Reactions to John Cena's final match, the rise of NXT Superstars, and the reveal of the Masked Man

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of the No Contest Wrestling Podcast. I am the heel that you love to hate, O'Shea Jackson Jr. AKA Petty Guerrero. Hey, yo, it's me. It's me.

It's the T O, the J I double G. Two G, TJ Jefferson.

Some man. Man, oh man. Yeah. You know, some things happened.

Some things happen, bro. As you can see. Uh for those watching on video, I will describe it to our listeners. We decided to decorate the set a little bit, TJ on his side. Having the classic spinner belt.

And uh on my side I got the last The last big boy at least because he had the Intercontinental title The last WWE championship that John Cena won, because obviously we have to commemorate. John Cena. And uh his career. Yeah. A lot of people upset.

I mean, but that's Like Pac said, if I may quote famed 21st-century poet Tupac Sikour, there's many rules to the game, share with you too. No, people are gonna hate you for whatever you do, no matter what you, no matter what happened. There was still going to be at least 40% of the people mad at the outcome.

So, what are you going to do? Yeah, there's no uh There's no way to know what finger for them to point at either. And I think that really pisses them off. Yeah. That they're like.

I got to be mad at something. I got to be mad at something. And If you've been paying attention, we knew where this was headed. Oh, yeah. We knew where it was going to go.

John will tell you himself. Like, we knew. where this was gonna go, you just didn't think. What do you think though? Yeah, that they didn't think that he would tap.

It's not like it hasn't happened before. It just ain't happened in a long time. It's been 20 years. Yeah. And when you add 20 years to a body, maybe it won't give up.

You know? Yeah, man. There's no way around that. And. With everything that's happening.

I know a lot of people are hurt, and you know, I have my own words that I want to end it with, but before I get into that, Let's talk about what we saw. Yeah, Saturday Night's main event this past weekend. We knew that this was going to be. The last time we saw the number before Scene 17, John Cena step into a wrestling ring as a competitor, according to him. This was it.

And so we knew when he announced that he was gonna hold a tournament. that one of these names was going to be the one. To face him in this final match. And no matter how many people, you know, before it was announced that there was going to be a tournament, no matter how many names we fantasy booked. You know, and there was a lot of them.

Like, who deserves to be the one? Once this tournament was announced, and once we saw the competitors, I, you know, smart marks, as they say, if you're smart, you got to kind of see where this was going and where it was going to end up with, no matter who you wanted to see in the spot, whether it was Ellie Knight or Jey Uso or whomever. All roads were pointing to Gunther. Yeah. And you just had to kind of.

take your own personal feelings out of it and realize that This is where this was going to end up. Especially because we hadn't seen Gunther. In months. And then all of a sudden, he makes his return for this tournament, bringing back old music right away. Like, there's no, like, Video package of the return of Gunther or like none of that.

He was just like. But he wasn't gone that long, though, that he would deserve a video package. I mean, I ain't seen him. Like it was like a month and a half, right? A month?

Was it longer than that? I feel like it was. Let's see. The last time we saw him was when. When he got his nose busted open.

That's a good question. What was that last? Wasn't when he won the belt. It wasn't when he lost. You know what?

Off the top of my dough, I feel like I've watched so much wrestling from then until now that all these matches are starting in 90. All I can think of is like. The Goldberg thing. That's the last thing I can remember. That was what, July?

Yeah, it's like that's the last time I remember seeing Gunther and him being gone. And it just seemed like. He got the call of like, we, you know, for him to be. Plugged in and thrown in like that, you kind of got to look at that and like circle him in that tournament of. They're not bringing him back and shoving him into a tournament, and he's not going to come through.

Yeah, for sure. You know? Yeah. And uh Sucks, it's a it's a It's a lot of people in C Nation. That are upset.

There's a lot of people who might not have even been CNATION that still feel like they have a bunch of talking points that they want to get off. But I mean, it is what it is. When you know John. This is something that He would have wanted. And I might as well just say my words that I have.

Yeah, don't. Yeah, let's kick it off because you said it was a good idea.

So let's kick it off the right way.

So. Let me talk to you for a second. Let me talk to you. When did wrestling break your heart?

Now, over the last year, this has been one of my favorite questions to ask superstar after superstar. And then my personal opinion. It's one of the purest things that you can ask. one who lives beyond the curtain. It brings a Humanizing relatability and for a moment.

We get to connect with the warriors that we love. December thirteenth, twenty twenty five. will most certainly go down for young fans and old. as a day where wrestling broke their heart. We'll all remember where we were when we saw Gunther submit John Cena in the middle of a ring, in what would be John Cena's final match.

the man who lived by the motto Never give up Giving up right in front of our eyes with a smile on his face, and in that smile, like any picture. A thousand words were said. That smile Represents the professional that John Cena was for the square circle. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not some John Cena Super fan. For Most of his career, I couldn't stand a man.

But it's not about me. It's about the business. and John Cena, if anything, embodied the business of professional wrestling and sports entertainment. Love him or hate him. He was a force that you could not ignore.

When you think of what goes into a pro wrestler, John checks most of those boxes with flying colors. His in-ring IQ. The ability to feel the moment. Know when to add to the moveset. Based on the event, the magnitude of what's happening in the arena.

Amazing feats of strength. with no record of causing any serious injury. is marketability. Whether that be his movies or his commercials for various brands, availability. even with his most serious injuries.

John would return to the ring in record time. We all know the classic return at the Royal Rumble. And not to mention the time where he broke his nose and only missed two episodes of Raw. And Mike skills and charisma. the words fine speech might be more feared than the attitude adjustment.

And even with all that. John's greatest ability. was the ability to make you believe. To make his fans believe in not only him. but to believe in themselves.

Six hundred and fifty wishes granted. for the Make a Wish Foundation, a standing record. While most of us attitude era fed heads, might have, you know, boo John. He was the fuel to the fire for the next generation.

So, you can imagine their surprise when, in March of 2025, John Cena did the unthinkable. and turned the heel once again. Another heartbreaking moment. And most fans would tell you that that heel turn ruined John's last run, but when I think about it, Does John get seventeen without that heel run? He started the final run, his final chapter, with telling us that he was going to get 17, but he didn't know how.

in reminding us that he hadn't won a match since 2018. And when you look at the run. As far as clean singles victories, He had four. That being R-Truth, Logan Paul. AJ Styles and Dominic Mysterio.

That kind of sounds on par for somebody who feels like they're. Over the hill. or that they lost a step. And with that seventeenth championship, he was able to be called the goat. In arena after arena, and commercial after commercial, and promo after promo, going on a victory lap like we've never seen for a superstar.

And even on that historic victory lap, He decided to give back and pay it forward. Paying homage to superstars that he couldn't get in the ring with one more time in matches against Sami Zayn and AJ Styles. even choosing to reach behind the forbidden door. and getting superstars from other promotions to be able to fight in a WWE ring like the good old days. in choosing to use his final event as a showcase for the superstars of the future.

And in losing the way that he did, He made Gunther a man with no titles. into the Darth Vader for a new generation. And it doesn't stop there. We saw all the children in attendance and think about all the children watching around the world. Just maybe.

That heartbreaking loss, that heartbreaking moment. might be the fuel to the fire that is needed to mould the next John Cena. if there even is a thing. In the story of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun. They say that Icarus smiled as he fell.

Because Icarus knew To fall? would mean that he had sword. On behalf of myself, my podcast partner, and wrestling fans around the world. We here at the No Contest Wrestling Podcast. would like to say thank you, John.

And best of luck on your future endeavors.

Well said, brother.

Well said. I love the Icarus reference. Um Yeah, man, I think about the relationship with John Cena. I was another person who I liked John Cena. I wasn't like ever a member of C Nation because, you know, you know me, I tend to stay positive.

One of the reasons that we started this pod was all the negative on the IWC.

So we wanted to flip it and be positive.

So, you know, I'm positive. Towards it, but I also have to point out some of the reasons why, for many years, half of the crowd took on the other half of Let's Go Cena. Yeah, you know, there was a lot of times where people felt that talent was being held back, that talent was being overlooked, and a lot of it were fingers pointing at John. Like, you held this person down, you stopped this person's push. Every time there was a major monster heel, they all found their demise at the hands of John Cena.

But You know, that's just how it is when you're when you're a top guy. Throughout history, top guys have been very protective of their spots. You hear the stories about Hogan, you hear the stories about. Many of the guys who were on top. One of the few guys that you don't know that I think about it is Ric Flair.

Ric Flair was always looking for someone. To challenge him and put over. But, you know, so that's one of the reasons. John Cena always won. Yeah.

You know, and that annoyed a lot of fans during that time. And also, he was up top or on top. At a time in the company where things weren't so sweet. You know what I'm saying? Like, I think a lot of fans.

Kind of but disinterested, disengaged during Some of those years. Not saying it was his fault. I mean, just Maybe it was creative. It was just the time. And you've got the super Cena who never lost, right?

So, I understand the people out there who were chanting, you know, Cena sucks for years, even though I was right there with him, even though he clearly did not. Yeah, exactly. You know? But um so I just have to I guess acknowledge the fact that not everybody Was a John Cena fan. And that's okay.

Yeah. Because there's very few wrestlers that everyone loves anyway. And CM Punk always says, you know. When you got a villain, when you got somebody to get the heat. That's where the money is.

And then at the same time. The faces sell the most merch. You know, which he did. And so you have somebody who's so polarizing. You have a baby face that people watch just to see if he'll lose this time.

Yeah. You know, kind of like the same way you watch a Floyd Mayweather or like you watch a Jake Paul, just like you want them to lose, but then you got people. I'm a Mayweather fan. I hope he never loses. And so then, yeah, you got John making.

Making the reactions that a heel would get. While at the same time making the the The cashiola that a babyface can, you got a perfect storm of love and hate. That is money in professional wrestling. Like, it's money. You're going to tune in to watch this dude finally lose and.

