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If you want a wrestling podcast that keeps it 100% real on all the topics you love, you’ve com to the right place. No Gimmicks is dedicated to bringing you commentary from the worlds of pro wrestling, entertainment and when the moment calls for it, social events. Be warned, don’t come with a closed mind. This isn’t a gimmick show.
Yo. Yo. Yo. What is up, everybody? Welcome back to the no gimmicks podcast here on the DFPN.
Blak Makk:We are back with episode 67. Thank you guys for tuning in to episode 66 last week. It was a great show. We got another good show for you guys tonight before we jump in there. Shout out to our sponsor, Con's Custom Creations.
Blak Makk:Follow her on IG at Con's underscore custom creations, or look for Con's custom creations on Facebook. Get you some custom made merch. Shout out to the that feeling family. That feeling dot bandcamp dot com. Make sure you guys go to an incident.
Blak Makk:Shout out to as well. He has surgery. Get well soon, brother. He'll and, I hope to hope to see you getting back in the lab real soon. But shout out to them.
Blak Makk:$3 will get you the entire catalog. And, if you are listening to the sounds of our voices and not looking at us live, patreon.com slash that feeling podcast. As little as $3, you can interact with us live, tune in to the live show, Get your comments read and interacted with live on the air, and you will also make the show. So that feeling podcast at patreon.com/that feeling podcast. Now to my cohost, Frank d, the chosen one.
Blak Makk:What is up, buddy?
Frank Dee:Brother, it's the same same, I should say, same shit, different day. But, but we're back here. We're back to talk about, professional wrestling.
Blak Makk:Yep. Yep. Let's talk some pro wrestling. Fair warning. I am fresh off a plane.
Blak Makk:So, I'm kinda tired. So if I flub around today, just know I've been traveling the past week. I've been traveling since we did the last episode. I pretty much did that episode, went and packed my stuff and got on the road. So I'm back home, and this is the first thing I'm doing.
Blak Makk:So bear with me tonight. But let's jump into the show. 1st and foremost, there was a lot of talk about this past Monday, following up from the the past Friday. We had Cody versus Roman in a 1 on 1 asking pretty much, can you guys trust each other's partners? Fast forward to Monday, we get Cody, pretty much going over that event, then we get The Rock coming out.
Blak Makk:But the people are saying this is one of the best ross we've had in in in a long time. I'm kinda on that same boat, but a lot of this stuff that we're gonna talk about happened on Raw. But Cody versus The Rock, man. The Rock, unadvertised, makes an appearance, crowd for a heel. The crowd lost their fucking minds for for heel work.
Blak Makk:Right? But he comes out, doesn't say a word on the microphone, looks at Cody, set whisper something. He's very good at this stuff, which we find out later he's gonna get beat down. What'd you what did you think of this interaction?
Frank Dee:I mean, I thought it was perfect. I mean, Cody was talking about pointing to the WrestleMania sign, and then all of a sudden, the rocks music hit and out comes a great one. And, yes, he got a a good pop when he came out there. That was quickly drowned out by booze. And, the rock lit a bit of it.
Frank Dee:The rock whispers something into Cody's ear, which I believe he may have said, tonight you're gonna bleed or tonight I'm gonna make you bleed or something like that. And he walked off. And then, you know, that's the hook. Like, why is The Rock here? Why is The Rock coming out not advertised to be on a show?
Frank Dee:And take note, AW. That is how you do something like that. That's how you do a segment, and that's gonna keep people hooked on to the show to find out what's going to happen because you don't know why The Rock is there. Rock usually comes out very flamboyant and charismatic and, you know, comes out there and does his spiel, does his usual, you know, his shtick. That didn't happen here.
Blak Makk:Changed things. Came out.
Frank Dee:They stood there. And you know what's funny about this segment? I was second by when I was watching it because of the significance of where they were at. So they were in, the what are they calling out? The Allstate Arena or some shit in Chicago?
Blak Makk:Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Dee:Okay. That was, originally, was the Rosemont Horizon. But, know, rolling in, of course, you know, that that building they're in has very significant history for professional wrestling going all the way back to the eighties. Yeah. You You know, they also had WrestleMania 13 in that building when The Undertaker beat Sid for championship.
Frank Dee:But the significance I'm talking about here with this promo with Cody and The Rock was that if you remember in February of 2002 when the NWO came back, Hulk Hogan and The Rock stood right there in the middle of that ring in that same building, and The Rock challenged Hogan to go to WrestleMania. Yep. And then, you know, Rocky got his ass up that night and got spray painted and took him outside, and the whole ambulance thing happened with the NWO. The rest is history. Fast forward now to 2024, same scenario.
Frank Dee:Cody's in the ring and The Rock's out there. But this time, The Rock is the the the older lion versus the young lion here. And Rocky didn't say a word. He's well, like I said, and whispered and left the building, or we thought he left the building.
Blak Makk:Right. Now that interaction was, I was like, holy shit. For him not saying nothing, he said a lot. He just came out, put his hands out, put him behind his back in a nonthreatening way, and then threatened him and then walked the fuck off.
Frank Dee:Right. Yep. Because he said something, And Cody
Blak Makk:You could see Cody react to it.
Frank Dee:Yeah. So What? He said something. And then also what who aren't you know, Jimmy and Solo weren't advertised either to be there. Right.
Frank Dee:So was it an initiation into the bloodline? Was it the the final test kinda like when you're playing a video game and you got the boss fights and you didn't beat the final boss. And a lot of the things about this program that really just sets it apart from, once again, AEW. And I'm gonna keep saying AEW because they are the closest, quote, unquote, competition to the WWF. So in AW, you have wrestlers who constantly use the language.
Frank Dee:All the time, use the language. So when you have something like this in WWE where you're hearing the language being used, they they muted. You know? But the fact that they're using it, it sets them apart from everybody else because they're using it when it's necessary. They're using it to bring out some type of a real emotion in the situation.
Frank Dee:So I think it's helped tremendously where they're taking these potshots at one another. It just brings us a level of realness to to the prod to the product that hasn't been there for a while. And they use and and they use language. You know, AW, they they always they're always throwing they've been throwing around shit since they've been there. Since they've been on on the network.
