WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 Review, Results & Analysis

0:00Hello, everybody. It is John Pollock, along with wayting coming off of tonight's elimination chamber show from Chicago. Hello, way, how are you doing? All right, John. How about yourself? I'm doing I'm doing all right. And yes, four matches, three hours. Fine. I'll take it. You just have to know when to start the show. There is a whole algorithm that goes into the pacing of watching these shows. You know, I'm not getting. I finished a book while I was watching elimination chamber tonight. I had like 50 pages left of a book and I finished it. No problem during this. I didn't read an entire book. No, I would think I'd start. There's a decent chance. No, I didn't read an entire book, but anyway, there's a lot of downtime between these. And I really don't experience it ever. I start these. I started late and I still do know how long these entrances were for these chamber matches. I timed them.

1:00Oh, yeah. I know. It's crazy. Yeah. Well, it makes it makes for me. These would be a great Sunday morning watch because you could get through the show in an hour, 10 easy. Yeah. Yeah. Um, maybe like for some people, they, I think like for people that might only tune in to these shows a few times of the year, I think having the fanfare of the entrances is actually probably important to them. But for you and I that watch basically every, every show, it's, it's really not, not that special is elimination chamber. The show that you say, you know, I haven't watched wrestling in a year. This is, this is the show for me. This is, this is the one I'm sitting down to watch. No, sure. Yeah, I could say that. Like, I mean, it's, it's a connecting point from rumble to WrestleMania. That it is. Yes. Well, we have seven weeks of connecting points as well from now until WrestleMania. So they have a bit of a breather on these, uh, these weekend shows. Yeah. Sure. Mm-hmm. Well, we're going to get into everything that took place from tonight at the United Center Chicago, Illinois. Um, they announced on the broadcast 19,346. The last

2:08wrestling takes number was 18,200 and eight, probably a very sizable gate for this show. The secondary market was going for, I think the cheapest ticket you could get was like 250. Um, maybe that came down at the end, but maybe not, uh, to be honest. This is their, they, they touted this fact. This was the first televised event WWE has run at the United Center since Summerslam of 1994. Low and behold, they did run a house show here in March of 2018, just randomly. Interesting. That's the only other show that I could find that they have run since Summerslam 1994. So if you went the last time at the United Center, you got John Cena versus Roman Reigns. Okay. Interesting. Mother 2018 fodder. Um, the pre show, um, we had some sit-down interviews with AJ Lee Finn Balor and then it's right into the broadcast. They also, man, they throw, they threw Joe Tessator Wade Barrett and Biggie out on the desk outside in the winter in Chicago. These

3:09guys looked like they were freezing. They're all bundled up and they're out there. They, they had to have been out there for the first hour of the two hour kickoff. Rosenberg's out there. It's like you, you just see their breath. It's like holy Christ. We couldn't put this desk inside. Very question for the production. I'm sure they would have had it as well. It looks great on TV. I mean, I, I, I was warned, but I felt for these three. So we have a Michael Cole Wade Barrett on commentary and the opening video features CM Punk out and about in Chicago, talking about embracing pressure, pressure feels like home. And so it's time to embrace the pressure. We go to our first of two chamber matches, Rio Ripley, Oscar, Raquel Rodriguez, Alexa Bliss, Kiana James, Antiphany Stratton. While Jade Cargill, uh, maybe she got on the secondary market right at the last minute and, uh, scored a ticket because she was in a private box, uh, to take in this match. Um, perhaps, perhaps she was a little too confused from the segment on Smackdown. Didn't know how to watch this on ESPN decided, you know what I'm just, I'm just going to buy a ticket.

4:12That sounds a lot easier than God. Um, yes, none of them were represented on the show. I'm sure they were all having a watch party together on their apps. Oh, I'm sure they were in, um, the Garza's hotel room. Everyone's in one room and they all have a phone out to watch. Sure. Yeah. So we got Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James starting off the match. And so it's, it's five minutes, intervals here. And of course, each entrance, the person has to come out. They have to do their pose. They have to walk to the ring. And then they've got to walk to each individual pod to look at each person. And then it just multiplies. And then the, by the, the six person, they've got to do the walk to all four pods and look at everyone just to get one last look like we're doing this. Yes, we are doing this. So they start off, um, Stratton did this handspring back elbow, just crashing into the pod, missing a Kiana. I thought overall, uh, maybe you thought differently. I thought Kiana James, like stood out fairly well in, in this match. Like she is,

5:15like someone that you could certainly see, they're putting a lot more focus on her. I did not feel she was out of place in this match. I agree. Um, I, I thought she was booked to stand out. And I thought she, you know, like she looked very competent and I think very capable. And I, I don't think that has ever been the concern for me. If for me, it's, it's more so, I don't think the character has been very well developed if at all. And, you know, now I think her in-ring work is actually outpacing the growth for a character. So I hope to see the match that. What if Julia becomes her head of PR? They could, they could maybe they just, they just roll reverse. Perhaps that's, that's where they go with us. Oscar is third. And this crowd loved Oscar. She blasts Kiana and Stratton's heads into the pods and everyone's just cheering for Oscar. She was one of the more over baby faces in, in, in this match, not real level, but they were really into her here against Stratton and Kiana. Alexa Bliss is fourth. And then Stratton tries the PME and is stopped when

6:17Bliss knocks her in through a tree of woe and Kiana breaks up a cover as the announcers call it inexperience. Why, why would you be breaking up the cover if you're Kiana James? So they just rolled with it. Rhea Ripley is fifth. Obviously she gets a big reaction and just starts powering everyone since Stratton into Oscar with a razor's edge. Bliss is avoiding rip tides and climbs onto the pod and hits a twisted bliss onto three of the four women. And as Alexa goes for a sister Abigail to Kiana, it is stopped by Oscar's mist. And this allows Kiana to roll up Alexa. So Alexa is the first elimination. Yeah, possibly leading to Charlotte and Alexa versus Oscar and Kyrie or possibly James and Julia versus Charlotte and Alexa as well coming off of this. Yeah, I mean, I feel at this point your Alexa Charlotte combo is probably just going to stay together through WrestleMania at this point. I think those backstage segments, you just can't give up on those so quickly. I mean,

7:17whether it be ice cream or but I feel at this point, I feel like the the women's tag, we probably get some kind of multi-woman team. And yeah, I don't know. It's not the most impressive role when you're talking about Charlotte Flair for WrestleMania. But I mean, this past year, she's this is kind of the level that I wouldn't say she's really you would have her poise for like a bigger spot at WrestleMania this year. No, and I would say too late to build anything up even if you are teasing potential breakups between the two, which I just don't don't see. I don't feel either. No, yeah. Raquel Rodriguez is the sixth and final entering and she plays the monster here. She power bombs Rhea into the fence then one into the ring. She puts Kiana through the pod with a running power slam. That got a big reaction. And then struggles to get Oscar up for a Tejana bomb on top of Kiana and double pins both to eliminate Kiana and Oscar together. Very impressive here from Raquel. So it's down to three. Rhea's hung upside down on the fence

