WWE Now: Is Liv Morgan the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time? | Royal Rumble Recap

26:50But you know what? I mean, regardless of what the plan was, maybe they're not mad at it because it didn't work. Because then vision members start getting eliminated. LA Knight eliminates Bronson Reed. LA Knight eliminates Austin Theory. It is classic Paul Heyman to be like, look, I'm a survivor. And my first guy didn't survive. That doesn't mean I don't survive. I'm going to go with my next guy. True. True. But then as Vision members are getting eliminated, Jey Uso is walking down from the crowd, and all of a sudden, L.A. Knight finds an ally in Cody Rhodes, and they get the beast over the top rope.

27:24Which was stunning. Unbelievable. That all of a sudden, Brock Lesnar, out of the Royal Rumble. And you wonder if Paul Heyman ever considered that Logan Paul would be his one hope, that Logan Paul would be the last man standing, or is Logan Paul more of a visionary than anybody really realizes? What's going on is my question. I don't think Paul Heyman even knows what's going on with the vision. Probably not. And who was on the phone? With Adam Pearce, who was Paul Heyman then on the phone with? Why was Paul Heyman mad when Logan Paul said they should all work together? Why was Paul Heyman mad when Adam Pearce put all of the vision in the Royal Rumble?

28:06I have no idea. I have no idea. Yeah, I think he's playing hard and fast right now. And then how about the people who were stepping up to the Vision? So I think the Vision has a problem, right? Because the Luchadors still have beef with them. Yes. Talking about Rey. Penta. I mean, Rey was amazing for that first section of the Rumble before Obafemi decided it was time for Rey to go. Rey, Penta, and Dragon Lee. But at the same time, LA Knight's now back. He does not like the Vision. And Royce Keys showing up in a WWE ring for the first time. somebody that people were highly anticipating, somebody that I asked you about.

28:41He was on my list of potential surprises for the Royal Rumble. We got him and one of the interactions that he had was straight up with the members of the vision. And if you are now in a position where you don't have that Royal Rumble ticket and you have those five superstars all gunning for you and maybe the general manager of Raw not really willing to cooperate with you anymore, It's just really interesting because two weeks ago, I would have told you that Paul Heyman has everything in hand. And now it doesn't seem like he has anything in hand. Yeah. When he was the one who pointed out that Adam Pearce actually put hands on Braun Breaker first and was able to get Braun Breaker's suspension lifted.

29:21Yeah. I thought, wow, Paul Heyman's playing chess while everybody else is playing checkers. Maybe he's not that good at chess. Maybe he's really good at checkers. But I tell you what, you bring up Royce Keys. He's a force. Yes. He's a powerhouse. Yeah. Yeah. The vision, if they have Roy Ski's coming after him and they don't have great leadership within the vision, I don't know if that's the case. He could be in some trouble. I would have to imagine it was a demoralizing night. Yeah, it's a long flight back too. Long flight back. And it may be difficult to find leadership when you're that demoralized.

29:56Do you think that people like Jey Uso and Jacob Fatu are going to be upset that Roman dumped him. How could you not be? I would think so. Especially, I mean, this version of Jey Uso, who, you know, he started his journey to WrestleMania. He started his main event Jey Uso run. He started the Jey Uso that would become the World Heavyweight Champion at the Royal Rumble last year. And all of a sudden he gets eliminated by the Big Oose. Right. And also sort of put in his place by the Big Oose. Yep, yep. Jay was having a good time, wanting to run it back. Roman gave him a wake-up call. Jacob Vodou returns, I mean, looking untouchable.

30:43Yeah. Completely untouchable. Yeah. They don't make him like him anymore. Hell, they never made him like him. Sorry. But then, for Roman to eliminate him? That, I mean. Well, it's also the reminder that I think everybody needed. Look at what a spectacle all these superstars are now. But they ain't Roman Reigns. Look at how amazing all these superstars are today. But they're not your tribal chief. And that's exactly what Roman Reigns did in the Royal Rumble. Who do you think? Okay. In terms of surprises, new faces that maybe we haven't seen on the WWE main roster all that much of.

31:20Between Obafemi. I mean, this Royal Rumble was. He eliminated Brock Lesnar. Incredible for Obafemi. Between Obafemi. Oh, Oba was eliminated. by Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar was eliminated by Cody and Jeyuz. There was a lot going on in that moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In LA Night. You know what I'm talking about. No, yeah, because Jeyuz was making his entrance. I know exactly what you're saying. Between Obafemi. Yes. Javon Evans. Yes. Royce Keys. La Parca. And Mr. Iguana. And La Yesca. Don't forget about La Yesca. Y La Yesca. Who's your standout? Javon Evans. Not La Parca. No, I mean, it was exciting to see La Parca there.