To win it 17 times, yeah, you lost it 17 times, too. But boy, I can't remember them losses. Not the way you remember the dubs, you know. And for me, I look back, like I was sitting on my couch that Thursday back in, I think it was 2000. one or two, wherever it was, where Kurt Angle, you know, invited someone to s to step to him.

And then here comes this guy in red, you know. biker shorts and You know, matching red boots. I'm pretty sure it was red off the top of my head. And he comes walking to the ring. And, you know, who are you?

I'm John Cena. What traits do you possess? Ruthless aggression, followed by the slap to the face. And I was sitting there watching. And even before that, I can remember watching local car commercials and seeing this guy with like a blonde kind of horseshoe mullet called the prototype.

Who would be throwing around one of the salesperson who was a dummy when he was throwing them, but tossing them over cubicles inside of an auto dealership? And then when he came walking down, I didn't, you know, back then we didn't have an XT, they had OVW, but it wasn't on TV. You really had no way to ever watch that.

So I see him coming down, and I'm like, hold up. Is that the prototype I see? You know, and then he goes on from there, right? And he has that character where, you know, the biker shorts, the wristbands, the boots always match the city that he's in, the town that he's in. And he started to get over, and then, you know.

Things started to fade away a little bit. He just wasn't getting over to the point where he even says he thought he was going to get fired. And then one day, on the back of a bus. Stephanie Mann hears him spitting bars and said, Hey, why don't you try that? And then that changed everything.

You know, the doctor of thugonomics, word life, you know, and you came out with the rapper scene with the jerseys and the lock and the chain on the, you know, and just him just brutalizing everyone he was about to get in the ring with. And you'd sit there and you go, all right, bet. That was kind of nice, man. That was kind of nice. You know, then he drops the album, which I have, which I play on my iTunes.

It's still in rotation, you know. He goes from basic thugonomics to word, you know, to his new song, The Time Is Now. And then you've seen Cena as he. You know, he grew and developed. And the next thing you know, WrestleMania 21 comes, Los Angeles, the Staples Centers.

I was in the building. I saw in person his first world championship win over JBL. We were in the building for 41, where we saw his last world championship win over Cody Rhodes. And that's not lost on me to kind of realize: man, I was there for the first one and the last one, you know, and Throughout that time, like I said, there were Many other stars that were trying to get that, like Luda Chris said, they were coming for that number one spot. But they couldn't get it.

You know, Batista. Batista was right there, but he wasn't chosen as the face. You know, Randy was there. He wasn't chosen as the face. It was John Cena.

Yeah, and. You know, the the idea of because we all know what we're watching. But it's one thing to be chosen. But It's also a lot about when I throw you the ball. What you gonna do with it?

Yeah. And that is the part that gets lost on a lot of people. Um when They look back and talk about careers or talk about what do they do with the ball? Yeah. And That's where the work is.

And John always talked about every time the company Put the ball in his hand was another opportunity to be better. And you have to have that mindset, and I feel like. John Cena. Where my respect, the more that I started to learn about what goes into wrestling, besides, you know, just being a Rabbit fan. Yeah.

I started to see like Okay. I get what they see in him. I'm starting to understand. You know, the more that we saw, we were able to go about his day. You know, and see all the things that he has to do on top of train, on top of making sure.

You know, the guy he's in the ring with goes home, and like all these things, like your mind, you have to completely dedicate everything. to to be where he got. And It makes me think of, and you know, not to be out of line, but this is a man that. that chose Not to have kids. I could imagine how hard it would be.

First of all, how hard that decision was made, because it comes from a big family. But then to completely dedicate your life to this. I respect him so much more. Once again, I'm not going to sit here and act like I was this super fan, but Sharif. That would be my little brother Sharif.

And he too, me and him, were at the Staples Center. And I took him to WrestleMania. Where he got to see John Cena's last. He was there for the first one. He was there for the last one.

And I remember in night one. after we watched uh Roman, Seth and Punk after you ruined that with your creative liberties. Why? Because I was like, you planted the seed. Yeah, sure.

And yeah, we, like we always do, turn around. Picked up our chairs, and we were leaving. And I remember my little brother Shariv looks over and goes, you're taking your chair?

Well, yeah, man, I always take the chair.

Alright. I was like, damn, I'm being judged. But then that night, too. Uh-huh. Cena got that one, two, three.

Boy, if Sharif didn't turn around so quick to cut that bed off that chair, this chair is coming with me. I think I had a lighter. Remember, I was lighter. I had to burn the little plastic zip ties. His ass was like, Yeah, this chair is coming with me.

It's the last one.

So I'm sure he's got his ticket. I'm sure he's got his, I know he's got his chair. Um, gotta get that signed for him one day, yeah, because I know it meant a lot to him. I know he wanted to go to John's last one, but. The writing was on the wall.

The way that John flipped. Even the whole event of it should be about paying the business forward. That should let you know where this is going, where this is headed. And then for. For Gunther to make the declaration that he did the week before, and even on shows like the Rich Eisen Show.

You can't make him look like a liar. And speaking of which, we have the clip. We were in New York, Rich Hisen's show last week. We did our show from the ESPN studios in New York, and which that in itself was kind of mind-blowing. But we had Gunther.

He came onto the show, which was amazing. And he basically, like you said, he told us what was going to happen. And. There you go. You can watch it for yourself.

See, his career is being put to bed regardless, right? That is one way to look at it. Yeah, you know, on the context wrestling, we've put it like that. Put to bed. In a way that maybe Cena doesn't want it put to bed or fans might want to see it put to bed, right?

I mean, am I correct, Gunther?

Well, let's compare it to a book. The last chapter will be written on Saturday. It's just a question. Is it going to be a happy end or is it going to be a heartbreak? Exactly.

And I'm going to do everything in my power that it's going to be a heartbreak.

So. Are you ready to become the most hated man in the world of sports and entertainment? If you get that three count Saturday night. Yes. In fact, he has been pinned many times before.

I mean, he's a wrestler for, I don't know how long is his career, 25 years.

So that's normal, but he hasn't been submitted in a very, very long time. I think Kurt Angle submitted him in 2008. I believe so. It's been a while.

So is that something that you're looking to do? His motto is never give up. Right. And you did a promo last week and you mentioned.

something about giving up.

So is that what you're looking for? Are you going to Do away with the power bomb? Are you looking to choke John Cena? Are you looking to make John Cena say, I quit in this last year? I'm looking for him.

Yeah, I'm looking for him to give up to. Admit he can't go no more. That's what I'm going to go for. And yeah, I think that's where the drama is as well in that match. Walk me through exactly how you see that moment happening.

on Saturday night, if you could choose it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, well I'm not a I don't have that much fantasy. I'm just gonna see.

See myself Wrap my arms around his neck. And r pull really hard and then I'm just gonna look down, I'm gonna see his hand. Yeah. Right. I mean He might, what's it saying?

I'll tell you something, but I won't tell you a lie. What's that saying? Yeah, yeah, I might, I don't know, something wild. I might tell you a story, but I won't tell you a lie. He basically told us what he was going to do to John Cena during that interview.

And as you can see here, this was just the beginning of the end, him putting in a sleeper/slash chokehold and. You know, a lot of people will bring up the Fact that Cena smiled. You know, a smile crossed his face. And some people didn't get it, you know. No contest wrestling favorite, Bear Kutcher.

I happened to be watching it with him. And just to see his nine-year-old face kind of just like melt. When Cena tapped out and I was recording him, he was like... But he was, he smiled. He was smiling.

And I think, you know, many people have. their thoughts on what it was. Personally, I just kind of feel like this. And Shayna Baszler had a great tweet about why you tap. It's not, and you know what?

Let me just say that. Shana was saying that it's not like It's like shaking someone's hand when they've got you in check, mate. It's not giving up. It's an acknowledgement that you lost. It isn't a sign that you're weak.

It's a sign that you don't want to risk brain damage by passing out. Or it's a sign that you don't want your arm broken. I'm not sure if she said that whole thing, but the first one was. You know, shaking someone's hand when they got you in checkmate. And that's kind of how I felt.

John Cena spent 20 plus years. You know, banishing all the monsters that you can think of. You talk about the Umagas and the great Kalis and just everyone, every big bad guy that came down the road had to, you know, run into John Cena, and he did away with all of them. And then it seemed like he got to the point where after so many years of fighting these guys off and so much punishment. Right.

He kind of was resigned to the fact that, all right, here's a monster that I can't slay. Yeah. But. I think everything here is going to be all right. And I felt like he smiled and it was like, all right, man, you know what?

I think it's time. I just got nothing left. When I said my words about John, you know, I brought up the story of Icarus. And I. Which makes it when you said it, I was like, oh, that's.

Bro, I got that from. First of all, for a little side thing about me, I just be like, whenever I have to work out, I just watch like, you know, those motivational TikToks that just like, it'll just like be words of just like encouragement. I posted one about Goku a while on my Instagram, if anybody wants to look. But that was one of the things that was said in a TikTok about. A failure of just like It's okay to fail or just Changing failures into like pretty much turning your losses into lessons.

And it just made so much sense because John Cena did not fail. John Cena, John Cena did not fail. Like, and even with the way that he tapped. It was like A that'll do tap. It wasn't like a, I can't take the pain.

Let me put my own candle out. You know, let me, let me, this is it. This is it. And Me and you talked about, you know, sometimes John be popping up a little quick after the end of the matches. But then it just with him and Gunther laying on that mat.

And Gunther looking surprised. Yeah. He looked surprised. No one's talking about the fact that he had a look on his face like. Yeah.

And I really just did that. And it just speaks to like, it was a cinematic goodbye. more than it was A man being tortured so much that he couldn't take it. But the pain was too great.

