Paul Heyman

Das ist eigentlich ein guter Punkt. Es ist jetzt seltsam natürlich. Ja. Wie wenn Sammy Gläser trägt und den Tanz macht und einfach mit Jey hangt.

Isn't that crazy? Like you would think, hey, coach, they just called our play. We better do something else. Nope. Run the play. Run the play as is. But it's not going to work. No, it's going to work. Run the play. And that's exactly what we saw. And it did. It worked. So CM Punk shows up. And I love the way he started raw because he was talking about the summer of punk.

Das ist genau, wo er sein würde.

Ja, absolut. Ich würde mit dir 100% auf das stimmen. Und es ist eine wilde Sache. Ich habe nie...

Yeah, I've never thought of it like that. Because it was like back in the day, it was like, what is this goofball even doing here?

And now it's like, yeah, bro, those are the two coolest dudes I know.

Hilarious. Sammy Zane might be the greatest fake it till you make it candidate that's ever existed. If anybody says, no, fake it till you make it, that's not a real thing. Look at the trajectory of Sammy Zane.

Let me ask you this. Is Sammy Zane a cool dude?

Boom. Point proven. How did that happen? Fake it till you make it. However... Insane. But I guess he's got other plans now with Sami Zayn. Because he looked, I mean, it was a great interaction that the two of them had. He looked right at him and said, you're not a good guy. You're a bad guy, Sami Zayn. Like the rest of us.

And I mean, it was like every fiber of his being was piercing Sami through those crazy human being eyeballs.

Very much so. Of dark. Very much so. Er wird wie Chucky. Weißt du, was ich meine? Wo du denkst, oh mein Gott, alles, was da rauskommt. Das ist nicht der gleiche Typ. Karrion Kross hat diese seltsame Art von Menschheit, wo es etwas Entschlüsseltes und Entschlüsseltes gibt. Und dann wird er komplett dieses andere Ding.

Ja. Ich meine, wir sahen das verrückte Teil neben uns an einem Punkt. Ich wollte schnell rauskommen, für viele Gründe. Aber... Und er sagt, du bist falsch. Und er sagt, vielleicht bin ich falsch, aber vielleicht bin ich richtig. Ich dachte mir, das ist etwas hier. Ich weiß nicht, was das ist. Und jetzt sitze ich da.

Jetzt, dass du Karrion Kross hast, der fast wie ein Narrator in diesem Moral-Spiel ist. Ich denke mir, ich will Sami Zayn nicht zerstören, aber wird die Fassade zerstört werden? Gleichzeitig schaue ich mir Jey Uso an und Gunther ist eine ähnliche Geschichte. Where he's like, am I saying this to get into your head before I challenge you for the title? Or am I being sincere?

If you want to keep the title, you got to be a selfish guy. Are we going to see Jay evolve into a selfish person so that he may keep the title? I mean, right? But now that I've said it, is it crazy?

If Sami Zayn has this side where he's a bad guy and Jay ends up with this side where he's selfish, is Karrion Kross right? And if Karrion Kross is right, doesn't that fit in exactly to the plan that Seth Rollins has for everything? Boom. I told you, there was a reason we were incorporating all of them.

We came all the way around and we're back here just at the perfect time because our first guests tonight are ready, coming straight from the Judgment Day Clubhouse. Are you ready for this? Yes, yes, yes. Even after an injury.

There is something about specific summers. Okay, wie 2005, der originale Sommer von Punk, wo CM Punk offiziell die größte Sache der ganzen Independenten wird. 2011, der zweite Sommer von Punk, als CM Punk endlich der Typ wird mit dem Wettbewerb.

Straight out of the medics room. This is an ad by BetterHelp and we all know that the struggle is real. Guys, there is a stigma around men's mental health. For whatever reason, we don't want to reach out and get it fixed, but we struggle the same way anybody else does. There are just as many pressures on us. as there are on everybody else.

And I will tell you, if you don't have somebody to talk to about this, if you don't have your mental health where it needs to be, then nothing is going to be where it needs to be. I'm talking about your physical output. I'm talking about your physical health. I'm talking about your performance at work. I'm talking about your relationship with your loved ones.

Nothing is going to be where it needs to be unless you are where you need to be. And that's why sometimes getting help is the best thing you can do. And that's why BetterHelp is here. BetterHelp is the largest online therapy provider in the world. BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise.

And you can change therapists, by the way, anytime until you find the exact one that's right for you. That's why they say, talk it out. Let's welcome to the Raw Recap, coming straight from the Judgment Day Clubhouse, a battle-damaged Liv Morgan. And Raquel Rodriguez, I mean, how are you guys?

