WWE SMACKDOWN POST-SHOW (10/9) - Wells & Corbridge talking final Money in the Bank hype, title change, Gunther decimates Danhausen, more

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1:36 Now, PW Torch and Spreaker bring you the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Show. It's time to talk this week's WWE Friday Night Smackdown.

1:49 You know, Eric, I had said it had been a while since I had started one of these, so that 90s podcast thing. Yeah, not what I meant to hit, not what I meant to play, but here we are. We did not have each other's information before this, so we didn't pick up quite as quickly as we would have. I got stuff to do after this. I got to pick up my daughter after a Malcolm Todd concert.

2:16 Oh, dang.

2:17 So luckily... it's a go home show. So, I mean, what is there to say about a go home show? They're all the same, but we'll try to mine this one for gold. We'll, we'll see what it is. I'm filling in for Wade tonight, guys. He is he he's, he's about two miles away. We are basically neighbors. Our kids know each other and everything, but he has had his kids high school play. And, and so here I am. So, I'm Kelly Wills. You can find me all over social media.

2:47 You know what? I'm not doing much of it. And except for the one site I'm doing too much, which is threads and threads is in that, that moment where it was really good. And now it's all feels like it's trying to be monetized, even though it's not a monetized site. So it's all just rage bait. You know, we used to have a proper internet.

3:05 Okay.

3:06 So Aaron, we had a main event that wasn't, but we're pretty used to that. Um, Trick Williams and Braun Breaker, two of the men who will be in the Money in the Bank ladder match. And just in case anybody thought this was going to be a normal match, they did say beforehand it was promoted that every guy in the ladder match was going to be on the show.

3:36 We hadn't seen a couple, so we knew we were going to see them. This went about six minutes, maybe, six or seven minutes. A trick over Braun Breaker by disqualification. I assume this is one of the things where they didn't actually announce that. And The Vision, Javon Evans, Penta, Bronson Reed, they all got involved. It seemed like earlier on they were telling us the order of matches for the Money in the Bank show LA versus Roman to open women's match, money in the bank match, women's triple threat over versus Bronson and then men's money in the bank match. I think that's what they were suggesting they were doing with that listing. So this is going to be your main event tomorrow, as far as I can tell.

4:20 So no pressure, but tell me what you thought of this and who's winning tomorrow.

4:24 Sure.

4:25 Yeah.

4:25 I mean, we came in late today, but we'll hit it hard. We'll hit it fast and we'll probably end with a schmoz too. So I thought it was a predictable show. To me, the most notable point in the show was pointing out that LA Knight versus Roman Reigns is going to kick off the show. That really... I haven't decided exactly if that's realigned with me, what I think will happen as the show unfolds, for one reason.

4:52 In a pre-ESPN... WWE world, I would have assumed if LA Knight was leading off against Roman Reigns, he was not going to win the championship because they just didn't do that very often. And however, in today's ESPN world, they tend to want to kick things off with something big. So I don't think it automatically disqualifies him from winning the title anymore. I personally think that LA Knight needs to win the championship in this match and not in a future match, but we can get into that in a minute. As far as the men's Money in the Bank match goes, if you'd talked to me after the opening segment tonight with CM Punk, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn, and even all throughout the last couple of weeks, I

5:38 would have said Punk and Owens have no chance to win this match. They don't need it and they will cancel each other out. And that's exactly how the opening segment tonight, you know, transpired. But now that we are certain it's the main event of the evening, I feel like that brings them back into the picture. I can see a world where punk wins the money in the bank and he's the first time that anyone's ever won it for a third time. I don't necessarily want that result, but I can see it as a possibility anymore. What do you think?

6:12 I've got Owens winning this one. Now, I really, really like Owens. And truth be told, when it is time for me to join sports postseason pools, things like that, I literally just choose the team I like better in every case. Because in sports, there's really no way. You can't follow the booking. And so that's what I do.

6:39 So that might be why I'm doing this with Owens. Uh, now of course it leaves us with Owens versus Sammy. And is that something that we should see? Uh, we do have some people in the chat talking about night versus Roman should be on last for the championship and everything like, and I get that. Um, I'm a bigger.

7:00 Fan of putting the money in the bank match on last, but the one thing interesting about putting Roman on last is that, uh, now we know that nobody's cashing in after this match because there will be, so there'll be nobody to cash in on them. So that would have been the one interesting thing to have them do that.

7:20 But their way is the last match. Isn't the one that necessarily deserves to.

7:28 Be the last match. The last match is the one where they're going to do the biggest thing after the match. Uh, so I don't know what that thing will be, but I don't think this will just be one. And then that'll be that, uh, Yeah, and it'll be the way we get to Derek's comments as well. Go ahead.

7:46 To me, there are two satisfying ways, for me, that the ladder match could result in. One would be Owens winning the Money in the Bank. And the reason I would enjoy that is he could be the biggest pain in the ass for Sammy over the next however long he chooses to. In fact, I would prefer if he purposely just tries to mess with him for months and months and months and has Sami on edge the entire time.

8:12 I think that could be fun to watch. And then the other obvious one would be Braun Breaker winning. And he teased tonight that he would cash in on Sami, but I don't believe that for a second. I think what would make sense is if Obafemi wins the title and Breaker immediately cashes in and beats him. You know, I think that would make a lot of sense. I do think the money in the bank concept is stale and played out. And I'm sick of people winning like that because I don't think it builds credible champions. In fact, I think we've talked about this on air before. No one I don't think has named anyone outside of maybe Seth Rollins, who has really catapult catapulted themselves with an actual title reign after their money in the bank win.

8:53 But again, I don't. I think those are the two options that make sense for me. Evans isn't ready yet. Trick isn't ready yet. And who else do we even have? And then I can't remember Penta. I feel like he's a wild card option, but he just.

9:10 Had, I want to pick him emotionally. Right.

