:03 They're very new.

1:32:05 Cool.

1:32:05 Kyle is back and he works so much better.

1:32:09 Yes.

1:32:09 Very limited exposure tonight, but he works so much better with who to thunk it.

1:32:13 A straight man to play off of.

1:32:15 I love I loved Cal Bloom just being there, not in a costume.

1:32:19 And somebody says, well, who are you? And he's like, I'm Brad Pitt. You can't tell. So that was that was amusing. I am not going to let myself get hopeful that.

1:32:30 The the winning very never would have guessed it, but winning combination of putting Tony D'Angelo with Lash Legend, at least for for this little little bit that they're doing here. I, I'm not going to allow myself to get hopeful that they are seeing that showing him kidnapping somebody was a step too far. This guy is supposed to be a baby face. So maybe just have him talk about, you know, something fell off the back of the truck and, and don't, don't have him talk about like kidnapping people on cement shoes and whatnot. Um, but he kidnapped lash legends producer to get a spot on her show and And then he gets the spot on the show just because he bumps into her at a party.

1:33:13 So that's kind of funny. But I still enjoy the interaction. The only thing I.

1:33:17 Really did not enjoy here was was the the Daniel Vito Medicine Woman segment.

1:33:23 Not for Daniel Vito.

1:33:24 I like him quite a bit, even though, yeah, the quick to rage thing is a bit much. But but Robert Stone. Opening his big mouth is just always annoying in the wrong way. And I felt he was not just doing Elvis here, but doing Jack White as Elvis from Walk Hard. And it's good when Jack White does it, but Robert Stone doing just about anything is not that.

1:33:51 And what was the... Oh, Solo Sikoa's debut.

1:33:56 So I felt that, unfortunately, Knight and Waller really dropped the ball here because I found Waller to be annoying here. And, of course, Knight was purposefully being obnoxious. So it sort of felt like the kind of thing where I'm supposed to be happy when Solo Sikoa's music hits and more excited than I always am. already was to see him because he's interrupting this segment and he's going to dump out la night or you know dump out the obnoxious people which unfortunately in this case included waller um but i remain optimistic about sokoa regardless um i just oh can can the crowd not chant uso at him like a bunch of losers that would be cool.

1:34:38 You know what's funny is that it seemed like he didn't mind it like it seemed like he sort of liked it but it will define him um But it's going to anyway, so who knows? Yeah, because that's just like a nickname within their crew, it seems. But yes.

1:34:56 Yes, that definitely occurred to me. You know, the Oos.

1:35:03 Shorthand or however, you know, whatever the proper way to refer to that is. I already made it sound super not cool. But yeah, there is at least that.

1:35:12 Yeah. Nate, on those two segments.

1:35:16 As far as I'm aware, Uso is brother in Samoan, if I'm not mistaken. Um, but anyway, yeah. Um, So, okay.

1:35:27 First on his debut, I I'm, I'm high on him. I, I feel like the debut was a little bit underwhelming for the same reasons that you guys kind of brought up. And for that reason, it felt like this was a, a mid card debut. It didn't feel like anything that I really should be paying attention to. And I know I should, because simply, Hey, simply because of his family.

1:35:50 And when, when one of these guys debuts on the main roster, Or, well, I guess this isn't the main roster anymore. But when one of these guys actually debuts in NXT, a member of this family debuts on anyone of WWE's products, pay attention to them because they're probably going to get booked pretty well. Not just that, he's had an impressive run in the indies as well. So I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with him.

1:36:20 I wonder why they.

1:36:24 Are shying away from his, his association with the Usos.

1:36:29 I mean, obviously real life brothers.

1:36:33 I mean, you take one, look at them and you go, wow, That's Jimmy and Jay's little brother. There's no denying that you're not fooling anybody with, you know, the different, different last name.

1:36:45 Now they may even bring it up on TV.

1:36:48 You know, they might even bring it up and, you know, cause they've had that, they had that sit down interview with Odyssey Jones and other wrestlers too. You're talking about what their ring name means and things like that. So, you know, it's not like their real name, it's a stage name, it's a ring name.

1:37:01 So maybe they'll do something like that. But I don't know why they don't necessarily lean into it.

1:37:06 I don't know if it's to take away– they don't want to tarnish the Usos or anything, especially where they're in the main event with Roman, which.

1:37:13 Is probably– probably part of the reason I.