8:21and gets down. It's a cannonball off the pod to Raquel, which is followed by the prettiest moonsault ever. So Stratton eliminates Raquel. And Michael Cole is in the middle of his like dramatic call and just like clockwork inserts a door dash promo code. I mean, if you're going to do like an ad read, like at least wait till the end of the first match, right? Like, why would you just insert it in out of nowhere? That's what I would expect. Yeah. If somebody were to insert and add in the middle of some sort of broadcast. Yeah. There's these natural chapter breaks. So after the door dash promo, it's an Alabama slam. Mrs. Desuanton. And in all of this, Stratton came up with a bloody nose. We had several people who got a busted open here. I mean, the Stratton punk. She lands Desuanton, gets a two count, and then goes for the prettiest moonsault ever. And it gets stopped. And she has shoved into the pod and hit with the rip tide. Rhea wins 23 minutes and 43 seconds. And they made

9:22it clear. Jade Cargill, Rhea Ripley for WrestleMania. Yeah. All in all, I felt it was a pretty decent match. But it was far from, I think, any a standout chamber, you know, at this point, a pretty large count of a lot of these sort of matches. But overall, I felt like they utilized the space pretty well to develop two underdeveloped talents in Kiana James and Raquel. I thought James, again, looked very capable in the ring. And just by being in this match, she seemed to be the project of the group to just at least let people know she is at this level. And at least in rings, she looked very capable. Again, I really wish the character work was, you know, able to match it. But I also didn't expect them to put Raquel over so strong with that double pin. So it's suggest to me like they might have a big role for her leading into WrestleMania. If not coming out of it, possibly I could see coming out of it. Like maybe that's the long term play is that live gets to title. And it's a future babyface turn for Raquel. I don't know what she does for Mania. She's sort of out of the picture. And I, and maybe she's just going to be sort of, you know, the Batista

10:27to live triple H for this WrestleMania. And then after Mania, that's a program you could get to down the road. Totally. I was, I thought the women worked really hard to be quite honest. I thought there was a lot more intensity in this match than the men's match. I felt like the men's match was, it was, to me, this one had just a lot more, just kind of, just, it just felt like there was a whole lot more urgency. It was several of the women who were having, you know, this, this was a big showcase for them. And for the men's match, like really it was Javon Evans, that was in that role. And everyone else, it was sort of, you know, it's like here, here's Randy's 15th chamber match. So I'm with you. It's not like this was this blow away great match. But it was, you know, for an elimination chamber match, I think it served its purpose. And the audience certainly was into rear-ripply. It was a predictable outcome, but that's not a bad thing. I think the challenge now is, like this is one year. I would say if rear-ripply had the,

11:29the dance partner, this is a year you could look at the women having one of the main events for Mania. I just don't see Jade as that person. And like Rhea is certainly hot enough that you could put her in a main event slot this year. But I do not see that happening with Jade. And everyone's focus is going to be on that match itself and try to build these two up as these two kind of the, the two big indestructible forces. And they have seven weeks to build it. Yeah, I don't see it with, with Rhea and Jade, just because I, I think Jade is still very questionable in a, a link through your match, certainly, like at the top of the card. The caribuses live I have a lot more confidence about, but I also don't close the show. No, in ring. Oh, in delivering a strong match. But I don't think the star powers there in particular with the car just yet. She, she, she, you know, she will get there, but maybe not just yet. So I don't see either women's match being able to headline this year. But still, you know, like this could be,

12:31like, live versus, but here could be a standout match. Jade versus Rhea could, you know, have this one is going to be very well prepared. Like it's, it's going to be a very well laid out match. So it's, yeah, yeah, we will, we will see how it turns out. On Tiffany Stratton, you know, this year she's playing more of a supporting role than previous years. But I think like she continues to show in this match, how dependable and how consistent she is as a performer, despite her relative lack of experience. You know, like we forget, like she, she's only been on this main roster. It is like really a little over a year. And she's already able to like really hold down these sort of high-pressure situations, I think incredibly well. So I still, I think this run has shown that there are, she's not really being taken to as a baby face. You know, I remember that match on SmackDown where Chelsea Green got a bigger baby face reaction than Tiffany Stratton did. So in ring, I think she again, is very dependable, but the character certainly needs a lot of work. And, you know, could be a heel run or maybe just, you know, continuing this way until

13:35the fans more organically react to her as a baby face. It's still kind of like a heel character. It's just she's playing a baby face now. So we all know now Rear Ripley's destination is WrestleMania in Las Vegas. But you know, not everyone wants to disclose their location so easily. And for those looking for a little more privacy, we have the answer for you. And in his current stage, John, this is the only time you get to travel these days, when you log on to NordVPN, and you get your pick of the entire globe of where you get to go. Tonight, I'm going to watch Dynamite off to Finland. Now I have the ability to, there's really nothing holding me back at this point. NordVPN.com slash post-cressline. See Michael, it's very easy to do. Becky Lynch against AJ Lee followed that for the intercontinental championship. So AJ Lee is now a a a a christened Chicago native by way of New Jersey. She married into the city.

14:36And so she is just as big of a she's a she's a Chicago to the core. If you happen to marry maybe perhaps the wrestler most identifiable with the city. And you also now you know, call that place your residence. I mean, I I think she she's allowed. Yes. Well, there's a huge reaction for AJ. She comes out second and Becky was working in like this jacket. It was like a quite the outfit she had. It's like she was wearing like some as we come to expect from Becky Lynch. Yeah, I guess so. Lee works early on with this bridging hammerlock and some very like over the top exaggerated selling by Becky. She's kind of just flying all over the place for for AJ and then boots her down taking over. And I mean, this crowd they were very behind AJ and they were booing down Becky. AJ must have hit like 100 tornado DDT's in the in this match. She really has that move down very solid. Becky is getting frustrated and removes the turnbuckle

15:40pad and manages a superplex and referee Jessica Carr. One of the first times I've seen a referee realizing, oh my God, the turnbuckle pad. We've we've got to correct this right now. So she goes to the floor, grabs the pad and then she's turns her back to them. Becky runs AJ into her. Jessica Carr survives that counts to and then Becky throws a a Miracle Crow cop kick. And this was this sent a car hospital, not cemetery. And this was a hell of a kick because Carr was down for like five minutes from this kick, but survived the splash from behind. She really, I think squeezed out all the life she had just to get up from that, you know, initial bump. Only to be completely killed by that kill. She managed it. The black widow is applied. Becky taps, but there's no Jessica Carr and AJ's God damn it, Jessica. So Lee goes to check on her and gets attacked from behind and Becky brings a chair in. But don't worry, AJ's got the tornado DDT and comes down. Her knee was supposed to land

16:44on the chair. It rattled. They sell it. Becky goes for a DDT onto the chair and a manhandle slam. And Jessica counts one, two and AJ gets her shoulder up. This place exploded. I think this whole crowd thought this match was over and they just had this crowd from this point through the end of the match because Carr prevents Becky from ramming AJ into the still exposed turnbuckle. So Becky misses AJ runs into the corner and then rebounds off the exposed buckle and is put in the black widow submitting at 1527 as AJ Lee wins the intercontinental title. I enjoyed this match more than I thought I would. I mean, in particular, in fact, the first three quarters that were mainly centered on the technical wrestling, which I thought AJ looked really great in doing, you know, especially like that electric chair reversal into the headlock takeover. That was one of the most impressive spots of the entire match. It looks so incredibly clean. So I definitely had my doubts coming into this about AJ's level because from what we've seen of her, I mean, she was either very well

