SNME at MSG Reaction

Jul 19, 2026 · 36 min · 15 segments

Jonathan Hood and Justin LaBar react to Saturday Night's Main Event from Madison Square Garden including CM Punk & Cody Rhodes defeating Gunther & Sami Zayn along with Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks influence. To visit our partners at Chewy, [click here](https://bit.ly/4hdHrmy). The Master's Class is now available on its own podcast feed! [SUBSCRIBE NOW](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/busted-open-the-masters-class/id1799756004) to hear over 50 episodes of Dave, Bully, Mark, and Tommy taking you behind the scenes like only they can, plus BRAND NEW episodes every week. Subscribe to [SiriusXM Podcasts+](https://siriusxm.supportingcast.fm/?utm_campaign=SXM_NA_BAU&utm_content=Podcasts-General-NA-NA&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_source=2025-03_SIRIUSXMPODCASTSPLUS_scast-SiriusXMPodcastsPlusVanityURL-SupportingCast) to listen to new episodes of Busted Open ad-free and get exclusive access to bonus episodes. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See [pcm.adswizz.com](https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Speakers: Justin LaBarHostJonathan HoodHost

Top entities: Aoife Valkyrie×20 Bayley×21 Nick Aldis×27 CM Punk×30 Cody Rhodes×24

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Show Open & Topic Tease1:15 – 1:33

Jonathan HoodHost1:15

Welcome to the Busted Open Podcast.

Jonathan HoodHost1:16

Along with Justin LaBar, I'm Jonathan Hood, and on today's show we talk about Saturday night's main event from Madison Square Garden in New York.

Jonathan HoodHost1:24

The main event, did it deliver? Find out next on the Busted Open Podcast.

Soundbite SpeakerSoundbite Speaker1:30

This is the Busted Open Podcast.

MSG Main Event & Nick Aldis Stipulation Fallout1:35 – 21:39

Jonathan HoodHost1:35

So, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk takes on Gunther and Sami Zayn.

Jonathan HoodHost1:40

And Nick Aldis, before getting beat down, had an announcement to make, and the announcement was if Gunther and Sami Zayn win the main event, it would be a four-way for the undisputed World Heavyweight Championship, with Rhodes and Punk, and Gunther and Zayn.

Jonathan HoodHost1:57

Adam Pearce had to announce this stipulation on SmackDown from Albany, New York.

Jonathan HoodHost2:05

So why would the stipulation still stand? I need this in a kayfabe explanation.

Justin LaBarHost2:12

Well, because the paperwork was already drawn up.

Justin LaBarHost2:15

Uh, Nick Aldis already went through the lawyers and got the paperwork done.

Jonathan HoodHost2:19

Mm-hmm.

Justin LaBarHost2:20

Now, this, this is v- this is very expensive stuff to have done.

Justin LaBarHost2:21

I mean, they, they, they're charging by the minute.

Justin LaBarHost2:23

They're charging by the word, essentially.

Justin LaBarHost2:25

So the paperwork was drawn up and, and as, as Adam Pearce said, you know, if Gunther would've just calmed down, he would've heard the stipulation, but he was too busy seeing red with his anger towards Nick Aldis.

Justin LaBarHost2:34

His, his misdirected anger, mind you, towards Nick Aldis.

Justin LaBarHost2:37

So-

Jonathan HoodHost2:37

Yes

Justin LaBarHost2:37

... a- again, the paperwork's there.

Justin LaBarHost2:38

I mean, it is, it, it, it is what it is.

Justin LaBarHost2:40

It's, it's, what's offi- what's official is what's official.

Justin LaBarHost2:43

That's why, you know, if, if, if a referee happens to have their back turned, or a referee happens to be incapacitated and some sh- you know, some shenanigans happen, and but that's what, you know, gets us to the result, the end, the end of a match.

Justin LaBarHost2:55

It still stands.

Justin LaBarHost2:56

I mean, you know, the, the fi- the final word is the final word.

Justin LaBarHost2:58

The final count, the final bell is the final bell.

Justin LaBarHost3:00

So at, that's-

Jonathan HoodHost3:01

I see

Justin LaBarHost3:01

... that's, that's where we are.

Jonathan HoodHost3:02

So you just gave me the old referee's, uh, decision is final.

Jonathan HoodHost3:06

That's what you just did there.

Justin LaBarHost3:07

Again, the paperwork was drawn up.

Justin LaBarHost3:08

You, you, you can't just rip that stuff up, J Hood.

Justin LaBarHost3:11

I mean, take, I mean, you know, come on now.

Jonathan HoodHost3:12

I, I, I mean-

Justin LaBarHost3:13

[laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost3:14

...

Jonathan HoodHost3:14

Justin, I mean, so there's a stipulation in place, and you wrote it up, and I'm pissed off, or pissed off about it, and I'm fighting you because of what you did to me.

Jonathan HoodHost3:27

Aren't you just saying we're going to rework this because you attacked me?

Justin LaBarHost3:33

No.

Jonathan HoodHost3:33

What, what, what is this? Like, like, do you still...

Jonathan HoodHost3:36

So Gunther went from mad and concerned about his lot in life in WWE on SmackDown.

Jonathan HoodHost3:43

You saw him, right? It wasn't the chipper demeanor, it wasn't the smile on the face, until Pearce said, "Oh, by the way, even though you beat down our general manager and put him out, out of action, uh, you're still going to be able to be rewarded for this if you and Sami [laughs] win the match at Madison Square Garden." What? What?

Justin LaBarHost4:02

I give...

Justin LaBarHost4:03

All right.

Justin LaBarHost4:03

I'll give you your next kayfabe explanation if you're Nick Aldis.

Justin LaBarHost4:07

I had the paperwork drawn up.

Jonathan HoodHost4:09

Yes.

Justin LaBarHost4:10

Okay, and then Gunther wants to attack me, which he does.

Justin LaBarHost4:15

I'm gonna let this paperwork ride.

Justin LaBarHost4:17

I'm gonna let it stand.

Justin LaBarHost4:18

I'm gonna let this be the stipulation that goes into Saturday's main event, because you know what? I already know what I'm gonna do.

Jonathan HoodHost4:24

Mm-hmm.

Justin LaBarHost4:24

I'm gonna screw him out of his finish.

Justin LaBarHost4:26

So I'm gonna g- I'm gonna dangle that carrot even closer to his face, and then I'm gonna s- take it right away from him.

Jonathan HoodHost4:35

You know what? And that's the answer.

Jonathan HoodHost4:36

Yeah, and that's the answer that we got-

Justin LaBarHost4:38

Mm-hmm

Jonathan HoodHost4:38

...

Jonathan HoodHost4:38

in the finish at Madison Square Garden.

Jonathan HoodHost4:40

That's exactly what we got.

Jonathan HoodHost4:42

We have Aldis screwing Gunther in the end, and here's what's funny [laughs] about this.

Jonathan HoodHost4:48

So he didn't wanna come in a clandestine outfit, like in all black, kinda sneaking around ringside.

Jonathan HoodHost4:54

He still had the general manager's suit on as he screwed him.

Jonathan HoodHost4:58

[laughs] He was still gonna be Nick Aldis, the TV character we know.

Jonathan HoodHost5:01

It wasn't him in just, like, an NWA jacket.

