Greg History Week

0:11prejudiced tones and tr excesses. I'm sorry Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, oh. Sweet, sweet Peter Rosenberg. Shout out to that guy, Greg. I like delicious chicken. It was Rappod. It was Rappod. It's professional wrestling. Welcome to Cheap Heat Live on this September 11th, 2026. The beginning of a special time that we know as Greg History Week. S-U-G, happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you, P. And that's right. Greg History Week, the most wonderful time of the year, despite what you might have heard about December and some other fellows' birthday.

1:14Jesus' birthday just cannot compete with Greg History Week. Let's just be honest about that. So this is not only the 25th anniversary of 9-11, this is the 25th anniversary of your birthday being officially ruined and having to turn into Greg History Week. Is that correct? That is correct. That is correct. Which, in hindsight, just given all the wonderful magical moments that Greg History Week has apart. I don't mind the sacrifice of my 16th birthday. Because you're a generous man, S-U-G. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're a man whose generosity, your warmth, your willingness to give knows no bounds. Boundless.

1:59And the fact that you are willing to make sacrifices like that on Greg History Week of all times. Of all times. It's really, really special. So we're going to get into a lot today. We're going to have, at the end of the show, SGG, I know SGG has more important lawyering to get to. I am going to be joined by the one and only John Bradshaw Layfield to end the show today. JBL is going to jump in. Obviously, a big weekend for him, but also SGG, you know, he was around during 9-11 and was on the SmackDown on September 13th. Yeah, I remember that SmackDown very well. now SG so you were in you were like fully hardcore into wrestling at this time um I was not so like was Smackdown airing on that Thursday like very much a reprieve for you yes it was in many ways so not only was I fully into wrestling I don't think I I even told you this story P but you know people know that I was a page um in Washington DC and for those people who don't know about the PAGE program, for the House of Representatives, it used to be one of the oldest jobs in the country.

3:15You would go down 16 years of age and you would be in a dorm with other 16-year-olds all the way from home serving our country. It just so happened that I went in 2001, my junior year high school. Two days after my birthday, I found myself in DC moving into this dorm with a bunch of other 16 year olds who we'd all just experienced this national tragedy. We're all the way from home. This is my first time meeting everybody. They'd been there for like a couple of weeks because I couldn't move in until I was 16. And this is the short version of the story. The long version of the story is even more tripped out.

4:01But - Sorry, it's crazy. I don't know that I, have we discussed this in detail? I had forgotten that you were a page, which is growing up with a dad in working in Congress. Yeah, being a page is a big deal. It's a whole thing, the page thing. It is. It is a whole thing. And I didn't know that it was a whole thing until literally the day before 9-11, I went in for my interview. And that's when it really hit me that like, oh, people are serious about this. The interview You ended up being real light. And obviously I got in, but they were just like, yeah, you're going to report to D.C. tomorrow. 9-11 happens and I'm thinking that I'm not going to have to go to D.C.

4:40at all. I'm thinking, all right, I'm going to chill because at that point I definitely didn't want to leave home and be away from my family. And my dad was like, no, D.C. is probably the safest place you can be among like the government officials, you know, the Pentagon is down there. Like if anything happens again, you at least will be safe. So you are definitely going. And that Thursday we were on an Amtrak to DC and I moved in, but I did, I did watch SmackDown cause I didn't have to start until Friday. So you had, you had a little TV in your dorm? Yeah. It was like four of us to the room. We had like a TV in the room.

5:17So I tuned in. It wasn't my TV, but I got to watch. Um, that I just, that's just really interesting. to me like the the we'll get into it with john um but but you know smackdown was really the first thing it was really the first thing that happened yeah they canceled baseball games they pushed the world series i think had started or was gonna start no no no not yet it was but they pushed baseball for a week yeah they pushed they pushed that week of football for a week um um so it was it was you know very much the first thing that had happened so um yeah i was i was at maryland i was at the university of maryland in my my fifth year um you know i stayed at maryland for a fifth year because that's what the smartest people do they stay longer if you're a really good student it makes you stay longer so that's what i did i say longer sometimes it does though were you double major you might have had to get that well here's the thing here's the thing i did end up being the smartest you know why because i ended up staying and guess what uh we won the national championship that spring yeah that's a fact i remember that so i was kind of a genius when you think about it um but yeah i was at maryland and i woke up i was living in a what we call the knox box these little um knox boxes like these little apartments um and i woke up that morning and and like everybody else it now seems so oddly innocent um like when i don't know if you remember this sgg but like when the first plane hit the like the accident thing was definitely a thought for a while like like for a minute it was like hold on a second and there was a lot of uh hey i don't think it i think it was an accident they think it was a private uh a private plane you know all of the it may be like a four seater something small no one could really conceive of the fact that it was a jet or that it was a terrorist attack.

7:34So like we hovered in this little window from, you know, 846 or whatever to just after nine, SGG were like, it's weird. It's like there was still an innocence to America in that 20 minute window when you felt like maybe this isn't what it is. And I remember it so clearly because, you know, like I said, I was supposed to be reporting to DC that day. So I didn't go to school. I was in I was home right I was happy to have the day off and then you wake up and you see on the news like oh plane hit the towers they're trying to figure out what's going on and as they're trying to figure out what's happening and everybody's watching live and that second plane hits and I was like oh like like this is a problem the first one may be an accident the second one I forget which anchor it was but they were just like yeah this definitely feels like it was on purpose and then obviously the the images of of everything going down is insane um now are you of the type sg that being so close to it being from new york you know spending that time in dc are you of the type that you like to avoid seeing things about it or are you more like me and watch all the things about it i'm in the middle like i don't watch all the things about it but um i don't avoid it either um like if something comes up and i think that might be interesting like i'll watch and most of it is you would think that by now it's all more of the same but most of it is is i'm very interested yeah it's um it's it's it's one of those things that's very hard for me to avoid um like when i see it i'm naturally drawn to it um you know my brother lived here he told me he very much avoids it he tries to go every year without seeing anything um i you know i don't know for me it may be like a dark part of my personality that i like that i want to see it i don't know or or just that it's the craziest thing i've ever lived through so i feel like i'll never you know i feel like there are people who maybe are that way about the jfk assassination or you know maybe pearl harbor before that i don't know but for me it's always been a thing that i just come back to um one thing that people always talk about um was the beaut how beautiful the day was yeah that is always a point that people always remember is that it was just a perfect fall day like 75 crisp bright blue just one of those new york days that you're like this is an absolute dream um yeah it was a day to look crazy i remember the blueprint was coming out that day i think fab's album was coming out that day yeah i think it might have been might even be some new mariah coming out that day i was looking forward to like being able to gallivant around new york city on my birthday that tuesday um it's you know and you feel bad for fab because everyone talks about the blueprint.

10:44Yeah, that's his debut. That's his debut. And it ends up, you know, being a bit of a footnote. Here's what you have that day, in case you're wondering. Damn, I just saw this list. They didn't even list Fab. That's crazy. Bob Dylan dropped an album. Although, by the way, it's a widely praised album. Although it was his 31st album. So, you know, that's, that's, I can't get that excited. Yeah. Slayer dropped yo by the way that's crazy Slayer dropped an album called God Hates Us All on 9-11 oh no

11:24yo Nickelback's album that has How You Remind Me on it dropped that day that's a good song I gotta tell you I didn't understand the Nickelback slander yo I gotta tell you I was gonna say like I just like believe people when they say Nickelback sucks. I'm like, yeah, I guess they suck. I gotta tell you, I kind of like Nickelback when I hear them. Yeah, same. I don't know what that says about me. Now, P.O.D. dropped their album that day. Ben Folds dropped an album that day. Mariah's Glitter soundtrack for the Repug. That's the one. Hey, listen. You know what, though, SGG? How can I call Glitter a pug?

12:05I never saw it. Maybe it's like Nickelback. Everybody said it was terrible. And Glitter was a gem. We don't know. We don't. Now, my homie, a friend of mine, Josh. I'm sorry, not Josh. That's his brother. Dan. My friend Dan, he was in a band, and they were booked for TRL that day. No TRL that day. No TRL ever. Man, it was a day that just changed a lot of stuff. I had tickets to the Orioles game that night.