Ich habe das nicht gedacht.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. But it doesn't flash into your mind like, oh no, this could have overwhelming ramifications that...

I forgot about that.

It is a great point, because I was literally just reading an article about how many awards Neon is just winning award after award after award after award. And you're also right. There are a lot of people in the pro wrestling industry that get a taste for Hollywood. And all of a sudden... Sie werden etwas lecker. Alltags kommen sie zurück in die WWE. Und sie sind nicht mehr so hungrig.

in the wwe and we start here on the first raw in june of 2025 with cm punk saying yeah it's time to start another summer of punk and that means gold every summer of punk is associated with a world championship and i know how i'm going to get to the world championship i'm going to start by winning the money in the bank briefcase and by the way if we're going to structure a new summer of punk

Es dauert dir keine Zeit.

Right, right. Hey, where's Dominic Mysterio been in these matches that you've had in the last couple of weeks?

You know, I'm a big Liv Morgan fan. I'm a big Raquel fan. I'm a big Dominic Mysterio fan. And usually the Dominic appearance at ringside was a given. The last two weeks, which neither week has gone perfectly for you, have been sans Dominic. Where is Dom, Ben?

Is that okay with you? Fine with me. I'm just asking the question.

Ich habe das Kissen-Cam gesehen. Ich habe das Kissen-Cam gesehen.

Liv und Dom gehen auf einen Geldregister und droppen 10.000 Dollar, als ob es nichts war.

Hold out the card. I watch people, they go to the cash register on that show and they start sweating buckets. You guys roll up. They're like, $10,000, please. Yeah, no problem. Here's the card.

JC Pennybox.

You didn't know that?

And we do, by the way, appreciate the fact that you're even giving us time after you went through... I was gonna cancel this, quite honestly.

You are a pro. Is there any part of you, right, that when you look at a Roxanne Perez, you go, a little bit... Game respects game scenario. There's just because there's a lot of history repeating itself. It would seem when it comes to the sort of rubbing and the gifts and the and the helpfulness. And I like I feel like I remember seeing that somewhere before. Yeah, I do, too.

And even members of the Judgment Day being like, hey, what's that girl doing here?

That is a great way to start it. Oh man, remember in June he won the money in the bank and then he went on to do this.

Wann habt ihr euch auf die gleiche Seite gesetzt? Weil letzte Woche sah es so aus, als würdet ihr verrückt sein. Oh, das stimmt. Ihr wart verrückt bei Raquel letzte Woche. Weißt du was?

When you think about, right, like that moment that you and Dom had at the Netflix Festival on the Kiss Cam, right? And I think immediately, like it put you, they were going through all the celebrity couples of Netflix, whether it's the people from Love is Blind or the people from all over the place. And what happens with celebrity couples, they end up getting these super fans.

Who knows? Who knows what the plan would be? But, alas, it wasn't meant to happen. He even starts calling his shots. He brings up ball frauds again, which we don't like that. No. We don't like when he brings up these ball frauds. But he brings up bald frauds again. He says Jey Uso. We're friends, but it'll be business.

And some people that I've seen and I've interacted with on the Internet are the Liv Dom fans. Wow. Wow.

Right. No, I get that.

That makes a lot of sense. When you look at the Judgment Day, right? I'm so fascinated by this group when it comes to WWE lore. And there have been so many different times when people were like, there were times before you guys were even in the Judgment Day, that people were like, the Judgment Day is on its last legs. We've gotten every story we can out of the Judgment Day. That's it.

And then something happens. I would argue that as soon as Liv, you showed up, all of a sudden the Judgment Day gets reignited again and we go on this whole new, Aber wieder, wir kommen zu diesem Ort, wo jeder sagt, oh, sie sind bereit, einen Judentagsabschluss zu sehen. Es gibt all diese Tensionen jetzt. Jemand wird ausgelassen. Vielleicht wird der Judentagsabschluss nicht mehr geben.

Siehst du eine Schleiferei in diesem Gruppen? Und ist diese Schleiferei vorhanden?

That's what they say about the Judgment Day. They say anybody who wants to get rid of the Judgment Day, they say there may be a treatment, but there is not a cure. And that's why you're forever. You know, you can't get rid of the Judgment Day. Is there any possibility? Was Dom wearing the, what were they, the flea ones, the furry shoes, the green mossy shoes?