32:05I love me some Mr. Iguana. I'm never going to not be excited when Iguana's music hits. Yeah. It totally turned my mood around. I was down in the dumps, upset about AJ Styles' career ending. Iguana's music hits. I'm back. I'm completely back. But for me, Javon Evans, he was in there for almost 41 minutes. Long time. The longest out of anybody in there. And was wrestling in a very irresponsible way for the world. Bouncing. I mean, your boy is bouncy. Yeah, I think it was Javon Evans. I mean, how about that pop-up Samoan drop that he got where he was launched? I mean, thank God that was an open-air stadium.

32:43Otherwise, he would have hit the ceiling. Without question. And then Jacob just drops him. And then, of course, this too. And then Randy Orton. Randy catching him in midair and dropping him with an RKO. I mean, it was incredible. You're right. Javon Evans had an incredible showing. Okay, there's that. Two, I got three questions. Two, do you think Randy Orton is going to respond to Gunther? I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about this. You brought this up to me this week on SiriusXM. I came to your studio in the big city, and we're talking about Gunther, and we're speculating wildly, and we're talking about all of the matches that Gunther could possibly have.

33:23and someone throws out the idea that maybe after AJ Styles, Gunter faces Randy Orton. And I do not want that to happen because if that means the end of Randy Orton, I am not ready for that. What did they call Gunther? The career killer. Michael Cole said it. Multiple times. The career killer. What did Gunther do in the Royal Rumble? Who did he eliminate? He eliminated Randy Orton. You think Randy's going to have a problem with that? next question final question about the men's Royal Rumble match Adam Pearce Paul Heyman who won the battle of FAFO Adam Pearce okay it was Adam Pearce won the FAFO competition congrats to Adam Pearce I would say congrats to Roman Reigns for winning the Royal Rumble that's first and foremost and we'll put our ones up thank you and congrats to Adam Pearce for winning the battle of FAFO I wish maybe we'll hit up Fanatics if they could get a FAFO winner T-shirt for Adam Pierce.

34:27I think it would be really, really good. But who knows? Maybe we'll end up with a Tops Now card for Adam Pierce based on the FAFO win. You know, Tops Now captures major milestones and viral moments, which that was, from the biggest events. You know, we saw incredible cards last year from WrestleMania, Money in the Bank, and Wrestlepalooza, just to name a few. And they always do these pre-PLEs poster cards, you know, on top. So they put one out for the Royal Rumble 2026. Collectors who buy the base card of this poster card will have the chance to receive Emerald super short print copies of the card limited to only 26.

35:09Those Emerald cards, 26 exist. This card is only available until Monday at 1.30 p.m. Eastern. As always, make sure you're following at Topps on social and sign up for notifications on Topps.com for the big moment cards from the Royal Rumble and tune in to Tuesday's WWE Now podcast. That's this. For more info and card graphics, I'm optimistic we get a big ooze card. Who needed to win more? Roman Reigns or Adam Pearce? Adam Pearce needed this one bad he needed this one bad I think Adam Pearce it was either win this one or do a Gunther just retire I mean he was down on his luck before tonight but guess what he won the FAFO battle now I can only imagine that the FAFO will continue on a Monday Night Raw but we'll be here to talk about that when it's time to talk about it I want to talk about the women's Royal Rumble match let's do it but on the way there I believe we have the winner of the Women's Royal Rumble here with us.

36:16Oh, with us here on the Royal Rumble recap. How did we get so fortunate? The winner of the 2026 Women's Royal Rumble, Liv Morgan. How does it feel? Oh, words can't describe. how it feels. I've done nine of these. I've had every position in this match. I've started it. I've ended it. I've had the record for the fastest elimination. I've shared a record for being in the ring the longest. I've had every position runner up but never a winner until tonight. So it feels exactly like how I thought it would. And you were telling everybody I saw you at SneakerCon. I saw you all over. Anytime anybody asked you about the Royal Rumble, you said you should definitely watch because I'm going to win.

37:08It's going to be my night. You don't do this match more than everyone else and like not win it. You know, and I said it. I said it weeks ago. I said 2026 is the year of the judgment day. I said it. I saw it. And now here it is. Well, it's interesting. You say that you're the judgment day because I hate to bring this up, but we did see you eliminate Raquel Rodriguez. Well, you know, I know Raquel better than anyone else. And if I know Raquel, like how I know Raquel, I know that Raquel is not selfish. Raquel is already number one contender for the Women's World Championship. Now there are two members of the Judgment Day with opportunity.

37:51Raquel is going to become Women's World Champion, and I'm going to cash in my shot at WrestleMania. She's not going to be mad at me. Are you kidding me? Now there's two of us that have this amazing opportunity. She's not selfish, guys. When you put it like that. We're looking at, I mean, you could believe it, but I'm looking at a photo right now of right after the elimination. Maybe, maybe, maybe a little, maybe a little taken aback by how it had went down. But my sister is not selfish nonetheless. All is okay. It's more opportunity for the judgment day. It's, we, one win for all, a win for one is a win for all.

38:24She looks furious. I mean, she looks furious. How did it feel? How did it feel? She was in that match for like 40 minutes. How long was she in that match? She's tired. She worked hard. she did and it's nice of you to give her her credit for doing that yeah always how long have you been envisioning being the one to point at that sign you got that moment that's become my very first one nine years ago no joke maybe i was a little bit delusional thinking that in my rookie year i'd win the royal rumble but for nine whole years every time it's rumble season i've sat and envisioned and manifested what this victory would look and feel and taste like.

