Interview with NXT's Cruz Montana, plus previews of All In: London, Heatwave & Ep. 100

28:32O'Shea:I've been telling my dad, I've been telling my dad, sorry, TJ, but while the, while the match is going on, what people don't know is that it is a NASCAR crew happening around the ring constantly, you know, and they are on it. They are, you know, a well oiled machine to make sure they get every angle that there's not a spot missed that there is not, you know, timing and everything like that it is a big and then my bio to cut you off there's a constant communication I feel like everyone has an earpiece everyone's talking everyone is talking everyone's communicating and it's beautiful it's great communication is key right especially when you're doing something like that because you know god forbid someone gets hurt boom everyone's on it right you know if there's something yeah so communication especially when you're making a tv show is vital right the the cord guy the cord guy who be holding the cord for the cameras that's an MVP bro my man's wrangling wrangling cords like you know

29:47let's talk about the name though you know because that was something that that was different you The overall presentation, I feel like you're the guy that I've come to know and come to watch. But the only thing really that seemed to change so much is the name. We obviously know that when you move companies, that tends to happen. So I know you probably talked about it, but not with us. So let's talk about how Cruise Montana came into play. So I had made it known that Cruise Montana was pretty much a name that I put together to honor my father. one of the things that my father and I we connected with and bonded with was music and movies that was our thing like every time we chilled every time we hung out we listened to music we watched movies and one of our very favorite movies to watch together that I watched he showed it to me when I was like 10 years old and I remember sitting and he was like you're not supposed to watch this movie but you're going to watch this movie because there's a lot of things you can learn from it and the movie was blood in blood out oh okay right oh good classic yep it's a good classic right so i should have been watching it at 10 years old but oh yeah you know we we puerto rican we get busy differently anyways uh so uh yeah you know in that movie there's two characters there's crucito cruz which is one of the cousins and then there's montana which is one of the high like he's pretty much the shot caller OG for the Mexican gang in the jail, right?

31:19And San Quentin. And the reason why I chose these names specifically was Cruz. If you remember throughout the movie, you know, he gets hurt. He gets addicted to drugs. He loses everything. He loses his family. Everyone turns their back on him. He loses a lot of his art opportunities and stuff like that. And then throughout the movie, he starts little by little gaining those things back. Right. And he starts gaining his family back. He starts, you know, getting back into his art, you know, and things like that. So I almost had a connection to that with my own life. Right. I dealt with the addiction thing.

31:59I dealt with, you know, possibly losing my family, possibly, you know, and I could have lost my my career. and little by little, I did the work. I went to rehab. I got myself right. And I gained all those things back. Um, and then Montana, Montana was the shot caller in the jail. And he was, uh, very like inspirational and always wanting the betterment of his people and wanting to change perception of Latinos in the jail system and wanting us to get educated and, and get out of jail and do better for ourselves and things like that and um yeah so i and that i feel like is what i represent you know what i mean and uh i put those two characters that i connected with on a personal level uh together and here we are cruise montana that's dope yeah man that uh

32:53O'Shea:i definitely saw that movie when i shouldn't have either you know shout out to the homie The homie Chris Parr, the homie Chris Parr, show me that one. Them dropping that dude on that fire hydrant. Anyway. That's a crazy scene. Dude, I was like, oh, man, this is wild. That reminded me, like, years ago, waking up in the middle of the night when I was a kid, and my dad was in the living room watching a movie, and I can remember, you know, going out there. I was probably like four or five. I don't know why I could still remember this, but I remember he's watching this movie, and I saw this dude get his nose cut and it stuck with me my entire adult life until about 10-15 years ago where I actually googled it and found out that the movie that we were watching was Chinatown and that was the part where Jack Nicholson got his nose slit and I didn't know Jack Nicholson at that time I didn't know Chinatown but that one thing stuck in my brain so yeah I was like I probably shouldn't be watching this.

33:49O'Shea:Yeah trauma will do that to you 100 % Yeah But it also reminded me of Juice when Ryder Man's cut. Pac, and he was like, you remember Chinatown? Remember that? And when they caught him in the alley, and he was like, you remember Chinatown? Yeah, so. Got you. Now, you know, you obviously made some waves coming in. Came in a little hot for NXT. is there anybody that you kind of have felt some great chemistry with in the squared circle so far where you like oh man we gonna have some history after all this is said and done here at while being at NXT yeah you got a feeling yeah so definitely Grace and Waller I feel like we had that one match and there was instant chemistry there I think because we both have something to prove constantly and we're, you know, we both pretty much fighting for the same thing.

34:57We fighting for ourselves and we, you know, we're here to represent, you know, and and we both like to hit hard because I remember like I was like, yo, I'm I'm gonna come at you as hard as possible. And I expect nothing less in return. So and I'm glad that's that's what what we delivered. And yeah, so the chemistry was there. We had a good one. Also, I think Tony D and I like we definitely going to have some history for sure. We did a road loop of house shows recently and we all got to work with each other and there was definitely instant chemistry there. But yeah, so far, those those are the main two that like I've gotten to work with and that I feel some kind of chemistry with.

35:41But again, like I've always said, like, I like to adapt, right. With whoever I'm working with. So I like to challenge myself and whoever I get in there with, like, you better come as hard as I'm going to come at you. You know what I mean? So, uh, yeah. You know, speaking of Grayson, I, you know, the word, the phrase pipe bomb, I don't know. I don't want to get to the point where it gets overused, but when Grayson came back to NXT, he dropped the bomb. and it got a lot of people caught in their feelings in that NXT locker room bro so tell me what was your response when he came out hey he ain't talking about me I just got here man I was like like you said a lot of people got in their feelings and I was like good that was the purpose yeah if that didn't light a fire under your ass then I don't know what you're gonna do me you know what I mean like there was a lot of dudes that that that were you know snickering and talking or whatever and and i approached them myself and i was like so what you're gonna do about it are you gonna prove them wrong are you gonna prove them right right so and for me personally i was like i don't like to talk i'm always gonna do my talking out there so you already know like you know it is what it is my my my history and my accolades and all these things you know i'm a humble dude but they all speak for themselves man i've been doing this a long time and I've been blessed to do some amazing things and accomplish amazing things and yeah I'm here now you know.

