Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] The rocking review podcast hosted by j rock rude.
[00:00:29] Welcome everyone to another exciting edition of the Rocking Review Podcast. Thank you so much for listening in. This is episode 28 of the podcast and we have a lot of different news to go into. Major Wrestlemania plans have been scrapped due to injuries will go over that as well as some New Japan stars long long veterans of New Japan Pro Wrestling have exited their contracts. Where will they be going to next? We'll talk about that. We'll also be talking about a little bit of the raw results from the last two weeks now and the preview of for AEW Grand Slam Australia which will be happening this weekend. It will be happening in Sydney, New South Wales at the Kudos bank arena in Australia. We got a couple of different matches set up for that card. It will be a pre taped card so the official release and broadcast of the actual matches won't come until later during that day on TNT and hbo. Max, I guess that they don't want to have a situation where they're putting on pay per view, style, dynamite, whatever you want to call it early in the morning so they want to make sure that its American audience can see it. But of course results will probably be leaked during the day and we will also go over the last couple Monday night Raws as told and we'll talk about the Roman Reigns CM Punk promo that took place last week in Philadelphia. But before we do any of that real quick, I just want to remind anybody who if you haven't already, please subscribe to the podcast. So that way you are able to watch all of our past episodes and of course click that notification bell so that that way you can be notified every single time. We have a brand new podcast and of course follow our social media pages on X and Instagram at the Rocking review.
[00:03:07] So we'll start off with I think we'll just start off basically with the biggest news coming out of last week. So in Philadelphia to start off the show, Braun Breaker, who as we mentioned in our review of the Royal Rumble, he was immediately tossed out after being attacked by a masked man and he originally was going to be number one. Then he got switched to number two and Obafemi eliminated him in under just 10 seconds.
[00:03:38] So the night after Royal Rumble we started off Monday Night Raw in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center. Wells Fargo Arena I believe. I believe that's the old version of what it originally was.
[00:03:55] Yes, it's the Xfinity Mobile Arena. My apologies. So anywho what ended up happening was that that was a massive card there's only three matches on the entire night. And Javon Evans and El Grande Americano.
[00:04:10] You had Penta and Bronson Reed and then you had the main event, which was the Philadelphia Street Fight between Stephanie Vacuum and Raquel Rodriguez, which that went super, super sloppy. So this was a very promo heavy Monday Night Raw that happened last week on February 2nd. So what ended up happening was at the start of the show, Braun Breaker, basically in less of a better terms, he had a crash out. And what ended up happening was during the crash out, he flipped the announcer's desk. Now, you know, mostly we've seen bigger guys do that. So again, not saying that Braun Breaker isn't a bigger guy. He's just a more, you know, flexible guy, you know, slimmed out, toned out, a little bit buffer than, you know, most of the big giants that you might see, like an Otis or whatever. So you don't expect him to like flip the table. So. So he did flip the table and you know, he used a lot of force and unfortunately he was taken off of the road after he was forced to have surgery. This was reported early during the weekend. This was actually around Friday. Ish.
[00:05:26] It has already been reported because Dave Meltzer, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Braun Breaker was out of action following a surgery which was described as a serious hernia.
[00:05:40] PW Insider confirmed that he did sustain an injury while flipping over the announce tables during an angle where he destroyed the ringside area and by Wednesday it was determined that he would require surgery. Neither report specified how long Breaker would be out of action and essentially it was then confirmed basically the day after that. On the, on the Tuesday Wrestling observer radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that Breaker was dealing with hernia for actually some time and was forced into surgery after recent checkup revealed that his condition had deteriorated like everyone else. Meltzer did have a clear indication about how much time Breaker would miss and again, recovery could be anywhere from just a few weeks, several months. The direct quote from Dave Meltzer himself, he said there is no timeable or timetable for return.
[00:06:42] I mean, they're taking about a. Or they're talking about a career ending injury. I think that that's kind of an exaggeration. He'll come back. It could take a couple months before he comes back, depending on a lot of different things. But it had nothing to do with the Roy Rumble being out. People were going, oh, that's why he did the thing at the rumble. It had nothing to do with the Rumble. Even though, yeah, he probably had it long before that.
