Is this really WrestleMania season?

We got to meet some wrestling legends and icons during a San Diego Seals game, we break down Monday Night RAW and everything leading up to WrestleMania 42!

Follow us on ig @TowersofPowerPod

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:21

All right, everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Towers of Power, a pro wrestling podcast. My name is Chris Martinez, otherwise known as Hollywood Chris, and there is Gary. What's up, everybody? So, you know, we do have to talk about our weekend that we had. We actually had a great time over at the San Diego Steels. It was Steels Mania. Steels Mania.

unknown 0:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

It was like more of a like a battle royal like slash Roar Rumble that happened right there in San Diego. It was at the sports arena right after the Seals game. But the cool thing about it, the Miz was there, who you got to meet. How was it like being back there and talking with the Miz?

SPEAKER_02 1:00

It was great. Honestly, a lot taller than I thought he was going to be. I mean, I'm only, you know, a little under 5'9. It was a little under 5'9. Okay. He's got to be 6'2. 6'2. 6'3. I mean, I thought he'd be more like at the six foot, you know, not looking up too much. I don't think I looked up at him, but yeah, definitely taller than I thought. Super nice guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Well, okay, so we'll talk about the experience. So you were you were there before the doors had opened for this private meet and greet with the Miz. It was like it was all benefiting Rady Children's Hospital, the children's hospital right here in San Diego in Orange County. And so you got to be back there because you work for the SEALs. Yes. And so like what like how did that happen? Like what what what happened?

SPEAKER_02 1:38

I said screw this headset. I'm going to walk back there and say, hey, I need a picture.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

As you should. I'm going to take my break right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Hell yeah. No, the SEALs are great. Uh, SEALs across team. Uh, they're great, been with them for multiple years. And I said, Hey, this is my thing. I love wrestling. Uh, we have a wrestling podcast, love the Miz. And it's like, hey, if you get a chance, just go back and go say hi. It doesn't matter. It's cool. Done. So meet and greets, I think, started around 7:30, and it was like 7.15. I'm like, shit, I'm gonna go down there. Let's go see what's up. So I walked back in there. There were a good amount of people already in there waiting, getting slowly getting in line to go meet uh the man, but my own Gary Dubin style, walk right up to the front and said, Hey, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

No, you did not.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Of course I did. Okay, so you walked into the front. No, it's it's all right. No, I just went to the front. Um, one of one of my old co-workers, uh, sorry, one of my current co-workers at the SEALs, uh, she was up front. She it was it was her, you know, it was her thing for the night. Um, so she was uh the one that brought the Miz in. Uh said, Hey, just real quick before um this thing gets started, I gotta get back to you know my position over there. Do you mind if I just sneak in, just say hi real quick and grab a picture? And she's like, absolutely. So yeah, walked right up to him, just said, Hey, how's it going? How are you? Good to see you. Thanks for coming, first and foremost. Yeah, um, benefiting Radies Children's being here in San Diego. I know he was, I think I crossed country, I think the night before, can't even remember where Smackdown was. Um, I don't remember, but uh yeah, I don't think it was too close. So, but no, super nice. Uh, went up, said, Hey, big fan, uh, wrestling real world, you know, real world back to New York, I believe, in the 2000s. Yeah, where he got his start. Um, and then just you know, just like, hey, you know, big Browns fan. How are the Browns gonna do this year? I could care less about the fucking Browns, yeah. I'm a Patriots fan, but you know what? Let's just try to get on his good side, and of course, yeah, it is what it is. However, oh Tatum heard Tatum heard the buzzer. I don't know if you can.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

No, I can't. That's Gary's dog, that's who he was talking about.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

I promise, you're fine. All right, see you later. Back outside to the the pool. Anyway, um no, just kind of just shot the shit with him just for a little bit, just about Cleveland Browns football or just football in general. Um, and then it was about to be like, hey, how can we get you on the podcast? And it's like, all right, well, we're gonna start the line. Come on. I need like 30 more seconds, but I can tell again, he was just like, come on up. That's what I'm here for to come hang out and take pictures. So, of course, you got started a little bit early. So kudos to you, Mike DeMiz, Mizanan. Um let's let's let's let's let's tag him in this thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Let's get him on here and hopefully uh so you didn't you did not get the chance to ask him to be on the podcast. Unfortunately not. I got cooked. Okay, that's all right.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

I should have kept out the things about the Browns, I shouldn't have even brought them up. I don't know, right to the point. Jumped right to it. I was just trying to butter them up. I thought I had more time, but apparently I didn't. So you know you didn't pick and choose. However, I did get a contact of uh how they got in contact with him. So we'll see. We'll see. I heard it's big money to get him just for an appearance. Who knows what it is for a podcast? But you know, yeah. We're balling on a budget right now, both podcasts. Nothing individually, so let's see what we can do.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah, he could promote whatever he wants. American Gladiators is coming up, you know, on Amazon podcast.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Is it misses season eight? Who knows if that's even a thing? Maybe they got canceled. I don't know. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Oh, I thought I thought you knew something. I'm like, oh, that show's around. Uh all right. Well, anyways, after the Miz, uh, you got to go ahead and how coordinate the battle royal slash Royal Rumble that they have right there. You know, we got to see a lot of uh superstars that we know. You know, Matthias from SoCal Pro was there, a lot of a lot of guys all over Primal uh wrestling as well. Shout out to them. But uh the big attraction also was Brian Cage from AEW. He was gonna be there and he was there. And also uh Chris Masters, the masterpiece. Yeah, he was a part of the the Royal Rumble and the Battle Royal, and it was so cool because they actually, right when they were constructing the ring, right after the game, they all the superstars and wrestlers were walking around and they had like little areas that you walk up to talk to them, take a photo, stuff like that. So we ended up taking a photo with Chris Masters and and uh Matthias and a couple of the other guys from SoCal Pro. And it was so cool because then at the end I was like, hey Chris, I'm like, any chance that you would want to come on a podcast? He's like, Yeah. He's like, absolutely. So I actually asked, I didn't care about no Browns or no football team or anything like that. I asked him as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

