Beyond The Mat with JoshhyWrestling

WWE Summerslam Recap: Rollins Reigns, Punk Falls, and Cena’s Last Stand Begins | Ep 3

• JoshhyWrestling

Share episode

Send a question for next episode

The wrestling world is still buzzing after an unforgettable SummerSlam that shattered records and shook the WWE landscape. In Episode 3 of Beyond the Mat, we break down every championship change, shocking return, and match-of-the-year contender across both blockbuster nights at MetLife Stadium.

From CM Punk’s emotional world title win and Seth Rollins’ shocking cash-in, to Cody vs. Cena in a 37-minute classic and Brock Lesnar’s controversial return — we cover it all. Plus, Raw fallout, WarGames fantasy booking, and my personal Wrestling Mount Rushmore. Don’t miss this one.

👉 Subscribe, rate 5 stars, and send your questions in for next week!

Listen & Follow Everywhere:
 👉 JoshhyWrestling.com
📲   TikTok | YouTube | Twitter/X

🎧 Listen to the Podcast on Your Favourite Platform:

🔗 Spotify
🔗 Apple Podcasts
🔗 Amazon Music

Support the show

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, it is Wednesday, the 6th of August, episode number three of the Beyond the Map podcast. My name is Josh E Wrestling and I would like to welcome you to a brand new episode, week three. Baby, we have got so, so much to talk about on today's episode. So many questions, so much wrestling that happened this past weekend, so so much fantastic wrestling. We are going to cover it all, but first, wherever you are watching or listening whether you're on YouTube or you are listening to the audio forms on Spotify, wherever you are, slap a like, slap a follow, slap a five star, if you have got the capabilities as well. Also, leave me some questions for the next episode of the Beyond the Map podcast. You can do that below on most of the platforms that you are on. Drop me some questions, give me some feedback, let me know if what you are seeing you are enjoying. I would love to hear it all good or bad. It really does help a lot, and I'd like to thank you all as well for tuning in Week number three. I really thought week number two, the numbers would drop off, but guess what? They were bigger than week one and I cannot be so so much more happy than I currently am. Thank you so so much.

Speaker 1:

This is episode three of the Beyond the Mat podcast. Welcome, let's settle in, let's get into it. We're going to kick things off with this past weekend's SummerSlam 2025, the first ever two-night SummerSlam. That is right. A hundred and thirteen thousand people packing out the MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, new Jersey. What a weekend, what a weekend of professional wrestling 113,722 across two nights. That is an absolutely incredible number. It obviously broke the records. Despite it is a two-night event. We have to kind of remember that Stephanie McMahon announced that number and I was absolutely blown away. I want to quickly run through night one and night two, kind of give my overall thoughts as we go.

Speaker 1:

I think, as a quick summary, I really enjoyed SummerSlam. I really, really did enjoy SummerSlam. If I was to rank it, give it a gradient as such, I would probably give it a 6.5 out of 7. That's kind of what I said in all of my videos. It had a lot of fantastic moments. It had a lot of really, really great moments, but it also had a lot of or a few at least dim moments. That kind of pulled it down a little bit for me, unfortunately. I did enjoy the show. When I was happy, I was happy, but the low moments definitely pulled them down. Let's get into the show, night number one. Like I said, the stadium was booming. So so many people in that arena over two nights In that stadium let's not even call it an arena, because that is not what it was.

Speaker 1:

We kicked off night one with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso defeating Bron Breaker and Bronson Reed. Not a bad match overall. It went on for about 21 minutes. I kind of expected that. Not too bad, not a bad match at all. A good way to kick off the night.

Speaker 1:

You've obviously got Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. You know two of the hottest stars in the company right now and have been for a while, especially with Jey, you know, doing all of his current run or his recent run with the World Heavyweight Championship. Roman Reigns, the guy's the OTC. That guy has been around forever. At that point, them the veterans. They're now veterans. You know Jey Uso doesn't feel like he has done enough yet to become a legend or someone who has been around forever. He has been around forever I'm struggling with the words that he has absolutely been around forever. And it really was the veterans versus what felt like the new guys, the rookies, despite them not being rookies, the guys who have just not been around as long as these top dogs. It was the newcomers versus the oldies, and Roman Reigns and Jey Uso ended up coming out on top.

Speaker 1:

Next for me, charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss defeating the former WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, the Judgment Day, raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez. I thought this was very, very good of a match. I really enjoyed this match, 13 minutes long, and it just seemed to have a little bit of everything. For me. It was in my kind of top two, top three matches of the six, seven matches, seven matches that we ended up actually getting, due to what happened in the later moments of the night, really enjoyed this match. Not really a foot wrong. I did predict Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to take the titles. I match. Not really a foot wrong. I did predict Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to take the titles. I was very, very happy with that result. I'm very excited to see what they go on and do.