Frank Dee:They've been throwing around, you know, shit, you know, f bombs and all that. You know, we we've heard this before. But when it happens in WWE, because you don't hear it, it's not used very often. It has so much more meaning.
Blak Makk:I I agree with that, but, also, I want them to also keep in mind, don't do this a lot either. Right? Well because you'll get to a point you'll get to a point where it's just like AEW. It's it's not meaningful anymore.
Frank Dee:Well, yeah. I mean, The Rock is gonna do with The Rock does.
Blak Makk:That true that. But, again, if we if we get that a lot from The Rock, then it's not gonna be as meaningful when he does it. Well, like like, there was a couple things on that show that I was like, holy shit. They actually went there. Like, the the cursing is 1, but the cursing I understood because and they were very smart with what time they actually did the heaviest of it.
Blak Makk:Right? So 10 o one is when the rock star really laying into the curse words. Why? Because at 101 is the overrun. The overrun is into another show's time peer time slot.
Blak Makk:That time slot doesn't have the PG rating. I've I've I've talked about this I've talked about this in the previous show where, like, you mute out all these curses or the holy shits during the show, but right afterwards, people are dropping f bombs. Right? Right after the show goes off, people are dropping f bombs. They were really smart about letting The Rock go off the off the chain at 101.
Blak Makk:At 101, he started really laying if you go back and watch, he started really laying into the curse words. That's why. Because they don't have the PG rating at that time. He could say pretty much whatever the fuck he wants to say, And, like, nobody can really come after him because it's the overrun, and it's in another time slot. That was a really smart move by them.
Blak Makk:But if if I'm doing that, I kinda wanna lay off of that because unless it's in that time slot, like, okay. Cool. But, otherwise, let it have that meaning to where I get this degree of realism because I agree with you. That was it set it apart. For WWE to be able to do that and even the blood to for them to do that, it was it would it meant a lot.
Blak Makk:It really meant a lot that they did that. But, again, even the blood, the blood came after the 10 o'clock spot. You didn't see Cody actually bleed until they were in the overrun, which was very smart by
Frank Dee:them. Yeah. I mean, you could you could be on to something there as far as, but but but once again, they're they're muting the f bombs. So
Blak Makk:Right. Right.
Frank Dee:So it's like, you know, I mean I mean, you know he's saying it, but it's not, you know I actually posted, on the note gimmicks, you know, fan page that, uncensored audio of inside the arena. So you actually can see what was going on here.
Blak Makk:And the fans heard it.
Frank Dee:The fans heard it, and they were like, woah. But everybody liked it because they they couldn't believe that this was happening.
Blak Makk:Exactly.
Frank Dee:And you heard people saying, this is legendary. You know, this and but it it like I said before, it's something different, something that you don't normally see all the time when you watch the WWE programming. As opposed to AWA, you see it all the time. And it just means more over here than it does over there because they don't do it. They went for I mean, back in the actual this this was a I mean, they didn't drop f bombs in the actual error, but this was a weekly occurrence that all this stuff would happen all the time on different shows.
Frank Dee:Now, fast forward, it doesn't happen. And that's why I've been so much more in the gist of it because now we're seeing a little bit of realness. Like, Cody Cody came out and talks. And just like The Rock said, you come out and you you think I'm gonna let you talk shit for 2 weeks and not do anything about
Blak Makk:it. Right.
Frank Dee:And then he says, oh, Chicago. You you did you you had a problem with The Rock. You you said The Rock didn't say much. Well, you know, does Rock have your attention now? You piece of shit.
Blak Makk:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And by just going in, he went in. He went in on him.
Blak Makk:And what I really liked about that because you kinda got a hard times promo from Cody without getting a hard times promo from Cody. Like, I'm reaching out my hand. Will you come with me? You know what I'm saying? Like, we got that from Cody.
Blak Makk:And then for the rock to come out and say, you think you have hard times? This ain't hard times. The rock is gonna show you hard times. I was like, that's good because I caught it. Like, we got the hard times promo kinda just for The Rock to say, nah.
Blak Makk:This ain't hard times at all. I'm about to show you hard times. I really like that whole thing was very well done. Very well done. The fact that we didn't know that The Rock was gonna be there, and then we think he left, but he beats down Cody at the end.
Blak Makk:That's how we end raw. Very well done.
Frank Dee:And that's and that's how it should have ended. Yeah. That's exactly what
Blak Makk:they did.
Frank Dee:They did it correctly. And I've I've never since since watching The Rock, I have never seen this level of evilness.
Blak Makk:He's menacing without even trying.
Frank Dee:Right.
Blak Makk:Yeah. You
Frank Dee:know, he's I've never seen this. Like, this is something this is this is not your typical heel rock. Mhmm. This is something different. This is Yes.
Frank Dee:This is basically I mean, Rocky is pretty much, like, I would say, can't put my finger on it, but he's basically a a a horror movie or, you know, a sinister boss come to life. You know? He he he just he's on a whole different level right now. You know, when it when it comes to, like, just Rocky's just he's he he's given us something that we've never seen before. Rock says all the time, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Frank Dee:The rock is gonna take you on because we haven't seen it. You know what I'm saying? It's been a long time since we've seen something like this happen.
Blak Makk:Right. And the guy you gotta gotta give him credit, man. The guy is he's putting a lot of eyes on the product right now. A lot of eyes on the product, and they've been WWE, for their credit, has done a very good job of capitalizing on it.
Frank Dee:I agree. Let's just hope they don't fumble it at the, at WrestleMania night too.
Blak Makk:Yeah. That that payoff has to be everything. It has to be. Yeah. Has to be everything.
Frank Dee:I agree.
Blak Makk:But speaking of which, let's go let's go into this one. Seth Centimeters Punk, Drew. So we got Centimeters Punk. It was in Chicago. Centimeters Punk, we're learning, is gonna be commentating on WrestleMania.
