AskCVV #127 - 2009 Randy Orton Is Back! Chris Jericho At WrestleMania?, Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

Chris Bunblee! [Music] And please! [Music] It's inside the Chris Fan Fleet! [Music] Happy Friday and welcome back to another one here on Inside I'm CVV. Chris Fan Fleet! Hope your Friday is off to a great start. Thanks for hanging out with me on an Ask the CVV episode. And as always, thank you for making insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. In light of the events over the last week hit an RKO on that follow button wherever you're listening right now. I am in New York City right now as I record this. I'm in quite an echoey hotel room here. I just wrapped up an episode with my good buddy Sam Roberts. And I was a guest on his show. I love this time of year. Because we're now four weeks away from WrestleMania. The stories are all starting to come together. So we had a great chat about what WrestleMania 42 looks like, what the expectations are for it. And then just some fun questions. Like I asked him what's the most underrated theme song of all time. I asked him who's the biggest what if in the history of progressing. And I asked him one that I think you might find the answer to be very interesting. I said who wins a world championship first. Is it Braumbreaker? Is it Oba Femi? Or is it Logan Paul? So keep an eye out for that episode on Thursday. And then on Tuesday. We've got the episode with Mark Merrill. The one that Cody Rhodes was talking about during our episode. That came out last week. Great chat with Mark Merrill. And man, he is so, so inspirational. Like I said, four weeks away from WrestleMania. Everything's starting to come together. And so is the next insight live. It's April 16th. It's the Thursday of WrestleMania week. And we officially have a guest. You're going to be the first one to know who that guest is. Joining me at Insight Live. In Las Vegas. At Circa Resort and Casino. Is none other than the man himself. Maven. Oh, it's going to be such a good one. And not only is Maven joining me on stage for Insight Live. Not only is he my special guest. But he's also going to be staying for the meet and greet. So anybody who has a VIP ticket. He's going to stay. He's going to stick around for the meet and greet. So it's a photo with Maven. It's a sign 8 by 10. And this is super rare. This has only ever happened once in the history of all the Insight lives that we've done. Where the guests stick around all the way until the last VIP ticket holder is there. So you don't want to miss this. Grab those tickets at cvvtix.com. The tickets for Tampa, New Orleans are also for sale there. And with the VIP tickets, the the CV VIP tickets. If you will, you also get the special asks cvv before the show. And it's just us in that room. We don't record this. We don't broadcast it. If you're not in that room for that ask cvv, you miss it. That's it. So it's our chance to hang out together. And then the VIP ticket also gets you the meet and greet after with both me and Maven. And I should add that the ban has been lifted on WrestleMania watch parties in Las Vegas. So that means that circa will in fact be playing both nights of WrestleMania at stadium swim. It's a 143 foot screen with pools in front of it and cabanas. If you're not going to Mania, this is the best place to watch it. So when you go to cvvtix.com and you click through to the Las Vegas show, you'll see the option there to buy tickets to the watch party as well at stadium swim. And all the other great events that are going on as part of circa Mania at circa Resorting Casino Las Vegas. But man, four weeks away. I can't wait to see you guys there in Las Vegas. Welcome my friends to ask cvv number 127 edition. And that is a reference to Dustin Rhodes, Gold Dust's character he played very briefly in WCW 7. Also ask cvv number 127 hours edition in reference, of course, to the film. If you've got a question for next week, if you've got an idea for ask cvv number 128, ask cvv128. Go to frisfamfully.com and you can send in your question on there. If you're listening on Spotify and I know a lot of you are, leave a comment on there with your question. Or just leave a comment on there just in general. Maybe leave an emoji on there just because you're you're feeling it just because you're having a good day. Or you can send it in on social media using that hashtag ask cvv so much to dive into. We'll kick it off with this one from Roman Torres 718 on Instagram who says what was your reaction when Randi Orton turned heal on Cody Rhodes last week on Smackdown. I had a feeling we were going to see something because leading into this we had two baby face versus baby face main events for us so many I just felt like something was going to happen on Smackdown. I've heard a lot of people saying that 2009 Randi Orton is back. And yes, I think we can all agree that Randi Orton turned heal last Friday on Smackdown. He's been a heal many times in his career. I personally think that character just works so much better as a heal. But is he really 2009 Randi Orton? Because I feel like in order to be own nine Randi Orton, he's got to like RKO Cody's mom. And Cody's mom was part of the bill up to WrestleMania 40. I mean, it's possible that we could see an appearance from Mama Rhodes again. But I feel like 09 Randi Orton is ruthless. And the fact that Randi Orton mentioned recently mentioned on RAW this past week that he's a killer. It makes me think that maybe he's leaning towards something there. I don't know. But I think that the exact moment we'll know that 09 Randi Orton is back is when we finally see a punt again. We haven't seen a punt in, I think it's five or six years. He's teased it a lot of times, but just hasn't delivered on it. I have a prediction. I've got a lot of predictions in this episode, but I got a prediction. I think we see a punt either in the build up to WrestleMania. Or we see a punt during the WrestleMania match, which leads to Randi Orton becoming the WWE Champion. I think a punt is on the way. But who was Randi Orton on the phone with? What an interesting segment on Monday night RAW. Michael Cole interviewing Randy Orton. And then they were using technology that looked like it was a 2009 flip phone. I think it was like film with a potato. I was going on there. I was that so pixelated. Great promo from Randy Orton, but hard to escape the fact that it was so blurry and pixelated. But who was he on the phone with? If we can get past the fact that it was the lowest quality video we've seen in probably since 2009. No, that's not even 2009 quality. I think it's before that. It's like 2001 quality. It's like the Chris Sharp backyard wrestling videos that I posted earlier this week. If you saw those clips, there's some definitely interesting stories around some of those. I feel like those were filmed in 2001 and somehow they had better quality than this Randy Orton interview. But who's he on the phone with? I'm feeling like it's a really good chance it's Cowboy Bob Orton. Randy Orton's dad. I mean, he did say wrestling is more than one royal family. And I could see this being a promo or an angle that turns into like, you know, Cody, I've got my dad cheering me on a WrestleMania. Wouldn't it be nice if you had your dad there like something where he digs the knife in and twists it a little bit. But if it's not Cowboy Bob Orton, because I feel like that's the obvious choice here, especially with that line wrestling as more than one royal family. But if it's not Cowboy Bob Orton, who is it? Is it Alistair Black? Could be something there. Saw them in the rain together. Something happened in there is that going to be paid off here in the next few weeks