17:49protected in multi-man matches or it just didn't really look all that impressive. But here, I definitely think she showed a different level. And especially with her technical wrestling, I think you can argue she might even look like the upper echelon in that sort of department. Maybe not now that I think about how stacked this roster is currently, but certainly not out of her depth in 2026 here. I'd certainly say this was the best she looked of the three matches we've seen her in since the comeback. I think Becky worked really, really well here with AJ. But for AJ to go 15 and a half minutes here, you know, it's I think overall it was I agree with you. If you were to tell me these two were going to go 15 and a half minutes, I would say that would be pretty ambitious for AJ's first singles match back, but they had a great crowd. Finish worked tremendously well from that near fall right through the finish where the crowd was just electric. They got the title change. And I think there's a good chance that they they run this back at WrestleMania and maybe

18:54whether it's just straight up rematch for the title or some kind of stipulation attached, I think these two will be tied together through media. I would think a stipulation, you know, just the raises takes a little black widow match, okay, with a spider. What a hair versus hair match. Oh, that might be sure. Why not? Maybe Becky's like that coward Marina Shafir. I'll show her. Yeah. Loser has to wear a jacket in the next wrestling match. Yeah. Do you do imagine AJ sticking around post WrestleMania? I see her sticking to this sort of like maybe part-time-ish schedule. And for that reason, if they do rematch, I expect the belt to go back to Becky. Yeah. So I don't know if I don't know what her ambitions are, but I think she's looking good enough to like, you know, like do something consistently. So I would you could argue that outside of Rhea, she's probably the most over-female on this roster. Yeah. And let's let's not like discount the sort of like reactions

19:58to this build so far. This has been a build into this match in particular that I don't think it has been met with universal acclaim. They had some very shaky weeks of a promise with each other. And I think there's still big issue with tone that I, you know, has resulted in more sort of like comical, like bad in a comedy, in fact, rather than I think the serious thing that you want. So we have the chance to course correct. Now that Becky's lost the title, you do have the excuse to be to take that because I think that's been nothing's universal with fan reaction, but it's been the majority has reacted that way to the promos on TV. And then you had a match tonight that really was totally divorced from that kind of tone or or or build up. Like this was Becky wrestling a serious match. And I think that that is more so. I want to see like changes to especially Becky, but AJ too. And if we're going another, you know, six, seven weeks with us. Becky, we'll probably do a lot of complaining about just a good car coming off of this as she usually

21:01does. But that might result in some sort of no DQ stipulation coming off of it. All this impurities are worth the crate. And this was just they have no shame. Like they they're teasing like, this is the crate reveal. And it's just a ploy for a goddamn Papa John's ad. At this point, this is I mean, this kind of has always been our truth role. But it feels like it's especially the case now where like having gone through what you might consider like a failed rebrand as Ron killings, which they'll have they'll kind of like reframe as like something that the audience rejected rather than then really not giving the character a like an actual try at all. Like truth now is just like fully in to just being the mascot of this company doing this sort of comedic stick. Yeah, those that company. Yeah, that three weeks, it never happened. Basically, we're just right back to where he was pre release. This should be a pre contract expiration. But this coupled with like the ESPN thing from last night, they're just like, you can have fun

22:04with these. You can you can you can be creative in doing this sort of product placement. These just have absolutely zero effort. I feel put into them at all. Next we'll see on punk and Finn Balor for the World Heavyweight Championship. And punk is in the back and all of a sudden, the Allen Parsons project begins. And I was like, okay, this is fantastic. And he comes out to serious and they've even got the voiceover guy from the bulls Ray Clay. And he gets to the gorilla position and then they switch to living color. This was awesome. This might have been the best entrance this year. I thought this was so excellent. Pretty cool. Really, really cool. So he's out. He's also in black hawks inspired gear. And we get the graphic first WWE match in Chicago since June of 2013. I'm like, correct. I'm sure it was really hard for them to put WWE and qualify it there. But yes, this is his first WWE match in Chicago since June of 2013. But then below it,

23:07first career match in the United Center. So obviously, he did do one match in a W in the United Center for the first collision. But I left here. That is right. Yes. So they went super long that night. I remember two because that was all that was punk's return. Not rated FTR or the CM FTR was it? Oh, that's right. CM FTR. Yes. Yeah, look at this. What a, yeah, this this kicked off the the collision arrow the days of the CM Punk led collision. God. I mean, at some point, it might have been enough time that we should go back and relive like the two months, the collision era of CM Punk. Because it was like every single week, a new story coming out, culminating in a, well, culminating in Tony Conn in this very arena of the United Center having to come out right after firing CM Punk and basically telling the Chicago crowd what he did. And that's the last time AEW has run the United Center.

24:08Anyone bringing back historical memories here, but a great, great entrance here for punk. Baller, they just start this off. They're just doing like technical wrestling together. Baller traps them in an abdominal stretch and punk is continually trying for a sharpshooter, which would have quite the payoff later in the match. He's also trying for GTSs, which Baller has an answer for whether it's blocking it or turning it into a small package. Punk busted out a suicide dive here, which man, given the given the injury rate in WWE, that's that's probably an apropos term here. We can't be taking these risks here with, could you imagine? So Baller goes for the kuda grass. It misses. So Punk does the step up knee. And this is where he's been busted from the mouth. It might have been a tooth even. I think he got like up kicked from a fire sharpshooter attempt. Yeah. Baller was like just drilling him with these these up kicks. So that would make sense. Baller then tries the top rope elbow is hit by punk. And then Baller comes back,

25:13hits the 1916 kuda grass lands and punk kicks out. Then punk manages to recover hits the GTS, Baller rolls to the floor. And punk goes after him gets hit with a slung blade and then a shotgun drop kick putth punk through the timekeepers area. And into the ring, they go Baller avoids another GTS. And the kuda grass is attempted. But punk puts his foot up. And as Baller comes down, he takes the foot and turns it into a sharpshooter. This was fucking awesome. Like this is what this was one of the best sharpshooter entries I've ever seen. And so exact same brooks here. I mean, it was beautiful. I mean, this was quite the the idea just to come up with this idea as a setup maneuver. So he gets the sharpshooter quite honestly. This would have been a great finish if they went right to this. But instead, Baller makes it to the rope. And then punk just grabs him by the wrist and just drills him in the head with stomps, lifts him clean GTS and wins in 20 minutes and 21

26:17seconds. I really, really like this match to the point. I thought this was the match of the show. And what I really enjoyed about it was there was like, there were no smoke in mirrors. They didn't feel the need like we didn't need to use weapons. We didn't need run ins. We just had a 20 minute wrestling match with a guy that with all due respect. No one had any belief of what the outcome was going to be. And they still came out. They had a like granted it was punk in Chicago. So you were working with that ace up your sleeve. But I just thought this was like a really, really great professional wrestling match. Your champion gets a big win going into a bigger match for WrestleMania. And I thought these guys were great. I definitely enjoyed this more than their TV match. I thought they did a great, great job. And Baller, it was an unenviable position to be in. But the guy did not like dog it at all. He tried to cut the best promos he could in the lead up for this. And I thought, you know, overall, I think he comes out of, he comes out of this as a baby face really. I mean, the turn seemed very solidified by the end of it when they did their