Blak Makk:Then we got we got the promo with him. Drew comes out on his man, Drew McIntyre Drew McIntyre is right now, for him to be inserted because it's like a a a very big web that they've all weaved with them, the bloodline, Seth, Coley. There's repercussions everywhere for everybody. For him to be inserted into this scenario and the way he's holding his in as a threat to Seth's title and the reason that he wants Seth's title makes complete sense. Like, I can't disagree with anything Drew McIntyre is saying.
Blak Makk:I can't. It makes me want him to win.
Frank Dee:Yeah. I mean, it comes off very even though he's a heel, it comes off very baby baby face. And the best and the best heel has always been the heel that believes what they're doing is right.
Blak Makk:Yep.
Frank Dee:That's the best villain you have that
Blak Makk:Yep.
Frank Dee:He's not a villain. You know, I'm doing what I believe is necessary. I'm doing right, and I I get that from him. And then you have, you know, Seth Rollins who's been enter you know, inter interjected into the Roman Reigns rock situation. And it just feels like to me that up until Monday night with that segment with Centimeters Punk, there wasn't a lot of heat with the World Heavyweight Championship match.
Frank Dee:Like, no one gave a shit about that because everybody's focused on the tag match. Everybody's focused on The Rock. Right. And, you know, Roman Reigns and Cody. So, you know, inserting Centimeters Punk into this situation and having them do something at WrestleMania, I I think it did wonders.
Frank Dee:And on top of that, that was one of the highest, if if not the highest rated segment on that whole show. Right. Because they had no ad breaks. It was just you know, they played it through. And the wrestlers were given pretty much bullet points on what you need to talk about, and they winged it from there.
Frank Dee:You know?
Blak Makk:And that makes good television.
Frank Dee:Correct. You would you would damn near think that the way they were, there was legitimate heat between all 3 of these guys when, obviously, there's not because
Blak Makk:Right. Right.
Frank Dee:They're back there. They're obviously, they went over this before they came out there. So, okay, let's just go out there. We get them. Let's do some magic.
Frank Dee:And I'm pretty sure they all were happy with the way that segment ended and the amount of of eyeballs that came to their product because of it. Mhmm. And I'm I'm very curious when when, you know, Brandon Thurston in his, his his ratings release here, how do you have a segment's fared after punk, Drew, and Seth? Because this segment here picked up, I think they said, you know, 2 point something 1000000 viewers, which they normally don't get. And I kinda wonder what it did as opposed to Rock Cody ending segment on Raw.
Blak Makk:Right. And like like, we talked about this before the show. I thought Raw, this raw in particular, was a very good paced show that I actually could sit down and digest. And I can't say that about any other Raw in a 3 hour era. I can't.
Blak Makk:But for me to sit down and watch all 3 hours of this show, and I've been traveling. So the I watched it at a hotel room. But for me to sit down and and watch this show, all 3 hours of it spoke volumes about how good it was. Because I was like, oh, shit. Like, I could actually follow the show.
Blak Makk:It made sense. Even the stuff that I would normally not be invested in, like Ricochet Ivar. Normally, I wouldn't give a fuck about that match, but I found myself watching it. And, like, okay. This is actually I'm actually entertained by it.
Blak Makk:The show had variety is what I'm saying. Like, you had good segments. You had you had a Spotfest match, which Ricochet Ibar was a spot fest match. It was like a buffet. You had the women.
Blak Makk:You had you had good segments from, both Rock, Cody, Seth, punk, Drew. Like, we have all of this stuff in this one show, but if for 3 hours, I could sit down and watch it.
Frank Dee:Didn't wait. Didn't didn't Ricochet wrestle JD?
Blak Makk:Oh, I'm sorry. JD McDonough. My bad. Yeah. Yeah.
Blak Makk:My bad. But, again, good match. It was a good match, which can't really say that about it any other time. You know what I'm saying? Like, I I normally see it and be, like, past, but I was entertained, highly entertained.
Blak Makk:And they kept inserting shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't know if anybody else saw this, but there's a backstage segment where it's truth in somebody. But in the background
Frank Dee:Yeah. Awesome truth.
Blak Makk:Yeah. In the background, Drew's talking to Paul Heyman in the background.
Frank Dee:Right. And that's another thing too that that Roman Reigns character should be concerned about. The fact that the wise man is there, you're not there. So why is the wise man there? Well, because the wise man is the rock's wise
Blak Makk:man. Exactly.
Frank Dee:So
Blak Makk:And even the beat down. There was a there was a car outside, lights on. Who was in there?
Frank Dee:Oh, I don't I I just think that car happened to be parked there.
Blak Makk:That's just think so?
Frank Dee:Yeah. They just yeah. That car always happened to be parked there.
Blak Makk:Because they say everything's done with a purpose.
Frank Dee:Yeah. Just like people were saying, you know, everything's done with a purpose. They're they're talking about the trucks that were outside. Okay. Let let's make this very clear.
Frank Dee:Those trucks that were outside, the one with John Cena and Stone Cold, see Lawson, if you look further on the truck, Trish Stratus is on the truck as well. You guys do realize those are the same trucks that they've been using. Right?
Blak Makk:That's why I didn't mention them.
Frank Dee:Yeah. They they're the same. They they've been they've been using these trucks. They're they're like, oh, the special WrestleMania edition. They're not WrestleMania edition trucks.
Frank Dee:No. They've been using those.
Blak Makk:I'm not I'm not as concerned with the trucks as I was with the car.
Frank Dee:Well, I'm I'm I'm I saw the trucks when I went to SmackDown last year. So it's the same trucks they've been using. But people say, oh, well, you know, that's obvious. They're gonna have involved John Cena and Sonko because they're on those trucks, and no w doesn't do anything for. The hell are you talking about?
Frank Dee:They did a segment outside, and the trucks are parked there. Because once the trucks once the show's over, they gotta put the fucking equipment somewhere, right, in the truck.
Blak Makk:In the trucks.
Frank Dee:But whatever. That's why Dave Meltzer getting a video of a segment that happened between The Rock and Triple H years ago with Seth McMahon and
Blak Makk:Oh my god.
Frank Dee:Reporting it as news of something that just happened in Las Vegas after WrestleMania.
