Hello everybody and welcome to a new episode
of Finishes and Factions does Monday Night Raw.
This week as part of the European tour we are
in Brussels, Belgium in the Forest National Arena
with a slight change on commentary this week.
We've got Michael Cole and Corey Graves but I'll
tell you one place that hasn't been a change
in commentary. That would be here and finishes
and factions because you've got myself rich and
as always my co -host Adam. Adam, welcome. Yeet.
Yeet. Normally it's me that has the libations
but I think Adam might have had one on the way
home from work today. Oh no, I haven't. I wish
I had that excuse. Yeah, no, I'm just on one
of them. Right, I'll pull myself together I swear.
Yeah. Well, no, no, no jokes about pulling. Not
live on Finishes and Factions, you wouldn't get
a joke like that. One thing we did get a little
joke about at some point this evening, I will
say, is that I'm sure there's gonna be a lot
of jokes made about, well, I've seen a lot of
jokes on social media made about the first promo
of the night, which was a bit of an interesting
one. I mean, to say the least, sorry. Yeah, I
mean, we started off with a VT promo just basically
recapping that little known secret about that
heel turn that we all sort of might have heard
of at some point. Ah, yes, the John Cena heel
turns. The elimination chamber. I don't know
how many times I have seen the Cliff of Cena
kicking Cody in the nuts. because I obviously
some days or some weeks were a little bit behind
programming due to personal um real life stuff
going on I was at work the morning after elimination
chamber so all I had seen for the entire shift
was Cody getting kicked in the gonads because
that was the only clip I was allowing myself
to watch because it was the first one that popped
up on social media and I was not getting any
more spoilers Fair enough. Why not? But we went
from that VT promo to an in -ring promo. We did.
An in -ring promo from the man that everyone
can now see. Mr John Cena. We can see and Cody
Rhodes has definitely felt. Definitely. This
was what we were all speculating about and a
lot of people... on social media, we've been
speculating as well. As Sina had mentioned that
when he had his previous opportunity to turn
heel, he had a whole new set of merch, whole
new entrance, laid out a whole new ring gear,
whole shebang. But we didn't actually get any
of that. We got the same music, we got the same
corny t -shirts. Granted, this one was in the
colours of the Belgian flag, because we are in
Belgium this week. with the same corny, this
is the last time sort of slogan on it that we
have seen. The only difference we got really
was he walked to the ring rather than sprinted.
It was a very sort of lack of the normal, like
it wasn't the entrance that we've come to know
John Cena for sort of thing. It was... very lacking
in his normal energy level enthusiasm there was
was just completely devoid of heart yeah and
he came walking out to a whole series of let's
go sena sena sucks chants from the uh from the
brussels crowd and i'm just going to throw this
out there as well that it is normally the same
on every european tour but the crowd in brussels
set the absolute standard for WWE Universe members
throughout the world, as the crowd throughout
this night of wrestling and this programming
was absolutely incredible. There were times where
the crowd took over from what the show was doing,
and the show had to stop and wait for the crowd
to kind of calm its shit before they carried
back on. Well, I've said for a very long time
is that American crowds, get it all the live
long year. The American wrestling scene is the
best in the world. But it is very, very saturated.
And they sort of take it for granted a little
bit, I feel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling
the Americans bad fans in any way, shape or form,
because the Americans, without their fan base,
we wouldn't have WWE, realistically. However,
in saying that, it is very much a case that the
European fans and everyone else around the world,
because we don't get it anywhere near as regularly,
we appreciate it a little bit more. I think it's
also something to be said about the fact that
European arenas are generally smaller. So what
we hear is a loud crowd reaction maybe on par
with with like standard American reactions, but
because Americans have so much more space to
fill with sound it comes across as lesser A few
times within this segment the crowd definitely
heard more than they were. Actually to the point
where Sina at the start puts his mic down and
goes to leave before he gets booed that badly
he picks it back up. He does that twice in fairness.
He does. There's two occasions where he literally
drops his mic and goes to leave the ring in a
very solo Sikoa -esque fashion. yes very good
actually that's a good comparison to be fair
it's not something i thought of in fairness it's
only something i thought of just now um but yeah
um sort of wanting to very much making the impression
that he was going to leave without saying a word
bearing in mind this is the first time we've
seen him since elimination chamber he has not
been seen on any programming for wwe things Or
like a WWE I'm gonna come and do this or I'm
gonna do that sort of thing on video. We've not
had anything. Complete radio silence up until
we got to the point where I say we've got John
Cena stood in the ring for the first time since
Elimination Chamber and he starts going off about
how the last 25 years he's been the victim of
an abusive relationship with the WWE Universe.
Which do you know what I was sat listening to
that entire promo? No, cuz it is very much a
case that He's always been hailed as that polarizing
character is that you either love John Cena or
you can't fucking stand him Yeah I've always
been a big fan of there's not much that John
Cena has ever done that I'm not a fan of Yeah,
I mean that was that they're still selling replicas
of that now But yeah, I mean His very first words
were sort of an affirmation about how he doesn't
really need to explain his actions and Yeah,
the the abusive the abusive relationship stuff
again couldn't sort of disagree with it and Yeah,
everything that he sort of says as you said that
like the Brussels crowd were very much sort of
Helping to illustrate his point I mean, I've
got in my notes here that this is absolutely
incredible crowd work. But then when you're used
to, like, Sina was incredible with a microphone
in his hand anyway. What we're seeing is no different
to what we've seen for the last 25 years. It's
just not to the same point. But we're still getting
that good, amazing quality mic work that we would
have had even if we'd have stayed on a face wrap.
Yeah, very much so. I mean, he's always bit he's
always been able No matter what sort of he goes
out to the crowd whatever he goes out to the
ring to do he has always had a very unique ability
to Have the WWE Universe Almost quite literally
eating out of the palm of his hand to what we've
seen before. He was putting an awful lot of things
down and they were picking them straight up.
Yeah, this is it. Everything that happened within
that arena, I have to believe that it was all
completely by design of the promo itself. Yes.
I completely agree with the fact that he said
that. He got the exact reaction he wanted and
he knew he was going to get it by wording it
the way he did. I mean, he even made reference
to the fact that he's been the butt of an invisible
joke for the last 15 years. And, you know, all
the things that the WWE Universe have done with
him, he's mentioned in this. I'll admit though
The one person I felt sorry for within this entire
promo wasn't John Cena It was it was the poor
kid that he picked on He's done some people hard
And he's done a few superstars dirty over the
last 25 years, but he made that kid look like
nothing. I absolutely destroyed the poor kid.
