We catch up with Ariane Andrew FKA as WWE Diva Cameron

Today we break down who was on the phone with Randy Orton, CM Punk pipe bomb 2.0, the injury between Liv and Roxanne, Wrestlemania updated card, why Chris is upset with Vince Russo and Jonathan Coachman.  

We also welcome Ariane Andrew to our show, we talk about WrestleCon, PTW, Diva-Mania and make sure to follow her @arianeandrew on IG!!!  You can see her at WrestleCon thanks to @laxfanfest

It's a long one today!  Hope you enjoy it! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:21

Oh my gosh. Gary, Gary, are you ready for this or what?

SPEAKER_05 0:25

Oh my god, dude, we got so much to talk about. Are you still are you eating something right now?

SPEAKER_04 0:30

Come on. Well, welcome to another episode of the Terrorist Power. A Pro Wrestling Podcast. Hey, calm down. I'm doing my intro, okay?

SPEAKER_05 0:37

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

Jeez. Where are your headphones at? I never wear headphones. I thought you did.

SPEAKER_05 0:42

No, not since we had to figure out the microphone and all this. I haven't worn headphones since like episode two. Oh, okay. You know, the one after the first one, the botch.

SPEAKER_04 0:50

Yes, this is episode 37. Can you believe that? 37. Yes. You know, we gotta go ahead and give us a bell, which I don't have on hand. Right there. There we go. But welcome back to another episode of the Towers of Power, a Pro Wrestling Podcast. I am Hollywood Chris, otherwise known as Chris Martinez, and that is Gary, who's eating with no headphones.

SPEAKER_05 1:08

All right, Gary. But it's a healthy snack. It's Gary. Okay, sure. All right. Better than the half a bag of funions I finished earlier.

SPEAKER_04 1:15

Oh there you go. So so much is happening right now in the world of pro wrestling. We're not going to have a lot of time to cover everything because we are going to be joined by a very special guest in just a few minutes. She's going to be making an appearance at WrestleMania weekend in Vegas. So we got WrestleMania in Vegas. And so I cannot wait to talk to her, find out what's going on with her, the latest. And yeah, we got a lot of fun stuff happening today on the show. But of course, we've got to go ahead and run down the biggest thing that's talked about. Friday Night SmackDown, the person that was talking to Randy Orton was revealed to be Pat McAfee. Let's go. No, no. That's my impersonation of his introduction that I sucked at. So um obviously uh very mixed. Actually, no, it's not very mixed. It's just all one-sided. Everybody hated the idea that it was Pat McAfee. And including, you know, our fellow colleagues in the industry, you know, busted open radio, coach and bro. Uh I'm sure Chris Van Blied had something. Yes, the coach went in. Coach definitely went in. And I'm about to go in on the coach as well. I'm not happy with him at all, period. And him and Vince Russo, I am very, very pissed at. And I feel like they are taking um a shot because they're not getting what they want. And we'll we'll break it down in just a couple minutes.

SPEAKER_05 2:42

But all right.

SPEAKER_04 2:43

But you know what? They're more than welcome to go ahead and come on. I would love to go ahead and pick their brain and actually ask them hard-hitting questions that they have not been asked. Period. Yes. Okay, okay. So let's go ahead and talk about Pat McAfee. Your thoughts on Pat McAfee. Obviously, uh, I think you're probably gonna side with everybody that you were upset with it, but you tell me.

SPEAKER_05 3:02

Yeah, so yeah, yes and no, to be honest with you. Um, obviously. You said yes.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

Yes and no.

SPEAKER_05 3:10

Yes and no. Yes and no. Okay. Um, was I ups all right? Question number one. Yes. Was I upset that it was Pat McAfee? Yes. Okay. After listening to him speak and everything, I'm like, okay, I can see how this can work and how they can spin it um in a way where it's gonna be interesting, if you will. Um it it it really obviously it made no sense, and I think we all can agree with that. Where you look back, you listen back, you watch back on the videos of Orton on the phone saying something about family, or there's no more than one royal family, all of this stuff. So, of course, you're automatically gonna think it's the Orton family, it's someone from the Orton family, or they could spin it this way is that him and Pat are so close they are like brothers, they are family.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

Oh, jeez.

SPEAKER_05 3:59

So from the side of it making absolutely no sense to line up with the videos of the vignettes for three or four weeks that we've heard, and then it'd be Pat. Exactly. Yeah, buzzer. The fact that it is Pat and then he's kind of back in and he's kind of doing this attitude era um role, if you will. Um, this like this major heel, like this spittin' facts, if you will. I do like it. I just wish it was somebody else. So that's my yes and no answer.

SPEAKER_04 4:28

Who would it have been if it wasn't Pat for you?

SPEAKER_05 4:32

Kevin Owens because I I don't think you're gonna get um his dad. Bob Warren. I don't think you're gonna I don't think you're gonna get his grandfather, who I don't believe is still around, or would even be, or even if it was his dad, I don't think that he would pull in the the tickets or anything else that they're trying to sell. One in this storyline and two, these these these really super expensive tickets for one of the things.

SPEAKER_04 4:54

Keep in mind Cowboy Bob Wharton is uh WWE Hall of Famer, so he has been a part of the very first WrestleMania, so why not have him part of this one as well?

SPEAKER_05 5:03

I mean, are you tuning in because Cowboy Bob Wharton is the guy on the phone? I'm not. I definitely am. That's where we differ. So Pat Matthew's. You're old school. I'm more new school.

SPEAKER_04 5:14

Here's the here's the people I would have loved to see the rock, obviously. Yeah, of course, a McMahon, whether it be Vince or Shane or Stephanie. Okay. I think that would have been that would have been great.

SPEAKER_05 5:24

More Shane or Stephanie.

SPEAKER_04 5:26

But yeah, I think Vince would have been the the really big shocker.

SPEAKER_06 5:30

Oh, that was some biggest.

SPEAKER_04 5:33

But there's also new allegations against him, and now Tony um uh Nick Khan. Uh, so we don't even know the status of Nick Khan. Didn't even hear about that. There is breaking news of me. There's a there's a lot of stuff happening. Uh uh apparently, like, he's getting roped into the whole Janelle Grant uh lawsuit, and his name has been dropped now into the lawsuit, saying that uh he kind of like stood by as Vince was doing his thing with her, and he knew all of it. Nothing safe anymore. Nothing is safe. And then on top of that, then there's text messages between him and Hunter that have now leaked, and Hunter is not happy, and it pretty much shows that Vince McMahon was still in creative control WrestleMania 39 and the start of WrestleMania 40. I saw that, yes, okay. So that's very, very interesting because 40, in my opinion, was the last big great WrestleMania.

SPEAKER_05 6:22

Agreed.

SPEAKER_04 6:23

41 wasn't good. 42 is not shaping up to be any better. So 43 is probably gonna suck too. 43, who knows where it's gonna be. So that's the other thing, too. Um, I would have liked to see somebody. But yeah, a McMahon. I would have liked to see a McMahon um somebody somebody that kind of meant something. I mean, the big shock would have been even like uh Dustin, Goldust on the phone. Okay to have the brother versus brother kind of thing in WWE. Obviously, we can't have that because he's a part of AEW still. But that I think that would have been a cool shock factor as well. Um, but overall, Pat McAfee, he he we know that he could talk. We know he's gonna be great on the mic, and he killed it. However, I think he killed it too much. I think when he started talking about the low tickets sales, how it's underperforming, how the ratings are low. And by the way, Pat McAfee, that was the lowest we rated Raw in years. With I mean, sorry, SmackDown. Smackdown, yeah. Yeah, with you on there. So that's the other thing, too. Yeah, the ratings do suck. We all know that. It's something that we don't know, but it's something that we don't talk about.

SPEAKER_05 7:29

Right. And I I don't think you really needed anyone extra. I think just the storytelling between Cody and Randy, I think I just it had done enough. Because I didn't think it did at the beginning. When Cody was given the title or won the title back from Drew, I was already yawning. But what they've done in these three weeks, I guess leading up to this person on the phone, um, they've done a great job. They don't need another body, but maybe you're gonna about to say it, WrestleMania season, add the celebrities.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

No, I no, fuck that. I say add Ted DiBiassi Jr. He just got cleared, all the charges were dropped. Why not have him? Why was he not the one on the phone?

SPEAKER_05 8:08

Well, he's gonna be in Vegas according to whatever phone call him is.

SPEAKER_04 8:11

Apparently, apparently, we'll see. I'm sure he was just trolling everybody because it was the title of the town of who's talking about.

SPEAKER_05 8:18

Or maybe he'll be at WrestleCon. Who knows? Maybe he's a free man.