So that's why it doesn't feel as heavy of a he gave up. than it it it might to other people. And even so, we were talking about earlier. It's not like it's the First time he ever tapped. It's just been a minute.

It's just been a minute. You know, it's been a minute. Two decades. I said 2008 in the clip. I just pulled, like, I wasn't even prepared for that, but I looked again.

It was 05.

So I got close, but I was off a little bit. 20 years, you know, two decades. Yeah. I've been doing this, man. I am allowed to.

Oh well. You know? Yeah. Blow my own candle out. Come out my own way.

But she did this whole thing. Yeah, this whole thing. And We're talking about how people are just looking for somebody to point at. Triple H, bro. Man.

Boy, you're about to make him move through buildings. Like, he's a surprise guest. Like, he's a run-in. But, I mean, Triple H spent 95% of his career as a Hill.

So that's what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying? The booze, I'm sure, do not bother him. I text him. Afterwards, Paul.

Text Paul afterwards. And I was like, you know. I sometimes I look at what you do and I think about how hard it is. To have to think steps ahead and get attacked while it's happening. But then I remember that Triple H is a natural heel, so I know you're fine.

You saw him smiling when he got up on the ring apron and hugged him at the end. Sicko. Sicko. And um, he texted me back. He said, Uh, oh, Paul texts you back, yeah.

Paul texted me back.

So Paul texted me back and he said, you know, Dusty Rose said, booking ain't easy. Look, it ain't easy, man. It ain't easy, baby.

Sometimes, yeah, sometimes you got to make the right decision in life. The right decision don't always feel good. Yeah. It's just that's how it is, bro. Good guy don't always win.

Sure. The guy doesn't always look around right now. Look at the world we're in right now. Seems to me like a lot of the bad ones. Are winning, you know what I mean?

Just in all facets of life, it seemed like. A lot of the good ones don't aren't winning. And this is just another perfect example. of that, you know. Um 20,000 people though.

We're not happy at the end of that match. You saw, you saw a. You know, tears. Like legitimate sad faces. You had Tyrese Halliburton front row looking like, you know, can't believe it.

Can't believe it, hands in head. You know, you saw men, women, children crying. Yeah. Crying, man, because this man. lost that match and You know, a lot of people are gonna say a lot of things uh th you know, for the next 10, 20 years about how this retirement tour went.

You know, would we have gotten something different if Rock was still involved in this? You know, you notice we didn't see him at the end. Maybe, maybe it could have been different. Obviously, we've heard all the stories, a lot of creative differences. Maybe there.

Who knows? It could have went one way. We never really got. an explanation or an ending to the rock. Seen it in the Travis Scott thing, right?

That never. came to fruition. It never ended. Travis dude. Cena went the hill route.

He did what everybody wanted him to do. Um Most people didn't enjoy it. But like you said, if he doesn't go that hill route. He doesn't get this 17th championship. He was not winning before.

Because let's face it, John Cena went about eight years with, like you said, this without winning a match. He became part-time back in 2017. Yeah. So. Yeah.

You know. He wouldn't Get a championship match based on anything other than his good standing in the company and what he's done in the past because it wasn't earned at that particular moment. But they did what he did. He used that power. He stepped in the elimination chamber.

Didn't even win that clean. Didn't win that clean. You know, um. But then he won it. You know, he did win it.

And then, you know, of course, we had that hill turn, which was amazing. Oh, amazing. I mean, come on. Matt is going to go down, right? You know, the cl we never got like the rock three fingers, two fingers, one, I don't know, but um The hill turn went.

Maybe it's just to say, I did it. You wanted it. I gave it to you. I don't know if you liked it or not, but this is what you said you wanted.

So, this is what you got. But then it was just like it ended in two weeks. Yeah. You know, and then he turns around and goes, I just didn't want you to forget about me. What?

Yeah. But that was enough. That's all it took, man. It was something on a new ride. Like, hey, let's say, and you know, remember when he came out?

Shay, I think I just thought about this too, man. I don't know if a lot of this was her, you know, he claims he wanted 200 dates. Right. Yeah. He got what 36.

Then we got to remember he was. Europe. He was over there filming.

So every raw was at like two, three, four in the afternoon when that whole thing started. That was just weird in itself. Yeah. You know, so. You gotta kind of wonder: like, if he hadn't been filming, if he was in America that whole time.

You know, would things have been different. Not that the story ending would have been different, but maybe this run would have been a little different. And I'm not going to act like. We ain't getting no memorable promos out of his ass. Oh, yeah.

Like that first one. That Brussels was man, where he told that poor little kid that just looked shook, and no one ever asked about me and how I'm doing. And, you know, and if you remember, the promos started off flat as hell. And then it progressively did. It got better.

And it's like, okay, now or when he uh When Cody was in the ring and he said, uh He said, You know, people always want to tell me that I bury talent. I don't bury talent. I am talent. I bury mediocrity. I mean, make no mistake about it.

When you talk about the greatest wrestlers of all time on this stick. If you got five. And you don't have John Cena in it. I can kind of accept that, I guess, depending upon the era you grew up in, the wrestling. But if you have a list of 10 and John Cena ain't on that list, then your list, I'm not even calling your age.

I'm just gonna say your list is invalid. We've seen this dude. Obliterate Decimate. Just murk. people on the microphone man and That was starting to come out in the hillway a little bit, you know, and His version of the CM Punk pipe bomb?

Let's talk, yeah, right? We talked about that when it happened. Just the fact he sat up. on that rope, on the top rope, and he just basically word for word, but Flipped it and made it his own. Yeah.

CM Punk's pipe bomb genius. Like when it comes to the microphone. John Cena has very few peers in the history of wrestling. Bad man. Yeah.

Your boy's a bad man. Even as a song. And like I said, I do. I still, that album is constantly on repeat on my iTunes. It's like, I don't necessarily choose what comes up next, you know, but it stays in rotation.

And I'll say this because I've ridden in a car with him a few times. You know how you got a bunch of songs on your phone and like. You like the songs, and like your shuffle is putting out the hits for you. He knows all the words to like every song that comes on his iPod. It's crazy.

They used to call me like the human iPod back in the day. There is something. I've got this knack. If I hear a song like three times, I know the words. Like back in the day, people would be amazed by it.

And my mom would go. My mom would always go when I'd be in my room listening to. NWA or s you know Whatever, Rundy MC, LL, Kumo D. She'd be like, and then I wasn't doing so good in school at the time. It would be like, oh, well, if they put them lessons into a rap song, you'd probably be able to remember all of them.

And I was like, yeah, you know what I mean? If I had heard Rock Kim drop 16 about history or especially math, because I was horrible at math, because I'd have been good. But yeah, that's just a side note. But. But yeah, man, just...

Sina is just The whole generation, like you said, this is going to be their heartbreaking moment. A whole generation, this man was the greatest wrestler of their generation.

Now, I look, I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not part of the, I feel John Cena is the greatest wrestler of all time, bandwagon. It's not like I dislike John Cena. I just, if I'm making my top five, he's not making it, but that's just me. Yeah. You know, my, I go far back, you know, so it's not mine, but I understand the significance.

I understand what he means. Yeah. The. 650 with a wish. That alone, man, that tells you what kind of human being this guy is because.

What you guys gotta understand, man, is. For instance, I I I'll give you an example. We were watching Saturday night's main event. And I was with Amila Kunis, as we've mentioned before, so no big deal. But I'm trying to explain to her a little bit about John Cena.

And I'm told her about all the make a wishes. That he does. And she said, What? Yeah. I said, s over 600.

She goes, That's amazing. She goes, I did one. Yeah. And she goes, TJ, I was so hurt. And it was so, like, I felt so bad, and you know, for these kids.

She goes, I was so hurt. I couldn't do another one because it hurt me so much.

So, you got to think about the toll that takes on you as a human being, right? To have to sit there and you see these kids. And unfortunately, you know, a lot of them aren't going to make it, man. You know, that's why they, you know, and. For you to constantly be able to do that and have that pain in your heart because.

He's a human being. Like, he's this is got to affect you. Right. You know, for him to constantly be able to do that, that... It speaks wonders too.

Yeah, that that's that's a valid point. That was one of the things because This episode is brought to you by McAfee. Finish your fantasy lineup? No, but I'm joining this paid group chat with Insider Info. Dude, seriously?

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So lace up and let it out. Let's run there. Visit BrooksRunning.com today to learn more. When the Saturday Night's main event was going on. I was in the car with my dad and older brother.

going to the Anaconda premiere. Oh yeah, yeah. It's rare that I am not working, and my dad has a premiere. I haven't been to one of my dad's premieres in like 10 years. Oh, he's in this one?

Yeah. I did not know he was in there. Yeah, yeah. He made a little, you know, a little cameo in it. It's a reimagining of me.

Yeah, a little cameo in there. Um but yeah, so I haven't been to one of my dad's premieres in 10 years, and I knew I had to watch Saturday Night's Main event. I mean, for work, because this is the best thing. Yeah, we like me. Yeah.

But, like, you know, I had to go support my old man, you know? I got to promote. Yeah. So while we're on the carpet. John's match is starting as we pull up.

And I was going over just like the stakes that are happening. And when I mentioned the make-a-wish, that was the one thing where my dad was like. Wow. Like, it was like a, like, that's impressive. Like, because that is a mental toll and.

That shows how many people you touch. Yeah. You know, you are a beacon of hope for a lot of people. And that right there, man. People who don't watch wrestling will never get that.

Yeah. They'll never get it. Like they don't understand. What it's like to be a kid and to feel at the end of the day, wrestling is supposed to make you feel something. If it hurt, if it's good, something confused.

Lord knows confused happens a lot. But it's supposed to make you feel. If you're just watching and you get nothing from it, it's not doing its job. And John. whether you loved him or hate him was able to grab that emotion out of you.