Yeah, and on social media over the last few days,
I've seen the look on that kid's face. Oh my
God. The thing is though, he's now got bragging
rights at school for the rest of his life. Remember
when John Cena did his farewell tour? Yes mate,
I do. You know the kid that you ripped the fuck
out of in Brussels? Yeah, that was me. Do you
know what I mean? Like, that'll get him laid
in a few years time. Or it'll just get him bullied
for the rest of his life. You got absolutely
ragged on by Cena, mate. As long as he doesn't
turn into the next version of Drew McIncrire,
we are completely fine. There is enough tears
being shed by Drew at the moment and we don't
need any more. But at one point Cena does address
the fact that I think everybody sort of expected
out of him new gear, new... new entrance video
just a whole a whole repackage around around
his sort of heel turn even though he's not classing
this as a heel turn he's not a baby face he's
not a heel he's a human being with feelings the
only thing he's felt since elimination chamber
was Cody Rhodes nuts on his shin so I will throw
that up there slowly Yeah, it's a case that I
Think to a certain degree this this was We obviously
we have digs at Drew Mack in cryo for being a
big Scottish crybaby Because he is a big Scottish
crybaby, but this big non -Scottish crybaby comes
from West Newbury, Massachusetts Because he does
have a bit of a cry in fairness. It's he's having
a proper whinge So at the time of the broadcast
we have 33 night 33 nights until WrestleMania
Right. So we've got four weeks worth of programming.
He's setting a story up here now, where we're
getting all the heel details. Even though he's
not a heel, he's a human being. We're getting
all those details. And to be fair, we get a lot
more of those details, and we'll get a lot more
of those details in the next couple of weeks.
But the main details that we needed to get today,
we were given. and then we were given the main
details from his WrestleMania opponent as well,
because the American Nightmare himself, Mr Cody
Rhodes, makes a trip down to the ring in front
of the crowd in Brussels. Yeah, so just as Cena's
talking about breaking up this this toxic relationship
he has with the crowd and the fans and everything
along those lines that he is basically splitting
up with every last one of them which i think
has to set some kind of record for the most breakups
in one go um yeah i don't even think she's been
dumped that many times at once um No, that's
a thousand and fifty seven guys that dumped in
her yeah But yeah, we then get Cody who basically
interrupts what is basically turning into a bit
of a tirade by by John in ring and Cody basically
explains that That the fans gave John both The
bet their best and their worst as they knew that
he could take it Yeah, this is it and just as
John goes to try and clap back at him and go
and he gets out the words listen kid and We see
something snap in Cody wrote his head as he shuts
that shit down Like he shuts John Cena up and
doesn't have to lay a finger on him Which is
always interesting to see, to shut someone up
without letting a finger on them normally means
you've cut one hell of a sentence. Yeah, this
is it. And this is when we get sort of Cody talking
about how he feels about like what's happened
with, or what's happening with Cena, how he feels
about that personally. Cody came up while John
was starting to make his way to the top sort
of thing and it's a case that As it is for a
lot of people not just wrestlers, but fans as
well John Cena was a hero to a lot of people
and possibly still is and He just doesn't feel
that Cody doesn't feel that the John that we've
got in the ring during this promo Is Cena being
at his best? And that Cena's best had better
be at WrestleMania? massive thing and for it
to be your last WrestleMania 2 you don't want
to waste that opportunity. No and regardless
of everything else it will surprise me greatly
if we come out the other side of the other side
of WrestleMania and we can honestly say hand
on heart that John Cena wasted his last WrestleMania
but yeah, basically this this segment ends with
Cody calling Sina a whiny bitch and Basically
just walks out it might drops walks out leave
Sina in the middle of the ring to sort of reel
from that last little barb that he sticks in
and Then we just see Sina take quite a long walk
back to the backstage Like they put a lot of
emphasis on that silent walk he had up that ramp
When Cody Rhodes came out to the arena Cody side
of the arena was very bright very flamboyant
very Cody Rhodes entrance John Cena's half of
the arena was completely darkness I didn't know
if they were trying to signify something with
that, but the effect they had with it looked
really, really cool. Yeah, it's the visual representation
of light versus dark, good versus evil, baby
face versus heel. It's very sort of basic, not
just ring psychology, but... Presentations presentation
psychology as well is that if you can subtly
nod to things like that Then it just emphasizes
the story you're telling But What surprised me
more than anything else is that at the end of
this we are obviously John Cena's gone to the
back Cody Rhodes has gone to the back. We're
left with nobody in ring and we go back to the
a shot of Michael Cole and Corey Graves and we
see we see I keep wanting to call him Cody Graves
and I don't know why but yeah I'm gonna get it
wrong at some point and I know it's gonna happen
but we actually see Michael Cole who On and off
I'm not gonna say for 20 years solid he's been
a supporter of John Cena behind the scenes probably
But as his character, I'm pretty sure he was
taking shots at John Cena during his coal miner
gimmick And Yeah, we actually see him sort of
get hot around the Around the promo that he's
just witnessed at the same time as all of us
have Which We call Cena an irrational prick Which
is not the Michael Cole we used to be we used
to seeing on on on the air but My bad But yeah
this we then go from there basically to The commentary
team explaining that because of the Intercontinental
Championship match being the main event of this
of this particular card it is a case that we
are They're going to be taking looks back at
famous in WrestleMania intercontinental matches
or something along those lines and they play
us a little highlight reel of from WrestleMania
3 in 1987 Ricky Steamboat versus Randy Savage
where Ricky Steamboat ends up picking up the
win in the IC title which I've been back and
watched that match it was a brilliant match don't
get me wrong but I went on record last time and
said that doing the famous cage matches and things
like that was a really nice way to promote that
match. I just feel like they've tried to catch
lightning in a glass bottle again. It was a really
nice novel idea. Don't need to repeat this idea
again on this week's episode So I didn't really
catch me in the same way that the famous cage
match thing did And I think the famous cage matches
was slightly more interesting than the IC title
Don't get me wrong the IC title was a great title
and it's been held by some amazing superstars
over the years, but Nothing about the IC title
says blood and guts rather than two people Going
one -on -one in a steel cage Yeah, this is it
it's not as It's a championship that's been as
been around as long as as long as wrestling has
been around pretty much It's it's one of those
mainstay titles where the heavyweight championship
has changed names over the years here and there
The IC title has always remained so and it's
not one that's going anywhere anytime soon but
yeah just didn't didn't enjoy this segment as
much as I did with the famous cage matches just
a personal opinion but then we went into our
first match which was a no holds barred match
between Ludwig Kaiser and Mr. No Fear himself
Or should I say Senor Nofea. Enter. It's, I really
enjoyed this match. I'm not going to lie to you.
