Right, I said I'd let you know in a second and
that second has been and gone. So our next match
is between the phenomenal one, Mr. AJ Styles
and some guy they found on YouTube. I think his
name's Logan Paul. But yeah, it was definitely,
this was a grudge match. This was just more of
a standard. should have been a Monday Night Raw
match, but made it to WrestleMania for me. Adam,
what did you think of this one? I mean, I'm not
a huge fan of Logan Paul. I've been quite vocal
about him on previous episodes. It is a case
that Karrion Kross sums this up for me really
nicely is that he seems to have a real issue
with Logan Paul, as we've seen in some of the
run up to to this match moving forward it's uh
and yeah I don't think I'm entirely unjustified
in it but opening VT uh for this match basically
paints AJ Styles as the wise veteran which I
suppose you know what he is he's he's been in
the industry what a hell of a lot longer than
I think anybody really realizes um and uh yeah
it's a case that we've It then sees like Logan
Paul it then paints Logan Paul as a How do we
describe it? Like a talented but conceited upstart
he is very he is very aware of how Talented he
is and I have to say that through gritted teeth
because it really it makes me urge wanting to
having to give that guy any form of credit. Just
based on the fact that he's, yeah, he is a conceited
douchebag. It is exactly what, exactly as advertised.
Made me sick they gave him a title and I'll tell
you. If you want to devalue a title so much,
just give it straight to Logan Paul. Yeah, I
don't understand that either. Yeah, I know that
he's there and he's supposed to be hated but
I think they could post him as a babyface and
I'd still fucking hate him. And obviously my
issue... They could make him the champ that runs
the camp and I'd still call him a bellend. Yeah,
pretty much. And my issue has been, isn't that
he's this incredibly talented person that's taking
something away from somebody else because...
No, I fully acknowledge he is an incredibly talented
human being and that that just makes him more
Frustrating is the fact that he is good at this
It's the fact that he was a youtuber man like
He just bought his ticket to WWE and bought himself
a ticket to WrestleMania Yeah, and that's exactly
it it's not the case that he is He's not talented
or anything like that Quite the opposite. I can
acknowledge how talented he is. My issue with
him comes purely that he is... Just as Rich has
said, he's bought his way into WWE. He's not
got there through the indies. He's not worked
his way up the ladder. And yeah, it fucks me
off because... There are so many other talented
individuals that could have worked their way
up to the WWE roster, but now have to contend
with people that can just sort of buy their way
in. I mean, if I take out a big enough bank loan,
can I buy my way to WrestleMania? I'd pay to
see you eat a Brombreaker spear at WrestleMania.
I'd even start a GoFundMe for it. I would take
that. I would 100 % take that spear like an absolute
champ. If it meant that I had my WrestleMania
moment. Yeah, don't blame me to be fair. I'd
probably do the same thing. Yeah, fucking right
you would. None of this maybe shit. It would
definitely fucking happen. I mean a few things
that definitely did happen was at the start of
this match Logan Paul sending AJ into the apron
and then back into the ring and then there was
a where AJ shoulder blocks Logan Paul and then
hits a quick drop kick but it doesn't last for
long as Logan Paul kicks AJ off the apron into
the announce table and then jumps over Where
as Logan Paul jumps over the ropes AJ uses the
apron to tie him up and just starts brutally
chopping him in the chest The fact he got away
with that such old -school trick and this was
basically like what the story they were trying
to tell Is that AJ's been doing this for longer
than some of us have been? You know breathing
oxygen Logan Paul may have learned a few tricks
off a few people that he's faced so far But he
doesn't know them all and Logan Paul caught got
caught out By AJ using the apron as a weapon,
which is not something you see an awful lot No,
this is it but again one of the things that makes
Logan Paul so very frustrating in the wrestling
game is that He's not only talented, but he's
an incredibly quick learner Because I'm almost
positive I remember Logan Paul doing Exactly
that back to AJ Styles later on in the match.
He does he does Actually Sort of fairly towards
the end. I believe it's not in the notes that
I can see and I've got a full page of notes up
But yeah After AJ uses the apron to jam up Logan
Paul, I've got noted down here that Paul sends
AJ into two ring posts. So one's bad enough,
but being sent into two is not fun. It's slightly
unfair. Not too pleasant. Definitely not. We
did see that. So after AJ fell off. to the outside
after being bounced into those two ring posts
Logan Paul hit him with a springboard crossbody
and then Logan Paul bounced AJ off the Spanish
announce table the ring apron and then breaks
the the count at five so he was being held I
believe for the oh no it was they were both on
the outside so he rolled into the ring to break
the count and then comes back out to tie AJ up
in the apron and then Logan Paul manages to pull
off a new move or a move that has been renamed
into a pull from Grace for a two count, which
is basically just a coup de grace. And then he
hits. I'm sort of surprised they went with that
considering the fall from Grace. Isn't that,
I want to say, one of Ober Femi's moves? It is,
yes. and then he went from the pull from grace
in the two count into an overbomb which was basically
a suplex with a little bit extra to it it's a
really suplex that should be a powerbomb realistically
it's almost as if he takes him up for a powerbomb
but ends up sort of overshooting him a little
bit yeah And yeah, so called a called an overbomb
Yeah, and Paul continues on with his With his
offense as AJ tries to fight back Paul hits a
moonsault And honestly this match at this stage
starts to look a little bit like a fucking mugging.
