Dip and the Americanos

0:03Peter Rosenberg! Shout out to that guy, you know.

0:09The Magistick. Oh my goodness. It's professional wrestling. The King of Chiefs. 24 seconds. The championship. How do you even pretend? Confirm. Not my age. Stay mage and enjoy yourself.

0:27it's Jeep Heat with Peter Rosenberg featuring StatGuy Greg and Dip oh goodness gracious folks it's another Friday and you bet your ace we're going to talk about all the things in professional wrestling including a brand new TNA world champion Mike Santana and the new champ, our guy. I mean, I think, at least for me and Dip, I, wait, no, Dip, were you there for the famed hangout with Santana at the old Casa del Rosenberg? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's what I thought. Absolutely, absolutely. I was going to say, we almost know, Dip, like, may know Mike Santana, just the guy to hang with more than the wrestler, Mike Santana, but we're going to have a hang with him.

1:13We're coming up at 1 o 'clock Eastern. We'll talk to the new champ. I'm your forever 24-7 champion, Peter Rosenberg, coming to you live from Philadelphia, where he likes to be. Dip, I'm getting the sense business is picking up in the law firm of SGG, Greg, and Greg, because he's always in the office. It's the physically large stack guy, Greg. Hey, SGG. I can't believe Jewish JR didn't drop a business is picking up just now. Jewish JR is thrilled and waiting for the spring season and Pesach to come.

1:48how are you suj i'm doing great you guessed correctly i have a virtual court appearance right after this so i just got to be in that mode very big you're you're doing big things over there remind me that when mike santana shows up that it's not a cross-examination we're gonna just it's friendly yeah you don't need you just chat with him just have a hang yeah yeah uh and also joining us from los angeles in the home of instant coffee it's uh 38 at 35 dipper state or Or coffee pods, I should say. My house is the instant coffee. Dips is the house of coffee pods. Hi, how are you? I know. My family's visiting here.

2:26My grandmother here right now. And we just went over the various pods that I have. There's a pumpkin spice. There's a caramel apple. There's a coconut cream. There's dulce de leche. That's what I chose this morning. There's frankly a lot going on right now. There's a cheap heat pod. You didn't mention cheap heat pod. Oh, the G. Pete pod. That's genius. That's genius. The G. Pete pod. How has no one done this? Wow. That's a real idea. That's an idea. That's an idea. The pods? Come on, dude. That's a great idea, SGG. I love what you're doing, I think. I have to tell everyone, since I moved to the new apartment and I'm living in a world that I don't think Dipperstein's ever experienced, but sgg i'm sure had this time in his life i am back in the alternate side parking world oh i just i just for the last what does that mean what do you mean to put like that you're doing tandem no it means i don't know every day every day there's a period where he has to wake up and if you if you like really about it then you are sitting in your car waiting for the street seeper to go by so that you can go back and get the good parking on the side it's not every day it's it's one day it's one side and the other day it's the other side well it's you're either oh i see in this in this neighborhood it's either monday thursday or tuesday friday right and so your whole world operates on like today i want to find a monday thursday because there's a friday 11 30 to one street cleaning and i just this was the first time since we moved in now a month and a half ago that i literally had to give up and just illegally leave the car in a place where i'm gonna take it i just went see you later good night good luck unfortunately um so that was that was a tough moment for me i haven't haven't accept that i i do have anybody that you could just just be like listen hold the car down when the street street by on this on this friday joint they just put it in the friday spot because it's not it's over no no but but i will say this knock on wood we haven't gotten a ticket since we moved in so like if you if you're dealing with the alternate side parking life and you catch an l and a ticket every six weeks you're doing great like that's that's actually fine that's not like uh that's still cheaper than garage life way cheaper than garage not even close so so less peace of mind though yeah no this was the that's why i'm saying it with gratitude today was the first terrible day like every other time sg when i like i'm like you know what and i'm usually going to do something like i'll call dip and i'll just drive around for 30 minutes it's not that bad i will find it today it just it was one of those days it's freezing outside no one wants to move their car that that's my guess is part of it anyways mike santana knows all about this he knows that harlem life he knows he knows what it's like uptown trying to find a spot so we'll we'll talk to the new champ um and we'll and we'll get into a little bit of the tna debut as you did you make any time yesterday for the tna debut little time little time not not a lot um i was curious about what aj styles was going to be doing over there um i thought i thought aj styles i thought we were going to get t and aj we got tricking a when it was the nxt thing i thought t and aj was going to be in full effect and he's going to be world champion by the end of the night um which didn't happen but i'm okay with that that that would have that is an interesting thought like if he was saying goodbye to tna to to put the title on him we know dip would love that we know dip loves of putting a title on the retiring guy on his way out the door he's all for it don't deny it the respect he deserves give give the man is he the greatest santana what is he the number one santana or is is is tito the greatest santana we were talking about aj styles but i think santana having a world championship might make him 1A.

6:44I feel I can't completely disrespect Tito. I think it's a fair question to ask him. Do you think you're the greatest Santana? Have you surpassed Tito Santana? I think it's a fair question to ask him. You know what, man? I got to tell you, at this point, I mean, Tito Santana was the Intercontinental Champion. Tito Santana is a WWE Hall of Famer, but I think, look, But Mike Santana is a great teacher as well. Yeah, the greatest Santana of the 21st century. Unquestionable. We can give him that. We can give him that for sure. And by the way, there are some big baseball Santanas as well. But this is my Santana.

7:24You know what I mean? We deal with real sports over here. You can deal with those other sports on your other show. We deal with real sports on this show. It's professional wrestling. wrestling um dipperstein let's start with a little bit from uh from raw this week were you any happier with the presentation of javon evans he got himself like a real wrestling win he beat the great bravo americano did you feel any better about javon evans week two god you really you you you know how to set me up for an answer to the question you already know or did i say that correctly you know you know the answer to my question you set me up to say the thing you know i'm gonna say yeah no i i truly don't know if you're gonna say you feel better or not um i don't i don't feel better i i look i i i just don't like when they when they you know they was there's so much hype for javon who's who's just fucking amazing let's be honest and I don't know.

8:30Just putting him in squash matches is just, I don't know. I don't know. I don't mind, again, I said it last week, I don't mind squash matches, but when you have... It wasn't a squash. It was a squash of J's. I have the time. Kelly Murphy gives us the top notes of the business. 620. It was 6 minutes, 20 seconds. Okay. Bravo Americano got offense in, too. He did. It was to mainly showcase Javon Evans and his abilities. That was the goal of the match from my purview. And I just, you know. You want to see stories. I like to either. I like to shoot somebody right into an awesome story. That is in an unexpected way.

