From AEW Forbidden Door to WWE Clash in Paris | Ep 6

Sometimes life’s biggest moments happen when we least expect them. After an incredible weekend of wrestling, I got engaged to my best friend and partner — a personal milestone I’ll never forget.

This episode covers everything from the wrestling side of the weekend:

• AEW Forbidden Door – incredible match quality, standout moments, and the unique energy of the O2 Arena crowd.
• WWE Liverpool house show – the magic of non-televised events, from CM Punk and LA Knight’s antics to genuine unscripted moments between wrestlers and fans.
• Clash in Paris preview – predictions for John Cena vs. Logan Paul, Seth Rollins’ World Heavyweight Championship fatal four-way, Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed, and more.
• Thoughts on Becky Lynch’s evolving heel run, new entrance themes, and long-term storytelling in modern wrestling.

A weekend of unforgettable wrestling moments and life-changing memories — and I can’t wait to share it all with you.

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

 👉 JoshhyWrestling.com
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Transcript

Welcome to Episode Six

Speaker 1 0:00

Ladies and gentlemen , it is Wednesday , the 27th of August , and that means that it's time for a brand new episode of the Beyond the Map podcast . I would like to welcome you to episode number six . Man , these things are absolutely flying Six weeks of doing this already . Tuesday night is my favorite night every single week , because I get to sit here and record the podcast , I get to answer the long form questions that you guys send in , and it genuinely is the best time of the week for me , as always . If you've got any questions , if you'd like to talk about the podcast more , then drop a comment . Wherever you are watching or listening whether that be YouTube or Spotify , amazon , even Apple , we are all over the place Leave a comment , leave a nice five-star review , if you could . It really does help push the podcast more to more and more people . It gets us up the rankings . Not that I really understand how any of these rankings work yet , but I'm certain that a five-star review or a good comment , et cetera , et cetera , does help us get the podcast in more places and in front of more people . I appreciate you tuning in every single week . This is episode number six and we have so , so much to talk about today . It has been an incredible week for me . We have got an incredible weekend coming up , that is , with Clash in Paris coming up this weekend , but first we have to go back

Getting Engaged: The Best Week Ever

Speaker 1 1:21

one week . This week , I'm going to say it , I'm going to say it , it and there is gonna be people watching this this has been the best week of my life . I can't lie to you . Right , we're gonna go , we're gonna kick things off not wrestling related , but we did get engaged , ladies and gentlemen , we did get engaged . I have proposed to my best friend , the , the most beautiful girl in the entire world and I'm sat here on the internet saying that for her to to come back and refer to on a on a regular basis . That is right . We were at AEW Forbidden Door this past weekend and it happened . It happened . I mean , the wrestling was fantastic , but that , by far , was the biggest moment of all of the week .

Speaker 1 1:57

So things started , uh , on the Saturday for WWE Liverpool , where the entire family come down , and we attended the WWE Liverpool show . Obviously , this is a part of the Clash in Paris tour and it was just a very , very , very good night . A very star-studded lineup . We had the likes of Jimmy Uso . We had the US champion , solo Sokoa and his whole team out there . We had Tala Tonga . We had Jacob Fatu . We had who else did we have ? We had a real range of fantastic advances . Eo Sky , roxanne Perez we had . It was a fantastic night . Fantastic night , lots of great matches . I think we had nine or 10 really good matches . We had CM Punk , we had LA Knight , we had Penta , we had the entirety of the Judgment Day and I absolutely cannot fault how good of a night that house show was .

Speaker 1 2:51

And house shows are a lot of fun because if you haven't been to a house show and you're looking and thinking , well , I'd prefer to go to one that's on Netflix or whatever , it being a Friday Night Smackdown or a Monday Night Raw , then honestly take it from me . I feel that house shows are so , so worth it . They have so much more fun with it , and that's solely because there's not a camera on them . You know we're having Penta LA night and CM Punk at the end of the night doing the Penta walk . You're not getting those kinds of things on television . You know you're getting EO Sky taking a fan's sign post or sign from the crowd and she's in the ring , you know , kind of running around with it . You're having Bayley , having fans in the audience , little children singing the hey Bayley chant . You know you don't get this kind of fun on the televised shows and whilst the televised shows are fantastic they really are , because you are on Netflix with Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown there's just so much pressure taken off on the live shows and that they are honestly a lot more fun , despite the televised shows being very story-driven . You know we're running a television program with all of that kind of stuff .

