Field Dispatch
Wrestling with Charles Richardson | Matt Connarton Unleashed
Speaker 1: So what's the podcast that you're doing. Tell us about it.
Speaker 1: The wrestling podcast.
Speaker 2: So the podcast is the podcast that's called the Josh
Speaker 2: Zodiac Podcast. It stars him his brother called the Psycho Nerd.
Speaker 2: Don't even ask me, and and myself. So and there's
Speaker 2: a there's another co host that he's that he's brought
Speaker 2: on and she's pretty good too. She's very knowledgeable. And
Speaker 2: when we were doing the the live pl e's I
Speaker 2: do the live recording. He does the podcast. So when
Speaker 2: there's a live pl E a big one, I'm usually
Speaker 2: the one that does it through my channel and he
Speaker 2: joins in with with everybody, and you know, we cover
Speaker 2: the matches. Yeah, but but he does it's like an hour.
Speaker 2: It's it's an hour podcast and discuss various different topics,
Speaker 2: usually about Ross SmackDown and what's going on with the
Speaker 2: next p l E or other wrestling rumors, like we
Speaker 2: talked about Hogan, we talked about and Cross and Scarlett
Speaker 2: not being resigned, we talked about how bad they are.
Speaker 2: It's just it's just completely, uh, all over the place wrestling.
Speaker 2: So it's like, you know, we don't discuss because I know,
Speaker 2: tough bumps. You focused on one topic and you guys
Speaker 2: go on it for for how long? The show is
Speaker 2: maybe two?
Speaker 1: Not?
Speaker 2: Well you talk about several topics.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we actually do. We actually do several topics
Speaker 1: on on tough Bumps. What we do is so we
Speaker 1: have the main event. Every week, we pick a subject
Speaker 1: that we're going to cover in depth, and then but
Speaker 1: we also have the undercard, and the undercard is usually
Speaker 1: two or three subjects that we're we cover kind of
Speaker 1: a short We have briefer conversations about leading up to
Speaker 1: the main event. So then the main event will be
Speaker 1: whatever it is, like like this past weekend, the main
Speaker 1: event was aw kind of the history of ae W.
Speaker 1: So we kind of we kind of do it that way.
Speaker 1: But I mean that's but that's another great thing about
Speaker 1: podcasting too, is you know you can do it anyway you.
Speaker 3: Want to this.
Speaker 1: No, there's no rules, there's no format to follow. You
Speaker 1: know you can it can change, it can evolve, it
Speaker 1: can devolve, it can you know however you wanna, however
Speaker 1: you want to do it. I feel like you have
Speaker 1: you worked with Josh Zodiac before. The reason I ask
Speaker 1: is I've heard that name and I think I've heard
Speaker 1: you mentioned the name before Josh Zodiac.
Speaker 2: No, I've actually just recently come on to his UHS
Speaker 2: podcast uh as an official co host. He had me
Speaker 2: on a guest a couple of times. But it's like, hey, listen,
Speaker 2: you're really good. I like you the interaction that we have.
Speaker 2: So it's like, I want to do a co something,
Speaker 2: Sure if you want, absolutely, so Okay, usually every Saturday
Speaker 2: we do we do a show or he records and uh,
Speaker 2: but no, it's it's only been for a few months now.
Speaker 1: Oh cool, Okay, I may I may have heard of
Speaker 1: him elsewhere then I might have h I might have
Speaker 1: seen something of Eric, might even know him.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: No, that's very cool, that's very cool. And and and
Speaker 1: then so when do the whe doer the new episodes
Speaker 1: come out? When should people look for him?
Speaker 2: Is it two a week Sunday? It's it's just it's
Speaker 2: just one a week. Usually they drop on Sunday. Okay,
Speaker 2: he is. We're taking September off and then we're gonna
Speaker 2: ramp up afterwards, get ready for or after Survivor series,
Speaker 2: and then we'll go ahead and jump back into it.
Speaker 2: But I may I may do Survivor series on my
Speaker 2: end because I know, I think that what that's two
Speaker 2: nights now again.
Speaker 3: The Survivor series two nights one night.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I think they're all going to
Speaker 2: two nights. Crying out loud. That's what w W is
Speaker 2: all about right now, is that they're all about making money.
Speaker 2: And it's just really sad of how how downtry it
Speaker 2: is with the new ESPN deal going on. It's like, gee, whiz, guys.
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, you're already you're you're already firing up
Speaker 2: and everything. How about giving the fans a break?
Speaker 3: Huh yeah, it is.
Speaker 2: Uh, it's just crazy.
Speaker 4: I am not buying ESPN. No, I am not buying it.
Speaker 4: They can pound stand.
Speaker 3: I'm done. Well, I already have.
Speaker 4: I got I got Netflix to watch raw, I got
Speaker 4: Peacock to watch pl E's I got. You know, I
Speaker 4: gotta go to empty different places to watch stuff to
Speaker 4: begin with. I'm done.
Speaker 3: I'm not chasing them to ESPN.
Speaker 2: Sand Well, so I heard that if you are subscribed
Speaker 2: to ESPN, do your linear cable subscription. I think you're covered. Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, I don't do cable.
Speaker 1: We cut the We cut the court a long time ago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we don't have cable we cut the cord a long
Speaker 1: time ago.
Speaker 2: Ridiculous costs.
Speaker 3: It won't do it.