You asked him first, but I asked him too.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, so he was the time to kill. Yeah, he did. He was like, Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so yeah, hopefully we'll have Chris Masters, the masterpiece, uh, on our podcast very, very soon. Uh shout out to Brian Cage, who actually won the Battle Royal or Royal Rumble, not too sure whatever calling a Royal Rumble. Was it a Royal Rumble? I mean, it was it was kind of Royal Rumble-esque where they had the countdown, and it was very cool just to see them run out onto the Astro Turf. I thought it was a little weird because the other thing that was weird for me was because the ring was right in the middle of the lacrosse turf. Yeah there's no fans near them.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

So Masters said the same thing. He goes, This is cool, but it's weird because we're used to like interacting with the fans like right there. I'm just like, I personally thought that the time during the time that they were setting up the ring, I also thought, because let's be real, I don't there may have been maybe a thousand people that stayed for it, which is still great numbers. Yeah, but I thought they were gonna also kind of set up some chairs if they could on the turf so people could be right there in some barricades, but unfortunately, they did not.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Yeah, they did not, but you know what? It was a great time. You can check out all of it right now on our Instagram at Towers PowerPod on IG. So uh looking forward to that. Uh, but we do have to jump into Monday Night Raw, WrestleMania season. The countdown is on. Ticket sales are doing okay, apparently. But um, I think they've been discounted again. They were discounted for I got a 25% uh coupon code in my email. If anybody wants it, you know, let me know.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Jesus, you should use that towards like food or merch when you get there. Yeah, uh yeah, when I get there.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Yeah. Uh so Monday Night Raw kicked off with Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman in the middle of the ring, and you know, Paul, you know, saying how bad big and bad Brock Lesnar is, and we already know that. Just really overselling Brock into uh Oba Femi coming out, them getting square toe to toe, and it looked like Brock was about to hit him with the F5, but Oba Femi like knocked him over with that clothesline. I dude, I love how Brock Lesnar sells the clothesline. Like how he like tumbles out, and it reminds me of Kurt Engel because Kurt Engel used to do that too. So how they tumble out and they just oversell it. I I don't think it's overselling, but I think that they sell it enough where it makes that other person look great. And so Brock is really in it for you know helping out the others, the younger generation. Does Brock Lesnar lose at WrestleMania?

SPEAKER_02 8:18

I don't think either one of them lose.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Okay, I know we we kind of talked about that last time that you know it'd be somebody else. Is is this maybe like a Gunther come running in and doing something?

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Yeah. I do not think there's a clean finish whatsoever. It doesn't make sense for a clean finish on either side.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yeah, and especially right now, too. Gunther is nowhere to be found on the card. Yeah. So that's very surprising. And I know a lot of podcasters and YouTubers are and you know, social media people are upset because here you have this guy that you build up to be the career killer, and he has no no no spot at WrestleMania, no spot whatsoever. Uh apparently it was supposed to be against Ray Mysterio. However, Ray got hurt, so now he's left with nothing, which just boggles my mind. It's tough. It's it's tough, man. It is. Uh, you know, another uh key key moment from Raw was Becky Lynch calling out AJ Lee. And of course, we're gonna get that at WrestleMania for the Intercontinental Championship. Your thoughts on this match? I know you're kind of not a fan of it, but what did you think about the promos? What did you think about Becky calling her out?

SPEAKER_02 9:20

I think the promos have actually been pretty damn entertaining. More on Becky's side than AJ's. Um, I personally think AJ's still got a little bit of mic rust. Um, but I mean Becky's work as whatever character this is is is great. Uh she's doing a great job with it, and it's definitely capturing my attention. Um the match itself, we've seen this already. Yes. Um, I think it's not like that either one of them truly have ring rust. I think more so on AJ's side. I think it's more they just haven't worked enough together where you can kind of get past all of this whatever we saw at the last PLE. Yeah. Um I think we call that, at least I called it my popcorn match. So, you know, we're gonna see it again, and I'm sure we're gonna honestly I'm sure we're gonna see it for a third time at uh at Backlash, because that's what backlash is on May 9th. It's always the Backlash. Yeah, it's always the WrestleMania, the the backlash from WrestleMania. Yeah, so what we get to see a lot of those matches again. So with AJ winning the first time, I mean, does Becky win this one? And then is there a AJ vs Becky three at Backlash? I think so. We'll see what comes of it. I I I hope it's better than the than the first time.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

I think it will be, and I'm really looking forward to it. I I loved AJ's line when she's like, you know, I'm the I'm their favorite wrestler and I'm your your daughter's favorite wrestler. And I was like, oh I'm your daughter.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

Oh yeah, your daughter. Oh, yeah, because you're saying Rue was strutting around and doing shit like that at home. Good for her. I mean, bring the kids in. It's all for the city. Yeah, why not? Yeah, you know, no one's off level.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Put her on payroll.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Put her on payroll besides Larry.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