9:13 Yeah. And I, I'm somebody who probably would have advocated that they pulled the trigger and had him win the title in the match he had in Mexico City. But I also don't think Roman Reigns needs another long title reign. I think it makes a lot of sense for him to be a champion. But I also think he can have bumps along the way where he loses the title.

9:33 He could lose the title tonight and get it right back by Royal Rumble time if they want it to be that way. But I don't know if you want to delve into the L.A. night of it all, since this is a SmackDown show, but I feel very strongly.

9:47 I won't stop you. Should go down.

9:50 OK, my if we're going down Eric's fantasy land on how I want this to play out. And I've seen this talked about in the VIP forum. I wish I could give credit. who pointed it out there, but it was the exact same thing I've been thinking, is that the pieces are all in place right now that if the 9-4-6 come out and try to cost Roman Reigns the belt during the LA night match, But the Usos and a returning Jacob fight them off to the back.

10:21 Then you get a mirror image of WrestleMania 39 where Solo comes out and costs Roman the title and then joins the 946. We find out this entire thing about the kidnapping was a charade, which, by the way, we never saw Solo actually get attacked. And why in the world would they just release him into a field or whatever the hell they did? But then you have Solo helps his buddy Knight win the title, but this is the exact thing that Knight doesn't want to happen. He's been complaining about Roman always having to win with interference, and then it would be so ironic that Knight would win the title with interference. And then you would have so much to play off of, it would set you on the path towards war games, and they would have

11:02 so much to build from, including having Knight being conflicted. So I just think that would be the perfect place to go. It would solidify all this wishy-washy, who's a babyface, who's a heel, who's this, who's that. It would get it all solidified in time for War Games. Do I think they're going to do this? Probably not. They're probably going to have Roman win, something shady is going to happen, and then there'll be Fallout on Monday night when they have the six-man tag match, but... I prefer my way.

11:30 I don't know what anybody else thinks though.

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12:37 I just think Roman is that guy where not only is LA Knight maybe not big enough to win it from him, the Money in the Bank show might not be big enough for him to lose it at. I just feel like they got him to a point where they've, I don't have another word besides deified the man. And, and he's on such a level that I just don't, I find it hard to buy that he would lose at, at another spot. They are kind of retelling the story they told a few years ago. There's, there's different pieces on the chessboard, but we're playing the same game. And so it's, Honestly, when time came for the Royal Rumble, I didn't even really consider him because I was like, Roman doesn't need any more championships. I foolishly thought like

13:27 maybe he won't he won't have any more just because he doesn't need any more. He can be a big, big deal. And wrestling him can be a big deal. Whether he's whether he's championed. Or not, but that's not the way they went.

13:44 Yeah, it really felt like it was supposed to be the Roman redemption tour where he was going to defend his title several times without needing interference to help him. And he has done that to a large degree, but he's such an a-hole about it, it just doesn't matter. He can't be a babyface. And it's just not going to work. And I think they have realized that. I do trust that they've realized that now.

14:08 Yeah, and the funny thing about it is the man... just doesn't make a great baby face on screen um but is reportedly just one of the nicest guys in wrestling um it's just it's so bizarre uh that guy goes out there and he's like evil is the way to go um but yeah.

14:28 I don't know if you saw that video he sent to a kid that was being bullied just in the last couple days oh you.

14:34 Know what i knew that it happened but i didn't check it out yeah.

14:38 It was really nice. I don't know if anyone's seen it, but it was a really nice video where he just kind of gave the kid a pep talk. And, you know, I assume it wasn't a paid-for cameo. That would change things, but I don't think that's what it was.

14:49 Yes, it would. And I think they got that little watermark in the corner so you know whether it's cameo. Yeah. Derek Mitchell, thanks for always backing the torch. He came at us with this comment. Most wrestlers featured on tonight's show, with the exception of Jade, Truth, and Danhausen, spent time in developmental... such as Cody Punk, The Miz, and Nikki Bella in FCW or in NXT. Yeah, I.

15:17 It took some time for it to look like NXT was definitely, definitely something that was creating new stars. It really, really took time. And of course it did. They didn't know.

15:29 I.

15:30 Mean, this is the stuff we never see, right? These... people are at levels we didn't, we didn't use to see NXT and we sure as hell didn't use to see evolve. I watch evolve and there are people who are not ready, maybe even for evolve, but you gotta kind of start somewhere. Uh, and they have championships. And I think people ask sometimes why are there championships on these shows? It's because you've got to get comfortable. You gotta know how to be a champion. You gotta know how to be a challenger. Uh, so even people who should be champion, they'll, have them lose the belt and then for a long time chase because they got to figure out that. So there are a lot of great reasons.

16:12 Now there are a lot of ways in now you've got LFG, you've got Evolve, you've got, and then you've got NXT, which is where you're trying to find your final form. And some people are in that space. Like Jada Parker was trying to find her final form for, for probably two years. I thought she was, Well, good and ready, but they decided to hold her back, and I dare say they made a big, big impact with finally bringing her into the fold, so that's very cool.

16:43 And then, you know, the Easter egg of her sharing her first scene with Jay was kind of fun. Yeah, it was good. For those of us in the know. But yes, for those of us who have seen every episode of NXT, it was almost obvious that she was going to join 946 just because I knew she had been in a faction with Bronco and Lucien. So it was cool for me, even though I thought that's probably where it was headed. Anything else on what Derek said here?