I'm not gonna lie I'm pretty sure if AJ had bought
his wallet and his keys out that Logan Paul probably
would have taken them and gone and helped himself
to his fucking wife to be quite honest. Well
Logan Paul is a bit of an asshole for stuff like
that so yeah he probably would have done. Yeah
this is it. Now AJ Styles does start building
some momentum but it doesn't seem to last very
long. um as aj goes up for the phenomenal forearm
um paul ends up fucking catching him and uh hits
a rolling senton into quite an impressive lion
salt as well for a pin but only gets a two count
i got that lion salt lion salt isn't something
you see very often it was something that chris
jericho used to do quite a lot um But now he's
he's fat and old and works for the competition
and we don't watch him Yeah, this is it. Who's
Chris Jericho again? Lead singer of Fozzy, isn't
it? It's that guy everyone used to call y2j Yeah
Used to carry around a list I believe Yes, the
one person who was actually a legitimate friend
of Kevin Owens until Kevin Owens also made the
list But yeah, Logan Paul does dominate a good
portion of this match and then I would understand
what happens next if it were a case that Logan
Paul had been losing for a good majority of the
match, but it's pointed out to us by commentary
to begin with that Logan Paul's manager Jeff
Full is sneaking around the outside of the ring
gripping white knuckle white white knuckle gripping
a set of brass knucks He was definitely out to
cause some damage with those we'll make sure
that Logan caused some damage with those Which
makes absolutely no set I mean I Logan Paul using
brass knuckles seems a bit redundant considering.
He's got a steel plate in his hand Yep So using
brass knuckles seems a bit It does seem very
redundant plus the fact that Logan Paul was winning
the match anyway He wasn't in dire straits, which
is normally when we see Now thankfully Logan
Paul never actually got hold of the brass knuckles
and this was all in count with Carrion Cross
who appeared at Ringside with Scarlet to catch
Jeff Full trying to give the brass knucks over
to Logan Paul. Now this act of charity is uncharacteristic
for Carrion only because any sort of He very
much Well carrying cross has been winding AJ
up for a little while in the He's been having
a few little playing a few little mind games
with AJ Styles the last few weeks Well, he's
been trying to bring out the darker side of AJ
Styles, hasn't he really it's The AJ we all want
to watch Is it though I was always Heel AJ Styles
is a bitch 100 % Stone -cold fucking bitch and
and he frustrates me no end because Heel AJ Styles
does not live up to his live up to his potential
at all Whereas face AJ Styles is a lot more Yeah,
it puts a lot more hard work into it That's my
opinion anyway, I mean fair play I can fully
get behind that Yeah, but carrying cross ends
up confiscating the brass knuckles from Jeff
full AJ sends Jeff full careening across the
arena And yeah, we don't really see much from
him at all. But Carrion ends up getting into
a bit of an argument with AJ on the outside of
the ring, trying to convince him, begging him,
pleading with him to use the brass knuckles to
win the match with Logan Paul. But he was not
having any of it, was he? No really wasn't and
I can't say that I blame him either because Yeah,
that wouldn't have been the way to win that match
against Logan if you're trying to Show that the
best way to come up in The best way to come up
in the in the industry is to come up the way
that everybody did before you not buy your way
in but in those Jews Pay those dues. It's a case
that the last thing you want to do as the veteran
fighting for that side of the story is to then
Win by cheating. Yeah, you don't want to do the
most heel thing you can and win that way No,
this is it so yeah AJ's AJ basically says no
to To the brass knuckles ends up cold cocking
Carry and cross and Yeah, basically goes and
sets up for a phenomenal forearm, but misses
and Speaking of that metal left hand ends up
getting hit with AJ gets hit with that and then
slides into a pulverizer which again Pains me
to admit but is a I really like effective it's
so effective and yeah just so nice to watch and
yeah again it is not a fun thing to have to admit
you know what this entire segment has made me
realize there's a lot of things about professional
wrestling i don't like and to make my for my
own insecurities i need wwe to do an alberto
del rio on at logan paul and i need him to fire
his ass i hate having to admit that i enjoy watching
some of his things because yeah I just don't
like the guy winds me up, but he is slightly
entertaining. Yeah, and this is it. Especially
when it's compared to people like The Miz, who
is also slightly entertaining on the right day,
but not for more than five minutes. Thing is,
though, is that The Miz didn't buy his way in.
No, he definitely worked his way to get there.
There's just, yeah, there's a few people that
I'd like to see no longer in WWE, but that is
purely for my own selfish reasons. Yeah, this
is it. Now, next section after this was a WrestleMania
by the numbers. Now, I'm not sure if Rich would
have picked up on any of this, if I'm honest,
but - according to this little info this infomercial
that we got it was a case that over 41 I think
it was over 40 or 41 WrestleMania's we've had
421 total matches involving 456 unique individuals
that's a lot now The individual with the most
WrestleMania matches is The Undertaker. Yes 23
20 27 About 27 matches at Mania and Yeah, WrestleMania
has been broadcast from 26 different cities I'm
intrigued I went by one thing with that Undertaker
statistic, and that's if things like last year's
WrestleMania where he made that 30 second appearance
in Chokeslam Rock, if that counts, is if that
does, that's naughty. That's not even a proper
match, do you know what I mean? Yeah, I can understand
where you're coming from with it. It might be.
I'm not 100 % sure. I didn't drill down into
the app, like the nitty gritty detail for it.
Mostly because the next piece of information
I had to go looking for completely on my own
Because I wanted to know which city had hosted
the most The most WrestleMania's and it's actually
a four -way tie. I think one of them is Seattle
Nope one of them, New York Yes, one of them is
New York because New York hosted WrestleMania
1 10 and 20 Las Vegas has done 2. That was 9
and 41. That doesn't feature in this list. Instead
of sitting here and playing the guessing game
I'll let you know. New York City was 1, hosting
1, 10 and 20. Los Angeles also hosted 3, being
2, 7 and 21. Orlando Florida hosted 24 33 and
36 and Rosemont Illinois hosted WrestleMania
2 13 and 22 never even heard of Rosemont but
the the rest of them I probably would have got
within the next five or six guesses anyway possibly
the interesting thing is is that I actually had
to look into this is that There was one WrestleMania
number that showed up twice in that list Ironically.