Speaker 1 4:07

I would a hundred percent recommend get to a live show , probably before you go to a televised show , because they're just so much fun . Everything's a lot more relaxed . You know , referees I've seen doing flips and and also it's just a genuinely is a good time If you can get to anything . Get yourself to a live show . Also , televised shows are just so so much more expensive as well . You can pick up live show tickets for a very , very reasonable price , and that's exactly what we did . So I went with my brother , I went with my step-mom and my dad and my now fiance and we had a really , really good time . I'd recommend going . I really , really would .

Speaker 1 4:45

The next night we were in

WWE Liverpool House Show Experience

Speaker 1 4:47

London . We traveled to London for AEW Forbidden Door . We had a blast . We had such a blast . It was an absolutely incredible card . If you haven't seen any of that show , I'd 100% recommend it . I believe it's on Amazon or AEW via Triller and it was just a really , really good PLE .

Speaker 1 5:07

I've never been to an AEW show before . We haven't had that many opportunities . We obviously have had two all-ins and we've had a couple of dynamites and stuff like that , but I've never been able to go . And this right here was something that is going to set the tone Every time that they come to the UK . Now I'm going to find myself attending AEW shows because the PLE quality is extremely high for AEW and it seems to be super , super consistent . It seems to be like this for a very long time AEW constantly putting on a very high quality consistently on a regular basis , like every month or so they point something on . That's incredible . All Out goes down on the 20th of September . I'm very , very excited for that . But Forbidden Door 2025 was just absolutely incredible . I found it to be very , very predictable . It felt like a lot of the matches were very predictable , except kind of the three-way tag match for the World Championships , but nevertheless they came back to the UK .

Speaker 1 6:09

The O2 Arena is a fabulous arena . It has air conditioning , which is absolutely huge , and not a lot of arenas have air conditioning . You wouldn't believe it . If you're an American fan listening to this , you're probably thinking , wow , that's crazy , because I know you guys have got some really nice venues . But yeah , the O2 is one of the only venues I'm pretty certain to have air conditioning .

Speaker 1 6:29

The seats were beautiful . We were sat in the first tier but about four or five rows up , so the view was , yeah , I wouldn't change any of it for the world . It's a very , very great view . It was a very good night . We had lots of pyro . We had , obviously Edge Edge was there Adam Copeland , so we got to do the acapella version of Metalingus and that was just a beautiful moment .

Speaker 1 6:53

The lights-out steel cage match 5v5 , out of this world . Okada . We had Nigel McGuinness versus Zack Sabre Jr for the

AEW Forbidden Door Review

Speaker 1 7:05

IWGP title , world Heavyweight title , mercedes Monet in her fatal four-way . We had Tony Storm versus Athena . It was just a fantastic night and if you haven't already seen AEW Forbidden Door , I'd 100% check it out .

Speaker 1 7:18

And if you would like to go to a live show when they're in the UK . I'd 100% recommend it because to me , the level of quality in those PLEs by AEW right now is insane . They are on fire right now and I just cannot wait . I'm going to go to AEW All In next year . That's in Wembley Stadium and tickets are going to be quite cheap . For that I mean , tickets for what we got on Sunday were great , very , very reasonably priced . We were , like I said , about five rows up on the first tier and it was about 130 pounds , so you're looking at about 65 pounds per person and , honestly , I could not have asked for better seats . It was an incredible night and the best was still yet to come .

Speaker 1 8:00

Now , I know that this is a wrestling podcast , but I'm going to talk about it because lots of people have asked me about it . Lots of people have messaged me about it . When I've put asking for questions for this week's podcast , people want to know , people want to know . So I'm going to talk about the biggest thing that's happened to me this past weekend in my life , by the way and that was the engagement to my beautiful now fiance man . It's going to sound boring , but it was magical . It really was magical .

Speaker 1 8:28

So we completed , we finished AW . We got back on the train and the tube about an hour 30 . I'm like I knew I was going to do it . I knew I was going to do it . I took the ring with me . I actually took the ring in the camera box , the camera that you are watching me on right now . I told her look , I'm going to take the camera . I took the camera and I put the ring in the camera box because I know she was not going to look in there . Why would she look at the camera box ? And she even said to me why did you bring that camera box ? She said I was wondering why he brought the camera box . So , anyway , I brought the camera box . She had no idea . We got back .

Speaker 1 9:04

There was two kind of stipulations on how I could not do this proposal . Okay , we've been together four years at this point . I , a wasn't allowed to do it in front of people and , b , I was not allowed to do it in Paris , as if people are in Paris every week , but we are in Paris next week , in fact , or this week for Clash in Paris . So I mean , there it was yeah . So we got back you know I'm not going to go too mush about it and I did it in the hotel room and , yeah , it was a beautiful moment , a very , very beautiful moment that we shared and , yeah , I'm incredibly happy , incredibly happy . That's how it was done . It was done in the hotel room . I rang the hotel by the way , I'm not going to call them out , but I rang the hotel asking them if they could do something , and they said , no , can you believe it ? Can you believe it ? They said no , they would not assist me in the completion of the engagement . Anyway , it was a beautiful moment . It was a moment that I would cherish for the rest of my life and I , yeah , I overwhelmed with happiness , overwhelmed with all the messages of people reaching out and saying we're such a beautiful couple and , yeah , genuinely , from the bottom of my heart , if you message , if you've reached out , then thank you so so much . I really appreciate it . Marriage is not something I always considered , but yeah , this girl changed that man , this girl changed that . So that's enough of the mush stuff .