SPEAKER_04 8:22

Yes, more than one way. All right, well, we have to go ahead. All right, so Pat McAfee, you know, obviously, in case you didn't you missed it, he low uh he low-kicked Cody Rhodes, and then Cody came out, cut a promo on him, and it really felt like that one wasn't even planned. It felt like because the rumor was that TKO is the one that inserted Pat into that role because somebody pulled out. That had been the rumor that I've been hearing. We don't know who the individual is.

SPEAKER_05 8:53

They want celebrities, they want people that are associated with with Hollywood, with sports because of ESPN. So, yeah, Ari Emanuel is gonna be like, Hey, let's uh let's have it be Pat McAfee on the phone. But no, we've done all these damn vignettes about family this and family that, yeah. Here we are.

SPEAKER_04 9:11

So I love I love that meme of uh Roman like pointing and like what what what royal family is that from? I love that one.

SPEAKER_05 9:18

That's a good one. That was a good one.

SPEAKER_04 9:20

All right, well then that takes us to Bundanight Raw. It opens up with CM Punk in the middle, actually coming out to the middle of the ring and dropping pipe bomb number two. Yep. Your takeaway on pipe bomb number two.

SPEAKER_05 9:31

I honestly I had to listen to it a couple of times. Um, and then actually, I think the third time I listened to it was yesterday uh on the busted open radio. I was on my way up to uh Lake Elsinore, California to watch uh Lake Elsinore storm. The storm opening day baseball. It's uh single-A affiliate of the Padres. Um, however, I was listening to basically their breakdown, and they did the whole start and stop thing that I know that you and I like to do as well. Um, and it kind of helped because there was a lot of things. I'm just like, I don't know what he meant by this. I I get that, but I don't know why he was saying it. So after hearing it back for a second time I or a third time, I now see why people are saying this might be Punk's best promo since he's been back, maybe his best promo ever, even better than the original pipe bomb. I think it's different because the original pipe bomb that was like breaking the fourth wall for the first time ever in WWE, so it's completely different. Now we see it, you know, every 10 seconds and plus social media. So listening back to it, great content, great stuff, shots fired, and he even said he goes, everyone's catching it, catching bullets and catching strays on this one. Um Pat McAfee, sorry, MAGA fee. Yes, MAGA uh awkward, didn't didn't catch that till uh time number two. Um obviously shots at Cody, I believe, as well, uh sticking his nose in TKO as a whole, calling him TKO. Um, and I think it kind of ties back to like how we quickly got into Cody kind of shooting from the hip on Friday. I've seen some people say, Is Triple H pissed at TKO and everything? And is he saying, no, fuck that. You guys go out, you say whatever you want about TKO. I don't care anymore. And I'm sure that's Triple H be on the line. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:17

Because it's great. The rumor, the rumor was that uh there was there was uh another, I think it was like um I think it was a sign, like a virtual signing with Road Dog and Billy. And Billy's like, oh, triple can't take this until afterwards, right? Because they're gonna fire him after WrestleMania. And then the other thing was like, you know, Road Dog's like, no, no, no, no. He's like, okay, carry on. So that's the that's another rumor out there, too. So speaking about CM Punk and Pat Magafee, uh, here is a clip of that promo from Monday night.

SPEAKER_07 11:50

Pat Magafee. You buggy whip dog no-brain hill building. You think you can come here to the business, my business of pro wrestling, and running your mouth when you just wrote it. If I'm gonna have you, somebody who kicked a football for a living, come to my business and talk to me about selling tickets and putting asses in seats. You got a receipt coming to you.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

So that is just a small clip of the promo and the pipe bomb number two.

SPEAKER_05 12:56

So the whole Pat McAfee thing and you calling your agent who got you into this business, you you almost gotta like really go back to it. When Pat came in again, he came in with NXT, and it there was no question about it that he's always wanted to be in this world. And at the time, I think this I want to say this was COVID. Um around the COVID time when he started coming into NXT, he was training a lot, um, he was part of the shows. He even had um a storyline with Hunter, who was the GM of NXT, GM of NXT at the time, and they had a match on there too. Went away for a while, then eventually became this baby face, and further down the road became an announcer, and now he's whatever character we're gonna call him now. So this agent that brought him in, I'm assuming Punk's just talking about, brought him into the WrestleMania scene, not from the beginning. So I I don't I don't know how I feel about all of this, besides just it's do you know who his agent is? No, it's Ariel. Well, okay, I was gonna say like I think it's Ari, Ariel, sorry, whatever the fuck it is. Yeah, Ari. Yeah, Ari Emanuel.

SPEAKER_04 14:11

Yep, Ari Emanuel.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

Yeah, okay. Yeah, because when I heard that, I'm like, is eight shots fired? Is is he like the actual agent and he's also the head of TKO? That's what I didn't understand a couple nights ago. I didn't realize he was I knew it was the same person, I didn't realize he had both both job titles, basically.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

Yeah, so yeah, I I really think it's his agent. Obviously, the person who owns TKO is the one who's now, like you said, TKO loves celebrities. Let's go ahead and put this guy in. I think it was a way to go ahead and please his client and also please himself.

SPEAKER_05 14:42

Um stroking his ego is what we're gonna call it.

SPEAKER_04 14:45

Yes, because now he's like, Oh, I uh I killed two birds with one stone. I got my celebrity and I got my body. Yes, and WWE is not happy, and I think uh the fans are not happy. Speaking of people not happy, Gary is not happy with Monday Night Raw because there's a lot of stuff that also just happened. Let's talk about the return of Rey Mysterio, WWE Hall of Famer, showing up on Monday Night Raw, and what happened, Gary?

SPEAKER_05 15:08

Uh, somehow he got added to this uh Intercontinental title ladder match at WrestleMania.

SPEAKER_04 15:14

But you you see why they had to do it. No, I don't. I don't they needed the star power of Ray to capitalize on people buying WrestleMania. Because as it sat right there, it's just it's another throwaway. That's the thing. I mean, I'm I mean no disrespect to these athletes that are going into this ladder match, but it's like yeah, when you don't have an anchor or you don't have you know people not familiar with the product, you want them to give them a reason to tune in. You want to go ahead and have that familiar face.

SPEAKER_05 15:47

Well, here's the problem they should have done this in the first place. They should have. It's there, there's more, there's other deserving people, and we've been over this. Yeah, um, I don't understand why Rusev's part of this. Is he deserving? Yes, of course. Is JD deserving? Yes, of course. But I don't see like if you want to sell these tickets and stuff, Ray should. I know he's been hurt, been injured, probably recently cleared. Fine, he's in. LA Knight should be in this. Kit Wilson should be in this. Fucking throw the Miz in there. Give us um Kobe Kingston. Yeah, like I just don't I don't get where they plucked these names from, and we know something happened back in November, and this is how they got in without anybody really knowing. I I don't get it. Um, we had a match on Monday Night Raw with I think it was Javon, Ray Phoenix. No, sorry, Javon, Dragon Lee, and Penta um tagging together, and that's when Ray came out afterwards. So there's four of your six competitors, but it's like Rusev doesn't exist, and neither does JD. They're not part of this intercontinental title storyline, and that's where it got frustrating for me. So yeah, err Gary, err.

SPEAKER_04 16:50

Yeah, um, so for me, I'm just like like right as soon as his music hit, I'm like, he's gonna be added to the ladder match, but I'm like, I get it, I get it.

SPEAKER_05 17:00

Right. And we've seen I've saw reports, I think I said it to you this morning, potentially, I I think it was this morning, um, that we now know why you know Ray is not facing Brock potentially, or or sorry, like Gunther at Mania to be retired. Is that Ray has come out and said he wants his son Dominic to do it down the road. So we'll see when that happens, and it seems like that needs to happen.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

It can't be Gunther, cannot be Gunther.

SPEAKER_05 17:28

Let it be Dom. Let it be the friend of the broad friend of the podcast. Yes. Uh Dominic was.

SPEAKER_04 17:33

And don't forget, too. I mean, like Gunther now all of a sudden has this random ass match with Seth. So, you know.

SPEAKER_05 17:37

No, we'll get into that.

SPEAKER_04 17:38

Oh, okay. Let's go into it right now. Let's get into it right now.

SPEAKER_05 17:41

Okay, let's get into it. So date back, market, do whatever you gotta do. I called this, by the way. Okay. I did call this. I said the only way that this quote unquote feud with Gunther and Seth Rollins will make any sort of sense is if we find out that Gunther has something going on with Heyman. After we saw Gunther on Monday Night Raw, I guess attack Seth again. We follow the cameras backstage. There's Heyman kind of saying, I don't know what you're doing, and I didn't sanction any of this, but if you're doing this to do it, and whatever basically shooting the shit. Right. In the end, um, Heyman's like, I'm gonna owe you a big, big thank you. And Gunther's like, No, you're gonna owe me a big, big favor. And that favor, what I mentioned last week, and I swear to God, I think this has to be it, is the favor is gonna be I will take care of Rollins for you at Mania. You give me Lesnar at SummerSlam, and I'm gonna retire his ass.