Blak Makk:Happened in 2024. Yeah. No. It didn't. But
Frank Dee:you you so so why is Triple H in Iraq with younger in that video? And why is Stefan McMahon there? Why is it backstage? It's fucked hard.
Blak Makk:People. Fucking people. Gotta let it go, man. Gotta let it go because that, it needs to be done. It needs to be done in the ring, actually.
Blak Makk:Which I don't I don't think we'll ever see triple h in the ring again.
Frank Dee:No. That's not gonna happen. I think triple h has it's put his wrestling career behind him. It's just not gonna happen. There's no suit risky to even do that.
Frank Dee:You know? Yeah. I think him and Rock are gonna have some type of a a showdown in the ring face to face when Triple H's gonna try to think he can tell The Rock what to do, but The Rock is gonna reiterate I am the final boss. So Yeah. I think I think we're gonna see that eventually.
Blak Makk:I hope so. I hope so because this story kinda it kinda needs it. But speaking of which, speaking of the story, does it feel like Romans being overshadowed to you?
Frank Dee:I said this a few weeks ago right here on the show. The Rock comes out there alone by himself without the bloodline. He stands apart from the bloodline, and they just look like I don't know what they look like.
Blak Makk:Well, not even that. Well, now because we we talked about this earlier in the show, Jimmy and Solo are there with The Rock. The wise men's there with The Rock. Where is Roman?
Frank Dee:I don't know. But, you know, people say, well, is The Rock taking Roman's spotlight? I'm like, well, you can't really take the spotlight of somebody who was never there. So
Blak Makk:true.
Frank Dee:That's true. If The Rock comes in there and and gets Roman's spotlight, well, you're never there, bruh. So is it really that difficult and hard for someone to take your spotlight when you're never there and you know that you're gonna ask for erratic appearances on the programming? And besides that, haven't seen The Rock in so long, you know, coming back full time a little bit not full time, but you know what I mean. Making all his appearances.
Frank Dee:Yeah. That I mean, is Rock being over yeah. Is is Rock being overshadowed Rock? Absolutely. Because Rock is a bigger star than Roman Reigns.
Frank Dee:Rock is people need to understand something. The Rock is is on a different plane because The Rock is a Hollywood elite celebrity that just happens to be in in professional wrestling. Right. So, of course, he's gonna be bigger than anybody there, including the tribal chief. It is what it is.
Blak Makk:I agree with that. I agree with that. It's gonna be hard because he is, like, the number one action star in Hollywood. He's the most paid man in Hollywood, and he spent years working on that. He's a The Rock is a brand.
Blak Makk:Not even not even The Rock, Dwayne Johnson is a brand. So if Dwayne Johnson goes to the WWE, he's a recognizable face, and he's a recognizable face as The Rock. Like, he's endearing to wrestling fans, and he's a crossover star.
Frank Dee:And that's what I meant earlier when I said The Rock is on a different level. Everybody else. So
Blak Makk:But even that, man, it's like The Rock since he's come back, he has shown he has shown us the difference between and I don't wanna say, like, attitude error stars, but stars of his magnitude and the current ones. He's showing us some difference.
Frank Dee:Oh, there's some competition here?
Blak Makk:Yeah. Yeah.
Frank Dee:He's vicious.
Blak Makk:It's night and fucking day, man. It's night and day.
Frank Dee:Well, it's night and day when you have The Rock out there and then you have Centimeters Punk out there as well. Because Centimeters Punk is a student of the ruthless aggression era.
Blak Makk:Right.
Frank Dee:Anytime you bring any of these people back, and they just go out there and they shine over everybody else.
Blak Makk:Right.
Frank Dee:You know? And and that's just I mean, Centimeters Punk on Monday proved why he's one of the best talkers in the business and said, and I quote, my 10 year absence, I'm gonna do something WrestleMania that's never been done. And and the 10 years I forgot, I'm gonna make those look interesting. So there there you go.
Blak Makk:Yeah. And, yeah, that's crazy because he did. In that in that one segment, he made them both he made that whole scene both interesting. Now there's something to watch.
Frank Dee:Yep. Now the match has something going into it. Yeah. Especially now you add the the the wild card here of what was Drew McIntyre talking to Paul Hammond about.
Blak Makk:Exactly.
Frank Dee:Got that going on too.
Blak Makk:Yep. So there there and like I said, there's there's a lot that they're doing right now that I like because we haven't seen this in a while. We haven't seen this in a while where you have multiple characters on that television that that have meaning. There's there's meaning there. So Yeah.
Blak Makk:I mean, it's not perfect. Stick with that.
Frank Dee:It's not perfect, but
Blak Makk:It's not. But it's a start. It's a start.
Frank Dee:Yeah. Yeah.
Blak Makk:Because
Frank Dee:they have they have a direction of what they're going into unlike other people, but you know?
Blak Makk:Yeah. It's a it's a a really nice start, and it's a really nice time to start it because you're going into WrestleMania.
Frank Dee:Yeah. I agree.
Blak Makk:So hell, yeah. I I I I like the direction that they're going in. But as far as Roman, man, it's like it's like, what am I missing out of this whole story? Because the main event of night number 2 is Roman Reigns versus Cody Rhodes. Why am I not interested in this match?
Blak Makk:I'm not. If you if you want my honest opinion, which this is what we do on no gimmicks, I am not interested in this match. To me, it's a foregone conclusion. Unless you are setting me up for an epic turn of epic proportions, I already know the outcome of this match, man. I don't I don't really need it.
Blak Makk:Like, I'm more interested in what happens night 1, which will lead me into night 2. I know Cody Rose is gonna win. I know this. We The question is how. That's the question.
Blak Makk:How is he gonna win? Our and, really, if you if we if we do it this way, night number 1 is gonna determine night number 2, the how of night number 2. And if if I'm if I'm just, like, thinking on it really, really hard, I say Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins will lose night number 1. So we give bloodline rules. It has to be that way almost.
Blak Makk:But if you wanted it to be interesting, let them win night number 1.
Frank Dee:I mean, I think it's far gone conclusion that
Blak Makk:I think so.