39:05And now that we're here, it's honestly so much better and suited than I could have ever imagined. So with you talking about the opportunities that everybody in the Judgment Day has, and obviously having full faith in Raquel, can we assume that you'll be going after the WWE Women's Championship, not the Women's World Championship? You know, I can go after any title of my choosing. So, you know, I have, there's no time for me to, you know, there's no timeline on when I need to make this decision. I can make this decision whenever I want to. So I'm really going to sit and ponder it and make a very educated decision on what is best for me.

39:39And I'm not going to rush it. When you heard Tiffany Stratton's music played, and I think that especially when it was down to the final three and it was you and it was Sol Ruka and it was Tiffany Stratton, I think that a lot of people probably thought, okay, well, usually when somebody who's a former champion returns in the Rumble, it's their rumble was there not true right not true years ago that was me i returned i was a former champion didn't win the rumble you learn from your experiences maybe more than anybody on that entire roster and you never forget already no you do she plays this game at number 30 and you think you're the freshest you think you've got it in the bag but no you don't no you don't and i had tricks under my sleeve okay i remember live coming in at 30 with that christina aguilar gear.

40:25I do too. I remember that. Listen, I think that it's brilliant that you take these setbacks as people would see them and turn them into the very strategy that allows you to win the Rumble. What did you make of Lash Legend in that match? Because I think that's a lot of people were watching and were probably pretty impressed. She rocked me. Are you kidding me? She rocked me. I don't know that I've ever been hit that hard. But it didn't matter because I won the Rumble and not her. So she can hit me as hard as she wants, bitch. but I won the rumble. No, but she's, she's, she's really strong. She's really strong and intimidating, but it was no match for a little mark in the greatest Royal Rumble winner.

41:06There were so many amazing. He didn't let her finish. There were so many amazing performances tonight in the Royal Rumble. None as amazing as yours, but one of the eliminations that stood out to me most was when you eliminated Natty. Now this is not Natalia. We're talking about this is low key legend. natty yes natty's a dog natty's a dog if i was probably scared of anyone and it was probably natty that's why i saw the opportunity and i was like we're getting this bitch out now

41:40now you felt good about your number going in at 14 or wherever it was 14 right 14 yeah i was like midway through i mean i have no i have no affinity for the number 14 you know what i mean so it was what it was halfway through you know made my job a little bit easier you know i was i guess that's true because you've been in the precious yeah you've been in this thing very very early yeah you know so i chilled i got my my thoughts together got my game plan together um but no feelings towards coming in at 14 you know it's like a random number it is very very interesting because i think uh megan you might have pointed this out a few weeks back that you came in uh when you returned, very willing to go after whatever title needed to be, needed somebody to go after it.

42:27Meaning like if Raquel wanted to go after the, the, the women's championship, all good. You'll go after the tag team championship. But I would, I would think that now you don't have tag team gold on your mind anymore, that you're back into that sort of. You don't know what I'm thinking. No, I don't. You're just going to say that you think, you know what I'm thinking. You don't know what I'm thinking. It's family. Raquel has dips. Raquel has dibs on this Women's World Championship and that is what it is. So I'm going to sit back, like I said, and I'm going to hold my cards close to my chest until I feel like the time is right.

43:01But the judgment day is a family. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what I'm going to do and I'm not even going to worry about that right now. I won. I FaceTimed my mans. I FaceTimed my mother. How is he, by the way? How is Dominic? So good. He's so happy for me. He's so happy for me. He's doing great. We were on the phone and all we did was we were just like, it was it was incredible yeah why did you eliminate Raquel uh you're at the top of the final four instead of allowing it to go down to just the two of you you eliminated her while there was still Tiffany Stratton and Sol Ruka in the match well you know she just eliminated Rhea Ripley and I had just looked up and I see her back to me and her leaning over the top road And she's like, wow, this is this is an opportunity.

43:47And like I said, Raquel is not selfish. She knows I am an opportunist. Raquel has her own opportunity. She is so down to share the wealth. And now she has wealth. And now I have wealth. Sharing the wealth in the Judgment Day because we are a family and that's what the Judgment Day does. I'll tell you what. I think you're about to have a lot more wealth because now that you've punched your ticket to WrestleMania, now that you're the 2026 women's Royal Rumble champion. The greatest women's Royal Rumble winner of all time. Sam, I'm going to correct you every single time. You please address me as the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time because I'm never going to let you say it without saying it the way that I like.

44:27Now that you are officially the greatest women's Royal Rumble winner of all time,

44:40the winner's t-shirt is available at wwe shop and fanatics let me see it look at can we can we show her the graphic yeah the women's you look great amazing unbelievable yes this is your shirt that i ate that you did they had that loaded for me it's like they knew It's like they knew. Yeah. I mean, listen, they probably had a few of them ready. What does it say? Watch me. It says winner. It says Royal Rumble winner. It says Liv Morgan. Roy, it says Royal Rumble winner. Hopefully somewhere it says the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time. I wonder if it's too late to send this shirt back and have them fix it.