Speaker 1:

They were on tonight's Monday Night Raw, which we will touch on in a little bit Sami Zayn versus Karrion Kross. This was super underwhelming, really, really underwhelming. I did not think Sami Zayn was going to win that match. Push Karrion Kross. What is going on? We that match? Push, carry and cross. What is going on? We know that carry and cross is like closing in on the end of his contract. I believe it's this weekend. I believe it's this weekend. It's Wednesday now. You're listening to this, hopefully, as it comes out on a Wednesday, and this weekend, this upcoming weekend, is when the contract expires for both him and Scarlett, and that sucks. That really really does suck. I'm really open that they've got something in place. I mean, he only even got an eight minute match against Sami Zayn. That could have been so, so much better. It wasn't. It really was not it for me at all and it really wasn't it for a lot of people. And Karrion Kross again taking the L it was nice to see him on a PLE. Sami Zayn is absolutely a star and it's absolutely a future world champion. But Karrion Kross is holding on to his job at this point and I'm not sure WWE are going to keep him around for much longer. It really really does suck, because that man has got bags and bags of potential Really gutted. With that outcome, I really am Sami Zayn defeating DeVito Karrion Kross in what I believe to be probably the most underwhelming match of the entire night.

Speaker 1:

Next up Tiffany Stratton versus Jade Cargill. I've been quite vocal on how much I kind of never been able to get behind Jade Cargill, but I did feel that this was her night to take the championship. She's had a lot of build with the Queen of the Ring. She picked up the Queen of the Ring a couple of months ago and I thought this was it. I thought this was it. She was taking the belt off Tiffany Stratton. I was wrong. Again, tiffany Stratton is building a resume. Right now she's beating Charlotte Flair, she is beating Trish Stratus, she's beat Naomi, she's beat all of the top dogs in the division and now she's also beat Jade Cargill. What is next for Jade Cargill? I do not know. This match was okay, a little bit underwhelming as well. Nevertheless, tiffany Stratton picking up the win here. Like I said, I was as shocked as anyone. I was looking at the. I was looking at the poll after from the discord server on who people thought were going to win this match, and not many people had Tiffany Stratton to retain. Nevertheless, she does. She is still our WWE women's champion, drew McIntyre and Logan Paul defeating Randy Orton and Jelly Roll.

Speaker 1:

Well, what do we? What do we say about this match? Should we have had Drew McIntyre versus Randy Orton and Jelly Roll? Well, what do we say about this match? Should we have had Drew McIntyre versus Randy Orton? Probably probably Did Jelly Roll need to be in this match. I think Jelly Roll did a good enough job for what it was.

Speaker 1:

That man also took a crazy five-star frog splash Logan Paul on the top rope, jumping out to the ring and the announce desk. That was incredible. That man put his body through it. That night. Apparently they changed the decision of the match or who the outcome, who was going to win that match later on in the night and it was very short notice that they did change it to Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul winning. But this was absolutely the right decision. Randy Orton got his time in the ring. Jelly Roll got what he wanted to do in the ring. You know the man got under 300 pounds for the first time in many, many years. It's incredible what he has done. It is incredible that he even got in the ring and put on that kind of performance. But Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul needed to win this match. You know those are the Whilst. A lot of people did predict Randy Orton and Jelly Roll. That is absolutely the right decision. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul picking up the win. Next one, next one.

Speaker 1:

Match of the night hands down. For me it was this. And then it was the women's tag match, but CM Punk defeating Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Albeit, he only held it for 5 minutes 10 seconds. Nevertheless, that match was a really really good, hard-hitting match. It was Gunther style all over. Gunther really carried that match and Punk brought it. Yeah, punk absolutely brought it. He busted Gunther open. We now know that Gunther, as of tonight's Monday Night Raw, he is not, or last night's Monday Night Raw, he will not be seen for a while. He's going to be out indefinitely. For some time I haven't really sat and thought about this much, so I don't really have much to offer on what's going on with Gunther, but what we do know is that he is out indefinitely. I thought this was a really good match. I really really did enjoy this match.

Speaker 1:

It's probably a match that I'm going to go back and watch again, but from what I remember of it, 30 minutes, solid, powerful. 30 minutes solid, powerful, painful, and CM Punk picking up the World Heavyweight Championship, and for a moment, there was a world where John Cena and CM Punk were both world champions in the WWE. For five minutes, the exact same time, five minutes nevertheless. And then we have what happened next Seth freaking Rollins. Seth Rollins' music hit, widely predicted around the world, widely, widely predicted down the world, around the world, and it was a beautiful moment. It was a beautiful moment. It was a beautiful moment. I've got the set top on now as well. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see the top. If you are listening, then I've got the set top on One of the most recent set tops, actually picked it up from WWE Liverpool earlier this year.

Speaker 1:

Nevertheless, cm Punk is having his moment in the ring. He is holding the belt, he's in tears. They zoom in on CM Punk's face and Seth Rollins burn it the crutches. He's got all that good stuff. He's coming out. He's looking at CM Punk. Is he going to do it? Is he going to do it? He's looking at CM Punk. He turns around. He turns around. He walks away. He starts heading towards the back. Next thing, he stops. He drops. This was cinema, absol, absolute cinema. He drops the crutches. The crutches fall. It was poetic. He turns around, he looks at Punk again and he takes the strap off. He takes the strap off. We spoke about it last week. We said will it happen? I said it will happen. We're now sat here in a world where Seth Rollins has cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase and is now our World Heavyweight Champion. He takes off the brace and he charges down to the ring. He attacks CM Punk with the briefcase several times. The ref gets in, he gives him the briefcase Seth Rollins officially cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and the rest was history. He hits Punk with a curb stomp and that is all she wrote.