as we head into WrestleMania. I heard someone mention Kevin Owens. I thought, wow, that could make sense. Kevin Owens was the heel when he left. Randy Orton's the heel now. Maybe they let bygones be bygones and they just come together in their hatred for Cody Rhodes. That one's a good one. Someone could make sense, although I feel like Kevin Owens, when he is ready to come back, whenever that happens to be, I feel like he's in his own storyline, not one that's attached to this other story of Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes. But it's interesting. And again, I said this with the masked man, like, who is it? Like, we're guessing week to week. We said this with the crate. Who's in there? What's in there? We said this again. It's a surprise. What could it be? Who could it be? What's the reveal going to be? I love it. Like, it's stringing us along. It's like a cliffhanger on a movie. It's making us continue to watch. Who was he on the phone with? It's such a simple thing. But now it's been like planted into our brains of like, "Well, are we going to find out on SmackDown tonight? Are we going to find out on Raw on Monday?" When's the payoff going to be? How is this going to be paid off? And I just, I love that. I love that that's just like planned. It's planted a seed that continues to allow the storyline to go and to build. Because again, we've got four weeks here, four weeks until WrestleMania. It's five episodes to SmackDown, including tonight. It's four episodes of Raw. So you've got nine TV shows for this to continue to simmer and build. And I can't wait. Ashley Parks sent this one in on Spotify. For Ask CVV number 127, do you ever get off the record information from people that you interview? You mentioned thinking something would happen during SmackDown, which ended up being Randy turning on Cody. Do you occasionally get a heads up? I don't ever get a heads up. I find out about almost everything the exact same time that you find out about everything. I just had a hunch. I just felt like in the build up to WrestleMania, they couldn't just keep doing this thing where it's a baby face and a baby face. And like a baby face promo has a certain structure to it. And you see this specifically with the type of promos that CM Punk is cutting on Roman Reigns. Like, it's obvious he doesn't like Roman Reigns. It's obvious he thinks he's better than him. But he keeps saying like, I respect you. And like, that's the whole thing about a baby face. Like you build up the other opponent. That's one of the best things about a baby face. Because if you just tearing them down, this is just a wrestling thing in general. If you're just tearing them down, that person sucks. They're awful blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you end up beating them. It's like, well, big deal. You beat the person that you said sucked. You did the thing you told us you were going to do. But when your baby face, I honor, I have so much honor for this person. So much respect for this person. All of that stuff is the build up here. I just didn't think we were going to get that with Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes. I also felt like with this swell of, let's call it polarizing reactions, the Cody Rhodes had got that something had to give. And Cody even talked about in the interview that came out last Friday that he understands now that he's a polarizing wrestler. And when I was chatting with Sam Roberts earlier today, he said something that was really interesting that like, you could look at polarizing as being bad. Now, man, he's supposed to be a good guy, but he's getting a bad guy reaction. But instead, maybe being polarized means you've leveled up. You've gotten to a level where like, you're so big, you're so popular that you're going to draw a different reaction across the board. So think about this, the biggest names in the business over the last 10, 15 years got that polarizing reaction. Cody's getting it right now. Roman Reigns got it before that and John Cena got it before that. I guess the thing in common with John Cena and Roman Reigns is they turned heel. The biggest difference there is Roman Reigns turned heel at the peak. I don't know if it's a peak, but finally gave into the reaction, the booze, and they went with it from there. Randy Orton didn't just turn heel here. Like he decimated Cody Rhodes, took their friendship, crumpled it up like a discarded piece of paper and chucked it in the trash. Like, that was a bloody scene on SmackDown. I love the setup for it. I love that there's more at stake here. Like it's not just like, they're not just, it's not just like this friendly rivalry. It's not just like mentor and mentee. There's more to it than that. And I think we're going to start to unpeel some of these layers of this onion over the next few weeks here. But to answer your question as directly as I can, Ashley, I think there's been like one or two times, maybe three times that I can recall, where I haven't been told something directly, but it's like been hinted at and I'm like, oh, that'll be interesting to see if that actually plays out. But with that said, I can actually think of one example where someone told me something was going to happen. And I was watching for it and waiting for it to happen. And it didn't happen. And that's kind of the thing about wrestling is you never know until it's actually happening. But no, I watched SmackDown going, we know how these contract signings go. It's never just like two people putting pen to paper and shaking hands and riding off into the sunset together. Something was going to happen there. And well, I did. And man, Cody kept beat up. And it's interesting now because if you're a young kid watching WWE, Cody's your guy. And you probably liked Randy Orton. You probably loved singing along to his entrance theme. You now hate Randy Orton. And like people like me who've been watching long enough, you're able to go, yeah, he's turning a heel. And that's going to be part of this storyline here. If you're like a, if you're younger in watching this, I think that one rocked your world. That wasn't just like a kick in the nuts. That was a, that was a beat down. I love that Cody always gets his shirt ripped. I think that just adds an extra element to this. Of like not only is he down and beaten, but like he's just being, his clothes are being ripped, like his shirt's being ripped off of him. Gray visual. Gray visual. Sean Rose sent this one on the website, yo, CVV, real, real one here. My question for asks CVV number one, 27. The luckiest entrant spot for the Royal Rumble. That's good point. I like that, Sean. Who do you think will win between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femme? I know a lot of people want Oba to win, but I feel like it would make more sense for Brock too. We've got to remember Brock is the one who broke the streak and has achieved more accolades in his career. He's also more experienced overall and has considered legendary by many. I feel like Oba hasn't fully developed yet. And in his inexperienced compared to Brock, that may mean that it would make more sense for Brock to go over that way. I believe it would still give Oba credit for being a massive force, but also makes sense in a way for someone who's only recently made it to the main roster is being beaten by someone who has conquered the streak and done so many other things. Thanks for all the work you do and continue to do all the best. Sean Rose. Well, let me tell you Sean. After Ron Monday, I feel like there is no question in my mind, at least. That Oba Femi is winning that WrestleMania match. And what an opening segment. Oh man. What an opening segment on Raw. The