Frank Dee:They're they're gonna win night number 1. And that will open up the whole field to no bloodline members. Okay? Now keep in mind, though, that right there what I just said, no bloodline members. So anybody else who jumps out there can Internet mesh.
Frank Dee:It doesn't have to necessarily be a part of the Bloodline. So it's obviously okay. Who would come out there and assist here? Well, you have is Drew. You got Jay Uso?
Blak Makk:Yeah. You got Jay.
Frank Dee:You got Drew McIntyre? You got a Seth Rollins turning heel, possibly? Possibly. A Tom Matanga. You got Jacob.
Frank Dee:So it seems that they got all their bases covered here. We just gotta see the way this thing plays out.
Blak Makk:Right. They're yeah. Speaking on speaking on it like that, it's like, well, now I don't know. Now I don't know. I think I know, but I don't know.
Blak Makk:Right. Really know what's gonna happen. And I like that I don't really know because I them them winning, 7 Cody winning does make this interesting.
Frank Dee:No. I I I agree.
Blak Makk:And it's pretty much easy to say rock and Roman win. You get the no you get the bloodline rule, and something happens within that realm. Somebody's gonna turn. And if it's somebody that I'm thinking, it's Cody.
Frank Dee:I I've been saying it for a while now, but I I believe that this is setting up Cody to turn heel. And and last Monday, Cody passed the final test. Yes. And I and and I swear, I believe that this is all gonna play out at Mania. Now how are we gonna get there?
Frank Dee:I don't know.
Blak Makk:But I don't know.
Frank Dee:We're we're we're gonna get it because the way that should happen, the way it went down, it's like The Rock had to test this dude, gave him the final test, you pass it. It's like, okay. Phase 1 was Jimmy. Phase 2 was solo. Phase 3, this is The Rock.
Frank Dee:It's like playing a video game. Yep. You got the boss the the final boss fight. Right? And Cody guy's ass handed zone.
Blak Makk:On a silver plat on a silver platter. I like it. It was brutal. I like it.
Frank Dee:Yeah. It's one of the best one of the best beatdowns I've seen in a minute. So Yeah. Yeah. I I thoroughly enjoyed it myself.
Blak Makk:You thought, boy?
Frank Dee:Yeah. Look at you now. It's
Blak Makk:it's you now, boy.
Frank Dee:And I kinda like, you know, when when he's out there doing this, I'm like, man, this this kinda reminds me of, kinda reminds me of Scarface when he kept saying, look at you now. Yeah. You know, Rockcap that kinda Tony Bob kinda, you know, kinda shit going on there. So
Blak Makk:Yep. Look at you now. Oh, and when he took him outside, he was like, oh, look at this.
Frank Dee:Yeah. He said, oh, look at this. Yeah. Look at this. The prophecy is the prophecy has been fulfilled.
Frank Dee:Look at this.
Blak Makk:Oh, man.
Frank Dee:The prophecy has been fulfilled.
Blak Makk:I wanna I wanna inject something in here. What if, and this is a what if, because there's been some reports. I don't know how true this is. Might have to get this confirmed. Cody does need help.
Blak Makk:What if that help is coming in the form of MJF?
Frank Dee:You know, I've seen this, and I just I don't believe it.
Blak Makk:I don't believe this either, but MJF has been removed from the roster.
Frank Dee:Yes. And he was removed from the roster before. Right?
Blak Makk:I think so. Yeah.
Frank Dee:Okay. So then that's what I'm saying. Like, you know, because I was you brought you bring up something here that that I I was watching earlier. Mhmm. And, you know, Conan said, how do you know that we're not being worked here?
Blak Makk:We don't know, and I love that we don't know.
Frank Dee:It's it's like Conan says, you know, it kinda feels like we're being worked.
Blak Makk:Yo. When you get the people in the industry, like, I don't know if I'm being worked or not. Like, that's that's good shit, man. That's some good shit. Because I don't know either.
Blak Makk:I don't know. But I like that I don't know.
Frank Dee:Yeah. You know, and it's like, I I don't I don't you know? I could've swore MJF had resigned with AEW. So that's why I'm getting that. Like, I'm not I'm not exactly sure here of what's going on, but I believe that he's on a contract with AW.
Frank Dee:I don't see him showing up here. There's a possibility that you could possibly see Dustin Rhodes show up Yeah. And help and help out Cody because I'm not sure if it's contractual obligations to AEW, but I just don't see MJF showing up. I think MJF is is taking some time off. Obviously, he's banged up, taking some time off, and I think that we'll see him once he's healed up because he has a a built in program with Adam Cole.
Frank Dee:You know? So I I don't I don't know. I don't see I I just don't see it happening.
Blak Makk:I I don't see it happening either, but, again, I don't know.
Frank Dee:Yeah.
Blak Makk:So there's a lot of stuff going on in wrestling right now that I don't know, and I like that I don't know.
Frank Dee:Yeah.
Blak Makk:Because it keeps it interesting. Play these fucking dirt sheets for all they're worth so I can enjoy this shit.
Frank Dee:Ain't worth nothing.
Blak Makk:Exactly. Keep playing them. I don't wanna know. Thank you. Make wrestling interesting again.
Frank Dee:I mean, he's already done that. You know? That's all The Rock. The Rock has has made professional wrestling again.
Blak Makk:He's he and he touts it every time. Pro wrestling is cool again.
Frank Dee:Pro wrestling's best heel. That's what he's at. Yeah. Yeah.
Blak Makk:Now if you wanna give me something to chew on, give me MJF and The Rock and a promo. If that is the case.
Frank Dee:A Rock would destroy him in a promo.
Blak Makk:Oh, I know, but I wanna see it.
Frank Dee:Yeah. He would
Blak Makk:he would literally see that.
Frank Dee:Yeah. He would literally destroy him in promo. It's not it's not having any competition.
Blak Makk:No. I know. But Yeah. If if you wanna see how good MJF is on the mic, give me MJF in The Rock. Fuck it.
Frank Dee:Yeah. There's just no comparison. None whatsoever. But that would be kinda interesting, though. I mean, they would be throwing some some live rounds, but
Blak Makk:Oh, yeah. That would be some yeah.