[00:07:10] But it had nothing to do with any of the bookings, anything they were doing. And then it was just that he got checked and he had to have emergency surgery. So that's basic story on that. So he'll be out for a while. As far as how long though, no one has been given a timetable of breakers injury. It could be 12 weeks and it could be six months at worse.
[00:07:35] So essentially, Braun Breaker was probably going to have a really, really good program. Leading up to WrestleMania this. There were rumors that he was going to do something with Adam Pierce. There was rumors that Seth was going to be back. And Seth has been very hush hush on when he's going to be back. And they were going to do a program right there at WrestleMania. So with that out of the cards and again just spoiling ahead of time, Based off of this week's Monday Night Raw, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio.
[00:08:18] In the main event, it was a elimination chamber qualifying match with La Knight, Austin Theory and Penta. And La Knight won the match after on the outside after Penta had pulled Austin Theory after a distraction from the Vision.
[00:08:35] What ended up happening was was that Austin Theory was laid out after fighting with Penta on the outside. And all of a sudden the same mask man who was at the Royal Rumble came out super kicked. Austin Theory gave the stomp, threw him back in again. We couldn't see it this time. He had gloves, so you couldn't see his hands. You couldn't recognize his hands because people were talking that, oh, that's Finn Balor.
[00:09:03] So now you really have to do some deep diving and be like, is this really Seth Rollins or is this somebody else that we do not know? Because again, if you look at everything else, the speculations were it was Adam Pierce. Adam Pierce was out there during the attack. Rumors were it was Logan Paul. Logan. Paul couldn't have enough time because he immediately ran out after the mask man came out and attacked Theory. So it couldn't be Logan. So that means that, like there was absolutely nobody in the Vision who could be in this group other than the former leader, Seth Rollins? Or it could be somebody that we still don't know. Rumors are flying around speculating who could it be? Even Grayson Waller, Theory's former partner? Could it even be Jake Paul? Logan, Paul's brother? People don't really know what's gonna happen with this and it creates intrigue and I think that that's the best thing that you need heading in to WrestleMania.
[00:10:02] So that was one of like the biggest news over the week, is that Braun Breaker will now be out of WrestleMania. Seth Rollins, nobody knows if he will still be at WrestleMania, what he will end up doing. Do they really put him in a singles match between Austin Fury?
[00:10:17] I don't think that that's possible.
[00:10:19] But yeah, that is what it's looking like right now. And Breaker could probably come back after backlash in May.
[00:10:27] Meanwhile, we're gonna head overseas and talk about Hiromu or Hiromi Takahashi. I'm sorry if I butcher that. I try very hard with these New Japan names, but it is very, very struggling.
[00:10:43] Hiromu Takahashi has wrestled his final match in New Japan for the time being. Multiple time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Wrestled his final match for the company at New Beginning in Osaka on Wednesday, teaming up with Taji Ishimori to defeat the United Kingdom or United Empire members Jacob Austin Young and Francisco Akira. Hiromu scored the win, submitting Jeff.
[00:11:14] After the match, Hiromu started to say his goodbyes when he was jumped by Akira, who smashed Hiromu with a steel chair. Robbie X came out for the save and changed away. Both United Empire members, both X and Ishimori, raised Hiromu's hand as he got to say his goodbyes before leaving.
[00:11:35] Yodo Tish Sorry, I'm gonna butcher this name again.
[00:11:40] Yodo Tushuri allowed Takahashi to speak at the very end of the show following his IWGP Heavyweight title defense. Hiromu said that despite leaving, his goal was to still win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title and then win the IWGP Heavyweight title. He finished by saying that this isn't goodbye, it's you. Later, all of the unbound company, including an emotional Yodo Ice, then celebrated with Hiramu Hiromu sorry. And closed out the show.
[00:12:20] They announced earlier in the month that he had started with the company. He said that he would be departing on February 11th.
[00:12:28] His final match, uh, singles match was February 8th where he defeated a guy by the name of Masatoria Yasuda. During his time in New Japan, Hiromi held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title on five separate occasions. Became the major focal point of that division during his tenure with the company.
[00:12:52] Yeah, man, a lot of people have been talking about Takahashi and a lot of people are speculating that he probably will go to aew. I definitely see that going on.