On paper, it doesn't look like it's going to
be too good. Especially when you throw in the
fact that it's a no -holes barred, which means
it's no DQ as well. That that kind of raised
the stakes a little bit for me made it a little
bit more interesting, but I am You can see where
this one's going unfortunately, and it's not
Anything to do with the two superstars that are
in the ring. It's just the way that one of them
has been booked and I Couldn't see that changing
any time in this match so it was definitely one
of those sort of matches where i enjoyed watching
it the fan and me definitely enjoyed it the podcaster
and me hated writing notes for this match i'm
not going to lie but uh it was definitely a very
good match to watch and um it started off with
a rather nice or one of the first high spots
i've i've made notes of was Penta running the
barricades and popping a rather nice Hurricane
Rana onto Ludwig Kaiser who gets sent straight
into the corner ring post My very first note
as well in fairness. So yeah, I think we were
along the same lines with that because it's Don't
get me wrong. We've seen people run. We obviously
see a lot of people run the ropes we see people
We see a lot of creative ways to create offense.
I don't remember the last time I saw somebody
run the actual barricade in WWE. No, normally
that's only really safe for Kofi Kingston trying
to get himself back into the Royal Rumble. So
someone to be running around it and using it
as part of an extra space to play with was actually
quite nice to see. Which is just what we've sort
of come to expect from Penta realistically. I
struggle to think of a match he's had in WWE
where there hasn't been some aspect of creative
offense there. Well just a match in WWE where
it's not stayed inside the ropes. This guy spends
more time on the outside of the ring than he
does on the inside. Yeah and I don't think we
saw Even the tip of Penta's potential, seeing
as how this was a no DQ match, which I'm led
to believe is one of his favourite, more favourite,
preferred kind of matches to do, just because
it gives him that little bit more creative licence
with how the match plays out. Yeah, no DQ means
you get to break all the rules. You get to pull
out tables and chairs and, you know, the occasional
kendo stick and trashcan. There's always an anonymous
table that can be put through. Having said that,
realistically the only weapon that was ever brought
into play was a chair. Yes, it was, which was
quite disappointing to be fair. Like I said,
there's so many different things they could have
used to beat the living she -hizzle out of each
other. And the chair was brought in and used,
but not as effectively as it could have been.
See I actually found it quite refreshing that
just because what What you can see in any sort
of no DQ match is if weapons are involved if
weapons are allowed You will see them come out
at every opportunity and in some cases I'm going
to actually use the Sammy Zane Kevin Owens Too
much Like the majority of my notes for that match
between Kevin Owens and and Sami Zayn and Was
oh we got this weapon next then this one was
used and this one was you I wasn't Looking at
the spots personally Chelsea green Street fire
against mission like mission came out with a
massive bin full of toys I was going to say I'm
pretty sure in the early 90s those sorts of matches
were reserved for dark matches. And that was
a dark match that took place after all the kids
went home. More commonly known, instead of using
the ring, that was Vince McMahon's office they
recorded those dark matches in. Well no, I'm
pretty sure probably a few of them used that
ring. Yeah, more than likely. More than likely.
No one got hit with any rubber in this match
but some people both at Ludwig Kaiser and Penta
got absolutely smashed by their opponents with
a steel chair multiple times and the chair was
not going to be the end of it at all as Penta
used the chair as an opportunity to hit a Mexican
destroyer from the top rope on top of to the
steel chair, sending Ludwig Kaiser, well, I personally
think that Kaiser may have been slightly dizzy
by the time he got up after this match because
that Mexican Destroyer hit so, so, so smoothly.
Yeah, 100%. It was beautifully done. One of the
other moves I took note of during this match
was Kaiser hitting a Death Valley driver on the
announce desk. Now that happened quite early
on. It did, I did make note of that and I did
make the note that there was a second Death Valley
driver a little bit later as well. Like I said
at the start, this match was going to be a good
one purely for how they booked Penta. I think
he's 5 -0 at the moment when it comes to singles
matches in WWEs. He has only lost one match and
he didn't technically lose it. No, that was the
triple threat when Ludwig Kaiser beat Pete Dunne.
But what I'm saying is I think he's in singles
matches, he's 5 -0. Oh yeah, he's undefeated
in WWE and singles matches so far. That triple
threat doesn't really count as such because he
was defeated but he wasn't pinned. So he was
like the spare dick in a porn studio at the end
of that match. I've watched enough porn to know
that there's very rarely a spare dick in a porn
studio. Just saying Well, yes good point there
was a good point normally the the useless dicks
making the tea but this time around the useless
dick is Probably sat in the judgment days Corner
again, but before we get too far We get to go
and see Kathy Kelly with a little Backstage conversation
with Penta It wasn't even backstage. It was a
ring. It was ringside where basically she does
a and She does an interview with Penta and we've
seen this happen a couple of times with Penta
where he'll have a post -match interview and
in fairness, they're always very Emphatic they
always get the crowd going. So I'm not gonna
take anything away from him with that. However,
it comes back to this point that I seem to make
quite a lot in that is that cutting a promo in
English is all well and good provided you have
the command of the language. Yeah, Penta is struggling
a little bit with that aspect of his promotional
skills. But then you'll notice over the course
of... wrestling history that a lot of the Mexican
wrestlers struggle quite a lot with the promo
abilities because of the language barrier. The
only one that I can think of recently that didn't
hold too much of an effort with it was Alberto
Del Rio and he was reasonably sort of like you
can understand what he was trying to say. Yes,
very true, but unlike his I wanted to go with
Carlos, but I don't know why. I wonder if Ricardo
Rodriguez, the ring announcer for Alberto Del
Rio, is in any way related to Raquel Rodriguez
of the Judgment Day? Or maybe I'm thinking about
it a little bit too much. I'm pretty sure Rodriguez
might possibly be the Mexican version of Smith.