Frank Dee:It'd be some live rounds, but If if you wanna do a real real promo segment like that, then you put you you wanna involve MJF The Rock and Centimeters Punk.
Blak Makk:Oh. Yeah.
Frank Dee:So that's what you know, that's where my mind's at.
Blak Makk:I like it. I like it. But there are some prospects. So Cody is if if this is the plan going forward, if he does need help, I I do think there are a couple of people from AW that are on their way out the door.
Frank Dee:They're on their way out the door and and not being in the contract is 2 different things.
Blak Makk:Well, I mean, by underwear out the door, I do mean not gonna be on the contract.
Frank Dee:Well So That I mean, the rest of my day is next week. So I yeah. I I don't see any people from AW Innovarianist. I I don't see it. I just
Blak Makk:I don't the only person that I and this would have to be a maybe would be Dustin.
Frank Dee:Yeah. And that's that's the
Blak Makk:only one. Is the biggest one.
Frank Dee:Yeah. That's the only one that I can see interfering here. But anybody else at MJF or Rickusar or sorry. No. I don't see it.
Frank Dee:Okay.
Blak Makk:I like it. But, again, I don't know. I don't know. But how are we feeling about mania? Is it does mania look like other than other if you take the bloodline out, the only other match that I'm really interested in mania is Gunther and whoever he's facing.
Frank Dee:Is he facing Sami Zayn?
Blak Makk:Yes.
Frank Dee:So, I mean, there you go. And that's once again another far gone conclusion of who's going to win the match because I think they're gonna continue Gunther's streak of him not losing the championship.
Blak Makk:I wanna say that, but, also, I wouldn't mind going to losing and then going after the the world heavyweight championship. Championship.
Frank Dee:I would mind Jonathan winning and going as a world heavyweight championship.
Blak Makk:I wouldn't mind that either.
Frank Dee:Because I I think it's better as it's a better scenario of the intercontinental champion now chasing the world champion. Yep. So I think that would be kinda I I think that's more interesting story because, okay, you just lost. So how are you going for world title when you just lost?
Blak Makk:It's true.
Frank Dee:See? That yeah. That right there, that makes it now. And you can say, listen. I'm done playing around here.
Frank Dee:I am the intercontinental champion, the longest reigning intercontinental champion, and I'm putting out a challenge right now to the world heavyweight champion. So at that point, I would I would I could see Jonathan holding 2 titles.
Blak Makk:What she said, he he'd be willing to do.
Frank Dee:So see about that shit. This guy holding
Blak Makk:Yeah. I like that idea better. Yeah. I like that way better. Because if he's chasing and he's champion, like, the guy has it.
Blak Makk:He just has it, and he's starting to look the part too. You're starting to see going through more in suits and carrying himself to a higher level than the intercontinental championship. But in in in doing that, he's making that title look pretty fucking great while he's doing this. So I would I would love to see him win and then go after that championship.
Frank Dee:I think that's what we're gonna see, honestly.
Blak Makk:Yeah.
Frank Dee:I mean, it just makes it just makes more sense. I I just I wouldn't job him out. I think and and, you know, and as far as what we're talking about a second ago, we say, okay. How's WrestleMania looking right now? WrestleMania without The Rock and the Bloodline story, and it'll be looking like shit, to be honest with you.
Frank Dee:Because there's nothing on that show that's really grabbing my attention other than the the tag match and the world title both world title matches. There's nothing else on the show. I'm not invested really in Jimmy versus Jay, Like, I thought I would be because they have gone so long without giving that a proper story. There's no The bill is no break. Build.
Frank Dee:Like yeah. Okay. So we're supposed to so so, basically, you got betrayed back in August at SummerSlam, and now we're building to the match. I and I said this before, previously on this podcast, when you go to the archives on Spotify and wherever else you get your your wrestling podcast fixes. I said this that they should have waited longer in the year for this betrayal to happen.
Blak Makk:You definitely did.
Frank Dee:And now it doesn't mean as much because they've had limited interaction. And the promo that they had where Jay was talking about how much she missed something, all of a sudden, it just kinda ring hollow to me because it's just there's no there's no heat to this match. There's no bill to it, and it shouldn't be that way. It's like 2 brothers for the first time ever in WWE history. These 2 brothers are gonna wrestle each other at WrestleMania.
Frank Dee:They're gonna do the match of of a lifetime, a dream, actually, one to do. And they're gonna finally do it, and there's no heat.
Blak Makk:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for them, it's probably still great because it is a dream. But I'm I'm agreeing with you there. They and you called it.
Blak Makk:You called it. You said they shoulda held off because I think they they started at SummerSlam, and you said they shoulda held off to at least survivor series, which
Frank Dee:Yep.
Blak Makk:I think I think that was the the the the great the best call to make.
Frank Dee:When he went the way the way I would have booked I'm gonna cut you off. But the way I would have booked this would've been, basically, Jay would've had some type of an important match going on. And Jimmy would've cost him the match, and then Jay would've been injured or something in that match. Took some time off, then Jimmy Uso is number 1 in the rumble match. And then at number 2 would have been Jay.
Frank Dee:And you bring Jay out Yep. And now you have the first face to face with these 2. And now you have Jay throwing Jimmy over the top rope and and and eliminating him from the Royal Rumble. Jimmy's pissed off because now you just cost me a shot, and now you have Jay wrestling for the IC belt, and Jimmy's returning the favor. I'm costing you the intercontinental championship.
Frank Dee:But in reality, this was Jay getting revenge on Jimmy for Jimmy turning on him at summertime across him the world title match for the enrollment. So that's that's kinda the way. If I was booking it, I would have done it that way. You know?
Blak Makk:Nice. And it would've made sense. And it would've gave us something to to really get get behind. Like, I'm not mad at this match, but I'm with you. It there there's no bill to it.
Blak Makk:There was there was the bill was there, and then you killed it, and then you came back to it. And there's there's nothing to it at this point, so I agree with that. The Bayley EO Sky, I think they've done a great job building that. But, again, in the in the midst of it, match placement is gonna be is gonna be very key for this match.