masked man, Paul Heyman coming out looking like he hasn't slept in six days. Amazing how he just adds that extra layer to this character. And then Oba Femi's music hits and Brock Lesnar's face sold it so perfectly. Like Brock Lesnar had this look on his face like, oh no, that guy's a threat. And then Seth Rollins gets out of the ring and it's Oba and it's Brock. What a moment. And then Brock gets up in that power bomb. Oba gets him up so easy and slams him down. And then this has been hinted at quite a bit. People have pointed this out. Brock telling Oba Femi to put his foot on his chest. So it was already a great visual. Oba Femi standing over Brock Lesnar, but then putting his foot on his chest. Man, what a great, great moment. And I actually think I would love if this was the opening match for WrestleMania. Like start off with a bang. Hmm, be such a great match. As for who wins, I don't know. I know there's been a lot of rumors that Brock Lesnar is going to be done at Summerslam. That's just a rumor. This has not been announced. It has not been confirmed. And I think when you look at Brock Lesnar in the ring, he's not slowing down. He's continuing to work in the way that we expect Brock Lesnar to work. It's kind of like AJ Styles retiring where it's like, AJ Styles told us he would retire at some point in 2026. And then his last match was in January. And it's like, well, wait a second. Hey guy, WrestleMania right around the corner. We got the whole rest of the year to say goodbye to you and he retired. When I feel like he was still having some of the best matches of his career. career. And that's kind of where I feel like Brock Leszers at. If Brock Leszers is truly retiring at Summerslam, the way I see it is he only has two matches left. Brock Leszers, as you know, doesn't wrestle a lot. So it's WrestleMania and it's Summerslam the way I see it. Maybe you throw one in there at backlash? Possibly? It just seems unlikely to me. So it's two matches. What happens? I know there was this report that Brock Leszers wasn't going to lose until his final match. I'm not so sure. I think with the way that Brock Leszers put over Oba Femi in that opening segment on Raw tells me that he's in the game now of making other people look great. And it seems clear that Oba Femi is for lack of a better term is the next big thing. Just the fact that his first ever singles match on the main roster will be with Brock Leszers and at WrestleMania speaks volumes to a WWE thinks about Oba Femi and his potential. The fact that he didn't lose the NXT title when he left NXT, he vacated the NXT title because he was looking for more of a challenge. He was looking to move on with his career, at least, you know, storyline wise. That also speaks volumes about Oba Femi and the Oba Femi character. I take Oba Femi getting the win here and I don't think it hurts Brock Leszers at all. At all. In fact, you could build this into a storyline where Gunther is saying, man, that new guy beats you. I'm going to run right through you. It'd be so easy for me to retire you. And then you build up this storyline of like Gunther is going to retire somebody else. He's the career killer. But with that said, I don't think that Gunther's entire gimmick can just be, he ends people's careers. There's got to be something more to that. It's got to be another element to it. Because there's only so many people that can be part of that conversation. Like he's already retired Goldberg. He's already retired John Cena, AJ Styles. It sure seems like Brock Leszers going to be part of that conversation as well. There's not many other people. Ray Mysterio at some point in time when he's healthy and ready to go. Maybe that happens. But like his whole gimmick can't just be he only wrestles when he's wrestling somebody who's on the verge of retirement. That there's not a lot to that. It's a great moniker, the career killer. It's been great to watch this. And I think that people still do not give Gunther enough credit for how good he is in the ring. Like just an absolute technician and telling great stories in the ring as well. Like if you haven't gone back and rewatched John Cena's final match, there is some incredible storytelling in that match. But I think that Brock Leszers Obefemi, first of all, it's going to be just an amazing match. But I think Obefemi wins. And I think Obefemi goes on a tear and it doesn't hurt Brock Leszers at all to take a loss to him or to take a loss to really anybody at the stage of his career. Square up a new podcast from Andre Bertot. It was going on, man. It's Andre Bertot. Two time. Well, champ behind the scenes of life is a professional boxer. People want to see more. They want to see who you are as a fighter. I think the time is now. I really want to do that sit down from a fighter's perspective. Find out what it really means to be a fighter inside and outside the ring. This fight game is such a roller coaster. Square up. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Let's go. Tired of partisan noise. America is more divided than ever. But independent Americans is adding light to contrast all that heat. Independent Americans, daily news with Army veterans Paul Reikoff. Pressing issues of the day, the leaders who are shaping what America will be in the future. We're going to bring the righteous media five eyes. Independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. Join the movement. Independent Americans from believe. Paul Anderson sent this one in on chrisvamfully.com. Hey, Chris, I might be on the wrong side of this, but I'm actually happy that Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn't at raw. I feel like there's a few and far between moment making returns and they need to be even more monumental. People will offer up opinions on money, but there's never a factual truth in that. I take the last WrestleMania into how he was just shoehorned into WrestleMania 41 to read the attendance. We as fans can do what we want, but I think that lowering the expectations would be the best so that it results in more fun than disappointment. I can see where the this was set up to have Stone Cold be there. I can see where like the idea came from. This was the first time in six years that 316 March 16th was on a Monday coinciding with Monday, and I can completely understand why they'd want to do over of March 16th in 2020. If you remember, that was the first raw with no crowd, the very, very early days of the pandemic, the first weekend of the pandemic, and it was just, it was strange and it was awkward and it was quiet and it was a last minute call to do it in front of no audience and they weren't really sure exactly how this would work. It took, it took all the wrestling companies a good month or so to kind of figure out the beats of what doing a wrestling show in front of no crowd would be. So like Stone Cold Bing, there was awesome, but Stone Cold's music hitting on March 16th, 2020, to no reaction. I mean, everybody's music on that show hit to no reaction, but to have Stone Cold come out to no reaction, then you're hearing like the feet squeaking in the ring as they're moving was strange. And it's not the way that they planned for 316 day to be, but it was what it was with how, where we were in the world. I see what you're talking about here. Stone Cold's going to come back. It has to make sense. It can't just be him coming back for the sake of coming back. And I will say that like for the most part, Stone Cold in particular has picked those moments really well. And I think that that's why I mean, Stone Cold's one of the most iconic wrestling characters ever. And he's just absolutely beloved. I think it's why that the reaction when the glass shatters