I think Larry's the only thing that's still off the table. So far. So far, we'll find out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh all right. We we also saw Bailey and Lyra uh taking on the Kabuki Warriors, and they actually won that match, and they declared that they want to be in line. Well, actually, they declared themselves as the number one contenders for the women tag team championship uh against Last Legend and Naya Jax. That's gonna happen at Madison Sigar Garden, the world's most famous arena. Uh and did you catch? I don't know if you you saw all of Bailey's promo, but at the end, she's like, you know, next week, you know, we we want in the world's most famous arena, and the booze from the crowd were just crazy because you got to keep in mind, they were in Boston, and that's what I think about people from Boston. Hey, zip it. Yeah, Gary's from Boston. Yeah, look at look at Gary all marked out with this Padres merch, ready to go for its opening week. It's opening week, man. It's opening week, baseball deck.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Yeah, whatever. Hey, wanna hire me? Cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Uh so so yeah, it was funny because the booze just like drowned her out, and then she's like, Oh, are we gonna win? And like some cheers came, some didn't. I was like, Oh, whoever told her to say that, dumb. If that was your idea.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Weird.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

We also saw Javon Evans uh defeat Grayson Waller with Kofi Kingston ringside, and it seems to me that they're trying to recruit uh Javon Evans and to be the new day, or I know Xavier Woods is hurt right now, so does like Kofi do his own thing with Javon and wait for Xavier to come back and kind of kick Grayson off to the side and I don't think anybody really knows, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

I think I think Kovey's been trying to get rid of Grayson for the last week or two. Yeah. Um again, I would love to see Grayson go back out on his own, or hell, fucking throw him in the vision for all I care at this point. I mean, him and Austin Theory had their ups and downs in the last year, and but I mean Grayson Waller, he's a great talent. I'll tell you that much. He's a great talent. I just don't understand how he fits with the new day. I never really understood it. Um I mean he was just a pompous prick all on his own, and that's his character, and he did great at it. Um the the Grayson Waller effect, which was that little TV show bring it back. I mean, do something like that. I don't know about Javon Evans joining the new day. I can see Kofi as a mentor. Um you gotta turn Kofi baby face again. I think so. Um I just think he's been awful as a heel, and he's always been a great babyface. Yeah. Um tag together down the road, who knows how how um how hard Xavier Woods actually is. Um but we'll we'll see where it goes. It's been something that's been going on and on and on for a couple weeks now.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

And speaking about Austin Theory, he teamed with Logan Paul to take on the Usos and the uh which they won by uh DQ because uh we saw Jay Uso use the use use the brass nucks given to him by LA Knight. Yep. And that match was kind of like whatever for me.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

You know, I'm it wasn't for the titles, so it was like I kind of assumed what was gonna happen if it wasn't for the titles.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

So but for the titles next week and MSG, you know, MSG show, they always pull that through because it's MSG. That's why.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Why not mania?

SPEAKER_01 14:09

That's what I'm saying. I'm surprised that they're gonna have these two title matches, you know, for the for the men's tag and the women's tag at at Monday Night Raw. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Um speaking about MS. I don't understand the booking because I think somewhere I I heard or read that Hunter wants 14 matches. Yeah, I saw that too. Put a number on it. So that's everyone saying seven and seven, seven night one, seven night two. Right now I believe he's got six total matches. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

This is gonna be a thrown together.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Why the tag titles are not on either night one and white, sorry, one on night one and one on night two. Yeah, I mean maybe we still are, but who the hell knows what's gonna happen in the next uh what two weeks? Yeah, three weeks, three weeks? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Three weeks, three weeks.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

But I mean it just makes zero sense that they're on Monday. I get it, it's MSG. Yeah, but come on, come on, be back.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

With LA Knight, we also saw him backstage, you know, prior to him coming out, and he got face to face with J Uso. And looking in the back, you know how WWE likes to do the truck was perfectly placed for the uh the photo of the rock. I'm doing it, but you can't wait. Yeah, there you go. There you go. I don't know, it looks like you're just squinting now. Now it's like you're winking at me. Uh very weird, Gary. Um, but it it looks like is is the rock coming back?

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Um I I think so. I don't know in what shape, way, fashion, form. I have no idea. Um I noticed that too. I looked right at my buddy Zach. We were watching Raw, and I was like, you see, he was on that truck right there. He's like, yep.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

I'm like, it was pretty obvious.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

It's there for a reason. Exactly. I know you're gonna get into more, but there's so much talk about the bloodline. There's gotta be a way that he's coming back. I don't know how, I don't know when. I don't know if we're setting up for fucking WrestleMania next year, wherever the hell that's gonna be, because who knows if it's even gonna be in Saudi next year. That's his talk. That's talk for another day, but as far as the rock coming back, I think so, but we've thought so before, and we've gotten peanuts. That's true. I don't know. What about you? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 16:22

I I think it is setting up for the rock's return. I think ticket sales are low, and I think they're pulling out every stop they can. You know, the rumor was that he's gonna be out there at WrestleMania, that Stone Cold Steve Austin will be at WrestleMania. You know, he lives in Nevada, so it's not that far of a drive for him. So I think this is the time that they have to go ahead and pull their aces, but at the same time, it's just like, uh, why can't we come up with something new? Why are we always going back to the old? We're always going back because it works.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

I think we're past it.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yeah, but that's a problem. It's like you have Brock Lesnar who's publicly stated that this is pretty much it for his for his WWE run. So it's just like, you know, you keep bringing him back, you brought back AJ Lee, which was great. You know, you brought back the Bellas, okay. But at the same time, it's just like what you know, CM Punk, even. You know, we'll get into CM Punk in a second.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

I'm with you.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

But it's like, okay, you gotta you gotta start making stars, not forcing these stars on us, and that's the biggest thing I think they need to do. So speaking about CM Punk, oh, actually, let's uh let's cover this real quick. Uh Dominic Mysterio uh was unsuccessful taking on Penta for the IC title because we all knew it. Pushing Penta. Oh, big time.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