12:45Still have the stub. But yeah, man, Michael Jordan had just announced his comeback to the Wizards. Yeah, I remember that. That had just gotten announced. Have you heard that Michael Jackson was supposed to be in the World Trade Center that day? I have not heard that. Now, here's the question. I don't believe that. That is a story. I know well here's how here's why I would maybe believe it because there is a story about how Michael Jackson had to get out of New York and Master P tells a story that he chartered a bus for Michael Jackson to get him out of New York so like there are multiple stories about the fact that he was in New York so the question is was he really supposed to be in the World Trade Center but here's the question if Michael Jackson had been in the World Trade Center how how much news would he have gotten relative to 9-11 oh he he unfortunately he'd eclipse everyone he'd it'd be the whole thing no no you're out of your yes no you're out if michael jackson had been in the world trade center and went down with the twin towers we would not be just talking about the Twin Towers.

13:59Well, no, no. I think he would have... I said Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. Yeah, Michael Jackson. You said Michael Jackson. Who are you, Iron Sheik? I think it would have made a lot of news, but it's an insane thing to think about because you're taking them two massive things and putting them together. That is American arrogance you're speaking, right? Because the Twin Towers coming down on 9-11, as Americans huge for us right like you said Pearl Harbor I didn't really mean international news though I meant like in our you're right you're right internationally that would have changed it quite a bit they be talking about it in Taipei they don't like that's a fair point but I don't watch Taipei news that much so I was referring to that long true where I think oh so my brother just weighed in Michael's MSG shows were that week.

15:00He played MSG on September 10th. If you go back, you can watch that whole show on YouTube. Michael Jackson Madison's Wargarden September 10th. So he was 100 % in New York. That was when he brought like Britney out on stage. He brought out, I think, Justin on stage. He, Usher. So he was 100 % in New York. The question is, was he in the tower? Now, the really dark question, this is the super dark question now. If we go with dark, okay. I'm with you. I'm with you though. I'm deciding if it's too dark.

15:37Reputationally, I wonder if Michael Jackson dying in 2001 would have been better for him. Yes. Yeah. I don't think the next decade did him any favors. No. Because wasn't there another trial after that? Oh, yes. That's the whole thing. Because there's another trial after. So that doesn't happen. I don't know that he's served well by the next 10 years. And when people perish that way, they automatically get like gold stars for heroism too. So even if the accuser tries to come out in the years after, they're like, what? Michael Jackson was a national hit? There'll be stories about how he went into the towers to save people and all of that.

16:20Like, how dare you do this? that's american hero michael jacks exactly like absolutely not so so anyways it's it's um it's good to have a moment to laugh on a day that's super heavy um sg and i did a patreon this week um so we did already talk some wrestling so if you're one of our patrons uh go find us over there cheap heat live on patreon you could find it we talked about a bunch of different stuff um but what do you think like to you what is the number one story in wwe this week is it the cody no turn is it the oba brock of it all is it the continuation of domination from royce keys and otm what's what's their zip code again nine four six nine four six 946 is close right i think most people would say that's the number one show especially because it's happening on the red brand it's happening on netflix there's there's roman reigns otc implications but for me i think that the number one story is uh justice for sammy zane and i'm hoping that we get some justice tonight uh sammy zane lost that title he's found his way to be involved in every title match since um and just the way he's wielding that championship like a weapon i just love seeing him crack people in the skull with that title and i hope that he gets the side place to match he needs to win the title tonight bring it back home we need justice for sammy zane i i love the sug it's very you that you're a justice for sammy zane warrior you know what i mean like that's a very you way to be.

18:00You're someone who stands next to those who need representation. You're an ally, SGG. I am an ally. And I try to be on the right side of history. I try to be on the right side of history. And I feel like Sammy Zayn is here with that. He's on the right side of history. Now, when you say the Sammy part of it specifically, SGG, are you really talking strictly Sami? Or are you talking about Sami in relation to the rest of the title picture on SmackDown? Yeah, you cannot just separate Sami from all of it, right? When I say Sami, he's my guy that I'm pulling for and I'm hoping that he comes out on top, but it involves Punk, right?

18:45You can't remove Kevin Owens from it. Gunther's hovering, Finn Balor's hovering. These are top guys. There's So many top guys floating around this title. Yes, Sami for me is my centerpiece, but that WWE championship story on SmackDown, it's the A story in the company. Let's be real about it, right? And just for the simple fact of the names circling around this belt, I hope that Sami is the one who actually captures this title, but with all these names, that title feels very important. It feels like the prize that every champion says their title is. Really? That's an interesting take from you, SUG.

19:27I'm surprised to hear you give the title that much respect. It deserves it. And again, I hope Sami Zayn brings that title back to glory. He deserves some justice because he was robbed. Let's just be real. We've seen it. We've had some time to step away. He absolutely was robbed. No, I love that about Sammy's story in general Is that if you really break it down He kind of already always does have Like some sort of legitimate claim And I think he does in this case too To being truly robbed on multiple occasions For multiple reasons Whether it's the match he never should have had with CM Punk Whether it's the KO returning at SummerSlam There's always a reason for Sammy And it's hard to knock that We talked about this on Patreon But we gotta talk about it here on the big show Have we missed the boat on the Cody turn?

20:13Like, is this just not happening? And at what point am I an idiot? If every single show that comes along, I'm the guy going, this is the week. This is the time Cody's going to turn because you would have thought we had a million opportunities and the pacing of the match at Sunday night's main event, the eyeballs, Atlanta, Randy, it had all of these things, I thought, in place, SGG, for us to get the Cody turn. And yet again, we did not get it. So it's starting to make me feel like this is John Cena. And it's never going to happen. It is starting to feel like John Cena and it's not going to happen.

20:52And hopefully the lesson that they learned from John Cena is that when it happens, you have to be able to strike while the iron's hot and have some things lined up and just really be able to zone in on this evil cody that um we haven't gotten yet hopefully when they do do it it needs to be open-ended he needs to have some years to really do it right because you cannot just just shrink it into a a small time period i i gotta tell you by the way we didn't talk about this much i i can't believe john you know he's been doing these quick q a's i guess for movie promo and in doing the message you do hear that he acknowledged the heel turn wasn't good but like he's okay with it because he swung yeah i don't like that i don't think i like it either like like i guess it's healthy it's a healthy perspective i get right it's like a really mentally healthy perspective to have and if he was like my 12 year old son i'd be really happy that he had that perspective.

21:59Yeah. But if you were to look at wrestling for a moment as a little bit more of a competitive sport and not just an art form, I guess I'd like to see a little bit more of, I like that he acknowledged it wasn't good. Right. But I think I might like to get a little bit more like, if he was the quarterback, SGG, let's say, for example, if he was Jalen Hurts on your Philadelphia Eagles, for example. That's right, Fly Eagles Fly. who are going to lose this Sunday to my commanders in a week one shocker like you dream of 425 on Sunday. You expect them to be a shocker? Tells me that you know what's actually going to happen to the commanders.

22:36But continue. The Eagles are not necessarily a quick starter every year. Listen, they have been on us in previous years, but that was a whole different regime. I don't know. I'm not 100 % in on the Eagles this year the way I might normally be. But hey, let's all wait and see. Yeah, flag was flagged. Should Jalen Hurts have a terrible season? And then when he looks back at the season after the Eagles this year don't make the playoffs. They go 6-11. They're in the basement in the NFC East. I mean, they lose to the Giants twice. They lose to the Commanders twice. They're just a complete disgrace.

23:16Everyone's laughing. The Cowboys hang a 70 spot at the link. I mean, it's just, you know, the healthinator, no one even knows what's going to happen. What's your question? Because it sounds... All right. No, Zach is just wandering around the streets with vomit on his shirt. Mom's spaghetti. You know what I mean? Just an absolute wreck. Deep in fantasy land right now. You know, and then Grayson Waller pulls up and is like, hey, mate, aren't you the fraud fan who wears the jerseys of the other teams? And that's with the vomit on the shirt. It's all a bad scene. I really would not like for that to happen.