That's a bad motherfucker. Yeah. D-Lo, get the bleep. But yeah, and during the match, John did things that a lot of people held against him, a lot of things that would drive me crazy sometimes, like the audible spot calling, which he's been known for. You can audibly hear it.

You can see his mouth moving, that part. The looseness sometimes with the STF when he would put it on, and it was just like you. you couldn't get a five-year-old to choke out from that. It's too loose. Not that TJ be choking out five-year-olds.

Well, you know, like my nephews and my little cousins, for sure, they get choke slammed, powerbombed, and all that, and they love it, by the way. Like big tuna. Let me tell you something. Go start powerbombing like a five-year-old in the bed. They will keep coming.

They will keep coming back to get powerbombed until you said, all right, I'm tired. The kids love it. Tap out. But you know, the thing that I didn't like that Cena did, it was like when he would lose, it was an odd, like you pointed this out, an automatic roll out of the ring sometimes. I'm like, damn, man, just sell that a little bit.

So all of that happened in the last match. And I kind of laughed about it because like there were three things that he does that kind of drive me up the wall and he did them all and I sat and laughed. That's for you. I felt like it was for me, you know? But yeah, man, we could, we've spent a lot of time on this and honest to God, we could do a three-hour John Cena podcast.

And maybe when we come back, we'll still, because this is still setting in right now, we'll continue to talk and praise. him but You know, man, big ups to him. Just think about all the injuries he suffered and then coming back each time, months before a normal human being should have. He probably shouldn't have been allowed to come back as soon as he did from some of these injuries. You know, but he.

And a lot of them were, you know, a pop disc, you know, things that torn peck muscle. Yeah, the things that make you fear: am I going to be able to walk away from this business the way that I came in? And You know, by the grace of God, he has. He went out the way that he wanted to, in an event that he sculpted out the way that he wanted to. And it was always about giving back.

and pushing the next, you know, passing the torch. Letting us know that we're in good hands. Showcasing Being able to showcase Oba, showcase Sol Ruka, Leon.

Well, yeah, we'll get to that. Yeah, and Javon and. Gunther, like, it it was, it was special. It was a special, by far, my favorite Saturday Nightsman event. Like by far.

Like that was like. It was something nice. Yeah, and for all the people, because you'll read online, and I brought it up about people that say John Cena held back. You've got to understand there's also another handful of people that he elevated. Like Big E said, you know, there was a John Cena documentary where Big E.

Bench pressed, I think it was 575 pounds. If you go back and look at it, a young Roman Reigns was the one spotting them. And then, as the camera passed around, you saw, you know, you saw Xavier Woods, you saw Seth, you saw Ambrose, you saw all these young studs who are now top of the game. They were all training. And Big E said that Cena told the producers that if that did not make it in the documentary, he wasn't going to sit down for any more interviews.

Like he looked out for Big E when Biggie, like Biggie said, when he first got to WWE in the main roster, he touched John Cena, you know, with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. When he, you know, and you look at the Matt Cardonas and the Zach Ryders and Dolph Ziggler's Nick Nemes and all the other people who he did elevate. Yeah, well, there's some that got held down and probably had their push installed for sure. Yeah. But there are others that did get elevated.

You know, look at our truth. Look at. Oh, rest in peace, Shad. But John was heavily into crime time. You could tell when they had a little bit of time together, he was definitely feeling being with JTG and Shad Gaspard.

You look at Enzo Amore and Big Cass, how. Cena saw him. And NXT heard him do a promo. And And Enzo was like, Oh, this is my tag team partner, even though they weren't a tag team. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And Cena, and they got brought out with Cena to do a dart match. And then, even on the main roster, they worked with him a little. He helped elevate Enzo. And big cast.

So, and there's many more examples of that as well. But, you know, I mean, how about the fact that Dominic Mysterio? Yeah, we talked about this. Dominic Mysterio now is... The last person to lose a title to John Cena.

The last person to beat John Cena for a title. You also get to be John Cena's last singles victory. And it was John Cena's last P L E. You know, we said this, I think, last week. Dom got three of John Cena's last four matches.

So guess who's made? Yeah. Dominic Mysterio. Like we said last week. the judgment day he literally touched every member of the judgment day On his last PLE.

Guess who's. Ain't going nowhere. Ain't going nowhere. The judgment day. They'd be crazy because they all got touched by John Cena on the way out, you know.

We got Ziggler back for a match. He got carved up. I'll never forget that. Oh, man.

So. Yeah, of course, there's always people who can say something negative about something. I think the biggest John Hena seal moment, or seal moment, heel moment was Total Divas or when he had him and Nikki Bella, and he had his house rolls, and they were crazy. And I was like, I remember watching that going, man, everyone wanted to hill John Cena, and right here he is on me. Like, that was some hail stuff.

Yeah, some moments on there. I remember Bree was getting at his ass at a dinner. And talking about how he won't be an uncle to her kids. And uh because he's not there for family and yada yada yada, and then he he goes, Where's Brian right now? Yeah.

Oh man.

So yeah, that was Hill Cena. Hill Cena right there. At his finest. And then did you see the video that they made, which was kind of dope? Not the one they played at the end, but the one where all the superstars were holding up signs.

Yeah. They started with the Rusev and it went, you know, down the line of everybody. You gotta make them cry. You know, never give up. Thank you, John.

And I thought the most amazing one was Brock at the end, just like, I see you, because. Nobody tormented Brock Lesnar more. Than the doctor of thugonomics, John Cena. If you weren't watching WWE back then, Go just check it out. Cause rapping John Cena.

He had testicular fortitude because he would get in that ring and he would just. Trash talk a young Brock Lesnar, and it was just like, bro, you were about to get. Murder and he would broad They say you got a concussion. Brock, in order to get a concussion, you need a brain. Chill, chill, chill, chill, chill, chill, chill.

So nobody's tortured Brock Lesnar the way that the Doctor of Thuggonomics did. And it ended, of course, with the tribal chief. But I thought that was a pretty dope thing to do to have all those people. You know, Rusev, he was a guy that people claimed kind of got held down. He could have went overseen at WrestleMania.

But what do you remember more? The fact that he lost or the fact that he came to the ring in a tank? What stands out more to you? True that. You're always going to remember Rusev coming into tank, right?

You know? The Bulgarian brute.

So, yeah, was this a perfect ending by most fans' estimates? Probably not. Did you get everything you wanted out of it? Definitely not. But is this what John Cena wanted?

I think it probably is. And if that's the case, you got to respect it. You got to respect it because we're not in a. I don't think anybody in creative on this last final run. You know, there there was the the wrench that the Travis Scott thing threw in, but it at a certain point You give him the keys.

How do you want this story to end? And I believe that. I believe that 100%. And at the end of the day, we're not going to be able to know anyway unless they show it in season two of Unreal. Which is coming out.

Yeah. You know? So, um I wonder if we'll be in that one too. To us? Yeah.

I hope so. They were so cool. But now, you know, you're not going to see John Cena in the wrestling ring. Mm-hmm. Maybe until you know a super big check with a couple commas and a bunch of zeros gets slid across the table, and then you know that that changes everything.

But man, right now I'm looking. I know you're not supposed to, but I'm looking at my phone right now and I'm looking at John Cena's IMDB page, and I'm just like. You know, he's gone from the wrestling, but he ain't going to be gone from your life. This man's done so much great, really good work in Hollywood, you know, that this is just going to keep going. He's your John Cena is not going to fade away.

No, it's not like you're not going to be able to see him. He's got so many projects. See you later. You know, from you know, I was just watching Sisters again the other day with Tina Faye and Amy Poehler, and he was Pazuzu, the drug dealer. Oh my god.

And he had Amy Poehler and Tina Faye shook. And they talk about a monologue where he went through all the different drugs that he had. This will get it hard. This will get it soft. Yeah, bro.

He was a machine. Pazuzu. To now, you know, you got the peacemaker and all the things he's got going on.

So, John Cena, man. The future for him is going to continue to be bright. He's going to continue to do his thing. And now he doesn't have to worry about putting more wear and tear on his body because now he's got stuntman. To do all that stuff, bro.

So, yeah, there's so much we can talk about. I think we did a great job of just kind of honoring him and, you know, just saying thanks, man. Because anytime you go out there and you put your health on the line for our entertainment, we have to enjoy it. Tip your cap. No doubt.

Tip your cap. But. Look at it. Look at that. Da-da-da-da.

So yeah, that's it. That that's all she wrote for the John Cena era, but Moving on real quick, I'm going to talk about what you started to talk about. The fact that, well, first of all, let me ask a question before we move on. A few months ago, I gave you my creative liberty as to how I thought. John Steena's run as a hill, this was as a hill, should end, and that was with Oba Femi.

And, you know, that was one of our... One of the videos that we put out on Instagram that Had the most engagement of anything that we've ever put out.

Some people were down with it, a lot of people weren't because maybe they weren't familiar with OBA, didn't know. But. After what we saw. at Saturday night's main event. First of all, let's talk about the fact that.

Cody, we talked about this last week. Cody shows up before Oba and Ricky Saints had their match and says, look. This John Cena's retirement. The winner of this match is wrestling me. Mm-hmm.

Toba wins. He gets the belt back and then he goes to SmackDown and he cuts that fire promo. On Cody, like about the future and this, that, and the third, and I'm like. That is money right there. That man is a star.

And that's why I said I felt like it should have been Oba. And now I'm just wondering if you happen to see that video, maybe we'll post it on our Instagram, but I'm just curious to the people who commented when we first posted it. After you got to see what finally transpired, like, what do you think would have been the better ending? Because they both ended with Cena losing. Right.

But. You know, just different characters, but that doesn't even matter because. The idea of this was to Introduce These NXT kids. to a worldwide audience. And the first thing you saw was Cody Rhodes, quarterback one.

Awesome. We know that. But then The lights go down. And the green. The laser pointed in the red, and you see this figure emerge.