37:15O'Shea:Bro them Aussies bro they like to hit bro. Oh yeah. No but I said like him coming in and it was like a combination I feel like everyone is talking about NXT right now because the combination of me coming in like you said lit a fire him coming in dropping that that that verbiage caught fire then you had zilla come in boom it was like i felt like we just created a perfect storm right now and uh yeah we're gonna hit we're gonna hit i'm excited i'm looking forward to uh sunday heat wave is gonna be crazy like I feel like heat wave for me personally is the start of a new era for NXT yeah it does seem like NXT every few years has that changing of the guard almost that yeah the new NXT and NXT heat wave this is Sunday August the 30th out of Edinburgh Texas and you will be challenging for the NXT championship against the champion Tony D 'Angelo the man we just spoke about Grayson Waller and the newcomer 10XT, Zillify 2, who claims he's the main one, but I got a feeling that you don't think he's the main one, and I think you're going to go out there and try to prove that you're the main one.

38:36Whoop some ass! I mean, you know, like, again, I've always done my talking in the ring. Like I said, even last night, I said it, I was like, everybody here to talk, I'm here to throw hands. Yeah, I want to bring

38:52O'Shea:that up. I want to bring that up. That was wild. Because those security guards didn't do nothing to you, man. They were in the way. Listen, I said it. When I said throw in, I was talking about whoever's in front of me. It didn't matter. It's on site. But again, going back to Heat Wave, man, Heat Wave is definitely going to be the start of a new era for NXT. And the fact that I'm one of the guys on the forefront and one of the guys that like, I'm going to take a lot of pride in putting this brand on my back. The same thing that I did with TNA is the same kind of work, if not more than I'm going to put in here.

39:33And, uh, I'm excited. And, you know, again, you got three other guys who are hungry, who are passionate and who are coming to work. And you can't ask for anything better than that. The difference, It's, I think, you know, not to downplay any of them, but when I look at things, I feel like I'm the guy coming in with the most experience. I've been, you know, wrestling on television for the last 10 years. I got almost 20 years in the game as a whole. So, you know, I feel like I'm coming in. And not to say that that's something that I'm resting on. If anything, it's making me work even harder. You know what I mean?

40:20And, like, I'm excited, and it's going to be good. And everybody needs to – and not just that match, the whole card, bro. Like, the whole day. I feel like the whole day, right? But Heat Wave, I think we're going to knock the ball out the park and we're going to kill everybody. You talked a little bit about Grayson already. Let's talk about the other two guys in the match. Let's talk about the champ, Tony D 'Angelo. What are your thoughts on him as he's had that belt for a few months and he's another guy who's a friend of the show here. We're friends and fans of Tony. What are your thoughts about him professionally?

40:54I think he's done a great job at carrying the brand. I think he's done a great job. He's been here at NXT for a while. He said it last night. He's the only and first ever Grand Slam champion. Like, those are accolades that you have to give props to. Right, and there's a man on the main roster that people are looking at as the next big thing, and Tony's got to win over that man. I think he also pointed out in Obafemi. Right, right. And, you know, he's done great for himself, and he's going to continue to do great. I have no doubt about that. And as far as Zilla goes, he he he made a heck of an entrance.

41:41A hundred percent. But he's definitely he's definitely an interesting one. Right. Because a lot of people are looking at him and they're like, oh, you know, he's privileged. Right. he's got a last name he's got this he's got that and i hope he's he's taken that as something to to recognize as something that like you better put in work and represent yourself don't coast on the name don't coast on your background none of that like this is a fresh start and i hope he he keeps that in mind you know what i mean um but do you guys think he he does know that because look he could have signed with a big company years ago right because of name but it seemed like you know he did his due diligence he grinded on the indies you know he he put in the work and i think that that's i know something that you have to take tip your hat to zillow because he could have just tried to jump in the next tier wwe right off the bat but he put in the work and i was on i I was on the indies with him.

42:44Right. I was watching him on the indies. We did a lot of the same shows. And I was, you know, I always keep my ear to the ground. So I definitely saw him out there grinding and he was paying his dues and he was putting in work. And I hope he continues to do that. I hope he doesn't think that just coming here is anything different. And I think, you know, Zilla's a smart dude. And I think he's going to do really well. But, again, we – there's four guys in there that are just as equally as hungry. And, I mean, we coming at each other harder than ever, man. Like, it's going to be crazy.

43:24O'Shea:Now, in NCW, all right, no contest wrestling, we have been – especially early in our podcast year, we were the hub for NXT. And I tell people a lot, you know, when you start to feel Raw and SmackDown or kind of going into the same groove every week, that's when you need to start paying attention to NXT because they're trying to steal the torch from the main roster. When you're going into a fatal four-way, first of all, what's that like? But when you all know we got to shut it down. we gotta we gotta not only prove ourselves but show people that the new class of nxt is here what goes into your mind is there communication amongst each other or is it kind of like a nod of just like you know you know i'm about to go hard like what what where's the mindset i think for me again i'm i'm not a man of many words man for me it's definitely you just want to hear yeah for me it's definitely a nod and that's me telling you everything that I need to tell you that's it you know what I mean like again there's four guys going in there with Sun and Proof and at the end of the day yes we are going to make sure with everything in our power that this is the match that's talked about coming out of Sunday and for the whole weekend and going forward we want this match to be the springboard and catalyst to why people start all right now nxt is appointment television like we need to tune in every tuesday to see what's going to pop off and who's going to show up and what matches are going to happen and we got the talent to do it you know what i mean like there's there's a a whole roster full of hungry guys and girls that are ready and willing to shut it down.

45:28And I'm going to say this, I'm going into Sunday with everything that I've got. Everybody else coming after that or everybody else that is behind us or whatever, they better step it up. They better step it up, this whole place. And I think that we're all going in there with that purpose for sure.

45:50O'Shea:I was going to say, talk to us about what the headlines are going to read after heat wave and also talk to us about what the nxt championship would symbolize for cruise montana for me the nxt championship man just you guys know you guys are wrestling guys man like has a lot of history yeah it holds a lot of weight some of the greatest names you know today yesterday whatever some of the greatest names have have held that title me personally i have the experience of being a world champion with with a company and holding a title that has that same kind of lineage so again the same fire and the same fight and the same motivation that brought me to the tna title is what i'm going to use to bring me to the nxt title.