23:51And then Jalen Hurts' comment afterwards is, yeah, in retrospect, it was a bad year. But I'm glad we took a swing. It's owning it, but it's not really owning it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I love John. I truly do. I just feel like at this point you know he's not like a participation trophy kind of guy he's like he's regarded as the greatest of all time so I kind of need a little bit of like yeah it's my bad like that's my bad not I took a swing it's my bad ultimately we know SGG that he had the creative whether he made every creative decision or not one thing I don't question for one second is that he had creative veto control and we could have had a better story on the way out and i mean specifically the turn back that only sam roberts could make you believe was good i mean the showing up on smackdown and being like i changed my mind um yeah he went too far to just change his mind he like he beat him bloody with his dead dad's rolex that he owned like that cody only came into possession of after years of competing against the biggest heel in the company and finally triumphantly winning the title that was the rolex that was gifted to him after winning title and then john cena comes back beat a bloody yeah like what are we talking about and then he didn't change your mind and then he's like yeah the rock didn't come back where's travis scott i'm a good guy yeah that's that's fair throw them under the bus because you know what they didn't come back so i'm with them on that throw them under the bus drive if you want to throw people under the bus reverse sure all that but you got to make it interesting and you got to do it's got to be more than i changed my mind it's got to be like a a realization story it's got to happen over time you you had to do it in one night in one segment right multiple dates here um and now and now we're getting to an interesting place with Cody of where they are still in the window where a Cody turn could be really interesting, surprising, and good.

26:07But as the weeks and months and events go by, you start to question what the character is supposed to be. Because SGG, as you talked about when we spoke earlier this week, Cody was a rube in that moment. He got completely played. Randy Orton gave you a little mercy sign at that stage after all the things he's done, he bought it? Yeah. So stupid. And it's like, how many times does this have to happen to you? You know what I mean? Before you smarten up, Cody. So I say all of that to say that we said this a couple of weeks ago, and I maintain this. A proper Cody heel turn could be an industry shifting moment and i guess i just i've heard all the arguments for a million years of why it made sense to not do it with john i disagreed about john and i even more disagree with cody yeah because cody to me sgg is a natural born heel john i think it would and i don't mean that to say that he's a natural born bad guy the but in his character so much to dislike the look of that character, the perfection of the character, the dominance of the character, he's got so much there to lean into.

27:31Not to mention, go ahead, what's Cody's alias? Randy Savage was the macho man. Sure. Bret Hart was the hit man. Yep. Ric Flair was the nature boy. Yep. This is the American nightmare, guys. Can we get some nightmare? Is that too much to ask? Can we get some fright? You cannot tell me, and I've never asked him this, I'd be so curious to what he would say. You cannot tell me that when Cody decided to go with the American nightmare, to contrast his father, a lifetime baby face, known as the American dream, you cannot tell me that you're going to be the American nightmare, and I'm going to believe that you never envisioned being a heel i i can't i will not believe it but that's the man loves wrestling too much sgg he everything is thought out there's no way he was a heel when he originally took on this moniker he had the he was had the dark hair um he was in the bullet club i remember he turned heel at a final battle he flipped off the crowd you know he was he was all in and it worked.

28:43And then I guess he decided one day he wanted to be this white meat baby face champion for the underdogs, which is fine. Well, it's worked quite well. He had what some people consider to be the greatest story in the history of professional wrestling. Yeah, absolutely. Two problems with that. You're still calling yourself the American nightmare and that logo is branded on your neck. You can't get away from it. It's not, you can't, you can't just turn and like suddenly that logo is following you everywhere. That name has followed you everywhere. So I think it's time to take it all back to the genesis, bring it back to the essence, restore the feeling.

29:24Can we get some nightmare, please? At some point, please, can we get some nightmare? And listen, it would be one thing. I'm not begging for this because I think Cody Rhodes is boring as a baby face okay I'm begging for this because I think he would be a master as a heel and we've had this for years now so like the idea of flipping the script would just be so damn fun we got it we do have to talk some Oba and Bron we do have to talk about the look of Bronson Reed Yeah. That is worth a conversation. The way SGG just said, yeah, that was borderline troubling. So we're going to have to dig into that as well.

30:09We're going to talk to you at 877-344-4893. In hour two, we have Paige and JBL both joining the show. Oh, man. It is a Friday. It is Cheap Heat Live on WWE Radio. First and foremost, I have to say that I can't fathom or comprehend the pain and the suffering and the anguish that the families and friends of the victims are going through.

30:43The workers working diligently 24 hours a day, sifting through the rubble, and looking for any remnants of life. It's difficult to talk about this, and I will say that I can't, I couldn't imagine what it must be like to be there. I couldn't imagine, I couldn't imagine if my own family were there. I will offer my condolences and certainly say that everyone is in my heart and in my prayers. And I just want to say to everyone out there, again, to the families and friends of the victims and everyone involved is to just stay strong. Stay strong.

31:48um um SUG I think I may have lost Zach at this point we may he may be upset well he'll be back because you know what if you believe the Eagles are going to do what the Eagles always do then I'm going to get smoked on Sunday and it'll you know he'll get to send a text message and he'll feel really good about himself and you know so i will send a text yeah so i was gonna tell this i'm laughing because zach is in the chat confirming what peter's peter's suspicions i will send a text he's gonna send a text you will get dominated on sunday so so we'll see i mean listen i can't tell you guys i feel great about the commanders this year because i don't um but in in some ways it's relieving because our preseason was so bad that it lowered the bar of any remote expectation I might have had about this season.

32:43So in that sense, it's good to suck in the preseason. But yeah, exciting football is back. I mean, listen, although can I just say something? Coming from the standpoint of, you know, I don't know if you know this, we love wrestling. We think it's great. Oh, yeah. And part of what we love about it is like the show, the pageantry. WWE is always going to leave you happy at the end of the day I don't know how you feel, I'd be curious about Zach I don't think SUG cares enough because he's a bit of a fraud but Zach is a Zach is a real deal football fan I felt like Zach the Wednesday Thursday rollout felt like such a nothing burger like the combination of two different games one on a Wednesday one you watch at night but it's daytime Australia.

33:35I just thought it sucked. I just thought the first two days sucked. What did you think, Zach? You were a big NFL guy. I was very excited Wednesday just because football's back. I think the opening day, the opening night game, I don't know, it just brings a vibe in the air that all football fans love. I did feel like it was Thursday though because usually that first game starts on Thursday. So my whole week felt thrown off from there. I completely agree with your point that it was weird watching a game that was completely bright out when on the East Coast it was 8.30 at night and completely dark.

34:07I didn't like that. And that game sucked too. So that added fuel to it. I got to tell you, both games kind of sucked. The Patriots-Seahawks ended up a close game. But A, I don't know about you. I have no interest in the Patriots or Seahawks. I find them both boring. I'm not compelled by them as a fan. I had rooting interest for one player on the Patriots who I despise. See, see, see. I'm surprised someone of your eagle commitment even bothers with the reindeer games of fantasy football. No, that's not why. Oh, Rudy's against. Oh, big time. Yeah, Karma struck him a little bit. He's now out for a couple weeks.

34:44Oh, you were celebrating the high ankle sprain to AJP. I never celebrated anything. I just noticed it. Oh my god. That is a terrible accusation, Rosenberg. He's a monster. He did not say he celebrated anything. He just said he has some interest. that's it some interest you're right you're right you're right all right well i gotta tell you guys i have some interest in bronson reed is it possible i have heard bronson reed lost like a hundred pounds sgg he looks like he lost a hundred pounds and you know we had this debate before we have this debate every time somebody loses weight i remember we had this debate around gunther losing a lot of weight i think this decided guys when a big guy loses this much weight and comes back ready to tear the roster apart.