I'm pretty sure it's one of those quite common
surnames. Quite possibly anyway digressing a
well -off subject Yeah enter during is it ringside
interview basically declares himself for the
Intercontinental Championship which He sort of
Surprised me and didn't surprise me at the same
time Or is he hoping that Finn topples him in
the main event so he can get easy pickings on
the low -hanging fruit that's Finn Balor? Well,
this is it. There's so many ways that that could
have gone. Yeah, just a bit odd. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure why it surprised me and why it didn't
surprise me at all at the same time. It just
yeah It all feels a little bit odd, but I think
regardless Breaker will be a decent match. Yeah,
I think the title Yeah, very much so but I mean
you happen to mention that You happen to mention
the judgment day earlier on as I have as well
And the next segment is a backstage promo for
the judgment day now. I Don't think they were
in there sort of normal clubhouse setting but
they were They'd found themselves somewhere and
from what I can remember we are first open to
Carlito apparently adding to the artwork on the
walls while Liv and Raquel are discussing their
upcoming match and are joined very swiftly. by
Finn Balor who seems to be in quite a good mood
for once actually. I think Finn Balor got laid
because that's the only time we see him in a
decent mood. I mean you'd have to assume that.
Oh yeah, the last few weeks he's been very very
caged off and very pissed off and all of a sudden
Finn Balor is the happiest guy in the world.
I know what normally makes me change my mood
like that and it's definitely well. Say I don't
remember the last time you had an intercontinental
championship match I'm pretty sure I'd know exactly
what to do after I've shit myself. That's it
Yeah, I do what Steve -O did when he got in the
ring with Umaga. I just lay there and hope he
thought I was dead Could be worse could do what
Hornswoggle did and set himself up for a spot
in the middle of In the ring where he was hiding
under the ring for pretty much the entire show
and fell asleep But yes anyway We have all three
live Raquel and Finn all talking about their
upcoming matches Where then we see Dom join in
and an unusually warm response from Finn Balor
to Dom Mysterio, but I'm guessing that has something
to do with the fact that Dom was the one that
set up the IC match for him. Well, yeah. We're
so used to Dom trying to do things for himself.
The fact that he went out of his way to help
Finn get that match was quite interesting. There's
got to be an alternative angle to it though.
Yeah, we said this last week, is that there was
something about the way that Dom, something about
Dom's facial expression, his body language made
me think that he was, that he's definitely up
to something. I mean, I still think he's up to
something. I struggle to remember a time when
I didn't think he was up to something. Yeah,
but I think he's possibly possibly going into
business for himself a little bit but yeah and
Dom chooses this moment however Instead of enjoying
the time when they're all getting on to float
the idea that he's actually come up with a name
of somebody who could be joining the judgment
day and Yeah, apparently it could have been it
couldn't have been more poorly timed as the name
that he comes up with is Penta the man who was
just announced But he is interested in the intercontinental
title which Finn Balor believes is going to belong
to him after his match with Ron Breaker late
this evening. So obviously Finn's a bit pissed
at Dom for basically trying to bring a traitor
into the mix or someone that could stitch him
over to steal the title. Yeah, because as much
as I'm sure Penta can play nicely with others,
somehow I just don't think he'd be a very good
fit for the judgment day. Aesthetically, yes.
But I'm just not sure that this version of Penta
is the one that joins the Judgment Day in this
instance. Yeah, no, definitely not. But I have
seen on social media a perspective of a suggestion
for Judgment Day due to some images that were
taken from backstage promos throughout the course
of the evening. Oh right, okay. So there is a
promo, well it's not a promo as such, there's
an interview at some point between someone backstage
and I'm just trying to find out who it is now.
I think it's, right so yeah, as Cathy, it's not
Cathy Caddy, there is an interview somewhere
where someone is talking to a wrestler backstage.
And in the background, I'm just trying to see
where I put it in my notes. I did make a note
of this. Oh, this isn't the image of Don Mysterio
talking to Karrion Cross, is it? Yeah, that is
the one. This wasn't from this week. This was
last week we saw. We saw this. I remember spotting
it, but I don't remember if I actually made a
note of it or not, but it was last week. We could
end up seeing Karrion Kross be pulled towards
Judgement Day or to help some Judgement Day members
out at some point. Well, any sort of faction
that Karrion Kross was building seems to have
either been given their release or fucked off
to Smackdown. Or fucked off to Smackdown, yeah.
So Karrion Kross is finding himself very much
the loner at the moment, although... I think
we see him a little bit later on as it goes so
we might be Seeing it build towards seeing him
being built towards something else at some point
Which is ironic really when you think that they
were both aligned at one point they were with
each other Yeah And but anyway regardless we'll
move on Because we go into our second match here,
which is a women's singles match, which sees
Ivy Nile Versus Dakota Kai. Yes, so we had a
little like a little VT before this started of
Wasn't even a VT. It said it was basically just
Dakota Kai and her damage control teammate EoSky
backstage with Io basically just wishing her
luck and guessing and pushing it towards the
ring. And then, yeah, so we get Dakota Kai and
Ivy Niall in the ring. My notes for this match
are very lacking. I don't have anything up until
the interruption. So the reason for that is because
there wasn't really an awful lot to comment on.
Ivy Nile is very much in control of this match
up to this point. I mean she is very much the
dominant person in this match but it wasn't a
long match by any stretch of the imagination.
Because Ivy Nile came to the ring accompanied
by her American -made American -made comrades
in the Creed Brothers and eventually Chad Gable
who came sprinting down. It's the first time
he's been seen with American Maid since making
his return. None of this, I think, went to Ivy
Nile and American Maid's plan, realistically.
I would agree with that, pretty much. Chad Gable
attempts a distraction and Ivy Nile just can't
seem to do enough to take advantage of it and
secure the win Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee of
LWO end up coming down to the ring attacking
the Creed brothers and then chasing Chad Gable
from ringside And that entire distraction allows
Dakota Kai to pick up what could potentially
be looked at as a really easy win over Ivy Nile.
Hit a massive big boot and then a GTK. Do you
know what that stands for? No. Neither do I.