46:49And that for me is going to symbolize the true beginning of that Cruz Montana era for sure. And remember you can watch NXT through CW sports on the ESPN app, which is where you can, you find us and, you know, really good, some really good matches on this card Cruz. We got a, if we could just go down and real quick, we got a submission match between Natty and Jada Parker. We got a unification match, the Women's North American and Speed Championship, where we have Zaria against Ren Sinclair against Callie Armstrong. North American Championship, Miles Bourne is taking on Jackson Drake. NXT Tag Team Championships, Miles is going to have double duty.

47:30Yes, he is. He and Tavion Heights taking on a Vanity Project. And then we have your NXT Championship match, and then the NXT Women's Championship between Kendall Gray and Kalani Jordan. So just to take your match out, like, what are some of the matches you're looking for as a fan to seeing on Eway? Like, who are you looking forward to seeing get busy in that ring? Yo, Kendall and Kalani are going to shut it down. We already know that. Man, who are you telling? Yeah, they already had one. They've been throwing daggers at each other. So that's definitely going to be good. Also, that triple threat for the unification.

48:10Happy Wednesday. Yep. Ren and Daria and Callie, they're going to kill it. That is going to be amazing. Yo, Callie has improved so much from what I've seen. Englewood. Englewood always up to no good. Man, I'm interested to see Miles Warren pull that double duty. I think that's going to be a true test for him. And getting through that, I hope that he looks at it as an accomplishment. and something that he proves to himself, like, all right, I'm ready to go. Yeah. Yeah, looking forward to it.

48:45O'Shea:Hey, we've seen Vakair do double duty, man. You can do it, bro. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Get out there, dog. Also, Cruz, one thing, man, you're up in the Bronx. You're up in New York. What was it like to have the New York Knickerbockers win the NBA champion? I'm assuming you're a Knicks fan. I'm assuming you are. So what was that like? 53 years. so i haven't seen the city that hype ever that in that crazy and like in a long time i think the last time that i could remember being alive and seeing the city that crazy was i think uh subway series 2000 okay yeah that makes sense yankees i remember it was probably big i remember my father went to that game we were living at the time we were living in harlem we were right across the 145th bridge and i remember walking with him to game i forgot what game it was but walking with him to the and it was insane like the streets were so packed and and that was one of the game like one of the series where all the celebrities were there yeah it was just big for the city and it was just wild but that's the last time i could remember the city being that hype and that crazy and there you go man like what an amazing moment but the way the city showed up and showed out for these knicks the entire playoffs it was like you know i'm a sixers fan right so but even so i was still caught up because you know the thing about new york is we love la i love new york i love la but you know la's had its championships baseball basketball more recently yeah we have but you know laker super fan of here but there's something with new york city man When New York City is winning and people are feeling themselves, there's nothing like it.

50:37And that's, you know, respect to any other city, even Los Angeles. But what I witnessed from the New York fans in that city throughout that entire run, and then when you actually won it in that parade, I mean, there's no other place on earth that could have had this type of response to their team winning. And I thought it was just amazing, man. I can't imagine what it felt like to be there. No better story could have been written, man. Like, they, so nice you say it twice, New York, New York, baby. You know what I mean? It was crazy, and I avoided going to the city at all costs. I stood my ass uptown.

51:19Yeah, you're probably smart. You're probably smart. Yo, there was no way, man. Kids was wildin', man. Wildin' ain't the worst, man. Like I, so every Sunday I drive down to the LES to, to look, you know, to check on my grandparents and spend time with them or whatever. And, and yo, during that, that game time, there was some Sundays that I was like, I don't know. FaceTime grandpa and grandma. I tried to think of all the other routes that I could take to get down there because traffic was crazy. All the streets were crazy. Nah, but it was, it was a beautiful thing to see and again just winning and having the city come together like

52:03O'Shea:that man it's a beautiful thing nice my man Cruz bro we gotta let you go man it's always great talking oh oh one more one more one more what's it like because the NXT crowd is very intimate crowd and when they it's just certain ones that they choose to kind of get behind add a little flavor to the entrance that cruise montana how did that feel first time hearing that yo it was it was dope obviously because everybody was i feel like they were they were a little skeptic of the name at first right and everybody was trying to come at the name and then i was like yo yeah i gotta be easy a little bit all right especially when they find out the backstory right until they found out the backstory everybody's like pushing back and it was like oh i didn't mean you know yo shut up yeah yeah first of all that name was dope anyway man cruise montana that's hard as hell i appreciate it now but then then when the crowd started like singing it i think it was like a week or two ago whatever and i was like it caught me off guard i was like oh all right yeah yeah so i mean you know again like wrestling fans are great man like you know whether like you cheer you boo you that's what you're there for right but since i started coming over to nxt man they've showed me love since day one and that's something that like that's i wasn't even from here you know what i mean and the fact that the fact that i came here in that very first match i i came out and had that match with uh with taveon um the crowd was lit the crowd was lit And I was like, it caught me by surprise.

53:46I was like, damn, man, like I ain't even one of your peoples and you treated me like I was one of yours. You know what I mean? And they just welcomed me. And I think that's just a testament to the passion that I put in and that I give out and that energy. And they just gave it right back. And I'm thankful, man. Like, it's it's pretty cool. You most definitely are one of their peoples, my brother. Don't get that twisted.

54:09O'Shea:Absolutely. And you're definitely one of ours. No doubt. Back for the second time, but technically the first. Cruz Montana, man. Appreciate you, man. This Sunday, August the 30th, Edinburgh, Texas, NXT Heat Wave. Our man Cruz Montana will take on Grayson Waller, Zillofa 2, and the NXT champion, Tony D 'Angelo, in a big title match. Failure is not an option, B. Failure is not an option. Let's go. Yo, I'm walking on NXT Champ. I'm calling right now. It's a wrap. That's what's up. Cruise Montana. Cruise Montana, man. Cruise Montana. I'm mad because I know that movie. I know that movie. It never made that connection.