Yes, and that was WrestleMania 2 And the reason
it shows up as because the WrestleMania 2 was
actually split over three different cities One
of them was, so part of it took place in Los
Angeles. Another part was in Rosemont, Illinois.
And there was another city and I can't remember
what city it was. Fuck. I was doing so well.
You were? You Michael Coldip? I did. I did. Give
me a second. I will get there. That's what he's
told a few women as well. Finishers and Factions
fans, don't you worry. Give me a second, it will
get there. Screw you. No thank you. Nobody likes
you. Nope. No they do not. Come on Adam, where
was it? The event took place at three venues
on the same day. The Nassau Veterans Memorial
Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the Rosemont
Horizon in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois,
and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in
Los Angeles, California. Oh, nicely done. I didn't
know that. If you did Finishers and Factions
fans, let us know. You can get in contact with
us via email. That is finishes and factions at
gmail .com. Or you can now find this on TikTok,
which is at Finn and Fan Pod for TikTok. And
we also are now on X2. And on X we are known
as. Finishes as that's at Finn and fan pod as
well. So at Finn and fan pod on all your socials
to find the finishes and factions podcast Yes,
we most certainly are but that was that was WrestleMania
by the numbers The only other thing that I will
let you know of before we go into the next match
is the celebs that were That we were introduced
to here at this stage So one of them was Vanessa
Hudgens. Vanessa Hudgens, I actually am aware
of who this is. She starred in the High School
Musical films. She is also an avid WWE fan, which
is always a surprise. You know her more from
High School Musical, surely, right? I mean, I've
never been to a WWE event, so I wouldn't. That
hooked me up. So, one of the other celebrities
was Rana Dagubar. Never heard of them. He's an
actor. Terence Crawford, the unified welterweight
champion and WBA junior middleweight champion,
apparently has a 41 -0 record. Blimey. That's
quite an impressive feat. Just in case you weren't
aware and and Quavo Quavo I recognize I couldn't
tell you what unless it was written down in front
of me, which quite luckily it is I wouldn't be
able to tell you what it was he was famous for
but apparently he is a multi -platinum rapper
songwriter and record producer That is what Wikipedia
says to apart from it says that his real name
is Quavius K8A Marshall I think Quavo is easier
to pronounce actually. So we'll stick with Quavo.
But yes, we go from there into our next match.
We certainly do. Right. And without further ado,
we'll jump straight in. So our next match is
not going to go slightly how it was built. As
one of our participants, Bailey, was brutally
attacked in the pre -show for night one of WrestleMania.
Which means that her tag partner Lyra of Alcaria
does not have a tag partner for this match. So
she we discover has found a replacement. So we
see Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez who are the
current Women's Tag Champions come to the ring.
We then see Lyra come to the ring. And then,
well, I gave it away a little bit earlier by
saying a legend made a return. For one night
only, what do we know at this point? But Adam,
who was Bailey's replacement in this tag match
as Lyra Valkyrie's partner? So as a complete
shot at a left field, we end up with Becky Lynch,
the man returning to our screens there for it,
which yes, suffice it to say came as a little
bit of a shock there for it. It was quite a big
shock. Now, for some of the matches, WWE have
given us some statistics on its competitors.
I didn't actually get any for this one. So I'm
not sure if there wasn't any, or if I took my
eyes off the ball for a little bit too long.
And knowing Becky Lynch was on my screen, I can't
imagine that was the case. No, so it wasn't the
case that you missed the stats that they gave,
they didn't give any. Which, yeah, wasn't the
best, but... I'd like to be able to have told
you when the last time Becky Lynch competed in
the WWE ring was, or when the last time she was
at WrestleMania was because, you know, we'd like
to give you some statistics and some facts to
go with your weekly breakdowns. And yeah, we
just didn't seem to have any for this. And with
Becky Lynch being pretty much a future Hall of
Famer, I thought we'd have got something. And,
well, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez being the
only three -time tag champions for this specific
variation of tag team belt. Was there something
else to that? I mean, I can give it to you, but
we weren't given anything like that for this
match. Tell you something, Liv Morgan looked
absolutely shocked when Becky Lynch's music hit.
She did not know what what hit her but I think
Becky Lynch's last match may have actually been
against Liv Morgan Yeah, so we are told a couple
of times I am that Liv has has gone on record
on several different occasions as being the person
that retired Becky Lynch and some some good well,
maybe even just over a year ago and As I believe
off the top of my head that is when That is would
have been the last time that we saw Becky Lynch
sort of some some time over 12 months ago, I
believe top my head So the last time that she
based or anyone in the WWE ring that was when
she lost to Liv Morgan in a steel cage in May
2027. May 27th, 2024, sorry. But then it also
says that her last match was the 21st of April
2025, so yeah. Her last match as of now was this
WrestleMania match. Her last match before this
WrestleMania match was the 27th of May, 2024
against Liv Morgan. So yeah, Liv Morgan technically
was the woman to retire Becky Lynch, but Becky
Lynch does not stay retired for long apparently.
No, well for longer than not as long as she thought
she was going to anyway. No, definitely As she
said on numerous occasions in interviews that
she She's got no No want or need To to carry
on going on sort of thing. It's I think she's
accomplished everything She she could do without
trying to give her the women's North American
title and the women's intercontinental title
there's not really much else that she hasn't
already held yeah this is it so uh yeah not really
uh not really sure well i think i know why it
is she's ended up in wrestlemania 41 and i think
it was mostly because uh they didn't really have
anybody else that would make sense no and having
the irish last kicker come out to join her compatriot
from ireland in that match was uh quite an interesting
one It's also been a case that I believe Becky
Lynch has served as a as a bit of a mentor towards
Lyra in the past as well. So yeah, there was
there's definitely like a teacher -student relationship
there. Like a Tiffy Trishy Time style thing.