27:21handshake, right? So yeah, Baller confronts punk, offers his hand and punk accepted. So they shook hands at the end. And that should lead to whatever the issues within the judgment day following this. Yeah, one maybe key moment was Baller seemingly looking towards the entrance ramp. And the announcers were kind of filling those gaps saying is Baller looking for the judgment day here. So we don't exactly know what what he was thinking about if he was expecting the judgment day to come out or not. But that was about as much references you had to Dom and JD, which we'll see the fallout of on Monday. The match itself, I thought was a very strong match, you know? And I thought like early portion of Highlighted, well, by the rip injury or the rip work, which I thought punk sold really well. And then I think by memory of the second half, the match will be highlighted by like that bit of lucky blood that they got from that upkick from Baller. And I thought it provided some great visuals with punk with a mouth full of blood as he was delivering that Savage Elbow. And they just had like a really good clean match, which I think,

28:22you know, like at times I wondered if this crowd had an appetite for this sort of wrestling. And also in the AJ match, we're like, I don't know if they necessarily reacted so well until the shenanigans came. This match didn't really have any shenanigans at all. But I mean, it was CM Punk and they react certainly responded well by the end. I thought overall a really great match, especially for two guys who might not be in their physical primes anymore, like in their mid 40, speaking of somebody entering their mid 40s, it's sort of like you're in your prime way. I mean, if I, I probably look like thing, Baller, doing that hosting work with B-roll at the same time, I mean, you're, thank you, John. But I would suggest in pro wrestling, even if you're not in your physical prime, you could still have the best matches of your career, which I, I wonder if these two wrestling in their 20s would have had a match as good as this because in wrestling, as you get older, you get wiser and you know how to, you know, play with the crowd that much more. Maybe your technique might even be better. So I thought these two delivered, I think, a very satisfying and

29:23very smart match for people in their mid to late 40s. I just like that they, they didn't rely on any like even doing like the big pattern near falls that so many WWE audience are conditioned, like they're not going to get into things until we just start hitting big finishers and everyone's kicking out and they would have had the leeway to do it if they wanted to in this match and didn't need to. And I thought that it made the match better for my money. AJ comes out with her icy title, so pumpkin AJ, celebrate in the ring together as champions. And we have Michael Chandler, no announcement, no, no Conor McGregor fight to announce. He's a, he's still campaigning for it. Yannis was there from the Milwaukee box. Cole was basically begging him to go to the knicks and folks did the sunrise this morning because Lil Yachty was at a WWE show. Okay. This guy just, he's green shirt guy. This guy just goes to every WWE show. Yeah, the new generation of like Brock Lesnar guys, green shirt guys is, is a little yachty. Yeah. And, uh, the, the

30:27birch crisis. Birch crisis. Yeah. Yeah. As America's most trusted movers, Mayflower has seen it all from big dreams and new beginnings. All right. Here we are. Oh, it's perfect. To first steps and fix your uppers from starter homes. So guess what? We're having another another. We definitely need more space to more practical homes. Yes, Mayflower has been there for it all and we'll always have your back every moment, every move, every step of the way. Schedule your move now by going to Mayflower dot com. The post wrestling cafe is your one stop shop for all of the coverage that post wrestling has to offer two big rewindaways this month with WF insurrection from May of 2002. This UK only pay per view featured the raw brand going overseas and ending with the infamous plane ride from hell. Then we're going to take a look at AWA's Super Sunday from April of 1983. A new edition of talk can be yours plus MCU later book club and coverage of UFC 326 TNA sacrifice. And of course,

31:31Excel editions of rewind a raw dynamite and Smackdown with all the news of the day. Join now at post wrestling cafe dot com. So all this appears are out and they have brought the box and they pry it open. And there's a coffin that opens. And after a procession of dancers, it is the debut of Dan Housen. Hopefully they can get this song out. It will do very well. The crowd reacted. They reacted. It was, it was very catchy song. Did they react? When he first walked out, they did. And then they walked out and he passes over the cup of teeth to Michael Cole. And then he enters the ring. And the lights go out. And the crowd, it felt like this crowd was believing, okay, now a bigger surprise is coming. And then when the lights came up and he was just gone, Michael Cole summarized it very well. Wade, what the hell was that?

32:34Well, even before the lights went out, I thought you could hear the booze pretty audibly. Like I felt this was a crowd that wasn't just maybe confused by the segment, which is maybe what the enhancers were sort of like, um, steering us towards. This was outright rejection of this. And we talked about this. If it was anybody under the level of surprise of a Chris Jericho, which is I think at this point, what like, you know, a lot of people probably got their hopes up for, um, this was going to fail. You know, and I like Dan Housen a lot. But even I like, I was surprised that they would go to these links to promote a guy who really was not a star in A.W. I don't even think he's that as well as well known as a powerhouse Hobbes, you know? And so I Chicago, you would expect maybe to have like one of the better sort of like chances of reaction. Yeah, I did too. It's not like this got some, it just didn't even get like, again, we walked out, like I thought it was like a decent reaction he got. But this was not like the big surprise pop. I mean, this was very similar to powerhouse Hobbes is last month. Oh, this is worse than that. Like they fled. They didn't reject Hobbes. They might have been apathetic. This was like,

33:37outright rejection. Like, like with the abuse. And, um, I, you know, I think they overestimated perhaps like Dan Housen's popularity. Um, and, and it's a disservice to him because, you know, if, if promoted perhaps in a, in a more sort of like subtle way than, than what this was weeks and weeks of build, you know, getting people's expectations up. Um, I feel like he might have had a better chance of, you know, being well, well, great. And I think there's, there's a little good chance that he could still be successful. They just have to probably enjoy. Are you optimistic that you could see him having like finding a comedic role that warrants in this company? Because yeah, I do. Because I think, like, I think he's got a very attractive stick. It just has to be introduced to an audience. I think it'll get over. But this was, this was too much, too big of an entrance for him. Yeah. I, I don't know. Like, I'm sure there's going to be a novelty to him, at least immediately. Um, like if they had done, like to me, the Wyatt family is not a direct

34:43comparison to this character, but it's in the same realm. And if that had been a big success, I'd be more open-minded to what they have in store for Dan Housen. But there's a part of me that thinks in six months, this guy's going to be telling me how to, how to watch these events on my phone. That, that is the, the destiny. Yeah. For a guy like him, I, I would even say like, I don't know, like you're sort of giving heavy guys like even a Joe Hendry at one point, which maybe they're trying to change what this next year run. But, um, yeah, guys like that will ultimately be your next star truths. I feel well. We'll say it's, it's night one. We'll see if they have some grand plan for him, but it was not a home run out of the gate and they set themselves up. Like we said that the very first night, like when you have a surprise, whatever you have to be able to meet or exceed the expectations. And when you do a surprise, you're giving your audience open season to start imagining what it could be. And Jericho's going to be the standard for a lot of people here in, in Chicago and at, and at home. And that was their choice to, to do this as

35:46a surprise. This was not a surprise level character to sort of that treatment. So the main event is the men's chamber match with that trick Williams, who was super over here to no one's surprise in Chicago. LA night, Logan Paul, Randy Orton, Javan Evans, and Cody Rhodes after Jay Uso was taken out on Friday night. We got 17 minutes of entrances. So almost the length of this match. And we're starting off with Cody and Javan Evans, just a standard five minutes between these two. I don't know about you. Like certainly like the run ins got their reactions. The ending certainly did, but I, I never felt like this crowd was all that hot for a good portion of this match. And you had stars in this match, but it just did not feel to me as like I just felt the crowd was like more engaged in the opener than it was this one until you got to just doing all your angles in the final five minutes. Yeah, I don't think you're wrong. I also don't know like what I was