SPEAKER_06 18:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 18:46

That's I think that's what we're leading to. We did we did not get the whole I will get Brock at SummerSlam. We got the handshake, acknowledged that there is a favor coming. Yes. And I'm excited for that. I'm excited. I'm excited about this now.

SPEAKER_04 19:01

And I think I I think I really would have liked to see like what I had said, where you know, Gunther is just sitting ringside during that match from Oba and Brock, and then like laughs when Brock loses, and then that sets it up. I think I think that would have been great, but you know what? This isn't bad. I guess either one of our opinions or one of our ideas is actually being used. I know they're listening to us. Yeah, they're listening to the podcast right here. Thanks so much, trips.

SPEAKER_05 19:26

But my buddy Zach, we we were watching my buddy Zach's is like before any of this happened with uh with Gunther and Heyman, he's like, I wonder if Seth has just been that badly hurt over the last couple of years where he could just no longer compete, and then this is his retirement match, and nobody's gonna know until down the road against Gunther. He's gonna lose to Gunther. Oh no. I don't think he'll come out later. I know after I'm like, uh be a weird, cool storyline, and then everything happened with Heyman. I said, Nope, yeah, not a fucking chance. Nope.

SPEAKER_04 19:54

Okay, next. What's next on my list? Let's uh let's just talk about this right here. Um, Raquel and Liv Morgan. Oh my gosh. The the clash that happened backstage, it was a backstage segment where Liv was talking to Roxanne, and it looked like she was about to go ahead and start talking to her about Finn Balor and about like the whole judgment day and like why he was kicked out. She started to kind of explain what was happening, and then out of nowhere, Stephanie Vacaire came and knocked out Liv from behind, but in doing so, I guess pushed her so hard that Liv's head had this right to Roxanne's face. And the both women went down. Stephanie picked up a live and threw her through her TV and went down again. So afterwards, I was like, oh my god, like that was so loud. There's no way. And and right away, everything was like up, and you know, we do have it up on our social Towers of PowerPod on IG for you to check it out. But um, it was revealed afterwards the next day, or even later that night, that Liv had a huge knot right over, I think it was her her right eye, and then the next day, Roxanne posted the same kind of photo over the other eye. So, yes, it was real. Yes, it was looked like the size of a softball on both of those women. They were they're both tough, they're both going through the um concussion protocols of WWE. Um, from what we know is that they're both clear to go. Yeah, but I guess maybe they're gonna probably take off the next week from doing something. But it's funny because I saw this, I saw this uh like highlights of Liv and or uh Stephanie going at it and like random things. I'm like, man, these people are really going hard. Like you know, you see them backstage when one takes a bad fall, the other one he gets hit with this, the other one gets that. So it's gonna be a very interesting match come WrestleMania. I think it's gonna be actually a really good one now.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

Yeah. Do you think do you think there's like is there's any realness behind any any of this stuff going on between the two of them? Because a lot of the shit that they're doing, it looks like there's a little something extra.

SPEAKER_04 21:53

It feels like there's extra, like there's a little extra uh push. A little extra uh, you know, uh potato in it. And throwing those feet out.

SPEAKER_05 22:02

Those hand bones. Yeah. And it sucks. Like Roxanne just took the brunt of it, man. She just got back from injury. Yeah. And there she goes. If you saw like I knew something was wrong because the way she got hit, she went down. You can see she rolled over and her back is to the camera.

SPEAKER_04 22:18

Oh, is her back? Okay, I I saw her roll over.

SPEAKER_05 22:20

I'm like, oh, she's getting checked out, or she's fucking hard.

SPEAKER_04 22:23

At Towers of PowerPod on IG. Speaking about Finn, we got the hint that the demon is finally returning back to WWE, and uh the IG WrestleMania posters came out with Demon Finn Balor all over, taking on Dirty Dominic Mysterio. Your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_05 22:40

Just let us have some fun. That's all I'm saying, WWE. It was great that it was a vignette that Finn hinted at it, and as soon as the video ended, you kind of saw like the the eye kind of to go like into that black, like the black paint. Let us sit on that. Let like don't don't start fucking putting out the the the social creatives of the of the demon. Let it happen when it happens on Russ at WrestleMania. Let the music go out, like the lights go out, the music hit, and let them just come out. It actually would have been that much better if he didn't really hint at this at all or just say, or just nonchalant, I'm gonna show you a side of me that you've never seen before. Done. Let us speculate and then fucking come out as the demon app mania. Now everyone's like, yeah, we're getting the demon, we're excited. But like it's more you get more of a pop when things happen like this on the spot, not right leading up to it. Because you still have what another another week, two weeks, week, week, another week and a half of this shit.

SPEAKER_04 23:38

Yeah, but the thing is they they do have to sell tickets, like what Pat was saying. They do have to do it.

SPEAKER_05 23:43

TKO is fucking up this program and fucking everything up because like little things like this that would make the crowd be that much more enthused at these events, right? It's it's being ruined because TKO wants to push these tickets. So they're telling people and they're telling the superstars, say this, say that. Let's let's let's just fuck it, let's just give away the fucking surprise now. Let's not wait. Like, there's there's it's just it's making me like I I this is why I would never go to WrestleMania. It's not fun, it's not worth the money that I would spend to go into it. Again, I'll be happy in my backyard watching this.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

Well, I think it's it is a little different atmosphere when you're there because everybody's so pumped and excited, and everybody's kind of feeling uh feeding off of each other. And and so when I've gone, I went by myself last year. I had a couple buddies that bought tickets, and then I bought a ticket like the day before, and I sat very far from everybody, like literally across the arena, but it was so much fun. I made new friends and we're just talking about everything. Oh man, we think that this is gonna happen. Oh, this person behind is saying this, and the person down here. Do they know who they were sitting next to? Once they realized, oh my god, are you Hollywood Chris from Towers of Power? I'm like, yeah, you don't even know about the podcast. I hadn't even started it then. But yes, that's true. That's me. That's right. That's right. Um, you know, you gave me a very interesting list of superstars that are not gonna be at WrestleMania or on the card as of right now, but obviously things could change. We're talking about Ray Phoenix, Raquel Rodriguez, Al Grande Americana, uh, Kyrie. Okay, so now Kyrie, and now here's the thing with this. All right, now going to the women's, the Bellas don't know if they're gonna be a part of this year's WrestleMania because Nikki did suffer an ankle injury. And was that on SmackDown?

SPEAKER_05 25:21

It had to have been because I think it's had to be something I was fast-forwarding through because I didn't even know about it until the other day when I saw it on social.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

It was SmackDown, and she you could tell that I forget what move it was, but you could tell immediately that she didn't put a lot of weight on. They won the match, and I I think they won the match, and I think they when they lifted up their arms, you could tell she's like limping on her ankle, and so that right away was not a good sign. And then Michael Cole did address it on Monday Night Raw and said that we don't know the status of Nikki Bella. She's trying to get rehab right before, so that way they can compete at this year's WrestleMania. But in the uh long term, I think I think the backup is Asuka, right? Is that what uh I was reading earlier? Right? Uh is okay. So if she's cleared, EO versus Asuka will move forward as planned. But if not, the Kabuki Warriors will take the place of the Bella twins in case they cannot compete. Yes. So that'll be very, very interesting. Um, so going back to the list of wrestlers that are not on this WrestleMania card, Roxanne Perez, Tiffany Stratton, which is very surprising. Yeah. Uh Julia, Damian Priest, which I'm very surprised about. He went from cashing in Senor Money in the Bank to not even being on the card. Solo Sokoa has yet to be uh actually yet to have a WrestleMania moment. Poor guy. Well, imagine he's had a couple of moment. He had that moment with Cena. God, it's it's yeah, and then uh Carmelo Hayes as well. And the rumor was that he was gonna be part of the uh US title.

SPEAKER_05 26:49

Yeah, I mean we still have we still have a smack down on left. Yeah, I don't know what else they're gonna do because last week they had Sammy vs Carmelo for one last chance, and Sammy won in a in a heelish way.

SPEAKER_04 27:01

Yeah, I don't I I don't I don't know what's happening over there, but uh one thing I had a lot of big names that are just not on this list. I mean, there's a lot more, too. There's a lot more, like uh, you know, you have mentioned Matt Cardona, uh the War Raiders, the Wyatt, you know, all these individuals, Chad Gable, yeah, as whatever he wants to go as the Creed Brothers.