There we go. I genuinely thought you were going
to tell me. No, no, no. Neither do I. If anyone
listening knows what the GTK is or stands for,
then drop us an email. Let us know. It finishes
with actions at gmail .com. And then, yeah, she
picked up, I think it's a pretty big win, to
be fair, over Ivy Nile, especially after Ivy
threw her face first into the barricades. Yeah,
very much so. I mean... Yeah, it's just You know,
I've lost my train of thought I was gonna say
something I'm sure it was really insightful and
I genuinely can't remember now That's always
the way it goes. It's right though because once
these Women that have left the ring Probably
sure there was a VT in there somewhere about
something. It's probably the WrestleMania weekend
one that I haven't made no of We have a little
recap on what happened last week between Io,
Rhea and Bianca in the middle of the ring. Both
Rhea and Bianca stuck their hands in Io's face
and Io got very pissed off with it. And then
this week we have a contract signing between
Io Sky and the Women's Elimination Chamber winner
Bianca Belair who is her WrestleMania opponent.
They're coming to the ring to sign the contract
for their WrestleMania match which means it's
the first one that's actually been done so far
I believe Adam. Yes, so first contract signing
certainly or first contract signing of this WrestleMania
that we've been allowed to see. It's a case that
generally any form of contract signing that's
done in the ring will normally end in chaos and
I suppose this is no different realistically.
Just going back to an earlier point GTK The go
-to kick ah It was making my brain itch. I needed
to find out making your brain itch. It was rinsing
them in with his tism Yes, pretty much I Did
it while we were recording this so there we go,
but yeah Adam was having to try and swap notebooks
because he ran out of space and won and had to
restart his notes in a new book, so you'd have
to bear with him a second. Yeah, pretty much.
Yeah, so we had Eos Guy and Bianca Belair out
to sign their Mania contracts with Adam Pearce
overseeing. Very rare of us to see Adam Pearce
in the ring, let alone on camera. He's got to
be the latest General Manager there is. He seems
to be the most John Cena of general managers
in the sense that we can't see him. We saw more
of the anonymous general role manager than we
see of Adam Pearce some weeks. He's a slack motherfucker.
He's got his work set out with him today. This
100 like Adam says if a contract signing is going
off in the ring It is not going down without
a hitch and it starts off really actually quite
tamed me to be fair It starts with the EO saying
that you know both Rhea and Bianca won't be Disrespecting
her again. She's the women's world champion and
after WrestleMania in a really high -pitched
voice. She will still be the women's wrestling
champion and she signs her contract she signs
it it's done you know said what she's got to
say to her now it's what happens in the ring
at WrestleMania happens at WrestleMania. Bianca
Belair was the one that sort of had some cojones
on her this week because she actually goes to
Sky and says do you know what I'm going to give
you a pass for slapping me last week. No, I think
you should look at that. Thank your lucky fucking
stars. That isn't all she did. To be fair, I
don't rate much of Io anyway. Granted, she's
the women's champion. I think Rio was a better
choice. Slightly more talented and whatever,
but I'll give Io her due. We'll see what she
can do. Like you said, Bianca gives her a bit
of cojones. saying that pass won't be happening
again basically she's the EST and after WrestleMania
she'll be the champion and signs the contract
at which Adam Pearce says it's official and then
we get to hear someone's brutality as Rhea's
music hits and Rhea Ripley comes I was going
to say running out but it's more of a pissed
off stomp Yeah, she's she still manages to cover
a lot of ground with not a lot of effort sort
of thing So one of those like fuck's sake the
dogs just pissed on the carpet, but going for
a walk you prick Right now fast -paced like fuck
you you dickhead. We're doing it now. I want
to do it Yeah, if you pissed on me floor sort
of job It's a very specific example that's because
my dog used to like doing it he enjoyed the fast
-paced walks So if he pissed on the floor, I
took him for the walk and then he got the fast
-paced walk that he wanted, where the kids couldn't
quite go as fast as he wanted. Fair enough. Yeah,
so it's a case that both Belair and Sky have
managed to sign their contracts and Rhea Ripley
joins us in Ring. basically comes out and starts
an argument with Bellaire which I think sort
of gets under the skin of our current champion
Eoskye because again she's being very much pushed
to the wayside in favor of Rhea and Bellaire's
argument or yeah Rhea and Bellaire's argument
bone of mind we've got referees as well that
adam pierce has called out because rear is not
supposed to be there now i've got here that bianca
pushes io in the face rear shoves bianca and
then between the three of them there's a a series
of pushing shoving and whatnot and then rear
pushes bianca onto the table and then tries to
basically power bomb EO through Bianca and the
table but it doesn't quite work and they end
up basically just lying there going fuck that
hurt which i actually thought gave it slightly
more of a meaning to it for surely being power
bombed into someone at the table not giving away
is going to hurt more than the table giving out
so i'm going to correct the record ever slightly
because you got to the same, you got to the right
result just not necessarily using the right method.
So Rio actually ends up dropping a massive headbutt
on Bianca Belair which ends up knocking Bianca
onto the table. That is when Eoskai gets power
bombed into Bianca on the table, which you're
quite right, doesn't give out. I'm not sure if
it would be more painful if the table had sort
of gimmicked out. Because there would be a second
drop in there which could be potentially painful
with broken bits of table sticking in you. Yeah,
it's a bit of an odd one. We'd have to experiment
with being power bombed into somebody on a table
and seeing if it gives out or not. And with the
most amount of respect, the only person that's
going to be able to powerbomb the other one into
somebody else is you powerbombing me, because
I ain't lifting your fat ass. Yeah, no, to be
fair, that's probably a good point. I will say,
though, as ruthless and as painful as that looked,
it does not look nearly as painful as the clip
I've seen on social media this week from AEW,
where Edge managed to suplex Jon Moxley on to
what looked like a bat made of nails to the point
where it got stuck in the back of Moxley's back
they actually had a referee put his foot on his
back and yank it out of Moxley's skin yeah absolutely
ruthless spot but enough about AEW we're not
doing a finishers and factions does at AEW because
i do not have enough time in my week one thing
i will do though is sit here and talk about the
rest of this segment because it does not quite
finish with that powerbomb through the table
because Rhea and Adam Pearce are staring each
other down in the ring and Rhea notices that
on the floor just next to her feet is a nice
little black binder and in that binder there
is the contract that was just signed between
Io and Bianca Belair and in the binder also So
we knew it was going to erupt into chaos. It's
the order of things. But yeah, I do sort of take
your point that it wasn't to be fully expected
of having that happen, but yeah. So Rhea runs
off with the signed contract with Adam Pearce
in tow, basically telling her it's not binding.