35:31It's terrifying, okay? That's where I'm at with Bronson Reed. He's terrifying. And I know some people say the tsunami might've lost some of the sauce because he lost such weight. I don't think so. I think it might've even gained. Like I'm not a physicist. I'm not super science-y. Yes, he was heavier. But I think that because he pushes off and he's lighter, he's getting a little bit more speed. and that he just crashes down with just a little bit more force. I don't know. We might have to ask Oba. I think he took a tsunami in the before times, and he's also taken several tsunamis since Sunday night's main event.

36:12So he might be the best one to answer this question, but I don't think that he lost any heat on that. Now, did you make anything of the Oba pushing the foot off his back? A lot of controversy because when the vision stood tall over Oba and Bronson put the foot on Oba's shoulder back area. It looked like Oba sort of broke character to shove his foot off. What did you take from that? I think from my amateur lens, it looked like Oba quote unquote broke character, but I think all of it added these little wrinkles and sprinkles and accoutrements that we need for this feud, right? It can't just be another meaningless, nothing feud of like, oh, we're going to put some big guys together.

36:56they're going to have a hoss match, whatever. It needs these moments of like, was that supposed to happen? To feel mage. Every feud that we remember and love has these moments where we're questioning whether these are just colleagues slash coworkers who are on the same page about every beat of the performance versus little hints of, oh, that was a receipt. Oh, they didn't like that. Oh, they broke character a little bit. We needed that. And I'll take it if it's just in the form of improvise foot on the back versus plus a brush off. I would absolutely take that. Yeah. I thought the same thing. I thought anything that adds a little bit of spice is fun.

37:41I thought the contrast was super funny. You know, Oba's running, jumping, uppercut thing yeah yo the contrast between how those looked at the end of his match versus brawn versus when he showed up in the ring on monday like he was oba was i would say actually that was the most out of gas i've seen him on the main roster at the end of that brawn match the the zing the same pop wasn't in the uppercuts by the way great match thoroughly enjoyed it um But they were putting in work. And then, of course, he ended up getting the beat down from Bronson. But when Oba came out on Monday, the explosiveness back in those uppercuts, man, in moments like that, he's magic.

38:31Yeah. Those moments are exactly why it felt like too much too soon. But also, that's why you got to trust the guys in the room to be like, yeah, it's been three days, but here's the rocket. we strapped it on this guy now you just sit back and enjoy the show is there is there a realistic person you can say oba is the next blank i mean brock lesnar is the obvious comparison just because um that's how they positioned him yep of course um it's the obvious and he is similar but different he is similar but different he's brock can't talk right like brock he a little bit like occasionally he's had a moment and and in his old age he started showing character and be remember the boombox brock like funny stuff started happening later oba is like 10 months into the roster and he's one of the best talkers they have like this is a different animal yeah who, who, cause you're right.

39:37When you throw in the dominance, Oba might just be another one of one guys. I mean, I know we like to look for that next whoever, but you know, when you're as dominant as a Brock Lesnar, you know, as crisp in the ring for your style as anybody. And you're that good on the mic. How about this? How about this? Might not be anybody. How about this? Really big guy. International. one name could easily get called one name immense superstardom the next Andre the Giant now he got Andre on the talking too I gotta say he's got Andre everything he's got Andre on everything but I that's for sure but I just mean in terms of the um because none of these comps are equal right i think you could argue i have i in my brain i have thought he is brock i've thought he's hogan and now i'm sitting here saying he's andre what we're saying is there's not really enough superlatives for what obafemi could be because he what you're what we're saying is he could be the biggest like and not because because no one specifically him he because he has the size and athleticism that's close to Brock.

41:00I'm not convinced he's the athlete Brock is. I would say that's the one. I'm still not sure. I'm not sure I'm going to end up thinking he's the same level athlete of Brock. But I also don't need that because he's so much better a character. Like from a talking standpoint, he has the chance to have so much more depth than Brock. So he's like, all of these guys, he has things they have and then he has other things. He's just got the tool belt is like, it's crazy. Yeah. John in Chicago wants to talk about Oba. What do you got, John? Hi, yeah. Hey, how you guys doing? First time calling, all time listening.

41:42Thanks, John. Hey, I just want to say about Oba, watching these beatdowns happen on him, I feel personally, he can't keep going at this alone. And I keep looking at Paul Heyman just constantly orbiting what's going on. My personal desire is for Brock Lesnar to come back. I know he's supposed to be retired, but he was supposed to retire last time too. Come back, make the save. Make the save, and then there you have your money in the bank, you know, money match. And every time I look at your conversation about who Oba reminds you of, I don't know if he – I won't say he reminds me of him, but he's who they wanted Braun Strowman to be.

42:29And if Braun just didn't have that itch that Oba has, and I'm going to let you guys have it from there. Thanks for taking the call. A lot of interesting things to take from that call. The feedback. The one thing I'm going to take, though, the most, SUG, is that it's the thing I am amazed by. He mentioned Braun Strowman. Yo, I cannot believe how great a host on TV, Braun Strowman is. Yo, I love that show. I love the show. Braun Strowman, bro, they didn't know what they had with Braun Strowman. No. They didn't know. Yeah. He's perfect. Yo, Braun Strowman, it turned out he could have talked like Opa.

43:14We didn't even know. No, we didn't. Because I'm watching him host a show and I know what, I literally know what it takes to do exactly what he's doing and he has it. Yeah, he definitely does. Like even I think about like these influencers who sit down and like, oh, you have to try this new restaurant. The food was so good. It's like, you know, he describes every bite. Every tell you how it's you can you can get the smell. You can get you can get a feel for how it feels just off of how he's describing it. And then he actually looks like he's enjoying the food. like there was this controversy about guy fieri and that he like he doesn't even eat the food he just every shot cuts away before he takes a bite no brawn's running through this meal guys he's making you want to go and and race down to these restaurants and have that meal if if you're listen your dvr is probably cutting off smackdown anyway tape everything on the menu afterwards you get the end of smackdown yeah and you get he's so good but no i don't think brock lesnar's coming back.

44:17Although one day the idea of Brock being a part of a story, or some sort of Apollo Creed to his Rocky, I don't hate that. I don't hate the idea of them like having some sort of friendship later, but that time isn't now. Brock just left. It's not happening. It is a very special episode of Cheap Heat Live, right here on WWE Radio. I just want to say that my heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go to the victims and their families. You know, all my life I've always wanted to do something special To be considered an American hero And after winning the Olympic gold medal at the Olympics Some people would consider me to be an American hero But after watching this terrible tragedy Now I know who the true American heroes are They're the police officers and the firemen And the doctors and nurses And the paramedics and all the people that stretched out their arms to help the victims and their families.

45:18They're the true American heroes. They deserve a gold medal. Or better yet, they earned the right to be called Americans. It's true.

45:36SGG, how you feeling? How's the birthday going so far? So far, so far so good. I got to say, though, with all the 25 years of 9-11 stuff, I know we talked a little bit about paid school and we joked and we had some laughs earlier. I was feeling some anxiety about today. But that's why people come to Cheap Heat. They come for the comfort and the good times and to hear about all the things we love and all the things we think are great. So I'm glad I didn't try to just isolate. I'm glad that this was a part of the Greg History Week festivities. Yeah, I do. I think that it's a, this one feels heavier than the others for sure.

46:19You know, every 9-11 has a feel, but this one definitely hits. And one conversation I saw people having a bit more this year was how like there is a generation of people where it just doesn't resonate the same way. like these these like young youngs the gen z's and they're not fully get getting what's happening here it's like they've seen so much crazy shit on their phone i don't think they realize what crazy really is yeah because because in their eyes like no i see crazy stuff every time i've seen war videos i've seen this i've seen that and it's like no no you don't multiple attacks happening on US soil now particularly if you're in New York or in DC because we didn't even talk about the Pentagon also yeah and then flight 93 in Pennsylvania was on its way to the capital and I always think about that like had the capital or White House been hit that imagery would have also been a whole other insane thing to sort of process yeah So it's interesting to think about an idea where there's a generation of people who it may not really resonate for in the same way.