9:12That's all. You know that. I mean, I've been saying that for years. You know, so just. Again, it just goes to my point again that I made last week. It's like if there is substantiated evidence that proves that the mainstream WWE audience doesn't, you know, needs to be reeducated completely on NXT wrestlers. Fine. I want to see that research. But other than that, I don't know if like what the excuse, like I don't know what the thinking is of not immediately making Javon look mage. and and from someone's perspective the idea of making him look mage is to beat a lesser than guy who you know he's going to beat so i don't know i just have a couple not that i necessarily disagree with you because i i do like the idea of shooting somebody into a storyline that makes them look mage but i guess for a debuting guy my question one of my questions is what's the time frame on that like how much let let it play out do we give that like how big is that window because i feel like if they do just drop them into a mage storyline without some connection to somebody else in the storyline then it does feel weird and then you add to this place of like well why are they here what's their motivation and then they sort of have to retcon that backstory once they're already in so but you know right that's a good point it's a good question to pose i mean you know what's going to happen there's going to be i don't know let's predict it now.

10:39This is a great question for the panel. You know, Javon Evans will come out, maybe in two more weeks, he'll still have these matches where he beats people and shows off how bouncy he truly is. And he is quite bouncy. I mean, I wish I were as bouncy as this man. No one on this podcast is bouncy. There's a lot of things, there's a lot of adjectives to describe the people on this podcast. None of them is bouncy. No. So they're going to show how bouncy he is in the next couple of weeks. And then who is going to be the person he's going to cut a promo, you know, or whatever. And then there's going to somebody's going to interrupt him.

11:19And that's going to be that. Who is that person going to be? Who is going to be the interrupter of Javon Evans? Who will interrupt Javon Evans? That's a good question, in my opinion. Yeah. Who is the and who is the right person that we like would like to see? Like the actual story with who is the interrupter? that's the thing right like if i say an interrupter i have to have a story that follows it and i don't know i guess from a story perspective el grande americano makes sense because like he's working his way up he done already faced bravo mayo is next el grande is huge in mexico though right so like that does kind of make him a big deal without taking up too much real estate on raw because then he he's slotted right at the top in triple a and they can parlay that into this guy is also a huge deal here because of what he's been doing but you know like with dominic mysterio right dominic mysterio with that triple a mega championship ah ah it made it was you just said it you just said a name that i think would interest dip that could get dip excited but you got to make him huge in mexico first right and you've done a way to do that no i mean let me let me let me speak for dip even though i haven't discussed I assume the idea of like Javon has a couple of big wins and gets a high and it gets a little bit of hype.

12:43And then Dominic Mysterio shows up and says, you're beating up these loser loser luchadors. I'm the greatest loser in the world. Don't you don't show up on my show and act like you're blah, blah, blah. Javon Evans and Dominic Mysterio dip. Would that get you going? Yes, it would get me going. The other suggestion I was going to make was Logan Paul. you know they're both the gen z heroes i like that athletically athletically they'd be magic that would be athletically just magic and we i like to point out that logan paul needs some wins every once in a while you can't just have him in big spots where he loses and if javon evans and Logan Paul had a little run with each other.

13:31Logan Paul gets to go over. It's no big loss for Javon. He just gets bigger. Logan gets a win. There's something. I think there's something to be said for that. Yeah, like they have some incredible marathon match. It gets Javon Evans over as an even better worker than everyone already thinks that he is. And then Logan Paul gets the win. I mean, I totally agree. I don't like that. That's what I see. And maybe they'll do that. Maybe they'll do that. I don't know. Maybe they build up to it. I just don't love the idea of him coming in with all the hype and then just like wrestling squash matches. I, you know, or squash matches.

14:11It's just not for me. Not for me. But I will say, though. No, go ahead, Pete. No, no, you asked you, Gene. I was going to say, I will say, though, the advantage of those matches, though, like especially with Raya or Bravo last Monday was he looked really good. he got to show some moves that like we've never really even seen before like that suplex where he immediately hits a kip up just off the momentum it looks good like he he went under bravo's legs and then hit like a spin of rooney to get back to his feet stuff like that looks good and these little showcase matches where he can do that uh with no stakes i think that helps that helps a lot in in framing him in people's minds is like this human video game character that could hit moves that you've never seen before so that when he gets to a story it makes it that that much better yeah i think there's always going to be a you know people who like dip and i think i lean towards this also who want to see people when they show up they're instantly impactful and we're talking about them in a big way yeah when you just when you start having them have good wrestling matches i mean can we can we just have a moment here what is bravo americano the other Americanos are Americano adjacent they are so we know that for the record I don't know how nerdy people are with this I don't know who these people are am I supposed to know who that is it's Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate it's Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate Tyler Bate is the one with the sleeve because he literally I believe has a sleeve tattoo that if you saw the tattoo would give it away I'm going to be honest with you did you know that Tim?

15:50I did not know. No. Do you like it more now? It's a bitch. What I find... I feel the same way. I like it now. This is hilarious. Was I supposed to know that? Yeah, were we supposed to know? Or people just... I think people just did their detective work. I don't think it was ever even hinted at in the way that Chad gave him to that as being El Grande Americana originally. But now it's Ludwig. It's Ludwig, baby. Yeah, well, that's the funniest part about it to me is the Americanos. I forgot about that. The Americanos are not Americanos. They're Europeans. And so it does become interesting because Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne obviously have a deep history.

16:42Like there's something there, right? They're both mage. And the fact that them and Ludwig, none of them are Mexican or American, makes it funny. Like that – now we're – and the three of them unmasked as a little mini-faction is something. Yes. That could be a little something. That could be not a little something. That's something. That's great. Dip, the last – did you see Pete Dunne at Evolve Dip or no? He might have not been there. he's usually there no yeah pete dunn's pete dunn's a producer on evolve he's usually around producing and i was like oh man is pete done is he really oh yeah oh yeah can i side note the whole situation i was at evolve last week i gotta tell you i could not have been more impressed genuinely with this roster of wrestlers every single match that i witnessed and they taped some a few episodes in a row.

17:39I mean, the commentary was just beyond mage. Let's face facts. Other than that, the wrestling itself, the wrestling itself, all these guys and girls, I was blown away by the quality of wrestling. It was a really fun night. Dip had a good night. It was the one that you saw, not to say that it's not good every week, but you saw a really solid round of tapings where everyone really did their thing. I it's a wonderful group of kids and and the and the and the grownups there who are not kids it's it's a really fun group the next many episodes we have are really really great stuff sorry should you go ahead no I want to I don't want to blow past what you're about to say though so Pete Dunne's a producer on Evolve you see him from time to time when you go down there and you were down there interacting with him and not realize you thought he was done and just producing you didn't realize that he was an Americano this whole time?

