← The Steve Austin Show
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- [00:00]
Sponsor Announcer
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Better Help. I think one of the hardest parts about motherhood is that there's never really an off switch. Even when the house is finally quiet, your brain is still going. You're thinking about your kids, your marriage, work, whether you're doing enough, whether everybody's okay. It's constant. And I think so many moms are carrying around this invisible mental load that nobody really sees. There's also this pressure to always be grateful and happy all the time because you love your family so much. But loving motherhood and still feeling overwhelmed sometimes can both be true at the same time. And I think more moms need to hear that. Having someone to talk to outside of your everyday circle can really help you work through all of those thoughts and feelings. Therapy can be a place to reset, check in with yourself, and get support while you're taking care of everyone else. BetterHelp makes getting started simple. You fill out a short questionnaire and get matched with a licensed therapist based on your needs and preferences. If you ever want a different match, you can switch therapists anytime, BetterHelp has more than 30,000 therapists worldwide and has helped millions of people globally. This show is sponsored by Better Help. Sign up and get 10% off@betterhelp.com that's betterhelp.com
- [01:03]
Wade Keller
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- [01:33]
Steve Austin
The following program is a podcast ONE.com production from Hollywood, California by way of
- [01:38]
Wade Keller
the Broken Skull Ranch. This is the Steve Austin Show.
- [01:42]
Steve Austin
Give me a hell yeah. Hell yeah.
- [01:45]
Wade Keller
Now here's Steve Austin.
- [01:46]
Steve Austin
All right, everybody. Welcome to Steve Austin show. I'm coming to you from the mean streets in Los Angeles, California. I got a hellacious show for you today. I'm breaking down WrestleMania 33 with Wade Keller, the pro Wrestling torch. Not just today, we're going to have part two on Thursday. So this entire week of Steve Austin show podcast is with Wade Keller, pro wrestling torch. Two hours of conversation. I split it in two. We're talking everything. WrestleMania 33. It's going to be a damn good show. You're going to get our opinions, our insight, what we thought, this, that, whatever, everything but the kitchen sink. We're talking WrestleMania 33. For what it's worth here in the opening of the show, I enjoyed the hell out of that show. There's a couple of matches that missed, a couple of things that didn't click, but in its totality. Holy smokes. From the first match to the Undertaker riding off into the sunset like a legendary gunfighter, I really enjoyed the show. Some people got cut short on time, other people got plenty of time. Some things really, really worked and some things didn't. But anyway, I'm going to keep this open today on this show, very, very short. I'm going to get right into conversation with Wade. We're breaking down WrestleMania 33. If you disagree or you agree with anything that I've said or Wade has said, hey, let me know your opinion. Send me an email to questionsteveaustinshow.com everybody's got an opinion. You damn sure are going to hear ours. I'd like to hear yours. If you have different thoughts or the same thoughts, Respect. The Steve Austin show.
- [03:25]
Wade Keller
The Steve Austin show.
- [03:26]
Steve Austin
All right, here we go. I'm rolling with Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Torch. Wade, good afternoon. How are you?
- [03:31]
Wade Keller
I'm doing great.
- [03:32]
Steve Austin
All right, man. Well, as we speak, Monday night raws are gonna go down tonight, but you will hear this on Tuesday or whenever you download it. So we're talking about WrestleMania 33, which just happened last night, and I didn't get a chance to see this, but I'm sitting here without any notes. I'm just looking on the Internet. And I wanted to talk with you quickly about the kickoff show because there was Dean Ambrose versus Baron Corbin, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle roll, and Neville vs. Austin Aries, which I was really wanting to see on the pay per view itself, but I had guessed over, so I didn't see that. Tell me about Neville and Austin Aries, because I had anticipated that these guys are going to rip the place apart.
- [04:14]
Wade Keller
Best match of the night. Well, actually, in some ways it probably was. They went 19 minutes. I thought it was a good match and maybe very good, but not excellent. Not show stealer. I mean, they kind of knew their place on the show. I think that they'll end up having better matches than this one. Neville won with a memorable finish. That propels the feud because Aries was out for a while with pretty severe eye socket injury. You can even see it still, you know, There's a little bit of a. It's noticeable. He looks different in that eye socket than he used to. And it was a good back and forth match. I mean real even and really good. And then the heel, Neville got frustrated and went for Aries eye socket and it was. Ares sold it great. I mean, you thought, oh God, what, did something go wrong? You know, like Aries is really convincing. He yelled out in pain. And then Neville, just to add insult to injury or injury to injury, Aries went over to the middle rope and he's like leaning on the ropes trying to gain his sight and balance. And Neville kicks the rope right into his face. And then so Aries falls on his back and Neville hits that beautiful red arrow and scores the pin. I thought it was a really good match and I don't love that. The cruiserweight title in its first wrestlemanias is the opener on the pre show, but at the same time, I just don't know with the match order what you switch out with it. You know, it's just, it was a tough, it was a tough call no matter what. But they, they put on a really good performance. Aries and Neville are really good and I'm looking forward to more from these two.
- [05:43]
Steve Austin
Well, God dang. As long as the show was, it's such a stacked card. I mean, it's hard to find room for everybody. But I was really looking forward to these two guys. They're trying to make the cruiserweight division really mean something here. You got two of the best workers around and you know, they're going 19 minutes. They give them plenty of time, but you didn't get a chance to see it on the pay per view, so. So anyway, Andre the Giant Memorial battle Roll. I understand that Mo Joe Raleigh goes over with the help of Gronkowski, Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots. You know what? This guy was my dark horse. In the back of my mind. That promo that he cut a few weeks back was kind of memorable for me when he talked about getting his opportunity. And so he was my dark horse. And I didn't say anything to anybody, but I just kind of had a feeling about this guy. How was the battle roll to begin with? I mean, just from start to finish. Long story short, a lot of people don't understand that those things can be the toughest matches that you can ever work in your life because of all the moving parts that go with it. So did you enjoy the battle roll and what did you think of Mojo Rawley's win?
- [06:43]
Wade Keller
It was okay. Like, they got rid of Big show and Braun Strowman pretty early, which was, I think, because they just did. They wanted to just get them out of the picture quickly so that they weren't the focus. So people would kind of shift their thinking to, so, okay, who else is going to win? And it was fine. I mean, if it wasn't going to be Big show and Bronze Night, having them go out pretty early, I don't have a huge issue with. But it just. Strowman had such a good year, you know, and I feel like he deserves so much. He deserved more. And Big show came back in such great shape, and, I mean, I just think he should be a reclamation project for them. He's not. I mean, he's not young, but I think. And he's got a lot of mileage, but I think he can be a special attraction for them if they start protecting him and building him up and basically saying, all right, three years from now, can we put him in a money match again? And have people go, ooh, this is a big deal. I think they can, but they have to spend a few years rebuilding him. I don't know that having him thrown out of a, you know, second match on a prelim show Battle Royal, it shows faith that that's what they have in mind for him. The Gronkowski thing. I mean, to me, it felt like they wanted a Sports center moment more than they wanted to put a bunch of wind on Mojo's back and give him a push, but we'll find out. You know, I think if you give anybody the honor, the giant Battle Royal win, even if you give them the win because he's friends with Gronkowski and you think you can get a SportsCenter moment, and I understand that that's a factor. I think that you do something with him, and I don't mean push him as a top guy for the next five years and he's one of your top six guys, but get something out of him, like, don't forget about him three weeks from now. He got the win. Just like Baron Corbin. He should talk about it. It should give him momentum. So I hope they do that. I don't think the Battle Royal otherwise was all that memorable. And to have Jinder Mahal in the mix at the very end was. I don't think anybody had their money on Jinder Mahal being one of the last three, four people in the match, but he was.
- [08:47]
Steve Austin
Well, how did Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin go down?