Speaker 1 10:30

This is a wrestling podcast . People have asked how it was done . It was done in a hotel room and it was beautiful , it was magical and that is that . Back to the questions . We've got Keith , my man Keith , who actually did ask me to kind of go into a bit of detail about how I did all the proposal and stuff . But but we're gonna go back to the wrestling stuff . She's had enough emotion now I know she's gonna be watching this bag . She's gonna be critiquing everything . I say , oh , you didn't say this , didn't say this . Um , I love you . I love you . Okay , let's crack on . Keith said what is my mount rushmore of

Clash in Paris Predictions

Speaker 1 11:02

wwe titles ? Because he knows that the Mount Rushmore question is one that a lot of people ask on a regular basis . So we're going to this one I thought was quite unique by Keith and I like it . I like it a lot .

Speaker 1 11:12

He is asking me what is my Mount Rushmore of WWE titles ? Well , the original when I first got into wrestling . It's around like the John Cena Maga days . It's around the Undertaker versus Batista for the world title . It's around like the John Cena Umaga days . It's around the Undertaker versus Batista for the world title . It's around the Triple H . It's around the Shawn Michaels .

Speaker 1 11:31

So for me , two straight off the bat , right there are the WWE spinner belt . It's an absolutely beautiful belt . A lot of people hate it . A lot of people really hate that belt not me . I absolutely love that belt and the OG , quite not OG , but the big gold . The big gold is what I'm saying , the one that the Undertaker held , the one that Batista held , triple H . You know , you guys know which World Heavyweight title I'm talking about . The big gold , the one before . We kind of currently already have the WWE spinner , absolutely made by John Cena , made famous by John Cena . Edge then went on to make a different version of it , the rated R one . That was pretty cool .

Speaker 1 12:21

Black and gold NXT belt as well for me , because I believe that the black and gold NXT era was probably one of my favorite times in wrestling . Yeah , nxt hits so much different during the black and gold days . You know , we're talking your Alistair Blacks , we're talking your Undisputed Era . We're talking , I mean , who else are we talking ? A lot of great names during that black and gold days . You know your Tommaso Ciampa , your Johnny Gargano . Yeah , I mean , without a doubt , my favorite period of the NXT days was black and gold Some of the matches . Andrade , I mean , without a doubt , my favorite period of the NXT days was was black and gold . Some of the matches , andrade , um , you know , tomas Ciampa and Johnny Gargano went on forever . Adam Cole , one of my favorite favorite ever . To be fair , you know , his style , um is just one that I've always been drawn to . Absolutely love it , um .

Speaker 1 13:08

One thing I forgot to mention before I went into that question I didn't mean to really go into that question that quick , if I'm honest is we've got Clash in Paris this weekend and it is shaping up to what I think is a pretty fun card . A lot of people saying that they dislike the card or they're not doing enough for the card . Joe , I think it's good if we go into a little bit of predictions around Clash in Paris . I am going to be in attendance for Clash in Paris . If you do spot me , if you would like to meet , then please do drop me a message and I would absolutely love to meet people you know , get some pictures and just talk about the show that is coming up Right now . I think it's only right that we talk predictions .

Speaker 1 13:48

Kicking off John Cena versus Logan Paul . It is the retirement tour . John Cena has three opponents left after this , 11 dates left after clashing in Paris this weekend , and he's taking on Logan Paul . Now Logan Paul to me feels like a little bit of a letdown in given in the names that we could have seen him against . We've got AJ Styles , we've got Penta I think would be a lot of fun Dominic Mysterio I mean we heard John Cena say the other day on Friday Night Smackdown , a list of the names that people wanted to take on Bron Breaker also on that list , roman Reigns also on that list . There are a lot of names that we would have really loved John Cena to take on in his final , you know , kind of during his calendar year . But Logan Paul wasn't there .