From the smoke. Oof. and then you see this figure bobbin. Whoa. Yeah, man.

And I love the fact that the crowd was hitting it. And I love that, like, those who don't know about him were like, who is this? Because. Whoever that is is a star on my television. And that man made his way to the ring.

And the crowd was into it. And people I was with watching were like, who is that? Because you know when you see a star. Obafemi is a star, man. And we said it.

On this show from day one, he was the first person that would be a two-time guest. Yeah. Seeing him in person when we were with him, like he has this presence. He has this. X factor that not only is he the biggest man in the world?

No. But he's big enough. Big enough. You know, is he the best wrestler right now? No, but he's good enough.

Yeah. And he looks like somebody that you definitely don't want to be on the bad side of. Yeah. That's a grown-ass man. Right there.

You know. So, of course, we said last week, and I believe I said that someone, I said, Drew McIntyre is good. Did I not tell you? I didn't think. I didn't think it was going to end like that.

Like, it just felt like DQ. Like, I thought it would be one of those, ref is distracted. Claymore Drew uh uh slides out And then over, get a pin. But A DQ, it just felt like well neither way. Safe really safe.

I can't say neither one could stand a loss. Like Oba. Despite what we think of him, he's still not on the main roster.

So him losing wouldn't have been a bad thing. You lost to the. Number one guy right now, the world champion, WWE Unified every weight champion.

So I don't think that would have been a bad look, but I do like the fact that they both kind of got out with unscathed. We kind of knew that the interference was the way to go. You know, you know what I wanted to happen though? What you want to have?

So we saw what happened, him and Cody raising each other's arms. I wanted Oba to hit him with one power bomb and dip out. Justin Jabi like almost had you. Yeah, but you know what? That would have turned people against Obo.

And I don't think that's what you want right now. Like, you left out of there impressed, and he's still getting cheered. That's instant booze, and that takes him on a different path. I think Obo, when he gets to the main roster, like, I don't want him all the way heel. I don't want him all the way face.

I want to feel. How I I felt during remember during the uh During Undertaker's biker Okay. And just Undertaker in general. Undertaker was one of those people that like... Yes, he's a face, but he's such a like You're doomed when you see him.

You're doomed. And even though he might have been a face or just so beloved that he kind of blends into a face. He was one of those faces that was like. Don't disrespect him now. Don't disrespect Taker.

Taker beat your ass. And I want that for over. I want that feeling of just like, yeah, he might, he's somebody you cheer for. But don't let him feel you disrespect him. Yeah, don't get it twisted.

It's the ruler, bro.

So, yeah, man. And like I said, I love it because I threw that out there months and months ago. People weren't buying it, but Oba Femi will headline more than one WrestleMania. I'm going to just. I'm going to put that out there someday and uh Yeah, man.

Cody did his best to help him shine. That backbreaker he hit, Cody, with, I audibly went, oh, yeah, he dumped, man. When he held up Cody. Fake like he had a cigar. Yeah, put it out.

Woo! I was like, oh, yeah, he's emoting. You know what I'm saying? No doubt. And shout out, like I said, shout out to QB1, man, because he went out there and did his thing too.

Oh, that ear? Yeah, right. I was nervous.

Well, you know, I had, I was watching with there was a few little kids around, and one of the moms, there was a mom there. And she kept telling her daughter, oh, it's fake, it's fake. And it was starting to annoy me that you can't keep saying it's fake. But then I realized it was so she wouldn't get freaked out by the blood.

So I kind of, I let that slip. Yeah, see, I'm the opposite parent. I don't like people saying that. I told you when I caught my daughter doing. Yeah, definitely.

You never told. Yeah, bro. So we watching. We were watching Dynamite, me and my sister. And I keep hearing like.

I know I'm watching wrestling, but I know I'm hearing a second bell, like another set of announcers.

Something is messing up. My equilibrium. And uh I look behind the couch. And I see my daughter on her iPad.

So I'm like, all right. I know she's not watching wrestling. There's like no way. That sounds like wrestling. Yeah, there's no way she's watching wrestling on this iPad.

So I got up, took my phone out, Trying to record her. But I don't want her to see because if she sees that I see, it'll be like, you know, she'll be like embarrassed because you're behind the couch doing it. You ain't doing it again in front of everybody. And she was watching Drew McIntyre and CM Punks Hall in the Saddam. The bloodiest match, probably, of her life.

You know, she was watching in. Kareem Mago's uh that's her third time watching it. I was like, because I remember you and I were on the phone, right? And then you were like, hold up. You go, hold up, hold up.

You know what? You were like, let me call you back. I gotta take a video. I gotta take a video. Let me call you back.

You call me back like five minutes later, like, you ain't gonna believe what my. And then you sent me the video, and sure as anything, she's sitting there back against the couch, like sitting there watching Drew and Punk just pummel. And I found out through my sister, like, my uh, she asked, when does it come on? She watches like Netflix on Mondays. Talk to Papa.

Like, I could, like, you don't understand. I could take this world, will open up for you. Yeah. So, like, yeah, man, I caught you, Jordan. Got you.

I love that, man, because... Ever sin I know for a fact ever since we started doing this podcast.

Now I've got friends who I've known for decades who never really watched wrestling with me before, will now give me their opinions as to why things are happening. They try to explain it to me, to me. They try to explain wrestling to me. I'm like, wait, what? And I got to admit, that kind of annoys me.

How are you going to start telling me something? Please tell me that I've spent the last 30 years of my life in just... Yeah, boy. Obsessed with, and now you've been watching for 50 episodes of no contest.

Now, you're going to tell me, Well, no, this is what's going on. Like, oh, really? Thank you. What I also love is, and we'll get back to the topic again, but you brought this up. I also know friends who now their kids are heavily in it, like your daughter, like my godson, like Don Bowie, our producer, like his son and daughter, they're heavily invested.

And like, you know, same thing. Don was like, he saw his son drawing one day. He was drawing CM Punk's like logo. Like, you know, so it's like, I feel like. Mission accomplished for us was we wanted to open up wrestling to a lot of people and get some people back in.

And those are the comments I see. I stopped watching wrestling and I've gotten back in it, and you guys have helped me, or like kids, like the ones I've mentioned. Also, my friend Katie Chanaka, she's an actress, and her grandma, her Yaya, because she's. She's Greek. Put some windex on there.

She's, I want to say 93, 94. Katie randomly calls me one day. It's like, you know, my, she calls her Yaya, I believe. Because she loves wrestling. And I'm like, what?

She goes, oh, no, she watches every week to the point where Katie will send me videos of her grandmother watching wrestling. And now she watches our podcast, bro. Yeah. I don't even know if she speaks English, eh? But so we go from.

Shout out to Yaya. Shout out to Yaya. She spells it G-I-A, G-I-A, I'm assuming. Yeah. Yeah, but you know.

So from this, from 90 years young to Howard Jordan, eight years young to Bear to Dawn's kit, you know.

So, yeah, I think that was part of our mission. And I'm happy we're kind of succeeding at that and kind of getting people. My mom, she was on. She was on her anniversary trip with my dad, and she sent me a picture of her iPad that she was about to start watching raw. I typed her.

I said, Yeah. She types back, she's ready. She talked about Jake. She talked about herself. Yeah.

She's ready. All right, yeah.

So shout out to all everyone who liked it and shout out to. All of y'all who's been showing us that we made it into your most listened to. Man, that was so dope. Like, you know, when the Spotify and the Apple and all those year-ends, I mean, I counted, I mean, not a ton, but I counted at least like 15 that, you know, appreciated. That is so.

And again, for you, it's different, right, man? Because you do movies, like, you kind of grew up. In this thing, and now you know, you I hate to say this, God, because you're sitting there, but you're a star in your own right, in your own right. God damn, I am. And so, you're kind of amazing, you're used to it.

But for me, man, I've always been, you know, my whole time in LA, I've always been kind of like the man sitting next to the man, right? You know, so for people to like, kind of respond to something that we're doing and it's just like it's I mean, nothing tripped me out more than walking down the street in London or being in an airport in London and have two guys tell me they love the podcast. Like, what? That's amazing to me. The one dude was like, you're international, bruv.

Yeah, man. And like, dude, like. Just a little, you know, inside baseball, you know, behind you know, my curtain. NCW means so much to me because in my other career, like. There's not a single accomplishment that I can have.

Without people telling me it was handed to me. I can't do nothing. Yeah. Like, nothing. And people think my father just waves this magic wand that like puts me into Star Wars.

Abra Cadabra beats. Yeah. And like, you know, like, no matter what. I'm never going, like, they're going to diminish every accomplishment that I have. This is the one thing that I feel like this is our shit.

You know? And so, like, this is like. A a Our baby, you know, and so to see how they appreciate it, it means the absolute world. Yeah. But enough, I guess, enough of us patting each other on the back.

I am great. Burial Horovitz. Yay, me. Let's get back to Saturday night's main event. Like we said, Oba came out looking like a star.

And that was the purpose. And then, you know, they even managed, you know, the Miz got in a little bit.

So we got a little, we got a little. Miz, you got a lot of R-Truth. And then we had last week's guest, Joe Henry, pop up. And so they all got a little shine. You saw Joe was wearing that merch.

That merch that you had, yeah. If you haven't seen it, check out last week's episode. It was a great one with Joe Henry. And I'll be honest with you, man, there were times when I was watching TNA a couple years ago. When he first really hit the TNA scene and he was fighting AJ Francis for the digital media championship, and he was so over.

And there were times I was to goodness, I was like, I don't get this. I don't get why he's so over. I don't know if I still understand why he's so over, but it doesn't matter because Joe Hendry. Is over, man. And after that interview, I walked away.

I walked away like, I like this dude. Yeah, man. Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah, so they all got a little shine on the show, which was nice to see him and our truth.