47:44But yeah, at our age, it was a crazy, crazy period of time. And not just that, but moving forward. and yet one of the questions is as a society we always say never forget and yet everyone forgot everything like never forget the memory, sure people did that but never forget that Americans for the most part because there were certainly some bad moments but that a lot of people came together and put aside differences to say hey this was a really scary moment and i just want to be there to help like my fellow man especially in new york in new york in particular that has been forgotten about in a real way so that's the upsetting because they're really there did seem to be this bizarre like unifying moment um and yeah that i don't think we honor people we forget about that the day-to-day effery that is America in 2026.

48:56But one of the things that was there to distract you on that Thursday was SmackDown and coming up in the final half hour of the show, we will talk to JBL about that and about triple mania and SGG. Before we get back to the phones, eight, seven, seven, three, four, four, four, eight, nine, three. If you want to talk, jump in on the OBA conversation, our perpetual heel Cody conversation. you want to wish sgg a happy birthday you want to talk triple mania whatever you want to talk about 877-344-4893 kelly will take care of you but in the meantime sgg are you going to be locked into triple mania tonight i'm going to be locked into both nights of triple mania um but tonight you know we always have this talk of is night one more special than night two which one's the night to see i think and this is no disrespect to night one but with all the El Grande the El Grande of it all Dom and El Grande is the one you want to see well it's hard to not that's a tough that's a tough one to not be hyped for I'm going to ask you a question that I plan on asking JBL later is tonight the biggest match of Dom's career or Sunday sorry the biggest match of Dom's career So far, yes.

50:24Right. Because, I mean, this is his this is going to be his moment. Right. He's he's the top of the brand. He's the champion. Win or lose, it's going to be his time to like show out and really show what he can do in that main event world championship level spot. because, you know, everybody can say, oh, well, El Grande's in the same position and he's the challenger. Is this going to be the biggest night of his career because he could potentially win a world championship? And I say no, only because we had that incredible mask versus mask match. That's going to live forever. Oh, it will. Let's just be real.

51:05It's going to live forever. Yeah. And that was also this year. So I think El Grande is good no matter what happens tonight. but this is really Dom's moment to show that he, A, is El Grande's equal, but also he's ready to whatever that next level looks like on Raw or SmackDown or the main roster. Well, let me ask you the question. If it's not tonight, what would be Dominic's biggest match? Cena? His dad? Yeah.

51:42That WrestleMania? Yeah, his dad at WrestleMania with the sick entrance. That was pretty fire. That certainly had more eyeballs. But this moment, like, first of all, I assume, and I could be wrong, but I assume El Grande Americano is going to win. I have the same assumption. So in a lot of ways, it will be the true culmination of an iconic story And Dominic has held this title for a long time. And so he gets to be the heel. He's like the final boss in this story for El Grande Americano. You know? And it's Sunday night, main event, Mexico City. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, his match in Mania was super cool.

52:37His match with Cena was super cool. Neither of them were main events. Neither of them were all about him. I would argue tonight is the night, the biggest night so far in the career, or Sunday night again, sorry, is the biggest night in the career of Dominic Mysterio so far. Yeah. Yeah, it is. And especially when you talk about the Rey Mysterio and the Cena moment too, yes, those were Dominic's matches and moments, but he had a crew with him too. He has a crew in AAA, so it's possible they still get involved. But at some point, Dominic has to get all the shine and all the love for himself.

53:19And that's what's going to make this moment big. It can't just be Dominic as part of a crew. So the rest of the card, by the way, if you're wondering, first of all, you got the tag team match on Sunday as well. War Raiders against Priest and Truth, plus another TBD tag team match. You have a Mexican street fight, SGG. There's a lot of clowns, by the way, this weekend. I just want to be clear. Psycho Clown. You got Psycho Clown. You have the Psycho Circus, which is Dave the Clown, Murder Clown, and Panic Clown. um there's a lot of clowns you have roxanne um in a title in a four-way title match yo there's all there's a lot of a lot of really cool stuff here does does roxanne need a title to be on par with her judgment day i'm sorry cohorts i believe i believe sorry i believe the roxanne match is to win and get a title match at worlds collide um here's the thing i feel about Roxanne and I felt this way for a minute I would like to see Roxanne go on a real triple a run um I don't think we're getting the most out of Roxanne Perez right now and I feel like we are so chock full of talent on the woman women's side that while she plays a pivotal role for the judgment day SGG she's at like such a critical place of development in her career I would kind of rather see her go on maybe a six month run in AAA and really do things down there.

55:04What do you think? I agree. I agree. Especially when you look at the collection of women that she's with in the Judgment Day. Even the collection of individuals, right? You could throw JD and Dom in there also. She's the youngest, I believe. But she's like a super veteran in terms of like ring IQ, her experiences. So she could very well. She's the prodigy, SGJ. She's the prodigy. Absolutely. And they call her that for a reason. And she could have very well been their centerpiece in terms of we're going to put the title on her and protect her and have her be the one. So I agree with you. Send her down to AAA and have her realize that potential in a real way in terms of championships and responsibilities can't hurt.

55:49yeah that that's that's kind of where i'm leaning right now so i'm curious if whether or not she gets that match i kind of think she will now the thing is the problem will be if she ends up going on a triple a run they'll probably still use her in the same role on raw and i would rather not do that i'd rather get her off of tv let her go be a boss in mexico and then come back when there's room for her to be like really but i saw a stat the other day i don't know if it was true because it's a wrestling stat so why would it be true if i don't verify it it's not true thank you yeah you are the stat guy it was like she lost like her record this year on tv or something was like oh and 29 or something like that or one in 29 that's crazy but also i don't remember her winning much I was going to say, is it possible though that all Roxanne does is lose?

56:46Yeah. It's on the table. It's possible. It'd be unfortunate, but it's possible. I'm going to ask. I wonder if AI would tell us that. AI won't know. AI's going to kill us all, but at least it could give us some Roxanne Perez stats beforehand. Yeah, I'll take some Roxanne Perez stats on the way out. You know what I'm saying? What was the last time that Roxanne Perez won a match on TV? I'll say on TV. I'm making it easier for AI. Like, because before you kill me, I want to be nice to you. Then I want them to think I strike you not too hard. Right. Right. it says it says Roxanne's last televised win was on June 8th on an episode of Main Event where she beat Maxine Dupree I would like to be the first to say that that is on TV yeah yeah ask them what the next recent one is see if we get one on Raw okay what about on Raw.

58:04Because, yeah, main event, that didn't really hurt my argument at all. No. Main event, maybe it didn't even happen. She has lost, according to AI. She has not won a singles match in months going back to the first half of the year. She's lost most of her main match matches this year.

58:35She lost to Stephanie a few weeks ago. It says, would you like to check out her all-time win-loss record? No, that's depressing. It's going to be depressing. All of this has proven my point, though. Roxanne is going to be an all-timer. And I'm not some big win-loss guy, but you can't have someone lose every match forever. Like that's at a certain point, it starts to be problematic. Yeah. Well, here's the thing. You can, but it has to be in service of something, right? So like if somebody is losing and then the crowd is rallying behind them, you can do that because that gives you something to build off of.

59:19But if somebody is losing and we aren't even noticing, then it's like how far or like how close a day to that line where people will start to disrespect their work and say, well, this person is just a jobber and this is like, now they're in a box and they can't get out. In 2024 in NXT, Roxanne Perez was 31 and 10. In 2026, according to the internet, so it's not exactly right, but it's close. She is 4-21.

59:57That is absolutely awful, and God bless you. Thank you, SUG, and happy birthday to you. So I am here to say, Roxanne Perez, star of AAA, I'm here for it. Come back and be the dominant prodigy that she is, because she is so damn good. I think Roxanne has everything. Agreed. And I want to see... You'd be crazy to say otherwise. You'd be crazy to say otherwise. Crazy. You'd be nutso. back to the Dom of it all Lindsey in North Carolina wanted to join us to talk about Dom what do you got Lindsey? what's going on gentlemen? thank you Lindsey I will give the devil this dude Dom has kind of been he has done his thing so much and he plays the evil role so awesomely that you kind of overlook him so I'm hoping he knows it's going to be a great match I think this is going to be Dom's time to really just show up and show out.