Speaker 1 14:39

For me I didn't think . I really didn't think , and I'm not saying that Logan doesn't deserve it . I think Logan is a very , very good natural athletic wrestler . Athletic wrestler . He is very good in the ring . Incredibly his ability to stay calm under pressure . He's great in the big moment spots . He has become very , very good and quite annoying in the sense because a lot of people don't like him as a person . I understand that completely , but I'm talking about Logan Paul the wrestler , not to be confused with Logan Paul the person , obviously . So for Logan to get this opportunity against John , I think is huge for him and not one that I saw coming , but nevertheless these two had a really good back and forth exchange last week on Friday Night Smackdown . We know that Logan Paul hit Cena right at the end of the show when Nick Aldis came in and said I've just heard from Brock Lesnar , I've just heard from Brock Lesnar . And then , just before Nick Aldis says what he had heard from Brock Lesnar , in comes Logan Paul with the right fist . He is out cold For this match .

Speaker 1 15:45

I do not see any other outcome than John Cena winning this match . A few people calling for a Brock Lesnar return . I do not think we're going to see Brock Lesnar return in Paris . I don't think we're going to see that . I think they're going to set up their over-the-limit pay-per-view or sorry , not over-the-limit WrestlePalooza on the 20th of September . We know that that's probably going to go one-on-one with AEW All Out , which is obviously a shame .

Speaker 1 16:13

I know we touched on that , but I can't see Cena losing . I cannot see Cena losing this match , whilst Logan Paul is all of those great things that I said he is . I just think he is going to have a great match with Cena . I think it's going to be a good match because , with Cena at the helm controlling the match and Logan with that , you know , athletic , athletic , you know , we know how good . I think we'll see something crazy like a five-star frog splash to the outside table , something that makes Cena look absolutely incredible , even if he has to do it a few times to see Super Cena . We want to see Super Cena , and I think we will , in a match against Logan Paul . Look , I'm quite excited for this match . Whether it be Logan Paul or not , I think these two are going to actually cook . I think it will be a good match , but I do feel that the outcome of this match will be a John Cena win .

Speaker 1 17:07

What else do we have on the card ? We also have the World Heavyweight Championship up for grabs . Seth freaking Rollins to Fens against CM Punk , la Knight and Jey Uso . This is going to be a cracker match as well . Do you know what ? I think they're all going to be cracker matches . I think they're all going to be very , very good matches behind a crowd that is going to be absolutely booming . I mean , the crowd is going to be absolutely booming , I'm certain of it . We have seen a backlash last year , aj Styles versus Cody Rhodes . This French crowd is incredible . The French crowd with the phenomenal chant are incredible . The French crowd when there is a two count , one , two sacre mode . I mean that's not great French , I'm certain , but I need to learn it because I'm going to be there this weekend . Yes , I think , predictable . I think Seth retains the belt . You know , first real challenge on a PLE . I can't see him losing the belt . In fairness , the way he won it it's kind of the second best heist of the century . Could be the biggest heist of the century . I just can't see any other result here than a Seth Rollins win .

Speaker 1 18:22

We've got Sheamus versus Rusev in a good old-fashioned Donnybrook match . A lot of people call this underwhelming . I get it . I get it . We've seen Sheamus and Rusev definitely more than three times . Kind of the official word on WWE is that this would be the third match or second match . I don't know . They keep calling it the third match , but I feel like we have seen this match go down definitely more than three times . But I would like to see it culminate and end in Clash in Paris .

Speaker 1 18:57

A good old fashioned Donnybrook match Sheamus versus Rusev . I think Sheamus takes the win here . I think Sheamus needs needs to get past Rusev and then enter into the talks for the IC title . He has never won an Intercontinental Championship in his life and I think it's only perfect that he goes on from here to take on a particular , a good route towards the IC title . I would have quite liked to see Sheamus versus John Cena . If I'm honest , maybe what we could have really had if I was to kind of re-fantasize this a little bit would be John Cena versus Dominic Mysterio for the IC title . Maybe Cena wins it there and then maybe Sheamus comes in and takes the belt and we're kind of killing two birds with one stone there . I think Sheamus wins this match and then goes on to take on Dom down the road If AJ Styles doesn't take it off him on the Monday coming up , aj Styles versus Sheamus who doesn't want to see that ?

Speaker 1 20:00

We've also got Bronson Reed versus Roman Reigns . I do think these matches are quite predictable . I'm going to be there , which is exciting . Would I like to see a less predictable lineup ? Absolutely , but this is the matchup that we've got , so I'm absolutely going to run with it .

Speaker 1 20:19

Roman Reigns versus Bronson Reed We've got the Vision . Who have kind of been beating up Roman Reigns . Every time he's kind of shown his face at Raw and on this instance I can see Roman Reigns absolutely defeating the Shoe of Fala . I love the Bronson Reed stuff . Currently he's taking shoes and showing his dominance , asserting his dominance , and he has become the Shoe of Fala , the tribal thief . I love that . I love the entire arc . It's completely different . I think Roman Reigns wins . The question is does Roman Reigns take back all the shoes that has been stolen ? I mean , he's currently got two pairs Bronson Reed currently . Does Roman Reigns take them back after the pin or does he stay as the tribal thief ? Quite hard to say . Nevertheless , roman Reigns , I'm certain , will pick up the victory in this match .