The the fireworks, the crackers, the spinny things, the pirate dude.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Well, the reason why too is like Penta is over. Let's I mean, and then on top of that, with with WWE and Real, with that clip circulating over and over where Paul Heyman says, I think we got something with this fucking Penta. I think we got something.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

He might be the most overmasked luchador superstar since Ray. Oh, absolutely. Thousand like there is I think they've tried in the past. Yep, they have with so many other um and I'm blanking on his name. Sincara, EW. Yes, thank you. With Sincara, they tried that. I mean, multiple, multiple, multiple masked uh luchadors have come in and they've just been shit. Yeah, I mean, even Andrade, who he was not masked, um, but you know, where he came from and his his wrestling background, he just they they couldn't, they couldn't do it. But Penta is their diamond in the rough. I wish, I wish Ray Phoenix was on Raw. I wish I'm I'm kind of glad they weren't a tag team, not seeing where we're going with uh with the lucha brothers Penta.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

But I think I think they will for sure have them team up once once they kind of figure out what they gotta do with them.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yeah, in WWE, they are teaming up in triple A. Yes, um, for one of their upcoming uh pay-per-views. But yes, in in WWE, it would be a shame if if they missed out on this opportunity in the next, you know, between now and the next five years.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

They gotta capitalize on it soon. But the problem is, I think, with the IC title, you run in all that, so I don't know. But uh, we do know that it looks like Dom will be taking on Finn at WrestleMania. Yep. Your thoughts on on that? And and and do you you notice the fact that JD got involved in the match and Dom kind of left him on his own and ran ran up the stairs?

SPEAKER_02 19:12

I did I didn't notice that. I did not. So good catch by you. And I think it's it's it's a long time coming. I hope it's gonna be an entertaining match. Um yeah, I I I I don't know really what to expect from it if there's gonna be some kind of a stipulation. Um correct me if I'm wrong. Has Finn done stuff down in AAA or is he more New Japan pro?

SPEAKER_01 19:34

No, he's more New Japan.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Okay, so I was gonna say worst case, maybe we toss the mega championship on the line just for something else, but it's a straight up match. Do we see the demon? Do we get we need we need something? We need something. We definitely need something match. Um, could not tell you what it's gonna be. Um I've heard rumors of the Good Brothers potentially coming back and aligning themselves with Finn. Um, but I personally would love to see Finn just go out, be on his own, be that guy that he was when he won the Universal title and held it for 24 hours before he had to give it up for injury. So yeah, we'll see. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

All right, so let that's that's just Monday Night Raw. The matches, of course, uh we got to talk about the big thing, which is Roman Reigns and CM Punk. But of course, CM Punk came out, acknowledged the fact that he's old and he's okay with that. And I love the fact whiskers, he's yeah, he's not doing the just for men like Roman Reigns. Yep, yep, yep. Um, I thought that was covered in baby oil and jizz.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Yeah, Roman Reigns, lost it on that one.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Oh my god. Yeah, some of the stuff I was like, wow, okay, cool. This is what this is what WrestleMania season is. Let's go Netflix. Yeah, let's go finally. Um, of course, while he's doing all this, the Usos come out, or Jay Uso comes out and kind of demands his uh title rematch that he never got, and they wanted to get down right then and there, but then brother uh Jimmy came out and he's like, What are you doing? No, no, no, you know, and kind of one of those things that brought out Roman, and Roman said, Hey, get your brother and get back and get out of here, get out of my ring. And then that's when um Jay just decided I'm going, I'm gonna go for it. And he charged CM Punk, CM Punk took him down, Jimmy gets involved, Roman hits him with the flying Superman punch to the back of the head because I think CM Punk uh turned accidentally. Yeah, definitely very awkward, but he sold it still. And and all the agents came out, you know, they're pulling out the Usos out of the ring, and then that's when JL is like, Joe, Joe, yeah. Oh, the once he throws out Joe.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

And you don't ever hear that. You don't ever hear that. I mean, Roman's calling punk Phil last week. He sounds like Brian. Actually, where is Brian?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Uh Brian is on set again. You know, he's he's doing another commercial, so he's gotta make that money.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

All right, yeah, keep making that money. But yeah, I mean the two unemployed people are here. Don't worry.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah, hey, don't worry, we're here. Hey, we're here, everybody. Free agents. We're we're here for you. Free agents, yeah. That podcast did really well too. Free agents. Free agents. Um, yeah, so it was very interesting to see them call him by his government name, Joe. That caused him to go ahead and spear, filled bananas and punk. He went nuts.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

He went batshit crazy. It was great.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Threw him through the table, just like the old Shield days. Yep. Uh your thoughts leading up into Madison Square Garden with Roman Reigns and CM Punk.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

I mean, is this what we're gonna get for the next three, four weeks? Is this we probably will we're just gonna get them talking shit to each other behind their back, to their face, bloodline uh the Usos come out, something happens. I think it's they they do keep evolving, I'll tell you that much. The the um the competitive edge on both sides have just skyrocketed. Um I mean it's entertaining, I'll tell you that. It's entertaining without an actual like match itself. Yeah, um, I did notice, and I don't know if it means anything, but Roman's wearing a white t-shirt. He's never worn a white t-shirt, it's always been all red or all black.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

In 2016, I think that's where they're doing the comparison. That's that's what I've seen on social. Oh, it's I think 2016 or 19, one of the two.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Yeah, interesting. Okay, uh I did not pick up on that one, but I did notice the bloodline was in all black and white, and Roman wearing that new brand new white t-shirt. So a little bit different. Not sure if this means you know, we're looking towards a babyface bloodline. Um in the way that that Jay was yelling at Roman, you know, go get him, you know, smash them, do it. And these are all keywords and stuff. You know, yeah, these keywords that we've heard in the past. I'm gonna smash them, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. Um, and just kind of see how how Jay is acting, almost how Roman used to act.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Right.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

And now you kind of tie that back into it. I kind of think we hinted at this last week where um where Tomatanga is telling the same thing as solo, and it's like, bro, you're acting like Roman. So are we gonna see the breakup of the MFTs? Are we gonna see Solo come back? Are we gonna see a baby face blood? There's so much that can be done. I'm excited to see what will be done in the long run, but just how long is it actually gonna take to develop? And is it is it even all tied together?