18:35No. No, no. You didn't know that you were in the presence of an Americano? I may have had an Americano. And you had no idea. I may have drank an Americano standing right next to him, not knowing he was, in fact, an Americano. All right. We've barely even scratched the surface. We haven't talked about a new world champion as of SmackDown last week. We are now like moments from the Rumble. It's time to get into our no longer way too early Royal Rumble speculation. So what I'm going to do is we're going to do a whole lot of different things, and you can always call about whatever interests you. But what I would like to focus on, because we only have a couple of shows between now and then, is the early, but not too early, who do you think is winning the men's and women's Rumble?

19:25Make your case today, 877-344-4893. I was DM'd yesterday by the SportsCenter account asking me for my predictions, guys. And you know they do that thing where they'll like, the SportsCenter account will like DM people and ask them a question, then screenshot it and post it. Yeah. Like we ask people their opinions and then they post them all. So I had to really think about my opinion before it was like the thing that SportsCenter posts as my prediction. so I'm going to tell you sometime this hour who I have officially as my predictions for the men's and women's. You guys marinate on yours. Callers, you do the same at 877-344-4893.

20:06Mike Santana, the new TNA World Champ at 1 o 'clock and we still have to get all into Drew McIntyre and so much more. It's GP Live on Pro Wrestling Nation 24-7. These aren't dolls and they're certainly not teddy bears. TNA Wrestling presents the Deluxe Impact Series 3. Kevin Nash, Jay Lethal, Velvet Sky, Mad Morgas, Sharkboy, and the icons, D. Collect them all so you can book your own dream matches. Action figures so detailed, you'll think your favorite TNA superstar is in the room next to you. TNA Wrestling and Jax Pacific present the Deluxe Impact Series 3. Action so close, you can touch it.

20:45He did it again. It took a minute, but he's back. the world world champ for the second time in tna the bronx's own mike santana he joins us now on cheap heat live santana what's popping my brother chilling chilling bro uh you know just uh living it up being in the moment you know taking everything in and um just blessed man every day every day i i felt obligated to play the diplomats because we were talking earlier about whether or not you've now become the greatest Santana of all time obviously I started thinking about Jwell's and whenever I think of your name I always think of him going Santana bandana and and it's just always in my head when I see you now dip you brought this up earlier and I'm gonna ask you now Mike yeah do you think you're in the conversation is the greatest Santana of them all I mean who else B let me keep it a buck we're talking Tito Tito is amazing he did great I commend him he's a good dude but you know world champ world champ now was it when you won the title last time and then lost it so quickly.

22:11Take us through what that was like sort of emotionally. This is one of those things where wrestling becomes really complicated and people view title reins in different ways. But winning the world championship for the first time is sort of different. Randy Orton could get a world title tomorrow and they tell him he's losing it on Sunday and it's like, alright man. There's been a lot of title reins. It's a little different when you've been climbing your way up the mountain. You find out you're getting it, and then it's going away. What was that sort of period like, gaining it, finding out you're losing it?

22:47Take us through that. Well, gaining it, as you know, man, like, you know, we've known each other a long time. And, you know, just my story of what I've been through to get to where I'm at today, right? Like, you know, I dealt with the injury. While I was out with injury, I was also dealing with my addiction issues. And thankfully, you know, I put myself through rehab and just that whole experience. Right. But like, I think the beauty of it was that I was able to use all that to get me to to this moment. Right. And it's like once you change your mindset, everything changes. Right. Like before I used to use a lot of my struggles and a lot of the things that I went through as excuses to for for the spiral.

23:39You know what I mean? And now I use it as a source of energy, as a source of positivity and something to to put towards getting me to where I want to get to. But yeah, man, like having that moment, of course, with my daughter, it was a huge moment that that first title win. Like I said before, that first title one was my way of saying thank you to her for saving my life. And also thank you to my family and my friends and all the supporters that helped get me to that point. And then, of course, a month later, the the I lose the title. But I, again, going back to the struggles, like I've learned that I thrive in the trenches.

24:26Like when I'm going through the worst things is when I learn the most. So I looked at that obstacle as an opportunity to learn as much as I could. And also when you get to that point in this business, and as you guys know, like you have to change your mindset, right? And just peeling back the curtain a little bit, when you were a top guy and you were put in that position, you got to change your mindset. And like, it's not all about you. It's all about like now it's about business and what's going to be best for all parties involved. And also at the same time, it's like, OK, I'm going to do what's best for business.

25:09But how is this going to benefit me in the long run? You know what I mean? Right. Right. And and those were all things that I had to take into account in that day, in that moment. You know, so but going through that experience and just going through all of that really showed me the work that I put in on myself, the work that I put in on my mental and just all those things. You know what I mean? It was honestly like it was a low, but at the same time, it was a high. And I knew that that moment I was going to use to climb. You know what I mean? And then here we are. First, the AMC premiere, TNA Impact, huge moment.

25:54The world was watching. And, you know, it paid off. I want to ask, too, what do you think you're going to do to separate yourself, like, two-time world champion Mike Santana from the Mike Santana that everybody knew before? because like you just said, you thrive in the trenches, but now you're at the top of the mountain, right? Yeah, yeah. There's no climb. Like you planted your flag, you're at the peak. So what are you going to do to separate yourself now and give fans like a different viewpoint into who you are at this point? So for me, I look at this title reign as like, now the real work starts.

26:31You know what I mean? My father used to say the top of one mountain is the bottom of another. so I I have this mindset of like okay I made it here now how am I gonna elevate and and I think for me that's the the constant mindset for me is that all right like when I get to a certain point all right what's next how am I gonna elevate this how am I gonna continue growing how am I gonna to continue putting my best foot forward. You know what I mean? And also, like, I, when I was chasing the title the first time, I said I wanted to bring TNA back to its essence. And for me, like, if you follow TNA throughout the years, there's always been, like, some of the best pro wrestling, you know, out there, right?

27:23And I want to continue bringing that forward. And I think that's what's going to separate me. That's what's going to separate all of us. Was this singles, world champ sort of thing always in your mind? Maybe that's obvious and everyone who gets in the pro wrestling business wants to become the biggest. But you had such success as a tag team in Impact, in AEW. you did you ever let go of the idea that you were going to be a big single star um to be honest like when I was doing the tag team thing I was so focused on that and I wasn't really thinking hey I'm gonna eventually be a singles and all that stuff um you know certain things happened the way that they did and I was just like man like I think it's about time that because I'm I'm a guy that I'm very goal oriented and I like to have constant growth.