Speaker 1 21:08

Finally , what we've also now got booked as well Becky Lynch defending the Intercontinental Championship against Nikki Bella . That's an interesting matchup . That's a very , very interesting matchup . I don't think Nikki Bella's going to take the belt Outright . Just do not think Nikki Bella will take the belt . These two have been back and forth for a little while .

Speaker 1 21:28

A lot of people and I say a lot of people Kelly Osbourne is very , very upset at Becky Lynch and Becky Lynch was , you know she probably deserved to be upset a little bit about . So this past weekend in Birmingham she was talking about Ozzy and how you know , to be fair to Ozzy , at least he moved to LA so that he didn't stay in Birmingham and something around I can't really remember the exact phrase off my head , but if something , obviously some comments around Ozzy passing , and you know she would too if she lived in Birmingham and all that kind of stuff Kelly Osbourne coming out , she's not happy with that and I saw Becky Lynch reply under what Kelly Osbourne said and said oh , what did she say ? Get over yourself . Drama there .

Speaker 1 22:24

Becky Lynch versus Kelly Osbourne at WrestleBluza let's book that . Let's book that . Becky Lynch , no doubt , is going to walk out the Women's Intercontinental Champion here . We also have Dominic Mysterio defending the IC title against AJ Styles the night after at Monday Night Raw . I'm very excited for that match , but I would have loved to see it on the Clash in Paris card .

Speaker 1 22:47

Do . I think this current card is going to stay at five . I think we could be adding some more matches . In all honesty , I think we could get Randy Orton versus Drew McIntyre . We could quite possibly get Cody Rhodes versus Drew McIntyre . I just feel that we can have one or two matches on this card . I really could . I really really do believe that . I think it's going to be a great card , though , and I'm very , very excited to be there .

Speaker 1 23:13

If you do spot me , please do come and say hi . It would be great to meet as many people as possible . We've had that at the shows we've been at this past week AEW Forbidden Door lots of people coming up to me and saying hi , and it's such a great feeling , same as WWE Liverpool as well . A few people up and just saying hi . It's really , really cool . It's really really really a surreal moment when people say hi to me because they recognize me from videos . They say I've seen your videos . It's the coolest thing in the world . It really really is .

Speaker 1 23:40

Very excited for Clash in Paris . Very excited for the Monday Night Raw that follows on . We're going to be traveling out this Saturday . We have got everything booked , we're ready to go and , yeah , excited to go on holiday , very excited to go on holiday . We're also going to be doing Disneyland Paris as well . That's going to be very fun , me and my fiance , yeah , it's going to be great . It's going to be a really , really good time . We are very , very much looking forward to it .

Speaker 1 24:07

Let's roll back to the question , shall we ? We have got here . Hannah is asking do you like

Becky Lynch's New Theme

Speaker 1 24:14

Becky Lynch's new theme ? So when I first heard it , when she debuted it at SummerSlam , I was like , really , what are we really we're losing ? This song , Like her previous song , was very , very good . It was very recognizable . People love it , people pop for it and at first I really did not like this song and I think that's solely because I really like the other song is the issue , and therefore it left that thought in my head that no , I don't like it , and I think that was just because of the previous song . When she came out in Dublin last week for Friday Night Smackdown , there really should have been a huge pop for Becky Lynch , but because it was her new theme , I don't think people knew who it was until they saw her standing on the entry . So I think that's what the issue was with this is that they debuted the song , no one knew it . Everyone hated it straight away because they weren't familiar with it . And then this past week in her hometown of Dublin Island , where the crowd should have been absolutely going berserk for Becky Lynch , a hometown hero , they didn't because they didn't know it was until she was stood on the entry . I thought that was quite funny , but I can't lie to you , the theme has grown on me . It really has grown on me , I think .

Speaker 1 25:38

When you actually listen to the lyrics they are quite enjoyable . They're well put together and it actually sounds quite good . I'm going to read the lyrics for a minute . So she's got . The man has come around .