- [08:51]
Wade Keller
It was just 10 minutes of it felt like it would have Been a match. If it happened on smackdown, people wouldn't have talked about it ever again. It was a little. It was a bit of a letdown. I was hoping. I mean, you know, it's tough with so many matches and the show was long, but they had less than 11 minutes. And I think they cut away. I think they cut away for a commercial in the middle of it, too. But I don't know, it felt like they wrestled like they were the match. You know how it is when there's a match gets its time cut because the show's running long. This was at the end of the kickoff show and they didn't have. I mean, they went right up against the end with a video package to introduce the show. So my hunch is they realized they weren't being leaned on to do anything special, and I think they have better in them. Ambrose retained the title, blocking at end of days and hitting a dirty deeds. To me, it's a throwaway match and it's unfortunate because I think Baron Corbin seemed to be on a track upward. And this just made both guys kind of seem like they're not a big part of the plans. But I want to read too much into it because it was at the end of the kickoff show and I think time was limited at that point.
- [09:52]
Steve Austin
And again, man, when you're looking at the personalities, the bodies, or the people that you're going to put on the big show mania, man, there's a lot of decisions that have to be made. So not everybody can make the show. But that being said, let's move forward. I'll tell you what, man, God dang it. I was telling Wade before we got on the air, I had some guests come over, so I couldn't really watch the event live. So before I went to sleep, I cherry picked a few matches and then caught the whole show this morning. Well, I'd heard when I tuned into the show, I'd started seeing the ticker tape and Everybody was saying AJ Styles and Shane McMahon ripped the roof off the building. There was no roof on the building. It was an outdoor arena, but they just said they knocked it out of the park. So I was thinking, man, because on my podcast, the preview show I did for the podcast, the preview show I did for WrestleMania, I was kind of disappointed that AJ Styles didn't have a worker of his caliber to work with at WrestleMania 33. And with no due respect, with no disrespect to Shane McMahon. And anyway, I didn't know what to expect. And God dang I don't know how you felt about this match, but I'm going to find out. I loved it. AJ Styles goes out there and God dang, he just owns that entire building. The swagger, the confidence, the energy. And he's one of the best workers in the world in my opinion. You could put him 1, 2 or 3, and I can name probably Kenny Omegas up there with him. I don't know what the other name I'd put up there with him, but God dang, he's good. And Shane, who's been taking all this Muay Thai, jiu jitsu stuff, he's been working on a lot of stuff and he's afraid of nothing. He'll do or try anything. But I really thought this was one of Shane's shining moments as far as him working a match in the ring with a world class guy. And I was highly entertained, loved the story that they told. AJ was just going to go out there and dance around him and you know, this was a place where Shane didn't belong because this is what AJ does. And they just told a hell of a story. There was a couple of big ass bumps and then there was the finish. And I thought Shane McMahon delivered 120%. AJ Styles always does, and I just absolutely loved it. As far as an opening match, they had a fresh crowd and the crowd was in hook, line and sinker for this match.
- [12:10]
Wade Keller
I agree with everything you said, but I would tone down my enthusiasm for all of it a little bit, but I would defend the match against somebody who was crapping on it, you know what I mean? Like, I thought it was on the highest end of any reasonable expectation somebody could have for this match. AJ is that good. And what I liked about it is it was, I mean, there was a, you know, Shane leaping off top rope and, and then Shane doing the drop kick to the trash can. I mean, there were big spots that are signature spots, but he didn't like jump off the WrestleMania sign or he didn't jump off the ring that, you know, the big fake ring above the stage ring above the other ring. Like, I didn't want Shane to resort to that. And I think he and AJ went out determined to have a more traditional match. But take into account that Shane isn't a wrestler. He's not. I mean, the, the idea that a guy, that an executive in his late 40s can hold his own for 20 minutes with AJ Styles, under any circumstances, including even if you account for AJ being overconfident, it's preposterous. And if you can get past that, this was a really fun match. And I think that Shane was clear. I think Shane was out to prove that he can have a good match with the maybe the best worker in the world right now and not rely on a bunch of just weapon shots and, you know, brawling. And I think he did it. I think some of the wrestling stuff he did looked a little bit like they were rolling on the mat, practicing still. It might have been a little too ambitious, you know, 2020 hindsight. Maybe cut back a little bit of that because it looked like he was trying to look like he could wrestle with aj, but it sort of looked like they were practicing making it look like Shane can wrestle with aj, if that makes sense. In other words, it felt like AJ was kind of playing along with him instead of being controlled by him.
- [13:55]
Steve Austin
Well, what I took away from that was that I know for a shoot that Shane does jiu jitsu and he is training for a shoot in those sports. So that's what I took away from it. One of the things that I picked up on was AJ always has tremendous fire and he lays his shots in well on the return fire. Sometimes exchanges in the turnbuckles, Shane would fire up on AJ like, you know, better than some of the boys who are in the ring, and they don't have that same fire. And he's connecting body shots, headshots, face shots, body, body. And so just his fire. And so he really felt at home, he was comfortable. I mean, he's no spring chicken or he's no newbie to the business. He's been doing this for a long time. He doesn't work every night. So. Yeah. And to your point, one of the things that I liked about this, there was a couple of big bumps, there was a couple of big moves, but it wasn't about him jumping off the highest object that he could find. He was out there delivering a match. And so for where he's been, for where he's at right now, as the first match and again with the fresh crowd, but, man, that was entertaining as hell.
- [14:59]
Wade Keller
Yeah. And I still, I mean, I put that asterisk next to it. I have on principle an issue with how they presented the notion that Shane, if that AJ better watch out, because Shane's going to deliver. Like, I can try my hardest and not belong on an NBA court with people 12 years younger than me who are actually full fledged basketball players. It's a bad analogy because I didn't play college basketball or anything like that. And Shane has This history in the WWE Universe of actually having competed with others. So you have that foundation. But I still, that still bugs me that like.
- [15:35]
Steve Austin
But that was me just going along for the ride. And like I had said, I said I thought they were going to find, you know, a world class guy or a guy in the program to go with AJ because. Because he's one of the best in the world. So I didn't know how this match was going to play out. So the fact that it delivered way past my expectations makes me over the moon about it. So we looked at it from different point of views. After spending the 13 or 14 years that I spent in the business, I was able to just completely just sit back and enjoy and be a fan and smile at the effort. And to go out there and to perform in front of that crowd and not do this full time. And again, it's not making up for any excuses or anything I just said. I just thought they did a hell of a job. And I can appreciate your viewpoint and your standpoint and how you view the business, but I just went along for the ride and I enjoyed it.
- [16:29]
Wade Keller
Well, what matters in the end is did the crowd in the building, were they into it? And we'll talk about that as well. And they were.
- [16:37]
Steve Austin
Well, let's talk about that. Yes, sir, they were, they bid hook, line and sinker. I think they were jumping up and doing yes, yes, yes. Chants one point. But so they had that crowd. The crowd was engaged and invested in that match. Anyway, there's no sense in. I knew AJ was going to win, had to win, he's one of the best in the world. But anyway, as a way to jump off WrestleMania, to pick those guys to be the first match, I thought it was a great decision. You always want the first match to set the tone. If anything, whatever you thought about the match, and there's going to be your hardcore critics out there going to say, blah, blah, blah, whatever, whatever your opinion is your opinion. If you're listening to this show, as far as an opening match, it rocked the house. Respect to AJ Styles, who's one of the best in the world, and respect to Shane McMahon for keeping up with him and doing his part because AJ needed a dance partner. I don't know what he's going to. He expected to get with Shane. You know, these days they got a little set up time or whatever, but the match delivered for me and I dug it.
- [17:36]
Wade Keller
Yeah, I cannot complain too hard about it. Even though I was on principle against it and I thought AJ deserved better it was on the, like I said, the higher end of any reasonable expectations. They told a good.
- [17:46]
Steve Austin
And again, I'm with you on that because. Yeah, because I wanted AJ to be working with one of the best guys, you know, in the company, and he wasn't, so. But that being said, let's move on to the next one and talk about Kevin Owens defeating Chris Jericho for the US Title.