Speaker 1:

Seth freaking Rollins walks out of SummerSlam night one as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and as Seth Rollins through and through. This was such a happy night for me. Such a happy night for me. I'm so happy for Seth picking up once again another title. But there was a small feeling where they zoomed in on CM Punk and you just knew the music hits and, yeah, his face dropped. You just knew the music hits and, yeah, his face dropped, and there was a moment, there was really a moment where I thought I actually feel bad. I actually feel bad for what is about to happen. That being the cash-in, I did feel bad. I feel like he has been severely hard done by to this point he grabs the title. Feel like he has been severely hard done by to this point he grabs the title. Um, you know what? What is fortunate for him, uh, or what is unfortunate for him is he still held it 30 seconds shorter than drew mcintyre. Drew mcintyre is still, has still got that over him, which is which is crazy, which is absolutely crazy. Definitely felt bad for set. I really did feel bad for Seth. Nevertheless, seth Rollins is your brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. That makes him a six-time world champion in the WWE, and I could not be any more happier.

Speaker 1:

Let's get on to night two, which, in my opinion, was severely better or severely, probably the wrong word Extremely better than night one. Night two was a night of champions. It's what? Everything. It's everything. What night champions should have been Naomi defeating Rhea Ripley and Io Sky. This was another incredible triple threat match in that women's division for that women's title, the women's world title Naomi defeating Ripley and Io in an absolute classic.

Speaker 1:

I am so, so, so happy that these women are managing to put on these bangers. They got 16 minutes in what I thought was a really good back and forth. There was moments where I thought was a really good back and forth. There was moments where I thought Naomi could win it, rhea could win it and Io could win it, and it was an absolute emotional fest. I did not know which way it was going. I did predict Naomi to walk out. A beautiful moment, a beautiful moment before the match as well. Naomi's dad actually played her to the ring on the guitar. That was beautiful, really, really beautiful to see. Naomi's dad actually played her to the ring on the guitar. That was beautiful, really, really beautiful to see, although her dad was spotted taking pictures with Rhea Ripley and Io Sky after WWE SummerSlam. So she said she went to Twitter. She wasn't too happy about that.

Speaker 1:

This right here was such a good match. I'm so happy that Naomi retained, but I'm also so happy that all three women were able to put on such a good match. I'm so happy that Naomi retained, but I'm also so happy that all three women were able to put on such a spectacular match, because that's exactly what it was the six-pack tables, ladders and chairs match for the WWE Tag Team Championships only went on for 16 minutes, but it felt like it went on for much longer. Sometimes I look at these matches and think it's going to be overproduced, it's going to be too much of a spot fest. There's going to be too many different things going on at the same time that the WWE are just not going to be able to capture the moment. I was completely wrong. This match right here, the Wyatt Six defeating Andrade and Ray Phoenix, diy Fraxium, motor City Machine Guns, the Street Profits and finally, the. Who did I miss there? Diy Fraxium, motor City, machine Guns, the Street Profits. That's everyone, right? Fraxium? Yeah, that is everyone. That's all six teams. This again was honestly everything that I really should have anticipated to be, rather than a spot fest, rather than WWE maybe overproducing it. This was everything that I wanted from this match and, by the way.

Speaker 1:

By the way, huge honorable mention to Candice LeRae. Candice LeRae on the ladder. She's trying to grab the belt on the half of DIY. Johnny Gargano holding the ladder. Outside of the ring there's tables set up. Obviously, tommaso Ciampa comes crashing into that ladder. Johnny Gargano can't hold it and she falls from probably about 15 feet in the air. It is ridiculous. She looks like she had quite a nasty landing. They didn't mention what the situation was afterwards. Hopefully she is all good, but that was spot of the night. That was absolutely spot of the night. There were also some just really beautiful tag team wrestling as well, some great ladder moments. A million tables got broken never mind in this match, but in the entire night alone.

Speaker 1:

I really, really enjoyed this match. Could not have asked for it to go down any other way. In all honesty, becky Lynch Lyra Valkyria in a no DQ, no countdown, last chance match for Lyra Valkyria to get the gold back. This was a good match. This was a good match. A little bit of an underwhelming finish. Becky Lynch retains the belt. Lyra Valkyria is absolutely a future world champion.

Speaker 1:

Is what I'm going to say now before I go into the next bit, the bit that let this match down, and I don't think it's anyone's fault, because Lyra did an incredible job to put us back in the moment. There was a moment in the match where Lyra Valkyria had her hands tied up and something happened I think it was like a kind of a belly-to-belly moment and Lyra's hands pop out of the zip ties. It's a very, very unfortunate moment. She plays it off like a true professional. She manages to put the hands back in. But obviously when you see that you think, oh, that kind of takes it away a little bit and I'm really sad that that happened, because live alkeria did not deserve for that to happen and kind of make the the magic look, you know, kind of gone. But nevertheless, both women, both women, uh, both women were pretty good in this match. Live alkeria is always fantastic. I'm very excited to see her go on and do what she does.