SPEAKER_05 27:21

Where where are the street prophets?

SPEAKER_04 27:22

They've been gone for months. They yeah. That's very, very weird. But then again, we don't know the status of Bianca because there was the a lot of rumors that I'm hearing is that her finger um might be um not healing correctly. And so there was talk, I think Mark Henry mentioned it, said that her finger might have to be uh amputated. So yeah, that's how bad her her injury is. But she did have surgery. I don't know what happened when she sustained it. Um I saw her I think it was back in August last year. And she she didn't have anything on her hand yet, so I don't know when that happened. But I I did see her and yeah, nothing yet. But uh, you know, WWE did release this year's WrestleMania card. So, Gary, do you want to go ahead and break down uh night number one, please?

SPEAKER_05 28:18

Yeah, so look, let's let's go through night one, let's go through night two. I say we save our picks for next week. Yes, because I think there's gonna be some things added. Yes. But let me say this before we get into this. And I I will give Nikki Bella her credit because I believe this was her who said it. There are plenty of people out there that want to go to WrestleMania, but can probably only afford one of the two nights. Correct. And it sucks that WWE takes so long for them to release who's wrestling night one versus night two.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:51

I wish they would somehow figure this all out, you know, early enough. I understand storyline and everything like that, but it just sucks, and it's it sucks for those fans. Granted, this year, good for them because ticket sales suck. But the years that that um that they get so the tickets are sold out, yeah, you're kind of just shit out of luck. You're picking a night and you blindly, too. Yeah. So it sucks. So sorry, I digress, but shout out to Nikki Bella. Thanks for saying that. Um, I I think I think a lot of people were pretty pissed off at what how WWE does that. Anyway, let's go night number one. We have World Heavyweight Undisputed. Well, actually.

SPEAKER_04 29:28

Hold on, let's let's start at the very bottom because it's the first hour on ESPN 2 that is completely free. Good point. This is Drew McIntyre versus Jacob Fatu.

SPEAKER_07 29:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 29:39

Completely free. Also, um, we are looking at LA Knight, the Usos taking on the Vision along with iShow Speed and the Six-Man Tag Team Match, all for free, a part of ESPN 2. Your thoughts on having these two matches for free?

SPEAKER_05 29:53

We'll see if timing works out right. But I mean, they are two, they're gonna be two great matches, and they also have a lot of big names. So I think this is ESPN's way of saying, hey, this is who we have on our program. You should probably now buy WinningSp and limited.

SPEAKER_04 30:09

I think they're gonna take a page out of AEW. And what I mean by that is we went to Revolution at Krepple.com Arena, and there was a battle royal for a championship, and it didn't end until they started the pay-per-view live. And I thought that was brilliant marketing. So I could kind of see that maybe we see Drew and Jacob carry over, and you don't get a winner until the pay-per-view officially quote unquote starts. Yep. So the PLE, sorry.

SPEAKER_05 30:34

I forget where I'm talking about. All right, Gary, we're gonna have the recent. Until you just said it. Yeah. I thought it was just there. So um, yeah. So after those matches, I guess on ESPN 2, we are headed straight to the PLE. We have our women, our fatal four, as of right now, our fatal four-way women's tag match between the Bellas. We've got um Naya Jax and um sorry, the champion. Naya Jax and Lash Legend against Bailey and Um Lyra Valkyria. Um we also have sorry, Charlotte and Alexa Bliss. So we'll see what happens with the Bellas. Obviously, we like Krista said, Kabuki Warriors might be jumping into that match. If not, uh, we should have EO versus Asuka um potentially, I would assume, on night two. Yeah. As we have seven matches here on night one. After that, we will have another match somewhere in there with Becky and AJ for the IC title. We're gonna have our Battle of Gunther and uh Seth Rollins. Uh Women's World Championship. We've got uh Liv Morgan going up against Stephanie Vacaire, and then what we've all been talking about, especially what we kicked off the show with, we will have Randy Orton taking on Cody with obviously Cody. Uh sorry Pat McAfee. Orton, yes, we'll have McAfee in his corner, and this will be for the undisputed WWE Championship.

SPEAKER_04 31:57

So night number one, so night number two. Here we go. Sunday, the first hour on ESPN 2 live, completely free. We are talking about the latter match for the uh IC Championship Penta. Uh let's see, uh Dragon Lead JD, Javon Evans, Rusev, and the returning Rey Mysterio. Also, on that first hour, I'm very surprised that they got this, but they have to pull in the audience. Obafemi taking on Brock Lesnar. Your thoughts on that one? Is it gonna be the same thing? Is it are they gonna pull the playbook out of AEW?

SPEAKER_05 32:32

I don't know. I I I could see them doing it. I also think they should lead with that match. I also thought that this should be on the same card as Orton and Cody, where Orton and Cody are kicking off the show, but not now, not with your free on ESPN. And then let Lesnar and Oba close out night one. But yeah, fuck it. Go for it. See if you can get those extra ticket sales or maybe those uh those digital sales. I don't know if it all goes into the same count or not.

SPEAKER_04 32:59

It could be. Yeah. Oh, those digital views for sure will go through the roof. Yeah. The United States Championship is gonna be on the line. Sami Zayn taking on Trick Williams, then the WWE Women's Hello. The WWE Women's Championship. Jade Cargill taking on Rhea Ripley. The match I'm really looking forward to. The returning Finn Balor as the demon taking on Dirty Dominic Mysterio. And then the World Heavyweight Championship title is gonna be on the line. CM Punk taking on Roman Reigns. My question is, where's Jelly Rolling all this? You know that you want celebrities. Where's the roles? You know?

SPEAKER_05 33:34

I heard so I heard uh God, who was talking? I think it was busted open where they're saying just just send just send jelly roll down to be in Cody's corner.

SPEAKER_04 33:42

Something, yeah, he's got or a guest ref or something.

SPEAKER_05 33:45

But then it's somehow so gimmicky. You're you how to that goddamn man just too gimmicky. Do we need them? No, we don't need any fucking celebrities. But hey, TK response shot, so whatever they want to do.

SPEAKER_04 33:57

WrestleMania card. Hopefully, uh I will be there. That's official. I'm going. Yes. Is that the breaking?

SPEAKER_05 34:03

Do we have like a breaking news sounder?

SPEAKER_04 34:04

I don't have one right now, but yeah, as we could uh pretend breaking news. You know.

SPEAKER_05 34:10

So you are going. All right. Are you hold on? So no, now we gotta talk about this for two minutes before we get into our special guest. Um, what are you wearing? Are we handing out stuff? And when I say we, I mean you and whoever you're deciding to go with because my ass is staying home. How are we getting our followers? What are we doing?

SPEAKER_04 34:27

Okay, so here is what I'm thinking of doing is I actually was trying to come up with the ideas, in case you don't know. I am a big wrestling fan, and I have a lot of wrestling belts and titles and whatever you want to call them exactly. But I did have a message, and I want to read this message to you to let you know. Because I was thinking this. I was thinking dress as Macho Man Randy Savage in my Macho Man costume that I've had for 10 years, oh yeah, and hand out Slim Gyms. But have my friends Josh and Jeff, who I'm going with now, have them wear our Towers of Power t-shirt with a QR code in the back. Hey, you want a free Slim Gym? I'm handing out free Slim Gyms. Okay. I thought that was a great gorilla marketing. But the problem, the problem is I just don't know where to do it. And that's the problem because it's like, you know, if I go to T-Mobile, T-Mobile has their security right there on the pavilion. You can't really do things like that. I've worked with T-Mobile in the past with my previous job with iHeartRadio, and it's like I've I've dealt with security. I know things that's something that will just not fly. If I'm on the strip or the boulevard, yeah, that'll fly. The other thought that came to mind, and this is from our listener Noah, he said, uh, did uh he said great episode of the podcast, by the way. So shout out to Noah, thanks for always listening. Um, so he said, I recommend for the future try going to WrestleCon. It's free on Sunday. There are tons of wrestlers hanging out, uh, different booths, activities, uh, there's legends, and you could have conversations with the wrestlers like hanging around the hotel. So then I thought, oh my, wait, that's downtown. Why not go to WrestleCon or around the area, show up and just kind of walk, you know, the you know the the downtown area where it's all covered in Vegas? It's covered, it's like it's very old school. But if Russell Khan's there and that's gonna be at the Horseshoe Hotel, why not go ahead and dress up and take my my show on the road there? Hell yeah. So I think that's what I'm gonna do. If you see me, if you see, I think well, no, no, no, I think I'm gonna try to do whatever day I can. So Russell Khan, I I gotta see when is Russell Khan, but I I think it's uh Saturday and Sunday. That's what it is. It's Saturday and Sunday. So I think if I'm around Saturday morning-ish, maybe I don't know. Like Friday, you know, I I we're trying to figure out what day to get up there. I think we're thinking of getting up there Friday morning. Um, Hall of Fame Day, yes, and everything's at Park MGM. So that's why I'm like, okay, I won't be able to be that inside the hotel. So I would have to figure out something. I mean, I could dress up as Macho Man, but I think I want, you know, I want people to come up and say hi and grab a slim gym for free. You know, I'll be handing them out. I think that's yeah, you get a slim gym because uh you're gonna follow us. You follow us? You get a slim gym. You know, kind of, kinda, you know, and give and take. I just hand out everything for free, you know.