Jonathan HoodHost5:05

It wasn't him just, like, you know, in jeans.

Jonathan HoodHost5:08

It was still Nick Aldis' full suit screwing Gunther in the end in the final of that matchup.

Justin LaBarHost5:14

Hey, if the, if, if, if, if the, if the Brit's gonna wear his beautiful suit and be attacked by Gunther, he's gonna wear his beautiful suit to screw Gunther.

Justin LaBarHost5:23

[laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost5:24

[laughs] I mean, it wasn't like he was sneakily going around ringside to make sure that Gunther...

Jonathan HoodHost5:29

No, no.

Jonathan HoodHost5:30

He, he wanted, uh, the world to know, "It's still me.

Jonathan HoodHost5:33

I'm still standing, even though I was attacked by Gunther.

Jonathan HoodHost5:35

It's still general manager me going out there." I was just floored by this.

Jonathan HoodHost5:40

Let's go back in time on the Peacock network.

Jonathan HoodHost5:42

This is the finish of this, the four-way, and we'll break down that matchup in just a moment.

Jonathan HoodHost5:47

But just how it ended, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Gunther, and Sami Zayn.

Soundbite SpeakerSoundbite Speaker5:51

Wait a minute.

Soundbite SpeakerSoundbite Speaker5:52

What the...

Soundbite SpeakerSoundbite Speaker5:54

Nick A- Nick Aldis.

Soundbite SpeakerSoundbite Speaker5:56

Nick Aldis distract the official off the pin.

Wade BarrettSoundbite Speaker6:01

pin.Aldis just screwed Gunther What? What are you- And now the title off the face of Gunther You can't do that Punk with a GTS.

Wade BarrettSoundbite Speaker6:14

That's a GM.

Wade BarrettSoundbite Speaker6:16

Dragging Cody Rhodes into the cover here.

Wade BarrettSoundbite Speaker6:20

And now- What is Nick doing? Aldis just threw the official Robinson back into the ring.

Wade BarrettSoundbite Speaker6:26

Punk and Cody make sure it'll be one-on-one at Summer Slam.

Jonathan HoodHost6:32

Wade Barrett apoplectic, uh, on the mic.

Jonathan HoodHost6:35

[laughs] It's like, "It's a GM." He can't believe a general manager can have such physicality and involve himself in the match up.

Jonathan HoodHost6:42

But that's exactly how we got the sendoff for the four-way last night.

Justin LaBarHost6:48

I will wonder, uh, obviously it seems, again, a c- complete given now that we, we know what, uh, now that Gunther definitely won't be in the title match at Summer Slam, we know what, uh, Gunther will be doing at Summer Slam.

Justin LaBarHost6:59

I do wonder, uh, c- could, can they still allow Nick Aldis to be general manager once Summer Slam has come and gone? Or i- i- is this enough to say, "Yeah, this is, this is our segue of a, a new GM for SmackDown"? Because I mean, now, now, now you're taking on [laughs] one, one of your roster members.

Justin LaBarHost7:18

Uh, w- this is, this is probably not appropriate GM behavior.

Justin LaBarHost7:21

You probably need to take some, some, some, some absence o- of, of this, of this role.

Justin LaBarHost7:25

Uh, I'll be curious if this is a segue to that.

Jonathan HoodHost7:28

I don't know.

Jonathan HoodHost7:29

I, I feel like he could have his match up against Gunther, and then lose a match against Gunther, and then a couple of weeks off, and then all of a sudden just kinda right back in there just like it didn't happen.

Jonathan HoodHost7:38

Just like, you know, a little Men In Black Jedi mind trick kinda scenario and he's right back in there.

Jonathan HoodHost7:43

There's a way to do it.

Jonathan HoodHost7:44

I just love him in that role.

Jonathan HoodHost7:45

I- obviously you and I have, um, those fond memories of Nick Aldis as NWA champion-

Justin LaBarHost7:53

Mm-hmm

Jonathan HoodHost7:53

... and just being a, you know, quality wrestler when he was.

Jonathan HoodHost7:55

But he has been away for a while.

Jonathan HoodHost7:57

This is a great one-off for him, but I'd like to see him back in that GM role.

Jonathan HoodHost8:01

But, uh, I mean, selfishly this is great he's gonna be back in the ring and, you know, we talked last week on whether or not Nick Aldis would wrestle like a GM or wrestle like a wrestler, and I think we both were on the same accord that he's going to wrestle like a wrestler.

Jonathan HoodHost8:14

Like I don't, I, I don't, I'm not saying 10 pounds of gold Aldis, but I think it's gonna be enough where it's like it's gonna be a respectable match, a grudge match between the two, 'cause this has to get settled.

Justin LaBarHost8:24

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost8:25

I mean, another weekend, another week of seeing what is, again, ultimately gonna be the build to a match.

Justin LaBarHost8:30

Yeah, I feel the same as I did last week.

Justin LaBarHost8:31

He, he's g- he, he has all the skills and tools as a wrestler.

Justin LaBarHost8:36

He might be a step or two slow.

Justin LaBarHost8:39

Commentary could talk about ring rust and, and, and, and all that coming back to you.

Justin LaBarHost8:43

But a- again, it's n- [laughs] it is not gonna be a case of where Nick Aldis is training with Cody Rhodes, and all of a sudden Nick Aldis-

Jonathan HoodHost8:50

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost8:50

... knows how to do a headlock.

Justin LaBarHost8:51

And oh my God, where did he learn that? No, no, no.

Justin LaBarHost8:53

This, this is not gonna be the case.

Justin LaBarHost8:54

Nick Aldis i- is gonna...

Justin LaBarHost8:56

He'll be, he'll be just fine for himself.

Justin LaBarHost8:57

And, uh, and who knows? I mean, maybe, you know, uh, I mean, he's gonna...

Justin LaBarHost9:01

He, he, obviously he, physically he still looks great.

Justin LaBarHost9:04

Um, again, w- how he's gonna present himself I think is w- is, is, is, is equally fascinating to me.

Justin LaBarHost9:10

You know, like is he just wearing sweats and a, and a WWE gym T-shirt? I mean, is he, [laughs] is he in his actual ring gear? Like, you know, I, I, I'll be very interested what the presentation of, of General Manager Nick Aldis is.

Jonathan HoodHost9:24

Um, you know, there's something to be said about having four veterans in the ring in this match up here with Cody and Punk and Gunther and Sami Zayn, because they can work out their own match.

Jonathan HoodHost9:34

They, I'm sure they had an agent.

Jonathan HoodHost9:36

I'm sure maybe Triple H put his beak in there as well just to find out what the main event was gonna be like.

Jonathan HoodHost9:40

Just to find out, "Okay, how do we, are we doing this?" I applaud WWE for not going back to the typical Vince McMahon well.

Jonathan HoodHost9:48

You could just tell it's a new day.

Jonathan HoodHost9:50

The old Vince well would've been, "Can they coexist? God damn." Like that, that even-

Justin LaBarHost9:56

And they even made, and they even made fun of that-

Jonathan HoodHost9:57

Yes

Justin LaBarHost9:58

... [laughs] you know, on the mic.

Jonathan HoodHost9:58

Yes, right before the match.