[00:13:03] The other guy who also ended up being a part of the the list of cuts or the list of leaves as far as the company goes.
[00:13:14] Former IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion David Finley is potentially joining WWE after it emerged that he was exploring options in America as he approached free agency. He finally exited after again New Japan's New Beginning in Osaka following his defeat to calum Newman. The 32 year old was visibly under and understandably emotional as he bowed to the crowd and then embraced manager and New Japan booker Guide Guido.
[00:13:49] He kissed the company's logo at the entrance way before expressing his gratitude towards the fans. This past weekend, Fightful select reported that David Finley and WWE had been in contact, but the website had not received an update on how those conversations went for weeks. Body Body Slam is now reporting that discussions about Finley have indeed taken place during WWE's creative meetings. However, one source noted that there is no indication that he has agreed to a deal or is about to sign a contract. Another source claimed that WB intentionally planned the seeds on television recently.
[00:14:27] His brother in NXT talent Uriah Connors, real name Brogan Friendly in case David indeed made his way to the promotion. Connors notably walked out on Chase you on the February 3, 2026 episode of NXT.
[00:14:47] So yeah, David Finley, he has been a part of the War Dogs I New Japan Bullet Club stable for a while now.
[00:14:58] Like I mentioned, former IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. Of course, he won the inaugural match at last year's Russell Kingdom where he beat both Will Ospreay and John Moxley.
[00:15:12] So David Finley going to WWE seems a lot more predictable than Takahashi going to wwe.
[00:15:19] I and if if that is true that they are preparing a tag team with the Finley bro, I think that that is a very, very good idea.
[00:15:30] But again, when you look at Uriah Connors, you haven't seen much on NXT to lead into whether or not he should, you know, possibly be in a top tag team spot. I mean right now you got Dark State right now doing its feud with Tony d' Angelo over on nxt.
[00:15:52] So I could imagine that if Finley comes back they go baby face or they go heal, whichever way. And basically Tony D is the reason why Dark State loses the tag champions to the Finley brothers. I think that that would be a very, very good chance at something happening right there.
[00:16:12] So another big thing talk about when it comes to the New Japan scene is that they had their, their New Beginning show in in Japan and now they're building to their New Beginning show in U S. So this will happen on February 27th at uh, Trenton, New Jersey. Uh, and uh, two big matches ended up happening uh, from this uh, Gabe kid took on Andrade El Idolo and he came back and challenged him that Andrade challenged him for the Sacco show.
[00:17:04] And after a spinning back fists slash double moonsault combination, uh, he won the match and will now challenge the New Japan Heavyweight Champion, Yodo Tishuji.
[00:17:24] And that match is now officially in the books for the USA show. Also during the show, after the Knockout Bros of Oscar and Yodo, Ice successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Titles over Shoto Umino and Yuya.
[00:17:49] Sorry, Yuya.
[00:17:51] Yumira the demand.
[00:17:54] So Gates of Agony and Ricochet uh, officially announced that uh, Ricochet wanted to uh, defend his AW National Championship against Taji Ichimori.
[00:18:11] And also that Toa Leona and Bishop Kang were coming after the New Japan belts on the same show.
[00:18:21] So the other part that was very crucial in this in a House of Torture screw job, uh, very interestingly, uh, Ren Narita beat Aaron Wolf, who then lost the Never Open Weight Championship.
[00:18:45] Basically it was a run in from pretty much everybody in the uh, in the House of Torture group. Uh, and then finally, uh, Dick Togo choked him out and you know, let a easy win for House of Torture.
[00:19:04] Some, some different matches in here.
[00:19:07] Drill Money and Shingo Takaji uh, beat Grado Khan and Henry, uh, we also uh, like I mentioned, uh, yo, uh, Yota, uh, Tsuji uh, beat Jake Lee to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
[00:19:27] So right now the card for New Beginning in USA is going to be for the IWGP Global title.
[00:19:40] Excuse me.
[00:19:42] It is gonna be Yoda versus Andrade.
[00:19:49] Then we have Ricochet versus Taji Ishimori for the AEW title because they have to be able to have an AEW title on a New Japan card. The Knockouts Bros will face Goa for the IWGP Tag titles.