45:26Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's a full body shot. It's pretty great. You look amazing. It doesn't say the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time. Maybe on the back. We can add that to the back. Maybe we'll put it on the back. That's true. That's true. I'll have to make another one. I'll have to make another one. That's smart. I mean, listen, most women will get the one shirt. You being the greatest of all time, you get a couple. Yeah, you're right. You're right. You got it, Sam. Do you feel like you'll wear that shirt? I mean, a lot of people won't wear their own shirts, but a lot of people don't have the accomplishment of greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time.

45:56Yeah, I'm going to wear that shirt. Are you kidding me? That shirt's going up in the clubhouse. We're going to have a nice display in the clubhouse. I think I'm like the first member of the Judgment Day to win a Raw Rumble. We're going to put this in a plaque and hang it in the clubhouse. Wow. Hey, by the way, not to take anything away from your moment, but what did you make of the way Finn Balor closed Monday Night Raw when he attacked CM Punk? Oh, I was so proud of him. You were? I was so proud of him. CM Punk tried to come in and tell Finn to leave the Judgment Day. Are you kidding me? As if CM Punk is not the most selfish man that ever existed.

46:27and then Finn did exactly what was right. He went out there and he turned on everyone. What do you think Punk's problem is with Dominic? He specifically brought up Dom as if Punk brought up Dom to Finn Balor. He's a jealous hater. Dominic is more than half his age, so much younger, so much hotter, so much more accomplished, so much more respected. He's a harder worker. He's a better champion. So if I'm CM Punk, why would I not be hating on Dominic? His hair, his mustache. Are you kidding me? If I'm CM Punk, I'm totally going to be Dominic's number one hater. Yeah, I mean, I get that. That all checks out to me.

47:09He's got cooler tattoos, too. I know, because it's true. That's the truth. It's literally the truth. It's the truth. Well, Liv Morgan, I mean. Strike me right now. It's the truth. Yeah. No, it's the truth. Have you talked to the Judgment Day? Have you talked to your young Roxanne Perez? have you talked to Raquel Roxy yeah yeah you know I haven't seen Raquel yet but I've seen Roxy um JD and Finn aren't here but we've texted and I FaceTimed Dominic so I've caught up pretty much with almost everyone I have to run into Raquel I'll see her I'll see her in a little bit I'm sure you're I mean you're both there you'll run into each other pretty busy too I mean it's busy you just won the Royal Rumble for goodness sake not only that bro I won and I got whisked away like like we need you for this this this this this because everyone wants to talk to you because you're the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time so I really like you know I had no time I I got whisked away and now here I am.

47:55Have you thought about what kind of entrance, about what kind of gear, about what kind of statement that you're going to make in Las Vegas at WrestleMania? No, that's so far away. That's so far away. I'm very like on the seat of my pants in the moment, how I feel. I'm not going to plan what I want for WrestleMania right now because I'm forever evolving and I'm forever changing. And you know, tomorrow I'll probably want something different. The day after that, I'm probably going to want something different. So I'm going to wait it out a little bit and see. see my vibe. We are looking at this photo right now.

48:27Look at that girl. I mean, I worked so hard. Look at my ponytail. You kidding me? Look at that. I know you really did. You really did work hard, but this, this feels like on your face. And I'm like, you pointed out, I am not in your brain. I do not know how you or what you think. However, it would appear that this is the moment that you've realized you did it. You pulled it off. You finally accomplished this one goal that you had never accomplished and look at right what is right over your shoulder i'm not talking about that cheapskate danilo i'm talking about what's right behind danilo and that's that wrestlemania sign it's your destiny so many people want to point to that sign but a lot of times you never get the chance to or you point to it but it's not yours and you're not going right i pointed to it because i'm going it's mine and if i was everyone in the back i would be terrified because they're all done for.

49:18Liv Morgan is a Royal Rumble winner and is going to WrestleMania to choose an opponent of her choice. Everyone is done for. I believe you, Liv. Liv, you've worked very hard for this. You should. You have considered and thought of every moment. I also love that your journey has been so well documented over the years. Everybody knows how much you did to get here. Everybody knows how hard you work and everybody knows that you're like a dog with a bone right now. And that's a dangerous, dangerous thing. Can you get me to break? Because I'm not going to break. I'm too happy. I am too happy to break right now.

49:55There is no... Yeah, you know. It was a crazy ride, guys. It was a crazy ride. We finally did it. Runner-up two years in a row. Yeah. It's like a bride's made, a bride's made. It's never the bride. Now I'm a bride. And I'm the most beautiful bride there ever was. And you know what? What if we got a wedding at WrestleMania? Oh, my gosh. You and Dominic. It would be the greatest wrestling wedding of all time. It would. A lot of people say, a lot of people say, not just me, that you guys are this generation's Randy and Liz. I just want to put that out there. It's hard to argue. I think we're actually better.