28:27Right. And there was a point where it came to like I felt like things were stagnant and it was just feeding into all the negativity that I was dealing with already. And I just couldn't I couldn't allow myself to go down, you know, continue going down that path. And I was like, if I'm going to, I didn't sacrifice all this time and all these years and, and everything that I've done to just be happy with where I'm at. Like there has to be more, you know? And, um, I honestly, I had a singles match with, uh, I think it was speed ball in Chicago. this was i was still doing the tag team thing aw and stuff but i had a uh that singles match and afterwards i was like something like something sparked and i was like oh yeah like we're gonna go you know and um you know like i said certain things happen the way that they happen i was like yo it's about that time thankfully i uh my injury was the biggest blessing in disguise because like I'm for me I wouldn't change anything that happened like as crazy as it sounds and as much as I wish he was here every day my father passing away was like the catalyst to everything he you know was my biggest supporter he was my biggest cheerleader He was my best friend and losing him was what made me face all the other things that I was dealing with that I didn't deal with in my life.

30:05Everything came to the surface and, you know, I hit rock bottom. But in turn, like I used rock bottom to build the foundation to get me to where I'm at today, you know. What year did your pops pass again? He died on January 1st, 2020. 2020 yeah I thought it was pretty close to when I I know it's pretty close to when I saw you during the the pandemic how long did it take how long did it take for you to sort of be able to deal with the initial layers of grief and then start to turn it into something positive for yourself oh man I went I went on a almost a three-year-long spiral Like I, you know, I was dealing heavily with the addiction stuff and I didn't get into rehab until February of 2023.

31:04So a full three years. Yeah. Yeah. So it took a while. It took a while. You did an inpatient program? Yeah, I was impatient for 30 days. And how impactful was that 30 days, the every day, meetings every day, being around other people who have worse problems, less problems? How did that experience of the inpatient affect you? To me, it was the greatest experience of my life, honestly. As much as it was held dealing with the detox, like I was in detox for usually detox lasts for five days. I was in detox for eight days. And that was hell, you know, because, you know, when you like they give you medication to suppress your nervous system so that you don't catch seizures.

32:00But there's no medication to ease the withdrawal symptoms. So I'm dealing with all that right on top of like. I remember dealing with the detox and still going to the meetings because I was scared of being alone in the room. You know, so I went to I started going to meetings that very first day because I was just I was scared of being alone. And my body like it was something I've never felt. So I'm like, what the hell is going on? I didn't realize how bad I was until I went through that, you know. But again, greatest experience of my life. It was like a deep dive into everything. And to me, rehab is just a very intense therapy session.

32:45You know what I mean? That's what it is every day. And what rehab does is it breaks you down to the core and it builds you back up. and it builds you back up with a routine. It gives you, you know, you learn tools, how to maneuver through different situations. But of course, like they say, it's life on life's terms. Life is going to do what life does, right? And it's up to you. So, yeah, man, like it was, again, it's something that I'm always going to have part of my life and I'm thankful. Yeah, this is not really a question, but I just want to say I'm proud of you like listening to you talk about what you've gone through because people go through things and it's easy for them to say like the day after or even like a week after like you know I've changed and I've turned my life around but I think like where you are now is living proof and just how the way you speak about it um and the way you carry yourself is really like living proof that it was meaningful for you and it's not just like lip service that you're paying to people so proud of you and happy for you man I appreciate it man No, I appreciate it, man.

33:52And like, again, I, um, a lot of people I've noticed even, even while I was at rehab is that they, they look at it as something shameful and a lot of people don't talk about it. And I was like, I want to change that. I think you should talk about it. And I've learned that vulnerability is a superpower. You know what I mean? And, um, growing up, especially, you know, being from the hood and, and, you know, like we grow up with that mindset of like, yo, you don't talk about this. We don't learn how to talk about this. You just keep it pushing. Right. And that was the worst thing that that that I could have done.

34:27You know, I've done that for so long in my life and it gave me no service. So now it's like I talk about it as much as I could, because also like they teach you that the greatest thing that you could give someone is the gift that was so freely given to you. And that in turn helps me. So I'm all about it. so yeah man to echo greg's sentiment super proud of you and and love how how much you're willing to share it i love to talk about stuff like this openly i don't think it's uncomfortable at all so many people are dealing with a a variation of it and and so many and so many others maybe need to be dealing with it and and aren't considering it and when they hear people not stigmatize it and talk about it like it's normal i think it's the best way to benefit people but back to the wrestling of it all um yeah and and you have be having this another moment and it's just a it's just an awesome story because i remember even being like you know i i don't watch every single tna thing that happens but i was hyped when you won the title and i you know i work with uh with with uh your man rob stone as you know yeah yeah and so stone and i were doing we were doing an Evolve taping the day after you lost the title.

35:49And I was like, yo, what gives, bro? By the way, people have to think I do a lot. Robert Stone is a fixture currently on TNA, NXT, and Evolve. It's pretty crazy. Talk about a great hand, bro. Yeah, that's Mr. Midweek. If RDD was Mr. Monday nights, he's Mr. Midweek. That's a great line. I'm taking that. Mr. Midweek is fantastic. No, he's a great hand and an unbelievable mark. The guy just loves wrestling. I mean, he can't get enough. It's his whole life. So I was like, I was expressing to I remember being like, it's kind of like they're taking it right off of Santana already. I was like, I feel like this actually got more, maybe I'm biased, but I feel like this actually brought a lot of excitement and energy to the TNA championship.

36:37Yeah, yeah. And we sort of went back and forth and he was a little surprised by it too. We were chatting through it and he said, oh, maybe he'll get it right back tonight because there was a live show the next night and you didn't get it right back. It's just crazy that it ends up turning out that you get it back on the biggest night, the AMC TV premiere for TNA. It like it just to your point, like it played out perfectly, but I want to ask you, you guys now, you, you've now appeared on WWE television with this relationship and NXT. How does that working dynamic work? Because like, Like, it's not as if TNA is owned by TKO.

37:18TNA is still very much its own company. Yep. But WWE and NXT in particular work so closely. AJ Styles showed up last night. Like, it is fully a working relationship, which for those of us here who love all of this stuff, it was kind of impossible to imagine a world in which TNA and WWE would work this way. What was it like? When you do stuff with NXT, can you give us any insight to what that working relationship feels like and how those opportunities are even brought to you and talked about with you? Well, as far as working over there, I think it's like – so TNA and NXT, WWE, it's two totally different worlds.

38:03When you go to WWE, I remember the first time that I went, it was May 25th. I showed up at the Battleground pay-per-view and I'm, I'm a very observant person. So I always take a moment to just sit back and I, you know, see how the machine works and boy, is it a machine and it's the WWE for a reason, you know what I mean? And it was like, man, so many moving parts, so many people working and moving back and forth. But like the structure, it's why it works. You know what I mean? Like it's so structured, so organized. Everything is to the T, which I love because – Did it feel vastly different than your time at AEW?