Frank Dee:Every match on this show is gonna be important to keep the crowd invested into night 2.
Blak Makk:Right.
Frank Dee:So night 1 has their work come up, especially if you go after The Rock and and and Roman versus Cody and and Seth Rollins.
Blak Makk:Match, oh, man. That match is gonna be it's gonna it's gonna suck the it's gonna suck the life out of whatever follows it.
Frank Dee:Yeah. And but I I think I believe that that's probably I I think what match would follow with, obviously, would be Rhea versus Becky. Or no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Frank Dee:No. It would be Bayley. Bayley is the one who won the, the The Rory Rommel. The the one mister Rommel. So it would be Bayley would be Bailey and and Io and a and a man of WrestleMania night 1.
Blak Makk:Right. Here's my issue with that, though. Think of think back to Rock Hogan. What match followed Rock Hogan?
Frank Dee:Shit. Wasn't it the is that the 4 the fatal four way tag match, title tag match, or was it women's match?
Blak Makk:It was a women's match.
Frank Dee:Okay. Yeah.
Blak Makk:It was a triple threat. It was Lita, Trish, and Jazz. Correct. Phenomenal match. No one gives a fuck about it because it followed Rock Hogan.
Frank Dee:Well and I and I knew that because they that's why they placed it there. It was supposed to be a a match to bring the audience back down.
Blak Makk:Right. I think it's one of the best WrestleMania women's matches ever.
Frank Dee:Oh, I agree. And it was all because of jazz. There's jazz, and I don't want
Blak Makk:Yeah. But no one no one really remembers that match, and I don't want I don't want one of these women's matches to fall victim to that.
Frank Dee:It's gonna fall victim to it.
Blak Makk:Yeah. But, yeah, you're right. It probably will.
Frank Dee:Yeah. It's gonna fall victim to it because there's just no way in hell that he can't. Because there's just there's so much going on here with look. People are there to see the tag match.
Blak Makk:It's it brought them to the day.
Frank Dee:That's exactly. They the WrestleMania sells itself, but they really wanna see that match. I think it it I mean, if it was me, honestly, dude, this is oh my god. This this is gonna come up so bad, but I don't really give a shit. Once the tag match is over, I'm leaving WrestleMania.
Frank Dee:I'm going home. Or not even home. I'm going back to the hotel room. I'll be back tomorrow night at night too because I have nothing further to watch.
Blak Makk:I mean, it it sounds terrible. It sounds terrible, but
Frank Dee:It's terrible, but it's legit. It's true.
Blak Makk:Yeah. You might be right, though.
Frank Dee:I'm beating the traffic out the damn stadium. I can watch this match at I I can watch it at home. Yeah. I can I can watch it on Peacock? But, yeah.
Blak Makk:That's what I'm saying. It's like the match that follows it is is gonna suffer, unless that that shit is an Alzheimer. You know what I'm saying? Like, they barely every I crossed every t, and they told one hell of a story in there.
Frank Dee:I I think Bayley and Iyo can pull it off, but it's just gonna be the deaf spot. Because it's like it's like, is this really is this really a WrestleMania caliber main event? Bayley versus EOS guy?
Blak Makk:By default and hear me out. Just because they they won the Rumble, like, I feel like it should be. But if we're really talking the main event, that main event is Rock and Roman versus Cody and Seth. That's the main event. That's the attraction.
Frank Dee:I think listen. They have a a built in story here with Damage Control and and Bailey. You know? It was her it was her creation. But I think, honestly, the bigger drawing match to me would have been Bailey versus Rhea Ripley.
Frank Dee:And you should've put EO in there against a Becky Lynch. That would have been the scenario for me
Blak Makk:because But I don't think they have much faith in that.
Frank Dee:I I I don't think they have a lot of faith in any of the women, to be honest. They can try to perpetrate that way they do, but I don't think so. I don't buy it.
Blak Makk:Yeah. I don't I don't think they have much faith in that, but I think you may be right. I think you may be right. But, yeah, it's the main event the main event night 1 because I think in in some some capacity, they even alluded to, like, Cody Main Event and both Nice mania. Like, without trying, and I'm like, well, we
Frank Dee:That kinda makes me wonder if the tag match is actually gonna be the main event. If they
Blak Makk:It might be.
Frank Dee:And they can change the scenario here and say, oh, well, you won the Royal Rumble, but your match is not the main event match. It doesn't listen. And this once again, this is gonna sound so terrible, but it's it's the truth. That is not a main event match. People don't people don't give a shit.
Frank Dee:Just keep it 1,000. They don't give a shit. They only care they wanna see the tag match. And that's that sucks ass for Bayley and Eel, and I know it sounds terrible and it's, you know
Blak Makk:But they they I think they've actually done a really good job building this up,
Frank Dee:though. They can do a good job building it up, but it's the main event WrestleMania, man.
Blak Makk:Absolutely not.
Frank Dee:It's not. You can say it's a double main event, which would be I mean, well, Sam Fox said, you know, is you're either the main event or you're not. Right. You know? So I don't know.
Frank Dee:They just they got put they're they're in a bad spot. Either way it goes, any match that comes after that tag match, they're in a bad spot.
Blak Makk:They are in a terrible spot Yeah. Which what if they opened up WrestleMania with that shit?
Frank Dee:And see, that's another thing I thought about. They could do that because I remember when at at WrestleMania, I believe, 25, it was 27. I think WrestleMania 27. I'm not sure. I can't remember.
Blak Makk:But I remember take her in take her in trips?
Frank Dee:No. I'm talking about I'm talking about shit. I forgot which WrestleMania it was, but it was wrong. It was, Ace versus Alberto Del Rio for the world title. And it was, like, it was the first match on the card.
Frank Dee:It was the first match he did. I'm not but I forgot what WrestleMania was. I'm not I'm gonna forget if it was WrestleMania 20 7 or 28. I don't know. It was whichever one was in Atlanta at the the Georgia Dome.
Frank Dee:That's what I'm referring to. But and it was kinda like it was Edge came out there. It was it was the match it was same night that, Ray Mercier wrestled, Cody Rhodes that the undashing Cody Rhodes, when he had the mask on. Forgot which WrestleMania was. So but, anyways, basically, matter of fact, the main event that show was the was the Miz versus John, sticking up for the WWE championship.