Speaker 1: It's so expensive for But now, in terms of though,
Speaker 1: and this is a conversation that I had with Eric
Speaker 1: on Tough Bumps, the easy workaround is you just get
Speaker 1: a you know, you can get a VPN for like
Speaker 1: six bucks a month and connect to because the ples
Speaker 1: will still be available internationally on Netflix, just not in
Speaker 1: the US. So you just get a you just get
Speaker 1: a VPN. Netflix doesn't know where you're connecting from. You
Speaker 1: can have access to everything, I mean really or just or.
Speaker 2: Just or just contact me after the show and I'll
Speaker 2: go ahead and give you information about you know, adding
Speaker 2: you on to my family subscription on YouTube tv O.
Speaker 4: Well, I agree with what you were saying before, and
Speaker 4: now it just went out of my head.
Speaker 3: Oh about it it being so expensive now to be
Speaker 3: a fan? Yeah, right, it's.
Speaker 4: Really it really gives something back to the fans, hih.
Speaker 4: I mean we spent enough money buying, emptying different subscriptions
Speaker 4: to watch umpthing different things. And you know, but I
Speaker 4: agree with you one hundred percent. And I hate the
Speaker 4: direction they're going in. I don't like the way they're
Speaker 4: treating talent, especially truth.
Speaker 2: I yeah, right, I think talent's being treated a lot
Speaker 2: better than they were with Vince. To be honest with you,
Speaker 2: there may be some one offs, yes, for for talent
Speaker 2: that I think. I think Truth was brought back based
Speaker 2: on fan pressure, which if you think about it, wouldn't
Speaker 2: have not affected Vince one bit, right, because the fans
Speaker 2: are calling out for names. Triple H is listening to
Speaker 2: the fans. So I think the talent is treated a
Speaker 2: lot better nowadays.
Speaker 4: Well maybe a little bit in that regard. But to
Speaker 4: drop somebody with no notice, no nothing, just ah, yeah,
Speaker 4: we've been with us for decades, but goodbye, see it
Speaker 4: hour get out that that's the way that they've dropped people, uh,
Speaker 4: you know, is awful. They don't have discussions with them.
Speaker 4: They just wait till the end and then go oh
Speaker 4: yeah you're gone. And people have been with them, people
Speaker 4: their lives are invested. Yeah, that's how you treat people.
Speaker 2: For Jenny, they they've they've they've done massive cuts before
Speaker 2: just to save They've done that way before. The Truth.
Speaker 2: It's just the fact of the matter that Truth is
Speaker 2: such such is so beloved. Yeah, he's such a he's
Speaker 2: basically I guarantee you when he retires he finally hangs
Speaker 2: up his boots, I guarantee you he's going to be
Speaker 2: in Bastad.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he'll always have some sort of a connection
Speaker 1: of the company, I'm sure, Yeah, regardless, but not.
Speaker 4: The only one though that they just drop like that.
Speaker 4: Well yeah, but been around forever and it's just you're gone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think. I do think though, with with
Speaker 1: some people. I mean, if you reach a point where
Speaker 1: you don't think you can, you know, then.
Speaker 3: Have a discussion with them.
Speaker 4: Be honest, don't be like Cross.
Speaker 1: Well, the Carrion Cross thing seems like a unique situation.
Speaker 1: Did you watch did you watch him? Excuse me, I'm
Speaker 1: losing my voice, Charles, did you watch? Jenny and I
Speaker 1: watched both the documentary, uh, the Killer Cross Part two
Speaker 1: slash My Contract Just Ended or whatever it's called. And
Speaker 1: we watched the Aeriel Helwani interview where Carrion Cross to
Speaker 1: me comes across no pun intended really well. And in
Speaker 1: the documentary both he and Scarlett come across really well,
Speaker 1: and it's it's easy to have a lot of sympathy
Speaker 1: for them. Did you watch either of those or both
Speaker 1: of those?
Speaker 2: No? Unfortunately, I can't say I have. Yeah, but here's
Speaker 2: my take on Carrion's I'm gonna be honest with you,
Speaker 2: and this is just what I see. Either Creative has
Speaker 2: dropped the ball massively, yes, or Carrion just does not
Speaker 2: get over with the fans at all. I mean he
Speaker 2: number one. If you take a look at his erring work,
Speaker 2: I can see why the guy only wrestles one time
Speaker 2: a year. The guy is dangerous. You think that that match,
Speaker 2: that match is dammy Zaye. Literally I saw one or
Speaker 2: two inches where he could be paralyzed. The Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was some scary stuff. Me, me and Joshua we're
Speaker 2: talking about that match, and it's like, yeah, he is unsafe.
Speaker 2: He is unsafe. It's it's not a good performance at all.
Speaker 2: His character is lackluster at best. I loved it when
Speaker 2: he was with AOP and had the the Final Testament.
Speaker 3: Oh, the Final Testament.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was where he That is where I think
Speaker 2: he should. He needs to be surrounded by talent. He
Speaker 2: cannot hold himself with his character. He cannot. So either
Speaker 2: Creative is dropping the ball, finding nothing legitimate that he
Speaker 2: can do well, or he just excuse my French sucks
Speaker 2: and he just needs to go.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would.
Speaker 1: I would definitely put it on creative because you know,
Speaker 1: just hearing the guy talk, even in see I've always
Speaker 1: been impressed with him in in interviews, various podcast interviews
Speaker 1: I've seen with him over the years and whatnot. He's
Speaker 1: so articulate and so interesting. It's like, how do you
Speaker 1: not find something to do with this guy? And then
Speaker 1: in recent days when he did that that promo that
Speaker 1: was like a worked shoot where you know he did
Speaker 1: he did that that promo after WrestleMania where he was
Speaker 1: complaining about not being on the show and and he
Speaker 1: threw down the mic crophone and said that's killer cross
Speaker 1: and everything. And then people really got behind him after that,
Speaker 1: and apparently his merchandise sales through WWE dot com spiked massively,
Speaker 1: and his book, his new book that just came out,
Speaker 1: Life is Fighting, is doing very well. So there's clearly
Speaker 1: the fans want him, they want to get behind him.