36:49necessarily expecting like, you know, like maybe a bigger reaction for trick perhaps, but like they were reacting poorly. He got a decent reaction coming out. We're chance to fuck you Logan while he's still in the pod. Trick was third. I was surprised they put him in so early in this. He goes after Javan Evans and they play off the history about them. And Javan tries an OG cutter, which trick catches and hits a double bookend. Fourth is Logan Paul and all three go after Logan. He manages the buckshot Lariat and then he hits that on Cody. Fifth is LA night who goes after Logan. Just just on the Logan Paul. I mean, it was painfully obvious that Logan was really the only heel in this match because trick wasn't getting that reaction. And so again, like once, you know, when they had J in this match, I don't think this match would have failed, but the chances of a J Uso or a Cody Rhodes getting booed, I think would have would have greatly increased. And I think you understand like the whole angle, like obviously that that angle was meant for Bronson Reed. And they had to put Logan in that place. So I think they don't think Jay was ever going to be

37:53in this match. No, but even for the protection because at that point, you're asking the credit to pick their own heel. And I feel like Cody could have caught a lot of that. Yeah. Yeah. It was possible. It's not like Cody had this big babyface reaction to him in this match. At least I didn't feel it. So Logan's in. He would be a big part of this match followed by LA night. Logan's got this huge gash on his back from one of the spots. Logan Evans and night all end up on top of the pod. And they throw Logan basically into a high cross onto Cody and trick. And then night has to take such care of Javan Evans to hit this BFT on top of the pod where they basically have nowhere. They got to go straight down. Evans would take this. Evans was in worse shape than Jessica Carr because he was down for a long time on the top of this pod. Randy is sixth. He came out this guy. I'm pretty sure had his own area code in in Illinois. He maybe it was like the red

38:54trunks that he brought out for this. Those were the I'm going over trunks. This guy is insanely big. He is just insanely big. This is not 2009 Randy Orton. Holy Christ. Yeah. Double that. Yeah. So night stops in RKO and hits a DDT. All six are down. Well, all five are down because Evans is still on the pod and gets up and he splashes trick. But after that immediately gets hit with the pulverizer and Javan Evans is eliminated. I thought this was very underwhelming for Javan Evans. His big like that. Obviously he was going to get eliminated in this. But I thought he'll at least get like a really memorable spot. And it's like they gave him a frog splash off the pod. It just kind of felt like a participation trophy that he had. And he like no tease of anything for him coming out of this. He was just the participant in this match. I was kind of disappointed with his hand. At the very least I think I would have expected a I know she cut her off the top of the pod as Michael Cole kind of directed Michael Cole except the

39:56standard. He was like he set the bar. It was like you've got to meet this. He didn't even come close to doing that. If not that exact spot then something maybe just as spectacular that we'd be talking about. And I felt like there's certainly a wasted opportunity for Javan Evans. That pulverizer looked really brutal on Javan at the very end. That pulverizer always looks brutal. Yeah. And like this was one of those where like I mean breath was like holding his fist up. I don't I don't exactly know what that means. But I do wonder like you know how how how whether or not a guy who is relatively inexperienced like a Logan Paul should have a move that I mean it's very much like a could be a sheer drop head drop if executed like it was tonight. Yeah. It's a dangerous move to be doing that. Even when he's like I don't think we appreciate it enough because like hangman does it so seamlessly like that buckshot layer yet. It's like I've watched enough people that are like great athletes that really struggle with with that move and the the planting of your knee too as well. I don't know it's uh

40:59well we continue here night sets up uh man Randy took this bump and he just had to like turn himself like 90 degrees to get in position for LA night. It was the most robotic move of Randy off his back. So night does his deal where he's got a hop to the top rope for his elbow drop and the guy slips and it's it's clearly now just the edic that any botches are going to be part of the story and we just immediately call them out because they just called it's a crucial it's always been like that though. Yeah there's taught there was a long time. No way you could have protected this like what was he doing? He jumped off the deliver now though. Yeah this there was no saving this one because he basically had to just hop down um and continue and then he started to run. He started new thing to where like oh my back like protecting the like he was hurt from it. Yeah yeah wait till he gets the uh the the talk from uh from Uncle Paul. We told you get this gets profiled on unreal. All right. So there's a BFT delivered to trick and then a low blow by Logan to LA night

42:01pins LA night while cooking the tights. Another very unspectacular elimination here for uh on top of the botch. I mean it was not a good night for LA night. No not at all not at all. The trick shot misses Logan. So trick gets dropped into a crossroads and then Logan throws Cody into the corner. He steals the pin. So now Logan has three eliminations including trick Williams uh so trick is gone. I thought this crowd was gonna get a lot more upset about trick being eliminated but they really didn't they were just sort of uh I don't know maybe maybe they were realizing like it's it's like $150 for parking at the United Center. They're they're probably still uh realizing that that reality. I also think people realize trick Williams isn't going to the main event of WrestleMania and so you're really lowly left with like one to two options to really get upset about. So with the the cage opened uh trick is being tended to and the mask man starts scaling the cage but security is on top of it. They grabbed this guy. Pierce on mask some it's another no name dude. Maybe this is

43:03uh a cousin of dawn furio maybe another black and brave student um so he's removed and then as all security has taken this imposter to the back the door is still open for trick when another mask man enters the ring strikes Logan stomps him Cody pins Logan and we get the reveal of Seth Rollins uh who in fact did lie on ESPN and Paul Heyman's reaction here he is just frightened and Seth gives a look to Cody before he uh takes off and leaves so Seth is back. This is now being built as the surprise of the century at least on this evening so um yeah you know great reaction actually for this reveal and I like when you had suggested it could just be Seth at the end of all of this. I felt like it would have been very anticlimactic because it was so obvious but I think what they did last night was like what the decoy guy was good. I think what they did tonight with the decoy guy with the other decoy guy was good and it resulted in at least a little bit of mystery

44:05leading to what I think for many people might have been the more obvious you know choice here in Rollins um so really strong reaction here and you know this was like essentially his baby face turn where he looks at Cody acknowledges him and um uh kind of confirms his status as a baby face. Yeah yeah um it probably gets you know a promo on RAW and then something to follow this up this might have been the biggest pop of of the match including the finish like it was a bit very big reveal for or pop for the reveal. So so what's the main image? What would you make the main image? Well who's left? I mean it's Logan Rollins. Do you do that match again? All I know it's I I do not know if Seth and Logan is is the match. It might be something else. Who? Well I mean there's not a whole lot of people out there um I don't see it being Austin theory um okay yeah I mean we will see where where this one goes but it's um if it ends