- [18:02]
Wade Keller
This was a good match, but it. I put a little butt in there because I feel like with the TV time that was invested in this, in the Festival of Friendship and the alliance, and recently the Universal Championship, I wanted this to. And again, the caveat is I'm not sure what I would switch it with. I mean, I have a couple choices, but it was a show with a lot, with a buffet of options. That could have been one of the final three, four matches on the show. This was one of them. And I felt like this early in the show, it served a good purpose and it was a good match. And for this spot on the card, it worked really well. The crowd was into it start to finish. I like that. One detail I liked is that had they had 25 minutes instead of 15 or 16, I think they would have gone to the trend lately, which is a lot of big moves with a lot of kickouts, and they didn't overdo it with the near falls in the end. And they sold the idea that just a powerbomb in the edge of the ring was enough. And it was a little thing. I still tell the story all the time. Remember Paul Heyman? I went to a Windy City wrestling show when he booked Windy City Wrestling way back in the day, and I just shadowed him and he told me and talked about all the booking decisions he made and how match number two is important to telling a story for match number six or seven or eight. And that's what I felt happened here. I felt like having that one move, and it's a huge move, a powerbombing the edge of the ring apron. It didn't lead to let's have an unbelievable kick out and then do three more big moves. I really like that for setting up the rest of the show. So my thought was disciplined, well executed, and smart. That fit the tone of two guys fighting over a grudge. I just feel like it deserved a little more time. It should have been a little later on the show and it would have been even better.
- [19:39]
Steve Austin
I thought it could have been later in the show. Certainly the second spot. God dang, man, you're talking about. Chris Jericho is going to go into hall of Fame as soon as he retires or whenever they decide to put him in. Kevin Owens is a hell of a damn veteran. I loved the match. Thought both guys worked their asses off. Told a good story, a great story. You know, I love the finish because just like you said, with all the, you know, the near falls, the kick outs of big finishes, and sometimes it could be a little much, depending on who's doing it. Sometimes there's a kind of that double standard. They didn't do that. There were some good sequences in there. I love the walls of Jericho by KO onto Chris Jericho and then vice versa. So there are some kind of index fingers. Oh, dude, that was. I'm glad you said that. That cover with just the index. The knuckle of the index finger. Just getting that rope just as far as ring awareness and positioning. And a lot of times you'll see a guy take a bump and start wiggling his shoulders to get where he really needs to be. He was right where he really needed to be. And that was one of out of. You know, we're about to get to the main event here in a little bit, and that was a huge moment when Taker took off the gloves, the hat, and we'll get to that. But that was one of the most memorable moments of the entire Pay per View for me was KO reaching out to that damn rope with his one finger.
- [21:02]
Wade Keller
To your point, it's so Kevin Owens. It's one of the things that makes him great. I mean, there's a lot of people who are good athletes and have good mouths and all of that. He just. There's that little. There's all these little extra things he does that put him over the top and make him so valuable.
- [21:18]
Steve Austin
So I would have been interested to see, you know, had they, you know, give them one of the main spots and a few more minutes, like you said. But again, I thought it was really solid. I thought it was really good. And, you know, I'm a fan of both guys. I'm friends with both guys, but I'm being objective here. It was a damn good match. But at times the crowd would drift in and out, and I don't know why that was. I think sometimes, I think the coast to Coast. A couple of the moves that AJ and Shane did in that first match were pretty damn dynamic. So sometimes working in daylight and then having to follow kind of the athletic sequences that AJ and Shane did, that was actually. Even though this match was built with a great storyline with a great angle, AJ's a tough act to follow.
- [22:04]
Wade Keller
Yeah, I agree. I agree. I mean, Shane and aj, I didn't think they did so much. They wore out the crowd.
- [22:13]
Steve Austin
No, they didn't. But there was wow factor there. I mean, just because of the nature of the bumps.
- [22:18]
Wade Keller
Yeah. So again, I mean, people have been asking me since last night. I talked about it on my hotline that I did after Raw for my subscribers. Like, how would you rearrange the match order? And like, normally I can kind of go, oh, you know, in retrospect, this would have been switched and it would have been better. It was like every kind of reshuffling I do, there's some positives, but then there's some negatives. Like, I don't think you can look at this and honestly just go, they totally blew it. They should have known better. There was an embarrassment of riches in a way, and it was going to be hard to give every match the buffer it needed to reach its potential. I will say, I mean, if I'm anybody other than the absolute main event on this show, I kind of wanted to open the main show because that's when the crowd not filing in for the kickoff show. But after the pyro and America the Beautiful and all that, Shane and A.J. had the best spot and to be have the most receptive crowd. And I think it worked a little bit against Jericho and Owens. I think if you flipped him around, I still think Shane and AJ would have won over the crowd, but I think Jericho Owens probably would have had a better response.
- [23:17]
Steve Austin
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Wade Keller
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Steve Austin
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Steve Austin
Man, I tell you what I was wondering about this on my pre show podcast it was Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax and a four way match for the women's title. And with the Raw title, I mean they got so many titles I don't know which one it's called anymore and I was worried that maybe they're going to try to lump too much on Nia Jax because out of all these women, Bailey, Charlotte and Sasha are veterans and they're all very very good. Nia Jax, tons of potential and a great look and she's very talented but the fact that she's a little bit on the green side, I thought they might try to pile too much on her by loading her plate and too much stuff all through the match to execute. But the way they started this thing out it could have been a cluster and I thought these ladies worked their asses off and told a great story. All three of them having to team up to try to take out Nia Jax and then finally with teamwork taking her out, all three piling on her and she gets pinned 1, 2, 3 and she's the first eliminated. After she kicked all three of the other girls ass, it took all three of them to take her Out. So I thought that was very smartly played.
- [27:15]
Wade Keller
It was because you want to clear Nia Jax. Wasn't at a point where you're like, oh, it should be one on one. Nia Jax against whomever you know. Any of the other three, she's not there yet. But you also don't want to cut off her momentum. So she was sort of protected in the sense that it took three to beat her. But it was also she was protected in that she wasn't overexposed. She wasn't in there kind of getting in the way or overstaying her welcome in a match where there's so much going on. So. So they protected her by having all three, including some enemies, get together to eliminate her. It actually put her over in losing and it also cleared the plate. It cleared the field for the other three to then turn it up a notch.
- [27:52]
Steve Austin
And so to Nia Jax, I say congratulations on a great performance. And to you, Wade, I say this. Check this out. As it went down, it was like a two person powerbomb with a drop kick or whatever. Boom. She takes a bump. All three girls pile on top of her. One, two, three. Here's what would have made Nya look even stronger. She's going to do the favors. She's going out first. Right. So all three women cover 1, 2, 3. And then she rolls out. But had she kicked out on three, it would have made her look like a monster. She still would have been eliminated. But the kick out on three is a lost art. And the same thing with Braun Strowman a while back when. Jesus Christ. Who was it that beat him? It was when he took the. It was when he jumped off the turnbuckle, missed, and Roman beat him. Do you remember that?
- [28:47]
Wade Keller
Yeah.
- [28:47]
Steve Austin
Yep. You got a master. I mean, these big people, it's the three count, kick out. There's a solid count. But you know, through instinct, through determination, through trying to kick out, there's that effort and the wherewithal to not just lay there, but kick out. You're still going out, but you're getting yourself over even stronger while doing the favors. You follow me?
- [29:13]
Wade Keller
I love it. Yeah, I totally follow. Yeah. In other words, it's not this binary choice have her lose or do something where she doesn't lose or it's a have her decisively lose. She gets pinned.
- [29:26]
Steve Austin
Absolutely.
- [29:27]
Wade Keller
She kicks out just that split second too late. So she gets that display of the months like, oh, God, if she just had an extra split second, that would have even been enough. And then the visual of that puts her over even more.