Going back to that first CM Punk return promo where he said, I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to make money. That guy, that guy that people went, wait, what? Wait, is he not as much of a good guy as it seems like he is? Just flickered on for just a second. Not here to make friends, I'm here to make money. Which, by the way, very ironic.

Ja, ja, ja, ja, ich habe das bemerkt. Das fühlte sich sehr authentisch zu einer Beziehung an, als du sagst, ich brauche dich, um diese zu kaufen.

Das ist unglaublich.

die Schuhe, die ich tragen würde, ja, ja, ja, ja, ja, und Dom könnte es schneiden, sodass die Front kurz war und die Länge war, es ist noch lange in der Rückseite, ja, ich denke, das wäre wirklich cool, hast du, bist du, bist du auf dem Flugzeug, gehst du Geld in die Bank, bist du auf dem Show, bist du in Los Angeles, wirst du deinen Impakt da fühlen, fragst du meine Planung,

I was just thinking, that'd be a wild thing to go to like casting meetings with a thing.

Yeah, wow, wow. Well, listen, guys, I'm gonna be 100% honest with you. We booked you on Raw Recap because we were both pretty sure that Liv, you were going to go to the Money in the Bank ladder match. It's unfortunate that these things work out the way they work out, but hopefully... Do you know what is so nice of me, though, about it?

Ja, das ist ein massiver Moment.

dass, wenn es um CM Punk und die Welt-Heavyweight-Championschaft geht, CM Punk keine Beine macht und sagt, es ist alles Geschäft. Jey Uso als Welt-Heavyweight-Champion kommt zu Whose Rescue? CM Punk.

Well, I'm glad she's in the club.

You see that? Oh, I do. Now I see it. They are blue. It's a Barbie doll that looks like Liv Morgan with a Daddy Dom shirt and some Daisy Dukes on.

Yeah, no, it was great. It was great. And everybody loves that you've been here. And I want you to go now, maybe go to a medical facility, get that head checked out. And hopefully we see you again in Los Angeles. Yeah, that would be great.

Excellent.

Oh, yeah. It's weird that Dom's not there right now, too. It is kind of weird. That's weird.

Wow, that was scandalous. I'm glad we captured it. I mean, Raquel, we gotta go, but if you just wanna... Oh, okay, I get it.

Fine, whatever.

Jey.

So, I guess, I mean, that's it. The clubhouse is empty. Thank you to Liv and Raquel. I mean, I can't imagine what is going on at this point. Or can you? I can, I shouldn't. I meant I shouldn't. I won't, is what I meant to say. Instead, I do hope that they have some kind of appearance at Money in the Bank. Because it is, it's going to be a big spectacle. It's going to be a moment-filled thing.

100%. Also er sagt, Sammy Zayn kommt raus. Sammy sagt, du musst gewinnen. Sammy sagt, wenn du nicht gewinnst, Seth wird in diesem Laddermatch sein.

And one of those events that I think you'll want... Das ist das dritte Money in the Bank Ladder Match? Good answer. Great answer. Penta, Rhea Ripley, all of that. If you're going to be in Los Angeles, you gotta come correct. You gotta be representing your favorite superstars in this ladder match. If you're having a party at home, you're not gonna be in Los Angeles.

Make sure that you're suited up, so when your guests show up, they know that this is serious, okay? WWE Shop has you covered. Um... You gotta grab it all. Grab the Money in the Bank merchandise as well as the merchandise from your favorite superstars. Also... This is really more for my wife and children. What's that? Father's Day is right around the corner, guys.

Father's Day is right around the corner. And you know where the best place to get Father's Day gifts is?

You knew that very well. I've been shopping. For the husband. Yeah. You got it. You got to hook him up and hook him up right. You can celebrate your champion with Superstar Dad T-Shirts. That's right, you got WWE Dad Sandals, they got the iconic 316 T-Shirt and so much more. Do Father's Day right with WWE Shop. All of it up now at WWE Shop by Fanatics. It's all, I mean, it's fabulous stuff.

I like to wear Tribal Chief stuff on Father's Day. Because I'm the Tribal Chief of the Roberts household.

It's not just Father's Day, but on Father's Day as well as multiple other days of the year. And they all acknowledge you. Every time I wear it. It's important. It's important. It's Father's Day after all. Speaking of acknowledgement, one person looking for acknowledgement at Money in the Bank is clearly Becky Lynch, who came out tonight upon Lyra's request.

Becky was right, that Lyra requested that Becky Lynch come out. All the way to Tulsa. I think she meant to come to the ring. I don't know if she booked the plane ticket. But she did go to Tulsa, where apparently we found out the hard way, she does not wrestle.