Oh, and she's basically not having any of it.
As far as she's concerned, that contract has
got three names on it and that's how it's going
to stay. I mean, if she actually manages to pull
it off, why the fuck not? With the heist of the
century, she gets her title back at WrestleMania
in a match that she shouldn't have even been
in. Yeah, precisely. We'll come to him a little
bit later on I think but For now we go from that
in -ring promo to Well, we start off backstage
for this next segment as the next segment is
a men's singles match between WrestleMania main
event Jey Uso yeet Versus at one half of a town
down under Austin theory who comes out with the
other half Yeah, this is it and We start off
with Jay backstage as he's making his way sort
of to gorilla through gorilla and out into the
Out into the crowd where he's doing his normal
Well, no, this isn't even normal I'd sort of
the promo that he seems to cut on the way out
is It felt very incoherent to me. I didn't really
sort of get a massive amount of What was being
said? I'm going to cause Gunther some issues.
And then goes out for a match with Austin Theory.
Which... I mean, can we call this a match? I've
got to admit, this wasn't a modern day squash
match. This was Vince McMahon's squash match.
this was Austin theory got Austin theory got
squashed hard Austin theory got done it by J
U so faster than I can eat a bar of chocolate
now as Adams already alluded to I'm a little
bit on the chunky side of life and I can do a
bar of chocolate pretty quickly but that guy
got squashed fucking incredibly fast Yeah, I've
seen things go through hydraulic presses that
don't get that didn't get squashed as hard as
as Austin Theory to the point that I don't I
Really don't think it did Austin Theory any favors
in any way shape or form We praised squash matches
in this current era last on one of our previous
episodes because they do squash matches in a
way that protects the character of the person
who's being squashed in that squash match but
it's a case that this time they didn't even bother
like I know Austin Theory hasn't got much of
a character to protect but protect what little
the guys got lasted longer than the match did.
And the afters was basically Grayson Waller jumping
in to try and avenge the fact that Austin Theory
just became completely fucking annihilated. So
I had the match last in less than two minutes
bell to bell. I wouldn't say it was from the
opening bell to the closing bell. less than two
minutes all we had was a distraction from mauler
onto the referee and then theory ate a cross
body for a three count that was pretty much it
with some ring rope some rope running in the
process of it yeah i mean if if your theory holds
out and the match was cut short because of austin
because of austin theory Managing to injure himself
then you know what fair enough But at that point
you're protecting the individual you're not protecting
the persona and that's important as well So apparently
this is him just being punished but that was
a sports skater article in there about as reliable
as a single ply toilet paper Yeah, I don't generally
tend to put much Much stock in anything else
I see on sports skater at one point. They used
to be really good. They did no not quite as much
yeah, but Yeah, as Rich alluded to earlier on,
we sort of ended up with a bit of a super kick
party to Waller, and Jay hit an absolutely abysmal
suicide dive, I mean... Aw mate, he fucked out
almost as bad as Top Dollar did. Jesus. That
guy nearly hit the freaking ring apron face first.
Yeah. unprotected as well. That looked like he
would have been in a complete world of pain if
that hit. He was a very lucky Samoan today. Oh
definitely. Although admittedly I don't think
he felt like it for very long as I think he got
back in the ring to try and re -attempt it but
was very much cut short by one rather angry Austrian
yeah the ring general Gunther snuck out and snuck
up behind him and locked in that I want to say
it's a camel clutch it's not quite it's more
of a it's a really naked choke hold without the
extension at the legs but yeah he basically just
locked that in and gave Jay a nice little cuddle
goodnight He didn't though, because this is now
the third week that Gunther has tried to do exactly
the same thing to Jay. He's catching him in a
moment of weakness and trying to put him to sleep.
In two weeks, he's managed it. This week, Jay
had an answer. Yeah, he ran into the apron and
used that to bounce Gunther off it. which shows
he's learning and progressing a little bit about
what Gunther's capable of. But more than that
is that Jay didn't just stop there at being able
to equal Gunther's moves. He took advantage of
the fact that Gunther was very much on the back
step and he kicked the shit out of Gunther basically.
And then had the audacity to pick up his title.
And I thought, honestly, the image of Jay up
on the top turnbuckle with Gunther on the floor,
stood up, but not in the ring and on the outside
sort of thing, with a very sort of powerful image
of Jey Uso holding that title aloft, stood over
Gunther, who looked really helpless, like cruelly
Lost child helpless Yeah I'm pretty sure there's
a joke in there I could make somewhere, but I'm
not going to Yeah, that's not WwB are not coming
live from Portugal. They are not in Praia do
Luz Not this week But Yeah, we went from there
to a VT promo basically sort of teasing our main
event, which is the Intercontinental Championship
match with Brom Breaker versus Finn Balor and
the build up that led to that match. And then
we did have a few... They like to do this segment
intermittently which is the WWE in wherever it
is that they happen to find themselves and because
this was WWE's first ever TV broadcast from Brussels
they didn't really have much more else than that.
Michael Cole did manage to slip in at one point
and say that WWE first came to Brussels in 1989
but this would have been back when before they
were doing televised international shows it was
a case that they were doing Europe they do European
tours and they'd be house shows so they'd be
non televised and non -storyline effecting sort
of thing. It would be a case that they'd send
a couple of main event guys and a bunch of mid
-carders to go and tour Europe for a month or
two, doing as many shows as they could possibly
get away with in the shortest period of time
possible. Yeah, pretty much. And then they go
back over to the states. The mid -card doesn't
go back to either some of them never being used
again, to the main event guys being slipped back
into intercurrent storylines. Then we went for
a backstage promo, sort of a continuation of
the... of what happened between Rhea Ripley,
Bianca Belair and EO Sky earlier on. We see Adam
Pearce arguing with Rhea Ripley who, I remember
saying to you actually, Rich, a couple of times
while I was watching this, like, the smile on
Rhea Ripley's face as she's arguing. Fear a woman
that smiles while you argue with her. If you're
arguing with a woman that is smiling at you mid
-argument. Run. The opposite way as fast as you
fucking can. 100%. That is not a safe human.
Yeah, no. I learnt that on the hard way myself.