and his music hits have been so impactful, because they've been so rare. And when they have happened, they've been big moments. Like another one off the top of my head is the surprise of him coming out at the start of WrestleMania 30. Hulk Hogan comes out. He's the host of WrestleMania and he's talking to the crowd. Stone Cold's music hits out of nowhere. What a huge reaction. Then the rocks hit music hits out of nowhere. What a cool way to open up WrestleMania 30. I think that those moments for Stone Cold mean so much because they don't happen often. And when we get to a point where we're expecting them, and this is a big thing with wrestling in general, when you expect something and it doesn't happen, now you're disappointed. And I'm not saying just, oh, just sit back and like accept it. Just sit back and like take what they give you. But I'm saying when your expectations are like, unless Stone Cold returns here, or in the last year at WrestleMania, unless the rocks music hits, it's like, yes, but there's also like another way to do this. Or maybe there's another alternate plan behind the scenes here. The next time we see Stone Cold in WWE, the next time the glass shatters, I'm certain it will be very meaningful for whatever is going on there. And also just going to be a massive pop. >> Kellyn Martini sent this one in on chrisfampley.com. So if you got a question for next week, ask CVV number 128 chrisfampley.com, then go to the contact form and then send in your question here. Hey Chris, you got a real real one here from Albany, New York. So I get those painful winters that you got in Canada. Painful indeed, Kellyn. My question for you on Ask CVV number one, two, seven rings Tom Brady. That's a good one. Is what's next for Drew McIntyre after losing the title? I assume that he's going to feud with Jacob Fod too in tilmania, but after that, I genuinely don't know what they're going to do with him. Anyways, thank you for getting me through some long road trips with the show, and I wish you the best. I wish you the best as well, Kellyn. I think we're going to get a clear answer on Smackdown tonight as for what's happening with Drew McIntyre because he was a central focus at least for a month or so with WrestleMania plans. It was the whole idea of like whoever wins elimination chamber gets to take on Drew McIntyre WrestleMania. And it's funny that Randy Orton won elimination chamber, but it's not Randy Orton. It's not Drew McIntyre that he's taken on. It's now Cody Rhodes. I'm picking up with you. you're putting down here. I think it's going to be Drew McIntyre versus Jacob Fod two that makes the most sense. There's a story that's already been written here about that like we've been teasing this for a while. And what a match that's going to be man. But I'm not ruling out Drew McIntyre versus Nick Aldeus at some point backlash, summer slam. You can just tell that they've been hinting at this. And it seems to me like Nick Aldeus is just itching to get back in there. And one, lace up the boots again, let everybody know that he can do this. Like scratch that itch. Nick Aldeus hasn't worked a match since October 2023. So right before he started working full time with WWE, he hasn't worked a match but maybe you've seen like a televised match since he worked on impact in the summer of 2023 July 2023. Eric Young defeats Nick Aldeus. And I think that there's still a large section of the audience that doesn't even know Nick Aldeus was a wrestler. They don't know he's the former NWA World's heavyweight champion. Same with the other general manager, same with Adam Beers. And I think there's got to be a part of Nick Aldeus that wants to let people know like in not only, do I know how to wrestle, but I'm going to shock you with just how good I am in the ring. And I just think that one's going to happen at some point in time. And I'm here for it. I would love to see that happen. But I think we're going to see Drew McIntyre, Jacob Fod 2, a WrestleMania. And we'll get into my predictions for what I think WrestleMania is going to look like. And handful of questions here. We're going to book out the whole card. Trent Young sent this one on an Instagram and said, do you think we're getting Chris Jericho returning at WrestleMania? There's now been three references that I've caught over the past three Ross. Punk saying you just made the list to Roman. Punk saying learning tree to the Usos. Seth saying inner circle to Paul Heyman. Also, how do you see why 2j returning and what would be his first storyline? Trent, I think you're on as something here. I noticed that as well. And I love that you pointed it out. And I don't think that things are done in WWE by accident. So I think the seeds are being planted for what could be a possible return. I think it's inevitable. I think that it's not a matter of if Chris Jericho returns. I think it's a matter of when Chris Jericho returns. And of course, that all has to do with when he becomes a free agent. I from everything I've read online. I don't know anything beyond that. But from all the information I've seen online, Chris Jericho is still signed with AW. Also, AW is so particular about having people on their website, only if they're signed. So Dan Housen is a great example. Dan Housen was on the website. And then he wasn't. And then he was in WWE not long after that. So I feel like that's the same thing here with Chris Jericho. In terms of what his first storyline would be, I would love to see a storyline with him and Seth Rollins. Like this version of Seth Rollins. And if you've seen any photos of Chris Jericho recently, he looks like he's in the best shape he's been in in 10 years or more lean and mean Chris Jericho. And I would love to see this version of Jericho and this version of Seth Rollins. Once Seth Rollins has figured out his beef with the vision and like that gets all tied up nicely and taken care of. I mean, there were the early rumors that Jericho was in the crate. We were talking about Chris Jericho returning at the Royal Rumble. WrestleMania would make a lot of sense. But I feel like WrestleMania is already looking like it's starting to be pretty stacked. But in terms of like big surprises at WrestleMania, that'd be a huge one. I don't know how it would factor into the matches that we'd have at WrestleMania. But Chris Jericho at WrestleMania would make a lot of sense. It would be awesome. But you know what I think might make even more sense? The Raw After WrestleMania. Boy, Chris Jericho at the Raw After WrestleMania. I could definitely see that one happening. I don't know. Again, the logistics of this happening. But could you imagine the pop? Vincent Olivia sent this email and said, "Hey Chris, Vince here from Chicago again and so happy and proud to say that I am now a real, real, real, real one." After attending the CVV live in Chicago, it was an absolute pleasure to be there. From the exclusive VIP access to hearing Mustafa Ali share his inspiring career insights, it was truly exceptional. For today's Ask CVV number one entry number 27, which is statistically the luckiest entering position to win the Royal Rumble edition. I love the two of you guys pointed that out. I love it. I have a question about the GMs. I've been reflecting on how impactful a truly antagonistic heel GM figure used to be. It seems like a lost art. Yet it offered such a rich opportunity to build genuine heat and elevate babyface superstars through a sustained narrative adversity. This kind of consistent character driven opposition felt instrumental in creating compelling storylines and long-term star power. Also, I feel like the GM/producers running into the ring every single night to break up a fight has become quite