Tulsa is a great city. Have you ever been?

Yeah, you're right.

Apparently.

They had a whole Monday Night Raw. Everybody was there. We just saw it all. What do you think of this idea though? Lyra brings it up. Ich glaube, es ist Blasphemie. Blasphemy. You can go as far as to say blasphemy.

He said that Seth could make WWE unrecognizable into a place that, you're right, that he said that they wouldn't like, that wouldn't be a good place for them. Because we know, listen, if Seth Rollins wins the Money in the Bank Briefcase, he's getting the championship. He's literally the best. Money in the Bank, winner of all time. His cash-in is the cash-in that every cash-in gets compared to.

Sometimes you gotta look around.

Dann warum kann sie Lyra Valkyrie nicht gewinnen?

I don't think Becky was ready to move on at all.

I actually am enjoying that Lyra Valkyria is sticking up for herself. I like that we're seeing some real, we're seeing fire from Lyra Valkyria. I like that she interrupted Becky Lynch. I like that she didn't let Becky get the first word in. I like that she didn't let Becky get that first shot in. Because who knows? Who knows what Becky would have done? If she had gotten that first shot in.

You don't think Lyra would have been successful regardless?

Oh, I forgot.

What about this idea that Lyra brought up that Becky would poison what the Intercontinental Championship is?

Alright, well, the Intercontinental Championship seems pretty relevant. Because Becky... Is trying to get an encant?

That... That's gonna be tough. I feel like... As much as... If Becky loses, she doesn't get another shot at Lyra's title. No. But if Lyra loses, she has to raise Becky's hand. It feels like from a, oh, this hurts my soul perspective, Lyra's potential punishment is worse than Becky's potential punishment.

By the way, if she's already lost twice, why should she get another shot at Lyra's title? She can't lose. She cannot. But then Lyra Valkyrie has to raise Becky's arm?

We all breathe the same air. It's air. We all breathe it.

Okay, but do you think that if you look at... The relationship with Lyra and Becky, it is a microcosm of exactly what Lyra was talking about. In the sense that like, when Becky came back, it was like, yeah, I'm going to be on the side of Lyra Valkyria. But then the minute maybe Lyra didn't need Becky.

The team would be the reason.

Just one person on a team.

So how come the White Sox haven't won? Is it just one person or the whole team stinks?

Okay, alright. I see, I see. How about the fact that Lyra not only challenged Becky to fight right there in Tulsa. Oh, we can do this right here in Tulsa. Not only did she challenge her to the fight, Becky said, no, she's the one that instigated the brawl. Lyra's got a fire under her, okay? And here's the problem with Becky. I don't think she understands what it means to get them wangs. Okay?

What if Los Angeles has them wangs out? What's Becky going to do then?

It's going to be massive. It's also massive when you look at the women's field now in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Like I just said to Liv Morgan, and I think you're in the same boat. We didn't have a conversation about it, but I kind of thought Liv would be in the Money in the Bank ladder match.

Boom.

Aber es war wie... Ja, sorry.

Ich hatte Schmerzen. Und jetzt ist es so, dass es ein normales Ding ist. Kann man sich das vorstellen, wenn sie jetzt einen Roster teilen und sie in dem gleichen Money in the Bank Ladder Match sein werden? Das war alles ein Hypothetik. Letztlich eine Woche zuvor. Es war ein wilder sechs Tage für Stefanie Wackere. Ich meine, acht, wenn man die Battlegrounds zählen möchte.

The last Monday Night Raw before Money in the Bank. CM Punk is not going to the ladder match. Stephanie Vaquer is going to the ladder match. Liv Morgan is on the show. Seth Rollins' quest for power does not stop. Big E is on the show. And so much more. Welcome to WWE Raw Recap. Brought to you by Fanatics. Und hier sind wir, jetzt, von Money in the Bank, Sam Roberts, Megan Morant.

Sie hat Jordan Grace gewonnen. She comes to NXT to defend her title once more against JC Jane. All due respect to JC Jane, the whole world is shocked when JC is the one that beats Stephanie Vaquer for the title. Adam Pearce shows up on Instagram on Friday and says, hey, good news, everybody. I just signed Stephanie Vaquer. What? And here she is. Now she's going to be in this qualifier.

And boom, six days after she loses the NXT Championship, she's now in The Money in the Bank Ladder Match representing Monday Night Raw.

I don't think there's any doubt. I don't think there's any doubt. It's absolutely contagious. By the way, if you were watching, this was officially... ...herer Debut. Das war offiziell Stefanie Vaqueras... ...Raw-Debut.