Sort of, yeah. Sort of. No. Yeah, it's a case
that. Once Becky Lynch makes her entrance into
WrestleMania, I think all the colour drained
out of Liv Morgan's face, quite frankly. Well,
Liv Morgan obviously wasn't expecting that. Well,
yeah, considering what you said, she's been running
around for the last year almost telling everyone
she retired Becky Lynch. And then at the show
of shows, Becky's here in the coming towards
the ring for a title that lives. holding like
I wouldn't want to be in that situation you got
a lot to lose there you're getting an ass kicking
on a personal level and there's a title involved
too yeah no this is it now as far as the match
went I'll be honest I didn't get a massive amount
of notes for it I was that sort of struck by
the fact that Becky Lynch was on my screen and
I didn't really expect her to be there that yeah
all that all asked like notions of taking notes
during this match sort of went to went to the
wayside a little bit. So I've got a few here.
I've got that Becky Lynch locks in a choke hold
on Raquel Rodriguez and Raquel Rodriguez flips
her over the top and both Liv Morgan and Raquel
Rodriguez sort of taking them sort of both. of
Lyra Valkyria and Baki Lynch out. Sorry, I had
to try and reread my own notes there. My English
when I'm watching things like this and trying
to type quickly does not English too well. I've
also got that Liv Morgan pushes Lyra Valkyria
and Raquel hits a rather tasty big boot for a
two count. And Liv Morgan follows that up. Sorry,
let me just double -check. Sorry, Lyra Valkyria
apparently hits, it wasn't Lyra Valkyria, it
was Liv Morgan that hit the three amigos with
the Eddie shuffle, which was something that her
on -screen boyfriend Dominic Mysterio does quite
a lot, with all rumours suggesting that Dominic
Mysterio could actually be the illegitimate bastard
of Juan Eddie Guerrero. Yeah, I'm pretty sure
Dom himself in his in his formative years was
involved in a storyline before he was a professional
The custody of Dom Mysterio between Rey and Eddie
Yes, that's the one. Oh, yes quality much Yeah,
pretty much But yeah, it is a case that we see
all of the classic moves come out for each for
For each superstar the three amigos from live
As well as the lives Tried and tested method
of gaining the upper hand which is the cat -and
-mouse game around the Around the arena because
that was one thing I did manage to make a note
of here Was that so at one point in the match
Lyra is is very well isolated off from her tag
partner, taking an absolute maul in. She does
get pretty brutalized in this match, to be fair,
didn't she? She did. And it's not for want of
trying to get over to Becky. I mean, Liv and
Raquel did a phenomenal job up to a certain extent
of keeping Lyra exactly where she needed to,
exactly where they needed her to be. as far away
from her tag partner as possible yeah so they
kept her isolated off and it is a case that so
Liv tries to stop Lyra from making the tag but
ends up getting a kick to the side of the head
for her troubles which I think sends Liv off
to the outside But Liv is not perturbed there
as the minute she realises that she can't stop
Lyra from making the tag, she goes and pulls
Becky Lynch off the ring apron. Fantastic, fantastic
ring awareness going on. I can't get to the one
trying to make the tag, but I can get to the
one trying to be tagged. It definitely shows
the quality in Liv Morgan. I enjoy watching Liv
Morgan wrestle to be fair. She is a very talented
wrestler. And I don't think she, I don't think
she gets the credit she deserves to be fair.
I'd like... Yes, yes. But no, I'd like to actually
see Liv Morgan hold a big boy title. over a fact
that I'd rather, I know she's held big boy titles
in the past, right? And I know that she's currently
holding the tag team title, which is a semi big
boy title, right? But I'd like to see her with
a women's world title around her waist again
sometime soon. I don't think that's completely
outside the realms of possibility to be honest.
I think once, The judgment day reaches its inevitable
conclusion. I think we will see live go back
chasing the One person I wish we had a scene
at WrestleMania that we don't see Was Alexa bliss
I thought we might have seen something from from
Alexa, but yeah nothing Came back for the rubble
Yeah, I have seen some things online about even
like some of the more established wrestling creators
than than ourselves sort of asking the question
of what was the point in bringing Alexa Bliss
back at the Royal Rumble at the Royal Rumble
for it to lead absolutely nowhere it just didn't
make any sense yeah and considering she signed
a brand new contract to be at the Royal Rumble
too it was a little bit off but yeah no I thought
we might have seen her at some point, but I've
digressed a little bit here. Have we had a conversation
about Becky Lynch hitting the Bexploder and locking
in the disarmor? We have not. Right. So one thing
I will always sit here and say that I enjoy watching
is old school Becky Lynch. So when she starts
locking in some of these big old moves that we've
not seen for a year, ish, that we're quite used
to seeing a lot of. I actually quite enjoyed
watching it. You know, the Bexploder with the
baseball slide on Liv Morgan, the disarmor on
Liv Morgan. You know, she locked that disarmor
in a couple of times, to be fair. And then we
get the... Not sure if it's complimentary or
not like it we're gonna see it whether every
time that Liv Morgan's in the ring But we did
finally get to see an oblivion Which is always
worth watching It's one of those finishing moves
that is easy enough to it's easy enough for her
to pull on any opponent, but it is incredibly
conditional on The setup she tries to hit it
and making sure that she's in the right place
and in the right position. Oh, yeah, it's It's
a universally used move that you just don't If
it's not in the right place, it doesn't go as
well as you think it will no no exactly and obviously
if it doesn't go in the right place, it's not
very safe either and Safety is definitely the
prime concern for all of these superstars As
much as they're trying to get their stuff done,
they're also trying to get it done without risking
their opponent and the health of their opponent.