SPEAKER_05 37:13

I I I think you should go on Thursday. Thursday. Because your best friend is gonna be on Insight Live with CVV. Yeah. Yeah. I saw that. April 16th, 8 o'clock.

SPEAKER_04 37:31

Yes, Maven, my guy right here, is gonna be the guest of CVV Insight right there in Las Vegas. It's at the uh circa on Fremont Street. That's what I was talking about, Fremont Street, doing everything there. So maybe even if I go dressed as that, maybe if I can make a sign that says Maven, I want to interview you.

SPEAKER_05 37:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:52

Screw I think that'd be awesome. And I'd be like, yo, man, I can't do the macho voice. Honestly, I like that's a thing. I look great as Macho. I can't do the voice, dude. It hurts my throat so much from trying to do it. Yeah. I'd be like, oh yeah, Maven. Hey, Maven, hey, uh let me just drop the shit. Let me go talk to you real quick.

SPEAKER_05 38:10

I'm telling you, man, you should go up on Thursday. Okay. Try to kind of hover around in this area. Maybe you get into C C V show. Maybe you meet CVV, maybe you meet Maven. We get them both on the show. Yeah. A lot of things that can be done. But I'm glad you're going. I think you're gonna have a great time as you always will. You're gonna be posting, I'm sure, nonstop. I will not be watching night one live. What? I have to work that I have worked that night. I'll be starting night one by 10:30 that night. So I'm muting Towers of Power Pod. Telling you right now, I'm muting you. I'm muting Towers of Power Pod. Wow. ESGN, everything. I might even maybe I'll just turn my phone off.

SPEAKER_04 38:47

For somebody who's so mad about the card, you're you're gonna mute everybody. Why not just go ahead and like every everyone's spoiling it anyways? We know demons gonna be there.

SPEAKER_05 38:56

I I I want to actually roll watch. I don't want to see things spoiled. I enjoy I enjoy the element of surprise, and that is what TKO is taking away from me. So damn it. Let me have my one night of not paying attention and starting the show at fucking 11 o'clock at night and running through and not be done till God knows what time in the morning. And then you're gonna night two, I'll be watching live.

SPEAKER_04 39:19

You're gonna miss this.

SPEAKER_05 39:22

No, we're not. You didn't hear, huh? No, he's still in AEW. He resigned. No, he quit today.

SPEAKER_04 39:30

No, he didn't. I know. Just kidding. So, speaking about WrestleMania, there's a lot of stuff that's happening at WrestleMania, including WrestleCon and a lot of other events. So, we do have to welcome our very special guest. You might know her as WWE Superstar Cameron, but she is Ariane Andrew. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

What's poppin'?

SPEAKER_04 39:53

How's it going?

SPEAKER_05 39:54

Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

Yeah, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_04 39:57

So, you know, WrestleMania weekend is coming up next week in Las Vegas. You're gonna be all over the place. So let's go ahead and tell your fans, our listeners, how they could see you, how they could meet you. I know something about uh Diva Mania.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

So yeah, I kick off. I mean, well, at first I kick off the weekend with um WrestleCon, which is the biggest as we all know. Um I'll be signing there. But then yeah, Diva's Mania. Um if you guys saw last year, then you know there's gonna be some fun moments that I feel like if you're not there, you're missing you're missing out. Yes, and yeah, I'll be studying the whole weekend.

SPEAKER_04 40:34

So So okay, at WrestleCon, what can people expect from you? Like, are you gonna have a merch that you that they could buy photos, stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 40:42

So, okay, Chris, yes. Um I've been holding on to my gear, not on purpose, but um I was like, you know, I got a lot of gear here. And because it's WrestleMania, I'm gonna have some WrestleMania gears that I performed in. And I think it's like a good time to be like, okay, as I'm advancing to new chapters in my life, this is a part of me as Cameron. Um and yeah, if fans want to have it and want to get it, come show up. But I mean, come show up, come show up because it's gonna be a live.

SPEAKER_04 41:17

Yeah, exactly. I mean, wrestling fans right there will go ahead and flock to WrestleCon, not only because they want this precious gear, but they want to meet you, they want their autographs, they want to talk to you. Are you gonna have some one-on-one time with everybody?

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Um, so I was told, let's not, let's keep it moving. But I've always been a person, as of lately, I'm like, you know what? I feel like if people are spending the money, they should have at least a moment to, if they want to, I mean, I'm not saying like let's have a let's go have some tea and have the tea key. But of course, like I want to get to know the people who are supporting me because without them, I wouldn't be where I'm at.

SPEAKER_04 41:54

Yeah. And I see the Total Divas uh poster right there in that background. How is it like being on the set of Total Divas and doing everything back then?

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Oh, um, no, it's definitely been a blessing. Something so different. I mean, if you guys know, fans know watching, you never had like the behind the scenes. Right. It was always something that was secret. And I'm I know this is like a wrestling-based community, but for people who aren't watching, K Fabe, it's just like you kind of keep things like we won't keep it cute. Um, so it was really nice to be able to kind of like peel back those layers of what kind of goes on behind the scenes. At the end of the day, though, you're still not getting everything, but you're getting a glimpse of like this is the life. You may think it's super glamorous, but there's a lot of things that go into place in order to make things happen.

SPEAKER_05 42:42

Was there any one of the sorry, sorry, Chris? That was like one of the shows like that was really like behind the scenes of like the WWE like at that time. So it was like almost everyone's kind of like eye-opening, like, wait, they're friends outside of work and they're doing this, they're doing that. So it was pretty cool to see like that side of things so many years ago and now kind of like where we are now.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

Exactly. Yeah, because back in the day it was just like, oh no, the storyline's a storyline, and we go keep it 100 all the way through. Yeah. Um, but you at the end of the day, I think people still have to realize like when you're working with someone, this is not MMA. This is still, this is like a soap opera. So you still have to have some type of camaraderie with the person that you're working with, even if it's like, hey, we're not best friends, but you do have to have like somewhat of a connection because you're putting your body on the line and it has to be like, okay, how am I how how are we helping each other in the sake of making sure that the fans love what they're seeing and they're getting what they're paid for?

SPEAKER_04 43:40

Was there anything that you kind of um wish that would have changed possibly as far as being exposed with Total Divas?

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Uh yeah, absolutely. One thing is like particular because I worked so hard from where I've come from. And a lot of people don't know like the full story, but tell me from a background where I'm like the first in my family to go to college and Just the world of what my life was, technically speaking, I wasn't supposed to be where I was at. So, you know, even when we have like the moment of like, okay, doing real estate and you can't afford that, or just certain things where I'm just like, I have more to offer than just being a personality. Yes, my personality has turned up, but what about all the other accolades? What about showing that, yeah, I have two degrees? You know, like showing the things that I actually have besides just being a diva.

SPEAKER_06 44:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Or the things of um, I just certain things I just wish they would have like hyphened, especially at that time being someone who looks like me and having that representation.

SPEAKER_05 44:41

Yeah. Um, yeah, after leaving WWE, how did you approach like redefining yourself professionally and also personally?

SPEAKER_01 44:47

I'm not gonna lie. Initially, I will say it's a little bit difficult because when I started, I was younger. And as just like how we all know, times are very different. And I I'm gonna say my age because I embrace it, but being 38 years young, but back then, like it's just such a different world than where we're at now. And I think you know, when you come into something, like when you come into something so early and still trying to figure out who you are as a person, and then when it's gone, it's like I feel a lot of times, even just based on this word, you're trying to figure out like, well, who am I? Like, who's Ariane? Not who's Cameron, because that's a character, but who am I? Um, but having the resiliency I had, it was just like, you know what? This is now my chapter, and every like life is a chapter. We have all these amazing chapters that happen, and you can't sit and hold on, like, okay, this was that. That's amazing. I'm so grateful I did that, but now, okay, what's happening now? And I think it's very important to have people around you who remind you of that. Because if not, you get stuck in like you know, you you hear a lot of people. I mean, I'm not sure if you boys know, but when you ask people, like, oh, what are you up to? Like, oh, well, when I was like prom king, but I was like, okay, that was oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:06

Like that's cool back in the day.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

That's cool, like go off, but okay, you have to like push forward at that moment. You know, it's very different than because we have chapters, and that chapter is gonna always keep changing.