Speaker 1 25:50

As the words hit , the song hits the sleepless nights , the desperate calls , the empty road . I'm spitting blood , I'm staring down a broken nose . I'm sick to death of standing in the bitter cold . They'll rue the day . They let me hit a new low Cause I'm no one's shadow . And it also goes on to say about there's also a reference to Seth in there as well about burning it down . That's in the next verse and I just think it's actually quite well-written for a heel . I think it's . It's actually quite well written for a for a heel . I think it's a well-written song for a heel . If you listen to the entire song and you read it , read the lyrics , they actually make sense to what she's going for , kind of the angle she's going for as this now heel becky lynch , by the way . I think becky lynch is really killing being a heel . She's getting under people's skin , she's beating people up after matches and she's genuinely playing the heel role quite well . I think we're going to be getting a heel bailey soon and I'm very excited to see that again , but more so on her own and not around a faction . To answer hannah's question though a great question , by the way , hannah yes , I am actually starting to like becky lynch's theme . I'm actually really , really starting to enjoy becky lynch's theme . Actually , it's not her old song , but change is always necessary and her old song wasn't very heel-like , if I'm honest . Like she might bring that back when she does turn back to her face . But as it stands , I think it's a pretty good song and I don't think she's going to need to change it for a little while because I think she's going to be a heel for some time , if I'm honest .

Speaker 1 27:19

Mark Moran coming in with a couple of questions as well . Mark

Chris Jericho and Hall of Fame Talk

Speaker 1 27:24

is asking with the rumors that Chris Jericho might be returning to WWE , would you prefer a new gimmick or the AEW gimmick ? I can't lie to you . I mean , whilst it was enjoyable to see all the learning tree stuff and he was kind of the what was he like ? The advisor , the expert , the veteran , in a group of people who are kind of still developing . I liked it . Yeah , I definitely liked it . It was a new concept , I guess , and it was a little bit different . It was enjoyable .

Speaker 1 27:58

But if he was to come back to WWE , I'd really like to see a brand new gimmick . If I'm honest , he is someone who has constantly reinvented himself as Chris Jericho and I think he's done it very , very well on a lot of times , if I'm honest , and I think it's just another opportunity for him to show how really good he is . If he comes back as a completely different gimmick once again , it just puts into perspective how good he is at this . You know , I think it could . He's going to need a new gimmick in order to align with the current WWE landscape . He is absolutely going to need a new gimmick , kind of a new role within the company he's coming in as as a severe veteran at this point .

Speaker 1 28:46

He has been around forever , chris Jericho , and I would absolutely love to see Chris Jericho back in a WWE ring . Rumor has it that his contract with AEW ends at the end of the year December so there could be some room there for him to return a potential Royal Rumble whether that's January or February , I'm not entirely sure on the date we could see Chris Jericho return in a 2026 Royal Rumble . That would be incredible . I think that's the best time for him to do it . The timing of it is perfect . It's almost like it's been made up . But the fact that he could leave AEW and return on one of WWE's grandest stages on a night where we expect surprises anyway for Y2J to turn up , would be incredible . I would love to see him come back as a brand new gimmick because it shows how good he is at reinventing himself on a consistent basis . So I hope that answers your question . I would love to see him . I would love to see him test new waters , do different things every single time .

Speaker 1 29:50

I've enjoyed a lot of Chris Jericho gimmicks . He also asked if I could put two wrestlers in a tag team . Who would I pick ? I'm not allowed to put the Usos , obviously , because we all want to see the Usos get back together . A little thought behind this .

Speaker 1 30:10

I think I would quite like to see Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair At first . With Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss , I'm like what are we doing here ? But as they've kind of gone on , they've really grown on me as a parent Like they actually suit each other very , very well . And I get the same sense with Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Fly . You know they're very similar wrestlers . They're very similar in the ring . They're very similar appearance , big talent , big drama . They really could match up very , very well . I think they could be very similar to what the Iconics did back a few years ago the Iconics now actually in TNA they're doing great things again , but they are incredibly athletic . They are both quite arrogant and impeccable fashion sense . There is absolutely something to create out of Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton . They are both big names within WWE . They are both similar in ring and in appearance and I think that they could probably go about it in a similar fashion around kind of the .

Speaker 1 31:13

What they did with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair was have two very separate people . But I think in this instance they could have two very similar people getting under each other's feet a little bit . You know they both want to show how good they are . It could be very , very dramatic , with a lot of tension , because you know who is the A-side of the team . That's what I like . They are both superstars , they are both megastars .

Speaker 1 31:41

Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair are now both up there . I mean Charlotte Flair you would say 14 times world champion is definitely up there a lot more , but Tiffany Stratton , in terms of fan base and stuff , is absolutely up there and I really do think that they could make a great pairing . They could have some great matches as well , you know , with the Kabuki Warriors , with Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez . I mean , we're quite low on women tag team at the minute , so it would be hard to say who they would look great against because , honestly , that tag division still needs reviving . It really does . But I think that they could do well and charlotte flair might advocate a little bit for that now as she's kind of closing in on the end of her career . She doesn't have too many years , yes , left , I would guess , still nevertheless in fantastic shape , in fantastic in ring shape as well . I think they could be quite a fun team .