38:51100%. 100%. 100%. I mean like – how do I explain? Like I love like structure, right? So going there, it was like a breath of fresh. I didn't know what to expect. And I was like, oh, this is this is great. Like, this is how it runs. You know what I mean? And even going, you know, going to NXT and stuff like that, like as far as the relationship and like I've always been treated very well. They're been presented very well working under guys like Sean and Matt and all the agents there. Man, it's been such a great experience. And they're like so there's so much knowledge there. I mean, think about it.

39:32There's over 50 years of experience. Right. Like, and just so much knowledge, so much to learn, so much experience. And my thing was I was just trying to take a little bit from everybody. You know what I mean? Because, again, like in this business, you never stop learning. It's constantly evolving. It's constantly changing. And you want to always be able to keep up. So, yeah, that was that. And I loved it. It's always been a great experience going there. I love the fact that, you know, they have a trust in me, like, you know, to like they'll give me, you know, guidelines and they have a strong trust in me to deliver whatever guidelines in my way.

40:18Right. With my style and put my flair on it. But yeah, and with TNA, there's a lot of freedom. There's a lot of creative freedom as far as, again, guidelines, but you have your own way of putting the matches together. The agents are there to help make them better or whatever. But in WWE, everything is very structured and very – and I think both is great. And I think that's why the talent, both TNA and NXT side, benefit from going back and forth. because you're learning and experiencing two totally different worlds. You know what I mean? I don't want you to speak. Certainly don't give too much information and answer how you're comfortable here.

41:05But you're in the midst of a deal with TNA as we speak. And obviously things are going really well for you over there. But like, you know, listen, I think everybody who sets foot in this business dreams at some point of having a huge WrestleMania moment, a WWE run of some sort. I can't help but think that when this working relationship begins with TNA and WWE, it only increases the possibility of something like that happening for you. Do you think about and fantasize about big moments like that with WWE or do you just kind of keep your eye on the prize? And especially now as TNA world champ, you have the responsibility of that company.

41:47How do you sort of handle both the aspirations business-wise and the responsibility of the people you work with every day at TNA? I think for me, honestly, I'm always focused at the task at hand and always focused on what's in front of me. Like I've learned before, I used to try to take on too much, and that does no good. You know what I mean? So right now, I've learned to focus on the task at hand, do what I got to do with this, I guess, what's in front of me. And then when the time comes, I cross that bridge. You know what I mean? And that's exactly how I'm looking at it. Of course, I keep my my my ear to the ground.

42:32I always do my research. I always do my homework. I always keep an eye on what's going on. And because, again, like you guys know, timing is everything. Right. So, you know, I watch, I study, I see what you know, how things are moving. but again I'm focused on what's in front of me right now and um you know for for however long I'm TNA champ and however long I'm here this is going to be my focus and what I do and this is what I'm going to rep and then when that time comes cross that bridge and we see how it goes but of course you know like you said we all grew up watching WWE we all grew up you know with uh People that got into this business have aspirations of going there and having moments and having a great run.

43:19And of course, that's always been like a dream for me. But I also have learned to trust myself and trust the process and we'll see where things go. So I want to piggyback off a piece question, but I'm not going to make it so like broad and open scope. I'm going to fine tune it and I'm going to zero in, right? Because you talk about the task. You talk about the task right in front of you. You talk about focusing on the next thing, studying tape. Have you been studying Royal Rumble tape? Because that's two weeks away. Oh. Where are you going to be on the 31st? Wait, do you have a Saudi visa? Yeah.

44:03Let's talk about it. Check it. Like P knows he – whenever – if that phone rings, let's get it. You know what I mean? Let's get it. That's how I'm looking at it. I mean, I turn down no opportunities. Well, the question would be, you know, is obviously, you know, bringing the TNA champ into the Royal Rumble would certainly be very cool, but that requires you also turning around and surviving a Texas death match with our colleague up here, Nick Nemeth, as the special guest referee. Are you ready to turn around and run it back with Frankie Kazarian again tomorrow night? Absolutely. I mean, Frankie and I have known each other a long time, and we have a deep history with each other.

44:53And as you saw from last night, we're going to beat the shit out of each other. And it's a Texas death match. So a hundred percent. And, but I'm excited. There's a lot of layers in this story now. You know what I mean? You have, you have Nick who still has his call your shot trophy. He's also a special guest ref. You know, of course, Frankie's going to do everything in his power to regain the title. So there's a lot of layers, a lot of stories being told. and I think it's going to be exciting. But I'll tell you this. There's absolutely no way that I'm going to allow for another one of those cheap moments to happen like what happened in Orlando.

45:42There's no way. I'll spit two blades out real quick and go to work. There's a promise. BX. 100%. There's no way. This time it will come out for sure. He is the TNA world champion. Mike Santana. Great story. Great guy. Thank you for making time, my friend. Absolutely. Thank you guys for having me, man, and hopefully we do it again sometime. Absolutely. That is Santana. Catch him tomorrow night, TNA Genesis. It's going down. More of your phone calls, more Rumble Talk. We're here until 2 o 'clock Eastern time right now on GP Live, Pro Wrestling Nation 24-7. With wrestling superstars. It's like having a real match right in your own home.

46:24There's Jimmy Superfly Suka.

46:29The Iron Sheep

46:34Hulk Hogan And Big John Stud And now you can fly them And flip them In the sling them, sling them Wrestling ring Wrestling superstars and new wrestling ring Each sold separately from LJN Oh, Dip, you have family members Hang out in the background of your game Yep, there she's making coffee In the background And she is making coffee and juice. She's making a cheap heat pod. Throwing down a cheap heat pod. Welcome back to the program. A lot to get into today. And as we said, we'll open the phone lines, 877-344-4893, get to you guys in a little bit. In the next segment, we'll talk to you. your early but not too early royal rumble predictions as it's uh right around the corner um i guess i'm going to riyadh and like in like moments folks yeah i mean that's why they're probably in europe right so they could be just a hop oh no no oh wait i'm sorry sug did you did you think that they were going to be going from europe to riyadh yeah i'm assuming oh well that's but you'd be not thinking about the fact that Raw is in Toronto and that Saturday Night's Main Event is in Montreal.

47:55I did happen to forget that. Yeah, I know. When I saw the original schedule come out a while ago, I was like, oh, that's kind of cool. You guys will be in Europe. It's the road. Then just go straight over. They're like, no, you've got to come right back. Yeah, I believe that I'm leaving. I think the Charter is leaving from Canada to Riyadh. Dip I'm very excited to have learned You won't care but SGG Did I share this with you I was told by a good friend of ours That Riyadh I was like what are we going to do in Riyadh And he said Do you do roller coasters And I said of course I do They're building them underground In outer space there They're building them through the ocean The tallest It's the tallest fastest longest roller coaster in the world I watched the video on YouTube it's four minutes long the YouTube video I would literally send me the link I would rather be dead you probably would end up dead if somebody said to me you gotta go on the thing with a gun to my head I would say pull the trigger you don't think you don't think you could do it no I could not handle do that bro okay I'm texting it to you guys right now here you go here you go SGG you're gonna enjoy this I think it's right up your alley but yeah I said I'm doing it now the reason I the reason I love roller coasters is because SGG I'm terrified of them I find them absolutely terrifying and that's why I enjoy them so much Like, I appreciate Dip's honesty.