A few times, yeah. If your wife or significant
other smiles at you during an argument, get the
fuck out of there. Preferably to the nearest
police station, you are safer in a cell than
any other place in the world. Okay, I'm not making
the obvious comments there. Anyway, sort of Rhea
reluctantly ends up trying to put the contract
through Adam Pearce's chest and demanding to
be in the match. And this is when sort of Bianca
jumps Rhea with EO Sky. So this all got very
confusing, there was just a lot of arses being
kicked. Yeah, very much so. So we had Bianca
who jumps rear with EO Sky and then EO and Bianca
turn on one another and then it just becomes
an all -out brawl where rear Ripley ends up walking
off sort of the victor out of it all. Oh yeah,
she definitely opened up a massive kind of whoop
arse and delivered the other two women in this
section a nice big dollop with some custard too.
Yeah, very much so. But yeah, Rhea Ripley ends
up being sent away by Adam Pearce after him and
security managed to break up the fight. And yeah,
I think we're gonna have to wait and see what
happens with the women's title match at WrestleMania,
whether we're gonna see a bit of brutality in
the mix there. Well, I think we're going to see
an awful lot of brutality in that mix. With that
much on its own, without rear it's going to be
pretty ruthless, but you add rear into it and
you've got an entirely different occasion. Very
much so. Which, talking about different occasions,
the next occasion we have within this programming,
and Adam will correct me if I'm wrong, because
he always does, would be a tag team match i believe
yeah so match four was a men's tag team match
saw the lwo being represented by dragon lee and
ray mysterio versus the creed brothers of american
maid and this was another relatively short match
it was very short I sort of, after how short
the last match was with Jey Uso, if that wasn't
planned as being that short, I sort of hoped
that they would have fleshed out one of the other
matches a little bit more and said, oh, do you
know what, actually, that match had to finish
earlier. You've got an extra like six minutes
to be able to make use of, do with them what
you want to. Yeah, and I think that probably
could have benefited both of these tight teams
a little bit more obviously raise a Hall of Famer
He doesn't need any more of a boost Dragon Lee
probably could have had a little bit of a longer
opportunity to showcase what his skills are because
Yes, we've seen a reasonable amount of LWO in
the last few weeks. We have seen mostly Ray do
a lot of the work Where with Julius and Brutus
Creed from American made they tend to split it
a lot more evenly And they certainly I felt they
did with this much as well kept it pretty pretty
split well Ray did a majority of the work here
That's not to say that Dragon Lee was being lazy
as such I think it was just I think the length
of match again, as you said, just didn't lend
itself very well to everybody being able to get
their shit in, basically. And yeah, part of the
reason... So the match itself felt quite rushed.
We had LWO basically trying to hit as many different
spots as they can. We saw Dragon Lee with a Hurricanrana
off the apron where he's dived over the top rope
for the second week. In a row is where he's done
that move and I've got to admit one of the most
picture -perfect 619s from Rey Mysterio I think
I've ever witnessed in his career. Oh yeah it
was plum on the chin wasn't it? Oh 100 % I don't
think you could have I don't think AI could have
done that any better to be quite honest. and
LWO ended up picking up a picking up a rather
swift win. Off the 619 and a frog splash for
the three count to be fair. It's like I said
Ray did a majority of the work but it seemed
so if they'd have had more time Dragon Lee probably
could have got the finish but it was down to
Ray this time. Up until we had an interruption
From our our newest member of the raw roster
Yeah, the amassed luchador he showed up and basically
just dropped Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee Pretty
pretty quickly to be fair Yeah, he wasn't hanging
about at all and I mean we've still got Cole
perpetuating the fact that this could be Chad
Gable I mean, it certainly makes sense, although
the way that they sort of harping on about it,
I've got an odd feeling that it is going to turn
out to be somebody completely different. They're
trying to push too much towards Chad Gable. It's
easy to understand why, though, as the mass luchador
does have a similar physical build. movesets
can be taught I suppose and yeah body frame isn't
always the smoking gun that you sort of hope
it was but in this case the mass luchador ends
up being chased out of the arena by some rather
interesting security tactics it's kind of a case
that security wasn't anywhere close to being
quick enough to get into the ring to stop the
LWO from having them, having their asses handed
to them and it just very much ended up boiling
down that yeah, I mean the Mass Luchador was
run out of the ring and LWO were left sprawled
in the ring so It's always a good way to leave
a scenario Even if it's LWO that have taken the
brunt this time and been sprawled out But you
always like to see someone laid out at the end
of a decent match don't you? Oh 100 % Always
just helps finalize the selling of how good the
match was by how long it takes them to get up
Unlike when you have Randy Orton asking the camera
guy if it's finished so he can get up and walk
out Yeah I've forgotten about that, in fairness.
Probably not on last week, a historical clip
of Randy Orton having to ask the camera guy if
the segment had finished so that he could get
up and go home. Yeah, he just wanted to get his
paycheck on the way through Gorilla and go lie
in a hotel bed, didn't he? Yeah, pretty much.
But we went from... that match into a VT recap
of last week's main event the steel cage match
between Seth Rollins and CM Punk Yeah, this was
a quite a lengthy promo to be fair Which basically
it started off with with Seth Rollins coming
out to the ring and the crowd busy chanting CM
Punk's name Rollins kind of going yeah, you know,
we will talk about him, but we're going to talk
about want to talk about Roman first Basically
says he's not mad that Roman got revenge at Madison
Square Gardens because to be honest with us you'd
have done the same thing but um He also then
goes on to rip Roman about saying that even after
all these years where he's had the wise man He
still can't come up with a plan Because he needed
the architect to help him out And then he goes
back to mentioning about CM Punk who he refers
to as the luckiest loser on the planet. If he'd
have had a few more seconds he would have done
what he wanted to do and ended Punk's WrestleMania
dreams by curb stomping him through the base
mat of the ring. Now Seth says that he's been
left to clean up Roman's mess and he'll put him
in his place on the way. Both Roman and the Second
City Saint are on Smackdown on Friday in Italy
in Bologna and he's debating on whether it's
worth getting on a plane and making an appearance
on Smackdown. Sticking himself right between
Roman and Punk which he decides he's actually
going to do. Yeah, decides by the end of the
promo that actually despite the cast it's probably
going to be worth doing regardless. We then go
from that promo into a backstage interview where
Cathy Kelly is interviewing AJ Styles about a
recent appearance on Logan Paul's podcast. I
mean I wouldn't go on impulsive but... I'd go
on there just to promote this podcast and that
would probably be about it. I'd have no interest
in talking to him but I don't have to talk to
him to actually promote the thing. Maybe what
maybe someday someday we'll get there But Yeah,
it's a case that Apparently AJ Styles has been
saying something similar to what we've been saying
about Logan Paul in the sense that Doesn't really
deserve to be where he is carrying cross who
comes in from the side basically just accuses
AJ of being jealous of Logan Paul. And in fairness
makes a very valid point at the fact that yeah
it's like AJ Styles had to take 17 years to get
from where he started to where he is now. and
that took over 17 years when he started off in
the Indies, was making a name for himself to
when he finally got the call up to WWE. I've
said before that I think that WWE missed a bit
of a trick where they should have really gotten
that AJ Styles while he was still in TLA before
the soccer mom haircut and everything like that
but at the same time I'm sort of glad they didn't
as I just don't think Vince McMahon would have
known what to do with him if he had him so yeah
a bit of a double -edged sword with that one
but we'll move on from there just as we're coming
to the end now and yeah we'll get this wrapped
up We come to the main event of the evening,
which is the Men's Intercontinental Championship
match between Brom Breaker and Finn Balor and
courtesy of Dominic Mysterio. Yeah, so Finn Balor
ended up with this opportunity off the back of
Dominic, I want to say sweet talking Adam Pearce,
but he could just as easily have been sucking
him off. It's really it's one of the two. I mean
they could have different flavors as well I suppose
but yeah I mean the thing that becomes obvious
Very, very early on, I mean, this is the first
time that Brombreaker and Finn Balor have faced
each other one on one. And it's for the IC title,
no less. Now, we know that Brombreaker's style
is very sort of smash and grab. It's, he's going
to hit you hard and he's going to hit you fast.