Und wenn du kürzlich schaust... ...ich habe es gesehen, ich schaute sehr kürzlich... ...auf einer der Strapfen auf ihrem Gehirn... ...war sie mit den Topps... ...WWE Raw Debut Patch. Oh, lasst uns gehen. Eine Person... ...und wir schneiden es nicht ab... ...eine Person... ...kommt die Stefanie Vaqueras... ...Raw Debut Patch...

Something like that. I think a little above that, but around there. Upper 70s. I love that.

Later this year, when Topps puts it into a card, you know, we told you all about it at WrestleMania. As people get called up to the main roster now, those main roster debut patches are part of... Every single person that debuts will be wearing that on their gear and every single patch will end up in a single one-of-one card.

Keep an eye out for all the debut patches as superstars make all of their main roster debuts and Achtung für die Debut-Patch-Karten, die später dieses Jahr in den Retail- und Hobby-Shops kommen. Wer weiß, vielleicht finde ich eine Box und öffne sie mit Triple H. Ich weiß nicht, sie werden schwer zu bekommen. Und diese sind alle eine von einer.

We're talking C plus B minus territory. I give it a B minus.

Ich habe schon Leute auf Twitter gesehen, die versuchen, zu sagen, wenn jemand das findet, ist es meines. Ich kann nicht warten, um zu sehen, weil wir das in anderen Sporten schon gesehen haben. Aber die Idee, dass wir jetzt Pro-Wrestling-Fans sind, dass wir das machen können, ich bin sehr gespannt. Folgt Topz auf Social, damit ihr nicht verpasst, dass dieser offizielle Drop kommt.

Es wird fantastisch sein. Es wird fantastisch sein. Aber wir müssen über Money in the Bank reden. So viel geht an Money in the Bank. Und ich denke, wir sollten einen anderen Gast einbringen, um Money in the Bank zu brechen. Lass uns das machen. Of course, we can only be talking about one person. Big E is back here on Raw Recap. It's great to see you again.

For cashing in.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Listen. Big Weekend. All of us are going to be out there in Los Angeles. Of course, Megan and I will be there for the Money in the Bank Recap version of Raw Recap. Doing it live there, backstage, at the show, as people. Who knows? Maybe somebody will run in with their briefcase and be on the pod. We never know. We never know what's going to happen. Wild things happen.

But of course, Biggie, you will be there as well. Who knows? Maybe you'll pop in. You'll be doing the post show. You'll be doing the countdown. And so I know. ...that you've been looking very closely at everything leading up to this Money in the Bank PLE. Is there any one specific match that you're looking forward to, say, the most?

Yeah, I find her fascinating because Stephanie came in, I feel like, with a group of female superstars. And the group was kind of hyped. Like, oh, we've got these international women coming in. And very quickly, she stood out from that pack as like, no, this is something special, this is an individual. But when you look at this lineup, right, I feel like...

Und er hat den Vorteil von Steiner-Math, wenn es um seinen Cash-In-Programm geht, weil er Bram Breaker neben ihm hat. Aber ja, ich meine, der gleiche Weg, wie CM Punk sagt, ich würde gerne noch einen Sommer von Punk machen. Seth Rollins ist wahrscheinlich sagen, ja, na gut, das ist schön, dass du das möchtest. Ich würde gerne noch einen Heist des Jahrhunderts machen.

What makes this match unique is you have almost multiple generations represented. And the movement in the women's division is happening so fast. I feel like this is just a great capture in time, right? Because you have Stephanie Viqueur, Roxanne Perez, and Julia all getting called up, all going straight into this Money in the Bank ladder match.

You have Rhea Ripley, who, let's be honest, if she wasn't in this ladder match, she may be...

the women's world champion like she's always in that conversation and then you have people that have been around since before any of these people were on the main roster in naomi who's doing the best work of her career as you said earlier without question and alexa bliss who's back now and feels re-motivated and is creeping out charlotte flair and is and is i think in every bit of the conversation for this briefcase um

What do you look at, right, when you look at this match and you see almost like eras separated in that way?

We have conflicting goals right now. And with all that on the line, I kind of go, okay, well clearly the payoff here is CM Punk is going into the ladder match. Right now, now we're fighting for something. Now it's like the implications of Seth Rollins winning the briefcase are not just, now he's Mr. Money in the Bank. It's like, oh, this whole force is fighting against it.