49:43Now, Dip, but Dip, does it scare you or make you sick or both? I like the feeling. I don't like the feeling of free falling in any capacity where my stomach drops and I feel like I'm falling is a complete torture for me. And I don't like going fast at fast speeds in any way. I don't like being going fast. You know what? I just thought about it. I don't like what I just thought about. I just thought about this, though, Dip. Think about it. Dipperstein hates when someone opens a window in an Uber. How is he doing a roller coaster? I've done them a few times. I've gone on a few of these things. I hate them.

50:25I don't understand the whole thesis behind them. I don't know how you can find enjoyment. I don't like adrenaline. I don't have any adrenaline. I don't like adrenaline. of all the things that are in my body adrenaline is not one of the things I have no adrenaline there's no adrenaline I don't have adrenaline none there's no adrenaline being given or taken in my life so in other words so SGG in other words if we ever run into like big problems like we're out in the streets and it goes down I don't think we can rely on dip because if we get into a heated battle that requires fisticuffs. Yeah. Alright?

51:10And you have to meet, you know, you have to meet Gotch and Hackenschmidt. You know what I mean? And we gotta throw up the old Dukes. Dib's got no adrenaline. And that's all you're going on in a fight, SGG, is pure adrenaline. Once somebody's down, I can finish the job. But I can't start the fight. I can't start the fight. And this is no disrespect to you, Dib, but P, I plan for exactly that scenario that we have to get them down and then dip will maybe bite them kick them you know dip is i can bite i bite i'm a biter free reign to do whatever you want to do at that point but i thought that the heavy lifting was going to be on us p if it ever happened all right yeah it's a fair point that you're making anyway and speaking of taking of thinking about situations guys i only posted on the cheap heat page i only posted a little sampling of all the photos i have from 2016 uh sgg i gotta i gotta make public dip did you see the video i sent sgg no and sgg did you know that video existed i didn't know the video existed i knew the moment existed i think i sent sgg a video of him in deep conversation with nikolai volkov god rest his soul that's good isn't that great yeah i'm gonna do it you know i'm gonna today i'm gonna take five minutes and I'm going to post my best.

52:31I'm going to do it. Because 2016, I got to be honest, I'm great. I may have hit a new peak in my life right now, but 2016 was truly mage. I mean, that was maybe the greatest year of my life. I mean, that 2015 to 2018. I got, you know why, right? Because I brought you back to wrestling. Let's be honest. He was showing up front row for the first time. He didn't know what the hell was going on. that was 2014

53:0515 no a 2016 maybe 15 a 2016 dip memory that I have that is definitely not on camera but it's hilarious and it's very dip we're at the Wrestlemania after party P is DJing by the way this is already now so throwback there isn't a Wrestlemania after party there are people on the there are people on the WWE roster who are stars who have never been to a Wrestlemania after party I DJed in 16 I DJed in 16 you DJed the after party so you're in the DJ booth I really brought y 'all into some great stuff I'm not gonna lie that was a good one work in the room or whatever and then Dip catches the IRS out of the corner of his eye and obviously you know it's an after party so you you play in you're in the pocket you play in the hip-hop hits and i guess the bass might have been just a little bit too much for the irs and dip was like catches it out the corner of his eye they make eye contact dip gives him like a i got this and then he goes to the dj booth goes to you and it's dip so you know you take your headphones off you're like yo what is this this has to be important he's like can you can you turn the music down just a little bit you'd disturb me i'll never forget okay this is by the way i don't remember this that's mage okay secondly i i'll never forget that i'm i'm looking at this it's like teddy biasi nikolai volkoff irs um i maybe hillbilly jim i mean old alta cocker wrestlers are at one table and you play i'll never forget what's the acinelli song put it in my mouth put it in your mouth or whatever it is your mouth it's my mouth it's going in someone's mouth so yeah it's put it in a mouth of some kind i i i i look over and and i'm looking i mean it's the most vulgar hip-hop song one of the most vulgar hip-hop songs of all time i and i look at this table and I'm like, I can't fucking believe that he's playing this song for these old ass wrestlers.

55:28It was crazy. It was age. Did I do this? Do you have any recollection of this? You did it. You did it. I couldn't believe it. Randy Orton loved this moment. There were NXT kids in the room too, so you know, he might just play it for the young wrestlers. And now you know. The NXT kids were Finn Balor and fucking... It was like Bayley you know oh my well it was bailey and finn balor and like no no they were up all they were up already they were up or no 2016 no maybe whoever it was so that video i posted yesterday of sasha at the party she wasn't on the main roster yet sasha's on the main roster bailey is not wow wow that because remember sasha becky and charlotte had the triple threat for the divas title that became the women's championship at wrestlemania that's right so if you go on the cheap heat pod instagram page right now you'll see i just threw up five pictures but i have so many more from 2016 but i so vividly remember that moment that weekend at wrestlemania we got there and i dj'd multiple times guys this is a year this is like the 2016 wrestlemania moment is the moment it's the year where I was like fully in and DJing everything but it was also the year that I was at ESPN and coach brought me to Wrestlemania I met Chris Chambers and that's the Wrestlemania that started my WWE career but it's the last one where I was there essentially as a civilian and just DJing everything so that Friday dip I DJed some welcome party that Neil Lowey, I guess, had asked me to DJ.

57:13And that video that I posted, it was me, Dip, and Shoemaker just hanging out drinking by ourselves at a mostly empty party. And then, yeah, Sasha Banks and JoJo showed up and we were like the only people there. But this is like, it's just crazy to go down this memory lane. Listen to this. Listen to this. Sammy Zane, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, Bailey, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Apollo Cruz, Alexa Bliss, DIY, and the Revival. That's the ChatGBT list of 2016 NXT people. And it's accurate because Shinsuke debuted at that takeover at Dallas that we were at. I'll never forget that takeover. We went to that takeover and we were sitting.

57:59It was in a very flat arena. Do you remember sitting in this? And JR was sitting front row with Stephanie McMahon. and um and and um and uh it was the first time that um i'm telling you who someone debuted since they were and the chance no and the no yeah no someone else and it was like who are you who are you and that was the chant and i was like oh my god it wasn't it wasn't that he was it I think it was the revival. I think they fought DIY. It was Baron Corbin. That's who it was. Was it Baron Corbin? It was Baron Corbin's debut. Yes. Wow. With the long hair. That's our colleague, Bishop Dyer, to you and me.