Speaker 1: I put it all on creative. How do you not
Speaker 1: make money with this guy? And I've always felt that
Speaker 1: like they they did well with him in NXT when
Speaker 1: Triple H was running NXT, but then you know, they
Speaker 1: brought him up to the main roster. Vince was still
Speaker 1: in charge, so Vince immediately ruined him. They released him,
Speaker 1: they brought him back, and then they's like they can't
Speaker 1: figure out what to do with him, and it's like,
Speaker 1: how do you not find something for this guy to do?
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I put it on creative. Not every NXT champion or
Speaker 2: somebody that's rising up from NXT goes to the main
Speaker 2: roster and succeeds. It's just not that. And also there
Speaker 2: may be other works behind the scenes. There could be
Speaker 2: some back back uh uh, there could be some drama
Speaker 2: going on backstage. There could be some obviously creative differences,
Speaker 2: I'm sure backstage. But the thing is, though, just just
Speaker 2: seeing what I've seen on camera, it's very bland. It's
Speaker 2: it's it's not it's not entertaining for me at least.
Speaker 2: I mean again, it sounds like you and Jenny Field differently,
Speaker 2: but it's not entertaining for me. And and and I
Speaker 2: find his wrestling style is very dangerous.
Speaker 3: I will say I don't think his ring work.
Speaker 1: I've never noticed the dangerous aspect of that, but I
Speaker 1: would be curious, like Jenny said, you know, maybe we'll
Speaker 1: go back and watch that match. But I will say
Speaker 1: I've never found his ringwork to be particularly spectacular. Like
Speaker 1: I don't expect to hear this is awesome chant during
Speaker 1: a Carrion cross match.
Speaker 2: No, but but again it's it's it's it's far but
Speaker 2: it's it's far from spectacularly. It's down it's downright bad.
Speaker 2: It really is. The I don't know because listen, when
Speaker 2: you take a look and you're inside that ring, you
Speaker 2: are dancing with your dance partner. I mean, yes, it's
Speaker 2: kind of sad to say because they're wearing tight, tight
Speaker 2: shorts and everything like that, and you know, it's just
Speaker 2: you just think about that. It's just like, Okay, you're
Speaker 2: dancing with a dude, all right, whatever, But they're dancing
Speaker 2: and your dance partner. Somebody has to lead, somebody has
Speaker 2: to Communication is always a spot Sammy Zain, whether it
Speaker 2: be with Jay Usso, whether it be with the Bloodline,
Speaker 2: whether it be with Kevin Owens. Sammy Zaine's beautiful. He
Speaker 2: twinkle toes around that ring like nobody ever great. I
Speaker 2: seemy carry and crossing and I'm almost ready to cry
Speaker 2: because there is no twinkle toes. Something's off and it's
Speaker 2: can't be Sammy, because I've seen Sammy Inner act with
Speaker 2: other wrestlers and he is just beautiful. It's great, it's artwork.
Speaker 2: It's not art, it's it's just it's maybe it's not dangerous,
Speaker 2: but it's just not good.
Speaker 1: I do think they had a good match at SummerSlam.
Speaker 1: I thought it was I thought it was very good.
Speaker 1: I mean, I you know, I didn't have any complaints
Speaker 1: about it, certainly, but I think the I.
Speaker 2: Think the drama and the interaction, the interference with scarlet
Speaker 2: with the bar, I like that. But there was a
Speaker 2: couple of bumps there where I was like, please get up, Sammy,
Speaker 2: please get up, Please don't do the referee, don't do
Speaker 2: the x uh. It's just it's there's there's some of
Speaker 2: the bumps that I just saw the like, I mean, okay,
Speaker 2: that didn't look that didn't look good.
Speaker 1: I do have to acknowledge my favorite part of any
Speaker 1: carrying cross match has always been the entrance. I think
Speaker 1: the entrance is incredible. I think I think, I think
Speaker 1: that the whole thing is really good. But but he
Speaker 1: also said it is the.
Speaker 2: Best part of carrying cross is the entrance. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: He did say during the uh the Ariel hill Wana
Speaker 1: interview too, that they so you said you didn't watch it, correct,
Speaker 1: He said that, he said that it's it's really it's
Speaker 1: really good. But he said that they did make him
Speaker 1: an offer. It's not that they didn't make him an offer.
Speaker 1: They did make him an offer. But there were two
Speaker 1: things that there were a problem. One is he wanted
Speaker 1: to know how they arrived at that number. So I
Speaker 1: assume it was a low number because he again, there's
Speaker 1: been a just recently, there was a pretty big spike
Speaker 1: in his merchandise sales apparently, so they wanted to know
Speaker 1: how they arrived at number. At that number, he didn't
Speaker 1: say no, He just said, you know, let's continue the conversation.