SPEAKER_01 24:17

I mean it could be, but in reality, which which member of the MFT was the one that actually got fined? Tama. Tama. Yeah. And in case you don't know. Yeah, if you if you can't uh if you don't know what we're talking about or haven't seen it, he actually recorded um they say it's rehearsal for SmackDown, but I don't know what it was because you just see people in the ring and you see other people just kind of like chilling in, talking and things like that. It was behind the scenes, and I know some people are like, well, that's what Unreal does, but Unreal still at the end of the day is unscripted. Yeah, I mean, sorry, is is scripted.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

And it's like six months to a year later that we see Unreal. So yeah, unless there was something that was you know through the lenses, because it's the meta glasses that Tama is wearing, unless there's something there that they really did not want out, yeah, for WrestleMania, I can understand it. Um, so I'm kind of I've gonna gone back a few times to look and see. I mean, like it's all the superstars hanging with each other, like yeah, that's that's all it is. So I don't see anything that shouldn't have been done, but hey, I'm not Hunter, I'm not the one finding them.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

So you know, one other thing that we forgot to talk about is uh Seth Rollins. Seth Rollins and the segment with um Paul Heyman where he wanted to kind of go after him and kind of egg him on, and that caused Seth to hit the ring, but then security was right there and because of restraining or all this other nonsense. Uh your thoughts on all this and where it's where it's headed.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

Well, I don't think it's a surprise that Rollins is still not medically cleared. Um, and I think this is just another way, and I I I kind of read in some of these dirt sheets that I'm kind of into. Um it's their way of keeping him away for a little bit. Um, so whether he actually obviously he's not really arrested by Boston PD, which is weird because they had no, it was PD because they had guns in their holsters. Yeah, that was Boston PD. So that that that threw me off. Um, but no, I think this is just a way of kind of keeping Rollins out of the ring for a little bit longer. Will we see him next week? Was he released from prison? Who the hell knows? Um, I've seen this as a way for to gear up for the next couple of weeks until Mania, where something is set up probably in a week or two before Mania, where Bronn Breaker, who is set to be coming back a lot sooner than anybody thinks, he could be ready to go for WrestleMania. So whether Breaker comes out as one of these hooded guys um with Rollins and Rollins has no idea, and a head comes off and Breaker smashes him, and then that leads to a match. Oh, good. At Mania, there you go. There, there's something, but we just need to make sure that they're both medically cleared. And clearly Rollins is much closer, I believe, than Breaker, because we haven't seen him at all. But from what I've read, Breaker is getting damn close.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

All right, so before we move on to NXT and other stuff that's happening in wrestling, we have to talk about the WWE Hall of Fame. It's happening on Friday night or Saturday night. Friday night, right? Friday night after SmackDown. Right. Exactly. It's happening at the Adobe Live Theater, which is right there at Park MGM. And they've announced uh, well, two more people before, you know, uh two more individuals, I should say, that uh we haven't talked about. One being the warm Dennis Rodman for his contributions in the NWO and WCW. Yes, too sweet. Yep. Uh your thoughts on Rodman going into which I would think would be the celebrity wing, but I don't think they've even said that yet.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah, I don't I don't know if there's a celebrity wing. If I I have no idea. Um I think the class itself was very small, and I think they were just looking to add some extra people in there. I don't think he's the right person to put in there. I think you and I have talked extensively about uh Hall of Fame and those that could be put in. Um, I mean, how do I put this kindly? Um just say it.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

We're a podcast. You can say whatever you want, Gary.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

True. Rodman does not need to be in there. Was he part of the NWO? Yeah. Um, but so were a lot of other people that are not in the Hall of Fame. And I don't know if really any of the like if the majority of those that were in NWO deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Uh, I think he's in there because he's a Chicago bull. Um, he was you know one of Jordan's wingmen. Um he's not when I when I think WCW, I do not think Rodman. If you're gonna put Rodman in, you might as well put in Carl Malone.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Um yeah, I just don't think there is a need for him. Um before him, uh before Rodman, I think there were there's only three people going into the Hall of Fame. Uh Stephanie, AJ, and Demolition. Yes. Am I incorrect?

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Okay, incorrect.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