Frank Dee:The Rock was actually the host of WrestleMania that year.
Blak Makk:Oh, it's 27.
Frank Dee:Okay. Yeah. That's what I figured. 27. So, you know, they put the World Title match on 1st, and they ended the show with the WWE championship.
Frank Dee:So I'm kinda wondering how they're gonna pull that what you just said. They're gonna say, okay. We're gonna start the night off with EO versus Bayley, or we start them off with a tag match.
Blak Makk:Right.
Frank Dee:They could do that too? They could. They could. Start them off with a tag match. Oh, now I'm really going home.
Blak Makk:I I think you could start it with that because you're gonna start hot. And if you start hot, you can keep promoting that throughout the show.
Frank Dee:Yeah. And it basically tells you that there's nothing else on the show to see. Right. That's what I get from that.
Blak Makk:Well, if you do that because, again, match placement is gonna be really important for night 1. I think you could build you could build to a main event. If you're not gonna do the tag match as the main event, I think you could build to a good main event if you start with the tag match, but that's just gonna be incredible. You have to walk a fine line.
Frank Dee:Yep.
Blak Makk:A very fine line. So it's just dependent, but I think they could get there.
Frank Dee:Alright.
Blak Makk:9 2. 9 2, you already know what you already know.
Frank Dee:9 2 is gonna be stacked.
Blak Makk:9 2 is gonna be the night.
Frank Dee:Yeah. Night 2 is gonna be stacked. And I think the the top 3 matches in that card are gonna obviously be Becky versus versus Rhea. You got The Rock or excuse me, Becky versus Ria. You got, Becky versus Ria, I should say.
Frank Dee:You have, Seth versus Drew with Centimeters Punk Commentary. Punk Mike did involved there. Yeah. And you also have Cody versus Roman Reigns. Yep.
Frank Dee:So do you got 3 match there. That's why I'm saying WrestleMania night 2 is gonna be stacked. WrestleMania night 1 is important, but only because of the tag match. That's gonna tell the story further into WrestleMania part 2. And I think we're gonna get the we're gonna get the real story, count WrestleMania Backlash.
Frank Dee:Yep. I agree.
Blak Makk:I agree with that. Alright, man. Final thoughts. What you got?
Frank Dee:Final thoughts are we are definitely gonna see some major, major happenings at WrestleMania, And it's been fun on this podcast predicting, what we think is gonna happen. He's playing, you know, a fantasy booker, which is what, you know, we like doing here. So I just say, let's just wait it out and see. I mean, we got some stuff happening here with with The Rock. That's gonna be very telling as far as where he goes.
Frank Dee:Is he gonna remain a heel, or is he gonna go back being a baby face? I personally think the best choice for the rocker now is to remain heel. I don't baby face rocking 2024 just don't work. It don't have it. I think he real he realized
Blak Makk:him seeing that flipping the switch was smart as shit.
Frank Dee:Yeah. Yeah. He realizes this shit. So other other than that, man, I I got I got nothing else. It's just it's gonna be very interesting to see where we go with this.
Frank Dee:And, once again, help control the pet population, have your pets spayed or neutered. And especially if you're here in the state of Texas, watch out watch out for rattlesnakes because the snakes are out. So Yep. Watch out for that. And watch out for the snakes that, that are in your office and and watch out for the snakes that, you know, you you talk to that might stab you in the back and shit like that.
Frank Dee:Just watch out for the snakes. And, what else I got here? Oh, yeah. Long live the empire.
Blak Makk:We'll see about that. But, shout out shout out to everybody on the network. Shout out to the queens of Nerdom. Following star Fridays are a hit. Shout out to the smoke pit and, my apartment in crime over there.
Blak Makk:Mac aka your boy. He had a solo show since I was traveling. So shout out to him. Make sure you guys tap into that and then come back, hang out with us this Friday. Shout out to USDN.
Blak Makk:And, actually actually met up with Jeff while I was in, VA. Didn't get to meet up with Matt because he was doing his 1st sergeant shit, and, I was busy moving my daughter in. But Virginia is a nice little hub, and I will be seeing myself there at least once quarterly. So shout out to the team. Most of it almost everybody else is is in Virginia.
Blak Makk:It's just us 2 that are in in in the state of Texas. So
Frank Dee:Well, because it's
Blak Makk:better. Yeah. I agree. I agree.
Frank Dee:But They got some weird shit in Virginia.
Blak Makk:Yes. They do. Yeah. Yes. The fuck they do.
Blak Makk:But Yeah. I will be visiting my daughter as much as I can, and, those guys are close. So we'll be seeing a lot more of each other. And, but, yeah, shout out to everybody, and good show today, my friend. Good
Frank Dee:show. I'm I'm gonna give a a a couple of shout outs here real quick. You know? There's some some people I wanted to wanted to thank. I wanted to thank, Emperor Palpatine.
Frank Dee:I I wanted to I want I wanted to thank Count Dooku and and, Darth Maul. Want to send a special shout out to Darth Bane. Oh. Darth Nihilus.
Blak Makk:Continuance of the Empire. Yeah.
Frank Dee:I want to send that. I wanna send a special shout to the homie, Thrawn.
Blak Makk:Master strategist. Yeah.
Frank Dee:The one yeah. We'll send it. Yeah. Some shout out all day. And I want to send a special, you know, special shout out to the dark Lord himself, Darth Vader.
Frank Dee:Keep it up, man. Stay up, homie. And, Shout
Blak Makk:out to you, Cody.
Frank Dee:Yeah. That's pretty much it, man. You know what I'm saying?
Blak Makk:I don't.
Frank Dee:Live long lived the empire.
Blak Makk:Well, that's it, man. That's all I got. If you got nothing else, I got nothing else.
Frank Dee:No. That's it, man. Just say you like what you like, and if they don't like it, don't give a fuck.
Blak Makk:Couldn't have said it better. Thank y'all for tuning in. Until next time. Tune in to the No Gimmicks Podcast, and peace.