17:17 No, I think it's great. I mean, NXT, you know, it can expose people. some of these talents to a bigger audience, maybe when they're not ready for it yet. But I think by and large, someone who's going to watch a show like NXT is going to be forgiving and understanding of that. And they're going to appreciate watching this talent grow and LA. And to be fair, if you watched the six woman tag match tonight, you're still seeing some of these people grow because they, that was a bit of a sloppy match at times. And some of the psychology was a little bit off. I don't understand why you would, it really, it was unsettling to me that, uh, what was it? Perez goes to make a tag and the two baby faces drop off the apron. Uh,

17:59 and then later it's, doing that in return. I'm like, I'm pretty sure you guys should flip that because you just look like a whole baby faces by not letting your partner tag out. You're supposed to be honorable and wanting to win the match, but instead you just don't want to tag her because you don't like her. It makes you look petty. But if she did it first, then she's the heel and she looks petty. And then you could either not tag her the next time she wants to tag out to teach her a little bit of a lesson or be the bigger person and Tag in anyway because you want to win the match. Some of these, they're still learning as they go, but that's part of the fun, I think, is to watch them grow and learn. It is nice to see. It's nice

18:42 to see everybody on these shows that have gotten this far.

18:47 Tag yourself in by punching them in the face or just slapping them on the back way harder than you have to than sharing a moment with them like Yeah, that's perfect.

18:57 That's a much better way to do it.

18:59 Going into a business.

19:01 And they didn't get the reaction they wanted because of it from the crowd. The crowd just kind of sat on their hands for both spots. They could have had a bigger reaction if they'd done it in reverse.

19:10 When the baby faces jumped off, I even thought I maybe detected just a tiny bit of people going like, come on, or just not much of a boo, but just like, hey, why are you doing that?

19:24 It was interesting that I did appreciate that they, instead of having the heels versus the baby faces, they had it as raw versus SmackDown. I thought that made sense, especially with the argument before between peers and all this. And I thought that stuff was interesting, but you know, at least they went that way instead of just, they had a reason for having people team with who they did.

19:46 And that's nice to see. Right.

19:48 And, uh, and Kyle, Pete in the chat did just ask that. Why wasn't all the heels on a team and all the faces on a team? And I think it was because they could do so many different dynamics. Yeah. That's why. So they could do that. The heels and faces would have been– you know, it would have been 3-3. It would have worked. But, yeah, it was so they could do these– moments that they wanted to do. So that was your opener. It was your longest match. 11 minutes, 13 seconds is where I got it. Lash, the dreaded scorer of the pin here, which means can't win tomorrow.

20:22 Wouldn't think so.

20:24 Right.

20:25 And Sol Ruka, was it Sol Ruka who ate the pin on this thing? Yeah, I think it was.

20:34 She did get pinned.

20:36 Yes.

20:36 She missed, she hit this, uh, the soul snatcher on her partner. And then she got hit with the lash extension.

20:42 And we could fill a book with the way Ruka has been, um, has been presented and, uh, and booked and stop started. Uh, I won't do that unless you're feeling the need, but Stratton Jane legend over vice Ruka Perez. Um, the difference between the best and worst spots in this match were just wild. Um, For me, the cleanest one throughout was probably Roxy. JC is very good too. And she took a really long time to develop. She was not that girl when she started. She was rough. But yeah, it was... And Lash, getting it again. She took a really, really long time to... find her way in NXT, a very long time before they'd even give her a match over five minutes long. And it kind of feels like she sort of restarted on the main roster to me.

21:43 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

22:25 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.

22:58 But we did get a chance to see them tangle, so no pressure. But who's winning this tomorrow? And any other thoughts on this match?

23:08 Well, there's the actual prediction is tough. I think if I had to predict, I'm going to go with Stratton, which feels like kind of the obvious pick, just because of the built-in potential with her and Green to have some storyline. I feel like Roxanne Perez is very possible. I'm so kind of bored of the Judgment Day, though.

23:32 I'm not really excited for Roxanne Perez, you know, arguing with Raquel and Liv about who should cash in and what they should do and lives living in fear. And I'm just not really up for it. I don't know. I guess I'm going with Stratton. What do you think?

23:51 I was leaning Perez again. I have outed that. I just kind of go for who I like. I like the talent in this match quite a bit. I think there are good things about all of them. I was deeply critical of many of them early on in their days and, in NXT. They all had things to overcome. Ruka Weiss, Legend Jane, they were all, they all came in with a long way to go. Roxy came in with a way to go, but not nearly as much of a way to go as the others. Young though she was, she kind of knew it and had been doing it elsewhere, so she kind of got it. And Tiffany got it quickly in NXT. She just became a small fish in a big pond when she jumped up, so there was that she is my, well, I can't call her a dark horse cause it would make sense. But, um,

24:44 but I was going, you know, I chose Perez in part because she's a heel and both women's champions are baby face, but, uh, kind of wasn't thinking about the whole Tiffany Stratton's on the verge of, um, of going heel at say at some point before years end, I think.

25:01 Uh, yeah. Uh, And she probably needs to be because her personality just doesn't lend itself to being a babyface. However, I'm always wanting to see them zag when they normally zig. And I think it would be much more impactful if Stratton did win the money in the bank and then repeatedly chose not to cash in on Green and ended up cashing in on the other champion at some point.

25:24 I think that would really be an interesting moment to solidify that Stratton-Green bond and friendship that's happened.

25:30 I just.

25:32 it's difficult because she is a little miscast as a baby face. And I've been a very, if anyone's read my reports, I'm very critical of Stratton in a lot of ways, but I will give her some credit because I think now that she's been back for however many months now since her injury, she has started to find her timing again. And she's been much more passable in the rain than she was for her first few months back when it was just, I was, I was afraid she was going to get hurt or hurt someone else, but she's gotten much better over the last couple of months.

26:03 Yeah, I've mentioned this before, but she also lives a little further from me than Wade, but that's about it. She's very much a local girl here. Never run into her, but it's a small enough city that I could. So I'm always cheering for her to do better, and even in segments where I think she's out of her depth.