SPEAKER_04 46:21

And speaking about chapters, you actually kind of wrote that in your book, your memoir. And I love I love how you do have this pinned on your social media. It says, uh, be honest with yourself. Have you ever had to start over? And just that alone, that phrase hits I myself and I know Gary. Uh, we both are currently unemployed. We both have gotten it. Yeah. Out of nowhere. I was with my previous company for 21 years, and now having to restart. It is a real uh ego, I guess, crusher, but it's also it's also just a humble, you know, just like just being humbled is good for everybody, but it is kind of like wow, like, okay, like what what's next?

SPEAKER_05 47:02

Scary.

SPEAKER_04 47:03

Definitely scary.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

It is definitely scary, but and I this is kind of like I because I go off on tangents, excuse my ADHD. But like I think what makes it more difficult is because we have social media, right? And you look at everyone's social media and you're like, damn, why am I not doing that? Or why haven't I gotten to that level? But nine times out of ten, people are living their best life and not their best life.

SPEAKER_05 47:32

I like that.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

It's a highlight reel. No one's sitting here showing when you're going through it, like, oh, I'm sitting here right now breaking down into tears. No one's gonna post up because that's quote unquote not sexy. But at the end of the day, we all go through things, and I think it's just like reminding yourself of like, I am okay, maybe I'm here right now, but life can change like that. And I'm even teaching myself that because I go through these moments of like the highs and the lows, because at the end of the day, when you're here, where else can you go?

SPEAKER_05 48:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:08

And then it's like you have to revamp and figure out, and then you start all over again. I think that's like the beauty of life, even though sometimes we're like, ooh, that ain't cute though.

SPEAKER_04 48:19

What's uh I guess like the biggest life lesson that you've taught yourself?

SPEAKER_01 48:23

That's a really good question. I would say just try to stay in my own lane. Cause it's kind of just like what I was just talking about. It's so easy to get caught up in damn, this person's doing this. Why haven't I achieved, or why am I not where I think I need to be? But even if I'm pretty sure, like if you look at your life and stuff, even though you're like, oh, this, this, and that, people look at and they're like, damn, I wish I had that. So always someone's wishing that they had what you have, and you're wishing that you had something else. So I guess it's just learning, like, we all go through these cycles of life and just being grateful for the time that you have and that moment that you have and embracing it because it's gonna change. And that's just like the cycle of life. And if we're lucky enough to make it, because life's been a little crazy, and you hear about so many people passing away, yeah. Like, okay, I'm alive. You get to do something amazing like this, get to share your story as well, like, get to communicate with people. That's uh that's dope within itself, like getting to meet new people and expand your brand in that sense.

SPEAKER_04 49:28

So you never know.

SPEAKER_01 49:28

What if someone calls you tomorrow and be like, so we're gonna pick you up and we're about to put a Netflix show?

SPEAKER_04 49:32

Let's go, let's do that. Let's yeah, run it back. Let's go. You'll be our first guest for sure.

SPEAKER_05 49:38

I'll shave a little bit.

SPEAKER_07 49:40

I'm manifesting. I'm manifesting for you. I love it, I love it. Come on, come on.

SPEAKER_05 49:43

Uh, so looking back like at your time, what was the moment that you think defined you, not only like as a performer, but also like as a person?

SPEAKER_01 49:50

I feel like there's a few. It's kind of hard to put everything in like one, but having to wrestle because I had between three and three and a half months of training, and that was a lot of pressure, especially against my girl, like my girl Naomi, who is the most athletic, and I'm like, okay. So all right, girl, I just I'm gonna do my best, but there's only so much I can do because I only you know have so much training. But obviously, being a part of WrestleMania, even as a dancer and not having any dance background, that was amazing. Um, to be in front of a big stage like that. I I feel that definitely set a tone. Um, and felt great because at that time I didn't really realize how big WrestleMania is, which is like our Super Bowl. And even though I wasn't prepared, even though I wasn't quote unquote wrestling at the time, being able to go in front of a stage, I think that that was a pretty dope moment. And doing it with someone who I felt like was part of my journey since day one, and doing it with Trent, doing it with Naomi, and I'm like, we get to do this together.

SPEAKER_04 51:06

Yeah, yeah. What do you remember from that WrestleMania being backstage?

SPEAKER_01 51:09

Dealing with all the mamas because it was at that time because we were dancing, so it's like a whole choreography, and I remember I'm like, I don't remember the dance. Like, wait, what do we do here? And it was just what I remember is just like I don't remember.

SPEAKER_04 51:27

You don't remember?

SPEAKER_01 51:28

What I remember is that I don't remember.

SPEAKER_04 51:30

Do you remember the dance moves in general? No, really, wow. You know, it's like we played this on. What comes what comes to your head right away?

SPEAKER_01 51:39

I mean, of course, it's the dance moves that we always do.

SPEAKER_05 51:46

What's something fans would be shocked to learn about you? Do you have like any hidden talents or anything else you'd wish to share?

SPEAKER_01 51:54

Um, hidden talents, yes, I like to have random moments. No, I'm just kidding. Um, it's not really hidden talents, but just knowing that something I kept a secret for like a long time, like struggling with ADHD, that's why my brain's always so all over the place. Dealing with mental health has been a very big thing, but I'm very vocal about it because I think it's super important to talk about it. Now, I always like to start with a little, I don't want to say it's negative, but it's a little bit more of like a thing no one's like, oh, that's sexy. Yeah, girl, can you talk about mental health a little bit more? But learning how to embrace that and be like, this is just who I am, I understand now why I'm so quirky and why I do the things I do, why my personality is the way it is. So embracing that, um, but I was just saying this today. I don't think in anyone's mind, someone would be like that girl. She never, I mean, it made a lot of money. I feel like for me at very at the very least, I made some amazing moments within WWE, but I was never a champion. I never got the things of what you would say was like, okay, she's gonna be in the hall of fame. None of that's gonna happen. So going out and creating my company, the independent wrestling promotion, PTW, I think that's the least thing anyone ever expected. Especially when people thought like I wasn't a fan. And I'm gonna be honest, I keep it 1000. I didn't grow up watching wrestling, but I fell so in love with wrestling. And after having the experience I had and just knowing what I went through, I was like, you know what? I want to create something that it's mine and how I can be able to control the narrative, give people a place to be seen and be heard. You typically wouldn't have that because you can't help, you can't help your race, you can't help like how tall you are. There's certain things that's like that's out of your control. Like, what do you do about it? It's just like this is me.

SPEAKER_04 53:50

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

I I can't change that. And so I wanted to do something where I could be able to tap into a world, especially in the indies, where no shade. It's usually something like a backyard or gymnasium, and that's cool. But I'm like, why can't it be luxury? Yeah, why not give them the tools to be able to have something as they prepare to get to the bigger picture? And that's what uh creating poundtown wrestling. Yeah, and also when people are like, wait, pound town, what what the hell?

SPEAKER_04 54:18

That's that's what we were talking about off air before you joined us. Yeah, we're like, okay, all right, well, poundtown wrestling. All right, pound town. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 54:26

I get it.

SPEAKER_04 54:26

It's it's supposed to make you I will tell you this, it's great marketing because it's something that people will go ahead and be like, wait, what? And then that that name sticks. So for what it's worth, I'll tell you right now, that name is 10 out of 10.

SPEAKER_06 54:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 54:42

So you can follow them on Instagram too, uh, Poundtown Wrestling. That's at Poundtown Wrestling. Uh, so tell us a little bit more about Poundtown Wrestling. What could people expect from tuning in and seeing this stuff on social media? Uh, there's a lot I could see.

SPEAKER_01 54:55

It's a lot. So yeah, uh, June 13th is my third show and super excited, elevated in a way that I never thought possible. Um, something I didn't think that was just gonna take off the way it did. Um, like I explained before, it's very different. It's bringing pop culture because I mean, if you think about like wrestling too, even in the indies, you have the you know, East Coast, you have Midwest. It's not a big, big wrestling community like that in California.

SPEAKER_06 55:25

Right.

SPEAKER_01 55:25

So I'm like, why not just bring something that brings that luxurious life where you got the pop culture, you have the wrestling community, but then it's glam. Yeah, plus LGBTQ. I didn't realize how big of a fan base I would have with LGBTQ. Um, and just kind of incorporating all of that. And so it's gonna be at the Avalon um in Hollywood, which great venue, legendary, iconic. It's it's so yeah. So to have that, and people are like, How did you do that? I'm like, I'll I don't even know how I did it myself, but um, we're elevating. So yeah, the show's um April, sorry, April. Yeah, it was like, okay, well, sorry, June 13th.