[00:20:03] Tirohimo Ishii will face a guy by the name of Bolton Uleg for the New Japan Strong Open Weight title.
[00:20:14] Siri or Zuri, uh, will face Athena for the iwgp, uh, women's title. And then finally Alphantasmo will go against Konosuke Takeshna for the New Japan World TV title. So a very, very stacked card is pretty, pretty big right now for that USA show for New Japan. I do know some people who are gonna go to that show. So, uh, very lucky for them, uh, that they are going to that.
[00:20:54] Now we're gonna move on to viewership and ratings.
[00:21:00] Last week, Monday Night Raw we'll start there did over 3,100,000, which was its highest it had been actually since last year during one of the John Cena promos.
[00:21:20] They basically had one of its bigger global viewerships in a Very long time. And most of that was because of Roman Reigns, uh, coming out and demanding and uh, declaring that he was going to go, uh, and choose CM Punk for WrestleMania. We'll go into that promo it in a matter of moments.
[00:21:45] We also saw SmackDown do a pretty decent rating February 6th. 1,459,000.
[00:22:01] So that got a 0.35 in the demo, which remained as ranking as number one for the night on cable, had a 16 increase from the previous week.
[00:22:15] AEW Dynamite, which took place in Las Vegas that did 654,000 and did a 0.15 again. Aw.
[00:22:31] Dynamite's ratings have been doing significantly better leading in the last couple of weeks.
[00:22:44] You know, I think that that is really, really good.
[00:22:48] I'm really liking everything that we're getting from, from Dynamite. You know, as of recently, the week before, the week before Dynamite had did 653,000. So they are, they're definitely having a big increase which is, which is super, super good.
[00:23:14] Again. The demo for the, the week prior for Dynamite for that week was a, a point zero nine. So to jump from a 0.09 to a 0.15 is pretty substantial when you, when you really think about it.
[00:23:36] So I, I give credit where credit's due for AEW Dynamite pulling off such a feat like that.
[00:23:44] Meanwhile, uh, below in the zero ratings we had uh, WBE NXT from February 3rd.
[00:23:54] Uh, that did 629,000, did a.08.
[00:24:03] NXT is kind of, kind of doing a bit of the same thing.
[00:24:12] However, it's been very consistent, passing over 600,000 almost every single week. Last time it went below 600,000 was the December 2nd episode of NXT.
[00:24:29] So that's been, that's been very, very good.
[00:24:33] Like I mentioned, it did a 08 the week previous. It stayed at 8.08 and it actually was higher the week before. On the 27th of January it did 674,000.
[00:24:51] So slight decrease would also not a bad decrease in full transparency.
[00:25:01] And then of course below the half a mil marks we had, AEW Collision Collision had a big drop and that was probably because of the Winter Olympics and only did 388,000 and did a.07.
[00:25:20] Collision has been pretty much staying at that kind of state right now.
[00:25:28] Took a major drop from the week before which had did 492,000 and a.07.
[00:25:36] So they did keep the, the demo rating doing pretty, pretty well.
[00:25:44] It's worse one probably having to be it's January 24th which did a point 02 and only 253.
[00:25:56] So again like they're doing big jumps. All right. I mean they jump from that week which was that uh253 to the 492 the week uh, the week uh aft after that uh, for that one uh, just to go ahead and uh, to to look at that card for the, the 30 for the 31st that one did.
[00:26:25] Its main event was Babes of Wrath versus the Sisters of Sin and also featured the title change of the debuting Tommaso Ciampa. That part we should also talk about. Tommaso Ciampa, he got released from wwe.
[00:26:44] He immediately debuted that Wednesday on A W Dynamite and he challenged the open challenge for Mark Briscoe's TNT title and he won it. So that was a very very big title match and a big title change for that. And again he also this past weekend defended it in a three way against Claudio Castagnoli and Roderick Strong in the main event.
[00:27:14] So that was a really good one. And they also had an an eight man tag team parking lot fight with Eddie Kingston Ortiz and the Rascals which they defeated Big Bill, Brian Keith and the grizzled young veterans.
[00:27:31] So pretty much after that uh, the only one remaining is of course TNA Impact which did its highest number and it has, has it has its highest audience since Moving to AMC with 241000 added a point 05 again TNA impact finally crossing almost to that quarter Mil is showing progress the week before did 201,000 and a point 04 in its only second episode or third episode. Excuse me of the show.