1:00:54But he's been doing that already. But I think this is going to be one of his best matches next to Cena because I consider that one of his best matches because Cena won his, you know, he became crowned Drew champion. So I consider that right now one of Dominic's best matches. Also, you hit the point where Ross saying so good because I'm tired of Liv. I am so tired of her, but my thing of it is I would love for Roxanne to go down to AAA, become a champion there, show up and show out, then come back and doggone outshine Liv where they have a rivalry. I'm tired of Liv. Listen, I hear you. I hear you.

1:01:43You can only hear a greatest world, greatest women's champion of all all

1:01:53all all all time I get it I mean listen only for so long only for so long you're supposed to be sick of it at this point and great but they did have a fun match man I will tell you it's funny the live character to me and the live wrestling are like on an inverse, have an inverse relationship. How so? I think the wrestling's only gotten better. I don't think the character's taking the same steps as the wrestling.

1:02:29I agree. To the caller's point, she manages to make it good anyway because Liv has an incredible it factor and the wrestling's really good. But the complexity of heel Liv, it has not particularly developed recently. the impotence, the why. What is Liv's why? You see what I'm saying? Yeah, I agree, especially considering the fact that when she did come back as Heal Liv, her why was to get revenge on Rhea and take everything that she had and step into that role. And she did so seamlessly, but now that she has and she achieved that, what else is there? What other reason is there? What's the motivation?

1:03:17But you know what's funny? In a lot of ways, it's sort of like my conversation about Roman. It is hard to just win, win, win, win, win all the time. And Liv does a lot of winning. It makes it harder that they're both on the same show, doing a lot of winning a lot of the same ways. Let's go to – who do we got here? Let's go to Bill, our buddy Bill in the 416. What up, Bill? Hey there, guys. when I heard you say 4-21, I was thinking that was a Giants record in the past 25 games. I'm hoping Sunday night, my Cowboys are going to make it 4-22. Now, as for, I want to tell me, which was worse this week?

1:04:06Cody not pulling the trigger on Randy? Or Drake May throwing that pick when he had a game-time field goal in his back pocket? it's it's it's a great take for you from you it's a great point because cody had the match won cody's cody's mistake is actually worse because cody had the match won drake may had a tie in his back pocket but he didn't have it won he would he had the opportunity to tie the game which they would have done instead throws off his back foot terrible interception and they lose the game. But Cody literally had a guaranteed win, SGG, in front of him. If he had just punted Randy Orton in the head, we're not having this conversation.

1:04:56Yeah. And mind you, gave him the punt that he deserved right to the head. God, it sucks when you deserve to be punted in the head. No one wants that. No. Now, SUG, any big Rosh Hashanah plans tonight? No. I don't have any big plans. No one invited you to a Rosh Hashanah dinner in the Philly area? Nobody invited me to – nobody sent me arugula or nothing. Just nothing. Not arugula to be found? Not a one. That is a really sad situation because I'm sure in Philadelphia, There are tremendous, tremendous Jewish goods to be consumed. Yeah. I'll take a black and white cookie. I don't even need to go crazy with it.

1:05:52It's something. Speaking of Jewish foods from Philadelphia, Dipperstein, I'm told, will be back with us next week after what has now been a relatively extended hiatus. I heard from him earlier today. He wanted to be here, was disappointed he couldn't be, but said he believes that the return of dip will happen in all of its glory next week. Now, SGG, we do have also some qualifying for Money in the Bank that's already taken place. Braun Breaker has found his way into Money in the Bank. Do you see him initially as a name? Do you think about Braun Breaker as a favorite potentially in Money in the Bank?

1:06:38No. No, just because of the shenanigans that he's been getting into. Oba's not going to take that lying down. Granted, the last time we saw Oba, he literally did take it lying down. That's a really great point by you. You really contradicted yourself well there. He literally was. But I don't. But he didn't take it. Metaphorically, I don't think he's going to take that lie down. Oh, let me say, I don't think he's going to let that slide. and in the no DQ ladder match I don't think Braun's going to be he didn't really let it slide when you think about it because he did push his foot off of him he did and he's been trying to get at Braun and get his revenge but I think it's it might be somebody like is Penta in the qualifying match is he somebody who could potentially obviously Penta has is plate full at this moment because he has himself a world title match coming up on Monday.

1:07:38Yeah. So it's interesting to think about what happens to Penta afterwards because I think SGG if we were making picks here you would not pick Penta to win the world championship. No. Let me ask you a question though. Is there a world in which 946 gets involved? That's apparently Apparently what Royce keys and OTM are calling themselves. And actually SG and I did the work. It's no zip code. It's no area code. It's the first three numbers of the zip code. That's right. Right. Which I, which is a bit of a reach, but it's working. And by the way, that means if you live on the Island of Manhattan and you went with this way of naming your faction of the first three letters of your zip code, that means as SG pointed out, you're 100.

1:08:26That's right. Keep it on it. Was it known? Kelly, did you know that 946 was the start of the zip code? It had nothing to do with an area code? No, I assumed area code until I Googled it Tuesday morning just to inform my Tuesday guys of what it really was. And you told them it's zip code, not area code? I did, yeah. It's the first three of the zip code. Yep. Damn, I was hoping we were the ones who discovered this. Yeah, Kelly's on point, though. Sorry. That's all right. No, you're a pro. We knew you were a pro. Yeah. We're really the first to do anything. um so but sug do you think there's a chance that in the main event on monday this huge main event that they're hyping on raw to make it feel like a ple main event practically right it's it's the title defense that that took an entire lucha tournament for us to get there any world in which you see the 946 get involved no just because two things right romans title defenses this time around has had zero family involvement.

1:09:29And then when you add that to the fact that Royce Keys doesn't really have a problem with Roman per se, because Roman hasn't had any real interactions with him. It's just been like Jacob, Jimmy, Solo, and those guys. I think Royce Keys, his hatred might be so focused that he doesn't necessarily pull Roman into this. Roman gets the benefit of being a quote-unquote civilian because he hasn't really been involved in that. So you are predicting right now as we live and breathe Roman Reigns to go over on Monday? Yeah. Clean as a whistle. Clean as a whistle. Penta looking up at the lights one, two, three.

1:10:12You think Rey is there for Penta, anything like that? Do they lean into that brotherly story there in Mexico City? Rey Phoenix? No, I don't think they... I think Penta goes in alone. He fights valiantly, gets close, and then falls victim to the spear, the one, two, three. My last question for you, SUG, because JBL is coming on next. Rey is headlining night one of TripleMania. Yes. Dominic is headlining night two of Triple Mania. Have we ever seen a father-son or mother-daughter combo main eventing an event like this? I don't think we have. I don't think we have. I can't remember this. You're the stat guy, so you marinate on that.

1:11:06In the meantime, we have something I'm very excited to do. Obviously, today is the 25th anniversary of September 11th. A guy who was in WWE at that time was on the show on September 13th is JBL. He'll also be at TripleMania, and he'll join us next. USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! Tonight, the spirit of America lives here in Houston, Texas.

1:11:46On behalf of everyone here in the arena and a worldwide television audience, we would like to extend our condolences to the victims and the families and friends of the victims of the terrorist acts that occurred on Tuesday in New York City and Washington, D.C.

1:12:12our nation's leaders have encouraged us to return to living our lives the way we normally do our nation's leaders have encouraged us to continue to live our lives the american way

1:12:32they've encouraged us to practice and exercise our constitutional rights and as such tonight I believe this is the first public assembly of its size since the tragedy of Tuesday

1:12:55Make no mistake about what, and make no mistake about the message this public assembly is sending to terrorism tonight.

1:13:15And that message quite simply is that we will not live our lives in fear.

1:13:28The citizens of Houston are not afraid. The citizens of Texas are indeed not afraid.