Speaker 1 32:40

If I'm honest , who is a superstar ? This is Ethan's question , by the way . Ethan is asking who is a superstar that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame . Who is a current superstar , ethan asks . So he is asking out of the entire roster right now , who is someone who's definitely already going in ? Well , there's a few names that I can really think of off the top of my head the Viper Randy Orton . That man is a 14-time world champion . He has won absolutely everything . He is the legend killer , randy Orton man . He's been around forever .

Speaker 1 33:16

If there was somebody right now that they could say we need to put them in the Hall of Fame right now , it is that man right there , the 14th time world champion , the Viper Randy Orton . He's a two-time Royal Rumble winner . That's tied for third . He's won it all . He's a Grand Slam champion . You know he has got an incredible legacy , whether that is through tactics like legacy , rated RKO , evolution . The man has done it all in different eras of WWE , in different roles as well . He has absolutely done it all as a face , as a heel . He is goddamn amazing . Randy Orton , one of the best man , one of the absolute best .

Speaker 1 33:58

Another that comes to mind , without a doubt , is the Miz . He is a two time Grand Slam champion . He deserves his flowers man . He's not doing much right now . He's kind of in the story with Carmelo Hayes . It's been a few years since we've seen him with a world title on his waist and I really do feel that he needs another one before he kind of goes off in the sunset . He is an incredible athlete . He's an incredible wrestler , a very fantastic wrestler at that . He is someone that I think could go straight into the hall of fame .

Speaker 1 34:26

I think natalia is gonna end up going into the hall of fame as well . She has done a lot for the wwe . Whether you like her or not , she has done a lot for the wwe . She also does a lot with the younger talents as well . She , she has the , uh , the heart . What's the ? What's the , the heart ? Why ? Why would the second word not come into my mind ? She's got her her own wrestling gym as well . The , the , the , the heart dungeon , something like that . It's . Yeah , they are , they are constantly . Her and CJ are constantly doing great things with the younger generations of wrestlers , the next generation of wrestlers , and she's done a lot for wrestling . She absolutely goes down in the Hall of Fame as well . A lot of great names that could go into the Hall of Fame there really , really is , but I think those three are probably the most deserving right now If we're going to talk about kind of not current as well . Bray Wyatt is definitely going into the Hall of Fame . He has yet to go in there . You know , we lost Bray two years ago to kind of three or four days ago to the day and yeah , that's a man that one of the most clever minds in all of wrestling and he is absolutely someone who deserves to go into the Hall of Fame . You know , the Hall of Fame is a huge thing and it's full of incredible history and I believe that Bray Wyatt is someone who deserves to be up there , without a doubt .

Speaker 1 35:52

Grant , my friend , is asking what is your opinion on TNA ? Do you know what , grant ? Tna is one of the first promotions I ever watched and it's probably one of the reasons that I love wrestling so much . I've got some great memories watching TNA with my granddad , watching TNA with my mom and kind of general family , because we didn't kind of have WWE straight away , because WWE was on Sky Sports at the time , sky Sports 3 . Whereas TNA was on Challenge , it was on Dave , it was on a range of free view channels within the UK . So I've always had TNA close to my heart .

Speaker 1 36:28

I think my current thoughts on it right now are quite complex . It's got a great history , but it's also got a history full of a lot of lows . A lot of highs , a lot of frustrating lows . A legacy that defined I wrote this down because I thought about this a little bit it's a legacy that is defined by innovative in-ring talent but also hindered by questionable creative and management decisions . I don't know where I got that poetry from , but I genuinely did write that . It's been a home TNA . It's been a home for a lot of stellar , stellar , stellar , stellar talent in the likes of Samoa Joe , aj Styles man , one of the best to ever do it . Um , you know , kurt Angle had a had a huge history in TNA . Christopher Daniels TNA brings a lot of great memories to me . It really really does .

Speaker 1 37:19

The Knockouts division , the X division , the resurgence of TNA . Now having this stuff in place with NXT . I think it does great things for them . I mean the whole title stuff I have a bit of a different opinion on , but it's also been through some tough times Poor management , poor creative decisions , the Monday Night War attempt in 2010 . Jeff Hardy you know that kind of what happened with him wasn't great . The talent drain and kind of inconsistent product is what I've seen TNA have a lot of recently and I'm on and off with TNA . I'll tune in , I'm like up to date on all of the recent results , but I haven't watched TNA weekly for about three months because it just doesn't feel the same anymore . Unfortunately , I really don't like what's going on with the titles . I hate that NXT are holding titles hostage . I really don't like that . I don't think that's TNA's fault , but I also kind of do because they've approved that . You know They've approved that for the sake of getting a couple more views , because you know Trick Williams is the champion and JC Jane is the champion and I don't know . It just doesn't quite sit well with me .