Es ist etwas als Fan. Es ist fast erfreulich, auch wenn Naomi dieses Villain ist. Sie tut es so gut. Und wir, die schon angefangen haben, sind wie, warte mal, dieser Mensch kam in als Funkadactyl. Ja. Ja. Ja. Julia und Stephanie Viqueiro, die ich denke, dass die Leute hohe Erwartungen haben.

Ich schaue auf Leute wie Rhea Ripley und Alexa Bliss, die ich denke, dass die Leute bereits in die Kategorie der Champions-League-Matches stellen. Ich schaue auf Naomi, die die Leute in dieser Gespräche haben. I think because all those conversations are happening, Roxanne Perez is the one that's over here going like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I need to make sure that I'm not lost in this conversation. And imagine if all this Judgment Day nonsense is still going on and she walks in with a briefcase. All of a sudden she's in this heightened position of power.

You'd be sick. Es wäre krass. Ich meine, und ich denke, Stephanie Vaquera, zu Ihrem Punkt, Biggie, ist die einzige Person, die so eine Doppelwahrnehmung sucht. Ich meine, ich weiß, dass Chad Gable einen Interesse in allem, was Grande Americano tut, hat. Und Chad Gable wird bei Worlds Collide sein, während Grande Americano bei dem Money in the Bank Premium Live Event sein wird.

You were shaking your head. That's all I was saying. But he did qualify. And listen, you have been on record as a grande Americano, I'll say hater, here on Raw Recap before. You've talked about his body in ways that I've never heard another man talk about another man's body and knowing it and the familiarity and the way the water hits it. You said it all. But

You had to be impressed by Grande Americano in this match. The luchas skills of Grande, they showed themselves.

Ja, wir haben eine Menge Lucha-Repräsentation in diesem Match. Von Grande Americano bis Andrade bis Penta. Dann hast du auch Solo Sokoa, LA Knight, Seth Rollins. E, hast du einen Pick?

You were going Seth? I felt like... Seth, yeah. I'm a grande Americano guy. Oh, stop. So that's kind of where we're at with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria. You were talking about people not wanting to step aside. You were talking about people not wanting to give up a spot just yet. I think Becky Lynch has clearly asserted her intention to not...

Es ist auch wild, dass Jey Uso, Sami Zayn und CM Punk are fighting Seth Rollins because Seth Rollins wants absolute power in the WWE. Who is the one person that all three of those people have teamed with? Roman Reigns. Isn't that weird? I don't know. There's consequences to every action in this world and sometimes... Consequences, there's that word again. Right, right.

Step aside at any point, anytime soon for absolutely anybody. Is Lyra Valkyrie going to raise Becky Lynch's arm?

Ich habe immer gedacht, dass Lyra Valkyria der beste Featherweight war, aber das könnten auch nur die Wings sein. Okay. Okay. Okay. This was one that I think a lot of people maybe didn't see coming and here we are. Cody Rhodes is back. He's teaming with Jey Uso against, I mean, if you could cast a super villain team.

Was könnte möglicherweise mehr Villainous als moderner John Cena und Logan Paul sein? Ich meine, ist das für mich, ist das die Möglichkeit, zu sagen, na, schau, es ist ein Tag-Match. John Cena kann endlich ein Match verlieren, ohne den Titel zu verlieren. Oder ist das einfach, nope, John Cena ist zurück und er wird es reinrutschen und es schmerzen lassen.

Sometimes things just show themselves when they're meant to show themselves. At the same time, Paul Heyman and AJ Styles...

I love that answer. And I thought of you when Cody was cutting that promo on SmackDown, which I thought what Cody said was like masterful. He comes back and like kind of spells everything out with just one sentence at a time. If you break that promo down sentence by sentence, there is so much in there.

But one of the things he specifically said was that as champion, not only did he have all these people fighting for the title, but he was dealing with more backstage. denn any champion has ever dealt with.

And I went right back to the conversations that we have had with you on this show about the fact that the battles in the ring are only half the battles when you're someone like Cody Rhodes being that champion. But I do think, I mean, I'm with you, man. And it's a funny thing about Cody Rhodes. Like, you almost take for granted that he's the guy. And then when he's not the guy anymore...

You want to see that journey build back up again. You never want to see Cody down. At least that's where I'm coming from. As a fan, I'm here for the rebuild. You know what I mean?

meet each other and and paul heyman goes listen aj come on you go worry about dominic mysterio get yourself an intercontinental championship let seth have this one you don't want any of this and aj styles this is so bold of heyman right well i don't know why anybody would think aj styles is a pushover what did you think he was gonna you know what paul you're right That's a good call.