Speaker 1:

Next. She can't challenge becky for the ic title as long as Becky is the champion. Becky Lynch also came out to brand new music as well. It would be good to hear what people thought of brand new music. It was weird not hearing her come out to her original music, but I quite like the new theme. I do quite like the new theme. So we know Valkyria can't challenge for the title again, at least while Lynch is the champion. Becky Lynch, as of tonight, looks like she's going to be taking on Nikki Bella going forward for the IC title. Those two had an incredible war of words, a very, very funny war of words on last night's Monday Night Raw. This is Wednesday now, I guess. So Monday night, monday Night Raw. This is Wednesday now, I guess. So Monday night, monday Night Raw. We'll get into that in a little minute.

Speaker 1:

Solo Sokoa defeating Jacob Fatu honestly probably the worst match of the entire weekend for me, in the sense that the way it finished was just, was just. Yeah, I didn't like it. I mean, jacob Fatu, solo Sokoa just fell out the cage and I already kind of don't like people just leaving the cage through the door, but this was just really underwhelming. So Tala Tonga kicks the cell door into Jacob Fatu's face and Solosukoa kind of just falls backwards out of the cage and that's kind of the match over 12 minutes long. It was really underwhelming because it was one of the matches that I thought, wow, this has got a cage. It's got that cool stipulation. It excites people when they see a cage, you know, and that's what I got. The stipulation really excited me, especially by two guys who really want to fight and two people who who are scrappers, they're dogs and that match just just really wasn't it for me, unfortunately, dominic Mysterio defeating AJ Styles, whilst this match wasn't fantastic. I absolutely loved the Eddie Guerrero references. Like, without a doubt, they made the matches for me. So AJ Styles comes out in the low rider, the car's going, he had his son with him and he was dressed all in the same gear that Eddie Guerrero wore 20 years previously when he took on Rey Mysterio in a custody of Dominic Mysterio match back in back in SummerSlam 05. I thought that was a fantastic touch.

Speaker 1:

We also had a couple of moments. We had the moment where a very famous moment always is Dominic Mysterio grabbing a chair. The referee is in the corner. He's distracted. Dominic Mysterio hits the floor, falls to his back, throws the chair, falls to his back and AJ's like what is this? Oh wait, I know what you're doing. So he puts the chair on his neck, falls back himself and starts acting like he has also been hit with the chair Both guys. Then both of them look silly. They've both been hit by the chair. The referee didn't see it. I thought it's a really funny moment, but also a really nice touching moment for what was a great memory 20 years ago back in 05.

Speaker 1:

So the match finished with another quite a clever spot, in my opinion. So Dominic Mysterio starts to undo his boot. That then becomes loose. Aj Styles rolls for the calf crusher. Aj sees that the boot is coming off, so he pulls the boot off. Dominic Mysterio is able to get out. Um, and there's a whole spot with the referee where AJ Styles nearly hits the referee as he does that. The ref is kind of crouched down looking on the outside because he's not, he's kind of not recovered yet. Aj Styles turns around and he gets a boot to the face from Dominic Mysterio. I thought, honestly, I thought it was a super, super clever way for that match to end. He lies, he cheats, he steals.

Speaker 1:

We're probably going to get Dominic Mysterio and AJ Styles at least one more time, and I'm really hoping for Clash in Paris, really, really hoping for Clash in Paris. I'm going to be there, really really hoping for Clash in Paris. I'm going to be there. I'm going to be in Paris for Clash. I'm also going to be in Paris for Monday Night Raw. Are you going? Are you going to any of the Clash tour shows? Let me know. I'm also going to be at WWE Liverpool as well. So if you do see me, absolutely come over. It'd be good to meet as many people as possible.

Speaker 1:

Finally, cody Rhodes and John Cena 37 minutes long, the words I have for this match. I could go on all night but we're already at 23 minutes on the podcast and I want to make sure I get around to questions. Cody Rhodes and John Cena was an absolute five, six, seven star classic that I lost for words. In fairness, you know John Cena. John Cena during this run hasn't looked great and I believe his kind of, his Royal Rumble appearance, his Elimination Chamber appearance, it was like watching Cena as a shell of him. For myself, and what we knew, what we grew up with, the John Cena that we grew up with the superhero, the super Cena was just not the same Cena that returned and for the first time in this entire kind of run this Sunday night, john Cena absolutely killed it night. John Cena absolutely killed it. One of not only the best match in his run kind of in this last you know eight months but probably one of his best matches ever.

Speaker 1:

John Cena put on an absolute clinic and we have to give huge props to his dance partner because Cody Rhodes put on just as much of a clinic and was super, super amazed with this match. It was so good to see John back. He also took the three, three finishers from Cody and Cena kicked out. That was crazy. Cena was doing some mad Canadian destroyers. He was putting tables out. He was jumping and throwing through tables. You know, aas off the top rope, aas off tables. This was everything and more. This really was everything and more. For me, a true nostalgia kick.