Jonathan HoodHost10:00

They're right there in the gorilla just like, "I know you're wondering can we coexist." Uh, and so that's, that's just, um, kind of a shot of the past.

Jonathan HoodHost10:10

But if this is under Vince, we're, d- we're back to Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior.

Jonathan HoodHost10:14

We're back to Hogan, Savage pushing one another, uh, problems in the ring.

Jonathan HoodHost10:19

We got none of that in the body of the match.

Jonathan HoodHost10:22

I'm so happy that we didn't get that.

Jonathan HoodHost10:24

We got actually a faster paced match than I expected.

Jonathan HoodHost10:27

That's one.

Jonathan HoodHost10:28

But number two, thank God, Justin, we didn't have this marred up with slowing the match down because you don't know if Cody and Punk can get along, you don't know if Punk, if, uh, Sami and Gunther can get along.

Jonathan HoodHost10:39

We just had a really solid match, which was really cool.

Jonathan HoodHost10:43

Thank you for turning the page on that era of, "Can they coexist? Oh, I don't know.

Jonathan HoodHost10:48

This is wild." It was just a really, really well-paced match.

Justin LaBarHost10:53

Yeah, I agree.

Justin LaBarHost10:54

It was, it was, it's, it's refreshing.

Justin LaBarHost10:55

Um, the pace was, was faster than I ex- than I anticipated it being.

Justin LaBarHost11:00

I, uh, commentary even again noted that at one point about how, how quick this was going and, and how they were moving.

Justin LaBarHost11:06

Um, l- from a logic standpoint, Cody and CM Punk, i- i- it, it...

Justin LaBarHost11:14

Had they done that old trope of the...

Justin LaBarHost11:17

Th- there was one spot where, what? I think there was one spot towards the back end of the match, right? I think, uh, Cody came to the apron and, and Punk got shot off and he, and he hit him.

Justin LaBarHost11:26

Like, like, okay, fine.

Justin LaBarHost11:28

You know, it's fine to have a, a misdirection, but like-

Jonathan HoodHost11:30

It was a double team that got, that got messed up-

Justin LaBarHost11:32

Yeah

Jonathan HoodHost11:32

... between the two.

Jonathan HoodHost11:33

There was a two on one situation.

Justin LaBarHost11:35

Right.

Jonathan HoodHost11:35

One came off the ropes and hit the other.

Jonathan HoodHost11:36

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost11:37

Correct.

Justin LaBarHost11:37

And that's fine.

Justin LaBarHost11:38

Okay, have one, because that happens in a tag match any, a- any which way, where sometimes a partner gets, you know, you know.

Justin LaBarHost11:43

So that's, that's part of just the, the science and the, and the s- and the psychology that can be when you have a tag match.

Justin LaBarHost11:49

Um, but yeah, if they would've dug out the old trope of Cody and Punk, uh, can't walk down the damn aisle with each other without, without tripping over each other's feet-

Jonathan HoodHost11:58

Right.

Jonathan HoodHost11:58

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost11:58

... and, and they, and they can't not back into each other and then swing around and get ready to, to, to, to throw hands because they, they assume that the other one was the opponent.

Justin LaBarHost12:07

Like had we, had we done all that, it would, it would've been a l- illogical to have- Who otherwise is represented as two of your smartest pro wrestlers.

Justin LaBarHost12:16

Right? They are.

Justin LaBarHost12:17

Cody Rhodes, ob- obviously the son of Dusty, and he finished a story, and he's a multiple time world champion.

Justin LaBarHost12:23

And, and he's...

Justin LaBarHost12:25

I mean, God, this, this guy overcame the Final Boss at one point.

Justin LaBarHost12:27

Like, C- Cody is, is, is not presented as a dumb wrestler.

Justin LaBarHost12:32

CM Punk, you can argue is the ultimate s- mime.

Justin LaBarHost12:37

The ultimate smart guy.

Justin LaBarHost12:38

The guy that went away and came back and is, and is, and is...

Justin LaBarHost12:41

Like, they're not dumb wrestlers.

Justin LaBarHost12:42

So it would be illogical to try to then all of a sudden present them as, as too stupid to realize, "Hey, we need to work together.

Justin LaBarHost12:50

Otherwise, our title match is gonna become way harder on both of us at Summer Slam." That's it.

Justin LaBarHost12:56

That, that, that's as basic as, as it is.

Justin LaBarHost12:59

Everybody in that audience from 70 to seven can understand that simple logic of they wanna get along and win their match, so it's one-on-one and not four-way.

Justin LaBarHost13:10

It's just that's very basic.

Justin LaBarHost13:11

So I'm glad that they just stuck with that.

Justin LaBarHost13:13

And again, also in the build, uh, thus far for, for Cody and Punk, while we might see tensions heat up in these next two weeks now that we are on the final stretch, um, to the event, which is fine, depending on how they do it, um, up to this point there really hasn't been high tension.

Justin LaBarHost13:31

It's, it's, it's been, it's, it, it's been conversations constantly grounded with respect for each other, and respect for their past, and respect...

Justin LaBarHost13:39

Like, there, there hasn't been, like, the, the...

Justin LaBarHost13:41

There hasn't been, like, Punk didn't take a real hard verbal jab at Cody and then wink and then walk away.

Justin LaBarHost13:47

We haven't had that.

Justin LaBarHost13:47

So again, for it to all of a sudden have exploded last night out of nowhere would have been out of nowhere and been illogical.

Justin LaBarHost13:53

So yes, v- very happy with how this match went.

Justin LaBarHost13:56

Pacing was good.

Justin LaBarHost13:57

It was an entertaining match.

Justin LaBarHost13:59

At one point I did find myself thinking, "Wow, they're in Madison Square Garden," and all four of these guys, Sammy maybe you can, you have some questions because he's, of his style and, and he's the smallest of the size.

Justin LaBarHost14:10

But all four of these guys, I was like, man, I could picture them in the Garden almo- in almost any decade.

Justin LaBarHost14:16

I could picture Gunther as a great heel in any decade in, in this, in this mecca of an arena.

Justin LaBarHost14:20

Cody Rhodes, of course, he, and he's a Rhodes.

Justin LaBarHost14:23

And CM Punk, uh, you know, a very old school kinda guy in a lot of ways.

Justin LaBarHost14:26

So it, it, it was fun at one point watching the four of them when the...

Justin LaBarHost14:29

I think it might even been when all four of them were down, and commentary noted all four.

Justin LaBarHost14:32

I remember just looking at that and here in the Garden everybody was, was alive for the match.

Justin LaBarHost14:35

I'm like, "Yeah, these four guys, it's not the first time for them to be in the Garden i- in their careers, but it's, it's nice to see all four of them working together 'cause this is a kind of a..." O- on, on Saturday night's main event, a nostalgic event anyways, this is, this is a cool moment here for all four of these guys.

Jonathan HoodHost14:49

Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost14:49

F- all four guys understood the moment.

Jonathan HoodHost14:51

It's obviously a Saturday night's main event, but it's also Madison Square Garden, when, which you're supposed to be able to, um, step it up several steps.

Jonathan HoodHost14:59

This is not Troy, New York.

Jonathan HoodHost15:00

This is not Poughkeepsie.

Jonathan HoodHost15:01

Like, you have to be...

Jonathan HoodHost15:02

It's the Madison Square Garden.