So interesting right now. So much talk about the direction of the company, whether it's John Cena and Logan Paul, whether it's Seth Rollins' group. Everybody is trying to figure out where they land and where the direction of the company is. I mean, it's a fascinating time to be an observer. Big E, we always appreciate your observations. We will see you out there in Los Angeles.

And I can't wait for it, man.

Yeah, you're the man. By the way, after Money in the Bank, you know the next big thing is going to be Fanatics Fest. Oh, yeah. Fanatics Fest, of course, coming to New York. I hope that Big E is going to be there. I know we're going to be there. I know there will be a ton of WWE superstars there.

But wait till you hear about what is officially going down for the first time ever, a select group of fans. are going to be able to step off the sidelines and into the spotlight to compete in high stakes multi-event skill showdown live at Fanatics Fest. I'm talking about Fanatics Fest Games. Everybody's talking about it right now. Over three days, WWE Superstars Rhea Ripley, Cody Rhodes and...

Live Morgan, who we just talked to, as long as her head heals, will join the world's biggest athletes, celebrities and a few lucky fans. And they'll all compete in eight fast-paced challenges, each testing a different athletic skill. You know what's at stake?

Two million dollars. Yeah, better than pride. Better than pride. Two million dollars. Leaderboard glory. Bragging rights that will last forever. You could make two million dollars last. You could stretch it out. As a matter of fact, you know what I would do with the two million? I'd take it. Hopefully they give it to me in cash. I'd go right to collector alley. I'd spend it on cards.

I'd double my money, no problem. That would be my plan. I don't know. This isn't just a game. It's the start of something legendary. Whether you're competing or just watching history unfold, you don't want to miss Fanatics Games. You can grab tickets and submit your fan application to the games all on the Fanatics app. Download it today. So much going on.

Megan, when we talk again, we will know who holds the Money in the Bank briefcases. When we talk after that. We will know who is won between Jey Uso and Gunther. What a time. What a time. Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast feed, because the podcast will go up after the Money in the Bank Premium Live event. It'll be the Money in the Bank Recap Show live from Los Angeles. Then...

I will go get the Intercontinental Champion. No, no. What did he say? Everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And you know when AJ says that he means it. That's AJ Styles. So we go into this thing and then almost, and no disrespect to Grande. But as you and I are talking, watching the show, we're like, oh, now, like, clearly it's going to be punk.

Of course, we'll be back here next Monday as well. You can catch all the shows on the WWE YouTube channel and all audio platforms. Subscribe, comment, listen, tell your friends. We'll see you this weekend.

And then it's like, oh, I guess they're giving you the benefit of the doubt with AJ here, because now he's got stakes in this thing, too.

That'll be AJ, then.

Poor Grande Americano is an afterthought. We're not even considering. I mean, and by the way, by the way, everybody's so busy, especially this Michael Cole. I don't know if it was because he could feel the wind in his armpits, which by the way, I don't respect the bet anymore because Michael Cole knew his arms look like that. Okay, but there you see it. Balloons flying everywhere.

Michael Cole is spending the whole match trying to give this secret identity of Grande Americano, which I think he's wrong about, but not pointing out the fact that we were actually seeing some pretty sick Lucha skills from Grande Americano. Grande Americano had himself a fabulous match. Und dann, boom, hat er seine Arme aufgeräumt. Wegen dieser witzigen, witzigen Hände. Weißt du, warum?

Weil CM Punk und AJ Styles nach Grande Americano geschaut haben. Sie haben beide nach den anderen Dingen geschaut, die sie hatten. Warum, oh, warum, oh, warum? In einem Triple Threat-Szenario. AJ Styles war in jedem Match, den du dir jemals vorstellen kannst. CM Punk wird von Leuten, die nicht im Match sind, übernommen. Wenn du in einem Triple Threat bist, Welcome to paradise, baby.

Why would you go and mess with anything going on over there when you go, this is great. Now it's one-on-one. Let CM Punk get smothered into the ground and I'm just going to worry about Grande over here and beat him. And instead, he's getting involved with the Heyman crew, the Rollins crew. Und dann, sobald Grande eine Verzweiflung sieht, bricht er sich an und macht sich bereit für den großen Kopf.

Er hat Phoenix gewonnen, er hat Ray Phoenix bei WrestleMania gewonnen.

Vielleicht weniger?

Can you imagine if he wins the briefcase?

Can you imagine? You think there'll be like a whole mariachi band for him?

If he wins Money in the Bank, that could be huge. That could be absolutely massive. And Chad Gable, I'm sure, will be cheering. He's going to be part of Worlds Collide, which is earlier in the afternoon.