Yeah, this is it. It's a case that Finn is not
built in any... I mean, Finn is probably in some
of the best shape of his life, realistically.
The guy looks ripped as fuck, like zero... Yeah,
but... He is, but the definition he's got is
certainly impressive, but... It means that he
can't compete pound for pound with a Brombreaker.
I don't think there's anyone in there at the
moment who can compete pound for pound with a
Brombreaker. Even like Jacob Fatu and Gordon
Strowman, I think, who struggle against Brom.
Yeah, but Brombreaker unfortunately is now getting
a bit of a reputation as a bit of a gondric pony,
in my opinion. Yep. The guy hits you hard and
fast and that's all that that's all that he seems
to be able to do But it's got him It's got him
into a championship position where he's regularly
defending said championship to work to a reasonably
high level so I mean whatever he's Yeah, fair
enough I don't think necessarily bron break has
got a a limited moveset. I just don't think he's
showing an awful lot of the moveset that he has
off. Yeah, he's comfortable and he knows what's
working so he's staying there. Yeah, but he is,
this is one of the longer matches that I've seen
him in and I mean, Finn had to try and play this
match as Cerebrally as he possibly could because
he certainly didn't have a size or a weight advantage
on Brombreaker to be able to use it to be able
to use against him and Yeah, it's kind of a case
that Dom and Carlito do come out to To help Finn
they don't come out with him to begin with they
sort of join him after he's out and the match
has begun And they very much make their presence
felt quite early on from this. Yeah, but it didn't
really work the way that I think they intended
it to, maybe. As sort of towards the end of this
match it's kind of a case that the judgment day
end up costing Finn this opportunity. Well that's
what's dominant to Finn where he shouldn't have
done. Moved the rope a bit too far and sent Finn
Balor back onto the top turnbuckle rather than
allowing Finn to have the time to pull off the
movie he needed to pull off to Finn. Yeah, very
true. I mean Finn Balor ended up landing nuts
first on the on the top turnbuckle, which is
I mean Landing nuts first on anything is not
comfortable, but Not when it's on the top turnbuckle
Yeah, the only one that I've seen that was worse
than that was when they managed to hang up AJ
Stolls on the top rope for a good three quarters
of an hour Realistically because I think they
had one or two matches while he was still there
Straddling the rope and every time that rope
moved you felt every ounce of pain going through
that man's body It was brutal but again, we're
not here to talk about AJ Styles not on this
occasion, but yeah, it's So Finn Balor's plums
take a hammering off the top turnbuckle. Breaker
ends up taking advantage to basically take out
Dom and Carlito and hit Balor with a Brekensteiner.
Which isn't a bad move for somebody with somebody
with Bron Breakers skill set in my opinion And
he does it really very well and then sort of
Followed by a spear which turns into a pin which
then turns into a three count to retain the IC
title so Finn but Bron Breaker sorry lives to
fight another day as far as the as far as the
Intercontinental Championship would go. But that
sort of doesn't quite bring me to the end of
my notes as at the end of the match after Bron
Breaker retains Dom and Carlito basically set
about Bron for Breaker to be saved by Penta?
Yeah, he's... obviously wanting to protect the
easy way to the Intercontinental title and Well
If Finn Balor had won this match that would have
been the easiest way to do it It gives us a face
-to -face with the title holder to say basically
look I'm coming after that Yeah, and the the
episode ends with Penta and Braun squaring off
in the middle of the ring which I'll admit if
you told me about it and just and and just put
it on paper that this is a match that's going
to happen I'd have been like yeah not really
feeling that much I just don't feel like it's
going to be very entertaining although seeing
the pair of them square off now that I've seen
them sort of face to face with one another it
is a case that do you know what I actually think
they could have a really decent match if it's
done in the right way Yeah, no, definitely it
could be an incredible match if they write it
in the best way they can. I'm not entirely sure
how they could go about doing it to be fair.
Well, there will only be one way to find out
as it certainly seems that instead of just declaring
himself for the IC title he has very much found
himself in brawn breakers. Brom Breakers sightline
so we're going to have to wait for possibly next
week's next week's raw to to see how that one
fleshes out but for now I mean that's certainly
taken me to the end of my notes I mean have you
got anything to anything to add there at all?
Fair enough in which case that brings us to the
end of finishers and factions does Monday night
raw we will be back shortly with finishers and
factions does NXT which this week comes to us
from the performance center, so this will be
a break from the from the european tour that
the rest of the promotions find themselves on
and we'll be seeing things like the underground
match between trick williams and eddie thorpe
as well as a women's united states championship
match at which sees chelsea green attempting
to defend against soul ruca who's been on one
hell of a run recently so i think We'll leave
it there and we look forward to seeing you in
the next episode and it's good night from me.
And good night from me. See you in the next one.