Oh yeah, exactly. Don't, for example, try and
do a shooting star press if you're not built
to do shooting star presses. Yeah, I'm pretty
sure I couldn't do a shooting star price. I probably
do a belly flop and that would probably be about
it Yeah, so these 450 splashes and I'm like no
that would be called the hell splash because
fuck me It's coming really fast like hella fast
and oh splash But yeah, I mean ultimately Bringing
up we're pretty close to the conclusion of this
match anyway Yeah, I think we should just roll
with it to be fair One of the last notes that
I've got here is Lyra keeping hope alive with
a valiant effort and a hot tag to Lynch as Becky
goes to work on both Liv and Raquel and Yeah,
I've got it down here that Becky and Lyra end
up winning the world to the Women's World Tag
titles as Becky hits the manhandle slam for the
win Yeah So not only does Becky Lynch get another
WrestleMania appearance, she did something Charlotte
couldn't do and got a title out of it. Yeah,
this is it. Obviously, I mean, you mentioned
Charlotte in the same breath as Becky. I mean,
neither one of those two women get on together
inside the ring or outside of it. So, yeah, for
For Becky to have walked out of a wrestlemania
that she probably wasn't intending to be any
part of in the first place with a title But that
does it's ironic this happened actually because
Becky used to be known as Becky two belts Because
at one point Becky had a tag title and a singles
title Now stood in the ring with her at this
moment being crowned the new Women's Tag Champion
would be Lyra Valkyria. You say, Rich, what do
those things have in common? Well, Lyra Valkyria
is currently the Women's Intercontinental Champion.
Yes. Yes. So she is now technically Lyra two
belts. So Lyra two belts is standing in a ring
with Becky two belts. We've got two Irish double
champions in the ring at the same time, but you
can't tell me the last time that happened No,
I can't I'm not gonna read it for you to be able
to make that claim They both would have had to
have been holding two titles at the same time,
but that one is a former and one is a current
But yeah, they are both But yeah, I couldn't
either because I didn't do the research behind
it Because I've only just thought about it No,
this is it. Now, we move on from this match.
And the reason I'm moving on from this match,
because this was probably the most hyped I've
been throughout this entire WrestleMania season.
Because the next thing that we hear is an awful
lot of glass shattering. It is. It is. And it
wouldn't be WrestleMania without getting an appearance
from a couple of Hall of Famers. Now we've already
seen Shawn Michaels. He came out for night one
to give us our official attendance, which is
what the breaking glass is here for today. Now
the night one attendance, I'm just getting back
up here as I scroll through was given to us by
Stone Cold Steve Austin. No, it wasn't. Night
one was given us. by HBK that is true I'm just
trying to scroll through because I can't find
it and he comes out and tells us yeah the attendance
was $61 ,467 in a sold out arena now Stone Cold
came out and told us that Knight 2's attendance
was $63 ,226 sold out now I'd like to know where
the fuck they pulled an extra 2 ,000 seats from?
And if that is the case, like how have they just
managed to pull an extra 1 ,800 seats out of
somewhere? Because they can't both be sold out.
If the second night is sold out at 63 ,000 people,
the first night was not sold out. And if the
first night was sold out at 61 ,000 people, someone's
breaking some health and safety rules. No, this
is it. It's a case that something didn't quite
add up, but... Somebody lied to us, WWE. Stone
Cold also manages to give us the combined attendance
of both nights, which was... When you add those
two figures together, it adds up to 124 ,693
people. That is a lot of wrestling fans. That
is a lot of wrestling fans. That over two nights
is more than a Super Bowl. And a Super Bowl,
well, that's a lot of football fans. So 124 ,000
Hulkamaniacs walking through into Hulkamania.
That's impressive. It is. It is. I mean... We've
skirted over one of the more viral bits of Stone
Cold coming out. Obviously, he came out on his,
if you want to call it an ATV or a quad bike,
depending on where you're from. He comes out
on a quad bike, which we've seen Stone Cold do
on several occasions before. He's done that,
rode around the ring, had a good laugh. And yeah,
one fan didn't think it was funny this time though,
as Yeah, Stone Cold apparently couldn't drive
in a straight, couldn't drive in a straight enough
line to avoid the barrier on his second lap of
the ring. And this was before he even cracked
open a Steve Weiser too. He hadn't even had a
Steve Weiser at this point, unless he'd had a
few libations with Jay on the bus. Maybe. Maybe.
But yeah, it's a case that he gave a poor fan
a near -death experience. um i mean in fairness
he goes over to him and has conversation twice
like i say a conversation he's there for less
than 10 seconds so it's not a conversation as
such i think it's more of a case of you're going
over and going shut the fuck up yeah that fan
sold that move better than dolph ziegler ever
could yeah 100 um but yeah um that section of
the that section of wrestlemania uh sort of dies
as stone cold then drowns himself in steve wise
as his uh as his tradition i suppose and then
someone else turns the quad bike around for him
to be able to get it out and then he walks back
up the front yeah he's like no fuck that it lives
there now don't worry about it somebody else
will sort it I'm going the fuck home. Yeah, I'll
buy a new one. As to that, into our main event.
The main event match, which is John Cena and
Cody Rhodes. And we will follow up with that
one right now. And with. This our main event
of the evening. This is Cody Rhodes defending
his undisputed WWE Championship against the man
that we have all seen recently on multiple viral
clips. John Cena, the man going for his 17th
world title. And we are informed. Just before
the big man himself enters that what we're saying
formed we are reminded that this is John Cena's
last WrestleMania appearance and his music hits
and it is just pure darkness now we were told
a couple of weeks ago by John Cena I can't remember
exactly where it was but it was somewhere on
the European tour that we didn't deserve new
like new ring gear new entry music, new video
package. We didn't deserve any of that. And you
know what the jammy little bastard did? He took
it all away from us. All we got was music. We
got no video package. We got no big flashy entrance.