- [29:38]
Steve Austin
And here's the thing about that. That's not just a big person thing. That's not a heel or baby thing. That's an any person thing. In the right time now, there is that time to just lay there flat and not move a muscle. We'll go to Roman Reigns cover of Undertaker. Jesus Christ, what an epic moment that was. But the three count, kick out, boom. She still does the favors, but boom. She just shows that instinct to survival instinct to not be pinned that competitor in her, that fire. Never surrender, never give up. And to me it instills that. I mean, just because you're heel, your instinct is still to survive. You're going to cheat, you're going to play dirty, but that's instinct to survive. And that'd be my only small point about Nia going out. But let's go to the rest of the match. All of a sudden now you've got three ladies and these ladies have great chemistry together. And I thought from here on out, you take over here because I like the way Bailey, Charlotte and Sasha work together. Whether it's a three way, two way, just two of them fighting either person. What'd you think when it got into the final three?
- [30:48]
Wade Keller
Well, I mean, these three have worked together so much. You know, there's going to be a comfort level and, and the timing is going to be there. It's, you know, it's like, you know, three players, it's like a first line on a great hockey team, a great NHL team where, you know, the center and the two wings, they just know where they're going to be at any given minute and they make blind passes and they're right on target. That's what the. That's a level these three are at in terms of being familiar with each other. And there was some really smooth transitions into submission holds. And you and I have talked about that going back to that NXT Takeover classic, the what the women have done in this women's revolution that they're touting that I don't think was there for the initial Mickey James era and Beth Phoenix and Trish Stratus and Lita and all that is really. You talk about Shane doing all that work on the mat with AJ and the jiu jitsu and stuff. There's a smoothness and a credibility to their selling of the mat holds that I haven't seen in the previous generations. I think that stands out more than just about anything. And they had that here. The transitions from an attempted high spot, a Big move into to either a pinning combination or some sort of submission hold was there. And then to have a third person in the mix sometimes breaking those up, I just thought, I can't remember. I didn't. There's nothing jumps out to me where I was like, oh, that was a. That would have been a better spot if somebody's timing was a little different. And so I even like, even from the beginning, like when Charlotte offered a high five to Bailey and Sasha and they wouldn't do it, like, there's nothing, you know, being left with a high five with your hand up for a high five and you don't get the answer. It's like, that's just not. You can't help but laugh at the person standing there, even if you like them. And it worked well for Charlotte, who then just bailed out. And then, you know, Bailey and Sasha decided to start fighting each other. I actually little problem with that where Charlotte's like, hey, you two fight. I'll just watch. And then they kind of did.
- [32:34]
Steve Austin
But I mean, yeah, but why'd you have a problem with it? Because I thought it was great. She goes for the high five. Didn't get. She goes, okay, well, you guys wrestle. And then as soon as Bayley gets back into the ropes, there's Charlotte to yang her out.
- [32:46]
Wade Keller
Well, my only issue with it isn't is that it exposes the format of the match in the sense that a heel can just wait outside while the other two fight. It's sort of like if it's like in sports, if you just say to a team, hey, we'll just skip this round of the playoffs in advance and face the winner of you two playing that it's not really fair. And the babyfaces just to kind of quickly turn to each other instead of saying, you want to bail out to avoid us, we're going to go after you at ringside. So it's sort of like Charlotte outsmarted them by taking advantage of the silly rules of the match. I guess that was my issue. But I liked what they did next with Charlotte getting right back into it quickly.
- [33:22]
Steve Austin
And so Sasha Banks finally gets eliminated. And then it goes down to Bailey and Charlotte. Let's go back to the beginning of the match before the beginning, actually, as they came down for their entrances because Bailey comes out first as the champion. And then here comes. What was it? Nia, Jax, Sasha, then Jaxson, Sasha, then Nia, Jax, and then Charlotte. So what did you think about that as it plays into this match? Because here comes your World champion, and she comes down first rather than last. And I thought they were playing underdog here, because here comes your champion. It's Bailey. She's a hugger. And every time someone would come down and show her face, it's like, oh, man, there's no way I can overcome Nia Jax. Oh, man, here comes Sasha. She's my friend, but she's very talented. And then here comes the Queen and it's Charlotte, and she's the genetically superior being. So what did you think about the champion coming out first?
- [34:22]
Wade Keller
Well, were you trying to make a case for it there?
- [34:25]
Steve Austin
No, I was just stating that I thought that was the case they were trying to make.
- [34:28]
Wade Keller
Yeah. Okay. Because I hadn't thought of it in that way. I am in favor of champions always coming out last and not getting cute with it because there's some other story you can tell. I like. I like tradition and structure, and you honor that and you work around it. You don't change it, because in this case you want to tell, you have an opportunity to tell a different story. And that's where I lean on a lot of things. I don't think the referee should apply rules, except they have this really cool spot in which the referee has to ignore the rules for them to do that spot. I don't like that. I think work within the structure, so I'm against it. But if you're going to do it, I mean, the visual of Bailey kind of gulping as, you know, one person after another after another comes out, you know, it does set up a nice story, but I'm just, you know, I'm old school in the way that the champion should always, always get to come out last and they should leave the challenger hanging and watch them come to the ring.
- [35:22]
Steve Austin
Well, and here's the thing. I'm a fan of all women in this match, but when the champion doesn't come out first and, you know, it looks like they're presenting Charlotte as the. The superstar by bringing her out last. And you could think, okay, by the time it went down to the pairing of Charlotte and Bailey, well, you know, surely now you're reversing it. Okay. Since they brought Charlotte out last, now I think Bailey's going over or before, according to what I think they were trying to portray. Here's all these threats and here's the underdog, and then Charlotte's a superstar and then Bailey ends up going over. But anyway, within not to stop being philosophical or talking about the order that they came out of, I thought just these things could be real clusters, the way they got rid of Nia. And then Sasha goes out and then. I love the win over Charlotte. I thought here was a key moment for me in this match. It was right about the middle of the match when it was only Bayley and Charlotte. Charlotte came across the ring, it was during some action, and she really hits Bailey hard with the flipper, and Bailey finally really fired up. And she got about three or four flipper shots on Charlotte that were more aggressive than I've ever seen her. Charlotte ends up kicking her knee out from under. But that spark right there, that explosion of offense from Bailey after she's been built and billed as the underdog for so long, felt good to me because she's a hugger. She's like the sweetheart of the WWE Universe. She's the world champion. Charlotte is genetically superior according to the stories that they're telling. But here's the sweetheart of the division or the hugger, the kids lover. Everybody loves her because she's the girl next door. But when you try to take that title from me, yes, I'm a nice person, but then if you're trying to take this from me, I'm going to do everything I can to kick your ass. And. And so that fire that she showed just in that exchange, really, because a lot of times she'll get out offense in her matches because they're playing her as the underdog. You can only play that underdog role so much, where you get to kick, scratch and claw Wade and show fire that, yeah, you may be the underdog, you may be a sweetheart, but damn it, if you're going to take what's mine, you're going to get this with it. You understand what I'm saying? Did you do pick that up?
- [37:52]
Wade Keller
Yeah. No, I like that. I like that. When she was throwing the just the hard elbows, yeah, it was like four in a row. And it just was like this side of Bailey, she's like, yeah. That was a memorable moment in the match. It was very shortly after Sasha got eliminated. And I thought that it just ignited what turned out to be only a few minutes between Sasha getting eliminated. And then Bailey went, excuse me. Sasha gain eliminating and Charlotte losing. It was a short span of time, but that ignited that phase of the match really effectively. I wish that this was Bailey winning the title for the first time at WrestleMania and Charlotte's pay per view streak was on the line. I mean, if I could go back and I think the moment would have felt bigger if it was winning the title versus defending it, but I like you're describing it as, hey, this is my title now and you're not taking it from me. And that bringing out a different level in Bailey than we normally see the match was.