1:13:41And by God, the citizens of the United States are not afraid.

1:13:50For we are a proud people, proud of who we are, proud of our nation, and damn proud to be Americans.

1:14:02USA! USA! USA! USA!

1:14:12And we will fight.

1:14:21We will fight for our families. We will fight for our rights. And we will fight for our great nation.

1:14:36America's heart has been wounded but her spirit her spirit shines as a beacon of freedom a beacon of freedom that never has been nor ever will be extinguished

1:14:58the World Wrestling Federation The World Wrestling Federation would like to thank each and every one of you here in the Compact Center tonight.

1:15:10The World Wrestling Federation would like to thank each and every one of you watching on television. We would like to thank you for the honor and privilege of performing before you here tonight.

1:15:43The magest wrestling show to ever exist. Welcome back to cheap heat live on WWE radio. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to cheap heat live here on WWE radio on this Friday, September 11th. It has been a really interesting show, obviously a ton happening in wrestling, and including this weekend, of course, as we've talked about throughout the day, a big weekend when it comes to the luchadors of Mexico, of AAA, of the world, of WWE. It is all happening. You got SmackDown Friday in Mexico, followed by TripleMania Night 1 in Las Vegas. You got TripleMania Night 2 in Mexico City. He got Raw in Mexico City on Monday.

1:16:31And the man who will be calling all the action alongside Corey Graves is a good friend of mine, John Bradshaw Layfield. JBL, welcome back to Cheap Heat, man. Hey, Peter, it's fantastic to be on with you. You know, you hold more titles in WWE than Jerry the King Lawler, so it's good to be on here with a fellow wrestling god. Thank you. I appreciate you always pointing that out. It's something I'm very proud of, and I know the wrestling world is very proud of as well. and jerry lawler is very proud of as well and the king the king has always been touched by that i know um now before we now before we get into i'm trying to think of the order no let's do this let's start we already mentioned this weekend let's stay with the weekend first of all how excited are you for triple mania and and how cool has this whole experience been for you john this has been awesome you know i went down and i did some stuff with dorian redahl now you know I worked in Mexico years and years ago, back in the early 90s.

1:17:29So I have a bit of a history there. Of course, the history with Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio as well. So there's a lot of connections with the Mexican wrestling and the Lucha Libre. And I was working some down there with AAA, and WWE took over AAA. So I figured I'm out of a job. And they said, well, you stay and do commentary. And I was thrilled. I mean, absolutely thrilled. I'm having literally the time in my life. I'm having as much fun calling this show as I've done in anything in wrestling. You know, I love the AAA. I love the Lucha. You know, growing up in West Texas, you know, we had this huge Spanish influence.

1:18:03So it's something I'm very familiar with. But I also enjoy working with my good buddy Undertaker down there and Jeremy Borash. Yeah, no, big kudos to Borash and Taker. It's been an unbelievable thing to watch develop. Some of the best stories we've seen in all of wrestling. How do the fans treat you, John? I mean, you were a bad guy so often to heroes in Mexico, but now you play this big part in AAA. And obviously the fans in Mexico are such appreciators of the craft. How do they treat you when they see you in the airport and see you walking around town? It's unbelievable. You know, I was always been a bad guy heel down there.

1:18:38I was a bad guy my whole life. But most people will say in real life. But that's up for debate. but when I go down there as a worker and I was going down there as first I mean, people just went crazy booing me and it's so funny now I'm going down as a commentator like oh, there's our guy so it's a complete different dynamic it's kind of an appreciation like you say, the Mexican fans they're as passionate a group of fans I've ever seen in my life it's unbelievable how much they love their lucha and they know now that I'm just one of their guys one of their commentators so it's completely flipped 180 degrees now it's the welcoming guy like oh there's the guy that we've we've loved to hate our whole life um it's a crazy lineup by the way it starts it starts tonight in las vegas then night two will be sunday night because of course they tko has the big fight the ben garcia fight on saturday night in vegas but like this is just it's really a a dream card so many big talents in triple a also mixed in though are sort of the perfect wwe talents and then the main event for the whole thing, El Grande Americano against Dominic for the mega championship.

1:19:50Obviously, we know El Grande Americano is a made man. We've seen it. I mean, he is a special sort of guy down there. But Dominic's in pretty rarefied air down there as a villain as well. Could you argue this is the biggest moment? Sunday will be the biggest moment in Dominic's young career? 100%. There's no doubt about it. You know, I tell you, it's pretty cool. Well, you've got Rey headlining, Rey Mysterio, his father headlining tonight, Friday night. And you've got Dominic headlining on Sunday. So you've got father and son headlining Triple Mania. So pretty much the Mysterios own wrestling. They don't like each other, but they pretty much own wrestling down in Mexico.

1:20:30And I think this is the biggest moment of Dom's career. I thought he did an incredible job, as did Americano, in the mask versus mask match. I'm sorry, I thought Americano did a great job with that. I thought Dom has done a great job in everything that he's done leading up to this. And I'm very excited for Dom. When I saw him when we were in WWE and he first came in, and he just had turned heel. And he cut some promo in Spanish up in the northern United States. And there was almost a 90-something percent crowd that didn't speak any Spanish probably whatsoever. No one understood what he said. The way he said it, he got booed out of the building.

1:21:13And I'm sat there, I watched him, and I asked Ray, I said, where did he get that feel? You can't, because you can't teach that. And Ray's like, I don't know. He's had it since he was a kid. You know, Dominic is seriously a very special individual. I'm very excited about this match for him. To be such a great heel and one of the rare heels that gets truly booed, and to be the son of someone who, as far as I know, has never been a heel in their entire career, at least on a big level. It's a really incredible contrast. That's because he's a damn prima donna. You know how these baby faces are? They're all prima donnas.

1:21:53Yeah, that's exactly right. That's exactly right. They never want to make the guys like you look good. They have all the demands in the world. It's unbelievable, these good guys. like oh they want car services they got to have their makeup with them they got to have their little selfie circle lights cameras and all that stuff they do it's ridiculous dealing with these baby-faced prima donnas i've dealt with them my whole life now uh you were you were very involved um and really in the middle of your biggest ascent um in wwe on this day uh 25 years ago Before we get to the SmackDown that followed, which really was the first big event in the U.S.

1:22:34post 9-11, it happened two days later on Thursday the 13th. Take us through your actual day on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. Where were you? Sure. Within Houston, I was staying somewhere there on interstate. I guess it was 10 or is it 10 on the west part of town where we always stayed. and you get up and turn on the TV like everybody did that morning and you see something. I thought it was a movie. And then all of a sudden you realize that it was a terror attack that happened against the United States. First time since Pearl Harbor, they think of that magnitude had happened. Then you see the second tower hit.

1:23:12And at the time, you didn't know if the whole world was going to be on fire or not. You didn't know if this was one-off. You didn't know if there were going to be coordinated attacks all over the country. You had no idea what was going to happen. And no one did. I mean, they shut down the airports nationally. It was a crazy, crazy time. No one knew if there was a second wave that was coming. Because we were in Houston, I drove home. I didn't know how long we were going to be there. I had no idea. And I had the option of that because I lived close. Most guys had to stay in Houston because the airports were closed.

1:23:46Then we decided that we were going to run the show, Vince did, along with the military guys. and people that were there at part of Houston had decided that they wanted to run the show. And it was the first mass gathering. And we didn't, we had no idea. I mean, security was not seamless like it is now. You didn't have security that could come in and sweep the place so easily. There were dogs everywhere. There were cops everywhere. There was military everywhere. We didn't know if anybody would show up. We had no idea. You know, and then we get there and it's almost like America said, this is where we're going to stand up.

1:24:23Not America, but the Americans that were there, everybody that showed up had an American flag, it seemed. It was an unbelievable moment to be a part of. Then Lillian Garcia got out there and she has such a beautiful voice anyway. I think it was God Bless America. I don't think it was a Star Spangled Banner she sang, but there was hardly a dry eye in the building. People were chanting USA. You know, it's just a feel-good show. You know, baby face is over. Everybody feel good. But it was unique in that, you know, we couldn't go fight. We couldn't do much else. We could put on a show. And that's how we felt going into that show was this was what we were going to do, at least a little bit, for America.