Speaker 1: And the other sticking point was they did not offer
Speaker 1: her Scarlet anything. They offered him a new deal. They
Speaker 1: did not offer Scarlett a new deal. And he says
Speaker 1: that what they told him was that they would sign him,
Speaker 1: let's get your deal locked in, and then will we'll
Speaker 1: figure out Scarlet, which I can understand him being very
Speaker 1: concerned about that for two reasons. Number One, she's a
Speaker 1: huge part of the act. You know, it's hard to
Speaker 1: imagine him without her. But also I would be worried
Speaker 1: about Okay, so you want to sign me, You want
Speaker 1: me to hurry up and sign this deal and then
Speaker 1: we'll and then we'll deal with Scarlett afterward. I'm worried
Speaker 1: that there's not going to be a follow through there. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to sign this deal that you, for some reason,
Speaker 1: are in such a hurry for me to go ahead
Speaker 1: and sign, because you're telling me, if I don't sign
Speaker 1: it in twenty four hours, you're rescinding the offer. No
Speaker 1: ongoing contract negotiations. Either sign this or you resined, and
Speaker 1: then I'm supposed to just trust you that then you're
Speaker 1: going to talk to Scarlet or we're going to sit
Speaker 1: down and negotiate something for Scarlet as well. That is
Speaker 1: that sounded pretty sketchy to me, So I don't blame
Speaker 1: him for saying no, agreed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with that, because listen, what does my
Speaker 2: deal have to do with Scarlett? Scarlett has her own deal.
Speaker 2: How about we get Scarlett on board first, Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then talk to me. I think, honestly, it's a way
Speaker 2: to go ahead and break this apart, because number one,
Speaker 2: Scarlet's not a wrestler. She has not wrestled. She is
Speaker 2: a valet.
Speaker 3: I think she hasn't she has.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, I think I.
Speaker 3: Thought she had wrestled in the net to my recollection.
Speaker 2: If she had a long time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, probably been a long time. But I mean, I
Speaker 1: know she takes bumps and everything. I thought she had
Speaker 1: wrestled at one time. I'm looking it up now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she probably has trained before. Yeah, definitely look it up. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but she's probably trained before to go ahead and said bumps.
Speaker 2: But she's primarily a vala. And I don't think WWE,
Speaker 2: especially with them cracking down on salary and everything like that,
Speaker 2: I don't think they're gonna go ahead and pay a vala,
Speaker 2: which is weird. You're going ahead and bumping up to
Speaker 2: ESPN for thirty dollars a month. You're already telling people
Speaker 2: to pay for Netflix for raw and you're cutting salary.
Speaker 2: Really okay, I mean, I you know, I don't get it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking on Wikipedia.
Speaker 3: It looks like I.
Speaker 4: Get Peacock for the play.
Speaker 2: And and and they're also bumping up because they said
Speaker 2: when they signed this deal with ESPN that their first
Speaker 2: p l E was going to be wrestle Mania next year.
Speaker 2: They're bumping it up to something called Russell Polluta yep
Speaker 2: in September yep, y she with.
Speaker 4: I think their money. I think they're greedy as heck.
Speaker 4: They got that company's got so much money. Now then
Speaker 4: Nikol and Diamond, the artists who are contracted, they.
Speaker 3: Don't get healthcare.
Speaker 4: They got to pay their own healthcare everything else. Right,
Speaker 4: That's why I think people don't understand that sometimes too,
Speaker 4: because they think they're employees, right, They're non employees. They're
Speaker 4: independent contract They got to work around from the government basically,
Speaker 4: and it's stuck.
Speaker 2: They yeah, they're I mean, obviously there's there's another wrestling
Speaker 2: promotion out there. If you don't make it a WWE,
Speaker 2: go over the w see what they can do. You
Speaker 2: got full creative control. You have another con and debt
Speaker 2: that didn't charge. So you go from Tony to Neck
Speaker 2: or Nick to Tony. I don't know. I forgot whose
Speaker 2: con is open. They're both cons.
Speaker 3: Sorry I had to do it.
Speaker 2: God, I can't go over to the aw there. You
Speaker 2: know they you know that they're they're thriving as well.
Speaker 2: I mean, look how awesome they are. I mean, look, look,
Speaker 2: I mean just just think about it. Chris Jericho went
Speaker 2: from w w E to a W possibly.
Speaker 3: Back to w w E most likely.
Speaker 2: I thought that, Come on, now, Tony Rhodes goes ahead
Speaker 2: and flicks off w w E when he goes to AW.
Speaker 2: Now it's back to w w E. What's going on?
Speaker 2: How come you can't keep their talent, talent that they
Speaker 2: take from w w E. Well, it's not working. Now,
Speaker 2: next thing you know, we're getting Dan Ambrose back, right.
Speaker 2: Is that what's gonna happen next?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: I hope, so, I hope. So that was something that
Speaker 1: Eric and I talked about too on Tough Bumps. By
Speaker 1: the way, if you're just joining us, we have Charles
Speaker 1: Richardson from the Charles Richardson Show on the line with us,
Speaker 1: and and uh oh, and of course the pot what's
Speaker 1: the name of the wrestling podcast? Is it the Josh
Speaker 1: Zodiac Show? Yes, the Josh Zodiac Podcast, the Josh Zodiac Podcast.
Speaker 3: I want to make sure I get it right. When
Speaker 3: when when we did? Uh yeah?
Speaker 1: This past Sunday on the newest edition of Tough Bumps,
Speaker 1: it was a history of ae W and Eric and
Speaker 1: I talked a lot about how the worst thing that
Speaker 1: happened to ae W was and Eric and I disagree
Speaker 1: on a lot of things, but on this I think
Speaker 1: we agreed is that when when Vince ended up having
Speaker 1: to permanently leave WWE because with Triple H in charge
Speaker 1: of creative because the whole reason that ae W was
Speaker 1: so successful in the beginning and to a large extent
Speaker 1: still is I mean, doing thirty thousand people in a
Speaker 1: stadium in Texas is pretty impressive.
Speaker 3: But the reason they.