Um, I don't know. Maybe maybe WWE needs to start looking at the way Major League Baseball or NBA or any of them do that. Smaller classes, they they they still speak volumes. Um, I'm not saying to go to a full-on voting class. I think it's fine with Triple H and whoever making these decisions, but maybe you have one person, and this is something the Patriots do that when they induct into their Patriots Hall of Fame, um they send out about three to four names, I think. Um, and they let the fans vote. And the that that player with the highest votes, they get in. Yeah, and then those that didn't get in, they would just kind of like go on to the next year. And eventually, you know, you're gonna see all of these people get in. So maybe WWE needs to start to do one of these fan voting things. Um again, is is less more at the Hall of Fame nowadays, probably, because you're doing this after SmackDown. So are you gonna want to sit through a two-hour show? No, let's get three people in, let's get Stephanie, let's get AJ, let's get Demolition and call it a day.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Yep. And and the only thing that I would say about it is that the mistake that they're doing is that they're moving it from a different venue to venue. And what I mean by that is a couple years ago when Ray was inducted, it was after SmackDown, but it was at the Staple Center, and then that's where SmackDown was. So right, they had the fans stay, right? Right. So, and all they did was drop the ropes, kind of like uh bring cherries in. And it was a real quick turnaround where they're saving money and cost, and I'm surprised they're not doing it again like that, just because the other thing is that these wrestlers and superstars have to perform the next day, and a lot of them haven't seen on camera falling asleep or not paying attention, or you know, just hating life because they're sitting right there, center stage, when they have to put on the spray face. Now, the other recipient of in the uh class of 2026 Hall of Fame is uh the Legacy Award, which I disagree with this, uh, but it's Sid Vicious. And the reason why I disagree with that is because the legacy to me doesn't mean that you're a superstar. It means like, oh, okay, cool. Here, here's your here's this award that we're just gonna give to you.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Is it like a like a thanks for trying type of a thing?

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Yeah, I kind of feel like that. And and it shouldn't have been labeled that. I think it should just be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I don't think you need to have a title like that.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Yeah, I noticed that and I didn't know what it meant. And then I think I heard it once and then I didn't hear it again, so I didn't know if they got rid of that title. Um, but again, I I could be wrong. Um, but I I fully agree with you. It makes no sense for whatever extra title there is. Um, the the one thing I am pretty upset about, I guess both of these you can say is that they're not announced on SmackDown or Raw. They're announced via X or ESPN or Breaking News. Yeah, I think Vicious um was what's today? When uh is it Wednesday, Thursday? Wednesday. Yep. Um, and I think it was he was announced yesterday on Tuesday. But Raw was Monday, so why not put it out during Raw? Yeah, even if it's gonna be one of those you know, during one of those damn commercial breaks, and we're not gonna see it, but at least put it out on RAW or between those hours and and let people embrace it, not just I don't know. There have been sell-outs to the media a lot, and a lot of this stuff, I I it's it should stay on WWE, and I shouldn't be seeing this in on variety uh on their extra. Why not? I want to see it on variety, damn it. It's it's it's WWE, man. This isn't this isn't, you know, this isn't the Oscars.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Yeah, I agree with that. And uh I think they just need to sell tickets, so I think that's why they have to go ahead and they're throwing more people in there. Yeah, maybe they shouldn't have. I don't know. I mean, Rodman is I don't know. Are they looking for that ESPN pickup? Like you I you start to think about like why do they have him? What are what are the pros in this? Like he's gonna be on ESPN, he's gonna say something crazy where it's gonna be on you know um ET entertainment tonight or you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

You hit it spot on. It's all for the clicks, it's all for this ESPN, Netflix partnership, it's all about clickbait at this point. So I don't know. Do you see anyone else getting added in the next three weeks that's relevant?

SPEAKER_01 33:01

I mean, I think I don't know because you have AJ, and AJ's still relevant. If it if you didn't have AJ, I would expect Cena or Batista or one of the bigger.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

Why do you think they're waiting? Are we waiting for a like an OVW class? Like with when when when Brock's done? I think he's gonna be around for a while, but yeah, that would actually not be a bad idea.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

Oh yeah, yeah, because yeah for the Hall of Fame if it's in Saudi.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

What are we doing?

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Who knows? They're not gonna know what the hell it is. Yeah, they're gonna be like, what is this? Like, yeah, we want to see Ultimate Warrior again. And yeah, where's Macho Man? Uh if you don't know what we're talking about, uh go back and you Google or listen to other podcasts when we talk about things like that. I mean I was gonna move on. Let's go ahead and talk about NXT stand to deliver, which is happening on uh on the 4th of April. And you have uh four matches already confirmed. Gary, what are the matches?

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Yep, so we've got Johnny Gargano making his return to NXT actually last night as the mystery opponent, part of this uh gauntlet match, uh, to face Miles Bourne for the North American Championship. Gargano still doing his planking shtick, yeah. Um and he did it throughout the entire match. Um basically Shiloh Hill, he kind of he got he got up, and I think he was kind of beaten a little bit by some other guys that came out of the back. Gargano kind of stood up with the help of Candice Laray, and she just pushes him and he falls on him and he wins. So I hate the finish, but um, as soon as he realized he was competing for a title, you kind of saw that old Johnny Gargano back. Um will have loved to have heard his, you know, his original NXT music. We did not, maybe we get that back. So maybe this is kind of the reset button that Gargano needs back down in NXT because there's nothing for him up at the big leagues right now, which is unfortunate. Um, next up we got Fatal Fourway uh for the men's North uh sorry, for the men's NXT Championship. We've got Ricky Saints versus Ethan Page versus Tony D'Angelo against the champion Joe Hendry. Yeah. That should be actually a pretty good match. We've seen Ricky Saints and Ethan Page kind of be at each other's throats for like the last year, and then they've been all buddy buddy for the last couple of months, and now they're kind of at each other's throats because they both do want a shot back basically having this NXT championship again. Um, they both want to be two-time champs. So we'll see what happens, and then rolling out the the the next one will be Sol Ruka for Zarya. We have seen um their friendship, if you will, kind of just crumble at the feet, and we'll see. I think they're gonna just take out a lot of energy. I think this could also just be I personally think this is Sol Ruka Swan match um in NXT before she gets called up. Yeah, I think it's there's there's been a lot of she's been doing so many great things, and just recently she's she hasn't won the women's NXT championship um for a reason. I think we've also noticed that people down in NXT they don't have to win these titles in order to get called up. Um if they're talented, they're talented. Um, Kendall Gray is a great um example where she came from Evolve um and she was on Evolve for maybe like two or three weeks. She became the champion super quick, and she's been up in NXT ever since, basically with that um Evolve championship. She actually relinquished that last week, um, and she is full-time on NXT. And I believe she has a match against JC, no, sorry, excuse me, against Lola Vice next week on um on NXT programming. The winner of that will face JC Jane for the women's world title at Stand and Deliver, which is their WrestleMania, if you will. Sucks that it's the week before, it's always been on WrestleMania weekend, which is annoying, but with SmackDown with the Hall of Fame, with night one, with night two, with Raw. There's just so much going on. So nice to kind of see it spread out. I'm glad it's not just a regular Tuesday night show. Um, I believe this is gonna be at one of the bigger arenas in uh in Vegas as well. So we'll see. I'll definitely be tuning in.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