54:55I didn't either, but he made me want to re-watch. So at some point before our next episode, I think I'm going to re-watch Blood In, Blood Out because I haven't seen it.

55:03O'Shea:Yeah, bro. It's like somebody coming out named Smokey Craig. And you're like, why is your name Smokey Craig? And then you go, duh. Then you go, duh. Yeah, man. Damn. Ezell Debo. What? Yeah. Like, Ezell. Yeah, man. And it pisses me off that I didn't put that together. That's hard. Yeah, when they dropped old boy on that fire, I was like, yo. I never looked at him the same again. Never looked at fire like, yo. So let's get caught up a little bit on some of the wrestling, because, you know, we don't want to keep everybody late. long today but smackdown last week man there was some some big things happened um the end of the mfts defeated truth in priest in the tag team championship rematch let's just talk about are they still the mfts yeah they still call them that which i thought was weird but yeah as far as i'm aware yeah but let's talk about this 54 years young our truth is still out there moving like a man half of his age and you know i know a few i guess it was a year ago now when the word come through that truth wasn't his contract wasn't going to get renegotiated or whatever but i think i may mention this one or two episodes ago like everyone loves to talk about who's not defending championships instead of who is i mentioned penta before chad gable beat him and then also our truth and priest man they they had been defending those tag team championships um lost them to the mfts and then my point being though our truth right i i started to say this and i got away I don't know how you don't keep R-Truth around because he's someone that everyone loves.

56:49I can't imagine them losing R-Truth is what I'm saying. Even if you think from an in-ring perspective, like the work has gone down, which I don't think it has. If you've watched in the last few weeks, first of all, R-Truth ages differently than I think anyone else on earth. It's all that spirit. whatever it is dog but like that our truth is still cut shredded rip can still do the things you know doing dives out of the ring and things so i just don't see how if i'm running that company i don't ever want to lose our truth because one the comedic sensibility the fact that everyone loves him the fact that he can help these up-and-coming superstars he just seems like the type of person that you would want in the fold am i off with this no absolutely not and

57:35O'Shea:And then when you got Raw having Dan Housen, and then you can have SmackDown having Truth, you got comedy covered on both shows. And we know that whether you like it or not, that is a big part of the wrestling. And, you know, it's always good to give them a little bit of time, a little bit of shine. I think maybe Dan Housen, I think a lot of people are like, he's just everywhere too much. But it is what it is. If you're hot right now, you know, then you've got to play that hot hand. Oh, WWE, stop making money. Like, it's not just not. Human money. It's not going to happen, dog. And when you got both of them, you know, maybe eventually at a Survivor Series or something, we can get a little bit of truth housing.

58:20O'Shea:Yeah. You know, some R housing. That's really necessary, right? They got to cross paths one time. Got to. Maybe even more than once. But then, you know, the other thing is having the great Haku back in the mix, right? because if you've watched the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, you know, if we've had 100 bar fights, yeah, if we've had 100, which we haven't yet, but if we've asked 100 people who's in their bar fight crew, I think Haku's been named at least 85 % of the time. So there's a group of people who probably never even saw Haku, right? So now to see him come out with his sons kind of adds that legitimacy to this team.

59:01look man you got a seven foot tall of Tonga bro like I've said this before you got to do something with the man and I think they're on the right path right now so yeah the NFTs we're going to see where them and Haku can go we almost had a Blake Monroe match between her and Julia but she attacked her before the belt and Blake still doesn't have a match and I tell you what I could spend about an hour here wondering why that is and what are we doing here with Blake Monroe but I digress but I think everyone gets it uh last legend defeated Tiffany Stratton and then the main event we had CM Punk and Kevin Owens and I think that match gave us everything

59:41O'Shea:that we wanted right listen man there's you know there's there's Def Taxes and Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens right like those two are just like how I used to feel about Bailey and Sasha like it's just Like, how long are we going to get along before we not getting along no more? Yeah, it ain't going to be a long time, and you know that. Yes, wrestling soulmates, and everybody has something to say about the finish. But, like, this is what I'd be talking about. When, if it was up to some wrestling fans, boy, that title would be such a hot potato. It's like, oh, he's from this city. He should win it. Oh, it's funny you say that, though.

1:00:27O'Shea:yeah but like I mean like come on dog I know Punk just literally got it in Chicago that does not mean that KO is about to get it just cause it's in Toronto like we can't do that what's a better what's a deader giveaway than that dead giveaway yeah so now it can cook into something more KO with his wrestling soulmate who's going to put on great matches and at the same time not hurt his friend. It's going to be okay. And it looked like Owens was getting 20 years of frustration out on Punk in the beginning of that match, the way he pie-faced them at the beginning. Those two looked like they was really going at it, though.

1:01:14Again, I was here for it. I was loving it.

1:01:16O'Shea:I was like, yo, Phil is letting him get a lot off. Yeah, this feels very personal, man. But they did, man. And, you know, you got two of the greats of all time, Owens and Punk, and they went out there and put on a great match. Strong performance. I don't think that – I don't know if – have they really had a singles match against each other? I'm not going to have to go back and look at that, but, like, their styles worked. They complemented each other. And then Sammy shows up, tries to help KO. KO doesn't want to help, to which Sammy, you know, hits him in the head with the title. cost him. And then everyone's booing Sammy.

1:01:58But let's not forget how many times has Kevin Owens turned on Sammy Zane? Like, come on. So the one time Sammy decides to get some get back. What's wrong with you? But yeah, it helped to protect Owens. You know, Punk is still the champion. Now we're going to see we're probably going to get a fatal a three-way match. There is no fatal three-way. I don't know what I was just talking about a triple threat. I can think of a few. But yeah, that was a great match. I thought it was a great match and it was awesome. And also, whenever you put a sharpshooter on in Canada, that's a cheat code right there.

1:02:39Of course everyone's going to pop for you. That was SmackDown.

1:02:44O'Shea:Also, I want to bring up Haku for sure dropped an MF bomb. Didn't it seem like he said that? He said MF, bro! And they didn't beep him, right? I heard him say mother... Because now that you bring it up, I was like, did he? And then I went, nah, he didn't say that because they would have beefed it. But I'm glad you said it because now, yeah, we both heard the same thing. He dropped the MF Bob on the USA Network. But yeah, so look, like I said, having Haku in the mix is great. And that's one thing that I've always kind of said. I wish the WWE would do a better job of honoring their legends, you know?