Speaker 1: Were so successful initially was because they were offering an
Speaker 1: alternative to what had become very very stale, a very
Speaker 1: stale product under Vince. I was saying to Eric, you know,
Speaker 1: for years, I didn't even sit down. I wouldn't even
Speaker 1: sit down and sit through an episode of Raw or SmackDown.
Speaker 1: I would just go on YouTube and find find out
Speaker 1: whatever happened and just watch whatever clips looked interesting to me.
Speaker 1: And that was it. So I never fully disengaged from
Speaker 1: the product. But so, you know, so AW was filling
Speaker 1: that void, and then of course Triple H, who I
Speaker 1: wasn't surprised because I was watching NXT because when Triple
Speaker 1: H was in charge of NXT, NXC was phenomenal. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, so when Triple h got to take over
Speaker 1: full creative on the full roster, on the main roster.
Speaker 1: You know, that was all of a sudden AEW. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like, don't really need it after all now
Speaker 1: that WWE is running on all cylinders again for the
Speaker 1: first time in a long time. But that's but I
Speaker 1: do think that AEW is a net positive for the business.
Speaker 1: I think that the business always thrives when you have
Speaker 1: competitive forces within it. The more promotions that are successful,
Speaker 1: the better, because a high tide raises all ships interests
Speaker 1: in wrestling. You know, it's it's so strong right now.
Speaker 1: Even TNA Jenny and I were watching a little bit
Speaker 1: of Slammiversary. They were that was their biggest North American
Speaker 1: crowd for Slamiversary, almost eight thousand people. I think their
Speaker 1: partnership with WWE helps drive that. But I do think
Speaker 1: AEW holds an important place in the market, and I
Speaker 1: think there I think it's a net positive that they're around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's definitely going to be a net positive
Speaker 2: for AW no matter what, because it's an alternative and
Speaker 2: when you can go ahead and finally get your creative
Speaker 2: brains intact and actually bump heads literally sometimes and you
Speaker 2: go ahead and get Edge and Christian back together. That's
Speaker 2: going to generate some interest, like, hmmm, how does this
Speaker 2: Rated R superstar Adam Copeland going to do with Christian
Speaker 2: Cage now that they're reunited. Interesting storyline. It drove me
Speaker 2: interest in ae W because I want to see what
Speaker 2: these two are gonna go at. Right, And that was
Speaker 2: the first time I heard of Spike apparently with that
Speaker 2: bat just oh gruesome. Yeah, anyway, I don't like that.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm like, you know what, Let's see what happens.
Speaker 2: Let's see where they go from here, because they're taking
Speaker 2: a definite tag team, a formidable tag team, hall of
Speaker 2: Fame tag team, and they're bringing it to their forefront.
Speaker 2: Now let's see how they do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think, Uh so, we don't. We don't
Speaker 1: watch much a w uh. Basically, if there's a you know,
Speaker 1: if they have a big event or something, there's a
Speaker 1: website Toki video dot Com that posts, uh the individual
Speaker 1: matches from their pay per views, you know, usually a
Speaker 1: week or two after they happened.
Speaker 3: But but yeah, I think I think, you know, are
Speaker 3: they not?
Speaker 2: Are they not? Are they not stream on Max? They're
Speaker 2: they're paid per views? I know they're streaming like dynamite
Speaker 2: in Oh yeah, Max Max.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we have Max Max.
Speaker 1: We've we've actually watched one of the shows on Max.
Speaker 1: We've never watched any of their p L E s
Speaker 1: on Max.
Speaker 3: But I think you're right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, with all the streaming services, it gets confusing. It's
Speaker 1: hard to keep up with it all.
Speaker 3: I'm ready to dump some. But but part of part
Speaker 3: of why.
Speaker 2: It's amazing Max, it's it's it's amazing. Mat the chord. Yeah,
Speaker 2: cut the cord, everybody, cut the streaming. You're spending more
Speaker 2: now on streaming than you did. I'm not.
Speaker 4: I'm actually not spending more on streaming than I was
Speaker 4: paying the cable because it was ridiculously expensive.
Speaker 2: A lot of people are, a lot of people are
Speaker 2: though cable.
Speaker 3: Cable is far from dead, that's for sure. Yeah, I Uh.
Speaker 1: Part of why we were having that conversation on Tough
Speaker 1: Bumps was Eric is. Eric is much more negative on
Speaker 1: ae W than I am. Like I said, I think,
Speaker 1: I think Uh, I think Cody Rhads his return to
Speaker 1: w WE UH would not have been nearly as important
Speaker 1: and as big a deal had it not been for
Speaker 1: ae W, even CM Punk. You know, I mean, it
Speaker 1: still would have been a big deal him returning to WWE,
Speaker 1: his surprise appearance at Survivor Series UH when he returned.
Speaker 1: But again, had it had it not been for his UH,
Speaker 1: had it not been for ae W getting him back
Speaker 1: into the game first, I don't think it would have
Speaker 1: meant as much. You know, I think ae W. I
Speaker 1: think a W has directly benefited WWE in some ways.
Speaker 3: I really do.
Speaker 2: I agree, and then I disagree because Cody Rhoades developed
Speaker 2: himself in the Indies before AW even took place.
Speaker 3: That was Eric sent.