predictable. What are your thoughts on this? I would love to hear your feedback. There have been a lot of great GMs. When we go back through the list, a ton of great GMs. Teddy Long, obviously immediately comes to mind. I love the stuff that Eric Bischoff did. I think when you're talking about a heel GM, Eric Bischoff played that role really well. Vicki Guerrero. There was a lot of them. I think the problem that you sometimes get with a heel GM is they're like they're putting over the heels. They're always doing things in favor of the heels. They're always doing things against the baby faces. I get that's just the nature of being a heel GM. I feel like that also becomes a little bit formulaic. It's like bad guy, good guy. We don't like you, good guy. I get it's done to build empathy and to build up the baby faces. I honestly think that what we have right now, there have never been a better pair of GMs at the exact same time. Adam Pearson, Ron, Nick Alderson, Smackdown. I think because both of them have such an amazing resume when it comes to what they do or did in the ring, I think that adds an extra layer of authenticity to it. Both of them, former NWA World's Heavyweight Champions, whether you knew that or know that or not, I think there's a certain extra layer there, especially with the fact that Nick Alderson, even though he's wearing those amazing suits, he still looks like a tank. It just feels real. Whereas Vicki Guerrero can say all she wants, for example, on a mic, but Vicki Guerrero is not going to go out there and get in the middle of a fight when it's happening. But the fact that those guys will, I think that adds something to it. Also, the fact that they're impartial. They don't care if you're a baby face or a heel. They don't care what your storyline is. For the most part, call things pretty much down the middle. I like that. I'll be very interested to see when they end up moving on from Adam Pearson or Nick Alderson or Adam Pearson and Nick Alderson and what direction they go from there. Because with both of them being such central figures on both shows, I almost feel like you can't replace them. Maybe you go with no GM on the show for a little while and then you introduce somebody else, but I think they're both just crushing it. And the bar is set high. The bar is essentially when you think about Smackdown, the bar is essentially Teddy Long. You're going one on one with the Undertaker play. But the bar is set high. And I think that both of them are crushing it. I think what you'll see after this, whenever Adam Pearson, Nick Alderson decided to not be GM's anymore. I think it might lean into more of what you're talking about, but just do not ever give us the anonymous raw general manager ever again. Well, also, why did the lights go out when an email got delivered? And then the lights would go out when that email would come through to the anonymous raw general manager. It's never understood that one. Ethan Flores on Spotify says, "Hey CVVA, real, real one here. I don't know if you remember, but I was the last one on Ask CV number 94." Or I was, I was on as you know, number 94 and what a moment it was to hear you say my name as I was doing calf raises in the gym. Anyway, with night one of Mania being my 21st birthday, what are your predictions for the Mania card since not that many matches have been announced yet? Well, first of all, happy early birthday to you. Also I hope that you're in the gym doing calf raises right now as you're hearing this and I hope that your next set you just crush it. Take that pin out, put it in a heavier weight, get it. So five matches have been confirmed, which leaves us room for probably nine more matches. They did 14 matches the last few years, seven on each night, although 15 matches at WrestleMania 39, 16 matches at WrestleMania 38. But I'm thinking probably 14 matches is what I'm, what I'm thinking here. So five matches officially announced the odds for three of those are already up at my bookie and when you sign up at my bookie, use my code CVV for a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit, my bookie dot AG. According to these odds right now, and obviously a lot can change between now and WrestleMania, but they're predicting new champions in all three of these matches. They've got Liv Morgan as a big favorite over Stephanie Vickair for the Women's World Championship. They've got rear-ripply as a favorite, not a huge favorite, but a favorite over Jade Cargo for the WWE Women's Championship. And they've got Roman Reigns as a favorite to beat CM Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. So there's those three matches. We've got Cody Roads and Randy Orton. I'd said it earlier, but I'm thinking Randy Orton walks out of this as the 15 time champion. And we've got Oba Family versus Brock Lesnar. A match I'm pumped for. I know there's only five matches announced, but that's the match I'm most excited for right now. I'm going with Oba Family on that one. And then when we look into the rest of the matches here, now we're just kind of playing fantasy booker and we're, I mean, some of them were looking at the landscape and going to, all right, that's a match that's probably going to come together. But here's what I'm thinking. To fill out the rest of the card, I think we're going to get Drew McIntyre versus Jacob Fato. I think we're going to get Dominic Mysterio versus Finn Balor. I think we're going to get the rematch here of AJ Lee versus Becky Lynch. Then I look at the men's Intercontinental Championship. And I'm like, well, what are they going to do here? What are they going to do with Penta? You know, it would make a lot of sense. A ladder match. A ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, he can defend it against both Al Grand A. Americanos Ray Phoenix. Oh, man, Ray and when Ray Phoenix and Penta get together, whether they're on the same team or they're against each other, oh, magic every time. Put Javon Evans in there, put Alistair Black in there, put Dragon Lee in there, put another one or two people, match rights itself. Love that. Would love to see that. I would also love to see. I've been campaigning for this for a long time. But if you could have that Chad Gable looking, El Grand Amaricano, finally win a singles championship, this feels like the right time. And then maybe there's an unmasking at some point right after that. Maybe we finally get like this version of Chad Gable, this badass version of Chad Gable as the Intercontinental champion who would love to see that. If this is not, if the El Grand Amaricano's are not involved in this ladder match that I just invented one minute ago, maybe it's El Grand Amaricano versus El Grand Amaricano. But I foresee them being part of this crazy ladder match that again, I just invented and fantasy book, but I'd love to see it. I think we get Julia versus Tiffany Stratton based on what's been going down and transpiring here recently. And fun fact, this would be the first ever PLE match that would include the Women's US title. Crazy that it's happening in WrestleMania. I've been saying for like a month now, I still think we're getting Seth Rollins versus Braun Breaker. I feel like both of them are going to be cleared and ready to go and the match is going to be nuts. I think when we look at the tag team titles, it seems like there's hints of the Usos versus the Vision, which would be Austin Theory and Logan Paul, although I know Logan Paul and Tom Brady have been talking trash to each other recently. And it's to build up the flag football game, the fanatics flag football game that they have, but I also think that there's going to be something tied in there with WrestleMania. I don't think Tom Brady's