Jonathan HoodHost15:04

They, these people paid a lot of money to see you perform.

Jonathan HoodHost15:07

And so the can they coexist nonsense wouldn't have worked with the Garden b- because, a- again, there's a lot of fans there.

Jonathan HoodHost15:15

They wanna be able to see something special, and they did with, with these four.

Jonathan HoodHost15:19

They called us interfering, came out of nowhere, which was kinda cool, and I just thought that all four met the moment.

Jonathan HoodHost15:23

They met the, the building, they met the network, they met the Garden.

Jonathan HoodHost15:27

That's exactly what you're looking for.

Jonathan HoodHost15:29

If it's gonna be a main event it's gotta be strong.

Justin LaBarHost15:32

Absolutely.

Justin LaBarHost15:33

Um, and then even, and you know, obviously we d- we didn't know how...

Justin LaBarHost15:37

We didn't know what we were gonna get with Roman and Jalen, and we know that's still to come.

Justin LaBarHost15:40

So when I saw this, when I saw that we were in the early part of the second hour and this match was getting teed up I was like, "Ooh." So you know, I, I, I think that, I think there's a spot there as well that you have to, like, rise to knowing you're the main event match and, and your match is gonna implicate potentially the Summer Slam main event.

Justin LaBarHost15:57

But you're not getting to close the show out.

Justin LaBarHost15:59

I, I even think even just for the four of them there's a little bit of a chip on their shoulder there.

Justin LaBarHost16:02

Like, "Okay, so we don't get to end it.

Justin LaBarHost16:03

We're gonna, we're gonna end it with some basketball players.

Justin LaBarHost16:05

Okay.

Justin LaBarHost16:05

We're gonna ring the bell.

Justin LaBarHost16:07

We'll, w- we'll, we'll give you 15.

Justin LaBarHost16:09

We'll give you 15 to 20."

Jonathan HoodHost16:10

[laughs] So we're not the main.

Jonathan HoodHost16:11

So you wanna have your fanatics fest thing at the end of the show? No problem.

Jonathan HoodHost16:15

Want your photo op? No problem.

Justin LaBarHost16:16

Right.

Jonathan HoodHost16:17

W- we're, w- people will remember our match.

Jonathan HoodHost16:19

People will remember our...

Jonathan HoodHost16:20

Your, your angle is your angle, but our match, that's the thing that's important.

Justin LaBarHost16:24

Absolutely.

Justin LaBarHost16:24

And, and whether, and whether or not that was ever, ever, ever articulated amongst the four of them as they are getting ready for the match i, I will never know, uh, un- unless I ask one of them.

Justin LaBarHost16:33

Um, I'll never know.

Justin LaBarHost16:34

But I, I, I feel pretty strongly it was in the mind of all four of them of, like, that, that, that exact thing.

Justin LaBarHost16:38

"Okay, photo op can end the show.

Justin LaBarHost16:41

We're gonna go tear this, this thing down right here.

Justin LaBarHost16:43

We're gonna do this."

Jonathan HoodHost16:43

It, it was on the dry erase board.

Justin LaBarHost16:45

[laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost16:46

They s- they knew they weren't the last act.

Jonathan HoodHost16:48

They knew.

Justin LaBarHost16:48

Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost16:48

And they were like, "Okay.

Jonathan HoodHost16:49

All right.

Jonathan HoodHost16:50

Follow that, Roman.

Jonathan HoodHost16:51

Follow that, Jalen Brunson.

Jonathan HoodHost16:53

Let's see what we..." And so, um, the thing, the afterbirth though, the aftermath, interesting because CM Punk and, and Cody Rhodes are happy and then all of a sudden, all of a sudden there's something that happens where CM Punk flips his belt-

Justin LaBarHost17:10

Mm-hmm

Jonathan HoodHost17:10

... over his shoulder and it hits the face of Cody Rhodes.

Jonathan HoodHost17:14

Oh, the timing of that has to be right.

Jonathan HoodHost17:16

That has to be Mr.

Jonathan HoodHost17:18

Perfect tossing the towel to Bobby Heenan.

Jonathan HoodHost17:20

Heenan's gotta be able to catch it.

Jonathan HoodHost17:22

It's, it's one of the, it's one of those timing things where it's gotta work, right? Otherwise, it's, it's lousy.

Jonathan HoodHost17:26

It's flat.

Jonathan HoodHost17:27

But just Punk and Rhodes were close enough where Punk puts the belt on his, on his shoulder and the flap of it hits the face of Cody Rhodes and Cody's like, "What's this?" And he's, like, selling the face, right? And so Cody was not happy with that because he thought that Punk was so arrogant that he did that on purpose.

Justin LaBarHost17:46

It, it, it is a timing thing.

Justin LaBarHost17:48

You're absolutely right.

Justin LaBarHost17:48

I ca- you know, we saw it.

Justin LaBarHost17:49

It was right there in front of us.

Justin LaBarHost17:50

Um, yeah.

Justin LaBarHost17:52

And again, we're on the, we're on the final, uh, we're on the final track here o- o- of, of, of building.

Justin LaBarHost17:57

Final bit of road here to build.

Justin LaBarHost17:59

So those kinda things would, would be fitting.

Justin LaBarHost18:02

As I said, up to this point they've been very respectful and cordial, so you know, to do a hard left turn and all of a sudden start screaming at each other would be a little whoa.

Justin LaBarHost18:10

But little things like, "All right.

Justin LaBarHost18:13

Thank you, thank you, partner.

Justin LaBarHost18:14

We did our job tonight.

Justin LaBarHost18:15

We, we, we successfully won our match.

Justin LaBarHost18:16

We fended off having to have two more opponents.

Justin LaBarHost18:19

Uh- All right, let me grab...

Justin LaBarHost18:20

Oh, that's right.

Justin LaBarHost18:21

I have this, I have this heavy thing.

Justin LaBarHost18:22

It's called the, the WWE Championship.

Jonathan HoodHost18:24

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost18:24

Let me get that on my shoulder.

Justin LaBarHost18:25

Oh, whoa.

Justin LaBarHost18:25

Watch yourself.

Justin LaBarHost18:26

You're in the way here.

Justin LaBarHost18:27

I'm trying to, trying to carry my belt here, boy.

Justin LaBarHost18:29

It's...

Justin LaBarHost18:29

That- that- that's, that's exactly the kind of tone and exactly the kind of pace you need.

Justin LaBarHost18:33

Just, oh, oh, a little bit of room here.

Justin LaBarHost18:35

I gotta, I gotta, I gotta carry this title here.

Justin LaBarHost18:36

I'm the champ, remember? I'm the champ.

Justin LaBarHost18:37

You're not, I am.

Jonathan HoodHost18:38

[laughs] You got a little too close to me, pal.

Justin LaBarHost18:41

Uh-huh.

Jonathan HoodHost18:41

Sorry about that.

Justin LaBarHost18:42

Uh-huh.

Jonathan HoodHost18:42

Now, you know, Cody was not happy about this after, uh, the match-up.

Jonathan HoodHost18:47

So, um, this was exclusive on WWE's X account.

Jonathan HoodHost18:52

This was not on Peacock.

Jonathan HoodHost18:54

This was, uh, on t- Twitter.