Speaker 2: That the American Nightmare persona theme song and everything was
Speaker 2: before a W. So he actually went ahead and created
Speaker 2: himself before then he was able to make a stage
Speaker 2: on AW. So I agreed to that point. I agreed
Speaker 2: to that point that Cody went ahead and turned some
Speaker 2: heads like, Wow, this guy can actually perform. You don't
Speaker 2: have to put him in a goofy gold out and
Speaker 2: called Stardust. That's great. See them punk on the other hand,
Speaker 2: see him punk. On the other hand, he had to
Speaker 2: try another promotion because of his experience with w W E,
Speaker 2: his negative experience with w W and at the time
Speaker 2: he went to AW vincents Stone charge anyway, So why
Speaker 2: would he go back to a toxic relationship with that,
Speaker 2: right And of course, if you haven't seen Unreal, we
Speaker 2: watched you to know that. Yeah, it's it's that. That's
Speaker 2: freaking great, it really is. But that right there not
Speaker 2: even unreal, just just a hole behind the scenes of
Speaker 2: how CM punk got back. It was the last minute deal.
Speaker 2: This thing wasn't like etchton Stone. Before Survivor series hit,
Speaker 2: nobody knew except three people, and.
Speaker 3: One of them was Aja.
Speaker 2: So he did he and he was hidden behind everything.
Speaker 2: He got into Gorilla Formation and like, wow, Sam Punk
Speaker 2: is here. Yep, yeah, it's just he literally signed that
Speaker 2: contract like ten minutes before.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah.
Speaker 2: So there was a coming to Jesus moment with Triple
Speaker 2: H saying, listen, we know we messed up. We know
Speaker 2: this hap happened. We know that happened. This is how
Speaker 2: it is now. We know there's a lot of wrongs
Speaker 2: that have been righted and and this is this is
Speaker 2: what we can offer you. And I think Sampunk came back,
Speaker 2: but I think he had to try another promotion to
Speaker 2: see what exactly what it's like outside of w WE.
Speaker 2: Before he came back.
Speaker 3: Right right.
Speaker 1: I also have a theory you know that you know
Speaker 1: that show that cmpunk showed up at, this was when
Speaker 1: he was on the outs with AW. He was still
Speaker 1: under contract, but he out with his with his injury.
Speaker 1: Poor guy, He's had a lot of injuries. But so
Speaker 1: he was he was away from the promotion and and
Speaker 1: of course it was an ongoing story that he was
Speaker 1: at odds with some of the people there and like
Speaker 1: Jack Perry, and his relationship with Tony Cohn was pretty strained.
Speaker 1: And then there was that WWE show that he showed
Speaker 1: up at just to say hi to some people backstage,
Speaker 1: and ye and and Vince got went and Vince got
Speaker 1: wind of it and kicked him out. And and by
Speaker 1: the way, Vin Vince I think was probably right to
Speaker 1: do that because Vince does not want to be sued
Speaker 1: for contract hampering, you know, because if he's aware of
Speaker 1: the situation, he knows, assuming he was aware, he knew
Speaker 1: that cm punk was still under contract with AEW but
Speaker 1: having problems. So it's not necessarily a great look that,
Speaker 1: you know, while still under contract with AW, cmpunk has
Speaker 1: just showing up at a show.
Speaker 3: But that night, apparently.
Speaker 1: Before before Vince gave word that, No, you got to
Speaker 1: get him out of here. We can't have him in
Speaker 1: the building. Kick him out. He did have a brief
Speaker 1: interaction with Triple A. I just wonder how that interaction
Speaker 1: went because I have this I have a theory. It's
Speaker 1: just a theory. I you know, can't base it on anything,
Speaker 1: But is it possible that part of that introduction Apparently
Speaker 1: it was very very brief, just kind of saying hello
Speaker 1: to each other. But I wonder if Punk said something like, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, to Triple H, hey, you know, someday, when
Speaker 1: I'm not under contract somewhere else, I might like to
Speaker 1: come back here, you know, just kind of throwing that
Speaker 1: out there in Triple H may have said something like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, if you weren't under contract, we'd love to
Speaker 1: have you back. Who knows what the future, you know,
Speaker 1: just something, just a brief interaction like that, and they'll
Speaker 1: know and if that conversation did take place, they'll never
Speaker 1: admit it. But I just know, but I can't help.
Speaker 1: But wonder if it did.
Speaker 2: You know, I have my own theory and it's it's
Speaker 2: it's definitely not Rustling related. So my theory is damn
Speaker 2: Punk works up to triple h and it's like, hey,
Speaker 2: how are you and Stephanie doing? Yeah, yeah, we're doing great.
Speaker 2: I mean you're doing great. You won't get together and have.
Speaker 3: A foursome, really that's your theory?
Speaker 1: And yeah, so well, Charles, I mean you're definitely thinking
Speaker 1: outside the box, because I can honestly tell you with
Speaker 1: with all the sincerity, that never occurred to me.
Speaker 2: I'm sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, uh, what do you watch any a W
Speaker 3: now or do you only watch.
Speaker 2: W W E? It's it's mainly w W E. But
Speaker 2: you know, I kind of keep tabs on stuff with
Speaker 2: a W like I you know, I wouldn't have known
Speaker 2: about edging Christian. I knew they were feuding with with
Speaker 2: with each other. I think, yeah there was one time
Speaker 2: Christian hug Edge and told them you know, oh yeah yeah,
Speaker 2: and that's okay, wow, yeah. But you know, I I
Speaker 2: kind of keep tabs, like, you know, apparently they got
Speaker 2: something going now, which okay, maybe I might tune in
Speaker 2: to see what's going on if they're advertised and see
Speaker 2: what's doing, but I'm primarily WW.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll watch any Will Osprey match and he of course,
Speaker 1: you know an AEW and you know a big fan
Speaker 1: of MJF. Haven't kept up, haven't kept up with what
Speaker 1: they've been doing. But boy, there's so much. There's just
Speaker 1: so much content now, I mean, and WWE is pumping
Speaker 1: out more content than ever.