45:08up being Seth and Logan like is that of interest? Like obviously it's not going to be the ideal um scenario because the ideal scenario was of course him in Braun Breaker and then Bronson Reed and now we wouldn't have to be different enough from like you know the the prior match where you know again maybe a stipulation would be made would make it interesting maybe the addition of another person would make it a bit more interesting um but yeah our breakers definitely not not going to be ready right? My understanding is no it won't be Braun Breaker. So so the Doris San hasn't I mean they just writes itself right? Yes so the Doris still open Drew shows up and nails Cody with the belt from behind Cody avoids a claymore and starts fighting back and and Randy watching all this comes over RKO to Drew there's a crossroads to Drew and after Cody hits the crossroads boom he's right in position for an RKO Randy takes it and pins Cody in 24 minutes and 45 seconds

46:15and the post match you see Randy there's a bit of him that has uh that feels some remorse for Cody but he stops himself from consoling Randy and this all comes full circle because Randy wears 2009 Randy I can't have you showing any mercy any any any any any sincerity and Randy I think the Alster Black effect has officially taken over Randall. Yes it has. Well uh I would hope there's a bit more of a healish edge to him than just this you know he was hardly he took advantage but he wasn't necessarily I do feel this is the story they are telling like as much as we laugh about the Alistair Black thing I think ultimately that is your destination for Randy unless the audience is just so emphatic for Randy against Cody but um they will be there's a very likely chance that that happens Randy has been like a giant baby

47:19face since he's come back from his back injury and I don't think it's going to be as easy as they might think to turn this guy like um I feel that is the direction they want to go with him but I I do feel it being a struggle so the post show they announced Drew will defend the title against Cody this Friday on Smackdown and then the winner faces Randy Orton on what grounds because of Drew getting involved I didn't watch the post show but that was the announcement by Nick Aldeus so I guess because Drew got involved Nick is now putting that match at Smackdown on Friday okay so I think uh well it is not going to be Drew and Randy at WrestleMania are you pretty safe in assuming that in a one-on-one match yeah um I think your two options are obviously the three way or you do the title change this Friday and it's Cody and Randy and what what is the bigger match for you Cody three way or the one-on-one Cody and Randy I personally don't like three ways unless

48:22they are um like organically sort of promoted where each person has a reason to hate the other which Drew and Orton don't really have that connection my preference would be Cody and Orton straight up I I think so too I think so too and I could see a title change on sucks for Drew it really sucks for Drew because I think he's been great in this role I think he's done everything great I think his work has been great his promos have been great um but I think they do have a leniency towards just the one-on-one big singles match because there's a good chance this headlines night one and I think they it's not impossible like it's not impossible they could do the three way but um the fact they're doing all this stuff with Drew and Jacob Fattu like you still have that to settle itself could Drew end up with Jacob Fattu and he's kind of out of the title picture yeah I think that could happen because Cody Randy is probably the biggest match of these available figures that you have I just feel the story telling was a bit cleaner you know having

49:24Drew and Jacob with already an established feud going on and then Cody and and Orton being able to play off all the history that they have along with like the Jacob has nothing at the moment if if not for Drew or like what they tease something with him and Sammy but I don't see that as I mean yeah Sammy's Sammy too is kind of just I don't know what Sammy does at Mania at this point um but um I think to me if they are one one of ill Cody and and and and Orton it's not necessarily the T's like Orton is turning but the T's that Cody could be turning that I would love to see them explore you know the idea that one of these two could be turning we don't exactly know who and I'm sure the crowd would prefer a Cody yeah you know the like if that is the outcome on Friday and I'm with you I see that being the the the outcome and and we get to Cody and Randy it's what Paul Heyman had said this week um if you heard him on that busted open interview and he was talking about like the fact that he's so adamant about wanting to know what are our plans for Mania in Saudi Arabia because if we know where we're going for Saudi Arabia that will make

50:25this year's WrestleMania so much easier to book and if we go back if a year ago they knew we want to do Cody and Drew next year then you're not doing all these Cody Drew matches at Wrestle Paloza and on TV that's the only I feel that's the only reason people were against Drew and Cody was the fact it's been done so many times at this point they did that claim or angle to take Cody out for Street Fighter in like August last year like they've been tied together for so long I think that's the only mark against Drew a guy that everything else I think he's done a great job in and it was just I think some fatigue on this program and that's why Cody Randy feels like the superior option to go in. Well Gordon is also a much bigger you could argue mainstream name than Drew McIntyre is somebody that like people would recognize from memes and then you know you just he's just got got a bit more cashier and this is to me I think a regime that really relies on that sort of like star power in order to headline one of these nights um yeah they like all of this

51:29and again if no matter what happens even whether or not Cody wins the title or or he's probably going to be entering into the main WrestleMania made there's no way Cody's not in any equation you come up with Cody's in this this match yeah and I just don't see them booking this match on Friday for him to come up short yet again but all of it really just kind of screams of disorganization yes in in particular particular with this made made event wait wait this card has changed around like from just like like I got a semblance of a card right before the rumble like there have been changes and this match being one of them and this year they don't even have Dwayne Johnson to blame okay they have nobody to blame no Dwayne's Dwayne's in the clear on on on they don't have to have a Scott the blame you know they like it's it's you guys that have really kind of fumbled all of this and and you're lack of planning up until this point and if this is all reactive to the tickets like again I don't think that's a symptom of the card like your your ticket sales I just think that's a lot of bigger factors than the than the card itself

52:30but for whatever reason they've like this has certainly felt like a more more erratic other than pumpkin rains that you know they're actually there are several matches that have that have stayed together for like the plans that like I had heard about like live in vicar and Jade and Rhea so I mean there there are some that they have stuck with but like yeah there has been changes as well so you know news coming out of this chamber I mean you finally I would assume this to be the actual payoff to the best man angle unless there's another decoy guy no I think that was I think that's a decoy for somebody else yeah Chris Jericho is the mass man I don't see that one happening um last I checked he's still on that AW roster page which Danhausen was not as of yesterday he was right he was pulled down so kind of gave it away there um Paul getting three eliminations I feel like we can assume that was probably just like Bronson reads thought directly I think he completely inherited Bronson reads spot in this match Bronson was going to be the big monster of this match and

53:34then Rollins would cost him and and you would have thought like Rollins facing Bronson probably would have been the direction for Mania I just I don't I don't know if Rollins and Logan is the direction it might end up being someone else but we will see Bronson I don't know we'll see I don't I don't have the confirmation on into that pause no well I mean it's it's kind of like Brock's doing the open challenge so it's sort of like being set up a bit differently right so um yeah they've kind of got their plan for Brock to keep going would you think what the bench chamber match I was kind of disappointed with it like I know people like it had all all these run-ins and stuff and I I didn't mind all the run-ins because they all had purposes for them and they're setting up bigger stuff I I just felt it not to have um it to me didn't didn't

54:36accelerate into that next gear at any point I never felt the crowd was like red hot for one particular guy to win I I think the Orton thing got a mild surprise reaction because I think most were feeling Cody would win but they're obviously going this this direction um I was a little disappointed with it but it was the angles I think came off well with with Rollins and with Drew as well and they get the end of it with Orton winning it I imagine people came away from it satisfied um yeah but it was I did not think it was a great chamber match I thought it delivered in terms of like result in like surprise you know like because I feel like Orton was a bit of an underdog pick although probably just number two next to Cody um and also they gave you that mass band reveal but I was expecting a whole lot more for perhaps Devon Evans and Trick Williams coming out of it even LA Knight who I mean yeah you know probably wasn't even take out the botch it's not like he was handled with any kind of care in this match I don't know what this guy is doing at Mania like it doesn't feel like he's still involved he's kind of feuding with the vision but like you got