Jonathan HoodHost18:57

So Cody Rhodes, uh, is confronting CM Punk.

Jonathan HoodHost19:01

Punk's supposed to have a one-on-one interview backstage, and all of a sudden, Cody Rhodes intervenes.

Jonathan HoodHost19:06

Oh, my.

Justin LaBarHost19:07

[laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost19:07

That wasn't supposed to be on camera, as both guys are trying to shoo the cameraman away like this was not supposed to be filmed, and it was filmed.

Jonathan HoodHost19:15

It was supposed to be just a set-up interview one-on-one with Punk, and then Rhodes comes over, is not happy with Punk, saying that Punk gets emotional out there.

Jonathan HoodHost19:23

Which is kinda funny, because Punk doesn't.

Jonathan HoodHost19:25

[laughs] He d- actually doesn't get emotional, but apparently Rhodes accused him of being emotional.

Jonathan HoodHost19:30

And so, uh, they had a back and forth there, as we just heard.

Justin LaBarHost19:34

I'll say this too, this is a broad statement.

Justin LaBarHost19:35

Uh, and I could've said this, uh, after we saw the Sami Zayn video on X after he lost to Punk in Chicago, when Punk walked right in and, you know, [laughs] took the title.

Justin LaBarHost19:45

Um, I do appreciate, and again, this is in the Triple H era, this is a non-Vince thing.

Justin LaBarHost19:49

I do appreciate the, o- obviously they, they, they're not gonna drop all kinds of, uh, curse words o- on the main, on the main part of the program on Raw, SmackDown, et cetera.

Justin LaBarHost19:59

But I do appreciate that, like, okay, this is going to social media and this is going to Twitter only.

Justin LaBarHost20:06

I appreciate them, even though they gotta beep it out, talking as two h- heated individuals would talk.

Jonathan HoodHost20:14

Mm-hmm.

Justin LaBarHost20:14

Which, which is a, a, a, a curse word is going, a curse word or several are going to be dropped if, if, if truly in the heat of, of a, of a, of a moment.

Justin LaBarHost20:22

So I appreciate that there's a, that there's a little more authentic sounding and feeling, uh, to the conflict on the social media extras.

Justin LaBarHost20:30

Um, and, and I do think it, it, it helps it, rather than, "Gosh darn, you big bully.

Justin LaBarHost20:36

Uh, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, uh-

Jonathan HoodHost20:38

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost20:38

... d- darn it, I'm really mad at you." Like, you know, I appreciate [laughs] that we can get a little more, more authentic of a speak here in 2026.

Jonathan HoodHost20:44

The, the beeps are more effective.

Justin LaBarHost20:46

Exactly.

Jonathan HoodHost20:47

It's kinda like early wrestling, right? The way it was when we were gr- growing up, where you hear these beeps, like Dusty Rhodes going after someone, or you hear this in WWE and you hear those tones.

Jonathan HoodHost20:56

It's like, oh, what are they saying? It, it a- actually has more effect than, "Hey, I'm gonna curse on national TV." Okay, well now you're just wide open with it now.

Jonathan HoodHost21:05

Like, we know what you said, but it's like, okay.

Jonathan HoodHost21:07

But the beeps actually, especially on that platform, a lot more effective.

Justin LaBarHost21:12

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost21:13

E- e- exactly, 'cause it's, it's alm- it's almost, like, even too, like if you are splitting your attention, if it's on in the, if you have it on in the background of, you know, and, and, and you're doing, also doing something else, once you start hearing the beeps, it grabs your attention.

Justin LaBarHost21:23

It's like, whoa, they said something that was so, you know, so crazy that they had to, they had to b- beep it.

Justin LaBarHost21:27

Well, now I gotta pay attention.

Justin LaBarHost21:28

I gotta lean a little bit closer.

Justin LaBarHost21:29

I gotta-

Jonathan HoodHost21:30

Mm-hmm

Justin LaBarHost21:30

...

Justin LaBarHost21:30

I gotta turn the volume up a little bit louder here so I can try to catch all this.

Justin LaBarHost21:34

Coming up next, we talk about the physicality of Lyra Valkyria versus Bayley, and more from Saturday night's main event.

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Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley Blood-Soaked Grudge Match25:12 – 38:42

Jonathan HoodHost25:12

The final bell with Lyra against Bayley.

Jonathan HoodHost25:16

Let me just tell you something, Justin.

Jonathan HoodHost25:19

In wrestling, sometimes there's beauty in the struggle, and between these two, you just know it's a grudge match.

Jonathan HoodHost25:26

Lyra obviously is, is a heel, and she looks a little disheveled and, you know, she's kind of gone off the deep end after going 0 for 5 trying to win the tag team championships with Bayley.

Jonathan HoodHost25:37

We kind of saw this coming, but it just kind of happened out of nowhere where Lyra snapped.

Jonathan HoodHost25:42

And it's funny, 'cause Bayley, I, if I'm not mistaken, also snapped at one point, uh, in her career, and now she's snapped back to the Bayley that we know, and now Lyra's this person.

Jonathan HoodHost25:51

But I, I really believe in this gr- in this matchup, there's beauty in the struggle.

Jonathan HoodHost25:56

As Wade Barrett called it, a grizzly match between the two where Lyra's nose is busted, don't know if it's broken, but just the, the blood flowing from the nose, and it just actually made the match even better.

Justin LaBarHost26:12

It really did.

Justin LaBarHost26:12

You, you know, it's, it's...

Justin LaBarHost26:14

Going into this, as you, as you noted, Lyra's kind of going off the deep end.

Justin LaBarHost26:19

You know, she's altering her appearance.

Justin LaBarHost26:22

She looks real disheveled.

Justin LaBarHost26:23

She's not, uh, you know, I don't know if it's makeup or the way she's wearing her hair, everything, but she's not, she's not her bright, usually bubbly, you know, positive self.

Justin LaBarHost26:30

She looks just completely like she, you know, she hasn't slept in a week, and she's just tormented here.

Justin LaBarHost26:35

And so going into this, the dynamic, blood would be the perfect kind of accessory for this match, and we got it, and it was not, it was not, you know, manipulated in any way.

Justin LaBarHost26:48

It was done, as they would say, the hard way, and they showed the replay to, to, to pr- to prove it.

Justin LaBarHost26:54

Um, Bayley just takes a fist right to Lyra's nose.

Justin LaBarHost26:59

[laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost26:59

Cleaver.

Justin LaBarHost27:00

I mean, it is just gushing blood.

Justin LaBarHost27:03

Um, but it, it, it was a great, it was a great addition, a great accessory, as I said.

Justin LaBarHost27:07

You know, uh, red equals green here.

Justin LaBarHost27:10

Um, this, this added to it.

Justin LaBarHost27:11

It, it looked good.

Justin LaBarHost27:12

It felt good.

Justin LaBarHost27:13

Um, this was not, this was not a perfect choreographed dance.

Justin LaBarHost27:22

You said it.

Justin LaBarHost27:22

This, this had a struggle.

Justin LaBarHost27:23

This had some, this had some, uh, this had some real grit to it.

Justin LaBarHost27:27

Um, it was exactly what this match needed to be.

Justin LaBarHost27:32

Dare I say it was the surprise of the night.