[00:28:24] So the fact that you know they had two really mid episodes and then they finally have crossed into the 200 ranks. I mean you know granted uh, you know you looking at like I mentioned like collision, you know all the way up until these last two episodes they were averaging close to 270. 250, 240 right here on January 3rd with a 0.03. So again you know they're doing very very well. I, I think I like uh this trajectory. Viewerships going up and other things are going up which is, is making it very good for, for people wanting to enjoy wrestling throughout the week.
[00:29:13] Now we'll move on to the nitty gritty.
[00:29:17] Last week as I mentioned in Philadelphia, Roman Reigns in the main event segment came out and officially chose his WrestleMania form 42 opponents. He made his way to the ring. He then asked Philly to acknowledge him. Reyes talked about the highs and lows that he had had in Philly and explained how he won his first championship and lost his last championship there. He mentioned that he won his first Royal Rumble in Philadelphia and brought up that he had just won the Royal Rumble and the first city that they were in was Philadelphia. Reigns discussed the decision that he had to make and whether he would fight Drew McIntyre or he would fight CM Punk.
[00:30:05] As soon as he said that you guys want me to fight Centimer Punk. Punk's music hit and Reigns and Punk both threw off their jackets acting like they were ready to have a fight.
[00:30:17] Punk entered the ring and at first he mentioned Finn Balor who had attacked him the week before in their match with AJ Styles.
[00:30:29] Reigns interrupted and asked Punk why he'd interrupted him. Just talk about Finn Balor. Punk then reinstated that Reigns was a visitor on his show and he could interrupt anybody because he was the champion and he called the shots.
[00:30:43] Punk talked about Reigns big decision and said that Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre could be the main event at WrestleMania or Roman Reigns vs the Best in the world.
[00:30:55] Punk went back and forth between saying his name, McIntyre's name, getting many different crowd reactions.
[00:31:01] He said that he knew that Roman would pick the easy way out and choose McIntyre.
[00:31:08] Reigns then kind of defended McIntyre in a way and he said that he wasn't the easy pick to defeat but it was actually Punk. He had said that McIntyre was four times bigger than Punk and that the last time they fought McIntyre had punk crying over a plastic bracelet and basically he had pointed out that it was actually the bracelet that Punk was actually wearing in that ring.
[00:31:35] Punk replied that McIntyre had had to get staples in his head because of him. When they got done with him in Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood last year, Rain said that he beat McIntyre for three years straight and Punk asked how many times did Reigns cousins help him. Reigns told Punk to respect his family because they were the reason that Punk had a show to come back to.
[00:32:02] This is where we got into the nitty gritty.
[00:32:04] Punk said Reigns had convinced people that he was a Messiah and built up WWE with when all Reigns did was hold it hostage. Punk had then said that Reigns was a part timer and that no one followed in his footsteps but that Reigns followed in his.
[00:32:24] Punk told Reigns that just because Reigns world title Reign was longer than his was which was the the 400 something day reign for CM Punk back in 2012 into 2013.
[00:32:43] He had won the title I believe in Survivor Series against Alberto El Rio and then he carried it through Mania 28 and through the rest of 2012 and then he lost it to the rock at the 2013 Royal Rumble, funny enough, had interference from the Shield Punk. It also said that he had worked in 10 countries in three weeks while Reigns did what he wanted because he wasn't a full time competitor.
[00:33:13] Punk said that he brought Reigns into WWE and that Reigns learned from the best and that he was proud of him.
[00:33:22] So basically Punk went out and he stated, look, you want to say that you are the greatest of all time and, and you did this, but if it wasn't for me saying that I wanted to bring my own group into the main roster back in 2012, you wouldn't have even been in the position that you were in.
[00:33:48] He reminded Reigns that he had a decision to make and he said that they would see what kind of man that Reigns was, whether he would pick the easy way or the hard way.
[00:34:00] So Reigns then responded and in the way that Reigns responded might have legit been his top promo work as being a sort of baby face, sort of in between type of character. Again, I'm trying to completely understand what he's doing and like what his position here. I'm guessing that he's going to be a part timer. And again a big statement that that was surrounded all this is whether or not Roman Reigns was going to be, you know, in the, in, in the bill of WrestleMania and how much would he be appearing for WrestleMania.