55:42tsunami by Bronson who's out of the picture like I just I don't know what his direction is at at this point nothing was set up here so I don't know like every year you're gonna have some people who are just odd men out and he feels more towards that stage rather than some kind of notable match for the show he wasn't a great night for him yeah yeah so I would say both chamber matches perhaps you know like I don't think there are bad matches but not necessarily the type of standout matches that I think you'd want to be talking about for a show labeled elimination chamber no um no I'd actually recommend the women's over the men's the men's had the storyline angles attached to it that were significant and that that is to for something but yeah pumpkin baller was my match of the show but I definitely don't go anywhere above like thumbs in the middle for the show I found it to be a pretty um yeah again I to me not a dissatisfying show and I don't think anywhere near like the conversation of like or show or anything like that but you're only developing four matches all four matches have to be like like I think pretty blow away they were

56:43satisfying but I don't know well other than pumpkin baller I don't know if anything was necessarily an even in that conversation all right well those are our thoughts on the show we are going to get some feedback here and if anyone has some super chats you're more than welcome to chime in yeah we have a few uh youtube members chats where uh if you you can become a a member of course on our patreon which we would always recommend but you can also subscribe through youtube youtube memberships if that is your preferred platform and so those numbers get a chat super chat every single month including Jake from the windy city who says I can't using my ESPN and Disney plus apps on my computer for an hour and it kept crashing every 20 minutes or so so I had to switch to my VPN and Netflix and it worked better surprise you weren't at the show Jake but I mean with ticket prices I suppose I can ignore the VPN dot com slash post wrestling it's like you're right there in Chicago that is correct and let's go to Andy B who says what do you guys think EO does Romania would you be tempted to get the belt on her and pivot to EO versus Ria

57:46I after all this time they put in with Jade no I don't see them flipping that yeah I don't think so either I can that even that would just be so uh man disappointing to do so quickly now for the better match yes of course yeah it's the better match but that to me feel like why why would you have done all this at this point and EO it's not like they've even like Cody getting into this match like the whole show has been built around Cody like you can see this come EO has not been positioned anywhere near this like is position closer to Julia than she is to Jade of course they can change their mind but I again there's already enough like disorganization that I think is being telling like you know signaled about this show I don't think they need to fuck up like the women's division like that either I think you could you could see EO something with the kabuki warriors um if it's one of them if it's uh yeah it's it's awkward she's kind of in another role where it doesn't it doesn't feel like she's going to be in a super big match button

58:51yeah we'll see I would I would hope that she's because you know she's going to up the quality of whatever show she is on you hope she's in something that can at least get like you know 12 13 minutes on the show how about the triple threat idea oh with Rhea with I mean it certainly would help that match a lot um to have EO in there um I just don't know how you necessarily get get there I would have they made it so concrete like this um if they wanted to do that EO should have been in this bench and they should have been some there should have been some controversy or um or or you do something in the in the women's rumble like she she was not a factor in either of these matches so I just don't know how you would get there and I think they really like the idea of jade and real like they they have been doing these like backstage things with jade and rhea for months um I feel they're going to stick to that as as a singles but um yeah it's certainly a better match if EO is involved but I just I don't know how you would get there. All right let's go to form dot post

59:51wrestling dot com where all of our patrons can leave you back to every one of these shows that uh we do Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays and more over at post wrestling and post wrestling cafe dot com first one is uh Dave who writes on Monday I left feedback that I eventually deleted stating that WWE is just not an engaging enough product for me anymore to follow weekly but now I'm going to stand on that and say it again thankful that my cable provider carries ESPN unlimited because I can't fathom dishing $30 out for a pay-per-view event with four matches and several five plus minute long commercial breaks we will see what they do with Rollins but I think at this stage of his career he isn't a believable heel so turning him back to feud with the vision was an easy layup they got right I hope they continue to spotlight kiana james and move her up the card as she improves they need some new faces and the women's main event scene I thoroughly enjoyed the Dan House in debut WWE is a character first company that doesn't pride itself on high quality matches weekly so a below average comedy wrestler with a goofy over-the-top gimmick and massive merch moving powers is right up their alley I don't know what his ceiling is besides being another art

1:00:52truth and Joe Henry type but I wish him well his character never messed well with the AEW audience in terms of presentation like I'll say this he was way more over in AEW for his appearances like and when he showed up for those particular crowds who maybe compared to the crowd that they had tonight maybe looked at Dan House and more as a recognizable star I didn't think there's anything wrong with like the you know the dancing the dancers accompanying him all the music I think sounds great yeah all of that is great but it was just a setup that I think just maybe over you know over-promise something unintentionally perhaps let's go to brine in new jersey who says this was my first time that I was able to watch a PLE live in the ESPN slash international left Netflix era and while I appreciate at least one break getting breaks like this between every match alongside such lengthy entrances isn't conducive for an engaging wrestling event I'm more used to how WWE paper views were before this and how AEW paper views have been all this time that said I

1:01:54was pretty entertained I hope night doesn't get another stern talking to from Uncle Paul I thought Finn Bala versus punk was very good and I thought the two chamber matches were solid with the men's chamber having a cool and surprising finish alongside them finally pulling the trigger on wrong as reveal the other reveal of the night aside from the box reveal not making a lick of sense given all the dancers and the music I don't um you know I think we we can assume Dan Housen has some sort of we're all the dancers traveling throughout the country as well in the box yeah but I can assume Dan Housen has some sort of like netherworld powers okay so which which are very valid in this universe I felt Dan Housen's first segment overall was pretty mild AEW fans knew him and there were people within AEW that understood his humor even if they didn't do much within beyond the team with hook we'll see if WWE gets him but this crowd didn't sound like they did well they like they were only reacting based on name and they certainly didn't react to him like they they're a big star like once they get into the gimmick I feel like he can he he has a strong chance but we'll

1:02:58see I hope he makes the sacks of money and finally gets his blend but I'm left to believe his ultimate landing spot is triple A if not back on the indies also page and starts were given NXT runs powerhouse keys has only had the rumble appearance and a podcast appearance but it's Dan Housen who is off to the races on the main roster and that's more more of a jockey question since the box has been teased for two weeks and Den Housen was just removed from AEW would this be considered contract tampering no they never used him they never promoted him it's no it's not going to be any kind of issue I will say this that I know there's been generally no on screen follow-up with powerhouse keys I do think those podcast clips have been really good that they have shown like I don't know how many people went and listened to the podcast but I think those clips it's like that to me is doing a lot more for him than if he were just on TV and they didn't have

1:03:58much of a solid idea for him like I don't know if he's going to be figured into anything before mania it does feel like they jump a gun they viewing him but I do like the fact that they have extended like they've been playing those clips now for like two or three weeks yeah but I mean I think even that will just maybe reheat him a little bit and if they continue to not do anything with them people will just forget about that too right yeah yeah we'll see you're turn Jeremy in Texas I thought the show moved at a snail's pace everyone needing to eye everyone while entering the chamber yeah that got a little bit too cumbersome with like every single person had to go up to each pod and look at each other predictable finishes in the real of Dan House and as the newest addition to the Smackdown backstage dorks but the last five minutes of the show was very good and may have saved it the Seth reveal as the masked man and Cody falling short again were great twists while I expect Cody to somehow get added to the title match there is at least something to build the next seven weeks there is a lot of time between now and mania WWE creative has been