Justin LaBarHost27:35

I, I-

Jonathan HoodHost27:36

Yeah

Justin LaBarHost27:36

... you know, both ladies are, are talented.

Justin LaBarHost27:37

I'm not, I'm not saying that I just, I was dismissing the match, but what I am saying is that when I looked at the card, and I looked at, okay, Roman Reigns is on it.

Justin LaBarHost27:45

You know, we, you know something's gonna happen here with him.

Justin LaBarHost27:46

All the, all the hoop, all the hoopla around Danhausen we talked about.

Justin LaBarHost27:50

Obviously, the implications for the tag team match a- and what it means for Summer Slam's title match.

Justin LaBarHost27:54

You know, I'm, I'm looking at this.

Justin LaBarHost27:55

I'm like, all right, you know, this, there's a feud here.

Justin LaBarHost27:57

There's a story here between these two ladies, but let's see what they give us, and this just exceeded my expectations.

Justin LaBarHost28:02

And again, uh, the, the blood certainly helped just because it, it, it just gave that illustration of wow, they are, they are really going at it.

Justin LaBarHost28:07

There's, there's some, there's some issues here, uh, at the, the root of this, so very good job.

Justin LaBarHost28:13

Um, I, I don't know about you, Jay Hood.

Justin LaBarHost28:16

This felt like this was the...

Justin LaBarHost28:19

This felt like this was the end of the feud.

Justin LaBarHost28:20

It felt like Lyra finally, you know, she had some closure.

Justin LaBarHost28:24

This felt like a, an end of a certain era for Bayley.

Justin LaBarHost28:28

This felt, I don't know.

Justin LaBarHost28:29

Th- th- this match had something to it where it was like, this feels important.

Justin LaBarHost28:32

This feels like this is, we're not just gonna wake up on Monday and go to Raw and, and, and okay, let's l- l- and then from there.

Justin LaBarHost28:39

This, this felt like this had some real significance in some, some way, whether there's a reset or repackaging or something, but I don't know.

Justin LaBarHost28:46

This, this, this had, this had a certain punctuation of a feeling to it.

Jonathan HoodHost28:49

You think Triple H has had enough of Bayley because she couldn't lock in that Bank Statement? She couldn't do it well.

Jonathan HoodHost28:54

She didn't get that spring off the rope.

Jonathan HoodHost28:56

Maybe he's, he's like, "Yeah, you can't do it like Sasha.

Jonathan HoodHost28:59

Get out." You did see that spot, right? She's trying to do the Bank Statement, trying to get that spr- spring off the ropes.

Jonathan HoodHost29:05

She just couldn't, couldn't quite lock it in the way she wanted to-

Justin LaBarHost29:08

Well-

Jonathan HoodHost29:08

... from that spring off the ropes, but

Justin LaBarHost29:10

...

Justin LaBarHost29:10

I, I saw that.

Justin LaBarHost29:11

Did you see, I don't think, you know, you and I didn't, I don't even think I texted you about this.

Justin LaBarHost29:14

Did you see a couple weeks ago when old Sasha Banks or Mercedes Moné, when she did a little, uh, teasing on her, I think it was an Instagram story?

Jonathan HoodHost29:25

Mm-hmm.

Justin LaBarHost29:26

And she showed a graphic of her versus, and it, it was Bayley, but it was Bay- it was using, it was listed Bayley as the, the, the, the ring name she used on the indies.

Jonathan HoodHost29:35

Mm-hmm.

Justin LaBarHost29:36

I think, I think Davina Rose if I'm off the top of my head.

Justin LaBarHost29:39

Um, but it was an AE, it was an AEW doctored poster, and that got a lot of people-

Jonathan HoodHost29:42

Hmm

Justin LaBarHost29:43

... you know, okay, we know that they are best friends in real life.

Justin LaBarHost29:46

Why would she post this? And then you get kind of this story here where you just see Bayley in a ma- again, a match that felt like a punctuation.

Justin LaBarHost29:53

It felt like the end of a sentence here.

Justin LaBarHost29:55

It felt like the end of a chapter.

Justin LaBarHost29:57

And so I'm just saying, I don't know.

Justin LaBarHost29:58

I don't, I don't know.

Justin LaBarHost29:58

I have no idea what Bayley's situation is, w- but I, it just, it had a feeling to it.

Justin LaBarHost30:02

When the, when the match was over, I was like, "This feels like this is significant.

Justin LaBarHost30:05

This is not just another match."

Jonathan HoodHost30:07

No, and, and I don't know if it was supposed to be that way I, uh, h- here's what I liked about the match.

Justin LaBarHost30:13

Hm.

Jonathan HoodHost30:13

What I liked about the match, Justin, is is that, and we just don't get enough of this in wrestling, if you and I have a problem, we were once Tag Team champions, or we were both Tag Team partners, whatever, and we just continue to underachieve, and I turn on you, and it's, it's, I mean, it's physical.

Jonathan HoodHost30:33

It's not just verbal, it's physical.

Jonathan HoodHost30:35

And we have...

Jonathan HoodHost30:36

It's culminates into a match.

Jonathan HoodHost30:37

Well, damn it, you and I should be going after it.

Jonathan HoodHost30:40

We...

Jonathan HoodHost30:41

It, it should feel like a grudge match.

Jonathan HoodHost30:43

Sometimes it's like, oh, you know, when two people don't like each other, one runs away and the other one's gotta chase them around the ring and that kinda thing.

Jonathan HoodHost30:50

And that, I mean, to me, it should look like this.

Jonathan HoodHost30:54

I'm not saying that you have to call for blood every time because it just ha- happened to ha- you know, just happened.

Jonathan HoodHost30:59

But I'm just saying that sometimes these grudge matches don't feel like grudge matches.

Jonathan HoodHost31:05

They just feel like any other match.

Jonathan HoodHost31:07

And I say that when you have a problem, a real issue, 'cause what does Jerry Jarrett tell you about real issues draws money? It should feel like a grudge match, like we don't like each other.

Jonathan HoodHost31:19

Like not just a match, but it should kinda look like this where it's not the Ice Capades, where it's not smooth, where it's kinda like, "You know what? I'm bouncing you into the ropes, and we're getting after it," where it kinda looks like a quasi-shoot.

Jonathan HoodHost31:32

And that's what a grudge match should look like if we don't like each other.

Justin LaBarHost31:36

Absolutely agree, and uh, I, I, I tweeted something about this.

Justin LaBarHost31:39

I don't know if, I don't know if they at all communicated this prior to the match saying, "Hey, I'm gonna, at one point, I'm gonna lay one into you to try to draw blood." Like I don't know if that was communicated or if it was literally just a-

Jonathan HoodHost31:55

Oh, yeah

Justin LaBarHost31:55

...

Justin LaBarHost31:55

if it was just a strike that just, that, you know, just happened to, to tag her.

Justin LaBarHost31:59

But yeah, that moment of Lyra being like l- coming out of the ring, laying on the apron, and Bayley just swats down with her fist at her face.

Jonathan HoodHost32:08

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost32:08

Again, I don't know if it was intentional to like, "Hey, let's, let's, let's, let's get some blood going," or if it was just, again, uh, you know, she was trying to just throw a strike and it just happened to be.

Justin LaBarHost32:16

You know, this happens.