[00:35:00] So it was then advertised that he would be making some following uh, dates uh, leading up to uh, WrestleMania. Uh, it was basically stated that he was going to be in almost every single Monday Night Raw in March leading up to WrestleMania. And I think that that is, is super big for, for what could end up happening and the fact that Roman Reigns can, can get all of this out and he can build this up and maybe he does end up having a match at, at one point in time. I would love to see another match between him and Bronson Reed. I think that if there is a, a Bronson Reed match that ends up happening from this, I think this is the best way.
[00:36:14] So real quickly update.
[00:36:16] So it will be March 2nd in Indianapolis, March 16th in San Antonio, March 23rd in Boston, March 30th in New York, and then finally April 13th in Sacramento, which will be the final RAW before WrestleMania.
[00:36:36] So basically we got that. And then in an even crazier twist, it was just announced about an hour ago as of recording that that next week Brock Lesnar will be showing up to Monday Night Raw. And I think that is where we'll find out what is Brock Lesnar's plans but going back to this promo and going back to Reigns Response Reigns told Punk that punk took a 10 year vacation and now he was making up for lost time. That's why he was working so hard as he was being a full time superstar.
[00:37:13] Reigns laughed at Punk for thinking that he learned from him and said that the only thing he learned from Punk was what not to do. Reigns said that when Punk was going to be signed back, they ran it by Reigns first, which Reigns, yes, was the World Champion at that point. Reigns talked about how Punk had ran his mouth when he left on the podcast and had made things harder than they ever should have been for him.
[00:37:40] He also said that he took Paul Heyman's word and then he started to brainwash Heyman and he took away his wise man for WrestleMania. Then he brainwashed his cousins and then he almost brainwashed Roman and basically they thought that, you know, when he shook his hand like a man that the situation would be situated. But then they called back to at that war games this past year where Paul or Punk had held his title over his head behind Roman and almost and Roman specified this as being like mocking me, like I'm some young boy.
[00:38:33] So, so again it's like that ego talking. And basically Punk got him so stirred up that basically he said, you really think like I was learning from you and and really you're the one who set this up for me. When you came back two and a half years ago, I was the one that was told whether or not it was a good idea and I said it was. So I let you come back here and I let you be on this show.
[00:39:00] And he had made a reference of the Zebro stuff because they were both in the recent box office hit Zootopia 2. They had plays Zebros or Zebras I should say.
[00:39:12] And he basically said that he wasn't picking Punk because of the Netflix ratings, he wasn't picking Punk because he was the world champion, he was picking Punk because he simply hated him and he always had. And then at WrestleMania punk would acknowledge him and then Reigns walked out and that was it.
[00:39:36] So we have our first match for WrestleMania.
[00:39:40] We got CM Punk versus Roman Reigns, most likely being the night two main event.
[00:39:47] But leading up to that there's a couple of other things to be mentioned as well.
[00:39:56] So like I stated, there was some elimination chamber qualifying matches and also during this past week's Monday Night Raw in Cleveland, in the opening segment, Becky lynch had came out and had started talking and then AJ Lee showed up and Basically ticked off Becky and kind of conned her into giving her a title match.
[00:40:24] So now officially at Elimination Chamber, which will be in the United center in Chicago, Illinois, Becky lynch will face AJ Lee as she will defend her Women's Intercontinental Championship.
[00:40:37] So I'm guessing that'll just lead to another rematch at WrestleMania.
[00:40:42] But they wanted to make sure that they got AJ on the build leading up to Mania. So I totally get that.
[00:40:50] We also got, for the Women's Elimination Chamber so far, Rhea Ripley and Tiffany Stratton. And then for the men's we have Randy Orton and La Knight. And then we also had made official, CM Punk will face Finn Balor for the World Heavyweight title. Again, they're insinuating that, you know, it's not sport, it's not smart that Punk is going ahead with this and Punk is jeopardizing the WrestleMania main event. So basically, like, if Punk loses, Finn would then take on Roman.
[00:41:25] I. I don't think that that's ideal. I don't think that's ever gonna happen.