50:28I do too. But you know, we'll see. I can't wait to find out. Congratulations, Liv Morgan, officially now the greatest women's Royal Rumble winner of all time. And thank you so much for being so generous with your time with us. Thank you, guys. Have a good night. I know I will.

50:58So yeah, congratulations and thank you to Liv Morgan. Who was, was she your pick as well? She was my pick. She was my pick. So it was both of our picks. So that's double points. The greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time. I was waiting for you to do that. You got to shake it up. You got to shake it up. I have to imagine that she's going to be a part of this. All of the chaos and pulse-pounding Royal Rumble action is already underway and continues to be underway in the WWE Slam by Topps digital trading card app. WWE Slam offers fans around the world the chance to collect and trade their favorite WWE superstars, rip digital packs every day, complete collector-based missions and seasons, and combine cards to craft them into rarer digital collectibles.

51:47You can download the app now to experience Royal Rumble like never before. With collections like Royal Rumble Base Series, Survive and Conquer, and the all-new Royal Rumble Box, packed with all your favorite WWE superstars in stunning digital collectibles like Royal Chaos Refractor Cards, Signature and Dual Signature Cards, Gold Mystery Motion Cards, and more electrifying surprises, start building the ultimate Royal Rumble collection now in WWE Slam by Topps. Download free in the App Store and, of course, on Google Play as well. I loved this year's women's Royal Rumble match. There's so much to get into from the Royal Rumble match.

52:32So much to get into. I mean, a lot of great performances from a lot of different women. Yeah. I felt like there were multiple women who realized the opportunity that they had and took full advantage of it. And, I mean, started from the top. And I called it. But I also loved. When Charlotte Flair came out, I said, oh, my gosh, Alexa Bliss is going to be number two. And you said, stop cheating as if I was, like, looking at some kind of advanced feed even though we were watching a live feed. I thought you were on Twitter and someone was live tweeting it. and that you suddenly were just spoiling everything for me.

53:10Because as soon as I saw Charlotte was entering number one, I said, okay, in the number two position, I either want Alexa Bliss or Becky Lynch. It's always Becky Lynch. Whenever you see Charlotte - I always want Becky Lynch. Any context where you could have Charlotte versus Becky Lynch. I mean, do you blame me? No. It's magical. And if anybody needed proof of it, we got it in the Rumble. Yeah. We got Charlotte and Becky in the Rumble. I was thrilled about that. But it was. It was Charlotte, Flair, and Alexa Bliss testing that friendship together at one and two. And I like how they kind of got like, you know, Charlotte showed her, hey, look who's boss.

53:47And then they laughed about it. They did their heart hands. But then Alexa put Charlotte in the sisters Abigail and is like, oh, wait, I can play that game as well. Yeah. Do the heart hands and we're all good. but they just had to remind everybody and each other what they're each capable of. Yeah. These are two main event, single stars that happen to be in a tag team together. Right. And it's a miracle that they found the chemistry that allows them to stay in the tag team. Yeah. And haven't like split up and, and allowed ego to, to chase them towards singles championships. I will say it was interesting when it was just the two of them in the ring.

54:24I was waiting to see how the audience would react. We got a lot of Lexi chance. people love Alexa Bliss there's something about Charlotte where it's like everything she says about herself is true but there are people that will just never like that because she's too good I really think that's what it is too many gifts people don't like too many gifts she really does have it all yeah we don't have that many gifts I get jealous I think that's what it is but you had early on surprise participants coming in from like NXT. We saw Lola Vice. Yeah. Which was amazing. Jordan Grace from SmackDown coming in.

55:08Yeah, and this wasn't her first Royal Rumble, but this was her first Royal Rumble as a member of the SmackDown roster. Yeah, it's a full-on WWE superstar. You bet. You bet. And she came in and quickly eliminated like three different people. Again, going back to Charlotte and Becky and seeing that play itself out and this sort of rivalry that I think will go on forever and ever and all of time. Let it never end. Yes. But right when Becky entered was when Charlotte had accidentally dumped Alexa Bliss over the top rope. Okay. Well, Alexa was on the apron. So Charlotte didn't technically dump her, but she nudged her pretty hard.

55:53listen do I think that Charlotte specifically went out and said I want to eliminate Alexa Bliss I would say probably not I mean why wouldn't you at that point in the match want to have somebody watching your back a little bit all that said I don't think she felt bad about it did you get any vibes from Hogan Savage 89 no you mean lust in your eyes no I would love to see it Okay. Because they have a very mega powers thing about that. Yeah, they do. I mean, that's a great point of reference. Because it really is like, can you imagine if these two forces came together and it actually worked? It was an accident.