And by the way, like, The whole R-Truth thing, too, where like he was going to get let go, then we fought for him to come back, and then we thought something was going to happen, and then nothing really happened. And then Cena turned face again, so here comes Ron Cena back into the mix. But that reaction that Hendry and R-Truth got. Look, if truth is really going to be on his way out after this, I think we got to see those two together, man. Yeah.

That needs to be a tag team to kind of introduce Joe to maybe the rest of the universe that isn't familiar with him. But those two just look good together. And I was like, I want to see more of Joe. That might have been the test run. Yeah, right.

By the way, Joe Hendry, I didn't get to tell him this during the interview. But like His smile, you remember them old Burger King commercials with the king?

Okay, it was like a man in a king mask that he'd just like pop up in people's backyards. If Joe Henry ever turned heel, he could be the funniest heel ever, bro. Just like just that axe murderer smile of his popping up in random places.

So, yeah, I need to see that. And it's like I've heard him say, Joe Henry is actually. An awful person to the person he's going after. Because it's like he's ruining their lives, he's disrupting. But to everyone else, he's.

And then to the person he's going after, it's like, you don't see this? Yeah, bro. It's like the new day. Like the new, the baby face new days were bullies, bro. They're bully.

They jump everybody. Like, they're not nice, but we love them. See, I'm throwing pancakes. Like, oh, man. I'm telling you what, you get a trombone over that.

Come on, what's the chance? Man, rest in peace, Francesca. Yeah, but I don't think I think she's still somewhere out there. Yeah. I hope she's doing okay.

She knows she is. She's coming. She's an inanimate object. And then we got. And then we got Bailey taking on Saul Ruka.

Yeah, we want some bad.

Now, we're huge Bailey fans here on the No Contest Wrestling Podcast. The queen of the wacky inflatable arm flailing too, man. And I'll be honest with you, I don't particularly like the way. That Bailey's being used. Disrespected.

Because she's way too goaded. But she's also. Looking out for the betterment of the business. You know, you see what she's done with. you know, her, when she had that, that camp for all women.

Like That was such a dope idea. Yeah, kindness of her heart. Yeah, dope idea to bring these women together to. have them perform to teach Learn from each other. I know.

And then apparently, John Cena spent eight hours with them. Talking to them, giving them information. That's another thing about Cena, like wanting to leave the business better, like giving of his time to, like, you know, you've seen stories from Johnny Gargano, just many wrestlers of him just kind of pulling them to the side and just giving them a little bit of knowledge. Yeah, and you need people like John. You need people like Natty.

You need people like Bailey. who are that traditionalist. Bayley recently talked about how like It trips her out that Some people leave early now. You know, people some people don't don't stay to watch the full event or don't stay to w to pick people's brains. Or you you know, they they ask questions of superstars and then won't sit and watch the match to take notes.

Yeah. I I had, you know, in all the old school Wrestlers that I've heard say it, and documentaries, and here and there. I don't even see everyone wiping their feet before they get in the ring. Yeah, that bothers me. That is like, like, I'm a, you know, I'm a Mark and I know that.

Like, I'm, you know, so like. From the Bronx, wipe your feet when you step in my house. Yes, like, it's, it's, it's certain things that are like. We're losing the recipes. And then there are people who want to keep those things alive, and those things, those little details.

They really separate. The good from the great, you know, and you have to pay homage. Or else, what's the point of anything that you're doing or the sacrifices being taken? Yeah. So I think it's pronounced lodestone, what she's doing.

And like I said, just watching it, it just looked amazing to bring all these women together and learn and just. You know, bond with each other. And then, of course, you had Natty there. I know Lyra was there. TJ Wilson, I believe, was there.

Cena did his thing. You know, a no-contest wrestling favorite, Nikki Blackheart. Blackheart. She got picked, which, you know, I know excited both of us because, you know, we're huge fans of her. And so it was good to see her get picked.

You know, um... And everyone, man.

So just shout out to Bailey for doing that, man. Making sure that. She's going to leave the business better than when she found it.

So just wanted to give her props, but kind of when I just. I'm showing my notes there. Kind of when, you know, when the match got announced, I kind of knew that Seoul was going to go. Bailey was going to put her over. And it was kind of a star-making turn for Seoul because when she came out, people were in the room, like, well, who is that?

And I'm like, oh, she's up and coming. And then, you know, she started doing some of these moves that she does. And it's just like. It's my zebra cake right there. Universe love her so much when we were uh backstage with her at WrestleMania World, you wouldn't even speak to her.

Well, I was man, I mean, I can't say nothing because I didn't speak either. I just sat there and stared like, Oh, there's I can't even look over there. But I do regret us not talking to her, but then but then Dom came over, yeah, so then we were chopping up with Dom, and then Ricky came over, so we're chopping up. My dumb ass would have probably tripped over my lid, but yeah, you know, Sol did her thing, and then, of course, the soul snatcher, yeah, her finisher, the entire room. Went nuts when it happened, but Bailey, being the vet that she is, kind of slid out the ring.

She didn't, you know, she didn't get the pin with that movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it was kind of like the roll-up, you know, but um, yeah, so. Bailey put her over and she looked amazing. But I think I don't have many problems with Seoul, but.

I just Something about the character-wise, I'm not sure of it. Like, is she a surfer? Is she a skater? Right, you know. Um.

I don't totally do. Yeah, I don't particularly love the gear, but that's just me. But that's just like nitpicking because she's got everything, but I think she's got a. Character-wise, just kind of figure out exactly who she is. I just be, whenever I have to describe Soul Ruha, I say that's baby Lita.

She is like, she got that cool factor. She's cool as hell. And she will take the risk. Yeah. You know, when she got, when she does that, that springboard.

Over the ropes. I get nerves, you know, because she's tall. Yeah, I'm like, the other thing, right-clip, bro, like, it's a lot of like close calls, you know. But yeah, bro, she is box office. Yeah, for sure.

And then also, like I said, the whole point of this was kind of to introduce the NXT. Kids, if you will, to the main event crowd.

So not only did you see Bailey, who's someone you should know if you're just a casual fan, but if you weren't aware of Lyra, if you hadn't been watching, she was at Ringside. And then you see, then you see this. Amazon-looking woman dressed in all black leather with red hair. Yeah. X-Men.

And it's just like, who is That too. That still ain't even really Flourished how she's going to. Yeah, we thought they were going to knock heads, but they kind of put it to the side for this. But yeah, you look at Zarya and you go, I don't know who that is, but I want to know who that is. Star making in that.

So you got four women, man, and Bailey's already made. Lyra's, I can say she's well on her way, but like Lyra, Sol, and Zarya, man, spotlight shone on them. Even though, like I said, they didn't get in the ring, but just especially Zarya, that presence of if you didn't know who she was, you're definitely like.

Well, what's that all about? I had to ask my sister who I not and you know, I we've talked about Lyra bird person. Uh Every week. But she was just out there in the hoodie. I was like, who the hell is that?

I'm just living. Regular ass clothes.

So, yeah, man. So, that was dope. And then we got the tag team match between Dragon Styles, as I named them. AJ Styles and Dragon Lee taking on Leon Slater and Javon Evans, you know, the young OG, youngest in charge. And I remember telling Ashton, I'm like, you haven't seen these two?

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And they showed out, man. You're on NBC. Yeah. Come on now. And they both showed just like.

that ridiculous athleticism. you know, and and show that they're only 21 years old. Right. Like. They just are able to legally go to a bar.

Right? And yet they're doing these. things that you very rarely see. You know, and even the point where AJ, you know, he slipped about the dude arm. I look, I think somebody shook the ropes.

Yeah, right. I think maybe was the referee rubbed baby oil on the ropes because I've never seen that. But shout out to Leon for like handling that like a vet, presence of mind. You know, and they got re-engaged and they were able to do what they needed to do. But yeah, presence of mind.

That's one of those things that the higher ups. They make a note of. He's writing that down. If you recall, episode three, I could trust him. Swerve Strickland told us that when he had a match with Tanahashi, Tanahashi was on the top rope and almost fell.

And he was able to save him from falling and kind of continue with a move to keep things on track. And he said, that was one of the things that let Tony know. I can trust him. I can trust this guy. And now Leon's got a championship match against Oba coming up.

So. Yo, Javon's already, you know, doing his thing and Lee. He's on Ricky now. He got a little tip for Ricky. Yeah, man.

Like. Shout out to that was a fun match. You've got to see Dragon Lee do his thing because I get nervous when he does his flip out the ring because it's like, brother, you were going way too fast. Yeah. Slow it up, dog.

I mean, as long as you keep in mind your rotation, you're good. I want to see you here for a long time, not a good time. Yeah. But yeah, so shout out to those four future looks bright, dog. Future looks bright.

So You know, despite the booze. And everything. I think overall it was a good show, but we'd be remiss if we didn't kind of shed a light on. The ring head around. Can you tell how many letters are taken out when you say it that way?

So, ladies and gentlemen, the thing is, when he came onto the show, the Eisen show, Rich goes, why don't you introduce him? And I was like, you know, that's your thing. He goes, no, introduce him. I was like, bro, if you would have told me this 30 seconds ago, I would have came up with something, but I had to keep it simple because I was like, oh, well, former two-time champion, the sonny's going to look to, you know, retired John Cena. This is the ring.

But I would have done it. Yeah. You would have put the uncle. If he would have said, if he one minute, if he goes, hey, you're going to introduce him, I'd have been like, cool. But I was like, oh, yeah.

And I know my motto always is, I stay ready so I ain't got to get ready. But I've never had to do that before on the Eisen show.

So, but it won't happen again. I'm going to act like I'm introducing every single guest that comes on this show. I won't actually introduce him, but I'm going to be prepared. I keep it on the hip. Yeah.

So. You know, he told us what he's going to do. And he did it. He did it. I asked him, Are you ready to become the most hated man in sports entertainment?