1:37:17 Love, I love that they're not leaning into it. I think that is the right decision. And I, for me, it's because once you do, you can't lean away. It's out there. It's like announcing that somebody has a relationship or that two people are married. Once it's out there, you can't not always have the characters acknowledge that.

1:37:40 And I, I.

1:37:41 Completely agree with you.

1:37:43 Right.

1:37:43 And, and I get, and I get that what I'm, I guess what my, my, my thinking, my line of thinking is.

1:37:49 Is they're going to do it.

1:37:51 They're going to do it at some point and everybody knows it. And like everybody knows who he is already. Anyway, at least the majority of the people that are watching NXT know who he is. So I, I feel like it would almost benefit him to lean into it and, and play up like, He's their little brother, whether it's their annoying little brother or, you know, play into the same type of a gimmick they're playing into. So it kind of seems like what he's doing now, like just his presence, the way he presented himself in the ring, the way he looked at the camera.

1:38:25 It's all stuff that the Usos do. So I feel like he's.

1:38:30 Already just playing their little brother, but they're not leaning into it. Yet you still have the crowd go, ooh, so, ooh, so, which that's not going to stop, especially with that crowd.

1:38:42 So I don't know.

1:38:44 I guess my point is rather than fighting the tides, and I totally get what you're saying, but rather than fighting the tide, lean into it because that's going to be the natural direction that I think this character and the audience is going to really want to see from this character anyway.

1:39:00 At least my two cents.

1:39:03 The thing that I forgot that I was trying to remember was, uh, Grimes and Hudson. Um, Grimes will be entering Duke Hudson's poker room next week, uh, putting Grimes in pretty much anytime Grimes is fish out of water. It's wonderful. So I'm happy about that. I will also say on LA night, this is a guy who like five, six weeks ago was in the championship picture. And, um, God, with tonight's episode, if you just dropped in, you would think he was at the very bottom of things. Just a really weird spot for him. So I am interested to see what he does next. We do have one more email. This is from Kevin Catani. Salutations, gents. I hope the email finds you well. In the interest of brevity, I have two questions. Number one, which storyline coming out

1:39:49 of Halloween Havoc are you most excited about? Number two, what are each of you and your families dressing up for as Halloween characters? We are going as Goldilocks, my three-year-old, and the three bears, my wife, my toddler, and me. Thanks as always. Go VIP and watch 8YB. Office hours are now over. The professor, Kevin P. Catani, PhD. He did indeed say watch 8YB. But as much as we talk about movies on that podcast, folks, it is an audio-only medium. I'm sorry that you cannot watch us talk. Yeah, what am I doing for Halloween? That's a good question.

1:40:23 Normally by now I know. The last couple of years I did Negan from The Walking Dead because it went over huge because it's a really good– It's a really good costume. We're pretty serious about the costumes in this family. Um, and now my daughter, my younger daughter is the one with, she's got as much of that know-how as my wife who is extremely good at it. But my daughter who's 14 and will probably do some kind of fashion for a living. Um, is extremely good at. She's better at that than I am at anything that most people are at anything. She's really, really impressive. But anyway, she she will probably figure something out for me and make it within five days. Otherwise, I'm going to have to do

1:41:12 Negan again because it's the only thing. I have on hand.

1:41:17 I love Halloween.

1:41:18 It is by far my favorite holiday. Which storyline am I most excited about? You know, there's a lot of little things that I'm interested in. I'm interested to see what's going on with Joe Gacy and Harland. I'm interested in the very bizarre storyline pairing of Lash Legend and Tony D'Angelo. And there was a third one, and it was...

1:41:44 It was another lower card NXT 2.0 guy, and now I can't think of who it is. But yeah, I don't know if there's any big picture stuff that I'm super crazy about. I'm really excited about Dakota, but I dance around this, but man, Raquel just doesn't... interest me like at all, at all. So I'm interested in so far as hopefully Dakota will get the win that she always should have gotten in the championship match.

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1:43:13 Top.

1:43:15 Um, as I've thought about, I think like right before you pitched to me, I decided that it's whatever Zoe Stark does next. Um, and hopefully she is able to go and that looked worse than it actually is.

1:43:30 Um, yeah, I know.

1:43:32 Um, how stupid is it? Is it that in a match with all that risky stuff that that happened all out?

1:43:38 Yeah.

1:43:42 But, you know, the fallout from that.