Yeah, you know, I was able to go to Stand and Deliver last year in Vegas at the Team Mobile Arena. That's right. So I got to see a lot of these uh superstars uh actually move on to the main roster. So Ruka was apparently making headlines though last night because she was getting booed during her promo. Yeah. What are your thoughts about that? It felt weird.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

I mean, she's been a fan favorite, so that's the thing. Yes, and that's the kind that kind of shocked him. Was like, did I miss something? I rewound it a couple of times. And I just think that both Zarya and Sol Ruka, they both just had a lot of valid points. And I think the crowd was just like, you know what? Zarya is right on this. You know, nope, Sol's right on this one. So I think that the crowd was definitely split uh 50-50, but they're just giving uh both of these talents their their their flowers where they need it was only one for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

Weird all right now. We do have to talk about uh a couple of things. Uh some podcasts that have come out that are actually really good. I'm in the middle of one right now, and I know you actually caught one last night. So, what did you watch?

SPEAKER_02 38:06

I actually watched uh Brock Lesnar on Spittin'Chiclets podcast, which is a bar stool hockey podcast. Um, Lesnar basically just talks about his titles and accolades, just mean absolutely nothing to him. His kids are his accolades. Um, just a totally different vibe of Lesnar. So if you want to see this other side of him, I highly recommend watching this. It's on Netflix, as I learned yesterday. Had no idea how to even find this podcast. And thankfully, through uh through reels and Instagram and everything like that, there was a small little clip that said watch the full thing on Netflix. So I definitely did. So really cool to check out. He just you know, he just talks about how different he is at WWE versus home. Um, he will not take photos with fans. If he's with his family, don't bother the man. He said to me, This is my time with my family. I'm not doing photos. If my family's not around and you see me, I will do photos. So I would recommend it's long.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

We've always said it's like don't be that weirdo. And it's and it's funny, not funny, but it's interesting because as you said that earlier today, I was watching this reel that happened to show up on our on my feed, and it was of John Cena sitting at this cafe, either drinking a cup of coffee or waiting for a cup of coffee, and it uh it's a point of view of this person going up to him and singing to him. So he walked up and he started singing to John, and then John like just kind of looked up, like, oh, here we go. So he stood up, he's like, Hold on, he's like, let's start this over. He's like, Hello, my name is John, nice to meet you. What's yours? The kid says his name, and then he's like, So he's like, Well, not a kid, but like you could tell, like me, uh well, younger than us, you know. So I would say probably early 20s, and this individual is like, Oh, yes, uh, my name is so-and-so. He's like, You and he's like, I I take it, you like to sing. Uh, why why do you like to sing? And he said something that I couldn't hear what he and John pretty much said, pretty much thanks, but no thanks, move on. And the kid's like, okay, and then he just walked away from him. But it said, like, oh yeah, me make me making the approach to John Cena went horribly wrong, or something like that. And I was just like such a professional, he's such a professional. Well, the thing is, he's trying to just enjoy his day, and that's the thing. I and I understand when you're a public figure like that, it always doesn't happen. But at the same time, it's like, come on, it's like you know, if he just wants to go out and have a cup of coffee, let him have a cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

If Brock, I'm not with my dog, don't ask me for autographs. I don't want to, I'm with my dog.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

See, that's how I feel too, all the time. Like the other day, like people are running running me over. Hey, hey, come on. Oh, towers of power, towers of power. I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Not right now, not right now. You all need to stop back up, back up, fool. Um, so it's funny because you're talking about Brock Lesnar on your podcast, and uh, I guess uh somebody in comment of Brock, I'm watching this person's podcast. I'm watching Chris Van Vliet interview wild man Mark Merrow. Now, if you don't know the correlation between Mark Merrow and Brock Lesnar, uh that would be Sable. Uh Sable was Mark Mark Merrow's wife, and then they end up getting a divorce. And uh apparently she I don't know if he's talked about it yet, but I'm still watching it. But I know he does talk about the situation that happened with her and Brock Lesnar.

SPEAKER_02 41:11

I think he did, because I think that was the quick little 30-second clip that I saw of CVV, like his little reel that he put out about the episode. And I I I'll have to definitely check that out because I was a Maryland back when I first started watching. I'm like, who is this blonde bombshell walking down with him?