Justin LaBarHost32:17

It's just one that happened to, to, you know, uh, errantly, uh, miss and, and, and tag her f- in the nose.

Justin LaBarHost32:23

But it felt like a real moment.

Justin LaBarHost32:26

It f- it f- it, it fit the moment.

Justin LaBarHost32:27

It felt appropriate.

Justin LaBarHost32:29

It's like yeah, these two don't like each other.

Justin LaBarHost32:31

They're at a problem.

Justin LaBarHost32:32

Like s- s- she s- she, she saw, Bayley saw an open face, an open shot.

Justin LaBarHost32:37

She took her swing.

Justin LaBarHost32:38

Like it, it, it-

Jonathan HoodHost32:38

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost32:38

...

Justin LaBarHost32:38

it just felt appropriate.

Justin LaBarHost32:40

Um-

Jonathan HoodHost32:40

Yes.

Jonathan HoodHost32:41

It had, had a, had a uh, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar type feel.

Justin LaBarHost32:45

I, I, I did.

Justin LaBarHost32:46

A- and-

Jonathan HoodHost32:46

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost32:47

...

Justin LaBarHost32:47

I, I, it did.

Jonathan HoodHost32:47

The hard way.

Justin LaBarHost32:48

Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost32:48

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost32:48

Like again, and, and that's, I mean, I know that's not unheard of.

Justin LaBarHost32:50

I know that like obviously, you know, sometimes g- guys or girls if, if, um, if they know that, "Damn, we can't get caught on camera by the bosses.

Justin LaBarHost33:00

We can't get, at all get caught bleeding or doing anything like that.

Justin LaBarHost33:03

No trucks, no tricks like that," you know? But you can't get, y- you can't get mad.

Justin LaBarHost33:07

You can't fine somebody if they are bleeding legitimately.

Justin LaBarHost33:10

And so [laughs] again, whether that's the approach they took of, "Okay, we're gonna get some, let's get, get some color [laughs] the old-fashioned way," uh, I don't know.

Justin LaBarHost33:18

But it, it fit.

Justin LaBarHost33:19

It, this match was, again, uh, the most surprising in a positive way for me of the night.

Justin LaBarHost33:24

Um, and did something for Lyra.

Jonathan HoodHost33:27

Yes.

Justin LaBarHost33:27

You know, it m- it, it, it, it did something for Lyra.

Justin LaBarHost33:29

W- and, and needed to.

Justin LaBarHost33:30

I mean, she's, she's got the accolade.

Justin LaBarHost33:32

She's the first what? First Women's IC Champ, and you know, they had a little bit of, uh, of, of buzz behind her.

Justin LaBarHost33:37

But that's, that's kinda ta- that ta- tapered off.

Justin LaBarHost33:40

But this, this, they need to capitalize on this.

Justin LaBarHost33:44

I'm not saying she needs to all of a sudden be, you know, a Shayna Baszler MMA kinda shoot fight d- uh, gimmick.

Justin LaBarHost33:51

I'm not suggesting that.

Justin LaBarHost33:52

But there was something with this unhinged Lyra and then the blood and the way all this, uh, you know, executed anyway, you know, anyways.

Justin LaBarHost34:00

Th- they, they need to take advantage with- of, of what they have with it.

Justin LaBarHost34:03

They, they, they have a, they have a heel in her that we, we weren't expecting.

Justin LaBarHost34:07

We thought that she was gonna be, again, positive, happy, whoo, whoo, in the entrance, and babyface.

Jonathan HoodHost34:12

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost34:13

We got, we might have some heel, uh, to work with here in Lyra.

Jonathan HoodHost34:16

Um, what's so great about this is that after her nose is bloody, she doesn't take a step back.

Jonathan HoodHost34:22

She moves, she charges forward.

Justin LaBarHost34:23

Yes.

Jonathan HoodHost34:23

She's actually more aggressive.

Justin LaBarHost34:24

Yes.

Jonathan HoodHost34:25

And it, and that's the way it's supposed to be.

Justin LaBarHost34:26

Yes.

Jonathan HoodHost34:26

When you see your own blood, you're supposed to freak out.

Jonathan HoodHost34:30

Like, "Okay, you busted me open? Okay, so I'm moving forward and charging after you.

Jonathan HoodHost34:34

I might lose," but the, the, if you noticed, there was actually more aggression from Lyra knowing that, "Wait, my nose is broken.

Jonathan HoodHost34:42

You did this to me? Okay." So now Bayley, she's not on the pack, on the backpedal either.

Jonathan HoodHost34:46

But I just noticed that Lyra in the match got better after the blood-

Justin LaBarHost34:50

Yes

Jonathan HoodHost34:50

... occurred.

Justin LaBarHost34:51

Yeah, uh, to that point I'll, I'll drill down even further.

Justin LaBarHost34:53

This might be in the, in the same sequence of what you're talking about.

Justin LaBarHost34:55

She, it's like she saw red and, and, and she acted accordingly.

Justin LaBarHost34:59

A- as, so she starts bleeding.

Justin LaBarHost35:01

The referee goes, and they got...

Justin LaBarHost35:03

They're at the, they're at the, right there where the aisleway and the ringside area meet, and the ref I think is trying to give her a towel, and, and the ref's try- and the ref's trying to tell Bayley to stay away.

Justin LaBarHost35:10

And the, and the, the ref's trying to assess the situation for safety as, as they're instructed to do, and it was great.

Justin LaBarHost35:16

At one point, Lyra just pushes the ref aside 'cause she sees Bayley and she just charges Bayley.

Justin LaBarHost35:22

[laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost35:22

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost35:22

And it was like that's great 'cause some...

Justin LaBarHost35:24

I mean, especially if that moment was not planned, especially if there was no plan to get some color the hard way, especially if that was truly an accident that just happened in real time seconds earlier, you know, you could see maybe Lyra potentially, you know, being stunned by it or trying to get it under control.

Justin LaBarHost35:38

I mean, that, 'cause that blood was, was f- flowing.

Jonathan HoodHost35:41

Yeah.

Justin LaBarHost35:41

She said, "To hell with that." She, she captured the moment and said, "I'm charging the bitch that just did this to me." [laughs]

Jonathan HoodHost35:48

[laughs]

Justin LaBarHost35:48

And went right after her.

Justin LaBarHost35:49

It was great.

Justin LaBarHost35:49

It was a great moment.

Jonathan HoodHost35:51

I know that you can't even move a chair in New York because of the union.

Jonathan HoodHost35:55

Can you get the mop out there a little c- little quicker? You saw the puddles of blood out there.

Jonathan HoodHost35:59

Holy AEW.

Jonathan HoodHost36:00

You saw the puddles of blood out there on the mat outside.

Jonathan HoodHost36:02

You saw that, right? Like afterwards.

Jonathan HoodHost36:04

I mean, they're on the r- out- outside twice, and the blood was still there.

Jonathan HoodHost36:07

I was like, "Anybody got a mop? Get this up for God sakes."

Justin LaBarHost36:10

So you know, if you notice on the ring, they've done this before.

Justin LaBarHost36:13

Uh, again another, another, another TKO money grab.

Jonathan HoodHost36:16

Mm-hmm.

Justin LaBarHost36:17

They have people's names printed

Jonathan HoodHost36:19

printedOn the mat.