- [38:57]
Steve Austin
I don't know if they got jammed a little bit on time because I thought the way that thing played out, the sequences were pretty tight. I thought maybe they got the go home cue just a frogshare early and. And there could have been three to four, maybe even five more minutes to that match. I don't know what else they could have done, but I thought they did a great job because those four ways can turn into a real cluster muck. And I thought the way they handled NYA from the elimination of Sasha and then Charlotte Bailey to retain, I thought it was a feel good moment. I love the finish. Charlotte was built as a superstar by coming out last. I disagree with that. I think the champ should come out last along with you. But I thought they. The story that I thought they were trying to tell. Painting the odds against Bayley through the powerhouse of nia. And then, you know, Charlotte the superstar. Here comes Sasha's badass as well with the great entrance. She's the boss. The ladies did a hell of a job. Let's move on because we're moving on to what I think was a hellacious match and the pop of the night. Oh, yeah, it was Anderson and Gallows versus Enzo and Cass. Cesaro and shot Sheamus versus the Hardy Boys. Holy smokes. If there would have been a roof on that building, the Hardy Boys would have blown it off. I'd been following the show. I figured they'd make an appearance. I didn't know anything about that. Here comes a new day. Everybody thinks a new day is going to insert themselves into this match as the host of Wrestlemania. But they're there to announce that the Hardy Boys are back. And God dang Wade, when they hit that music, I got goosebumps all over my damn body. It was the damnedest thing. Those Hardy Boys had to be on cloud nine to get that kind of response. What do you think about that? I thought it was the loudest pop of the night.
- [40:43]
Wade Keller
It was. It was. And it came at a time when the crowd still had energy. They weren't going into their reserves. They were still as excited to be there as you possibly could be. They've had some good matches but not exhausting matches preceding it. You know, the women's match only going 12 minutes and. And Jericho and Owens, you know, going about 16. It wasn't like there was any kind of just exhausting marathon and they needed a breather. And then you get, you get. And I like to the tease by New Day that it was going to be them. It was like a double swerve.
- [41:12]
Steve Austin
Yep.
- [41:13]
Wade Keller
We're going to add someone to the match and you make people think it's new day and the fans would be like, okay, kind of like new day, that's cool, or whatever, you know, like, they might have been okay, but instead the music kicks in and the director caught the look on some fans faces where they're like, is that what I think it is? And then they just popped. And it added an energy level of the show that I don't think was reached for the rest of the next nine hours of the show or however much was left. Steve. It was amazing. And I mean, you're right. Matt and Jeff have to feel so great. It's one thing to do it in the context that they've been doing it in Ring of Honor, tna, the indie circuit, but to have as many and of course, the rest of many crowds gonna know Delete, Deletes and Brother Nero and all that, they're gonna know it more than the average audience. But you don't know until you get out there if that many people are gonna remember you and react that way and be happy to see you. Absolutely. Pop of the Night and whatever WWE paid them and whoever was in favor of getting them in, they had to feel like, yeah, this was the right call bringing them back.
- [42:13]
Steve Austin
What'd you think about the match? Man, there was so much going on here. It's hard for me to remember without any notes in front of me, but, man, just off the top of my head, I thought it was laid out really, really well. I think I don't know whoever helped him with the match, but, I mean, the Hardy Boys are kind of specialists in these things. I really think Cass got a big chance to shine with fire and doing some big moves and just good stuff. Cesaro, God dang, he's one of the most talented guys on the roster. Sheamus had a great good night. Anderson and Gallows were tremendous. Everybody in this match was tremendous. And the way they built laying out the ladders and the way they built the match, it was just spectacular. I can't really nitpick this thing. Matches of this kind aren't my specialty. Obviously, I was a ground guy, but just hats off, I probably think it was the most spectacular match of the night.
- [43:11]
Wade Keller
I think my favorite spot of the match and part of the reason is it didn't involve leaping off a ladder because it's easy to pick, you know, one of those. And I actually think they were. They didn't have a lot of ladders tipping over with guys, you know, falling onto the top rope or anything. It. It had its spots, don't get me wrong. But I don't think they were excessive. Of course, they only had 11 minutes. I think my favorite spot was when Jeff Hardy was on the ring apron. He was going to leap onto the middle rope and springboard backflip onto a group on the floor. And as he's about to springboard, Sheamus just walks up and bro kicks him in the face or chest. And Hardy just nest. He plunges, to use a dated reference, just falls backwards full steam into the pile of people Anyway, but. But Sheamus gets to kind of power him off the ring apron. I love that spot the Hardys did. They got the big pop, but they didn't completely dominate the match because in a four way, you know, you kind of have to take turns who's in the spotlight. And so in 11 minutes, you know, I mean, there's. There's more there for the Hardys to do. I thought everybody just kind of got their turn and it for 11 minutes. They fit a lot in. I like the match almost a lot. Like, I mean, I thought it was really good. About as good as you can get with four teams and really eight good athletes in 11 minutes with ladders and weapons. I thought it was a really good part of the show. And yeah, I don't. I mean, it's. It. Some of these matches he can get excessive or contrived. And I thought they avoided a lot of those pitfalls.
- [44:38]
Steve Austin
Well, I thought they did too. And I think, you know, we've seen, you know, Jesus, man, that match that all those guys were involved in from WrestleMania 17 in Houston was probably more thrills, chills and stuff like that, of that nature, but just with a lot of big guys. I mean, Sheamus, Cesar in there, big cash for those guys to be able to execute everything they did using Enzo as a weapon, all the different things. I really like the start of the match when the Hardy Boys came out, the place just came unglued. And the fact that they went on offense a little bit before they settled into the match, it was just a great call because they were back in a WWE ring and they were the ones that were going to shine first. And you get a good dose of what you'd been or what you hadn't seen in so many years and probably thought you'd never see again. And it's just amazing that. Delete stuff. Go ahead.
- [45:39]
Wade Keller
Oh, no, no. Finish it on delete.
- [45:41]
Steve Austin
No. I've been just so proud or happy for the Hardy Boys. I had this conversation a while back with with someone to work as hard as they have all of these years and then for Matt to take a chance on this character that he created and for Jeff to go along with him, These guys were basically their work. Their willingness to take risk was a big part of their career. So for Matt to be in the business for Jesus Christ now for probably 15 years, to commit to such a off the wall character and do it with conviction and get it over and now, like I was talking with someone last night, you know, hell, sometimes by the time you figure this stuff out, you're too old to do it anymore. Here he is, he's taking his share of bumps, lumps and bruises and all kinds of stuff, and he goes to work on this cross crazy outlandish character and gets it over super strong. It transfers into the wwe. And it's just amazing that here's a guy who knows he hasn't learned at all and is still learning on working, still working on learning his craft. And I think that's a lesson to the whole locker room or to anybody in the business of pro wrestling. I mean, when would you or would you ever expect, you know, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, two cats out of North Carolina, some small town, to come up with a gimmick like this and get it over and then get back to the biggest stage and rock the house? I just think it's a case of, you know, always trying to reinvent yourself to stay relevant and stay current. And those guys have. And I really take my hat off to them for the effort.
- [47:29]
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- [48:30]
Wade Keller
And it's not like the Hardee's needed to in the sense that, you know, kind of going to the hall of Fame on Friday with the Rock and Roll Express. There's a nostalgia. They could have settled into being a nostalgia and there's nothing wrong with that. A lot of guys make a lot of money for a lot of years. They come back to wwe, they work the indie circuit, then the convention circuit, and it's about nostalgia. But for Matt at this point in his 40s, to do what he's always done, I mean, Matt Hardy version two was, you know, I wouldn't even say guilty pleasure of mine, but like a particular favoritely, a favorite quirky gimmick of mine. I love the self centered mat facts. When he would come out in the big screen would just say something like Matt prefers a straw with his lemonade. Like who asked? But I laughed at all of them. Stephanie McMahon never got it, you know, kind of poo pooed it. It just wasn't, you know, it was too abstract for her or something. And it just so it didn't really get the chance that I thought it deserved. But Matt's always, I remember hearing early on with, with the Hardys like, you know, Jeff's the athlete, Jeff's the, you know, almost unmatched charisma doing nothing. He just, he's Jeff. And people are like, this guy's a star. Matt was always the brains. He's always just really trying to invent things, whether it's spots and matches and a smart psychologist, really smart to the business. But it doesn't surprise me at all that he just kind of got restless almost just doing the nostalgia, just being Matt Hardy, and came up with something so off the wall and it did translate. I don't think the Hardys would have gotten that population if it weren't for the whole delete, delete, broken Matt Hardy thing. I think there was appreciation for that. Even if they couldn't bring it to wwe. With Impact Wrestling owning it, the fans appreciated them even more because of it.