1:43:43 But, of course, you know, interested to see if they do anything particularly juicy with Dakota and Raquel or if it's more of the same. And, of course, I am quite invested in Toxic Attraction. Yeah, Halloween is a holiday that I love going all out for, not decorations-wise, but costume-wise when I can, when I can justify it in the budget.

1:44:07 There are plenty of years where I.

1:44:10 Just do something really cheap like oh i bought a hoodie that looks like batman's outfit but it's really just a hoodie or you know that that kind of thing but there are plenty of other years where i go all out and shave my head and and i'm bane or you know whatever um this year not doing a darn thing the only mask i'll be wearing is is the the and and i is a n19 the surgical one um and you know i We are going to– just because it's still a thing with me and I mentioned it on the podcast, I feel I need to frame it.

1:44:41 We are going to be trick-or-treating because we're not going indoors anywhere.

1:44:46 So I still don't feel great about all of that, but we are doing it. And my daughter is going to be Toga from My Hero Academia, and my son– didn't have anything specific in mind. So it was one of those situations where it was like, all right, let's look at what your options are from like pre-made costumes.

1:45:08 Uh, last year we, we put together this whole.

1:45:10 Um, cyborg from, uh, from teen Titans thing, which was in part a packaged costume, but in part, a lot of customizations on top of it, because I, we specifically did the side, the version of cyborg from, uh, the episodes when they it's like all 1980s tastic, um, whatever the night begins to shine, the night begins to shine version of cyborg.

1:45:35 I'm sure some listeners know what I'm talking about. It was really cool.

1:45:38 Um, but this year we just ended up looking at the prepackaged options. And so unfortunately, even though he started getting excited about some stuff, uh, there were just so few things in his size. Uh, so, uh, thankfully we found one that fits him perfectly and he's gotten himself so excited about it that he, he wears it around the house. Um, so he sort of looks like a Mortal Kombat dude.

1:46:03 Um, that's not what it is. Like, you know, bargain bin version of, of Mortal Kombat dude, but he's, he's into it.

1:46:10 Nate, what is Corbin going to be for Halloween?

1:46:12 Um, So I think we're going to go as Prometheus and Bob from Kablam. Uh, I'll be Prometheus. He'll be Bob or vice versa.

1:46:20 I'll be Bob. He'll be Prometheus. I don't know.

1:46:23 Honestly, I was just thinking that as you guys were talking, cause, uh, to be completely honest with you, I didn't even realize it was Halloween until I went to the grocery store today and saw spirit Halloween store next to the grocery store and went, Oh shit.

1:46:35 Yeah.

1:46:35 Halloween.

1:46:37 Um, uh, so that that's where I'm at this year.

1:46:40 Uh, I literally have no idea.

1:46:43 I might throw a name tag on that says, hello, my name is Dave. That's about where my creative brain is right now in terms of Halloween costumes. I'm not usually a huge Halloween guy. I like Halloween, but I like observing Halloween and I like observing other people's costumes. I don't really like putting costumes on. I feel like they're uncomfortable for the most part. And I just don't get down on it. But sometimes I do. And it can be fun. But that was really more when I was a kid and stuff. And I don't have kids or anything. I probably get into it or a life. So, you know, there's that. What else we got to talk about here other than my sad existence? The storyline coming out of Halloween Havoc, I'm most excited about, to be

1:47:31 honest with you, and I'm kind of surprised I'm saying with this probably Braun breakers trajectory. I'm really interested to see where he goes. It doesn't, I don't necessarily think he's going to touch the NXT title seat title again.

1:47:47 Maybe he does before.

1:47:47 He goes to the main roster, but if he does, it'll be a little bit ways down the road, but I'm curious to see how he holds up.

1:47:53 And, and, and cause right now he's impressed me.

1:47:56 He's actually done better than I expected out of him. When I first saw him during his initial debut, before I realized who he even was during his initial debut I've been really impressed with him week to week. So I I'm curious to see what his story is, where, where he, where he goes, whether he falls heel, whether he falls face who he starts feuding with and things like that. So that's probably the thing I'm most excited about.

1:48:23 The other thing that I'm not.

1:48:25 I wouldn't say I'm excited about it, but I'm kind of intrigued.

1:48:29 By it is.

1:48:31 is toxic attraction.

1:48:35 Again, I'm not super high on Mandy Rose, but I'm also intrigued by where this new character is going, and I'm also intrigued by all of the changes that have taken place within her faction that have led her the three of them to championship gold. Um, this is going to be an interesting story arc for all three of them.