It was literally just his music and a light walking
him down the rope. It was weird. Normally like
I mean this is the guy who when he showed up
at WrestleMania 21 I want to say Where he had
a whole ton of cars come driving out with people
dressed up as Al Capone With like Tommy guns.
I believe WrestleMania 21 was in Chicago. That's
why that might have been a thing But uh, yeah
big flashy WrestleMania entrances And then this
time, we literally, it was like a boxing entrance.
It was just music and a light. Compared to Cody's
entrance, which is completely different. Yeah,
so like John Cena's entrance, completely devoid
of any colour, pizzazz, any sort of WrestleMania
magic whatsoever. And honestly, it's... Yeah,
it just very much encapsulated exactly what it
needed to. Whereas, yes, 100 % Cody Rhodes' American
Nightmare. The American Nightmare's entrance,
like... ridiculously extravagant like if it was
a case that it was a budgeting decision then
100 % I can totally see that they pushed all
of the funding that probably was going to go
to John Cena's entrance over into Cody Rhodes's
because yes they um they went all out didn't
they they had bang -bangs and lights and music
and VTs and even had a really cool mask on didn't
they Yeah, he had like an American nightmare
sort of an American nightmare esque Like oh,
what's it man iron man sort of man iron man was
the sort of thing that popped up in my head to
be fair That makes me feel a little bit better
about me just thinking it was a it was my nerd
brain taking over Considering I don't do Marvel
then yeah for me to work out. It was an iron
man esque was quite interesting Yeah, it was.
But yeah, we've... Okay, we're gonna sort of
bolt down into some statistics here for it. Which
ones have you got? I've got, so... Got that obviously
this is John Cena's last WrestleMania. It's been
seven years since his last singles win Right
and ten years since his last WrestleMania singles
win See I had a couple for Cody Rhodes Okay,
I've got a few for Cody Rhodes myself Cody I
think we probably have to be fair that Cody's
been champ for 378 days winning the title from
Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 and I have that
this is his ninth title defense and it is his
10th career WrestleMania and I do believe that
at this point as well Cody Rhodes has never beaten
John Cena. I think he's naught and three against
Cena at this point. You've definitely got more
than I had. That one was more of a meme that
I saw online that I think fits because the final
part of the meme, which I'm not going to discuss
too much, gives away some stuff. has some pictures
of different matches with the three of them and
one of them was when Cody Rhodes was sporting
that fantastic moustache. Dashing Cody Rhodes.
One of those gimmicks that is truly timeless.
It will never be forgotten. That mustache was
fucking terrible. And when Randy Orton did it
as well, it was like, why? Why is everyone growing
stupid mustaches? Cody Rhodes did it. Randy Orton
did it. And then Vince McMahon did it. Oh, I
forgot about Vince's fucking 1970s same sex porn
star mustache. unfortunately nobody else could
yeah I'm not even sure fucking that's probably
why Linda decided to go into politics to get
away from that fucking mustache yeah I went into
a little bit more detail on John Cena's WrestleMania
career so this was his 17th career WrestleMania
I think I think it was and he holds 10 WrestleMania
wins How many of those with championship wins
can you tell us or do you not know? No, you've
caught me out on that one. I don't know. I like
trying to get that one in It's always always
fun when we get Adam back for a podcast episode
guys because we do try and we do get to try and
have some fun Yeah, normally at my expense though
At least when I'll get you back for a podcast
episode, it's a case that we just end up throwing
insults at you for 10, 20 minutes. Oh, yeah,
definitely. That is a good point, to be fair.
But yeah, we'll... We'll jump into the match
itself because, yeah, we could be here for a
while otherwise. So, yeah, John sort of seems
to... start this match in a he seems very disengaged
from the match itself is the impression that
I got yeah so I think well there was no pace
to it either he was basically it was pace to
it but it was all John Cena's pace yeah he starts
off with a shoulder tackle you know he ends up
trying to I think he goes into this thinking
that the faster he can do the most damage, the
easier it will be for him. You know, and he starts
things with like headlock takedowns pretty quickly.
And this is where the meme, well, this is where
my stat goes. It says that Cody is 0 and 4 against
John Cena, but each of those losses are over
10 years old. Obviously John's been out of the
company for a while doing stuff with TV films
and all that bits and pieces and Cody went to
this place called All Elite Wrestling for a while.
Cody has continued to compete week in week out.
It is a case that he's had numerous matches,
whether they be dark matches, house shows, anything
like that. John Cena has been completely removed
from the lifestyle for a while. At least the
last sort of one to two years and Yeah, it's
a case that I think in terms of that John Cena
was really smart to keep the the pace Low to
keep it low tempo so that he ran less risk of
becoming completely exhausted Well, we said this
on night one's coverage of Charlotte flair Like
she was completely gassed by the end of her match.
I say 91. I think it was early on in this episode.
But she was completely, completely gassed by
the time she got to the end of her match. Even
halfway through the middle of it, she was done.
So I think John might have seen that and kind
of gone, you know what? I need to slow this down
a bit because I might not make the full allocation
that we've been given. and I'm not really gonna
have another opportunity to do this. You don't
turn around and tell everyone this is your last
WrestleMania and then turn around to hunt her
afterwards and go, look mate, I really don't
think that went the way it should have done.
Should I go next to you? No, and considering
we already know how the match turns out and everything,
it is a case that... this match gets absolutely
slated in reviews and things like that I think
I've seen somewhere that in the Wrestling Observer
the match gets something like I think it was
one and a half stars or something like that like
Dave Meltzer really didn't like this match I
mean Dave Meltzer's a knobhead anyway but The
issue I had with this match, and I'll be straight
up with you, I work early mornings and the weekends.