Speaker 1:

John Cena loses the belt. But I'm very, very happy that John Cena got that moment. That feels like that was the end of John Cena, but it wasn't. We know it wasn't, because the final thing happened this match right here, five, six stars. I watched it straight back the next day and I was. I was just as impressed. I am very, very happy that Cena got that. I'm very happy that Cody Rose took the belt back as well. But I really, really, really I'm glad that we're gonna see a face John Cena for the final four months. We know we're gonna see him in Clash in Paris. We know we're gonna see him in the upcoming Friday Night Smackdown. I'm just so excited to see where Cena goes with this now and how he's gonna to go about it. I would have him against AJ Styles, I would have him against Seth Rollins. I would have him maybe even put someone over, someone who we kind of didn't expect perhaps. But we see, I'm very happy with that match. That absolutely killed it, for me the best match of the entire night, but there was obviously a lot of also great matches, like I've already said.

Speaker 1:

Finally, I don't really want to touch about it too much because I'm not really. Brock Lesnar is back and I said for the longest time, I just don't think they'll bring Brock Lesnar back due to all the things that he's tied to. And look, I'm not saying, I'm not saying that he has done things, I'm not saying I'm not saying anything around the cases. I will never, ever get into it because nobody knows, like nobody knows anything, but what I do know is he's tagged, he's tied to a lot of bad things, he is taught, he's tied to a lot of bad things and I did not think that they would bring him back. I did not think that TKO would go. Do you know what? Let's do it, let's bring him back, because if he has done all those bad things and they brought him back, then TKO man, shame on you. Shame on you.

Speaker 1:

Nevertheless, I'm here for the wrestling, the wrestling. Only Brock Lesnar is back. He's probably going to face Cena next. Cena probably did want the match, because Cena is always called Brock Lesnar's biggest rivalry. When is that match going to happen? I don't think that match will happen in an arena show. I think it has to be somewhere. Big Survivor Series is kind of screaming the name a little bit because it is going to be in an outdoor venue. So we see, we see. Brock lansdowne versus john cena is probably the next match for cena as he closes out his final four months, um, as a wwe superstar. Isn't that crazy to say? Isn't that crazy to say final four months as a wwe superstar?

Speaker 1:

Monday night raw went down uh Night, barclays Center, brooklyn, new York. I'm going to run through it. I really do want to crack through the questions. I know you've probably already seen Monday Night Raw by now. Sheamus versus Rusev. That got interrupted. Well, it didn't get interrupted. Actually, it went to a count out. Sheamus and Rusev were fighting the entire night. They even ended up fighting into Sami Zayn.

Speaker 1:

Sami Zayn was talking backstage and he was talking about his win this past weekend against Karrion Kross. We know now that those two are probably not going to run it back. We know Karrion Kross has come to the end of his contract. We're not sure what that even means, but we do know that Sami Zayn wants to be a world champion. He spoke heavily that he is done with Kroos and it is now time for him to focus on winning the world championship his way, the right way, the way that Sami Zayn is going to do it he gets involved in the scrap between Sheamus and Rusev. I'm not really sure what that was even about, but Sheamus and Rusev were scrapping pretty much all night all around the arena, mentioning Sami Zayn. They did kind of interrupt his interview. Sami Zayn got a couple of punches in. I'm not really sure what they're going to go with that. I don't think Sami Zayn's going to get involved in that as such.

Speaker 1:

The tag titles. So we know that. Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez they fought for the women's tag team titles once again Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair winning the match pretty cleanly. Not too bad of a match overall. Dominic Masserio versus Dragon Lee. It wasn't even for the title actually. That was actually kind of interrupted by three different El Grande Americanos. I have no idea where they're going with this story, like I really don't. If anyone can tell me, please do, because we now have three El Grande Americanos and actually four if we include Chad Gable, because I don't think Chad Gable is any of those three.

Speaker 1:

Then we had Becky versus Nikki on a war of words. So Becky Lynch comes out. She's saying how great she is. Nikki Bella comes out. She's saying how great she is. Nikki Bella comes out. She looks to be the next person who is going to get involved with that IC title. Looks like she's going to get the championship opportunity next and these two had a real big war of words. They're talking about hot husbands and all that kind of stuff. Becky Lynch and I quote says okay, do not talk about me and my hot husband. Me and my hot husband are the greatest wrestling couple of all time. But wait a minute. At one point that would have been you and your oh wait, you can't see him anymore Obviously referencing John Cena, the greatest of all time, who was once the lover of Nikki Bella. That was incredible. I've never seen the crowd pop like that where they're chatting the holy SH1T. Yeah, the crowd absolutely popped for that, I absolutely popped for that.

Speaker 1:

They went on for a little while but there wasn't really much more to it. There's not a lot Nikki Bella could have said In the end Brie Bella, brie Bella, sorry, not Brie Bella. In the end, becky Lynch hit her with a swift punch and she was out of the ring. It looks like we're going to get them to next, but Nikki Bella was saying all sorts as well. You know she didn't. She didn't get it. She didn't get completely buried as such. She's calling Becky Lynch a liar, just like your husband. But you want to know the difference. The big difference is we all bought Seth's lies. No one buys your BS no one. Because you know what, becky, I see right through you. You are the same little insecure, scared girl that came into this division Both women getting their scraps in and I actually really enjoyed the segment, really really enjoyed that segment. I'm excited to see Nikki Bella challenging for that IC title.