26:24 And as you say, obviously, Miss Cass, this is, as we said with William Regal, she's born naughty. She's she's supposed to be on that side of the ledger. And I think we'll be satisfied once she is again, because her first heel run on the main roster, I felt like they did not do that long enough. I think they just got greedy and just thought maybe they could print money with her. And I thought it was too much too soon. Asking so much of her.

26:57 Yeah, it really felt and correct me if you disagree that. It felt to me that when she got brought up and she was successful in her heel roll right away, some people in the back, their eyes got big and said, oh, white, good looking blonde woman getting over. Let's push her to the moon now as a baby face and see what we can do. And they didn't realize that they were miscasting her. And with her being a baby face, like I said, it hasn't been as bad over the last couple of months. but she's lost that presence that she had as a heel that frankly, someone like JC Jane has developed. She's developed this presence as a heel that someone like Stratton doesn't have right now. And I would argue something like that. Sol Ruka doesn't have as a

27:37 baby face. She has an interesting look, but she doesn't have the presence that it's like bringing it into a full developed picture that people can really get behind.

27:45 I feel like you're reading straight out of so much of what I said about her in NXT covering that every week, how, She looked the part, walked the part, acted the part, but just something was kind of hollow. And she would have so many little mental mistakes. And I brought this up a lot, but it's relevant here.

28:13 Like she was outside the ring once when she was teaming with Zarya. Zarya was facing some heel and the crowd started chanting, this is awesome. And Sol Ruka started chanting it with the crowd started chanting. This is awesome. And it's like, you're supposed to want Zarya to win. You're not supposed to be getting into the quality of the match. Like by all means gas her up when you get backstage, like you two are huge. You're huge.

28:40 But yeah, out there in front of us, she's just supposed to be team Zarya. And so little moments like that, you're wondering, does she have, the capacity to really get this, like, and they hope they do. They hope that can be learned along the way that you're a wrestling savant, even though, you know, you have, well, I don't want to say something mean. I feel like it's all laid out there.

29:14 I'm on her side. I want her to do well. I just feel like she's so close and, and so many, so many workers would kill to be as close as she is to really, really breaking through. And yeah, you just want that little bit more out of her. Uh, the CM Punk, Kevin Owens, Sammy Zane bit in on the, uh, on the ladders were the ladders too much or were they the right amount? They kind of do this most, if not all years, they'll have a conversation up on top of the ladders. Uh, And so we kind of see it coming. That was even mentioned in the chat.

30:00 Somebody said we got our yearly whatever they said. But I thought the content here was good enough that it was fine. And, hey, it's a different look than the same three guys standing in a triangle that we usually get. So I liked that. I also liked that Sammy was forced onto the lower one. because his character never gets respect.

30:25 So it was absolutely perfect that once again, he had to talk up to these guys, even when he's got the belt to hold over their heads. Sammy is what this needed. Yeah. I love that.

30:38 There's plausible deniability. Like if you're going to, if Sammy was going to try to point fingers at, Aldis or some official for putting three ladders in the ring that weren't the same height they can just say what we didn't know anyone was going to climb the ladders even though that was your thing and why'd you come out last then you had every opportunity you could have come out first like this isn't supposed to be scripted you know so it's like it's he can be mad about it but there's always a loophole on both sides so I it's fun Sammy is what we all deserve so I was talking with Crofton in the VIP forum, in case anyone hasn't been there yet. It's a lot of fun.

31:18 We were talking about how what SmackDown could use is a Bloodline 2.0, which I know sounds very triggering at first glance or at first mention. But can you imagine a world where Sammy, he already has Gargano kind of in his clutches to a degree. But imagine Sammy thinks he's forming a group around himself to protect his title reign.

31:43 And he thinks of himself as a new Roman Reigns. But the difference is, none of the people that are following him have the respect for him that everyone had for Roman. They're all just kind of using Sami because they want to get close to him to try to elevate themselves and get a title shot. But all the while, Sami's getting full of himself and thinking, you know, oh, I've got this whole group. I've got Gargano. And we talked about maybe Ricky Saints could join that group. And can you imagine when Sammy comes out and.

32:12 Carmelo needs something to do.

32:14 Carmelo's another perfect one. Can you imagine when he comes out and tells them to acknowledge me to Gargano and Saints and all these guys? Sammy would find the way to make this the perfect... The way he says it would be the perfect amount of insecurity, yet confidence, yet demanding that they respect him. And it'd be... I just think they could go down such a path where he's given, they could almost replay the bloodline to some degree, some of the key moments where he could try to give somebody a shirt that says like honorary good guy or something like that. And it would just be amazing. It would be everything that a bloodline redo could have been instead of what they've been trying to do on Raw.

32:59 With the piece being that Sami was always such a heart of all of that. So I don't know. I think it'd be a lot of fun. It could give them another way to protect Sammy's title reign for the next six months if they wanted to. And it would build so many challengers for him. And it would also give them something very distinctly different than what's happening on Raw.

33:16 You can elevate those guys.

33:20 Yeah.

33:21 And then imagine when Sammy confronts Roman. And what Roman has to say about all this, there's so much they could tell. Uh, I'm hoping they have some of this stuff in mind. Like I'm not a genius. Like it's just, these things are things they've set up and I'm just hoping they kind of knock down those pins. Cause I think between that and what they could do with LA night, they could give us a lot of really good stories moving forward. And it's because they set it up.

33:47 Yeah, that's true. Um, And I hope you're reading this right, too, because I'd be interested in all that very much. So let's let's hope maybe that's true.

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34:43 week every week.

34:46 Anything on the tag teams involved? We got MFT versus War Raiders, and then Bok Sai kind of hanging out. MFT, this is non-title, but MFT still wins this after interference. I wouldn't say it goes wrong, but MFT gets it back because Haku is a mean bastard. So I don't know. I don't know. they gave away too many of their tag teams and they kind of are stripped down. There was a lot of that. There's a, there's a dusty classic going on in NXT right now. So if anybody who's not watching NXT, it is down to eight teams.