1:04:59dragged through the mud of late can they put together a quality WrestleMania or will this build feel like the first 95% of the show tonight predictable and boring well now they start the the real serious build toward mania you've got what the top four matches all kind of well I guess after Friday and where where this whole Cody deal is going like we we should know at least most of the key matches I would say by the end of this week and you basically know all the title directions yeah we have some pieces that are out there but everything can change even in the next few weeks it's going to Andy B who says I enjoyed the entire presentation of punk baller right from the moment serious hit enjoyed AJ Becky for the most part as well I thought Becky's near fall and AJ after knocking out the rough was well laid out and a good subversion of the trope I don't know if I'm that excited about some of the directions for mania though do you guys think the smackdown title match ends up being a four way or just straight up Cody versus Orton would you guys care for others in error we kind of kind of discussed that yeah I don't see the four way direction even

1:05:59though you know you can you can look at the TV and see it as that being a potential outcome I don't see it ending up that way I just feel like the story tell even though you could include more guys I think the storytelling is stronger when it's a one on one feud and Cody or Orton have so much history to go into that they didn't the last time they faced each other and they have the time to really go into that it's not like they just have three weeks till the next pay per view and they're just rushing that like you could you could do a really big build here like the fact that you know Randy and Cody had that three way at WrestleMania with Ted D. B. O. C. Jr. who I don't think will be brought up in any of this build up but you know there again as you mentioned there's all this history that they can lean on and so so do you think one of them turned sealed before WrestleMania or do they build this as double baby with the teas that somebody could turn coming out of I could see that yeah I could see that I don't think there's a reason for a Randy turn at this point but it is going to be interesting like how the crowds react in the lead up to this like our like I think Randy's going to be like the favorite for a lot of people in in this program

1:07:01yeah I think so too now will they boo like Cody the way like you know Rock Ogan you know reaction would have taken place like something tells me like in the modern era with it's very unlikely it's probably not likely so will they steer the audience toward a certain direction to make you want to cheer for one over the other the last one here is from a visionary 94 just got out of the United Center for the elimination chamber the crowd was pretty hot but honestly I thought they would be a little louder and more engaged for not see on punk and AJ Lee I guess he means for others I think every match delivered in the set return at the end of the night was a great surprise match of the night for me was pumpkin baller just a great showcase and in ring story telling from two main event guys the biggest surprise was Raquel she improved tremendously over the past year and won the crowd over very strong she looked very good in that match I agree everyone was and again seems to be pushed for something big coming up yeah yeah I don't know if it works out for for Mania but I like she has definitely improved quite a bit in this last year like just a lot of her the moves she's doing the mannerisms I agree everyone was disappointed when Raquel got a

1:08:07eliminated overall an enjoyable show but I wish we got another match or two considering the downtime and ticket prices also the Dan House and revealed did not land well in the arena so there you go that's someone from tonight show at the United Center in Chicago so in your opinion should they do these should they have at least one more match you think people would be a bit more satisfied I think I think if you had four killer matches I don't think you would have had those complaints I just don't think you like of the four matches you got like I really really enjoyed pumpkin baller but I could I could certainly see being somewhat let down by the the chamber matches you know you what we've seen cards that can have six or seven matches and it's still going to have that that reaction I think it's more so the quality of the matches because it's not like this is a new format for WWE and typically the shorter shows have been generally pretty good I just didn't think this one I can understand that and as ticket prices go up so are the expectations and

1:09:08every fan has that right to say hey I'm paying all this money I'm gonna have a higher standard of the entertainment you're providing me so I think that's a very fair complaint to have it's at the point now where I feel like to satisfy like that criticism that I'm paying so much money only for X amount of matches despite the fact that they're lengthy matches I don't think it would hurt the them to simply add one more match in fact I'd probably offer them opportunity to sell even more commercial time right so I just wonder if it's something they would consider all right everyone well we are going to a sign off but before we go you know what keeps the the engine ticking here well it's you folks you are our tam and you can all engage with the post wrestling cafe post wrestling cafe dot com eight dollars a month gets you all of the additional shows that we put out and look at this fresh off the presses are March 2026 menu we are going to be

1:10:09putting out two editions of rewind away we are chatting WWF insurrection 2002 not to be mistaken with January 6th we are going to be talking about the UK only pay per view featuring the raw brand so as I was looking at these notes today way they sold this show out in record time in November before the brand split and then come come the time of this show you know you know no rock no hogan but you do get the raw brand you get Austin you get undertaker so there's there's that and you get Sean Staziac so this is also the show that was part of the tour that included the plane ride from hell on the way back from this UK tour so I am sure we are going to be discussing the events that took place after this show and all of the the fallout which included the the firings of Scott Hall Kurt Henning and this this this show was the backdrop for that horrible event in a WWF's history as well so that's coming up this month so that happens to be on at least international

1:11:13Netflix I don't know if it's available I couldn't believe this was up there yeah they've got every insurrection show on Netflix I can't believe it so yes a first time watching for me of the show so that's coming up we're also going to be doing AWA's Super Sunday card from 1983 featuring Hulk Hogan against Nick Bach Winkle this is actually a really really big show in for the AWA they were red hot in 1983 this is months before Hogan would go to the WWF at the end of 83 so it's a it's going to be a really interesting show to look back on and we don't do a whole lot of AWA so I'm I'm excited to talk about a different era different company for rewind away this coming month plus it has been so long and something that we don't do enough of and that is talk myself in way are going to sit down typically we do these in person so maybe way we will have to see each other to do this show I look forward to it we sit back we get blackout drunk and then we hit

1:12:15record get blackout drunk on black coffee that makes for better podcast content really sometimes with a little sugar too we get a little wild no no you mean actual sugar yes please let's just clarify okay there's no there's no okay there's no cook very boring people on the cafe folks you guys would be very sick of us if you hung out with us plus we have got the new Japan Cup finals will be reviewed this month by Karen and Bruce they just put up a show this weekend covering a new beginning USA and I will also do shows on UFC 326 I'm getting together with Eric Mark hot next week for that show TNA sacrifice mc later welcomes back season two of daredevil yeah the man without fear so a lot a lot a lot of interest I don't I haven't even caught up on the first one yet have you yeah I did oh yeah I watched the whole first season yeah wow maybe maybe future I'm ahead of you maybe guest I guess posting opportunity here yeah kingpin trump oh amazing okay so all about

1:13:20can be yours post wrestling cafe dot com you sign up you get 30 days of access and then if you're so inclined you can stay on board if you're a little hesitant you can also sign up if you've never signed up before you can get a seven day free trial and sample some of the work we're doing daily audio news updates excel editions of rewind or raw dynamite and smack down like we're really great and it's it's to your benefit to consume as much of us as you humanly can like you just wake up and like clockwork we're there in your ears yeah WrestleMania week is approaching so John and I are sort of in the stages of planning all of our coverage we're going live on monday straight through till sunday night no stopping just one long stream yeah just talking coke coffee all right that's it I'm tired I'm gonna say goodbye to everybody collision course tonight with Kate from Montreal and Bruce lord and we'll be back on monday right after raw here on the

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