56:34I guess. Right? Sure. Right. Yeah. Right. And the mega powers, it took them a while to explode. You know, it was a lot of little things. It wasn't just like something came and shattered the thing. It was one of those little, you know, when a pebble hits your windshield and you go, I don't need to get that taken care of. and then like two weeks later you look at the crack and you're like I think that's a little bigger than I remember it but I don't think so and over the course of months you just don't do anything and then a season goes by and your whole thing is like cut in half because it's just spider webbed and spider webbed all the way through that's sometimes how these super teams disintegrate so today was just the pebble I'm not saying that they're breaking up you're negative I'm not negative it's just kind of hard to believe that it was an accident well listen it's the Royal Rumble things are going to happen I still and look the tag team division is about to get a lot more competitive I mean I thought they were going to have to send an emergency crew because of the noise that I made when I realized forget about like I can't believe it the bloodline is back tribal chief is back we're running it back to 2022-2023 no no no no know we're running it back to brie mode pop of the night i mean when that came on i was like i can't believe it i can't believe it you don't understand i went through a whole era of my wrestling fandom where where i was i was brie mode out all the time to see to see brie come back and the belly because nikki bell is incredible incredible but to see twin magic strike again to see the Bellas back together.

58:16The Bellas who started this whole thing. This whole thing that everybody's enjoying now. Thank you, Bellas, is what you should be saying. Not just Nikki, but Brie mode too. Because we stay in Brie mode, okay? And that's why, you're right, Papa the Knight. Did you hear them go nuts when they realized that Brie was back? I went nuts, you went nuts. Yeah, that was one of those things that people were like, well, I guess we just got Nikki, but Nikki's incredible. Nikki's a Hall of Famer with or without her sister. Nikki's a Hall of Famer. But she also happens to have a Hall of Fame twin sister that I'd love to see in action.

58:52I mean, I lived, there was a good year of my life that I was in Brie mode the entire time. Yeah, pull up that picture. Do we have it? Do we have the picture of Sam? Oh, there he is. Fresh set of hair and all Brie mode. You know where that is? Where? My living room. I just have a big, no, it's it. That's WrestleMania 31. I'm in the crowd there and matter of fact how about a little flex for myself sitting down next to me on my left there you go that's Maria Menounos Kevin Undergaro who do you think I was hanging with that's just kind of how I roll name drop but my arms were like that because Randy Orton was making his entrance I had my orange sunglasses on big professional over here Randy Orton's making his entrance didn't Gunther just say you were on the wrong side of the barricade I don't know you call yourself the last professional broadcaster and there you are, Brie Mode t-shirt just marking out in the crowd.

59:46I'm glad this picture exists because I think, you know, it'd be very convenient. You're going to hear a lot of people. They're going to hear that Brie pop and they're going to go like, oh yeah, I love Brie Mode too. I'm like, okay, good. Show me the receipts because I got mine. I got my receipts. First thing you do when you go home tonight is you're digging up that shirt. I am digging up that shirt. You know why that's such a good picture? Why? That was on WWE.com. That was a big deal to me back then. They put that on WWE.com saying, look at the great fans we have. They stay in Bree mode all the time.

1:00:15And they do. And by the way, that stadium, that's where they're going to do the Super Bowl. Wow. There you go. It all comes together. You know, it's kind of crazy because a couple months ago, Nikki Bella said that that Sam Roberts got a glow up. And now I get what she was saying. Why? I look great there. Well, look, I guess as long as I look better now, I'll accept it. It was a compliment. That you just gave me. Yeah. You said, you look better now than you did then. I didn't say you look good now But hey Nikki Bella said you got a glow up Take it You're putting words in Nikki Bella's mouth She said She said as a compliment You make it sound horrible But you're negative And people know that Not negative Because you think you can give people kidneys And then treat everybody else however you want That's your whole thing You're like once I give a kidney I can treat people like dirt That's what I think that you believe Strategy man You know Chess while everybody else is playing checkers That's right You're just sitting there post-operation going, this is going to buy me years.

1:01:14Years. Well, I did it, you know? No, it's smart. It's actually really, really brilliant. Speaking of brilliant, coming out at the very end, Tiffany Stratton making her big return. You know, we were just talking about those Tiffany Stratton t-shirts that are available now. Were you happy to see Tiffy time? Thrilled. Yes. And I was thrilled to see just the star power at the end of the Women's Royal Rumble. You have Sol Ruka. Yes. Tiffany Stratton. Liv Morgan. You talk about athleticism. Oh, and again, a big spotlight for Sol Ruka. What an amazing thing to be in a position that, by the way, Liv Morgan has been in before, where it's like, oh my God, what if?

1:01:50I think Sol Ruka could win. What if she won? Like when the three women were out there on the apron, and Sol Ruka has figured out how to make her body do all kinds of sorts of different things for an incredible offense. Like, she could have won that match. I also just want to say the women's gear tonight was just on another level. Yeah. I mean, even like the way Sol Ruka figured out how to have that gear match, you know, what she typically wears and that the whole vibe that she gives off. Same thing with Tiffany Stratton. I mean, you can go up and down the roster. That's right. I thought the gear was phenomenal.