35:28 It's it's kind of getting there to to the last bit. So that's been fun. And there are a lot of teams that are good enough to, to go up together. But yeah, Even though this is only three teams involved, it did seem like it was, it's something. It is something for the tag division. And it's a story with multiple tag teams in it. Anything on this one, seven minutes, 55 seconds, Brothers Keeper, Tama Tonga pins Eric.

36:02 Yeah, I enjoyed it for what it was. It was hard hitting. I generally enjoy any match that Tom is in. I think his stuff looks good and it's really crisp. Tala to me is at least passable like I don't think he does anything to embarrass himself out there.

36:16 I watch every New Japan show and I've seen hundreds of his matches literally hundreds and it took him a long time a long time there's a reason he was off TV when they first hired him but he is kind of looking again mistake free go.

36:33 Ahead Yeah, and Haku does give them a sense of credibility because he's a known tough guy, and now he's got his magic walking stick or.

36:40 Whatever it is.

36:43 I like it. I just wish they would double the amount of tag teams they had on the show because I think they could really have a strong division if they wanted to.

36:50 Yeah, and I'm hopeful that that day is coming just because of the amount of talent on NXT. But some of it is really unlikely. noam dar who is not a young man anymore i still think of him as one because he came in young but he's not uh he's teaming with romeo moreno one of the youngest guys on the roster and the team is just gold it's super fun i actually think they're going to win the tournament uh although somebody snuck their way into the second round this time so this last week but i won't get bogged down in that uh But it seems like you don't run that unless you want to strengthen the tag team division. So it seems like every time right after they cut off that division at the knees, they're like, oh, wait,

37:40 we need them. We need tag teams that are credible, and they start putting them together. So hopefully that's where we are with this.

37:50 Okay. Okay.

37:54 New women's tag team champions, Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley. Charlotte got hurt in this thing. Can you still hear me? I cannot hear you.

38:04 Yeah, I got you. I can hear you.

38:05 Something is wrong on my end.

38:09 Okay.

38:10 Okay. We're good again. Okay. So Charlotte beaten down, can't perform in this match, but Tatum Paxley is ends up scoring the pin with the cemetery drive. One of my favorite finishers, um, just from a, how the hell is that done standpoint? Like on the hundredth time, it'll make sense to me, but like in my head, I kind of know what's happening, but I do need to see it.

38:34 I just don't know how you get in position and taking that move has to be kind of a weird, um, just a weird kind of like a, I don't know about as strong as a destroyer, but, um, But I wonder, you know what, I'm going to have to watch the extensive research tonight. But new tag team champions and the question, of course, is what this does to Charlotte. Because if Charlotte is just going to turn heel again real quick, then what was it all for? Sure. But I've seen this story before many, many times. I've been a wrestling fan since 1990. How else does this end, Eric?

39:17 Well.

39:19 For what it's worth, I thought tonight's story was told very well. From the attack to Bliss initially, because Aldis wanted to postpone the match, and Bliss wanted to postpone the match, but Flair was the one who said Bliss should take her place and was adamant about it. So Flair really technically has no one to blame but herself, and of course the baddies that beat her up. So I thought they played that really well. I think there's a chance that they could.

39:50 Just use this as a way to get Flair back into contention for singles titles and leave Bliss and Paxley as the tag champions because they do look like a better team together anyway. And they can move on to defend the tag titles and get involved with whomever. And then Flair's freed up again. I don't think they necessarily have to go the route that Flair turns on them now.

40:12 She could legitimately just be happy for them and move on to some singles matches. So that's me being optimistic. So I hope that's what happens.

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41:15 Derek Mitchell has entered the chat again with another sponsorship. Thank you as always, Derek. With Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley winning the tag team championship, the titles have changed hands 40 times since 2019, which is the most of any title in wrestling. Oh, that was seven years ago. Yeah.

41:35 Name your top three women's champs.

41:39 Yeah, right.

41:40 Name your top three women's tag title reigns. Who are the greatest tag team champions of all time?

41:49 Did the Iconics ever get to win them, or did they have to end up losing?

41:52 They definitely won them. I know they won them at WrestleMania.

41:55 Yeah.

41:56 Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they had the weird one with Bayley and Sasha, where what we heard was that they were mad that they had to lose the championships, but I think all that was like grain of salt.

42:11 If I remember correctly, that's where the Iconics won, right? They beat Bayley and Sasha at WrestleMania.

42:16 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

42:17 If I remember correctly.

42:19 Okay, so I guess I've got one moment in time from which I can pull from these championships. You know, what's funny is that 40 times over the course of seven years is five and a half times. Like every championship changed hands more than that in 1999 and 2000. If there was a championship match on TV, you knew it was changing hands, which is just a different kind of predictable. And it didn't seem like, it didn't seem like Vince Russo understood that if you do it every time, that's just as predictable as if you do it never.

43:00 But that was, that was his thing. So I still think, you know, if any, if any title has to move around more than any, it might as well be that one because they are trying to use those belts and to elevate more women to be ready for world championships and secondary championships, which now that they have, uh, which makes sense to have because of the, just because of the large number of women they have.

43:27 Were the Kabuki warriors, maybe the best. I don't know. I'm really trying to like rack.

43:32 I mean, they were my favorite, but I'm more or less in love with Oscar. So I going to say that. So, um, yeah, they, they, They certainly had some of the best stories that came out of them and some of the best.

43:50 I don't know.

43:52 They're such good.

43:52 Those had two different stints as a tag team.

43:56 Yeah, right. Yeah, pre and post the first long exit that Kairi had because she was getting married and doing the whole family thing before... unpredictably to me going back to wrestling i i thought maybe she was done um yeah yeah in japan for a long time women that were 28 30 they were long in the tooth they retired they've been wrestling since they were 14 um if you watch the the equivalent of young lions in stardom they're so young. You're just like, why aren't you in junior high? What are you doing in this ring? It's just, it's just weird. Um, pile driver Pete goes with lay cool. Um, that's going back too far for championships, but they would have been, they would have been.