58:47That is Bishop Dyer. I know. I know. He's a great guy. Wow. But that's. So for people who don't understand why. Who are you, Chan? If you are flipping by the radio right now, Pro Wrestling Nation 24-7, going, why are these douchebags talking all about 2016? It's just because the current huge Instagram trend is people posting pictures and videos from 2016 because it's so hard to believe that's been 10 years since 2016. And it is literally shocking. SGG, when I tell you, SGG, shout out to Jamiroquai, was quite literally half the man he used to be. Yeah. I mean, it is he is thin guy Greg, he's TGG Yeah, look, I thought I looked good then, I appreciate full figure Greg more so when I see that, I'm just like, bro were you was there not enough access to FGG?

59:45FFG? Peter, you have legitimately gotten better looking I know, thank you thank you i know that's not you can't say that for everyone no i can't say it about greg

1:00:03that's what we were just talking about i definitely look better than i've ever looked um but the the the uh the beard the beard cleanup was a big change and the giving up on my hair i I would like let my hair grow in somewhat then still. Yeah, that was that look. That wasn't the move. That wasn't the move. Who cared for me at that time? Neither. No one pulled me aside and said, you got to let go. You're letting like some hair here. And it's you're right. Those pictures of me are rough, but there's some great, great moments. So I'll say to a 2016 memory. And then if you want to move on, we can that I have from you, Pete.

1:00:40Speaking of just pulling people to the side and telling like it is. Radio Row which is also not a thing that they do anymore we got up at like 6am we did a bunch of interviews Sasha Banks was one of the interviews and I remember Shoemaker ending it on like what should have been like a layup question of oh guys let's go around the room let's predict the women's championship match who do you think is going to win and Shoemaker said it off so he goes you know Sasha Banks I predicted Sasha Banks and then it came to you and you looked her dead in the eyes and you were just like, yeah, no, I'm predicting Charlotte.

1:01:19There's something about you. I just don't think you're ready. It's not your time. Oh, my God. What is that? I'm going to say that to Charlotte? He said it to Sasha Banks. To Sasha Banks? Yeah. She's right there. This is after we have a whole interview with her. And you're just like, no, I just don't think you're ready. It's not your time. Maybe one day you'll be the championship. but right now you're just not ready to be a champion and she did in fact lose so you were right I was right but sometimes things happen like that and I don't remember them and then I'll be like why do I have such an up and down relationship with someone and I don't remember that like in a moment I stared at their face I was like nah I just don't see it but by the way I was dead right you were Charlotte was winning everything back then I had a hunch.

1:02:12Now, speaking of winning everything, did any part of you feel like we ruined the Drew McIntyre win by having the conversation of like, is this it? It feels like this is it. It ended up not feeling as surprising as I kind of hoped a SmackDown Cody Rhodes loss might feel. Dip, were you surprised or not? I was surprised, and I loved it. I was very satisfied. Oh, I loved to hear that. And Jacob Fatu is one of my favorite wrestlers. So I was like very happy with things. This is what – this is – everybody that I've spoken to in the last week about wrestling was talking about the Jacob Fatu thing and the fact that Drew won.

1:02:55This is what wrestling is all about, is a little bit of unpredictability and making an impactful moment. Jacob Fatu returning and immediately putting himself in the main event picture and looking different and looking like a killer was is the best move you could possibly do for a guy like that. Drew McIntyre surprisingly winning the championship on a SmackDown is the best thing you could do for next week's SmackDown. It's like this should happen all the time. This is what it's all about. This week in wrestling was a good week. Wow. Write that down, folks. folks don't hear from dip every day right now uh thoughts suj no i'm with dip i was very surprised just because i guess over the past few years i've been conditioned to to think that a drew's gonna lose b they're not gonna flip the main title this close to mania season um that drew's probably gonna lose and then go down the card and then it's gonna leave the field wide open for cody going into the rumble and then april and who knows what's going to happen so even down to the end when jacob fatu interferes and drew he's attacking drew i'm thinking okay this is cody's time but of course cody wants to do it the right way he distracts jacob fatu and drew just has his eye on the prize finally which is another wrinkle in the story that you know before he might have gone after Jacob Fatu or he might have done something to take his eye off the ball but he finally keeps his eye on the prize gets out of the cage and literally crawls away with the championship I was shocked completely well and and the interesting thing now will be to see where this story goes um with all with with now Drew and Cody both having a legitimate gripe against Jacob Fatu by the way we didn't see a lot of Jacob but he looked great he's been gone for a Are you of the mindset, Dipperstein, that this is a transitional champion to get to something else?

1:05:01Or do you think Drew McIntyre is defending this title at WrestleMania?

1:05:07I got to be honest with you. I would love them to, you know, pull an audible or change plans. Or maybe Drew McIntyre has been the plan all along. But, like, you know, as you know, a couple of years ago, I would have never said this about Drew. OK. And he's, you know, not been my one of my guys. But at this point. I feel like. You know, another major run for him as the champion is potentially not such a bad thing right now. It's unexpected. We know who we think should be at the top of the card. And a Drew McIntyre WrestleMania main event in this new version of Drew, of what he is, this monster heel, probably the best heel in the company right now, active, not injured, is the way to go for a WrestleMania main event.

1:06:05Wow. SGG, did you think you'd live to see the day where Dipper Steve would co-sign a Drew McIntyre run as champ? Where do you fall, SGG? I still think this is AI, what Dip just said. I'm not convinced at all. AI Dip. Terrifying. Not convinced at all. But I do think he's going to defend it at WrestleMania. But I think that that is where he loses, which still makes it transitional to me. I think. Transitional? I mean, look, if you only got it from the three months from Rumble to Mania, it's transitional, I think. i mean it depends man like i guess in this world it feels that way but like i bet if we look back at history there are some three four month title reigns that we still considered impactful and not not transitional but i also see what you're saying yeah i think drew's reign is to get to the next guy who I think is Sammy Zane.

1:07:13But see, I don't know if that means that Sammy wins the Rumble or if that means that Sammy sets up and becomes Drew's challenger after something else. Because he is in that tournament, mini tournament that's going to set up Drew's challenger for the next main event. Sammy could win that. Sammy could win the Rumble. Greg, as much as I love Sam. As much as I love Sami Zayn, it's not going to be Drew McIntyre versus Sami Zayn in the main event at WrestleMania. So something... At WrestleMania? No. Not necessarily in the main event at WrestleMania, right? But it could be like the championship match, right?