Speaker 2: Is MJF like part of the Hurt syndicate now with
Speaker 2: lash Lee and the MVP.
Speaker 1: From what I saw online, he was, but now he's out.
Speaker 1: They kicked him out or something, so I don't know,
Speaker 1: I haven't, but that's you know, it's hard though. See,
Speaker 1: that's the other thing with AEW. And this is something
Speaker 1: where I think Tony Kahn probably has something in common
Speaker 1: with Vince McMahon that wanting to have full control over
Speaker 1: creative to the point where you know nothing's being.
Speaker 3: Delegated or if it is being well.
Speaker 1: Obviously in WW, Evans was delegating because he had a
Speaker 1: full writing team, but then you know he'd end up
Speaker 1: tearing up the script and rewriting it himself anyway, And
Speaker 1: I think that you know, what AEW needs, what Tony
Speaker 1: Kahan needs is somebody or a team of people who
Speaker 1: can do what Triple H has done, recommit to long
Speaker 1: term logical storytelling where you can get really invested in
Speaker 1: these characters, because that's the most important thing. That's what
Speaker 1: makes w WE, in my opinion, so successful. Now I've
Speaker 1: argued to Eric that to me, wrestling is better than
Speaker 1: it's ever been because there's more, there's more of a
Speaker 1: focus on long term storytelling. There's surprises, but everything is logical,
Speaker 1: but also character development. I can't remember ever, and I've
Speaker 1: been watching since I was a kid, I can't remember
Speaker 1: ever a time when there was as much character development
Speaker 1: as we see now and a willingness to make these
Speaker 1: characters complex and you know they've got levels to them.
Speaker 1: That's why now you'll see babyfaces fighting with other babyfaces
Speaker 1: that used to be never a thing, but now you
Speaker 1: know you can have that, or heels fighting with other
Speaker 1: heels because the audience has been conditioned to accept these
Speaker 1: are complex characters and not everything is black and white,
Speaker 1: and people who are you know, good guys can actually
Speaker 1: fight with other good guys, and bad guys can actually
Speaker 1: fight with other bad guys because you know sometimes in
Speaker 1: real life that happens, right, So I think ae w
Speaker 1: if Tony Kahn would just allow somebody who really has
Speaker 1: a good creative mind, who can do what Triple H
Speaker 1: has done, come into aew and recommit to long term storytelling.
Speaker 1: I think they'd be a lot more successful. And they're
Speaker 1: already pretty successful, let's be honest, but I think they'd
Speaker 1: be a lot more successful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they still have a long way to go. They're
Speaker 2: still in the baby, the d infant stages, maybe even
Speaker 2: the Toddless stages, but definitely, definitely. I do have a
Speaker 2: couple of questions because I know we're running out of
Speaker 2: time here, so I want to I have a couple
Speaker 2: of questions. Number one, and please assume that I have
Speaker 2: not heard this on Tough Bumps. Okay, but tell me
Speaker 2: what was your reaction to Hogan's death?
Speaker 1: So we tried on Tough Bumps, we tried to present
Speaker 1: kind of a measured, fair assessment. I mean, I can
Speaker 1: tell you my personal reaction. When I saw the news
Speaker 1: alert on my phone. I was kind of numb. It
Speaker 1: was like wow, you know because, on one hand, a
Speaker 1: huge part of my childhood and obviously Hogan a huge
Speaker 1: part of professional wrestling, something that I'm passionate about. So
Speaker 1: it was like, wow, it's kind of stunning, but it's
Speaker 1: also hard to get past because I don't think he
Speaker 1: ever effectively dealt with it. You know, his racist comments
Speaker 1: that were recorded during that encounter with Bubba the love
Speaker 1: Sponges wife, which is still even weird to say, but
Speaker 1: you know, the just objectively extraordinarily racist, shockingly racist things
Speaker 1: that he said during that conversation that was recorded, which yeah,
Speaker 1: he did the whole apology tour and everything, but he
Speaker 1: never really dealt with the central His comments were very
Speaker 1: specific and he never dealt with specifically what he was
Speaker 1: wrestling with no pun intended when expressing himself during that conversation.
Speaker 1: He never dealt with that specifically, at least not publicly,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people felt like his apologies were
Speaker 1: half hearted and insufficient, and he never fully recovered from that, obviously.
Speaker 3: So we tried to so we tried to be very
Speaker 3: fair about it.
Speaker 2: And to be honest with you, he was apparently in
Speaker 2: his private life a very manipulative person. Because Brooke Hogan,
Speaker 2: his daughter, called in on Bubba and they haven't spoken
Speaker 2: in years because of the fallout between Hogan and Bubba. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and Brooke even said that, hey, my dad told me
Speaker 2: about the tape and he knew you didn't have anything
Speaker 2: to do with it. Even though Bubba lost his home,
Speaker 2: he got fired everything that laid down. Hogan never came
Speaker 2: to his defense, even though he admitted to Brook that, yeah,
Speaker 2: I know, Bubba had nothing to do with it, right,
Speaker 2: So just on that alone, I think he was not
Speaker 2: a good human being. Let's put it that way. Now.
Speaker 2: Is that Is that justified to say, like, well, thank
Speaker 2: god he's dead. No, of course not. I mean I
Speaker 2: think the way he there's actually a criminal investigation going
Speaker 2: on the that he may have been murdered.
Speaker 3: Jenny and I were talking about that earlier.
Speaker 1: Not murdered, there may have been medical malpractice, medical malpractice.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, okay, okay, yeah, question during a surgery.