Yes. Yes, I am. And so now, what's this mean for him? And I also brought up: like, you retired Goldberg. You have a chance to retire Cena.

I'm like, is there some sick, like. Like gratitude you get by putting these legends out the pasture, you know, because now where does Gunther go, right?

Now he's retired Goldberg, he's retired Cena. He's who's the last person he said goodbye to on Raw. Hey, AJ. Whoa. That moment when he did that and laughed and drove away was like.

Yeah, insane.

So, yeah, shout out to Gunther. You know, I got to talk to him in the green room before the show there. He, after the show was over, even before during it, he said, I'd love to come on the podcast.

So, hopefully, guys, very soon we'll have Dering here at No Contest because I got a lot to talk to him about. Yeah. Um, I don't know if he's he's obviously not the final boss because that's The oof. He's not the final bus, but he has just witnessed the cleanest we've ever done. And we never planned it to just happen.

That was great. But yeah, man.

Now, what do you do with Gunther? He's a made man. Like, obviously, he's now in my movie terms, he's a friend of ours. Not just a friend of yours or mine. He's a friend of ours.

So he's made. And now everything he touches is going to turn to gold. And for people who didn't understand, they were like, why him? Why the tap? I'm like, because John Cena made the ultimate heel.

Yeah. He was already a pretty ultimate heel. But now he's a, we're giving him the cape. He's going to be a. Oh, superhero.

Superhero. That's right.

So we'll see where he goes from here. I think people are leaning towards him against Lesnar at Mania 42. Lesnar. He looks to be because who else is going to say Lesnar might be on the way out? That's what I'm saying.

If this man. was able to put out Goldberg, Cena, Lesnar, and Vince Styles. And then when they start to really piece it together and they say, oh, he's turning into a bit of a legend killer, and then it's time for Randy to leave out the door. Oh man, it can it can it's getting scary. He's just gonna ruin everyone's childhood.

Hell yeah. He's he's the new boogeyman. Yeah. Shout out to the boogeyman. Right.

But yeah, man, I'm gonna be interested to see how they use him. where he goes from here and who he beats up next. The whole building hated him at the end of that match. The whole outside of the arena was cursing at him as he walked to the bus. First of all, you're sitting there yelling at Gunther.

He just beat up your hero, John Cena, and you're going to step to him. What do you think is going to happen to you? What are you going to do about it? Yeah, John Cena couldn't beat him. You ain't going to beat him.

Right. Unless John Jones is standing there. Standing off the couch. You know what I mean? Right.

You can sit your ass there with your $6 beer. Unless Alex Pereira is in there. By the way, we have Alex Pereira, who we sat with at Fanatics Fest when we thought we took his table. Then he came walking over and we both were like, ooh, sorry. And he was like, no, stay.

Yeah. He didn't speak, though. Yeah, he just was. He's like, oh, it's we're cool. All right, because I don't want no problems.

I don't want Poetons, you know? Just watch his feet. But yeah, man.

So Saturday night's main event definitely hit. It was fun and uh You know, coming up, man, we got December 23rd. There's going to be some NXT action. We're going to see Chelsea Green put up the United States Championship against Seoul. uh stacksnaria on the grandeur gonna take on our guy shilo hill I said, did I say Hill?

Like, I said, like, it was a Hill, which I kind of like. Chatto Hill and Skylar Ray, and then there's a speed championship contender tournament. And Izzy Dane will take on la la la la la la, la la la la la.

So that, you know, that's coming up. And then Monday Night Raw happened. Yeah. Brother. We had Gunthers start off the show, like we said, with the AJ Styles thing.

Dressed in all black like the Darth Vader, he is. He's dressed in all black like the Omen. He got the Roman Reigns after he beat the Undertaker treatment where the fans just wooed him. And he said John Cena tapped out like a bee. Yeah.

And then he left. Then he came back. And then he left. He goes, Oh, I got something else to say. Yeah, yeah.

And I'm surprised he didn't go in your mama too. That was fine. Exactly. Was missing. But yeah, he played it well.

And then him walking back, you know, we saw Otis and we saw Tozawa and they weren't happy. Then Adam Paris is sitting there screaming at him like, what did my job? I'm sorry y'all are sensitive right now. Like, I get sent home? You go home for what?

Get out of here. Yeah, Adam Pierce. I like you, dog, but you got to chill. That's a little biased. This man had a job to do, and he did it.

He can't help being. Gunther said, F your feelings. You know what I mean? I got no time, bro. That's the ring around.

And the mat is sacred. He wipes his feet before he gets to the mat. I don't know if Cena did. Maybe that's why he beat him up. I don't know.

You know what I'm saying? You better tread lightly around Gunther. That's all I'm saying. But yeah, and that was the big thing that happened. And then, of course, the AJ thing waiting for him outside, which didn't make sense because it was cold.

You didn't have no jacket on. And then you just pointed them to the car. You could have done that from inside and said, now you might have penomina. I had thought AJ had. You got there.

AJ out there catching penomina. They were getting penominas. For what? Just to stand there and then point the guy to the car and didn't have him go, AJ.

Okay, looking like the valet. You know, I thought, because when I saw the car, I was like, oh, did he trash his car? And I was like, oh, that's snow. Get your ass in the house, bro. What are you doing out here?

So I guess that's where we're going next. But how are we going next? AJ's already in the tag team thing. He just wanted to let them know. I appreciate what you did to my friend.

Yeah. Right. And then we had the tag team match, the Usos back together against New Day. That was fun to kind of see them, those guys. I could watch them wrestle.

They needed to get that dub. Yeah, they did. But then again, the New Day kind of needed a dub, but you know, their heels. They just got turned. They just got.

Mm-hmm. Put back together, you know. And if Jay, no, I'm saying if Jay lost again, yeah, he'd really be crashed up. Yeah, yeah, right.

So. And then, you know, we had uh Rame against Logan. Yeah. And Ray is loaded. Oh, we also have uh Vicar against Yes.

Hi, Raquel. Hi, Raquel. She gets a high, too. You know what I'm saying? So we had Stephanie in one half of the heart.

Hars, I can't even roll my Rs now. Had a hard horse. Yeah. Raquel and her and Stephanie were putting on a pretty decent match. And then the Nikki Bella was like, ah, nah, just like an Eagles fan.

Just like an Eagles fan. Ain't nobody win but me. Yeah, so she came in. Did you see the knot she put on Raquel's head? Come on now.

That's a good face. That's a out here messing up. Nikki, you're a great face. Hold on. Stephanie's a great face.

Raquel's a great face. You can't be messing. Yeah, bro. But once they messed up Jay Cargill's face, I was like, well, anybody can get it. Yeah, but like, bro, we played.

Listen, listen. You know, you know, you're not supposed to really hit me. She had on her forehead, man. What are you thinking about? It looked like Hasim Rachman after he fought Lennox Lewis, I think, is when the tender popped up.

Yeah, man. And she did not seem happy in her promo.

So I don't know if it's work or shoot, but man, so it looks like she did not know because she had it covered the whole promo and then she released it. I was like, oh, man. It was like, you know, Craig and Smokey looking at Reds. Yeah. You choose some ice.

So we saw it and we were like. Yeah, so yeah, so we're probably going to get a triple threat match at some point there.

So, yeah. And then Stephanie is just, she's over Nikki at this point. Stephanie's pissed. You know, so uh, and I don't want Stephanie mad at me because, uh, I have a feeling. I think I said this to you before.

I feel like a hail Stephanie is going to be so incredibly vicious and dangerous. You better, I don't know if you want her turning to the dark side, but And then we had the the reveal of the the masked man. And lo and behold, it's kind of no surprise. Everyone knew it was one of last week. You said you knew it was a black dude.

He was changing his body. I still think the dude from last week was a black dude, man. But the dude from this week was definitely Caucasian. Yeah. And it was Austin Theory.

And it was kind of like, yeah. Looking like evil Aiden Ross. And he kind of did. If you remember when DDP, he had his stalker angle with Undertario. And then when they unmasked Diamond Dallas Page when he was in the ring, he was very similar.

He had a black trench. And he kind of went this way and revealed that it was him. That, by the way, is one of the best pops of all time. Yeah, that tripped out. That Diamond Dallas Page wasn't a bigger star in WWE.

Don't sit well with me. And one day we'll have him on the pod because we were trying to make it happen a few weeks ago, a few months ago.

Some things happened. We'll get him eventually, but that was a missed opportunity. He was the people's choice in WCW. He got over organically. He was the man.

And so I don't know, I just threw that in there as an aside. But yeah, he kind of pulled the mask off DDP style and the Taustin Theory. And It wasn't that much of a pop. I gotta be honest. Is it because people kind of already were resigned to the fact that it's gonna be, it was him?

And I don't wanna be that guy. But thanks, dirt sheets. Yeah, like, bro. We knew who he was at Survivor Series. At the end of the night, everybody was already speculating: like, who haven't I seen in a while?

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it was already whispers that it was Austin Theory. They should have revealed that dude at Survivor Series. That was when it was its hottest. That's when it would have been the biggest holy shit moment.

But hindsight is swimming twenty. What are you gonna look him back? Yeah, yeah, man. But here's the thing, and this is. I hope he goes crazy.

Can I give you and Don Bowie another creative liberty, if I could? Oh man, let me put my seat belt on.

So back in 2020, you know. Rollins during the whole pandemic era. Rollins recruited theory. And he was like during the Monday night Messiah. Oh, right.

So you remember they were the guests. Buddy Matthews and stuff. Yep. And that was the time where Buddy and Seth beat the crap out of Dawn with the kendo stick. And it was to the point where that was a little uncomfortable.

But he was already been kind of in a group with. With um Rhythm and soul. I'm just kind of thinking, right? Austin Theory and Seth, they were already in the group. And my thought was this: Seth did say.