- [50:09]
Steve Austin
Yeah, because they got a nostalgia pop on top of the current thing that they're doing. And I think that was the strongest thing over the nostalgia thing. The fact that the Hardys were back and the only major. I don't know how I say this, I mean the big leagues of sports entertainment. I mean, no ifs, ands or buts, it's the wwe. So man, for them to be gone that long, you think they're never going to come back or they're too old to come back or there's no interest or whatever. And here they come, and like I said, they rock the house again. Let's go ahead and move on. But I love this match. I thought all the guys got their stuff in. Everybody looked like a superstar. Big Cass got to shine. Everybody in this match got to shine the best.
- [50:51]
Wade Keller
One of my favorite, just little things was when Enzo's beat up and he's, you know, and every ladder match has it. I don't. I can't quite climb this ladder. And every step, it's, you know, crawling through the desert to the mirage. And then Big Cass walks in and goes, let me help you. He climbs a ladder, puts Cass, or, excuse me, puts Enzo on his shoulders and powers him up to the belts. I thought that was a really cool spot of kind of a big man, small man team.
- [51:15]
Steve Austin
And I forgot, how did they get them off? Was it Carl coming up to ruin that because Matt ended up getting the titles?
- [51:23]
Wade Keller
Oh, yeah. I don't even know if that was right at the finish of the match. I just remember that being the spot. I don't even remember where exactly where it was in. In there. And yeah, I mean, there were a lot. Really, there were a lot of cool spots in here, like Cesaro with the giant swing on Anderson and then the catapult into Sheamus. I mean, there were like, there were some. There's some. I mean, everybody kind of got their time to get in a few spots that made the match look like more than just, you know, guys are just going through the motions. And who called cesaro doing a 61 9?
- [51:51]
Steve Austin
Yeah, who called that? And then, you know, well, you know, like I said, there was more thrills, chills and stuff like that in that 17 match. But, man, all of a sudden when you get that picture of Jeff Hardy and he's standing on top of that tall ass ladder probably 20ft and, you know, ended up, you know, dropping down on. Well, I guess it was Cesaro who took the brunt of the blow and then Seamus as well on the tables that they laid out on the barricade and on the ring, it's just like, man, this guy, these guys, they're not afraid of taking heavy duty risk. I'll say that. They got some balls, but just badass stuff. I really enjoyed the match. Let's move on. John Cena, Nikki Bella versus Miza Maurice. I enjoyed the build up to this. I enjoyed the Mrs. Heel work.
- [52:34]
Wade Keller
Did you watch the Total Bella spoofs?
- [52:36]
Steve Austin
Yeah, I saw it on the, on the package. I didn't get a chance to see it on Raw, how it all happened, but I thought Maurice has been tremendous as a female heel. Just very subtle. She doesn't overact like a lot of people these days are having a tendency to do. Miz is gold on the mic. Of course, John Cena is too. And man, Nikki Bella has, she's done tremendous. And just those two together versus the Miz and Maurice, what a great matchup. You know, it's an intergender type match, but the match was entertaining. And for me it was like, it was refreshing. Not refreshing, because I love watching John Cena matches, but I felt like, you know, it wasn't his time this time to carry the weight of the show on his shoulders and have one of the big 30 minute matches that he's had in the last decade. And so for him to finally settle into this spot with Nikki against Meza Maurice, it was fun. There was nothing crazy about it, nothing outlandish about it. It was a match that happened. And then, you know, after that, you know, he gets on his knees and proposes to Nikki Bella. But it was entertaining, Wade. And that's, that's really all I can say about it.
- [53:50]
Wade Keller
Yeah, I mean, you know, we talk about AJ fighting Shane and what would have been better? Well, I, I mean, I would have put AJ as champion without having lost the belt. Have Cena win the Rumble and give us the match that AJ and Cena had at the Rumble, put it in Mania and have that cap off the show, like that's that match. It's sort of like, you know, Hogan flair never happened at a WrestleMania. I just kind of feel like Cena, AJ and maybe it will next year. I just feel like Cena, AJ have such a chemistry that parallel careers but in different worlds. And now they're colliding when they both can still go at the top of their game. But they have all the smarts of ring veterans and different styles. What they've had, the magic they've had in the ring, I think that that deserved headline mania. That said, I think when people first heard about this mixed tag match, they had a certain idea of what it was going to be. And then you add the total Bella spoof and the just the gloating. Miz and Maurice, we're really in love. And John, you're fake and you're never going to propose to Nikki because it's just a Hollywood marriage and it's not for real. Like with the punchline of this feud being, you know, Cena proposing to Nikki, I mean, I think it's not going to be my favorite WrestleMania moment ever. But I can't argue with the logic of Vince McMahon. And heck, even John Cena, who kind of has made a reference on television or two, that this wasn't his first choice and that if he had Paul in wwe, he'd be facing Undertaker, not Reigns. Which was an interesting comment to make on smackdown. That said, I think that this worked for its place on the card. It added that WrestleMania special vibe. It was a little out of the ordinary. Nikki and Maurice were believable. And you know, John Cena, the top star of the last 15 years, proposed on national TV. That's part of wrestling.
- [55:29]
Steve Austin
The crowd bopped on that. I mean, and you know, it was, it was a super feel good moment. It was really, really cool. You're talking, you know, the guy that used to be stone cold Steve Austin, the toughest SOB in the history of the wwf. So, you know, it was really cool for what it was. And when I say that, I don't mean that in a condescending way or demeaning. It was just, I can't just say, oh, man, did you see this spot? Or that spot? It was a great story. Loved the package going into it, the build going into it with all the videos you mentioned, but at the end of the day, it was entertaining. And then, you know, the proposal thing, Jesus Christ, that was huge. Because I think there are some people out there with tears in their eyes. And you know, what John Cena has meant for that company and how far Nikki Bello's come and the work that Miz has put in has been one of the hardest working guys on that roster. For Maurice to come back and be such a good heel, I dug it. But let's move on.
- [56:26]
Wade Keller
I just have to say, Miz has been so good. And I think this, you know, we talk about whether it's servcing or not. I just want to make it a little Miz Centric for 10 seconds. He deserved to have a big match at this WrestleMania. He didn't deserve to be in some four way and just kind of have a few spots. So as much as some people might think Cena could have had a bigger, better match and deserved it, Miz put whatever Miz did in this last year was so good. He deserved to be against a big star in a big match that felt WrestleMania worthy. And he was so good in the build up. And he was so good in this match. He is a heel that you want to see lose so badly because of the way that he carries himself. And then I thought his moves in the ring and the way he, after every move, gloating to the crowd, I just. I think he's a template for a modern heel, actually getting heel heat and not just trying to get all his spots in and be cool and sell merchandise. So I just want to give a big thumbs up to him because this was a match made for him and he really played his part well.
- [57:22]
Steve Austin
And I agree with you because, like, I'm a Ms. Fan as well, and, like, I've credited him for his work ethic and always trying to, you know, dress the whole nine yards of the whole thing, make himself. Make himself accessible to all the. The promo work and stuff outside the WWE or for the wwe. And just how hard he works just within the business, it's just kind of almost unparalleled. So. Yeah, but all of a sudden you start lining up all these different names and they got to go somewhere, so someone's going to get left out. And this match happened. And so it was a fun match. And let's talk about Seth Rollins and Triple H. Triple H comes out and a hell of a damn entrance. Riding a damn. Basically a three wheeler. What do they call those? A cycle?