Speaker 4: He had a surgery apparently recently, and there's question as
Speaker 4: to whether or not his frontic nerve was damaged or
Speaker 4: severed and restitched or something. And he also had a
Speaker 4: feb so I guess the combo wasn't too good and
Speaker 4: they think that might have actually been what caused his death,
Speaker 4: in which case it would be a medical practice.
Speaker 2: Okay, I know that there was a police investigation going on.
Speaker 2: I think it's still going on.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's still going on. It's still going on. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 4: could be wrongful death, who knows.
Speaker 2: Another question Matt, how do you feel of Sina's so
Speaker 2: called heel turn, oh versus face turn? It was that
Speaker 2: a flop? Or is that you think was successful?
Speaker 1: I so, I'm I'm I know, I'm very much in
Speaker 1: the minority when I say this. I loved, first of all,
Speaker 1: the heel turn itself was amazing, and I think most
Speaker 1: people would agree on that. The actual heel turn itself
Speaker 1: was fantastic. It was so so, so well done. The
Speaker 1: subsequent him as a heel, the heel version of John Cena. Again,
Speaker 1: I know, I'm in the minority. I was really enjoying it.
Speaker 1: I understand why people didn't like that he I think
Speaker 1: people a lot of people wanted him to be more
Speaker 1: overtly evil and whatnot, where he actually underplayed it. But
Speaker 1: I liked it. I thought it was cool. I thought
Speaker 1: it was very intriguing. I really enjoyed it, and I
Speaker 1: thought the face turned back seemed a little rushed.
Speaker 2: What were you gonna.
Speaker 3: Say wrestling thing? Oh? Yeah, that was so funny. Yeah,
Speaker 3: when he's like, I'm going to ruin wrestling.
Speaker 2: I loved that.
Speaker 3: I loved that too.
Speaker 1: I thought it was cool. I really enjoyed heel John Cena.
Speaker 1: What did you think.
Speaker 2: I I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed his promos, but
Speaker 2: it started to get a little repetitive, like he didn't
Speaker 2: have anything new coming out. It's just kept saying the
Speaker 2: same thing over and over again.
Speaker 3: It's just that is true.
Speaker 2: It kind of got repetitive. So I think when Cody
Speaker 2: finally because you're right, it did feel rushed a little bit,
Speaker 2: but you saw bits and pieces of good scene it
Speaker 2: coming out the past few weeks before that, and I
Speaker 2: think I think they were trying to lead up to it,
Speaker 2: but obviously they wanted to take the belt off him
Speaker 2: and put on Cody. So, uh, mister Lesnar can go
Speaker 2: ahead and a big introduction.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, what do you think about that one
Speaker 4: coming back?
Speaker 3: What do you think about Lesner coming back?
Speaker 2: I love it? You love it? I know, I know.
Speaker 2: It was basically it was basically John's wish to go
Speaker 2: ahead and wrestle Leslo. That's why he's back. It's it
Speaker 2: has nothing to do with well, he's gonna draw big
Speaker 2: money and no, no, he'll he'll draw big money. But
Speaker 2: that was a request from Sina. Sina wants to get
Speaker 2: all of his his adversaries. Yes, it was reported Sina
Speaker 2: requested Lesna. Yeah, so he wants to fight Leslo one more. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So this retirement tour is basically to get all If
Speaker 2: you ever seen Rocky five, where it's like, listen, I
Speaker 2: gotta get the beast out of me. I I can't
Speaker 2: hold on. He's trying to get the beast out of
Speaker 2: literally in this case, he's trying to get the beast.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but yeah, he's going to take care of everybody
Speaker 2: that he needs one more time.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, no that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Which I don't agree. I don't. I don't agree with
Speaker 2: Logan Paul. Why would he be on that list? I
Speaker 2: don't understand that that storyline one one bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Charles, we are approaching the top of the hour,
Speaker 1: so we got to begin to wrap up. The time
Speaker 1: goes so quickly. But we should definitely do this more often,
Speaker 1: my friend, because I always enjoy having you on and
Speaker 1: you know, and anytime you want me to be on
Speaker 1: your show, I'd love to do that as well. But
Speaker 1: I do want to make sure, so where should people
Speaker 1: go to find not only your show but also the
Speaker 1: show that you do with Josh Zodiac. I want to
Speaker 1: make sure everyone knows where to go to find your content.
Speaker 2: So my show search the Charles Richardson Show on Facebook
Speaker 2: like my page. All my shows go live on that
Speaker 2: on that page from eight to ten pm Monday Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Hopefully both and any interaction or possible topics I may
Speaker 2: be talking about will be listed there as well. I
Speaker 2: used as my reference set Okay YouTube same thing search
Speaker 2: search the Charles Richardson Show. I have a channel with
Speaker 2: so many subscribers, kidding, but so many subscribers that you
Speaker 2: can go ahead and do. It's free for now, but
Speaker 2: after that it's gonna be twenty nine ninety five. I'm
Speaker 2: watching my own app with competing against the ESPN the
Speaker 2: Josh Zodiac podcast. Same thing, Josh Zodiac podcast on all
Speaker 2: social media. He is available on podcast on the podcast
Speaker 2: on iHeartRadio, Apple podcasts, anywhere podcasts are done. You can
Speaker 2: search that right there and boom it pops up.
Speaker 1: Fantastic, fantastic, Well, Charles, thank you so much, my friend.
Speaker 1: Like I said, we must do this more often, and
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you. Appreciate you joining us today, and
Speaker 1: we'll talk again soon, I'm sure,
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