44:52 Oh, they definitely would have been. Yep. They were the fellas of their day.

44:56 Um, um, Let's see. Danhausen versus Gunther was the match that didn't happen. So there was a lot of chatter about this before we figured out how to get this show started. But listen, I get why Gunther and Danhausen shouldn't be sharing the screen often. But you got to have stuff for people to do that are important. Like Gunther is important to the top of the card, even though he's not like right there right now. And Dan Housen, you got to put on TV because he's your biggest merch seller. You literally have to do something with him. Um, and so you gotta, gotta do something. And this got us one step closer to Finn Balor. So I get it.

45:41 I get that these are not two guys that normally should share the screen, but when Guther just totally decimates him, just totally destroys him. I don't know. For me, that kind of justifies the fact that they did this at all. So, um, Not mad at the folks who don't want to see this happen, but I think folks, I think it's over.

46:06 I think it's over unless there's a curse to be laid.

46:10 There's definitely a curse to be laid. It's going to happen during the Balor-Gunther match probably. I just hope it doesn't happen before it so we know that the outcome is obvious. Not only did I not have a problem with it, I think it's a good story. Sorry to everyone who hates it, but It allows Dan Housen to be on the show doing something that's not ridiculously hokey because it was starting to get to be a bit much with his lab and his zombies that never became anything and all that other stuff. But it also allows Gunther to be the bully that he is. And so you allow both of them to do what they do well, and it just furthers both of them. It makes Dan Housen look more sympathetic without being completely annoying, and it

46:56 makes Gunther just look like an a-hole, and that's what he wants to be. And like you said, it also sets them up for the Balor feud.

47:02 Yeah. There's a long history of this. WrestleMania III, we had a bunch of shorter folks get beat up by King Kong Bundy because... Why not just make him a total jerk? Yeah, definitely. I don't want to say one of the bright spots. That was a that was a weird mania. Some really good stuff. And then some stuff that wasn't. It's definitely a memorable spot. Let's call it that.

47:34 I do.

47:34 I do want. So Dan Housen's got his evil detector. I really, really wish he had a bitch detector so that anytime somebody says bitch in the room, it's starting to get out of hand again. He comes running down with his detector and just it beeps all over the place.

47:51 It just seems like they found a play thing. They remembered that it was like really easy, cheap heat. Like it's maybe two steps up from local team heat. Like it's better than that. but it's not great. It's very lazy.

48:09 And, um, I thought it was funny.

48:12 Yeah.

48:14 It was funny on role seeing him in the bat and like in the, just in the back of the screen, like scanning people. And then a few scenes later, you see him being escorted out by security for doing it. Like, that's funny. That's how you use Dan housing in a funny way. It didn't take up time. It was just in the background. Um, no, if they turn this into like a, three month story in the ring or something, then it becomes a problem. What did you think? It's probably nothing, but why did it go off on Balor?

48:44 Someone who's clearly.

48:45 Why is he evil now? I think it's just because he's been so bad in the past.

48:49 Yeah, it must be, but it was a little.

48:51 And even Dan Housen is very evil, very nice. I thought that too, but I think it was because they're like, okay, we have to have it go off on someone and Balor's in the scene. So, and then Balor can be like, why is this going off and be like mad about it, even though in his head he's got to be like, it's not real it's it's it's a it's an evil detector it's not a real thing.

49:16 Um, I would have been much more intrigued if it went off on all this, that would have got me really thinking.

49:21 Oh gosh, no kidding. That's all we, that's what we'd still be talking about right now from the beginning of the show. Ladies and gentlemen, this just didn't make all this evil. Um, we're apparently not done with the evil, uh, evil authority figure. that he went back to for way more years than it was, uh, any good at all. Um, that had a segue. Oh yeah. Speaking of people yelling out, bitch, um, it was Cody Rhodes. So he did that at the end of his, um, it was his last word. In fact, uh, but we had the segment with, uh, with the Miz and Kit, Kit Wilson into Cody Rhodes, talking about Randy Orton, who, uh, who had a real easy night tonight. Um, He just had to be filmed a little bit earlier, and then

50:10 now he gets to hang out until tomorrow, where he is also not booked. So, I don't know. Maybe they shot this elsewhere. Like, no reason for him to make the trip for the weekend, it would seem. But, yeah, Rhodes doing his part on his end to get this started. Where do you think they finally have another match? They haven't booked a match yet. Have they?

50:37 I keep forgetting there's a Saudi Arabia pay-per-view or PLE coming up in the middle between Survivor Series, isn't there?

50:43 They may or may not be able to travel there.

50:46 I assume they will have a first match there. Something will happen and it'll lead to a second match at Survivor Series. That would be my best guess.

50:55 Or is this the second? Because they did have a first.

50:59 Oh yeah, this could be the second. Maybe the blow-off will be at Survivor Series.

51:01 The blow-off will be.

51:03 I don't know what they would do because they're already going to have war games match. So I doubt they're going to have another cage match. So I don't know what they're going to do.

51:10 Yeah.

51:10 It's going to be like a loser gets their head punted off match.

51:15 Oh, sure. I mean, that's a hell of a way to retire. You put over a guy really big. Why not? Yeah. Anything further on Orton and Rhodes?

51:26 No, I thought Cody did well tonight. He didn't have much to do. It was... It was nice that he was able to come out for the live show, but there wasn't very much for him.

51:36 Yeah, I thought he knows how to go out there, pop the crowd, excite them, even though he didn't really add anything to the feud. It just continued. Yeah.

51:46 One thing I picked up on tonight, and if I'm right, and I hope this carries on, I felt like the crowd was strong in that they cheered the baby faces and booed the heels. And we don't always get that. So I'm hoping that happens tomorrow night as well because i feel like that always makes for the.