Don't know. L.A. traffic is unpredictable.

Really don't know if Chad Gable will make it. Sammy Zane looks at CM Punk and says, you have to win this. And Punk says, I know. Punk wird das nicht gewinnen. Wo bleibt Sammy, wenn er auf Punk schaut? Ich meine, auf der einen Seite... Er wird verletzt, oder? Ich denke, er wird verletzt. Weil er sagt, Punk, du hast gesagt, du hattest das. Aber Sammy ist auch nicht im Match.

Are you going to get mad at Punk for falling for the same thing that you fell for? It's kind of tough. I mean, but what is it? What is it when they go, this is what's going to happen. They're going to come out. They're going to use the numbers against you. Don't worry. Now, this time I know. Big deal. They did it again. It's almost like they need more help. Jay and Sammy and Punk?

Megan, heute Abend starten wir das Show, richtig? Und CM Punk und Sami Zayn sind gut bewusst. ...of exactly what they have to do. They know what the stakes are. They know what's potentially going to happen. They know what to look out for. And yet somehow the inevitable happens exactly like Seth Rollins, like Paul Heyman, like Braun Breaker, like Bronson Reed predicted it would happen.

I mean, we need an army.

Especially because Jey Uso at one point is sitting in a locker room and Gunther just comes over and has a conversation. And you know I do not like when people don't try to downplay Jey Uso's title reign in any way, shape or form. It's very annoying. It's not coming from an honest place. It's dumb. It's dumb. And they're dumb.

But, to quote Nathan Fielder, but, but, also not necessarily wrong, because Jey Uso comes out, when he's got a tag team main event at Money in the Bank, and then a world title defense, raw main event in seven days, and he's the one who steps up, and what does he get for his troubles?

A couple of tsunamis, and a stomp, and a spear. All of them. Und Gunther hat gesagt, dass er nicht 100% vorher war. Ich meine, hör auf. Jey Uso ist Weltmeister. Es macht Sinn, dass er, wie Cody Rhodes sagt, der Verteidiger muss sein. Er muss der Kapitän sein. Er muss da sein, um vor allem alles zu erreichen. But at a point do you feel like, listen bro, you gotta stick to your matches.

Do you side more with Gunther, who is saying, that's none of your business? Or do you understand more the point that I was making last week, which is, when you're the champion, it's all your business.

Ja. Ich meine, was passiert, wenn... Es ist kein Welttitel-Match. Das ist wild.

But who won? Jey Uso. Boom, champion.

Right. I get it. I get it.

He's a selfish champion. And he'd be the first person to say that. But he's also... He's a champion whose only goal is keeping the title. And if you asked him that, he would say, yeah, that's the job. Which, I mean, if you really take any sort of spirit out of it and cut it down to absolute terms, sure. But also, I think most professional wrestlers would say your job is to represent the territory.

Und ich denke, Jay ist ein alter Typ. Jay wurde in Wrestling geboren. Jay wurde in Wrestling von einer Familie geboren. Ich meine, denk an, als Roman der Champion war. Roman war so, der Grund, warum ich der Champion bin, ist, weil ich meine Familie ernähren werde und dieses Ding mich um mich herumrennen wird. Es ist nicht nur so, dass ich existiere und den Titel habe.

Ich weiß absolut nicht, was du meinst. Und ich denke, das ist, wo es einzigartig wird. Was so interessant ist bei den zwei Nachts nach Money in the Bank, ist, dass es schwer ist, Gunther wieder zu Jey Uso zu verlieren. Aber auch...

Es gibt keine Art und Weise, dass du mir sagen kannst, dass dieser ganze Aufbau zu Jey Uso und der WrestleMania-Match und all das war auch so, dass Jey Uso den Titel für sechs Wochen halten konnte, nur um es dem Mann zurückzugeben, von dem er es gewonnen hat. Das macht keinen Sinn zu mir. Es fühlt sich nicht an wie die Geschichte.

Und Nick, weil dann, wenn Jey einfach den Titel zurück zu Gunther verliert.

Es ist nicht so, als würde er den Titel verlieren. Es ist nicht so, als würde er den Titel verlieren. Es ist nicht so, als würde er den Titel verlieren. Es ist nicht so, als würde er den Titel verlieren. Es ist nicht so, als würde er den Titel verlieren. Es ist nicht so, als würde er den Titel verlieren.

Aber du sagst, das ist verrückt für Jay. Jay macht alles gerade.

Richtig, wie ein Kornball. Ja. Du bist nicht... Diese Jungs sind cool.