- [58:10]
Wade Keller
Yeah, I called it a motorcycle because I didn't have time to look up what changes in the title when there's two wheels on the back.
- [58:16]
Steve Austin
But, yeah, so, yeah, I mean, the entrance was awesome. And then here comes Seth Rollins and he's got this torch. And then. So he held a torch in the air and then he touches it to the stage and then flames go towards the ring and kind of, you know, catches on fire, according to the video monitors that are taped everywhere. I didn't get it because, you know, I didn't know if it was symbolic of him setting the place on fire, which obviously he didn't. It was a video monitor or it was, you know, Triple H was passing the torch to him by, you know, doing the honor. So, I mean, there was mixed message there for me, before the match even started. Here comes Triple H with this badass entrance, and then here comes Seth, the baby face coming back from MCL injury or whatever it was. And I think, as you mentioned me, before we started recording, he had just been in the hospital with a fever. Is that correct?
- [59:10]
Wade Keller
Yeah, yeah. There are reports that he was hospitalized. He got checked out to get basically cleared or get whatever hydration he Needed or, you know, I mean, I don't have a ton of details. I know that he posted a video, I think, about three days before Mania in his hotel room. Just saying, man, I am sick. The timing couldn't be worse. I saw. I felt a cold coming on. Now I got a fever. I'm skipping a workout. I never do that. And it sounds like it got worse afterwards. So, I mean, it. I think there was some fear this match won't happen or that it would, you know, have to be something different than what it turned out to be if Seth was just physically not able to go. So, yeah, I mean, he didn't want to miss two WrestleManias in a row. And it's almost like the stress of that led to tempting fate. But he did. He made it. But, I mean, I am not surprised, knowing Triple H and following his career from day one, that he got a bigger, better ring entrance than his babyface opponent. I mean, Hunter's into his character. He's the guy in the director's truck or the video editing booth, always making sure that he's got a say so on his video. He's a meticulous manager of his image when it comes to how he's portrayed on even video game marketing for their partners. I mean, Hunter, you know, he works. He talked on the media conference call for NXT that I was part of a couple weeks ago. He talked about, you know, every minute of every day's planned this whole year, you know, because he's got to get back in shape and to have a match and look the part. And he did look the part when he was posing at the end of that ring entrance. And I'm like. And the music's playing, like, that's months of pain and dedication and all the little things he put up on Twitter and Instagram about, you know, when you don't feel it, you still got to do it. And I just feel like he had to feel really good about how he looked and the way that he carried himself, because he still looks and carries himself like a star when he. When he's there. The problem is. And that's what you're getting at, Steve, it made Seth look like a chump because there's nothing he could do to compete with the pomp and circumstance of Hunter's entrance.
- [61:01]
Steve Austin
Man, to go back to what you were saying, Triple H looked like a million bucks. Holy smokes his diet. I get on his Instagram account, see him working out at midnight, 1, 2 o' clock in the morning. So he's not missing any workouts, but he looked like a million bucks. The badass entrance. Okay, now to your point, when you say, you know, he's controlling his image and he's very meticulous in the detail. Okay? He's got this badass entrance with the cycle. Badass, loud pipes on it, mag wheels. Stephanie's on the back. Okay, you gotta think. Because I knew going into this match it was time for him. Jesus Christ. Pass a torch, no pun intended. Because Seth had one. But I knew just my gut feeling was this is the time they're trying to get this kid over as a baby. Rollins is somewhat over. He's not all the way over, not by a long shot. And I don't mean that in a bad way. That's just being honest. But, man, as meticulous as he was in planning or whoever creative was in planning his entrance, I really thought they dropped the ball in planning Seth Rollins entrance. Because I don't think think that Seth Rollins was sitting at home in Iowa thinking, hey, man, maybe, you know, if I get this knee, well, maybe when I walk to the ring, I'll carry a torch and I'll put it on the ground and kind of light the ring on fire. I don't. Maybe he did think of it. Maybe it's his idea, but I don't think it was. And I think if you're trying to make this, if you're trying to get this guy over and Triple H is going to do the favors, which he did clean in the middle. I just. I would have made his entrance a lot more badass than that, because the kid could use some help in that department.
- [62:36]
Wade Keller
Yeah. I mean, part of what gets a babyface over a heel, and this goes back to even Miz, it's not being the coolest one in the match, not being the badass. And Triple H had a badass entrance, and he was the cool one. He was larger than life. And, yeah, I mean, Seth failed in comparison. I mean, if you go back to 1993, what Seth did with a torch in his hand, he touches it to the. To the rampway and then the rampway. The fire travels down the ramp, and then the ring apron lights up with flame. I mean, it's like, that's cool. Problem is, what came right before, it was visually, much visually and audibly, much more over the top and stimulating. So, yeah, I mean, it's sort of unfair, but like I said, I'm not surprised. Seth's been trying to get healthy and get his knee in shape, and Hunter's had months in an unlimited budget and a non full time ring schedule to as he always does, try to make his ring entrance at Mania. Something that's memorable and he did.
- [63:29]
Steve Austin
But in thinking about it. But let's move on and we'll talk a little bit about the match. But just in regards to characters, when you say Stone Cold, you know who that was? The Rock, you know who that was? Undertaker, you know who that is or was Triple H. You get it. And there's that imagery. You got Motorhead singing your song. I mean the badass. And still when you just say Seth Rollins or if you want to say Seth freakin Rollins, I still don't have a sense of what or who this guy is. And so that rests on Seth Rollins shoulders as an individual, as a performer to define or create that as well as the wwe because I still don't get a sense of what kind of personality he is. If you go back and say, well he's not like the Rock electrifying or he's not like Stone Cold, this anti authority or the Dead man. Okay, well what is he?
- [64:34]
Wade Keller
He's not Shawn Michaels, but he doesn't have to be.
- [64:37]
Steve Austin
Yeah, he's not Shawn Michaels, but look at another guy who was, if I dare say a little introverted. But obviously he had an ego. Bret the Hitman Hart. Not a larger than life personality, but the genuineness or whatever of his character was. He was the Hitman and he was a badass. The excellence of execution, the best there is was ever will be. Bret wasn't an over the top guy. Pretty humble and a very quiet individual outside the ring. So in many regards, kind of somewhat like Seth. Although Brett's an entirely different animal. But there's a case of a guy who's not like a showy kind of guy, very conservative, but just a highly defined gimmick, a badass gimmick and a world class worker. So Seth needs to work on this.
- [65:36]
Wade Keller
Yeah, I, I agree and I don't think freaking counts.
- [65:40]
Steve Austin
No, it doesn't. So let's get into the match. Let's get into the freaking match. Yeah.
- [65:44]
Wade Keller
Yes. Authenticity by the way, that's what Bret Hart exuded.
- [65:48]
Steve Austin
Thank you. Thank you.
- [65:49]
Wade Keller
Yes.
- [65:50]
Steve Austin
Yeah, I mean he was a real deal second generation, but you know the match, here's the thing, you go into a match with a knee injury, it only makes sense to work that knee and therein lies the problem, mobility. So I thought that as meticulously, as hard as these guys work, I know how much thought Triple H puts into These matches love the finish sequence involving Steph towards the end. There was also a back and forth go between of Seth and Triple H, which lasted, I don't know, about 30 seconds. But just that match kind of plodded along because you're working a wheel and it never got a chance to get into second gear or at least the next gear from a cadence or speed change. And so it just kind of plodded along. There was some good moments there on the table, some interesting stuff, some impact stuff. But I thought the match kind of struggled to really keep the people. And you know you're talking about Seth coming back from 103 degree fever. You know, 99% of the population know this. So you're just based on what you see. So I can understand that the guy was a little bit flat and was just lucky or fortunate or gutsy to be able to perform. But just from a match standpoint, it just, it didn't grab you. And he's not over enough. They didn't make that entrance cool enough. And one entrance isn't going to make you before a big show. But there's the match was what it was. Had you cared deeply for him, that match could have worked. You can work a will and have an effective match, but you have to be more invested in that babyface than they are because he's relied on his sequences and his athleticism to carry him to take him to the next level. He'll have to get more character development, but let's stick back to the match. Your thoughts after I've elaborated as much as I have.