SPEAKER_04 56:08

June 13th, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Sorry, there's too much going on between WrestleMania and the whole nine.

SPEAKER_04 56:13

So and for those people who don't know LA, that that venue right there, Avalon, is so iconic with so many great concerts and performances and things of that nature. So having that right there, wow, that's that's big. Uh, don't forget uh Poundtown Wrestling on Instagram at Poundtown Wrestling. Get your tickets right there because you don't want to miss it.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

Come on, it's we'll be working on the scene chart because it's a lot going on. It's the video is a it's it's it's a little, it's it's a lot. Like when you see it, it's it's not a lot in a bad way, but it's a lot like wow, this is on a whole nother level of production.

SPEAKER_06 56:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:47

What we're bringing to the table, red carpet. They can maybe be a match that's nostalgia.

SPEAKER_04 56:55

Okay. Okay, I love that. Okay, I love the mystery behind that.

SPEAKER_01 56:59

Recently, I've been connecting so much with like the world of wrestling, every how everyone's just been collaborating lately. It makes me feel super happy.

SPEAKER_04 57:07

Yeah, and and that's the thing too. Like, you know, at the end of every podcast, I say, you know, we're just in the wrestling community just like you, and we want to learn and grow. So, you know, like, subscribe, and share. You know, that's that's all we ask, you know? That's that's my little catch story. All right, so before we let you go, because I know you are very busy, you know, got Wrestle WrestleCon and and of course uh Poundtown Wrestling on Instagram. Would you like to play a game?

SPEAKER_01 57:28

No.

SPEAKER_04 57:28

No, okay, so tough. You're gonna play this. I don't believe I was gonna say, no matter what, you're playing this game, okay? This is a game. This is a game I created, okay? It is called Name That Wrestler off their theme song. So, what's gonna happen is I'm gonna play a little hook or a little snippet of a wrestler's theme song, and you just gotta name the wrestler.

SPEAKER_01 57:49

Oh no, you're not about to do me like that now.

SPEAKER_04 57:52

Trust me, I think I think you could do this, okay? All right, we're gonna start very easy. These are some people that you know too, okay? So it's not gonna be like something random, alright? So let's go ahead. We're gonna start with this one, all right. Name this wrestler.

SPEAKER_01 58:11

No idea. I'm just kidding. My girl, Foxy!

SPEAKER_04 58:14

Yes, Alicia Fox. Alright, see, very easy, right? Here's another song.

SPEAKER_01 58:19

I'm scared though, because there's some old school people that I'm like, okay now.

SPEAKER_04 58:23

Well, I'm not gonna go too old, alright? Okay, name this wrestler.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Stop playing, Molina.

SPEAKER_04 58:33

Yeah, see? Why do you see in the playing? See, yeah, I'm not playing the game, you are. All right, here. Let's get let's give you another one, okay? Uh here's an easy one, alright? Name this wrestler.

SPEAKER_01 58:48

Natalia.

SPEAKER_04 58:50

Yes. Here you go.

SPEAKER_05 58:51

Three for three.

SPEAKER_01 58:52

We'll go three for three. All right, there we go. See?

SPEAKER_04 58:54

Better than I did my first time. Do you still watch the product or no?

SPEAKER_01 58:57

So, because I've been so busy, I watch the most recent raw, but I just do like highlights.

SPEAKER_04 59:04

Yeah. I mean, I'm kind of like that way. I'm like, I'm watching on Instagram. That's kind of what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

I don't even have time respectfully to scratch my ass. So I'm like, how do I have time to sit here for scratching your ass is kind of important too.

SPEAKER_05 59:17

So is there anyone um at at WrestleCon, uh old coworkers or just friends that you're looking forward to see, catch up with?

SPEAKER_01 59:24

It's I feel like it's always just like such an amazing moment when you when everyone's just kind of together, it's it's like a different energy. I don't feel like I have anyone specific, it's just more connecting with old faces. Because there's gonna be a lot of people there. If I sit here, I'm like, let me just go ahead, let me pull up someone name people.

SPEAKER_04 59:45

And of course, you're gonna leave somebody out. Hey, what about me? How come you didn't mention my name?

SPEAKER_01 59:49

I just I just can't.

SPEAKER_04 59:51

Thank you so much for your time, Ariane. And uh, we want to make sure that we follow you on everything social. So go ahead and shout out your social medias, please.

SPEAKER_01 59:58

Yes, so you guys can follow me at Ariane Andrew across the board, and of course, Town Town Wrestling, um, June 13th. It is happening, going down at Avalon. Um, good times. Excited to be back in the world of wrestling and doing it the way I want to do. As I would say, rocking to the beat of my own drum. Rocking to the beat of my own drum. Girl, hi.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:21

And on that note, girl, bye.

unknown 1:00:27

All you gotta do is bye.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:29

All right, of course, we do have to send a big shout out to our friends on Instagram. That is handling everything at WrestleCon. That's LAX FanFest. At LAX FanFest. Make sure you give them a follow as well because they are bringing you some of the biggest names to WrestleCon, including Kelly Kelly, Kurt Engel, and we just heard from Ariane and uh Candice Michelle will also be there. All thanks to LAX FanFest on Instagram. That's at LAX FanFest. Give them a big follow. Um, so one thing I do really want to talk about before we go, Gary. Okay. Vince Russo and Jonathan Coachman had a guest on, and it was Tony Khan. And they wanted to go ahead and shoot from the hip with Tony Khan.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:13

Sorry, this is busted open radio.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:15

No, no, no. This this is uh uh his podcast, uh Coach and Bro.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:19

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:20

Yeah. So I don't know if it's on Series XM or not. I don't even I know it's on YouTube, that's where I saw it. I don't think so. Okay. Um, you know, one of one of uh the people I follow, I mean, uh the influencers I follow in professional wrestling, he had posted it. So that's where I grabbed it. I was like, what the hell is this? And I was upset. This is uh let's see.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:38

Uh I know nothing about this, so this is this is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:42

So it's okay, so it's uh Vince Russo's the band. That's what it is, the coach and bro. So they had Tony Khan on, the president of AEW, who we've actually met and uh talked to. Well, we haven't really met, but we saw him in the same room and we asked him some questions. We are part of the media scrum. And in case you don't know what that is, that is uh the post interviews after the pay-per-views of AEW, where the media that that's invited there will come into the room and ask questions to the members of the roster or to Tony or to things like that. WWE used to do something like this, but they were very selective in who actually was allowed into that room. And I have been a member of the media for over 20 years. I have been in radio and I've done some things with TV, and the thing is I have a very uh credible background, and some people don't. And when people don't have it, they shouldn't be asking questions. A lot of these podcasters and influencers have never been in the world of media, and they don't need to, and that's fine. But there is a level of respect and boundaries when you are doing these types of things. WWE did not allow me to go into these press conferences, and I didn't understand why. But then looking at it, I'm like, oh, they just want the person with 100,000 followers, or they want, or a million followers, or this or that. That's fine. But it's like I was a part of traditional media. So, with that said, this is uh Jonathan Coachman, Vince Russo, and Tony Khan and their podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:17

Tony, I know you got it from Japan, but you started with these scrums. And I'm gonna be as blunt as I can be because I've seen a lot of these scrums, okay? Because Tony, we love we love the hugging. We love when when people come in and you hug them, we get a big kick out of that. So we watch the scrums. But Tony, here's my problem. We got a lot of fans in there, Tony. A lot of fans, and a lot of people are in there asking you questions and the talent questions because they got a presence on social media, they've got, you know, a hundred thousand followers, etc., etc., etc. But at the end of the day, they're fans. They're not professionals, they act like fans. My problem with this is I believe we have made these fans feel like they are part of the business. Tony, they're not part of the business, especially wrestling. Wrestling has always been a close fraternity and it's been very, very special. We have literally let fans feel they are now a part of our business, and I really feel that that has made the wrestling business lose mystique. I have, I feel that has made the wrestling business lose credibility. I feel that it has done way more harm than good, and I think that's one of the reasons why the WWE stopped doing them. There are other reasons, but I think that's part of it. But Tony, I I have to get your spin on that because I I I just feel like the door is open. Hey, anybody, you got a website, you got a hundred thousand followers, you you got a podcast. Yeah, come on in and ask MJF any question you want to ask him. That doesn't happen anywhere else, Tony.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:15

Okay, we're gonna stop it right there. Damn, your your thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:20