So by the time I started work on the bank holiday,
I'd already had someone ruin this, like, match
for me. So I'd already knew what was gonna happen
before this match. It even, like, I got around
to watching it for the podcast. So I was really
pissed at this match. And to be fair, It gave
it the match itself even though Dave Meltzer
only gave it a one and a half star rating it
did make up for the fact that I Knew what was
coming. It was very I was still on the edge of
my seat for a fair chunk of it kind of going
Oh, is it here? Is it here? Is it here? Yeah,
so I mean there wasn't a bad match before it
kept me going Mean you don't take much to entertain
me a box of crayons normally does the job but
you know WrestleMania definitely made up for
that like a box of crayons Yeah, this is it and
I've got to admit I didn't mind the match either
I didn't even mind the ending the only thing
that Got to me with the ending to this match.
I mean we could go through the blow -by -blow
and all the rest of it because that is pretty
much what my What my notes are here, but the
general gist of this match is that John dominated
for about I'd say somewhere between 85 to 75
percent of this match and Very much took it at
his own pace. He was Cody didn't even look like
you wanted to be there to be fair like once that
bell rang He really just looked like it was a
case of like, oh, can we please just get this
over with? His body, his demeanor was very, very
off for a WrestleMania main event. I can't say
that I picked up on that at all. It might've
just been me, but I just, I kind of felt with
the amount of time that John was ahead and the
amount of things that was going on that Cody
just didn't necessarily. want to really participate.
But I say it could have just been me. No, that's
fair enough. I mean, yeah, it just it was all
it was primarily sort of John centred. And yeah,
I think we sort of we knew how this one was going
to roll out as it goes. It wasn't it wasn't going
to end any other way. Well, I think we've been
saying it for weeks on the podcast. and we've
predicted a lot of these matches i mean there's
a few we didn't even try but we've predicted
most of these uh the outcomes of most of these
we just haven't necessarily been able to tell
you how we've just been able to tell you who
and we haven't really had any major shocks have
we apart from dom with the ic title um apart
i've not really seen a huge amount of shocks
with Sort of like the matches that we've had
No, and a lot of that comes down to the fact
that we have I mean You watch wrestling long
enough and it does become Predictable But so
does everything Unless you're watching man united
playing and the only thing that's predictable
is the your team is gonna lose It's still predictable
But yeah, it's just It's not It there are some
matches where You can see where it's gonna go
other matches can be too close to call sometimes
I could sit you could give me a card for any
but you could draw me up a card with any wrestlers
in it and based on the wrestlers that I That
I see in there I could probably predict where
that what the match finishes are gonna be I Couldn't
tell you how we got there But I could tell you
how they're gonna. I could probably tell you
roughly how they're gonna end With a reasonable
degree of accuracy yeah I think and as we've
been doing finishes and factions we have called
a majority of these matches pretty early But
we still enjoy watching them, and we still definitely
enjoy breaking them all down for you guys, because
I think it gives us a reason to watch them from
a different perspective. I don't watch WWE as
a fan anymore. There are certain matches where
my inner fan comes out and I'm like, yeah, fuck
that, I'll watch this a second time for the podcast,
but I'm just gonna enjoy myself this time around.
This wasn't one of those matches though. I thought
it was gonna be, this wasn't for me. Yeah, this
this could have been a match that was just Full
to the brim with nostalgia and all the rest of
it. And yeah, it just wasn't It just wasn't and
I think that was the way that the match was designed
I will be honest is the But John Cena's last
WrestleMania He's doing his last run as a as
a heel character I think there were some of us
that still expected him to to play the hits if
you like and it just wasn't it was never gonna
happen we got we got the hits in terms of the
moves that he used we saw several attitude adjustments
we saw an STFU we even saw one where Cody poked
him in the eye when he took too much time trying
to hit it Yeah, we saw a I think we saw just
the one five knuckle shuffle. I want to say Roughly.
Yeah, I think we only saw that we saw one attempt
and one hit Yeah, and Like Cody still managed
to get a lot of his shit in as well. I think
he hit a Crossroads. I mean the biggest yeah
for you. I'm sure yeah, but Even just the run
up to these matches the last few weeks Cody has
managed to hit crossroads on John Cena twice
I want to say and that in itself gave us an Indication
as to how this match was gonna go. Well, John
Cena has never won a Royal Rumble and lost at
WrestleMania But then oh wait a minute There's
a few statistics I've seen. One of them says
he's never won a Rumble and lost at Mania, but
I don't think that's true. I'm pretty sure he
has lost at Mania after winning the Rumble, but
I do know that he's never come second in the
Royal Rumble and not taken the title at WrestleMania.
So on the years where he's come second, and I
know he did it when he lost to Batista in the
Royal Rumble, he won the championship at main
event in... WrestleMania in a triple threat and
he did it once more I'm sure Quite possibly Yeah,
but there were there were a few sort of OMG moments
in this match. I mean We saw John Cena exhibit
in a lot of behavior. We've never seen him exhibit
before or haven't seen him do in a long time
uh again because he's a heel character things
like taking the uh the turnbuckle pad off the
uh off the turnbuckle itself so exposing that
uh that raw turnbuckle metal um and uh yeah he
suckers Cody into that and uh ends up running
his head running his head off the off the steel
twice well doesn't he also get a second shot
in the plums on him as well at one point he might
do you know i'm pretty sure i've got somewhere
in my notes that john kicks him in the plums
a second time well one of the biggest disappointments
and i say the biggest disappointments for this
uh for just generally for this match uh for with
this match It is, I think it was expected that
we were going to see the final boss. Yes. I mean,
and it was set up that way. And I've seen on
social media since a reason why, but it was a
little bit of a piss take. I'm not going to lie.