1:07:49Because you had Jey Uso and Gunther on paper. That was not as big as some of the other matches that you listed out. There was John Cena and Cody Rhodes. There was the triple threat. There were the women's matches. And the Jey Uso versus Gunther, when you rank it out, nobody... The conversation of them closing out the night wasn't even a thought. So Drew could be in that position where he is the champion. He's defending the title, but him closing out the night and being in the main event, not even a thought, even if it is against the Rumble winner, which we saw last year. Now, if you go into what you're saying, and I've heard some of the speculation as well, there are people who thought you want to talk transitional, that it was going to be for Sami Zayn to get a title match at the Rumble.

1:08:34and win the title in Saudi where he's very popular. That's possible. That is a thing that people thought, that if Sami Zayn ever is going to get a title win, it's going to be in a couple of weeks in Riyadh as a big old babyface. I would love that. I would love that, but then you know it's going to be temporary because Sami Zayn, again, as much as we love the guy, he's not going to carry that championship into WrestleMania season. Not going to happen. And I mean, maybe it is. I don't know. I would love that. I would love them to just switch it up completely this year, you know, and just kind of do something really surprising with Sami Zayn.

1:09:14How great would that be? So he never finished his story. He's the number one guy who has never finished his story, in my opinion. Well, then how about this? Let me throw a surprise. And I'm sorry. I'm getting distracted. My beautiful, amazing wife and daughter are staring at the door, waving to me. And now my wife is sticking out her tongue. She's a filthy animal. but my beautiful daughter was waving at me. But what about this? I have no idea. Now she's doing a DX suck it while holding a child. A baby? No, the baby. I would do anything if at one years old, Maya could already manage to do a – that would be really, really something.

1:09:51You should teach her how to do that. You think I could teach her a suck it already? Love you. Yes. And I don't think we're here. I don't think this is possible, but I'm also confused because I see him around. Wouldn't the only way you'd get that Sami championship match at WrestleMania thing to happen would be if it was a shocking returning Kevin Owens? And they do it again. And you sort of honor their all-time history with a championship match at WrestleMania. Like, to me, it would be like the ultimate nerdy, cool wrestling thing to do would be those guys get that spot. I have no idea where Kevin is on his injury from last year.

1:10:41But, Tip, when you said that, we're not getting that. I went, well, what would make sense? How could you? Because it would seem rushed. Right now, Sammy hasn't built. His character isn't in a moment to be carrying the title. I think Sammy's very capable of being that guy. but in this moment i don't see it what do you see sgj i disagree i think his character is because let's let's not forget right one of the most recent times that we saw sammy he's in the ring talking about he needs to focus up and become world champion like he says this on smackdown so his character already planted the flag and this is rumble season two weeks where and this is rumble season where anybody's character whether they've been in that picture or not can get ready and be in that mode now that's with him winning the rumble and going on to wrestlemania winning the title at the rumble is a different thing but like you said this is riad sammy and riad is punk in chicago he's brett in montreal hell he's sammy in montreal you know what i mean right he's he's hulk hogan all across america he's john cena everywhere on the world this is a different sammy so like if there's a place for them to do that it would be the rumble and for dip to say you know it's not going to happen i would agree with him any other year except for this year where they started the year by doing the thing that fans would have said at the end of 2025 is not going to happen they're not going to change the title this close to mania let alone put it on drew who shows up in these big matches to lose it's not going to happen If anybody said that on December 31st, 2025, nobody would disagree, except they did it.

1:12:21So now we can't even say they're not going to do this. So maybe the way you start telling the story of Sami Zayn is not him winning the title in Riyadh, but him having an epic Rey Mysterio-like Royal Rumble win in Riyadh. Yeah. Sami? Yeah. I would love that. Oh, God. That would be so great if that happened. Sammy wins the Rumble in Riyadh. Do you know what that would be? SGG would be just as lit as him winning the title. It's the same thing. If you're talking about popping the crowd, it's the same thing. It is the same thing. Winning the Rumble is winning the title. But he's guaranteed that match.

1:13:00I would like to see Sammy versus whoever has that belt at Mania. That'd be great. Yeah. I don't know. You saw the reaction that the crowd got a couple years ago and Sammy had that big run. they could recreate that tomorrow do we know what title sammy picks if he wins the rumble no i don't think he's winning the rumble guys well let me ask you this dip because the question was posed hey don't yell at me who is winning the rumble because rosenberg gave his pick i gave my pick the people on the phone lines waiting to give their picks but nobody's heard from you who do you think is winning the rumble it's easy to say no this person's not doing it yeah Who is?

1:13:44Brombreaker. Okay. He did have an easy answer. Yeah, he was ready for it. His back wasn't against the wall as much as I thought. No, he was completely ready. It was very easy for him. I think, you know, they give him a big spot in the rumble where he eliminates someone mage. I feel like they're going to set up a lot in these rumbles. the whole I could smell a mile away like everything for Wrestlemania being set up in that rumble I think you're going to I was going to say you're going to come away from that rumble knowing exactly what Wrestlemania looks like I think you're probably right I'm going to throw something at you that would be sick in my opinion sick folks it would never happen Sammy wins the rumble in Riyadh It's gangbusters.

1:14:40Everyone goes crazy. He does it in such fashion. He's a disgusting, sweaty mess. It's an iconic Rumble win, right? Maybe he comes in first or second. He's the Iron Man. It's unbelievable. The complete setup is for him to pick Drew.

1:15:03and in the promo where he's supposed to pick Drew he picks Punk Sami Zayn calling out CM Punk in sort of this ultimate darling of the indies El Generico versus Chicago made Phil and there's that would be a wrestling now I would like it even better if like you know I'd love Punk to be the villain in that I mean, I'd love Sammy to get to call out. Like, you'd have to have the impetus. You'd have to have a promo there where Sammy gives you a reason. And in doing so, the problem is to go after Punk in any way is to make yourself the heel. Right? Yeah. Like, I don't think there's a way in WWE that you attack CM Punk and you're not the heel.

1:15:52And obviously, no one wants Sammy's name to be the heel. Which is crazy. You know, I don't know how we came to that. And they could do a three stages of Hellmatch. The first stage could be them sitting on a comfy couch. Second stage, a somewhat uncomfortable conversation. By the way, if you wanted to do a stages of hell match for me, one of them would be let's just have a set uncomfortable conversation. It's like 2.15. They have a Zoom call, and it's just going to be very uncomfortable. They debate politics. No, I think Sammy and Punk would be fine in that. A lot. It would be a boring conversation.

1:16:29Yeah. Send me an email. RosenbergWrestling at gmail.com. We'll get to you next week. And if you missed the show, catch up on the podcast, GP Live. Go on the YouTube, Rosenberg Wrestling. And guys, you want to do it again next week? Yeah, we'll do it. If we stay as mage as possible. Stay mage. Enjoy yourselves. Wrestling's great. We love it. We'll see you next week.

1:16:59Thank you.