1:02:29I did too. I agree with you. I absolutely agree with you. yeah I think it was an amazing showing for Sol Ruka I was happy to see JC Jane get some love in there I thought I mean really if you want to talk about MVPs Alba Fire really showed her worth Alba Fire my favorite spot in the women's Royal Rumble was Alba Fire when she was on all fours? Yes moving that was the part that made it just genius when she starts crawling so that Chelsea could get away from the action I was like I wish I had an albafire in my life yeah we all need one we do put her body on the line for Chelsea but that's what makes and Chelsea trying to befriend literally everyone just whoever was about to beat her up Chelsea said what if we team up she went to the judgment day and said let's do the four of us she went up to Rhea Ripley and was like you could be in the secret hervis like it was insane also insane that Rhea Ripley I mean wasn't in the final three Nuts.

1:03:31Nuts. Raquel Rodriguez eliminates Rhea Ripley. Right. And then Liv Morgan stabs Raquel in the back. That's right. Dumps her. Dumps her. But she said she won't have a problem with that. I thought Natty was incredible in this. Not just Natty. Low-key legend Natty. Low-key legend Natty. Survived in that rumble for a long time and got some really important eliminations. Really cleared the field of people who, honestly, I don't even know if they should have been in the rumble to begin with. I don't know about that. Nice to see that. Nice to see that. You know, there is some legal debate going on about this Royal Rumble.

1:04:09You see, Becky Lynch was told by her lawyers that she would be entering at number 29. Turns out she was entering at number 9. So that part of the Rumble is under protest. It's a random entry. It's not random when you're the greatest female wrestler of all time. No, it's still random, even if you were the greatest female wrestler of all time. According to Paul Amon, it's not random. It's rigged. So now I think there's an investigation. Look how Paul Heyman's night went. Didn't go great. Not great. Honestly, I think you could say Becky Lynch's night didn't go terrifically either. It didn't. But she did.

1:04:41She did eliminate Maxine. She probably really felt great about that. She was moody. And Maxine keeps saying, oh, well, I beat Becky. So now all of that is. Did you find her to be mid as well? Who? Maxine, mid? Mid? Tonight? Yeah. I mean, she got eliminated by Becky. So I guess that says what you needed to say. I mean, if you ask Natty, Natty probably thinks she was mid. Liv Morgan, finally winning this thing. We just talked to her. It's been a long time coming. Yes, it has. I mean, she was the runner-up twice. And, I mean, just to see Liv Morgan. And, Sam, we've followed her career for so long.

1:05:16From, you know, the minute she won the Money in the Bank briefcase, it seemed like things started to change for Liv Morgan. But you think back to that Liv Morgan cashing in that night to this Liv Morgan. I mean, we are talking about two totally different stratospheres. Absolutely. Different stratospheres. And I really can't wait to see what she does at WrestleMania, which title she goes after, and the impact that she has. And who's holding those titles. But before we move on, just real quick, we got to give some love to Lash Legend. Oh, my God. Give all the love to Lash Legend. She was unbelievable.

1:05:50Not just the - Ugi Bully, baby. Not just the number of eliminations, but the people that Lash Legend was eliminating. Like it was making people go, what the hell is going on? Lash Legend is like, forget about this, this sort of aura of one day. You better watch her because one day it's like, well, I think we're at the day. We are. I think we got there. Yeah. And, you know, Nia Jax, who is her tag team partner for a while, it was like, you know, Nia is probably the favorite in any Royal Rumble because of size alone. And now anytime you go into a battle royal, anytime you go into Royal Rumble, everybody's looking at Lash Legend a little bit differently.

1:06:25Yeah, because the emphasis was put on bully instead of bougie. That's right. Oh, also? Yes. Kairi Sane accidentally eliminated Asuka. Oh, that's going to be tough. So tough. And then for what? She got eliminated right after that. I know. I'm a little nervous for Kairi. I know that Kairi's accepted her role as like, I'm here to help Asuka. But she gets yelled at a lot. Yeah, I don't know if they're on the Charter Jet back, but that's going to be about 20 hours of screaming. It's not going to be good. No, it's going to be really, really bad. Why wasn't AJ Styles in the men's Royal Rumble match? Because AJ Styles is retired.

1:07:00Oh, that's right. I forgot. Why is that funny to you? Just because you were so upset by it. Yeah, I'm upset by it. It was just like the slow realization that AJ Styles' career was ending over the last two weeks has been really hard to comprehend. It's been really hard to wrap my head around. It's been really hard to grasp. when AJ got off the phone with his wife and said, hey, I'm going to do this. I'm going to take on Gunter, and I'm going to put my career on the line. I thought it was a stupid decision for AJ to do that, but I thought there's no way something's going to happen. There'll be some sort of schmoz.

1:07:37Maybe someone will come out. Maybe it will end in a disqualification, but AJ's career is not ending. But then he shows up on SmackDown, and we find out that he has a match at Saturday Night's main event against Shinsuke Nakamura, and I go, oh, no. Are you one of these asterisk people that think because he put his gloves back on that, well, he's not really retiring? It's still good. It's still good. No, especially after we talked to Gunter just a couple minutes ago on this show. It's done. Wow. Wow. I wonder where the glove thing will lead. I wonder if we see, you know, AJ Styles in any capacity in the WWE again.