Speaker 1:

I am running very quickly over kind of the Raw stuff because I do want to get into a couple of questions as well. Seth versus LA Knight for the World Heavyweight Championship was made official, but that match was interrupted. Cm Punk gets involved in that match and Seth Rollins wins via DQ. They beat up Seth Rollins. They beat up CM Punk. They beat up LA Knight as well. Roman Reigns comes out post-credits, after the credits have been and gone. People were shocked. They thought the show was over. Roman comes out. He gets a couple of good hits in, but unfortunately Seth managed to land the curb stomp and uh, and Bronson Reed then then did, then went to work on the OTC, hitting the three tsunamis, probably probably removing Roman off of TV for a little bit while he goes to shoot the Street Fighter. I'm not entirely sure what that means for Cody Rhodes, though, because now he is the world champion once again, the WWE champion once again. Not sure how they're going to go about him being out.

Speaker 1:

So that's a little short preview of, or review of, monday Night Raw, or review of Monday Night Raw. I thought it was a little bit off from a usual post-summit or post-PLE show. Normally the shows are a little bit hotter. We did have a couple of championship matches, which is great, but I did expect a little bit more from this Monday Night Raw. Unfortunately, we didn't get it. We now shift our focus to this week's Friday Night Smackdown. We also have, at the end of the month, clash in Paris as well, so that is the next pay-per-view going down. I'll be there for it, like I said, and I am very, very, very excited, daz Worldwide.

Speaker 1:

On to the questions Daz Worldwide is asking have you seen Unreal yet and what are your thoughts on it? So you asked this earlier on the week, daz, and I thought I'm going to try and watch this because I would like to get at least a little bit of feedback to you guys. So I enjoyed, I managed to get around to episode one and two. I managed to watch the first and the second episodes. And do you know what? Do you know what, despite all the stuff about people being mad that kayfabe's gone I think kayfabe's been gone for quite some time there aren't many wrestlers who are currently sticking to the kayfabe guidelines, and so be it. Do you know? I really enjoyed episode one and two. So episode was all about. Episode one was all about the Netflix debut. It was about Seth versus Punk, it was about Rhea versus Liv, and I really liked watching those backstage moments that don't even include the wrestlers as such.

Speaker 1:

More so what goes on in Guerrilla, what every person in the different seat is doing in the Guerrilla position, the fact that they build the Guerrilla position, the fact that the referee has got seven, eight different people in their ear. It gives them props to how good they are as well. You know, we only see the wrestlers and we see creative. I mean in a normal wrestling sense, that's all we normally see and we don't obviously see creative. But we see what they produce. We see the athletes obviously giving the examples of what they produce and actually performing what they produce and therefore not everybody gets that credit that they deserve. You look at the referees, you look at Michael Cole, you look at the people on the announce desk from the people setting up the backstage, the producers. There are so many more people that deserve their props and I think that this show, this documentary, is perfect for just that.

Speaker 1:

A big moment for me was watching Abyss, formerly Abyss from TNA. He was producing the Seth Rollins versus Punk match and, by the way, one of my favorite matches of the year that went down that day 6th of January. I believe it was one of my favorite matches of the year that went down that day, 6th of January. I believe it was one of my favorite matches of the entire year. He, joseph Parker, he produced the match and he was sat there. He was giving the calls as the matches were going on and it was very interesting. Because they have timekeepers, they have all sorts. Because they have timekeepers, they have all sorts, but all he was kind of very, very concerned about was not even how good the match was, but the fact that it was running over and he's apologising to Bruce Prichard and he's apologising to all these people. William Regal's coming over saying, look, don't worry about it, you've just absolutely produced a banger of a match. And despite him being so happy with the match and everybody else being so happy with the match, he's, and everybody else being so happy with the match, he is showing that he is. He's not happy with the time keeping and things had to be cut. And it was nice to see the background of what goes on.

Speaker 1:

We only watch Seth Rollins versus Punk in the back, though. There are so many more stories being told and and I you know what, I absolutely take my hats off to it. Episode two was around the royal rumble and jay winning and triple h going to jay in the moment where he said look, you're going to be the guy. Can you do it? You know I don't want you to do it and it's all going to fall flat on your face because you don't do enough, or or, etc, etc. I'm all here for it, guys. Honestly, I absolutely loved episode one and two. I've got four more to watch. They're going to produce a second season. I hope the second season portrays what went on with Seth Rollins and the fake injury. I think that would be awesome. I think that would be absolutely awesome if they could portray what happened around that.

Speaker 1:

Daz? Thank you very much for the question. My friend, by the way, daz, is a fantastic streamer over on Twitch. He plays a lot of games, a lot of games that I'm not very good at. Nevertheless, sometimes I go and I'll sit in and watch. I won't know what even is going on, but go and check out Daz man. He is a true fellow in this space, so absolutely go and check him out if you could.