- [67:48]
Wade Keller
Yeah, I mean, 26 minutes on a show that counting the opening bell, you have an out. You have about an hour and a half of pre show with three matches and then four, close to four and a half hours of a main show. So you're talking six hours of wrestling. And to go out there and tell a story when they could have told this story. And like I thought the first, the first four minutes. Four, four. First four or five minutes were really good. Last four or five minutes really good. And then there was that 15 minutes in the middle that I think should have been shrunk down to five. And then I think we're talking about a 16 minute match that was hellacious, it was fast paced, it was start to close, an adrenaline rush and they never lost the crowd. And WrestleMania, perhaps more importantly than anything I just said, ends 10 minutes sooner. And that to me is respectful of Undertaker and Reigns respectful of Goldberg and Lesnar. It's respectful of everybody. Who followed this match that they didn't go excessively long, needlessly. Like if this was the main event for a regular three hour pay per view, give me 26 minutes. And you know what, even, even though it's a little slower in the middle than it, than it should have been or ideally would have been, still I think people go, that was a really good main event. Little slow in the middle, but I think there was almost a resentfulness of how when things slowed down. The crowd's already been there for four hours and they're looking forward to three, four big matches that are left and it just wasn't time for this kind of marathon show closer. And that's what this seemed to be. And I think that that's where they kind of swung and missed a little bit. In terms of forecasting. I get working over the knee and wanted to sell it. It just, it felt a little indulgent.
- [69:33]
Steve Austin
Yeah, again, man, when you, when you're working a knee and you know, obviously Rick Floyd Flair made a living out of doing that. Normally he'd pick a preliminary body part, pick it apart, it's preliminary heat, and then in the course of the shine, then finally go to his main heat, which was centered around that knee to try to get in that figure four leg lock. But Rick had the innate ability just to always keep his guy firing, keep his guy alive. I thought Seth was selling his ass off, trying to get that sympathy. He died a little bit out there. The match was. I had heard from people that were there in attendance that the temperature and the length of the show was starting to wear on people as it got deep in the show and here we are. And again, to have this type of match, you really have to be invested in that babyface for this type of formula to work. I think hindsight being 20 20, just looking back to your point, this match could have been a 10 minute shorter, if anything six to eight minutes shorter. Or say 10 minutes shorter. But bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I mean, they started off throwing the fist just like Chris Jericho and KO did, but let Seth just beat the trash out of him for four to five minutes and totally dominate that guy. Light that crowd up, get him and have him back off, have him on the run, get Steph involved a little bit earlier and then boom, sets your heat in, cripple that knee and then saw down on him, boom. Then go home or involve your tables. This is me nitpicking and going back, but it just dragged out a little bit too long and these guys ton of respect to Triple H, respect to Seth Rollins. But the match just. It could have been so much more, but not so much more time.
- [71:21]
Wade Keller
Yeah, and, and you know, part of it too is Seth was able to do so much on that knee before the working over the knee by Hunter with the mat work and putting the. The leg in the chair and stomping on it. Seth did so much on the knee before that that it almost made me think, well, the knee's not that bad. And so. And I know they wanted to have that hot opening, few minutes, a DDT on the table, you know, just, we're going to give him a lot of energy, get him into the match and then slow it down and work over the knee. But to me, it almost ruined the gimmick that Seth had a bad knee because he was. It was like a Mad Libs where it was like blank spot, blank spot. Do big, Do a big move. Sell your knee. Like it's like you just re injured it. And they did like 8, 9, 10 times. Seth did that, a big move and then clutch your knee in pain. But if you come back and keep doing big moves, you start thinking, well, that must not hurt that much or it must not be that hurt. So I almost felt Seth got in too many of his spots and. And it undercut the notion that he was vulnerable. So then the beating down of the knee sort of felt like a normal thing rather than cruel.
- [72:20]
Steve Austin
But along with that, my takeaway from that was, the kid's well enough to walk, he's well enough to run. I don't need to see sequences right now. This is about the whole thing was the hatred between Triple H and Seth. One person was going to either you win, if you lose this match, you're done. So this was the time instead of sequences or athletic ability, you want ass whooping. And so you go on offense by bouncing that heel around or least chasing him. And he can't be the badass now. He rode down on the trike, but now he's in backpedal mode. Bing, bing, boom. Steph gets involved. Excitement, weight, excitement. Pop the people whip ass. Don't prove how good of an athlete you are right now. Nobody cares. Wants you to extract revenge. You don't need to be fancy in doing so. Fists, feet, just punches, knees, anything and ass whooping. But reaction from the hill. Big ass. Holy smokes. Boom. You know, bumping all over the place. Use the wife. Bam. You know, some kind of bump there. Excitement. But anyway, I knew Triple H was going to, you know, put the Kid over towards the end because they're trying to make the. I thought Triple H obviously did the right thing. I saw it coming. But man, just the lackluster entrance. Just the fact that Seth hasn't developed that character as much as he needs to try, as hard as they did to execute, it fell a little bit short.
- [73:50]
Wade Keller
Yeah. Yep.
- [73:52]
Steve Austin
All right, everybody, gimme to go home. Q. It's time to wrap up his podcast ride off in the Sunset. But before I do, let me remind you, part two of my podcast with Wade Keller is going to happen this Thursday on the Unleashed podcast, the second half of our conversation about WrestleMania 33. So this is Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Torch week here on the podcast. Check out my Thursday show as we hit that main event because the epic send off of the Undertaker was unbelievable. I have my thoughts on that with Wade Keller. Hey, let me give you guys something to watch. Video of the week, WWE Network hall of Fame. If you didn't see that ceremony, you need to take time to watch that event. If you love the business, from the presenters to the inductees, the speeches were off the chart. The articulation, the eloquent delivery, the movement of emotions, the hooks, just everything. This was an outstanding class and an outstanding presentation. So check that out. Send me an email to questioneveaustinshow.com Tell me your thoughts. I thought it was amazing. Amen. Real quickly. Shirts you see me wear on Broken Skull challenge the beer I like to drink. They got links to them @broken skull ranch.com. if you live in LA, you can stop by El Segundo Brewing Company. If you're in Cali, you can pick up my beer, Steve Austin's Broken Skull IPA at Whole Foods and Total Wines. If you don't live here, check out insidethecellar.com or my website to see if you live in a state that they ship to. Everything Steve Austin you can find at broken skull ranch.com including the cold steel Broken Skull knife and the new working man's knife. An affordable knife for the working man. And I gotta say one more thank you to all the fine sponsors of the Steve Austin show, because that's how I'm able to do this podcast for you twice a week for free. And you can find all my sponsors@podcast1.com just click on the Killer Deals button at the top of the page and then click on the Steve Austin show banner. So, thanks to DDP Yoga, go to ddpyoga.com austin to get 30% off the DDPY program and all DDPY related Merch and Lootcrate. Sign up@lootcrate.com Austin and use the promo code Austin to save $3 off your Masters of Mic, WWE Slamcrete. And just a reminder that the Steve Austin show is also a participant in Amazon Associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking a Amazon.com you can link to amazonodcastone.com by clicking on the Killer Deals button at the top of the page. Hey, 60 second AP news headlines are coming up next. Until then, my name is Steve Austin and I will catch your ass down the road.
- [76:27]
Wade Keller
This has been a Podcast one production.
- [76:29]
Steve Austin
Download new episodes of the Steve Austin
- [76:31]
Wade Keller
show every Tuesday@podcast1.com that's podcastone.com.
- [76:44]
Steve Austin
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- [77:29]
Wade Keller
Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual.
- [77:33]
Steve Austin
Together. Other we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [77:45]
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