That under no circumstances was CM Punk ever going to be world champion, right? And Punk did get to become champion, and then. We have this guy attack punk. In war games. Right?

So my thought was Because we were sitting there thinking, all right, different body types, this looks like different people. What if Seth? Because he is a visionary. He is a... Revolutionary.

He is Seth freaking Rollins. He is an architect. He's usually two steps ahead of everybody else.

Now, I know he got dumped and jumped out of the vision, right? But what if Seth was sitting there going, Brian and Bronson. They ain't it. Mm-hmm. What if his plan?

was always to have a a backup play. What if his plan What's to create A vision That would take out those two because he didn't think that they were the right guys. He used Paul Heyman. You kind of know that. Becky so much kind of said that when she dropped that fire promo on Heyman after the vision got rid of him.

So what if? This is a new Seth Rollins group. And there is more than one person. What if it's Austin Theory is just the beginning. Right.

Another masked man pops up. Another masked man pops up. This goes on for a few months until using the stomp. Until Seth is ready to come back. And then Seth now, this is his new crew.

The crew who's better than the vision, the crew who can do the things that he didn't think Braun and Bronson and Paul could do. And that's him and Austin Theory. Because there's got to be somebody. And Montez Ford. Oh, that's right.

And somebody else. I'm just saying, I don't. think that this is Uh-huh. I'm not going to say what I don't think it is. I think this is going to lead up to Seth's new crew.

This is going to lead up to Seth's new faction when he gets back, and he's going to partner with him because he can't be faced. You've done too much. Don't nobody like you. But you know what happens when you come back, you always get that good pop, right? Especially because.

They're still heels, and they got rid of him.

So, that kind of by default makes him a baby face. It would make sense why he keeps using the stomp if he was sent. And also, it makes sense because Paul Heyman is like, I don't know who this dude is. I didn't call for this. This ain't part of my plan.

Somebody's playing. Yeah, so I kind of just feel that like the next few months go on, we're going to see this new faction eventually. And, you know, you talk about how you text Paul. You know, I text Kobe when he first got hurt. I checked in on him.

Kobe Lopez? You know, my guy. And my neighbor from around the way. And I said, well, bro, you know, when the return happens, it's going to be legendary. And so it will be legendary whenever he pops back up.

Except I feel like he's going to have a whole new crew with him, man. And it's going to be Theory and maybe one or two other people to go at this vision.

So I think Logan Paul stuck with the vision now at this point, right? I love it, by the way.

Okay, so I love Logan Paul as evil Sami Zayn. I love it. I'm having a very good time. I can't deny it. People get mad all you want, argue with your mama.

It's working. Yeah. It's working. So I feel lesson.

So I feel like that's where we're headed, man. Seth's going to have a new vision, a new. Crew and uh You know, whenever he's ready in probably three, two, three months, it's gonna have to drag out a little bit, obviously. But I don't know, it's kind of where I feel, yeah, buddy, and close to mania.

So, I don't know, man, there's so much to talk about, but we've already went on for a little bit. What are you thinking? Anything else you want to touch on? We touch on pause. You know, give a shout out to Willow.

Nightingale and Harlan Cameron, who became the inaugural AEW women's tag team champions. Congratulations to them. I don't know how I felt about it because I thought. I don't know. I thought Ty J was going to win from the beginning as they were kind of a unified, they were a tag team.

And with Harley. We usually have more chemistry than a bunch of people throwing together. And, you know, Harley kind of seems like she's been passed around a little bit. Like, she started off with, you know, who was she with? She was with the lawyer, Mark.

Why am I drawing a name on a blank on his name? Who was with Jade? Smart Mark Sterling.

Sorry. And then, you know, she went on and she joined up with Saraya for a little bit. And then she went on and then she was even with Mercedes Monet for a bit, with Minnie Monet. And I thought that was an excellent pairing. That was hilarious.

You know, with her with the, with the, with the doll, you know, and then. You know, did she start kicking up with Stat a little bit and now she's with Willow, but it looks like maybe she's found a home with Willow. But gee, a shout out to those two. That's always a big deal. That's so cool.

You know, you had Joe and Eddie Kingston going at it. Like, you know, we got to touch a little bit more on that. maybe in the months to come. But I'm gonna be interested to see where Samoa Joe takes this title. What happens with Swerve and Hangman?

I don't know why Joe still has a Trios title. We have the Free Bird rule in AEW. Give it the hook. He's right there. You know what I mean?

So, yeah. So, interesting, they're going to be following that. We follow all wrestling as much as we can. Yeah, man. But I mean we've we Follow wrestling as much as we can.

Can you tell the people where they can follow us? Yeah, well, if you want to follow us, and I don't see if you sat through all this while you wouldn't. Make sure you follow us on all of our socials, okay? On. TwitterX, it's at There's No Contest.

On Instagram, it's No Contest Wrestling Podcast. On TikTok, if you're a TikToker, we're No Contest Wrestling Pod. Make sure that you download and subscribe to us on Spotify. Apple Music, Amazon Music, and of course, all the videos. You can see O'Shea's smiling face on YouTube, on the Rich Eisen Show YouTube page, or just go to YouTube and type in no contest wrestling.

All of our stuff will be there from episode one to now. This is episode 64. Yeah, 6-4. How about that? Rolling in a 6-foe with everybody saying.

Oh, we gotta do Something special in three episodes. Yeah, y'all know they're gonna hate that, man. But so, yo, peep this.

So, next week, what we're gonna do is. You know, it's Christmas. Won't be doing a new pot, but we're going to do is going to do a best of 2025 edition for everyone. You know, some of the great guests that we've had throughout the years, from you know, Oba Femi to Braun Breaker to Liv Morgan to Stephanie Vacare to Nia Jax to everyone all the way down to Joe Hendry. Last week, we put together a nice little Best of Roman.

To Roman, and then we'll be back on the 29th on a Monday. We'll do that before New Year's Eve, and then we'll see, you know, come on strong again for the new year, 2026. It's gonna be no contest wrestling's year. I can feel it. I can feel it.

I can feel it. Yes, on behalf of my podcast partner and myself, Make sure y'all have a good day. But not too good. Who the hell do you think you are? And also, shout out to my buddies at Monster Energy because I'm drinking and they're paying me for it.

You know, before we go, though, there is one thing that I do want to talk about since we talk about Altoonist so much. I have to like kind of give a shout out to something. You know, Monday I'm on the Rich Eisen show and I get a text at 9:05. We go on air, and I found out a guy that a true Altoona legend, Steve Tanneyhill, passed away. Steve, Uh, in the early to mid-90s, he was the quarterback for South Carolina, uh, the Gamecocks, you know, and uh, he went down there, he was a Yankee.

To all those southerners. You know, Steve, he had long hair. He had a long mullet that flowed out from his helmet. He had an earring. And people down in South Carolina were not feeling it.

Right off the bat, Steve, you know, knowing from Altoona, he was always a little cocky. He was like, we all know the kid, right? We all know the kid who's good at everything, and that was Steve. He was good at baseball, basketball, and football. He goes down to South Carolina as a Yankee and he looks over the quarterback situation in preseason and said, Oh, I'll be starting by mid-season for this team.

And that did not endear him to the local community. And then at 0-4, he gets a start. And he goes on, I believe, a six, seven game winning streak. And everybody started to embrace him. And he was, was he a little bit cocky?

Absolutely. That was perfect because he was good. And, you know, he would do things like this goes back to high school with him. Like he would, you know, throw a touchdown pass and do a baseball swing. Or he was a guy who hit a three-pointer and cup his ear.

You know, he was Altoona High's leading, all-time leading scorer in basketball. You know, he started as a sophomore in football. You know, he Clemson is South Carolina's biggest rival. They beat them. He went to the paw print on the 50-yard line and got down and pretended to autograph it.

Like he was just that guy. He was doing things, bro, like that before it became like a popular thing to do. And then he went down, you know, stayed in South Carolina, became a high school coach, won, I think, between three and five state championships as a high school football coach. I'll just always remember him from Altoona. We weren't super close, but we were friendly.

And I can always remember, you know, just he definitely had an air about him. His dad was a legendary women's girls' basketball coach in Altoona, two-time USA Today national champions. You understand how hard that is to be in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and you become the USA Today national champions in women's basketball? Man, that's almost unheard of. But yeah, very well-respected family.

His sister was a star basketball player. She became a college coach. But he, you know, he was definitely special, man. He was just one of those kids who could do it all. And then.

You know, we didn't have a lot of contact over the last 30 or so years, you know, because Facebook, MySpace didn't really, you know, didn't exist back in those days, but it definitely. Touched me, man, and it kind of you know made me sad just remembering him as a kid, you know. And um, so I just wanted to give a shout out because we talked about Altuna so much.

So, I just want to say, you know, my prayers go out to his family, his close friends, everyone he's. Touchdown in South Carolina. Everyone back home in Altoona that knows him and his family. God bless you, brother. Rest easy.

You definitely made the most out of the God-given skills that you had. You became a legend. And I think that's how everyone down there and back at home are going to remember you. Big up, Steve. Rest of the Steve, man.

And has tuna T Double O NA, man. Yeah. I see a lot of y'all acting like I'm calling him a fish. Yeah, but I just had to get that out, man, because kind of sad. You know, we had a sad week all together.

I know I'm getting off. Base a little bit, but we talk about everything, you know, between the Bondi Beach thing and then the Brown University thing and then the awful thing that happened to Rob Reiner and his wife, man. And then I got that news the next day.

So it was, you know, it was a tough week, but you know, we got to keep on keeping on. And you just remember these people fondly, man. And, um, You know, they say legends never die, and in this case, I think it's definitely true. Absolutely, man. Make sure we put together something real nice for you guys to watch over the holidays.

We appreciate every single one of you. And uh beautifully said, my friend. from your boys, Junior. In the big tunnel. Happy holidays, y'all.

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