Speaker 1:

What else do we have here? I've got a question here, but I want to make sure that I reference the right person who asked it. I seem to have lost names on this for some reason. Let me try and figure this out real quick. I want to make sure that you get your props. Whoever asked this question? Let me see. Hmm, I can't seem to find who asked this question, but we're going to get into it Nevertheless. If it was you, drop a comment below.

Speaker 1:

Where are we Okay, how would you book Seth adding another member to his faction? That's a great question. In the past, there have been many great names that I would have had joined the faction prior to Bron Breaker joining or prior to Bronson Reed. This is where we're at now. We may need to add a fourth person if we're going to see Seth go into the next war games, and there are a lot of great names that I can think of. You're talking about your Carmelo Hayes. You're talking maybe like a Ricky Starks or maybe like a Ethan Page kind of someone like that. Those people have been heavy targeted to that group for a very, very long time.

Speaker 1:

But when I think of a fourth person, I think it's got to be someone a little bit loose cannon, someone violent, someone unpredictable, someone who will align to the chaotic energy that is currently Seth Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion, bronson Reed and Braun Breaker, as well as the wise man, the Oracle, paul Heyman. It's got to be someone who matches the vision, someone who can be the future of the WWE, to match what Seth Rollins' vision is set out to be as what he's doing. I think that person and this is not what I've seen anywhere on the internet. I think Ilya Dragunov. I think Ilya Dragunov could be that guy. You could call me crazy, but he could come in as an absolute, unpredictable force. He's small, he's fast, he's gritty, he is a scrapper. He has had some great matches with Gunther. I think he would be a great, great addition to this. They need someone smaller. They need someone who is violent, bringing the soul of violence. Mr Ilya Dragunov.

Speaker 1:

We have not seen Dragunov since a house show back in September 28, 2024. That's such a long time ago. That's such a long time ago. That's such a long time ago 11 months. We have not seen Ilya Dragunov. It was said that we could be seeing him in August.

Speaker 1:

I would like to see him join this faction. I mean, I would like to see him as a singles athlete. But you ask the question who would you book or who would you have? Seth add to the group if possible, and I would go for him. I think he would be the perfect fit. I really do. Pure embodiment of unfiltered violence. I like that. I wrote that down, I thought about that and I'm glad I got to use it.

Speaker 1:

He is different to the others as well. He's different to Bron Breaker. He is different to the others as well. He's different to Bron Breaker, he's different to Bronson Reed. He's not the muscle but he is the grit. He brings chaotic intensity, and only one that Seth Rollins could resonate with, you know, and maybe eventually he does go a little bit mental, but he thrives on the pain, he thrives on the struggle, he's relentless, he doesn't need a reason to fight. That man's fighting. You know that man is fighting. I think he would be a really good fit to join Seth Rollins. Thank you, by the way. I really, really do appreciate the question and I'm so sorry that I don't seem to no longer have this name on who said the question.

Speaker 1:

But who do we think could be a War Games worthy matchup? Seth Rollins and his antics. A few that you referenced were Roman Reigns, jey Uso, la Knight, sami Zayn. A couple more you could think of, like Penta, you could think of CM Punk, but I can definitely see four names there and the four names to go up against Seth Rollins, breaker, bronson and Ilya. Could we get a 4v4 team, seth versus kind of, I guess, team rebellion Again, seth being Roman Reigns, jey Uso, la Knight, sami Zayn, would they even get on? Would Sami Zayn even be in that team because he wants to be a world champion. There is absolutely something there for Seth versus Roman at WarGames. I just don't know what mix we are going to have from it. I'd be excited for that. I would be very, very excited for that.

Speaker 1:

The Wrestling Giza my friend, a great question, this one. I was excited to get this one answered. We're going to answer this one. Then we're going to go the other way, because I know someone asked a separate question about Mount Rushmore's. But the Wrestling Geezer asks what is my reverse Mount Rushmore?

Speaker 1:

So who are my four least favorite wrestlers? If I was to have a um, if I was to to have four least favorite, I did have to. I have to have a little think about this. I won't lie to you. Kicking things off, we're going to go Ryback. He's strong looks-wise, but he was just never it. He was just never it for me. Awkward promos, unsafe in the ring, blamed everyone else. Ryback for me would go on this list, without a doubt.

Speaker 1:

The Great Carly. I like the Great Carly as a person, but he was very limited in the ring. Unfortunately, he was very limited in the ring. There is only so much that someone that big can do in the ring. It's a little bit like Omos, I guess. And obviously Mike Ability was never great.

Speaker 1:

Another person who I could just never, ever get behind I've seen a lot of people say it recently. I spoke about it in this video, actually in this podcast episode earlier on in the episode, but I did say Jade Cargill. Jade Cargill would go on my least favorite Mount Rushmore. I'm sorry, jade, I just don't think she is as good currently, currently, and I'm not one to just shut it down. I would absolutely never give her the chance to kind of, you know, change my mind on that, same with anyone. Really, you know, I I'm not. I'm not one to sit and hate on wrestlers. I would never, ever, ever do that, but I will have, you know, an opinion, and Jade Cargill has just never been it.