1:03:22bringing them you got all this tv time man and if you're gonna have three hours of tv and only three or four matches then why not give me haku give me some of these other legends that are still around that especially like for the older fans we can look at and say yeah that guy right there and for the knowledge that they can pass along to the the next generation i don't really know how haku could pass it's like this larry fitzgerald was getting is doing his hall of fame introduction speech and he talked about Randy Moss and someone asked him, you know, because Larry used to be a ball boy for the Vikings when he was a teenager.

1:03:57And they said, what did you learn from Larry, from Randy Moss? And he goes, nothing. He goes, what could Randy Moss teach me? I can't do anything that Randy Moss does, you know, and that's true. Randy Moss was the freak. So you can't, yeah, what did I do? I just ran down there and I jumped over four guys and caught the ball with one hand. Like nobody can do that. Same thing with Haku. I was like, you can pass some type of knowledge but really when you're like wanna be if not the toughest man of all time in wrestling what really can you teach you can't teach somebody to be able to take a punch in the jaw and just smile at somebody you know what I mean yeah like man so when you wanna rip a throat out so when you dig somebody's eye out Haku when you bite somebody's nose yeah yeah so but it's good like I said it's great to see because especially for fans of this show friends of this show because his name gets mentioned so much that I'm sure, like I said, a lot of people probably never saw Haku.

1:04:52Now they get to see him, and that's awesome. And then, you know, Ra...

1:04:56O'Shea:Wouldn't it be funny if when we finally have Haku on and we ask him a bar fight question and we say, you know, pick a team of four other superstars to get you to the car, and he would just be like, I'll be all right. I'm good, brother. And then Monday, Ra came around, and I immediately, I forgot that Ra started at 3, so I didn't start watching until later, but I immediately tweeted out, Stephanie against Roxanne, leave me alone. Like, nobody bother me. All right. Yeah. And, you know, Stephanie defeats Roxanne. It was so funny. You had just brought up that same match to me in the DMs. You were like, you know.

1:05:39O'Shea:Yeah, and then, bam, we're all had it. That was crazy. That was serendipitous on your part. So good to see Stephanie back, you know. her and Roxanne and you know I've for months and months said don't worry Roxanne's going to be fine she's going to be fine Roxanne I just saw a stat is like 2-21 her last 24 matches listen what's going on you know we're Roxanne Perez fans here I don't like this and I think the only way to make this right is when that contract is placed in the Halliburton briefcase and that Halliburton briefcase is hooked up to a rope and it gets raised, I don't know, 20 feet above a ring and then six women get in the ring and all try to climb a ladder and fight for it.

1:06:29I think the only thing right is having Roxanne Perez be the one who grabs that briefcase is all I'm saying. Tyrese Halliburton be making the briefcase? That's what they used to call them, Halliburton briefcases. Andre DiGiard used to say. Regardless of it. Roxanne is far too talented, and I get it. You've got to look at it from two ways. One way is, okay, she's on TV every single week, right? And she's got a match that helps with the paychecks, right? But as wrestling fans, as Roxanne fans, it's just like, I can't keep seeing her do the job for everybody. Now, this is Stephanie Bacare. there's no shame in losing to La Primera.

1:07:15It was good to see the devil's kiss again after so long. But Stephanie's going to be fine. For sure, we know that. I always said Roxanne's going to be fine, but we really need to change some things up here with Roxanne.

1:07:30O'Shea:How you feel about Roxanne is how I feel about Julia. Okay. She was United States champion. And now she can't get a dub? Well, at least she got a – well, Roxanne was tag team champion too. So, yeah, it's just, I don't know, man. And then you got other people coming out, injuring superstars. I'm like, you know, I don't want to start nothing. But, yeah, we'll see. But anyway, let's keep going on. Ray Phoenix against Dragon Lee. Hello. Come on now, man. Come on. That was a banger, right? That was a fun, fun, fun match. classic. Bro, it was so like it was so, first of all, I was like, about time they had these two go at it because I've always just felt like they're Ken and Ryu.

1:08:23O'Shea:I'm sure there's some fans You're talking Street Fighter. Right, right, right. Ken and Ryu, almost got the same gear, almost got the same moves but it's a little tweaked. And like, you know, I've just been waiting for these two to scrap and boy man I was on Twitter like yo they're going crazy on Raw right now bro they was hooping like it was it was insane and for Ottawa to be so into it it was undeniable TJ it was undeniable that was a hell of a match and uh yeah we want more of it yeah So what else we got here? And then Obafemi and Braun Breaker had their contract signing. You know, we didn't talk about Oba kind of code switching last week when he imitated Braun.

1:09:15And then this week he called him an orange man. And the funny thing is Braun looked less orange. Braun looked less orange this week than he ever has. So, you know. But, yeah, they got a little brawl going on. And so that was interesting to see. And so we're going to get those two at Saturday slash Sunday night's main event coming up where I'm just going to go out and say it. I think maybe Braun's got to go over first time. Maybe. Kind of has to. Kind of. Because if he doesn't. Kind of has to. He kind of has to. Then what the hell is the point of this? Right. But yeah, we know he's been obsessed with Oba the last few weeks.

1:09:54like you famously said your Gabby Douglas comparison Gabby Douglas to Simone Biles but yeah Braun's still going to be that guy but I feel like maybe he's got to get that dub over Oba if Oba gets that dub and obviously it'll probably be you know some tomfoolery going on it's got to be tomfoolery

1:10:18O'Shea:cause like where do you go like the future versus the future of the past. Like, it is, I don't know, man. But I know if Ole Miss wins. I love what you said right there. I don't know. That's the great thing, right? So many times things get ruined or we can kind of see, we have a clear-eyed view of what's going to happen. Here we don't. And that's a good thing. I'm fine with that. Yeah, I'm fine with that. Big Cass defeat Javon Evans. Look, Big Cass has looked physically imposing, looked like he's in great shape. he's you know he's been doing his thing javon's getting a little bit nastier which i like right he's getting a little bit mean or he's getting a little bit more ornery these are all the things that need to help the evolution of this javon evans character so i'd like the route javon's taking um you know he's seven feet tall hard to beat a seven foot tall man so but javon is doing this thing but yeah cash i do like him a little grittier i hate to say but it's not it's not about what you say it's about how you say it and maybe if kevin nash would have just said i wish he was a little grittier and not call the man mr bojangles it wouldn't seem so bad but like i do like the grittier javon but maybe don't say shit like that i will give based upon what i know about nash i I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say that that was just a, you know, that was a misspeaking.