Speaker 1 38:34

If I'm honest , yeet Master , aka Sean , is asking what wrestler or current wrestler would I feel would thrive in the Attitude Era and vice versa . I think the most obvious current superstar that would work in the Attitude Era is LA Knight , and the reason I think that is because LA Knight to me is a mixture of Stone Cold , steve Austin and the Rock . You know , stone Cold in the ring and the Rock on the mic . La Knight's trash

Long-Term Storytelling in Wrestling

Speaker 1 39:05

talk is very comparable to the people of the Attitude Era In the Rock and Stone Cold , steve Austin . He's cocky , he is very good with his words , you know he just seems like a supernatural fit . In my opinion he could have been a really good top top heel back in the day , I believe , and then , switching that over , someone who I feel could have done more could have kind of been Attitude Era superstar in today's wrestling , I think . Actually while he was already in the Attitude Era and thrived a bit more in kind of the the Ruthless Aggression Era , I think probably Edge , actually I think I think Edge would have been a much better fit back in the day during the Attitude Era if he was in it a lot more . I mean perfect fit for today's project . In my opinion , seeing Coppola this past weekend at AW Forbidden Door was incredible .

Speaker 1 40:13

You also followed up to ask let me just scroll back up to that Do I think the long-term storytelling is possible in modern wrestling with today's fast-paced media and fan expectations , or has the industry moved on ? That's a really really good question . That is a really really good question . I think that long-term storytelling absolutely has a place in wrestling . Some of the more recent stuff the bloodline , the bloodline did so well at staying relevant for four years . You know it had some great dynamics , some betrayals , some character evolution . You know we saw a lot of people grow and come out much better on the other side . You've also got Cody Rhodes finishing the story by winning the undisputed title at Wrestlemania 40 . You know it's uh .

Speaker 1 41:06

There is absolutely a place in wrestling for long-term storytelling . I love it . I absolutely love long-term storytelling when I'm watching and I'm like , wait , that's that ties to this and and know , figuring it out as a fan . I guess you know the fan engagement . You know we have a lot of social media . We have a lot of kind of things getting ruined , which is very unfortunate , but unfortunately in 2025 , these things are just bound to happen .

Speaker 1 41:33

You know , I think we're in a time in wrestling right now where we've got lots of different promotions doing lots of different things A lot of promotions not doing long-term storytelling and then a lot of promotions that are doing long-term storytelling . Sometimes I watch WWE and I'm like is that long-term storytelling here or do we just have nothing to do with that character ? And I don't think we've moved on from long-term storytelling , but I do think we are adapting more , adapting more to approach to it , which I think is super , super important . I mean promotions are increasingly building these more complex storylines that unfold more so over months and years than they do weeks . I think that builds for great storytelling . I think the longer term is absolutely thriving in modern wrestling and I am 100% here for it . We're coming from days when it would just be one or two matches and that is classed as storytelling . All of the storytelling is just done in the ring . But I don't think we're there anymore . I don't think we're there anymore . I think we have storytelling in the ring , we have storytelling on the mic and I think we have storytelling in kind of a long-term sense . You know this happened two years ago . This is tied to this . Now , I think it's a fantastic time to be a wrestling fan To answer your question .

Speaker 1 43:01

Man , I hope that is enough to answer your question . I want to make sure that I covered all . I think I do have one . Yee is asking if you could be a wrestler , what would your name and nickname be ? It's right here , baby . I think Joshy Wrestling is the perfect nickname . I absolutely love that name , joshy Wrestling . It comes from being a huge fan of Johnny Gargano and listening to Johnny Wrestling . Yeah , I love it . I think the nickname would absolutely be Joshy Wrestling . Imagine that you stood in an arena of 20,000 people screaming Joshy Wrestling . That's the dream man . That is the dream . I'm going to end it there , people , I think that has answered all of the questions to the best of my ability .

Speaker 1 43:48

I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do for next week's podcast . I will be in Paris on the Wednesday , so it's going to be tough to get one out , if I'm honest . But look , thank you so much for listening to episode number six of the Beyond the Map podcast with Joshi Reston . I appreciate all of the love and the support , as always . Let me know where you're watching . Drop a comment . Did you enjoy the episode ? Leave me questions for next episode , episode number seven . Thank you so so much . I will see you all on the next episode of the Beyond the Map podcast . Thank you ,

Closing Thoughts and Next Episode

Speaker 1 44:20

goodbye .