Speaker 1:

And then finally, probably Jinder Mahal, during his kind of 2017 title run, the sudden push. It just felt a little bit unnatural and it kind of hurt SmackDown's momentum at the time. In my opinion, I was super glad when AJ Styles took the belt off him in Manchester. I was actually in attendance for that. I think that's why AJ Styles is one of my favorite ever, because of that exact moment, right there, wrestling Geyser. Thank you so much for the question. It was a fantastic question and not a very common question as well.

Speaker 1:

The next one, gingerman297, asks what is my favorite in terms of favorite wrestlers. Mount Rushmore, I can absolutely fly through this one. It is Seth Rollins, it's AJ Styles, it is Shawn Michaels and it is John Cena. The first three are all very, very similar, john Cena being the odd one out. He asked the next question being what is my all time best Mount Rushmore For me, I've always said this this never, ever, ever changes.

Speaker 1:

It is Hulk Hogan, stone Cold, steve Austin, the Rock and John Cena, and I would always honorable mention if I could have five. He, unfortunately, for me, falls off very, very slightly is the Undertaker. The undertaker, to me, is the greatest character that wrestling has ever seen. I say that this doesn't change often, but it actually kind of does. It bounces between the rock and taker. Right now, whilst I'm sat here and I've thought about it again, I'm gonna put the rock stone cold h Hogan and John Cena. John Cena did things to define wrestling in a generation where it needed it and the mainstream growth that the WWE and wrestling has received with John Cena in it in its prime, when it was pulling up the product and the content when it didn't want to be pulled up. John Cena, without a doubt, is the greatest of all time to me.

Speaker 1:

Hulk Hogan, you know it's. I mean. First of all, rest in peace. Hulk Hogan, it's been a couple of weeks now and whilst he had a very controversially I've seen people phrase it much better I just can't think of what it is controversial career. I guess I don't think that's the right phrase, but you guys know what I'm getting at. Hulk Hogan is still one of the most important figures that we've ever seen in wrestling. Stokehold and Steve Austin and the Rock we don't need to go too much into detail about what they did, because they were absolutely huge in their times. You know, the Attitude Era was huge. Those boys were the ones that made it happen.

Speaker 1:

Who is my favorite Hall of Famer? Sky is asking Sky. This is a hard question, sky. It's a really, really hard question. Actually, favorite Hall of Famer, favorite Hall of Famer Favorite Hall of Famer for me Bounces between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. The Undertaker, like I already said, I think the greatest character in wrestling history. Shawn Michaels, on the other hand, greatest in-ring storyteller. I believe in history, absolutely legendary matches and I think that's why I absolutely love his matches with the Undertaker Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker WrestleMania 25 and 26. And not only that now Shawn Michaels is still around, obviously, undertaker's still around. They're doing a lot backstage. Those two right there are my two favorite Hall of Famers of all time.

Speaker 1:

Sky also asked what is my favorite theme song of all time. I'm going to have to give it Metalingus by Alter Bridge, aka the rated R superstar, edge, or now known as Cope. That is my favorite wrestling song of all time. Pure adrenaline perfectly matches the energy of the crowd singing it. For me, the Royal Rumble was it 2019? 2020? Ooh, what year was the Rumble? Anyway, edge's return at the Royal Rumble Wow, what a moment, what an absolutely incredible moment. The crowd feeling it. The crowd know every single lyric and that's what I love about that song. Honorable mention this Fire Burns. I love that song. I absolutely love Rhea Ripley's song Cult of personality Basic thugging. Do you know what I've got? I've got a few. They're all honorable mentions Edge, matalingus, alter Bridge that is my favorite wrestling theme of all time.

Speaker 1:

Guys, it's been another great episode. I really, really do appreciate all of the love and the support that the podcast gets on a very, very regular basis. I hope that we've covered enough there for this episode. I've enjoyed it. I enjoy it every single week. You guys come through with questions. You really really do Lots of fantastic questions.

Speaker 1:

I know we were quite heavy on the SummerSlam stuff and I really did want to make sure that I guess we'll kind of do this going forward. If PLEs are on the weekend previous, they're going to be quite PLE heavy, kind of going into the review of kind of what happened. I hope you appreciate that. If you want me to change that format, then let me know. I'm more than happy to Look. This podcast is for the community and it's very, very community-led. I answer the questions that you gave me, you know. So I hope that this style a PLE review after PLEs works. We've also got to remember that not every PLE is going to be two nights, like it was this past weekend for SummerSlam.

Speaker 1:

I think this has been a really great episode. I've really enjoyed all of the SummerSlam talk, the Monday Night Raw talk, all of the above. I'd like to thank you so, so much for listening wherever you are, whether that's on YouTube, apple Podcasts, spotify, amazon, google Don't forget to hit a huge swanton bomb on that like button, leave a comment, five-star rating, whatever it is that you do, and I will see you next week for episode number four of the Beyond the Mat Podcast with Josh E Wrestling. Thank you so, so much, and I will see you all next week.