1:11:52I don't even know if that was just the happiest black guy. But I, I'll say, I don't think Nash meant it that way. He said it, but I don't think he meant it that way. But regardless, uh, Penta defeated La Parker. And we're finally going to get it. And we're getting, we're finally going to see them in the ring together. The world heavyweight title. Number one contenders tournament is now going to be. brother versus brother. We've never seen them in the ring together.

1:12:21O'Shea:Not even at Rumbles. Well, they have gone one-on-one before in other places, just not here. Yeah, that don't count. You know how WWE is. Well, that does count. Mike Santana don't even exist before. But yeah, man. And you mentioned something, Shay. I'm going to give a creative liberty here, right? You mentioned something about someone doesn't always have to win a title in the hometown, but what if? Because I think Penta's going to beat his little brother and he's going to set up the title match on Raw against Roman Reigns in Mexico City. What if? Would they? Could they? Could you imagine the pop if Penta in Mexico were to defeat Roman Reigns for the world heavyweight?

1:13:15Championship. Wrestling is about moment, Shay, right? We all know this. We've seen people win title matches in their own cities, but imagine doing it in a country, an entire country behind you. This wouldn't hurt Roman Reigns. This wouldn't hurt the bloodline if you want to be like, alright, we'll flip it back to him next week, whatever. But, just imagine the sounds and what it would mean in Mexico if Penta were to get that three and win that belt. I'm going to say it like this.

1:13:48O'Shea:It would be an all-time moment. If he was going for Punk's belt, I'd think about it as a possibility. Not to say that Punk can just be beaten by Pinto more than Roman. I'm just saying Phil would agree to that more than Joe. I don't know, dog. I'm just saying, just imagine, imagine if you will, the scene is a Mexico City. It would be crazy. It would be one of the biggest moments in the history, Shea, of professional, not just WWE, the history of professional wrestling. Dog, they would make a Pixar animated movie about it. All right? I'm just saying, bro. It would be crazy. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm just saying, imagine the possibilities if that were to happen.

1:14:38Mexico, oh, my goodness, man. Like, I'm almost talking myself into wanting it to happen. Because again, Roman's on the plane.

1:14:46O'Shea:You thought the legs went crazy? Like we talked about, Mike, if you thought that Cruz Montana didn't want to travel down to the lower east side, imagine trying to get anywhere in Mexico after Penta won the title. Oh, my God. And this is Roman Reigns, right? His spot is secure. A loss is never going to hurt Roman at this point. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm just saying And if I'm writing a fairy tale story, you got it. But what I do know about Roman, whoever wins, whether it be Ray or Penta, and we both feel like it's going to be Penta just because just the size matchup just kind of looks better.

1:15:28O'Shea:And Penta's so hot. Bro, he's about to make sure Penta look good. But, Shea, think about it, too. Think about Penta's entrance. The man has two pinwheels of fireworks. He's got two spinning pinwheels. He's got fireworks. He's smoke. You know, like they've invested a lot into Penta since day one. I don't know, bro. Like I said, is it going to happen? Probably not. But imagine if it does. Like I said, maybe the greatest story ever in wrestling to have this tournament and have him win this belt, bro. so just just something to think about just something to think about um and then you know we got la night and and first of all solo sokoa is the might be the number one baby face in wwe right now right like i know they're still pushing la night he's coming out first but like solo was the one who touched roman first remember back in the day when the usos finally turned on roman it was jimmy who super kicked roman first he was the one who touched roman first i thought jimmy would get the push and it turned out jay got the push he got moved over the raw solo hits roman first and then la comes out and yet it still seems like they're propping up la night for this one it was solo who was the first one to kind of put hands on roman right but solo's doing great work the crowd's loving him uh we saw those two against the usos but most importantly we saw the return of Royce Keys and he did not come alone.

1:17:04He brought OTM with him. And those brothers are looking jacked, man. And a lot of people don't. There's so many people, I guess, don't watch NXT that, like, people come and they're so surprised. I don't understand. But, man, OTM come out. They look great. They just laid waste to everybody. And people are like, well, Royce Keys was just tag teaming. He gave the answer. Nobody came to help me.

1:17:27O'Shea:You left me for dead, bro. You left me for dead. So because of that, everyone's got to pay. I only got two friends, and they're Bronco and Lucian right now. Yeah, now the ring about to look like the goddamn Source Awards. I'm thinking the luck of Lucian by Tribe Called Quest, Lucian Price. Yeah, so. Yeah, now it looked like the Source Awards. Now it looked like we on Saints Row all of a sudden. All right, and it's going down. And I love seeing Royce, the leader of a crew. You know, it looks great, honey. And it's a new force to be reckoned with around here on Raw. You know, an actual tag team.

1:18:06O'Shea:How about that? And then people were complaining again about, like, people were going to complain. They're always complaining. It's like Pac said, many rules of the game, I'm going to share with you too. No, people are going to hate you for whatever you do. How could you not be excited about something like this? This is how The Shield debuted. Not to say that these guys are going to be the shield because that would mean that they are the greatest faction of all time and you got three future world champions. But man, how could you not be excited about these guys just coming in and just laying waste to four of the top stars on the show?

1:18:39It's like, let's go. Everyone wants change. Everybody wants something different. Well, this is something different. So get behind it. Let's see what's happening.