working a match. I don't think that at all. I think Tom Brady might be ringside and get involved and screw Logan Paul or the team of Logan Paul and Austin Theory here. But don't be surprised if Tom Brady is at WrestleMania. And is involved in a match in some sort of way. I also think we're lining up for Sami Zayn versus Trick Williams. And that WrestleMania entrance for Trick Williams is going to be bonkers. Like the roof is going to be blown off of Legion Stadium. I love it. Trick Williams, what a star. And then Gunther doesn't have a clear matchup. But I don't think that they can leave Gunther off the WrestleMania card with all of the momentum that he has. I don't know why this came to me, but I feel like we're going to get Gunther versus L.A. Knight. Yeah. Because otherwise I don't know where LA Knight. Yeah, fits into WrestleMania either. Maybe there's a storyline there where Gunther is talking about like bringing up the whole fact of like, well, you know, LA Knight, you're almost the same age as the people that I've already retired and I already put out the pasture. I don't know, but there's going to be something here with Gunther and there's going to be something with LA Knight. Is it with them together? I guess we'll see, but those are the matches. I didn't even count them. So I had five, five that have been announced already six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13. I gave you 14 matches. Look at that. Probably should have counted that before I hit record. There's definitely some more matches in here somewhere. There's a there's a Charlotte Flair match in there. Maybe it's like a four way match. Maybe we get like Nia Jackson, Lash Legend versus Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss versus the Bellas versus Bailey and Lyra, maybe something like that for the women's tag team championship. I feel like Charlotte Flair is going to be part of WrestleMania in some sort of way, but it's funny that we're a month away and it still feels too early and stuff's like really going to start to come together here. And Cody said it during the interview and he's like, I feel like this is going to be a sleeper WrestleMania. But he's like, ah, but with that said, that means that some people are sleeping on it. I do think that there are people that are sleeping on this WrestleMania. And this card, I mean, it's just on paper. We'll see how it all plays out. But this card on paper with the five matches that have already been announced. And then the matches that seem obvious. And then there's the matches that we're just kind of like speculating about. But this card on paper is solid. Like, I don't know how I would grade it or rate it or compare it to the other ones. But and you can't really tell till it's all done. But this is shaping up to be pretty good. And I just feel like it has the potential here to be like a top 10, top 15 WrestleMania. Just on paper right now. You'll see how it all plays out. But I'm pumped about this and I can't wait to see you guys in Las Vegas. Brett Zuckerman sent this one in on chrisfamfully.com. He said, hello there, CVV housing, a real real housing here. I did not know how much if anything, I did not know much if anything about Dan Helsen when he debuted. But my son and I can't seem to get enough of him now that he's featured on WWE. We rewind his scenes and we love his content. We see online posted by both Dan Helsen himself and the WWE socials. At some point he will wrestle his first match. However, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on who his first feud slash program should be with and why. Oh yeah. And if you don't read this question, you are cursed. I love that Dan Helsen already has a catchphrase. For everything that people said about his debut at Elimination Chamber and I think a lot of it was warranted. That was not the proper way I don't think to introduce this character for everything that was said on that day. Man, two days later on Raw, he started winning people over. And then by the next time you saw him, it's like, well, he's got a lot of fan houses. now. He's so wildly entertaining. You're right. He's going to have a match at some point in time here. He's going to either curse someone or try to curse someone. It's going to piss them off and it's going to lead to some sort of match here. Who's it with? I honestly don't know. And here's the thing I will say. I've known Dan Howeson for a long time. In fact, interesting story. I saw him wrestle back in 2016 at Ronin in South Florida. And Pembroke Pines, Florida. I saw him wrestle as Donovan Dan Howeson. Why don't I keep saying Don Howeson? Like it's weird. Donovan Dan Howeson. And he was just like this, like kind of tattoo Indie wrestler. And then it wasn't until like years later that he found the actual Dan Howeson character. But I've known him for a long time. And all of that is to say he can go. Like Dan Howeson knows how to wrestle. The Dan Howeson character doesn't really need to wrestle. But I could see him doing something with like Miz. That one would make sense. That was a backstage segment that we saw. I could see Dan Howeson and Miz having a fun program together. I also think there's something there with Dominic Mysterio. The fact that he cursed Dominic Mysterio, which led to Dominic Mysterio, losing the Intercontinental Championship, and also led to Judgment Day breaking up and the tension with Finn Balor, which I think of course will lead to Finn Balor versus Dominic Mysterio. Maybe it's Dominic Mysterio. I could also see something with our truth, which would just end up turning into controlled chaos. Like it'd be I think just wildly fun and entertaining. And this is the thing I said that we know Dan Howeson can wrestle. We know that our truth can wrestle too. So put those guys together. Not only is it going to be entertaining, but it could be a great match. I'm not sure. But I am so along for this ride that Dan Howeson is taking us on. And the stuff that you don't even see on TV, like all the silly stuff with the merch, he now has a t-shirt cannon. If you've seen this, it's like his own personalized t-shirt cannon. It's just fun. It's so much fun and it's so, so good. And I couldn't be happier for him. Again, like I said, I've known him for 10 years. Couldn't be happier for him. Jason Griffin on Facebook says, drums are flats. Jason, you must have been listening to the show for a while now because I love me some chicken wings. And I know I don't talk about chicken wings nearly as often as I talk about pizza. But I haven't met a chicken wing that I don't like. In the same way that I haven't found a pizza that I don't like. Those are flats. I'd say that I'm probably gonna grab a drum first. But I'll never be the person who goes to the restaurant and picks one or the other. Like, you know, sometimes you'll go to a restaurant and you'll see it on the menu. Like all drums is an extra dollar. All flats is an extra dollar. I get it. That's cool. If you like drums or you like flats, more power to you. I think there are two different types of eating experiences. I like that the drum can be a one-hander. I like that you can just do it with one hand. The flats I think the meats a little more juicy. But again, I'm not gonna complain if you put some wings in front of me. Favorite flavor, go to flavor. I'm gonna go with a spicy barbecue. We'll be probably my top flavor. If I'm getting like 10 wings and they let me do five and five, spicy barbecue, we just like straight up hot. Love hot. Or maybe it's like a, yeah, you know what, those are probably my two. Go to barbecue, spicy barbecue or hot, spicy barbecue, probably the number one for me. South Crouch emailed this one and said, hey, CVV, real real one