1:25:02And it was so great to be a part of that. I think everybody who was there was a part of it. You know, and about a few days later, you know, I was so moved by the whole thing, as was everybody. I called WWE headquarters and I said, I'd like to go down to ground zero and just help, whatever I can do. If I can help clear rubble, whatever I want to do, I want to help. And Vince called me shortly after. He said, if you're going, the whole company's going. And that's when we went down to 9-11. We were the first group, I believe, to go down to 9-11. There was a basketball team that was going that day, and there was some type of anthrax scare or something like that.

1:25:40And they decided not to go. So it was just us. So all the superstars went down there. And Vince had done a lot to help the firefighters out with merchandise, with food, all the stuff for the restaurant that he had on Times Square. And so we got within – the building was still burning. There were bodies still not recovered inside. And we were down there at ground zero. So it was a really unique time. And I was very proud to be part of WWE, who I felt like had did what they could, at least in some small way, to support our country. That's a really cool story. I did not know all the details of that.

1:26:18And obviously, I have to imagine you guys were all affected. You know, so many people in the locker room have different relationships with New York. But, you know, New York, at the end of the day, is home base for WWE. always has been. MSG was always the home, or at least in the Vince era, it truly became the home. But going all the way back, just so many shows there. So I have to imagine it was an interesting feeling for Vince and a lot of you guys and a lot of staff there to be in Texas with so many friends and family back in New York. And you guys are kind of helpless those first few days to do anything but watch on TV and wait for SmackDown on Thursday.

1:26:57Yeah. And it was really weird because of the connection with New York and the association we had, you know, we have such a good relationship with New York and, you know, not just Vince, but the workers come in there, you know, we were going there into the garden and, you know, we would see the same doctors that were there for the blood pressure for Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. And, you know, it's such a cool thing that we always felt like New York was kind of our home and for New York to be at the epicenter of this, I know It was also a field in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon as well. But, you know, New York kind of caught a lot of, you know, had the most tragedy, unfortunately.

1:27:33All of it was tragic. It was really a weird dynamic, you know. And to be able to see that, to be able to go to ground zero, man, to see those first responders, those guys had been up for days. I mean, they looked like walking zombies. I never had so much pride in first responders and people that do the right thing. You know, not just Americans, but people that do the right thing. You know, these were Americans that stepped up, that were sitting there doing everything they could to try to save lives. Or at least do what they could to repair what was wrong and figure out what had happened. It was an unbelievable thing to see.

1:28:11I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to be able to go down there and both tell all those heroes thank you, but also see the incredible things they were doing. You know, it's just when I watch this stuff today, 25 years later, you know, it's just like it was yesterday that it was just a week later that we were down there at ground zero. Yeah, it's one thing I've been wrestling with this week is that, you know, as much as I've thought about 9-11 over the years, just processing people running towards it. You know, when you see the video of what was happening and to think that there are people out there.

1:28:49I mean, you guys, there are a lot of tough SOBs in WWE. But it is an unimaginable level of toughness and fearlessness to see what's happening and go towards it. I don't know if it's me being older, me having a kid now, whatever it is. But this whole week, I just kept thinking about what an unimaginable task that is that you see the smoke and go, we're going to drive towards that. It's mind-blowing. It really is. It is. It's absolutely incredible. We play tough guys. Those guys were tough guys. And they didn't plan on being heroes that morning. You know, they went to work that day, just like every day they'd gone before in their life.

1:29:25You know, they just went to work that day. And all of a sudden, these great big buildings are coming down, and people are dying. People are literally jumping out of the buildings. And these guys ran toward that danger. You know, and that's just, man, that's just remarkable. You know, you never know. I work with a lot of kids and sometimes kids tell me I'm not very tough and I go, you don't know if you're tough because you haven't had to be these guys were heroes I don't know if they knew it they found out that day Is it generally common practice? I guess the obvious answer is yes but you said it earlier so is it common practice that in a situation where you're doing a show that's clearly meant to be feel good everyone kind of goes into it like hey baby face is up this is what the night is?

1:30:09Oh, 100%. Yeah, there was no doubt. Nobody's going to get any heat, and nobody was going to advance any storylines. And that's one thing that Vince said. Vince said, we're not going to use this to advance storylines. You know, it's not going to be used as a self-serving for WWE show. We're going to use this as a diversion for America and put something out there live, put something out there to show that America is going to go back to normal. And that's one of the things that one of the, it was one of the military guys that had talked to us. I believe he was the Green Beret that was there in Houston, always comes to the shows.

1:30:41And he said, we've got to send a message that you're not going to affect our lives. And this is what we can do for America. It was really cool speech that he gave to us, that this is what we're going to do to show that normalcy is going to happen. And Vince was very adamant about the fact that he wasn't going to advance storylines. He wasn't going to use this show to do anything but be a show for this is America. Thank you. Our lives move forward. Do you remember what your match was on that show? I don't. We were in a tag match. You were. I don't remember what it was. It was a tag match against Albert and X-Pac, APA over.

1:31:21In just three minutes and seven seconds, mind you. Well, we didn't need long. You know, X-Pac could work. The rest of us were old. Hey, John, your voice, it's so great having your voice back in wrestling in a real way. I hate to admit it, but I miss us doing shows together, and I'm deeply sorry that you have to spend this amount of time with Corey Graves, but I love having you back on my TV, and we're excited to watch you tonight and Sunday at TripleMania. Hey, thank you very much. We had a lot of fun together, and I tell you what, the rib on Jerry Lawler, I don't think you went in the title was a rib.

1:31:59It was actually fun and entertaining. I asked Spock, and you did a good job. But the rib on Jerry Lawler has lasted for years. You have more titles in WWE than Jerry Lawler. The best ribs are where he's like, okay, but then he starts explaining it. He doesn't just laugh it off. It actually burns him a little bit, which is awesome. That's your favorite kind of rib. John, thank you so much. Hey, thanks, Peter. Good talking to you. All right, big thank you to JBL for making some time, man. You know, listen, I know there's always been controversy around Vince's sort of the show must go on mentality.

1:32:38And obviously that's that's reared its head in different situations in which, you know, on multiple occasions have been viewed in different ways. And I get it. You know, it's a fair conversation to have each time. I do think when you look back at this, though, September 13th, 2001, the decision to run SmackDown that Thursday, I think it is one that looks good and has aged well. Obviously, we know that baseball and football would come shortly thereafter, but not until after that following weekend. So as you sat there on that Thursday, everyone's in the house. everyone's just watching tv and as you guys may know this is a time when i'm out i'm not watching weekly ww television at this point i wish i had been because that that's how deep i was in just sort of the the despair and sadness of everything that was going on so i to run that show on that thursday when you already spent because remember it happens tuesday morning so it's all of tuesday all of Wednesday, all of Thursday.

1:33:47So many people are so scared. To have that bit of entertainment, I'm sure was special for a lot of people. And speaking obviously of wrestling with regards to 9-11, we have to take a moment to shout out Thea Trinidad. Thea, obviously, Zelina Vega, however you know her, Rosita. Thea Trinidad, of course, her father, Michael, was a telecom analyst and he worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and he was on one of the upper floors of the World Trade Center. And always think about Thea today. She's paid great tribute to her father many times, but we're thinking about him and her and her brother and her family, her mom today.

1:34:41So shout out to Thea Trinidad and her father, Michael. We lost that day as well. Guys, thank you for being here on this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. We do have a great wrestling weekend ahead of us. Triple Mania tonight and Sunday. We got the boxing tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it. Incredible tennis, by the way, tonight. If you're into tennis, the Shelton Tiafoe match is going to be amazing. And also, of course, all my Jews out there. Happy New Year. I hope you have a great Rosh Hashanah dinner should you celebrate. We'll catch you guys next week. Stay mage and enjoy yourself.