1:08:16I mean, at some point, we're going to have to sit down and have a real conversation about that guy's career, not just what he did for the last 10 years in WWE, but what he did in Japan before that, what he did for all those years. I mean, building TNA before that. I mean, you know, AJ Styles got his start just as WCW was ending. AJ Styles was like one of the young guys, the next class of wrestlers coming up on Nitro and then had to deal with the fact that it's like, oh yeah, I can't wait to see your next match. I don't know where I'm going to see it though because Nitro doesn't exist anymore. You know, he was one of those young guys that had to figure out what's next and build a path for himself.

1:08:58And he did to the point that he became one of the best professional wrestlers on the planet. And we've seen all of his matches. I'm happy that it has a little bit of a storybook ending with AJ's career ending at the Royal Rumble. You mean because you fall asleep like a bedtime story? No, Sam. Oh. Not like that. Oh. But because 10 years ago, he debuted in WWE at the Royal Rumble. And he wore the same colors tonight. So I like that. He wore the same colors tonight that he wore at the 2016 Royal Rumble when that word phenomenal flashed across the Tron for the first time. This is one of those that I think we got to sleep on.

1:09:43And I think on Monday night's Raw Recap WWE Now podcast, we'll probably talk a lot more about AJ Styles. I don't think it's set in for a lot of wrestling fans. No, and I don't think it will for a little bit. I also think, man, it was tough because I feel like both Royal Rumble matches kind of ended on a high, like definitely Roman Reigns winning. I think Liv Morgan, even though she's got that villainous side of her, people were happy to see Liv Morgan win. Because we've been on the journey with her. But I mean, man, in between, they just did bummer matches in between the two Royal Rumbles. First seeing AJ Styles retired, and it wasn't even the old school pro wrestling sleeper hold.

1:10:23One, two, three. It was like the UFC, oh no, he's out. One arm up, he's gone. He's not on this planet right now. It's over. And then while we were moping from that, Sami Zayn's going to be the little engine that could. Catches two Claymores. The last one, Drew Magityre says, look at me in the eyes. And then Claymores his head off and pins him one, two, three, as if to say like, hey, look at me right in the eyes, Sami. I'm going to Claymore your head off. He said at one point in the match, he was yelling at him to stay down. Think about your son and stay down. When he said think about your son, Drew's not afraid to go there.

1:11:05No, but you know what? Sami Zayn brought his son into the conversation. He explained his motivation, and Drew's going to use that against you every time. And now that Sami has been taken out, I don't think Sami comes back and asks for a rematch. Maybe he will, but I don't think so. Now that Cody did not win that Royal Rumble, it's going to be very interesting to see. It feels like Drew is very much in control. where I think when he first won that title, people assumed, ah, he'll hold it for a little bit and then they'll get it off him and do this and do that. It doesn't feel like that right now.

1:11:38Not at all. It feels like Drew is very much in control of this reign and he wants this reign to be the reign that he felt he was owed for a long time. And don't think for a second that Drew doesn't know that's what other people were saying. He knows everything. Of course he does. I mean, are you kidding me? Twitter fingers over here, he stays on the internet. Yeah. He reads everything. He's told me multiple times, he'll come up to me and go, you know what you were saying on your podcast. You're not supposed to be listening to that I'm terrified of you Look at the shoulders on you I talk because I don't have arms like that You know what I mean?

1:12:07Yeah, you better watch what you say I know, I think he's great Drew McIntyre, by the way Fantastic The best Yeah The simple best As long as he doesn't say anything about my kids We're good We're good Can you imagine if he ends up fighting Roman Reigns at WrestleMania? Oh my God Listen, listen There are so many possibilities is because of all the superstars that are out there right now. And the good news is you're going to have a chance to meet a lot of those superstars this year at Fanatics Fest. That's right. The world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is making its return to New York City, bringing you closer to the league's team's superstars and athletes that you love across how many Action Pack days in July?

1:12:49Four days, baby. Four days. Four days. You can meet your favorite WWE superstars. We've already confirmed. This is who's going to be there. Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Eoskai, Liv Morgan, Jey Uso, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Randy Orton, Stephanie Vaquer, Tiffany Stratton, and Bianca Belair. They'll all be there as well as big names across sports like WWE superfan Cam Scadabo. You'll also be able to get your hands on exclusive merch, catch live WWE podcasts. I'd love to bring WWE now there. Tickets are on sale now at fanaticsfest.com. take advantage of that Megan was it a great Royal Rumble for you?

1:13:29It's the best pay-per-view PLE PLE PLE Live event Yes That's right You don't have to pay per view You can have as many views as you want That's right Of this premium live event My favorite PLE of the year That's right It was great It was fun And hey We're on the road baby We're on the road And we are going to be with you Every step of the way We'll talk to you next Late Monday night Tuesday morning Right after Monday Night Raw For WWE Now's Raw Recap Subscribe across all audio platforms Comment, like on YouTube We'll see you then, have a good one everybody