here, hoping to be a triple real whenever you can make it to Atlanta. Well, I was just in Atlanta last week, two weeks ago, although it was last week with the Cody Rhodes interview. My goodness, I have traveled so much over the last week or three that it's all running together, but you're right. I did not do a, an insight live in Atlanta. Hopefully soon. Hopefully at some point, here's my Mount Rushmore question for you. What would be on your Mount Rushmore of interviews that you've done? Hope RVV and the kids are doing well sincerely, Seth Crouch. Well, RVV and the kids are doing well. It is about to be the wonderful, amazing, incredible RVV's 40th birthday. We're doing a big birthday party tomorrow, but her actual birthday is March 24th, but a big early happy birthday to my wonderful wife and the kids are doing great. Thank you so much for mentioning them and asking Mount Rushmore of my interviews. This is going to be hard. This is like asking who your favorite child is. So I got to narrow this down to just four. I think we're going to go with the undertaker for sure. That interview is almost two hours long, and I feel like we could have talked for another day. There was, he'd tell such great stories. He's an absolute legend. And it's also one I didn't think was going to happen. Like when you think back to who undertaker was and who that character was, the idea, if I were to tell you, if you jumped in my Marty McFly de Lorean and you took this de Lorean back just 10 years, and I said to you that the undertaker was going to be one of the nicest kindest people out of character. He's going to have a podcast of his own. You wouldn't believe me. You'd go that guy? The guy who's like always in character, that guy. Yeah. Yeah, that guy. So to be able to talk to Mark Calloway and have the conversation that we did was amazing. And the fact that it was at his house inside his gym, every part of that, the whole day, the fact that I was a guest at his podcast earlier in the day, then we did the interview on my show after that. Then we all went out to dinner that night at this incredible steakhouse in Austin, Texas. And it was me and the godfather and Midian and Maven. Maven, the guest, of course, for my insight live show in Las Vegas. And then some of our friends and undertaker was just holding court and telling amazing stories. That whole day feels like nothing tops that. The only thing that could come close to topping that is the next name on my list, Stone Cold Steve Austin. He doesn't really do a lot of interviews period, especially not a lot of like long form interviews. So to be able to do that interview with him at the Broken Skull Ranch and chat with him for whatever the episode was a little over an hour and then chat with him off camera for another hour or so to be toured around Broken Skull Ranch, hang out with the solid ass cats, all of that. The whole day there, amazing. And I think that this is such an interesting thing about content in general. And I don't just mean YouTube or podcasts, but just like in general, is you just see what's on the screen. You just see from like the time we hit play until the time we hit stop, the time we hit record till the time we hit stop. You don't see like all of the stuff that goes into it. Good, bad or indifferent. You don't see it. And there was just so much good that day that surrounded that whole process of like getting that together. Just walking around the ranch and like scouting locations, what about this spot? I don't know if the lighting is good enough there. Okay. Well, let's try over here then. What about this? And then we're just chatting the whole time and that was what a day. Next name on the list, John Cena. And I think you can really look at any of the interviews that I've been so fortunate to do with John Cena. Any of the conversations that we've shared, whether it was this last one in December, right before his final match, whether it was the one last year before they were time and tour was even talked about when he was promoting Ricky Stinickey and we chatted for an hour and 15 minutes at a movie junket. Or I often think back to the one that we did in New York City. How fitting is it that I'm sitting in New York City right now as I record this? But the interview that we did in New York City, WrestleMania 35, 2019, and there were just so many nuggets of wisdom. Like John Cena's always drop in wisdom, but this interview in particular had so many great moments in it. Go back and watch it. Shot on my iPhone with a microphone that plugged into the lightning port on the bottom. My buddy Jamil holding the camera and trying not to shake. But also just the idea that I did the interview with Stone Cold on one day. And then I did the most recent interview with John Cena the day after that. That's a pretty insane 24 hours. as a huge wrestling fan myself. The last spot, there have been so many good interviews. And I'm proud of all of them. It felt like different reasons. They all mean something different to me, but I love them all. And most of them, I love the majority of them. I love like 99.7% of them. No, I know, there's just been some that, well, you know, but the last spot, AJ Styles. And I'm hoping to get him back on again soon, maybe right after the Hall of Fame induction, but to be the huge TNA fan that I was, and like, when you think of TNA, you think of AJ Styles. To be able to sit with him and chat not just about his WWE career, but about his TNA career and some of his incredible moments, incredible matches. The TNA fan in me that was like loving TNA, I mean, I love, still loved TNA, but like the hardcore TNA fan in me that would like, loved his stuff in like 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 2010, all of that stuff. I was geeking out. That was such a cool one. And he's just what a kind man, so generous with his time, drove like an hour-ish for more he lives in Gainesville to DDP's Performance Center in Atlanta to do that interview. So this is my four, Undertaker, Stone Cold, John Cena, AJ Styles. If you are relatively new to the podcast, I would say start with one of those. If you haven't already listened to him, or if you have listened to him, maybe go back and give him another listen. And I'll give you an honorable mention. Not a wrestling interview, but it's, this is a photo that hangs in my office and it's just such a cool moment. I love Tom Cruise movies. And to be able to interview Tom Cruise for Mission Impossible Fallout in Paris at the world premiere with the Eiffel Tower behind us. It was so cool. It's a quick interview. It's like a red carpet interview, so like two, three minutes, but just that image of it. Not only did I get to talk to Tom Cruise, but all of those other elements. World Premiere movie, the movie happens to be Mission Impossible. The world premiere is in Paris and this red carpet just happens to be situated right there in front of the Eiffel Tower. It's a beautiful thing. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I think there's a photo of it on my website, chrisfanfully.com, so you can check it out there and why you're there. Send in a question for next week for AskCVV number 128. Justin Galarza sent this one in on chrisfanfully.com. He said, "Time for a, would you rather question?" And I will say this is the first, would you rather in like three or four weeks, we took a little pause on them. They were getting a little, a little out there, a little ridiculous, but certainly no complaints. Send them in and make them even more ridiculous. Would you rather take a Bianca Belair hair whip after every time you got on the cold blunch or be cursed by Dan Housen? Thank you for being a part of my weekly routine and all of the hard work that you do. Justin, ooh, man, you've given me quite the wood you're out of your hair. The Bianca Belair hair whips are no joke. Like those leave real welts and like that's not a sound effect. That is her actual hair whipping people. I cold plunge every day. I'm already like when I get out of the cold plunge, I'm already feeling like I can fight a bear. So I'm already feeling like, you know, feeling good. I don't know if I'd want a hair whip to any part of my body. But getting cursed by Dan Housen, whoof, I mean, the repercussions of that are untold. Look what it did to Dominic Mysterio. I think we're also gonna find out what happens to Grayson Waller here soon. What a fun moment that is. Where Dan Housen was about to curse Kofi Kingston and Kofi threw Grayson Waller in front of the curse. Fun stuff. If I'm taking a Bianca Belair hair whip every single time I'm getting out of the cold plunge, I think I'll take the one time curse from Dan Housen and hope it's not a bad one. Just like knock on wood or something. I don't know. There's a fun throwback video of me and Dan Housen at, I think it's Russell Conn, like, I think it's Russell Conn, like, Russell Mania 38. Maybe 39. But I just randomly ran into him. We filmed a quick 22nd video. And he's like, "Oh, yeah, well, good to see you. Do you want me to curse your enemies or something?" Yeah, I curse them. So check that out on YouTube if you have some free time. It's a fun video. There's also one where I run into him and Ethan Page when we were in Las Vegas. And he's talking about like, "Yes, we're gonna go bet all of our monies." And with Blackjack, you give them $21 and they give you $21. And Ethan's like, "It's not only that's how it works." Just a fun video. He's like such a great impromptu improv guy. So much fun. 132 Toast on Instagram says, "Who is your most personally impactful person "you've ever interviewed?" And then I'm gonna also couple this in with his other question, also from Instagram. UCIF Islam 1912 says, "Who was the guest that you enjoyed most sitting with, "even off camera?" I'm gonna combine these two together because the answer is one in the same. The person who has personally impacted me the most and the person that I have loved spending the most time with both on and off camera is Diamond Dallas Page. What a legend of a human being he is. If you haven't heard the story, I'll tell you like the real quick version of his at a hotel. I just checked in in Los Angeles as before I moved to Los Angeles. I checked in, I was gonna do an interview with the cast of Bohemian Rhapsody. So that tells you the exact time period this was. I just got in my room and I hear someone like kind of like playing with the door handle. Like kind of shuffling the door handle and like trying like the key's not working and then hear them starting to get more and more frustrated. I'm thinking this is like housekeeping. Like not realizing that someone's already checked in. So I go to the people, I look through the people and I see Diamond Dallas Page. What? I've never met him before ever at this point. Our paths have never crossed. This is 2018. So I open up the door, I go, hey, you're in the wrong room but I'm a big wrestling fan and he goes, bro, I gotta go pee so bad. Come on in. So he ends up going pee and like he's left all of his stuff like in like the entryway of my hotel. So it's like all his bags are there. Long story short, I say to him, hey, I've got this wrestling YouTube channel. This is before the podcast and even started. I'm showing him, I've interviewed this person, I'd love to do an interview with you at some point in time and since you're right here in front of me, I figured I'd just shoot my shot and ask you, I'd love to do an interview sometime. He goes, well, how about we do it right now? It's like, okay, and I just so happened to have my recording gear, which is like with such a rare thing. I was recording all the videos at that time on my iPhone but to have my like audio recorder and my mics was such a rare thing. So we did the interview like right then and right there. It was the day he had recorded with Joe Rogan. He had just been a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast and he went the entire time without peeing. So like not only did he do the whole episode without peeing, then he like got in the car and got all the way to the hotel, also without peeing and now he needed to pee real bad. So that one moment, that one like random, that one random moment that brought us together has now made us friends and he's such a great guy. Everything you hear about Diamond Niles page is true and I've said it before, I will say it. Every single day the world is a better place because DDP is in it. He's just like the other day I got a message from him and like I woke up it was like five in the morning and it was a screenshot of me on the no contest wrestling podcast. And they guest on that with O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson. If you haven't checked it out, go check it out either where you're listening to this right after this episode or go check it out on YouTube. It was a fun chat. We chat for like two and a half hours about like everything when it comes to wrestling but they asked me to cut a promo, like an impromptu promo about pretending, not pretending, but like a Chris Sharp promo. Then I cut this thing off the top of my head and I don't know, it's things that a heel would say. So DDP had screenshoted me that. It's something a screenshot of that and he said call me bro. Oh my God, oh man. Here's this WWE hollow famer. He was gonna be like, hey, like let's leave the promos to the professionals, okay? Like that wasn't very good. So I call him and he goes, bro, [BLANK_AUDIO] promo was so good. I'm like, oh my gosh, really? He's like, oh, yeah, the way that you just so seamlessly snapped into that character yours. What's his name again? I said, Chris Sharp. Chris Sharp, Paul, what a great name. It's like, well, this is so, wow, this is awesome. And then we ended up chatting for like half an hour. That's the kind of friend that DDP is like, love him, love that guys. So he is the person that I enjoyed sitting with the most. He is the person who has personally impacted my life the most. And that's the amazing thing about him. He is probably the wrestler who has personally impacted the lives of the most people in the world as well. And I am so incredibly grateful to call him my friend. That's our final question on this Ask CVV number one, two, seven rings, Tom Brady, I like that reference. Send in your question, send in your references for Ask CV one, two, eight, one, 28, leave a comment on Spotify. If you're listening on Spotify, send in your questions on ChrisFamily.com or send them in on social media using that hashtag, Ask CVV. It's not this great quote on social media this week. And I want to share it with you. I share it on my story, but I'll share it with you on here as well. Life is only as good as your mindset. A negative mind will never give you a positive life. Be great and be grateful, my friend. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Mark Merrow joins us on Tuesday. We'll see you right back here for that one. Westwood one sports talk. Start your day with Drake C-to-Wall. The same guy who had the correct top three teams in the preseason. It's made it's going to give you the correct prediction for the big championship game for free. Ben Black and Abdullah. What an incredible shot. We've got college hoop spring training and everything happening in the NFL. And Westwood one sports night. Not even close to being tired right now on Westwood one sports night. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.