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Oh, I thought you meant him. He's not blonde.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

No, he was not blonde, he was not blonde, he's not blonde, Gary. But back in the day, I I had no idea that they were in a relationship, let alone married or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

So like who is this tar doll? Who is that? Yeah. Anyways, yeah, yeah. So um, yeah, so I was watching that uh podcast, and I'm barely like within the first 20 minutes, it's really good. So I I do know he talks about his struggle uh mental, uh, you know, uh mental health and things of that nature, and and we've gotten a little bit more deeper. Um, and I don't know if you know he's a motivational speaker now. So uh he talks a little bit about that and working with DDP, and that's kind of where I'm at right now. So definitely give both of those a watch or a listen to if you can. Oh, there goes my light. My light is a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Oh no, it's got dark. I'm waiting for I'm still waiting for mine to fall here because it's kind of like janked up here. But there is a podcast that I think you and I would both enjoy. Yeah, which is one that I saw a clip of the other day is um Stephanie McMahon's podcast, and she had uh Oba Femi. Um that that that's the newest episode, The Ruler. So I'm really interested to hear that. Um and and and to see kind of like what else they talk about and how how far back in in his life that they go. Um obviously he was on, I believe, the the field of the track and field team at Alabama shot put. Um I still believe he was a lineman on the football team, but I still I could be very wrong.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

Um, but I mean I I'm interested in in checking that out. There's a lot of great podcasts out there, and just to really see a lot of these uh superstars and just celebrities all alike, um, just kind of putting everything out there nowadays. There's really not much to hide anymore. And you know, I I wish that we can get some of these bigger names on here with us. So I know.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

Well, hopefully, you know, I am working on a couple guests uh leading up to WrestleMania, so I do have one person I need to reach out to, and we're talking about a famous uh early to mid-90s wrestler that is gonna be at WrestleCon. And yes, so we can't wait to hopefully I will hopefully be able to get in touch with them very soon. Also, we talked about the masterpiece Chris Masters. Uh he's very interested in coming on the podcast, so hopefully we'll get all these guys right before WrestleMania and leading up to WrestleMania. Um, but I think that might be it. Gary, you got anything else?

SPEAKER_02 43:41

Uh shout out to Carmelo Hayes and Kalani Jordan officially tying the knot. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Wow, congratulations, you guys. Look at this.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

It's like Kalani is now Bostonian, so congrats to her. Oh, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

Sorry. Nobody cares about that. Yeah, nobody. Damn you. Why? Because I have all the sound effects over here?

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Yeah, they sound good. Just not that one.

SPEAKER_01 44:03

No, not that one. What about this one? Yeah, it's okay. Yeah, that was better. Oh, you know, one thing I do want to talk about real quickly is what'd you think of uh uh your boy over there, uh Tom Brady, dissing dissing the world of WWE and saying and calling it cute.

SPEAKER_02 44:18

Okay. So here's my quick hot take on this one. Yeah, go ahead. Brady's got super annoying. I I I I am a Brady follower, a Brady lover. He brought me six Super Bowls. Um it's just gotten a little annoying. Um, I think this is all a shtick. Uh I think we're going to be seeing him at WrestleMania. Um, it's in Vegas. Obviously, he is one of the part owners or something or other with the Raiders. Yeah. Um, so they'll be in his building. I think it's all just hype. Um, and then of course, just like how we talked about Rodman and Clickbait, and I think that's all that this does with uh with um with Logan Paul and and Tom Brady. So we'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

Well, don't forget, I mean Aya Jax, our friend of the show, chimed in as well. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

Yep, she called him out too. I was kind of plotting what she was saying. I'm like, Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

That's why I reposted that.

SPEAKER_02 45:05

Go get him.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

Good for you. She's like, you gotta hide behind five other guys. Like, we're right here. Come over here.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

It's part of the sport.

SPEAKER_01 45:12

Yeah, well, he's hiding. Well, that's why he's hiding. Because he's a little bitch. That's why. Oh, here we go. Look at that.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

Let's get Naya, let's get Naya back on. Let's get Naya back on the podcast after she successfully retains those women's world tag team champions, uh championships at WrestleMania.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Okay, I will reach out to her people and see if uh she will come on. It's awesome. You are her favorite Chris on the West Coast. Yes. Remember that. No, no, favorite Chris in general. Oh, sorry, I thought it was just West Coast. No, no, was it West Coast? I don't remember what she said.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

I don't know. I could be wrong. Check your DMs because we know that she was in there.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

Yeah. Not like that. Not like that.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

I know. He's married everybody.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

I'm a married man. How dare you, Gary? I know. Let's see if I could really pull it up real quick. I mean, I was talking to Dominic the other day. Oh, damn. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Name dropper. Who else you got? Maybe we just get Ray at this point.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

You know, here's the thing with Ray is He's on the shelf.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

He's busy. He's not he's on the shelf. He's not busy.

SPEAKER_01 46:16

Yeah, exactly. But I just I don't know. I I have, you know, I I have uh I feel like there's more to this. I've had a pass with Ray, but I just felt like the last time that I saw him, it was just very blah. And yeah, so I'm like, I don't know, maybe I'll reach out. Maybe I say we bring it back.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

Let's bring the family back together.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

Well, we gotta get Brian on this podcast, so that we can't. That's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

That's not unless we do it like at four in four o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday. So yeah, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

I'll probably still be asleep by then. Um well, all right. You know what? Let's go ahead. I don't know. I can't pull up the DMs. I don't know why. That's too bad. She should be right at the top, but that's okay. Nah, everybody else is. Um so let's go ahead and end our podcast here. Uh, Gary, let's go run through socials. What's your uh social?

SPEAKER_02 47:00

You got it. Instagram, uh G Dubs33x Gary underscore Dubin and Towers PowerPod.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Mine is at Hollywood Chris, and you can follow the show at Towers of Power Pod on IG, TikTok, and of course, like I always say at the end of every podcast, we are in the wrestling community just like you. So make sure you go ahead, like, subscribe, share this podcast because we are just trying to grow our numbers. And big shout out to everyone that's followed us and recently have just joined our podcast. So thank you so much. And uh, we will see you guys again next time. Later.