1:48:56 And I'm curious to see what happens if anybody turns on anybody. Um, you have Mandy Rose decides she's better than better than them.

1:49:04 I don't know. We'll see.

1:49:06 I've kind of got a few different scenarios that kind of played through a little bit in my head. Very brief, but, you know, interested to see how that that plays out as well. So, again, two things that I'm surprised that I'm saying, but I'm certainly I'm certainly looking forward to them.

1:49:24 Yeah, I think that's I think that's about it.

1:49:28 Well, there you go, folks. That is our show. And you know what? Assuming that I do something for Halloween, I will tell you all about it next week, if I remember, because it'll be slightly old news by then. Yeah, I suppose it's only two days back. I'm Kelly Wells. You can find me all over social media at SpookyMilk or SpookyMilk.Games, Tom.

1:49:50 At Tom Stout on social media. All my links are at Tom Stout.

1:49:55 And I have finally decided that I'm going.

1:49:57 To push harder my racetrack filming or, you know, whatever. You know, it's I film it, but I'm not of the world. So however, stock car racing, if you guys, if anybody listening is interested in stock car racing, I film at the official NASCAR home track of Florida, the new Smyrna Speedway. I've filmed everything from. you know, kids running around, you know, rolling around a little quarter track all the way to Kyle Bush visiting to, uh, run a hundred lapper. So, you know, everything that happens at that track is at speedwayvideo.org, my YouTube channel. I also have a Patreon for it that, uh, the link is there.

1:50:32 Do it for me, do it for you, do it for the rock. And also listen to Willing Creatures on YouTube.

1:50:39 We are having so much fun with it.

1:50:41 Yes, we've been telling this particular story we're on now for four years, but we are putting out a lot of introductory content as well. And probably sometime early to mid next year, we will be kicking off an entirely new story. So if you are interested in tabletop role playing, Dungeons and Dragons, you know, nobody else on this podcast does.

1:51:00 That kind of thing. So I know I'm not stepping on any toes there.

1:51:06 We have weekly episodes going out with our continuing adventures. The most recent one and the upcoming one have a lot from my character in particular. So Willing Creatures on YouTube is where you can find all of that. Again, all of the links at Tom Staub on social media.

1:51:23 Nate. Okay.

1:51:25 Well, if we're doing it, so I'll do it too. Nate Lindbergh.com is where you can find links to everything that I do links to this show, as well as links to the hits and misses. You can also find links to my YouTube channel, my SoundCloud, where I started to make music for the YouTube channel.

1:51:41 And now I've just kind of make.

1:51:42 Music because it's fun and So you can check that out and tell me how much I suck if I do.

1:51:49 That's a couple of things I do. You can also check out.

1:51:51 My YouTube channel at DeegeTime, D-E-G-E-T-I-M-E, where we take a therapeutic look at role-playing games. And we just started looking at a new one just this past week. Yeah, we're about a week into it right now. Two episodes launched.

1:52:08 If you guys.

1:52:08 Remember the TV show M.A.S.H., We are playing.

1:52:13 The game Mashed with an ED at the end.

1:52:16 It's not necessarily the game Mashed, Mashed the game, but it's highly based on that game. It takes place in the Korean War, and we're taking a look at kind of the pains of day-to-day life in wartime environment. We're actually going to be talking with a nurse who is on the front lines of a COVID environment as well. Obviously, we can't talk to somebody who was, you know, Korean War.

1:52:39 We don't really know anybody that we could talk to that are Korean War. We figured the best thing we could do is talk to somebody that's on the front lines of the current war we're in right now, battle with COVID. So we're going to be talking with her as well, kind of get some perspective on that. But we had a lot of cool things coming up with our matched gameplay and our therapeutic look at that.

1:52:57 That'll be coming up.

1:52:58 Over the course of the next five or so weeks. I should know because of editing and putting everything together, but that sounds all right. Five or six weeks before we move on to something else.

1:53:08 Which one of you is Hot Lips?

1:53:11 Oh, God. That'll probably be Tony. He's the one with the long hair.

1:53:15 That was going to be my guess.

1:53:15 That was going to be my guess.

1:53:19 All right, folks. Well, that got weird, but it always does. So so there you go. Come back next week for more. And and we will see you in seven.

1:53:37 This is not a cat.

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