52:05 Best thank you lafayette yeah thank you lafayette appreciate you in the cajun dome.

52:11 Yeah big fans um i'm a twin cities guy we're we're pretty good about that um we're we're willing to play along uh i i've seen stuff happen every now and then but it it typically goes pretty well i lived in phoenix for five years and they were mostly on board as well um pretty good about that so I mean, cities are who they are. Don't hate them, but it is more fun as a viewer when they're doing it right, for lack of a better term.

52:42 And I don't even blame the fans all the time because WWE has kind of made a muddled mess of a lot of things. And sometimes the international crowds, as lively as they are, they tend to make it more about themselves. So it'd be nice if we could ever get back to a point where the fans are cheering who WWE wants them to cheer and, boos who they we want them to boo but again we talk about this all the time.

53:05 Yeah and they they spent so many years i i think they just conditioned themselves to believe that fans were just wrong uh when fans were literally just when and then they turned roman and there had to be like guys going yeah it.

53:23 Turns out they were right the whole time um basically the best heel we got and he wasn't any great shakes as a wasn't getting the right, the right reaction.

53:33 I wouldn't say it wasn't any great shakes. He was, I think he was a victim of, you know, going to suffer and succotash is so easy, but it's the fact that that existed as one of many, many examples is again, well-trod ground. Let's, let's not.

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54:30 including our post-pay-per-view roundtables, the Wade Keller news bulletins, everything with Rich and Wade, the fix that I host with Todd Martin, and a variety of other VIP exclusives. Just search PWTorch in your Apple Podcast app.

54:44 Kathy Kelly talking to Chelsea Green, and Nikki Bella shows up, and you only had to be so good at talker back there. And Chelsea, that's what she's really, really great at. So it kind of stuck out like a sore thumb here, but it does look like this match is something that will happen. And I dare say Nikki's a pretty good challenger for Chelsea because Chelsea's strength isn't between the ropes.

55:14 Like she's not a great, great wrestler. She's fine. Um, And it took her a long time to become that. But she's way good enough as a character that you got to run with her every now and then. So somebody like Nikki, I think is going to be more her speed as a championship match. And it can be more a story than a match.

55:38 Yeah, and Chelsea should win it. Chelsea, given all the progress that Chelsea has made with her character, she needs a few... Key wins before she loses this title to really have established herself so that this was a success, putting the belt on her after all that time. So that when you turn to her again, she has more credibility that she's establishing now. And they they backslid a little bit. I thought last week, I think it was last week when she was so afraid of someone cashing in on her. And it was like her old character. Well, not even her old character came back because her old character was overly cocky. But now all of a sudden she was like terrified someone was going to beat her.

56:19 And I was like, wait a minute, you've gotten past this. You became brave and you stood up for yourself to Nick Aldis and he gave you let you, you know, defend your title when you were injured or whatever it was. And I feel like they might, of course, correct it a little bit and maybe receive the message that maybe we don't want to make her so cowardly and scared because that's not really her character.

56:40 Uh trick williams braun breaker they uh in the opening scene they oh my cat is pissed uh they were rubbing shoulders did that come through as loud as it's.

56:55 I didn't hear it no i mean maybe other people did Okay.

56:58 Oh man. It is so loud in my ear. I'm just about, I don't know what you need, but can you meet it in about 20 minutes?

57:05 Um, I can do standup if you need to go check on.

57:08 There you go. I give it as well. So there you go. Uh, trick and brawn, um, opened this show with, uh, I love, uh, um, uh, the Pierce and all this. We're kind of friends, but I'm, you know, I'm kind of, uh, I kind of think you're lesser than me. I just like what they do.

57:27 Um, it was great. And the fact that Pierce was trying to make a match and all this is like, since when are you making matches on my show?

57:35 Right.

57:35 And all this, and all this mocked his it's official line.

57:39 It's perfect.

57:40 Yeah.

57:41 And, Oh, and he had the, he, he sold it. He didn't just like laugh it off. He sold it. Like the thing I was going to say, like he was genuinely annoyed that, uh, that he didn't get to say it first. Um, The NXT, it's Rob Stone. And if they needed a good authority figure, Rob Stone would be so, so ready to beat it. But Aldis and Pierce, I just really like both of what they do. But yeah, Rob Stone's thing is, and that is set in stone.

58:12 And it took a while to find that. And I was like, oh man, it was sitting there the whole time. How was that? How was that not gotten? But you can't think of it until you think of it. So, you know, whatever. Damian Priest, he's still a jerk. He's got his whole thing going on with R-Truth, which apparently is going to be blown off next week. And he beat down Fraxium because they were standing there and Fraxium's thing since the beginning in NXT was always Nathan Fraser talking way too big and Axiom trying to talk him off the ledge. And of course, that's what happened here.

58:50 And they just got smoked. So, Yeah, anything on Priest? I mean, he wins next week, right?

59:00 He needs to obliterate Truth in about three minutes. And then they need to do something else with Priest. I mean, it was smart that they turned him... heel. They need more heels on that show. So it was, it was good that they did, but it's just a matter of where is he going to slot in? I feel like a feud with him and trick could be interesting. I'd like to see him and trick Russell for, for the U S title.

59:22 Oh yeah, there you go. Yeah. I, you know, he was given the championship. It was a surprise. Certainly it was a surprise insofar as what show it happened at. So that was pretty shocking. And then I think lost at SummerSlam, but he lost it in a way that I felt elevated him. And I just thought that maybe he wouldn't have to wait his turn that much longer again.

59:50 Now there's a lot of talent in this company right now. A lot of guys who can run with the ball if asked. Um, and especially at a time when there aren't hot shotting titles, if this was 1999 priest to be a six time champion by now, uh, he just, the way that they were moving on 28 days or less, almost every single time. Um, yeah, I like him too.