Well, I guess shout out to him because I feel like I mean he's taking shots at us. So is he listening to us and our hundreds of thousands of followers? Yeah, our millions, first of all, and millions of followers, yes. Yeah. Um, number two, fuck, man. Like that sucks. Like, it's it's uh I I love what Tony is doing, and again, I've I've never been the biggest Tony Khan fan. Um, I didn't don't really know much of him other than just AEW and his family's affiliation with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Um, I understand ish where Russo is coming from, but at the same time, dude, fuck off. Like, this is something that Tony's done a great job at. So if if we're acting like fans, Fans fuck it. We you are we are fans. That's the thing. Is we are fans, but we also are part of the media. Yes. And they are not opening the fucking floodgates to let anybody in here. Here's a special invite.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:12

Like my my background, I just talked about Gary. What is your background for those people who we need and want to know?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:18

I worked in radio as well, just like Chris did, but except I was on the promotional and marketing side. Yeah. Um, I also worked in sports, uh, sports marketing for God, 15 plus years. So I understand the media side of things. I've been in these media rooms, I've got concerts with celebrities. I've been in those VIP um interview rooms. I've talked to these celebrities, and again, I don't fanboy over any of this stuff. I I see these people as exactly what they are. They are other humans in this world. They are just making a lot more money than I am.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:49

Yeah, a lot more than me, too. All right, well, here's Tony's response.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:53

It's a very interesting point you bring up, Vince. But I think that, first of all, there's a difference between working in one job in wrestling versus another job in wrestling. There's a difference between being a wrestling fan versus working in the wrestling industry year-round. But I do think that the lines get blurred, absolutely. And the lines have been blurred more than ever. And absolutely, you mention people with big followings and and medium-sized followings or small followings and people from all different backgrounds. I think it's good. All these people are connected to wrestling from different walks of life.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:30

You know, but but Tony, let me So Coach is about to interrupt. But that kind of goes back to what I say every at the end of every podcast. Hey, we're in the wrestling community just like you. That's because we are wrestling fans. This is this is our common bond. When I've talked about professional wrestling in seminars and things like that, and I've compared things uh to that world of of you know entertainment, because when you think about professional wrestling, I think I've even talked about it on this podcast, is that wrestling fans are different. We're built differently. And the reason why I say that compared to NFL, uh, MLB, whatever other kind of sport, is that those people will go ahead and take it literally. Like, meaning, like, oh man, I'm a diehard Patriots fan. I believe in the Patriots.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:10

I am guilty.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:10

Yes. Yes, you are. That's why I'm saying Patriots. And but here's the thing: you you buy the jerseys, you have the the merch, and for what? To show your alliance to that, right? Yes, which is fine. But the moment that somebody comes over here and talks shit to you about hey, well, you know what? The chargers are better. Yep. You're gonna go off. And that's because that's because you have that rivalry with professional wrestling fans, you could have that difference of opinion, but you're all there for the entertainment aspect. Yes. That's what it is. You that's why I'm sitting next to strangers at last year's WrestleMania, had no idea who they are. Next thing you know, we're talking about, oh, I think so-and-so's gonna why why? Oh, because I think you know this is gonna happen. That's it's it's it's a very common br uh, you know, breaking of bread, really, at the table. So I think that's where Tony is coming from. Here's John of the Coachman, and here's what I did not like.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:58

Let me jump. Let me jump in. What he's saying is that when you have a fan come in, a fan's gonna ask you in particular a question so you don't get upset with him, or you so you are nice to them. And I spent 11 years at ESPN. That's not a reporter. A reporter is asking Tony Khan why did you have a needle through a cheek tonight and getting a straight answer? That's what a reporter does.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:23

I appreciate that. I appreciate that. And to be fair, the outlets that some of the legitimate journalists in wrestling work for and some of the people who walk the line, that's one of the interesting things. There's shades of gray among some of these outlets. There's it's not uh all the worldwide leaders in journalism and sports journalism competing for these spots. I think what's interesting to me, coach and Vince, is I generally have said, I'll answer every question, I'll stay until everybody's gotten to ask something.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:53

Facts. And so coach is saying that we're all fans going in, they're pretty much we're all marks, and that we're not asking questions. We're not, and that's the thing. It's like obviously you're not watching the whole thing. Yes, there might be one or two or three or four people like that that are in that room, and I remember when we were in that room, I kind of felt like there was, you know, when we're in there, but it's like I told the person that posted this, who's an influencer, oh man, I wish I could find his name real quick. Damn it, Chris. Um, Nico, sorry, Nico Adams, uh, N-I-K-O-E-X-X T-R-A-1 on IG. He posted this. He's an influencer, he's done interviews, he's actually sat down, he does he does a lot of good content. So, in case you want to follow him, shout out to him.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:34

Let's let's get him over here.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:36

Yeah, when when he posted that, I told him this, and I even commented. I'm like, you know what? As for a coach to be mad and for Russo to be upset, I was the only one to ask about Ronda Rousey straight up in that press conference. Everybody has a lot of time to go ahead and ask that question, but nobody was asking it. So it's like I take offense to you grouping me into those two, three, four, five individuals that are fans that are asking. TMZ. TMZ didn't even ask it, and they were next to us. Like I didn't want to call them out, but let's call them out. I will the TMZ crew that does their wrestling podcast, whatever it's called, was sitting front row, did not even ask that question. It's like that's the first question that came up in my mind because as she's in the middle of the ring pointing at Tony Storm, like TMZ's right there. You have these other outlets that are big that are right there that are not asking these questions.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:28

And that was probably the biggest moment of the night. But but besides some of the returns, but Round Arousey in AEW? Yeah, come on.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:36

So I took offense to Coach, and I think Russo and Coach, why not invite them? Why not have them in the media scrum? Yeah, fellas, if you if if you are so upset about it, and why don't you show us how it's done? Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:48

And like like I quickly said before, it's like it's there. Tony's not Tony Khan is not opening up the media room doors. If not, there'd be 17,000 people in LA that would have been in that room. It's a you had to go through a certain protocol. You you someone either reached out to you or you reached out to them, you got a uh a media pass, like credential. So we had to go through some things to to to get into where we went. It's not they're not letting anybody in. Yes, we have a podcast. Sorry, we don't have hundreds of thousands of followers yet, but we are we are we are starting, and this is how we are getting in to do these great things and getting to ask these hard-hitting questions. And yeah, if you didn't ask, I was asking next. We both had our hands up, and little did we know until afterwards that we were both about to ask the same question because no one else had asked that question.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:35

Surprisingly, like everybody like, oh, how is uh Tony Storm's hand?

SPEAKER_05 1:12:40

Like, oh, I thought you were Tony, yeah, yeah. Awkward, but I mean, like, no offense to the guy that was sitting, I think it was across from me, and he was just like, This is the first time I've ever watched AEW. This, like he was a fan of wrestling, I believe.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:53

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:53

But he's like, I'd never been to an event, I've never watched AEW, but hey, you got a fan in me now, right? And it was just like a nice common courtesy thing to say to, and I think you know, him and Renee Paquette, who was in there too, like they were the like, this is great. This is why we do it, right? Because we are pulling in fans that they didn't even know they were fans until they watched. Yeah. So yeah, fuck fuck them. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Fuck them.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:17

Coach, I liked you yesterday after I listened to something of yours, hearing that today. Fuck off.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:22

Yeah, fuck off, coach. All right, but come on the show. We can talk about it. Yeah, we gotta get out of here. Uh, all right, so let's go ahead and wrap it up. Long show. Yeah, I know. Long show. Thank you so much for listening, by the way, if you're still listening. Uh, Gary, go ahead and give us our show socials.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:34

Towers PowerPod on X. At Gary underscore Dubin on X. And of course, Towers. G Dubs33 on G.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:43

Sorry, hold on, hold on. Say it again. Say it again. I cut you off. Go ahead. Gary, this is your your time. What's your IG, Gary, your specific one.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:50

Ooosa. Wooza. At G Dubs33 on Instagram. That's it. Oh, you want me to run through all three? No, no, no. Is that it? I think so.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:00

Okay, I just want to make sure you got your proper shine because I was cutting you off.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:03

I mean, you can follow my dog at Tatum's underscore adventures. Oh, there you go. How about Tatum?

SPEAKER_04 1:14:07

Tatum's underscore adventure.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:08

Pass it out.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:09

Adventures. Oh, Adventures. Z or S.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:12

S, yes. S.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:13

Okay, you guys.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:14

At Tatum underscore adventures.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:17

All right. And don't forget to go ahead and follow the show at Towers of PowerPod on IG, TikTok. Mine is at Hollywood Chris. And like I say, at the end of every podcast, we're in the wrestling community, just like you. We want to learn, grow. Maybe even kind of share something with us, DM us, tell us what's going on. And uh I will see you at WrestleMania. Make sure you go ahead and uh share everything that we're doing because we just want to grow. So thank you so much for listening to us, and we will see you again next time.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:42

Later.