[00:41:30] But, you know, it's kind of entertaining to, you know, think about.
[00:41:36] In those qualifying matchups, Rhea Ripley beat Ivy Nile and Lyra Valkyria and Tiffany Stratton beat Lash Legend and Chelsea Green.
[00:41:47] And then in the men's qualifier, Randy Orton, B. Alistair Black and Solo Sikoa.
[00:41:54] And then leading up to the next two cards for the qualifiers this week in Dallas, Texas, they're running the qualifying matchups. Zelina Alexa Bliss and Julia and Sami Zayn. Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatsu.
[00:42:20] They also are gonna have some singles matches. Ray Phoenix and Trey Trick Williams.
[00:42:26] Jade Cargill will defend the women's world title in her first defense in which she has been champion for over a hundred days and has not once defended that title.
[00:42:43] And then we also are gonna have a women's tag team championship title Defense.
[00:42:50] Rio vs Last Legend and Nia Jax.
[00:42:56] Meanwhile, for Monday Night Raw next week, which will be in Memphis, uh, it will be Natty, Oscar and Bailey.
[00:43:09] And then for the men's, Gunther, Dominic Mysterio and Javon Evans.
[00:43:16] So that is really, really big.
[00:43:19] So those are as follows. The build up to Elimination Chamber.
[00:43:26] Now let us talk about the build up for Grand Slam Australia.
[00:43:34] So before that, we'll go over the dynamite, which will be happening from the Toyota center in Ontario, California.
[00:43:45] The Young Bucks and the Rascals in a mystery team will compete in a number one contendership, three way for the AEW Tag Team titles.
[00:43:55] Tommaso Ciampa will defend his TNT title against former champion Kyle Fletcher. And then we have a strap match for the AEW Women's World title. Chris Statlander will take on Fecna or the I believe, or Tekla. I've been mispronouncing that name far, many times.
[00:44:23] So, looking towards Grand Slam Australia, which by the way will follow with a house rules show, which will be at the Brisbane Entertainment center, we have a couple of interesting matches.
[00:44:43] There is going to be a continental title match between Jon Moxley and Konosuke Tesha.
[00:44:51] We got the Babes of Wrath defending the Women's World Tag Team Championships against Mega Bad, which is Megan Bane and Penelope Ford for the AEW World title. Number one contendership, Andrade El Idolo, who had beat Kenny Omega, will take on Hangman Adam Page. And the winner of that will face the world, the AW World Champion at Revolution in March.
[00:45:22] And then we also got a mixed Tornado tag match between between Orange Cassidy and Toni Storm, taking on the Death Riders of Mina Marina Shafir and Willer Yuta, the loser of the fall. So the person who ends up getting pinned will have to have their head shaved. And most likely it's going to be Willer Yuta, the hairy little goblin.
[00:45:49] That guy has needed a haircut for months.
[00:45:54] All to set up a hair versus hair match.
[00:45:58] So stupid. And then in the main event, after squashing the World Champion in two minutes, thanks to interference from Hangman Adam Page, so he earned himself a title shot. MJF will defend against Brody King.
[00:46:15] So that is the look towards the weekend for aew.
[00:46:20] Again, like I mentioned, we're leading up towards Revolution, which will take place on March 15th.
[00:46:30] So, you know, as far as that number one contendership goes, who looks to be the most common threat, I have a feeling that they won't do Andrade. I have an odd feeling they'll do Adam Page because I think that Adam Page is more of that person that is wanting to get his title back.
[00:46:53] And Andrade you can still be able to work something with.
[00:46:58] I just don't want to see him be put into all these title matches just because he had a ceased and assist letter or cease and desist letter that basically kept him from working in the States for over four months, I believe it was. So I honestly would rather see Hangman become number one contender, face MJF in a nice little match at Revolution and then build up towards Dynasty. But those are my thoughts on AW Grand Slam Australia. And those are the rest of the thoughts of the wrestling news going on right now. I want to thank you guys so much. Again, like I mentioned, please click subscribe and please click the notification bell so that way you guys are notified on every episode happening for the rocking review.
[00:47:53] Thank you guys for listening. And as always, it's spelled R A W K because we talk about the W's in pro wrestling thing. Everybody sa.