1:18:48O'Shea:Absolutely. I mean, I'm with it. You with it. I'm with it Alright then So yeah I think exciting stuff coming up in the next few months months and weeks but yeah just keep your mind on that man whoever Penta and look we're saying all this watch it'll be Ray Phoenix that ends up winning the match Right after all that Hey hey hey Shay and TJ think Penta will win so let's let's switch let's make it It's like okay Yeah And before we go man let's touch on this. All in. London. I'll touch on whatever I want. It's coming up this week in AEW's for people to know it's AEW's WrestleMania. All in. This is a card, man.

1:19:32Sunday, August 30th. It's going down to Wembley Stadium. Let's talk about this since you brought her up. Some of the matches. Willow Nightingale, the AEW Women's Champion. She's taking on Mercedes Monet in the singles match for the AEW Women's Championship. Boy, oh boy. Boy, that alone should be worth the price of admission right there. Am I wrong? Yeah. Then we're going to have a singles match for the AEW men's world champion. Kenny Omega takes on bruv Will Ospreay, who's wrestling in front of his home crowd. Remember what I just said about Penta winning a world title in front of his home? Yeah.

1:20:08The same thing applies here. Will Ospreay in London going for the AEW men's world championship. I got a feeling. and it would make so much sense for us to hear and knew, but this is Kenny Omega. This is Kenny, by God, Omega. So I don't know, man. My head's, I think my heart's saying Ospreay goes over at home, but my head's like, yo, this is Kenny Omega, Joe. Like, Joe. My mind's telling me no. What's your body telling you? Watch out now. And then we get a tag team match for the AEW World Tag Team Champions, Cage and Cope, Christian Cage and Adam Copeland, against the Young Bucks, the guys who, without them, AEW probably would not exist.

1:20:55So we got that much. And I know you're not a Young Buck fan, man, but I got to be honest, I do appreciate, I do enjoy the Young Bucks. And, of course, Edge and Christian, two of my all-time favorites. I'm really, really interested in seeing this match. I don't know who comes out on top in this one, though, dog. I really don't.

1:21:17O'Shea:It's going to be the Bucks. You think so? No. I mean, I would prefer to be Ed and Christian just because you know this is it. You know this is like. The road being in front of them is much shorter than the road behind them. Yeah. And so, like, as many more times I can see them get some doves. And then, you know, hearing the crowd sing, you know, Adam song like every time. Who's buff? You know, and I love that song, Metalingus, man. A chance to be alive. And when the crowd hits that, my man gets so fired up. I love it. And then they bring Christian out and he just kind of takes the air out of the room.

1:21:58Yeah, he's damn right. So then we got a casino gauntlet match for a future world championship match. Andrade El Idolo versus MJF versus Tommaso Ciampia. versus there's some participants. There's still a battle role going on, so we don't know who's going to finish that. But, you know, whenever you hear AEW championship matches and you see MJF in the mix, you kind of have to always assume that he's going to go over, you know, because that's his standing in AEW, you know. And Continental Challenge Cup final, Moxley versus Claudio Castanoli versus Kyle O 'Reilly or Nigel McGinnis. I should say Moxley or Claudio, because those two are battling.

1:22:41And then we have O 'Reilly against McGinnis. It's great to see Nigel McGinnis come back. You know, his career was kind of stopped by, I believe it was concussions back in the day. You know, when Daniel Bryan, Bryan Danielson was signed to WWE years ago, I remember the story, it was he and Nigel McGinnis who were the two people they were looking at. And I think that, you know, I should have looked this up. I didn't expect to talk about it. But I feel like Nigel had, there were some issues kind of like passing medical that didn't allow him to have that opportunity that Brian had. So it's really cool to see Nigel McGinnis, who truly was one of the great scientific wrestlers of his era.

1:23:22It's good to see him back out. And he and Kyle O 'Reilly are going to go at it. And then, you know, we're going to have a Continental Cup final match there at All In. divine demanding taking on the brawling birds for the aw women's tag team championships man yeah brawling birds is yeah crazy man come on man i am all for that uh you know what can i say the hell of a there's some hell of a women i wasn't that what tony said about Oh, Lord, have mercy. She goes, that's a hell of a woman. Yeah. Tony Storm said that there. What a woman. There's four of them in that match. And then we got Kevin Knight against Darby Allin.

1:24:07False count anywhere for the AWTNT championship. Darby Allin, man, we know he is willing to do any and everything in a match, right? So I can't even imagine what is going to happen. He and Kevin Knight, I think low-key, this could be the match of the night because those two, you know, Darby don't give a damn. And Kevin's starting to, his stock is rising higher and higher and higher as he goes, right? So, man, I think this has match of the night possibilities, Shay.

1:24:44O'Shea:Bro, if I could see Darby Allen versus a prime Shane McMahon. That was one of your matches too, right? And it's like to this day haunts me that I'll never see that. You will never see it. Oh, my God. And then a three-way match for the AEW International Championship. These are three guys that I know I personally love. Kyle Fletcher, the champion. Kanosuke Takeshita. And Kazuchika Okada. Boy, if you could say that shit three times fast. Let's see if I can. All three of them? Let's see if I can. Kyle Rowley. versus Konosuke Takeshita, versus Kazushika Okada. Kyle Riley versus Konosuke Takeshita, versus Kazushika Okada.

1:25:29Kyle Riley versus Konosuke Takeshita, versus Kazushika Okada. I don't know if I did it, but I gave it my best.

1:25:37O'Shea:You almost drowned back there. But yeah, and now speaking of match of the night, there's another one. This one probably, this one probably will be match of the night. I don't know. They're all some good matches. They all going for it too. Yeah, dog. I'm looking forward to that. And then we have a multi-trios match for the AW World Trios Championship. Hangman Page and Brodito, their opponents haven't been selected or chosen yet. I think that'll happen tonight on Dynamite. We'll get to know who those guys are going to defend the trios championship against. But again, Hangman, Brodito, Bandito and Brody King, man.

1:26:16Like Bandito, something I realized about Bandito. He's not that big, but man, he's strong. He's solid. He's solid. My boy's sturdy. He's kind of got that Joe Hendry thing where, like, you don't expect – you look at him, you don't think he's that strong, and then you realize, oh, this dude's stronger than I imagined. So, yeah, man, I'm definitely looking forward to a great, great weekend of wrestling, man. Heat Wave all in. You know, we like to celebrate and support all wrestling. I got two TVs, so I'm going to be tuned into both. And I'm just looking for a great weekend of professional wrestling action.