I was going to say the rumour and innuendo that
I've seen, and I'm sure you may well have seen
the same thing, Rich, is that basically Dwayne
decided, yeah, no, I don't fancy it. No, what
I'd seen is that the elimination chamber tickets
weren't selling very well. So they had lived
that in to get more ticket sales for elimination
chamber. He had no intentions of actually, there
was no steps after elimination chamber. That
was just, that was it. Oh, right. Okay. Yeah,
that was. That was it, and then I think they
were struggling with ticket sales for Rumble
as well, which is why they had the thing there
with Travis Scott. No, that was Elimination Chamber,
wasn't it? Now you mentioned Travis Scott. We
may as well talk about his involvement in this
match, and yeah, it sort of feeds into what I
was saying about Dwayne not turning up. basically,
one way or another. No matter what the reason
was, he didn't turn up. That's the bottom line.
And Stone Cold probably would say so too. Yeah.
And it basically boils down to... He came out
with that... What is that silly little title
he's walking around with? I'm pretty sure it's
the hardcore championship the hardcore champion.
Why is he walking around with the hardcore championship?
so I Don't think that was the championship he
walked out to it with elimination chamber on
I think this is more of a so I Do seem to remember
seeing somewhere in somewhere in WrestleMania
in between the matches and everything along those
lines that Somebody had done a a shoe company
of some kind Had done I think it might be a shoe
company that Travis Scott owns and operates I've
done a WWE crossover where they had done a set
of Set of mankind trainers. Yeah, one of the
one of the main titles that mankind won and held
was the hardcore title it was yes and so i think
that was the that was the crossover okay fair
enough that was where i think that was where
i think it came from you learn something new
every day um but yeah it is a case that Let's
see. I'm just trying to bring myself back round.
So suddenly we see in here Travis Scott, who
we know is an associate at The Final Boss. Cena
helps Scott onto the apron. Cena attempts to
drag Cody to Travis, but Cody slips the hold,
makes a play for Scott. then delivers another
crossroads to Cena covers but Scott yanks the
ref from the ring yep Cody offers Travis into
the ring and he accepts takes a wild Travis then
takes a wild swing at Cody and misses and earns
himself a crossroads all of his very own I mean,
there was a lot of crossroads being down out
here. I don't know how many Cena ratings over
the course of this match, but it was a few. Yeah,
and this is where, again, Cena starts exhibiting
some of that behavior that we don't see him do
very often. So as Cody's dumping Travis's body
out of the ring and turns around, Cena makes
a run at him with the title belt itself, trying
to take Cody out that way, and basically Cody
catches it, starts a bit of a tug of war with
John Cena, and I'm sorry, if I had time to spend
with John Cena, a tug of war would not be what
I would choose. Because the guy, even now, in
his older age, it is a case that the guy is still
built like a brick shit house. Yeah, no, I would
definitely not want to be on either side of either
of those two men. They're both pretty large fellas.
I'm actually sure at one point, Cena's arm was
bigger than my leg currently. Yeah, this is it.
But yeah, essentially Cody manages to wrestle
it from Cena's grasp where Cena actually starts
begging for For his forgiveness now. We are reminded
at this point by commentary I believe it was
that Cena did say in one of the promos he cut
on the run -up to this match that Sooner or later
Cody's gonna have to make a choice Yes And he's
gonna have to develop that killer instinct. He
can't always hand it to the WWE Universe to get
things done and Yeah, it's a case that this is
not that time for Cody Cody decides that this
is That that's the line he won't cross that's
where he draws the line and Yeah, the minute
he drops his guard Cena drops in with a bit of
a low blow. Oh yeah, baby. Cena lays out Cody
with the title, scores the pin as the ref recovers
to declare Cena the winner and new champion.
For the 17th time beating the record of the Great
Ric Flair. Now, while we mention Ric Flair, it's
made me laugh on a couple of occasions because
I have come across several memes that say that
AEW, which is where Ric Flair currently resides,
could be dead petty and just drop a world title
onto Ric Flair. extra level of petty which there's
a part of me that hopes they do it just because
i want to see how wwe will react that would be
absolutely hilarious um but one thing that we
have to cover um is that throughout all of this
john cena has gone on record and said that if
he wins this title or when he wins this title,
he's retiring with that title. What I can't get
over is obviously he's depicted this as it will
be the death of the company. If he takes that
title and all the prestige that goes with it,
WWE will go down with it. It is a case that he
is trying to destroy everything from the inside
out. Which I don't understand why. I know he's
the heel, but why destroy everything that's built
you the life that you have? Because he doesn't
need that to maintain his lifestyle anymore.
Yeah, I suppose he's making more dollar from
Hollywood and he doesn't have to put his ass
on the line quite so much. No, this is it. The
big thing about it all was that... Well, the
thing that really gripped me was... When he won
that title and he was showing it off celebrating
in ring it was a case that Nobody in that entire
Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium Once gave a thought
to the fact that Cena's gonna follow through
on what he said He'll retire with that title.
I'm hoping so And If everything else that he's
prophesized comes true, the death of the WWE
comes at rapturous applause. I mean, I'm not
sure what this podcast would be done. If there
was no more WWE, we would have no more Finishes
and Factions. Not true, we'd switch to AEW. I'd
rather switch to TNA. I was going to say, we'd
switch to AEW or TNA, one of the two. I said
AEW to begin with because it was the last promotion
we were talking about that wasn't WWE. Yeah,
but TNA is only one night a week where AEW does
Dynamite and the other one. Explosion or something
like that. Which I'm not down with. Yeah, I'm
not down for that record. Oh, it would be so
timeless. But that draws to a close, I believe,
our coverage of WrestleMania 41. It certainly
does. I am all wrestled out, I will tell you
that. Yeah, so because of that, it will be...
Me on me Todd for the next two episodes covering
the raw after WrestleMania and the NXT after
stand and deliver as well. So yeah, keep your
eyes peeled for when those episodes drop. And
I will be back for SmackDown at the end of the
week. So see you all then. Peace out.