1:00:17 And I think now he is, he can be properly cast either way, but he runs the risk of being stale either way. And I don't know why that is more than with others, but I think that they are heading the right direction, um, with him as well. Uh, Johnny Gargano and Candace LeRae had their little scene with Sammy Zane also.

1:00:39 Um, but, uh, It was good continuity there. I'm still wondering, were they going to call out that Sammy didn't help last week and said he couldn't help? I appreciated that Candice was like, what exactly did Aldis tell you last week that you couldn't do? And, of course, Sammy, being as great as he is, immediately tries to downplay it and say, oh, let's not worry about that anymore. We just got to regroup and move on. I'm telling you, they're building something with Sammy that's really– you know, as Paul Heyman likes to say, we're only in like the second inning here, you know, there's, there's a lot they can do with this. And I want to have faith that they're really going to do it because they have

1:01:20 people that can pull this stuff off. Yeah.

1:01:23 And almost all of them are better challengers than they are champions and they're great champions, but they're just so compelling as, as calendars. But yeah, I, I believe that is everything. Anything else on the show? you felt the need to cover. I do have to pick up my daughter after this, after this show, pretty, pretty quick.

1:01:47 You know, I think we covered everything. I did want to give a quick plug, if you don't mind, for something I've been up to. I've talked about it on these, on this show before, just a couple of weeks ago. If anyone likes workplace comedies, Right now on my social media, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, and my socials are in my SmackDown report that's up right now, right in the top, I'm running an NCAA-style bracket tournament to crown the greatest workplace comedy character of all time. So if you think about different, figure out what a workplace comedy, what would define it, like a show like Cheers or The Office or Parks and Rec. narrowed it down to 64 characters, and they're all competing one-on-one. Two new matchups

1:02:32 go up every day at 9 a.m., and they run for 24 hours. And whoever advances, advances. And then the first round is going to go all the way up through October 22nd, I think it is. And then we'll just keep going until we crown a winner. So if anybody's into that kind of stuff, definitely check it out. It's fun. And it's starting to get a lot of attention, especially on Facebook for some reason. It's really blowing up.

1:02:53 And it's fun seeing people going back and forth. So if that's your thing, it doesn't cost anything either, just in case anyone's clear.

1:03:00 I've wasted a lot of time watching TV and I've wasted a lot of time, uh, looking at, uh, tournaments. So definitely could do that.

1:03:08 So something positive on the internet, other than like all the other stuff we talked about.

1:03:12 Yeah, there you go.

1:03:13 Yeah.

1:03:13 Derek saying, uh, thanks Kelly and Eric. Great post show. I hope you have a good weekend.

1:03:17 See, that's what it's working.

1:03:19 Um, All right. I'm Kelly Wells. You can find me on threads at spooky milk dot games. But if you find me there, be like Kelly, you don't have to spend two hours replying to stuff like go do something that will that will better your life in some way. I'm Kelly Wells signing off. And Eric, anything for us?

1:03:43 No, just enjoy Money in the Bank, everyone. And Kelly, this was fun.

1:03:46 All right.

1:03:47 Cheers, man. We will catch you next time. Yeah.

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1:06:20 PWTorch.com slash GoVIP for full details on signing up. We're compatible with Patreon, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and just about any other iOS or Android app out there. You can also stream directly from our ad-free VIP website. The Nicky's Club, waiting for you every week at PWTorch VIP. Did you know that you can enjoy commercial-free versions of all of your favorite Wade Keller podcasts and PWTorch Daily Casts? Just go to patreon.com, search PWTorch, and subscribe to a VIP membership tier. You get a seven-day free trial, by the way, to kick the tires a bit and see if you like the service. And then sync it with Spotify, and you can listen to commercial-free versions of our free shows like the Wade Keller Post Shows, the Wade Keller Podcast Flagship,

1:07:03 our flashbacks, and also the PWTorch Daily Cast lineup. Again, all commercial-free, a nice streamlined listening experience. But with third-tier membership, you can also unlock all the VIP podcasts, including Everything with Rich and Wade, The Fix with Todd Martin that I host with Todd every week, the Wade Keller News Bulletin's post-pay-per-view roundtables, and an array of other VIP-exclusive podcasts with different hosts and different themes. Check out the lineup.

1:07:26 Go to Patreon and search PWTorch and subscribe and sync it up with Spotify or stay within the Patreon ecosystem. Either way works, go to Patreon and start your seven-day free trial. If you're listening to us on the Apple Podcast app, on Spotify, or any other app that allows you to rate our podcast, please take a moment to give us a five-star rating. It really helps us in the algorithm and helps them know that you recommend us to others. Just look for a place to rate the show on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to our shows, and please click that five-star rating. And of course, thank you so much for listening. A PWTorch VIP membership doesn't just give you ad-free access to these

1:08:03 shows and a ton of other VIP-exclusive podcasts throughout the week, but you also gain access to our unmatched, vast library of wrestling history, our contemporaneous week-to-week coverage through our progressing Torch Weekly newsletters dating back to the late 1980s, along with streaming and download access to hundreds of retro radio shows from the 1990s, including some of my interviews with wrestling's top newsmakers in the 90s, and also our podcast library dating back to the year 2003.

1:08:28 There's no larger.

1:08:30 Longer-spanning pro wrestling podcast library than that that comes with a PWTorch VIP membership now approaching 20 years of podcasting. Go VIP and dive into our post-pay-per-view roundtables, our coverage of some of your favorite eras of wrestling, top-name long-form interviews, and special format podcasts that we've done throughout the years. PWTorch.com slash go VIP. We have a streamlined sign-up form, and you can pay with PayPal or directly with your credit card or debit card in one or two minutes from our now, you can be a VIP member and diving into our library, pwtorch.com slash govip.