1:26:57O'Shea:Yeah, man. I mean, if AEW didn't leave me so mentally exhausted after all the pay-per-views, we got to do like a live or something to react to those, man. We'll do that. We have to figure that out. We got to do that soon. Because, you know, there is a – I know there's a group of people that want us to, you know, concentrate more, talk about it more. And we're getting to that. We're getting to that. Yeah, I think if we have a schedule live, too, the views will be there. The numbers will be there because we're setting the time for people to show up. I think we can work that out, plus we can record it and then post it.

1:27:36A lot of things, you know, we're still in the new in the game, folks. We haven't even been doing this for two years. We haven't even been doing this for 100 episodes, And I know that because today this is our 99th episode. Ah, man. We're talking. Congratulations. Congratulations. We're talking Wayne Gretzky. We're talking Aaron Donald. We're talking Aaron Judge, you know, Agent 99. Like, you know, 99's all over. So, but. 99, man. Before we go.

1:28:04O'Shea:Hey, that used to be Michael Jordan on NBA Live before you could be Michael Jordan. Oh, 99. Number 99 player. Right. so we got to give a shout out to our guy cruise montana thank him so much for joining us this is episode 99 and um brother i gotta say man for us to get to 99 episodes like i said we haven't even it hasn't been two full years yet which is crazy the things that we've gotten to do the friendships that we've gotten to make the places that wrestling has taken us it's really awesome man and i couldn't have picked a better person to do it with and uh i'm happy we're we're we're tackling this together my brother oh damn i thought you were gonna say it yeah man it's been great i'm not gonna say yeah i know uh it's fine uh but it's been great oh great i'll wait

1:28:59but we do have our 100th episode coming up next wednesday and uh we wanted to make sure we had a let's be serious, we wanted to make sure we had a really just awesome guest, someone who meant something in the world of professional wrestling, so we put some feelers out, and then you and I kind of came to a conclusion based upon the conversation I had on the Britch Eyes and show there was somebody that we really thought would be dope to have as our 100th episode, as our guest to come on our 100th episode, and so you know what, I'll leave that to you, how about we

1:29:35O'Shea:share with the people who we got next week so for episode 100 of the no contest wrestling podcast for the very first time in the studio in studio for the very first time i mean like the accolade she's she's legendary you know another another trailblazer somebody who who didn't just go with the flow of things and decided to be the straw that stirs the drink. And TJ, I mean, she is one of, if not the greatest of all time. And it's not just me saying that. Bleacher Report said it. Sports Illustrated said it. Sports Illustrated, ESPN says it. Rue said it. Rue said it, yeah. And here on No Contest, we say it as well.

1:30:25O'Shea:We will be joined by the man Becky Lynch. Yes, sir. joining us in studio we will have the man Becky Lynch former Wrestlemania main eventer the first woman to ever win the main event of Wrestlemania and she will be with us and we'll talk about her her storied career her days as a flight attendant the infamous punch the fans really the fans say that sometimes their voices aren't heard where there was definitely a point where the fans had enough and wanted Becky Lynch to be placed on a path that would lead her to greatness. And the fans' voices were heard. There's so much to talk about her being part of maybe the top power couple in all of professional wrestling with her husband, Seth Freakin' Rollins.

1:31:16But, yeah, it's really dope. It's going to be really cool and really looking forward to having Becky join us next week for our 100th episode. What a milestone, man. What a milestone.

1:31:27O'Shea:them yeah uh van bleep told us that we wouldn't know what type of show we were until you're 100 episodes in so take that van bleep we know who we are yes indeed but uh so for everyone else you know i'll let you know where to find us you know if you want to listen for your air gates we you can find us on the espn app as well as spotify amazon music apple music anywhere you listen to podcast on YouTube. If you want to watch us, go to the YouTube Rich Eisen Show page, or just type in No Contest Wrestling. You'll be able to watch every episode from one to today's episode 99. And as always, you know, I guess I have to stress this.

1:32:11Make sure that you like, subscribe, download, tell a friend. Because I, especially after the Awesome Kong episode last week, I'm not, I'm never going to sit here and claim we're the greatest wrestling podcast on earth because I feel like that's a little corny to say but I went in Apple and I saw we were ranked 35 and I'm like gotta be honest with you man especially after that emotional episode last week I don't think that there are 34 better wrestling podcasts than us I'm not saying we're number one but man I don't believe we're number 35 so like I said for all the fans all the friends make sure you like subscribe download leave a comment tell somebody and let's get us up to at least in the top 15.

1:32:55I feel like we deserve that. Boy, ain't nobody doing it like us.

1:33:00O'Shea:Ain't nobody making it as much of a conversation, as interactive as us. And, you know, it's all right. Like you said, for now, the right people are seeing us. And that's important. But, boy, when we get to the top, I'm changing my number on a lot of y 'all. What's it matter? You don't answer calls or texts anyway. Am I right, Don? So it doesn't matter if you change your number. But anyway, that's a story forever. I feel attacked. But I want to show, you know, I'd like to show you my T-shirts. And it's Wednesday. And it's Wednesday. You know what that means. Shout out to the late, great John Huber, a.k.a.

1:33:36Brody Lee. Just wanted to show. Oh, my God.

1:33:40O'Shea:That's a great shirt, dude. Let me get all in here. Rest in peace to a real one right there. He was amazing. I told you, man, before we were talking, and I was such a big Brodie Lee fan. But yeah, so I just wanted to show the shirt because it's Wednesday and you know what that means.

1:34:03Well, happy Wednesday.

1:34:04O'Shea:Happy Wren's Day. Happy Wren's Day. By the way, let's talk about it. I got some things about Wren, too, but we'll save that for another day. Yeah, bro. Y 'all settle down. Anyway, on behalf of me and my podcast partner, make sure you guys have a good day, but not too good. Because who the hell do you think you are? We'll see y 'all on the 100th episode, baby. No doubt. Bye, Miss Parker. You know, her and Natty have a submission match coming up, and I got a feeling Jada might be on her way up to the main roster with OTM and Royce Keys. How you feel about that? Yeah, though.