Jonathan HoodHost36:20

You see this, right? Yes.

Jonathan HoodHost36:21

So, so if you go back, guys, or anybody that didn't see this, if you go back and watch, if you look along the outside perimeter of the ring mat, you'll, you'll, you'll see.

Jonathan HoodHost36:29

After, it, there's a bunch of...

Jonathan HoodHost36:30

They, they have names.

Jonathan HoodHost36:31

And people, it's fans.

Jonathan HoodHost36:32

People get to pay to have their name printed on the mat.

Jonathan HoodHost36:34

And then I, I, I, I don't know if they cut the mat up and give it to them.

Jonathan HoodHost36:37

But they, but, but if they do, if they give you your piece [laughs] what a great, what a great souvenir if you have some, uh, Lyra blood that happened to splash onto your- [laughs] ...

Jonathan HoodHost36:45

the text of your name.

Jonathan HoodHost36:46

You take that home for- [laughs] ... for, uh, your, for your man cave.

Jonathan HoodHost36:49

Mom, mine's got blood on it.

Jonathan HoodHost36:52

[laughs] Oh my God.

Jonathan HoodHost36:54

[laughs] So, so the...

Jonathan HoodHost36:56

I, I just thought that that was great.

Jonathan HoodHost36:57

I...

Jonathan HoodHost36:57

Listen, now see, this m- makes me want more.

Jonathan HoodHost37:01

It makes me want more.

Jonathan HoodHost37:02

I wanna see more of this matchup.

Jonathan HoodHost37:04

If that's the end, I mean, that's one way to s- to end the feud, because Bayley probably shouldn't be around for at least a week after this.

Jonathan HoodHost37:11

At least.

Jonathan HoodHost37:12

After she got the, got planted, uh, on the steps.

Jonathan HoodHost37:14

So I mean, I, I love what I saw from those two.

Jonathan HoodHost37:18

You know, I was watching the matchup, I was watching Lyra, and I couldn't help but to think to myself, "Somewhere Nikki Cross is at home saying, 'I coulda done this.'" Mm-hmm.

Jonathan HoodHost37:27

[laughs] I, I wore this, this stinky dress, and looked disheveled, and my face looked like this for, for months in this company.

Jonathan HoodHost37:36

I coulda done that? Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost37:39

Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost37:39

[laughs] I coulda been Lyra.

Jonathan HoodHost37:40

I coulda been cast as Lyra.

Jonathan HoodHost37:42

Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost37:42

Right? Yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost37:43

I, I, that, yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost37:44

Yeah, yeah.

Jonathan HoodHost37:45

[laughs] Uh.

Jonathan HoodHost37:46

So- Forgot to mention on this day, when they had their first Raw back in front of the audience, I, I forgot all about this as I r- as I was reading the, the rundown of what was on that Raw in- Mm-hmm ... uh, July of 2021.

Jonathan HoodHost37:55

Nikki A.S.H., remember that? Nikki A.S.H., yes.

Jonathan HoodHost38:00

Almost a superhero.

Jonathan HoodHost38:01

[laughs] Yeah, I just shook my head.

Jonathan HoodHost38:03

I'm like, "Oh, things I try to forget." [laughs] Yes, I do recall that.

Jonathan HoodHost38:07

A.S.H., yes.

Jonathan HoodHost38:09

[laughs] Cat Damascus and everything else, right? Yes, yes, yes.

Jonathan HoodHost38:11

Yeah, just...

Jonathan HoodHost38:13

We're talking about Saturday- That was around, that was around the same time as Doudrop, remember that? I, uh, yes.

Jonathan HoodHost38:17

Yes.

Jonathan HoodHost38:18

We'll call her Doudrop because- Doudrop ... she looks like a dew drop.

Jonathan HoodHost38:22

She- Put her in green, she'll look like a Mountain Dew can.

Jonathan HoodHost38:27

[laughs] Great creative.

Jonathan HoodHost38:28

I just took a dew drop.

Jonathan HoodHost38:29

[laughs] See? Great creative.

Jonathan HoodHost38:33

And some people want Vince back.

Jonathan HoodHost38:34

Okay, 877-344-4893.

Jonathan HoodHost38:37

877-344-4893 is our phone.

Jonathan HoodHost38:39

We're talking to you about Saturday Night's Main Event.

Roman Reigns & Knicks Cameo + Show Wrap-Up38:42 – 40:28

Jonathan HoodHost38:42

Um, also, just, uh, just wanna point out the end of Saturday Night's Main Event with the Roman Reigns, Jalen Brunson segment.

Jonathan HoodHost38:51

Okay, so Jalen Brunson gets a WrestleMania walkout.

Jonathan HoodHost38:57

My God, fanatics.

Jonathan HoodHost38:59

They, I mean, just, it's an amazing job by them and WWE just putting all this out there because they wanna promote.

Jonathan HoodHost39:04

It's a big weekend for fanatics and WWE.

Jonathan HoodHost39:07

Brunson gets this long walkout, and if you're, uh, not an NBA fan, you're lost.

Jonathan HoodHost39:14

You have no idea why Jalen Brunson or why Cat's important, why the Knicks are important.

Jonathan HoodHost39:18

But the story is that the Knicks have not won the championship, uh, since 1973, and Jalen Brunson was awesome in, in that series.

Jonathan HoodHost39:28

Uh, to be able to win against the San Antonio Spurs.

Jonathan HoodHost39:30

Awesome overall in the playoffs.

Jonathan HoodHost39:32

He was the guy.

Jonathan HoodHost39:33

And so what's interesting is, is that Roman Reigns is a pure babyface in all this.

Jonathan HoodHost39:40

Like, here's, here's the dichotomy of this, right? Dan Houser is the reason why the Knicks won the championship, because he lifted the curse.

Jonathan HoodHost39:48

But Roman gets all the just desserts.

Jonathan HoodHost39:50

He gets the main event spot.

Jonathan HoodHost39:52

Even though Dan Houser is really the face of the Knicks one as far as the, you know, they, they're struggling over a jersey in his match.

Jonathan HoodHost39:59

[laughs] But yet Roman can hold a Larry O'Brien trophy? It just shows you where the star, where the star power is now.

Jonathan HoodHost40:06

All right, like you did the whole thing with the curse over here in your, earlier in the night.

Jonathan HoodHost40:11

[laughs] But I hold the Larry O'Brien trophy with Mr.

Jonathan HoodHost40:14

New York, Jalen.

Jonathan HoodHost40:15

So there's levels to this, you see, Justin Labar.

Jonathan HoodHost40:18

Catch the full three hours of Busted Open every day of the week at 9:00 AM Eastern on Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7, channel 156.

Bank of America Soccer at Schools (Re-air)40:29 – 41:00

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[crowd murmuring] [bell dinging] Good morning, students.

AdvertiserAd40:36

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AdvertiserAd40:45

That's why Bank of America and US Soccer are committed to helping bring soccer to every school.

AdvertiserAd40:50

[bell ringing] Soccer is officially in session.

AdvertiserAd40:54

[gentle music] Raise your hand to help bring soccer to schools at bofa.com/socceratschools.

Opportunity@Work ‘Tear the Paper Ceiling’41:00 – 41:30

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Learn why at tearThepaperceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council

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