PMS 2.0 1288 - UNC General Manager Michael Lombardi, Field Yates LIVE From The Senior Bowl, Stephanie McMahon, WWE Superstar Sheamus, & AJ Hawk

Speaker 1 Hello beautiful people

Speaker 1 and welcome to our Humble About the Thunderdome on this big Thursday, January 30th, 2025. This program starts now.

Speaker 1 Football!

Speaker 1 It is wonderful and obviously next week is Super Bowl week as we will find out if a three-peat is happening or if Nick Siriani and the Philadelphia Eagles will win their first Super Bowl since Big Richard Nick Foles led that squad into a wonderful horse poop eating time of Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 The Chiefs are favored by one and a half currently. Will that change next week? We will certainly monitor it.
The stories are in abundance for this particular one.

Speaker 1 Patrick Mahomes, is he going to cement himself as the greatest of all time for winning three straight? How about Travis Kelsey? Is he going to get a notch under his belt?

Speaker 1 Andy Reid, this man has the most wins for both teams that you're currently looking at, both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Will he continue?

Speaker 1 on his dominant tour with this fantastic squad out of Kansas City. And then on the other side, Saquon Barkley, can you win with a run-heavy, run-first, offensive line-led team in 2025?

Speaker 1 Everything says yes, but will they be able to beat the team that refuses to lose, which is the Kansas City Chiefs? We shall see.

Speaker 1 We'll be live in New Orleans from Radio Row, starting next Wednesday, all the way through Friday. The guests are already stacking up.
The guests' names are pretty big.

Speaker 1 I don't want to give anybody away. Dan Marino will be joining us.
What?

Speaker 1 Yeah. Send it.
Yeah, Vic. No flubs.
Send it, Damn Marino. And many, many more will be stopping by.
We can't wait to get down there.

Speaker 1 We also can't wait for this weekend in this beautiful city of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Speaker 1 The Royal Rumble has invaded Indianapolis and everybody is here, including Stephanie McMahon, who will be joining us in the second hour live in the Thunderdome. Wow.
Cannot wait to chit-chat with her.

Speaker 1 She'll be joining us. And obviously, it's an honor to get a chance to call her a friend.
Cannot wait for the chat with her about the business, the state of the WWE, her life, and everything else.

Speaker 1 And then this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium in front of a record-breaking Royal Rumble crowd, magic will be had, and we will find out who will be punching a ticket to the main event of WrestleMania.

Speaker 1 There will be a 30 woman Royal Rumble, a 30 men Royal Rumble, or a ladder match. Battles all over the place, and history will be made right inside.
of the Ladhas,

Speaker 1 Lucas Oil Stadium. Tomorrow night, Gainbridge Field House.
We kick everything off at 5 p.m. Eastern on Peacock and all the socials.
Michael Cole and I will be hosting the Royal Rumble kickoff.

Speaker 1 Then that goes into the Friday night SmackDown, which then leads into 6 p.m. Eastern kickoff time of Royal Rumble on Saturday.
The city is a buzz. The city is alive.

Speaker 1 The city is thankful that WWE came here and it's a great time to be alive. It's not just me here, obviously the boys of the talks at table here at Boston Connor, at Ty Schmidt.

Speaker 1 Royal Rumble tide, massive weekend. Everybody has flooded into our gorgeous city.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's the absolute best.

Speaker 3 And if you've never experienced a Royal Rumble, I really don't know how to describe it because everyone knows WrestleMania is, you know, like the Super Bowl equivalent.

Speaker 3 But the Royal Rumble, I mean, it's bigger than, you know, like a championship weekend. It's kind of its own thing.
There's really nothing in the world of sports that's that's like it.

Speaker 3 And even if, you know, you haven't been a WWE fan for a really long time, like if you watched 15 years ago, there's a chance you're going to show up at the Rumble and some of your favorite superstars of the past are going to be there.

Speaker 3 I couldn't be more excited for this weekend because it really is like, you know, if you read the dirt sheets and all that kind of stuff, you know, you can kind of get an idea of what's going around, like what's going on in the business.

Speaker 3 You have no idea what's going to happen at this event. You really don't.
And a lot of times, you know, like, you don't know what's going to happen

Speaker 3 until it happens that night at that time. And people within the WWE don't know.

Speaker 3 And I think that's why it's like, it's one of the best events, not just in the wrestling world, but in the world of sports entertainment.

Speaker 1 Literally anybody can show up at the Royal Rumble and has shown up at the Royal Rumble.

Speaker 1 Stars of yesterday, stars of tomorrow, stars from other promotions show up, and then in the end, one person gets a chance to have their dreams come true in main event WrestleMania.

Speaker 1 Will this be the year that CM Punk gets to go main event WrestleMania? Oh, whoa. We win the Royal Rumble.

Speaker 1 Will the second City Saint finally punch his ticket after tearing his tricep from the bone last year in the Royal Rumble? How about John Cena? The final target

Speaker 1 is now Drew McIntyre. Obviously, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes are participating in a ladder match.
It's going to be absolutely absurd.

Speaker 1 For those that don't know, the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes is the WWE champion. He's in the middle there with the blonde hair.
He comes from a royal family of wrestling.

Speaker 1 The guy next to him, Kevin Owens, there, is a Canadian guy. He's a psycho.
And he certainly said some things about a lot of people, but having him be a part of a ladder match in Lucas Oil Stadium,

Speaker 1 people that watch back in the day, remember Jeff Hardy just used to do

Speaker 1 Shane McMahon used to jump off of whatever. Kevin Owens is a mix of both of those guys.
And I legitimately cannot wait to see what happens in the carnage and the chaos.

Speaker 1 And, you know, who wins this Royal Rumble, both the men and the women. And, you know, who is going to cement themselves as one of the greatest of all time?

Speaker 1 Winning a Royal Rumble can certainly help do that. Let's go to one half of the hammer.
Don. Cowboys, Ton Diggs.

Speaker 1 There isn't a betting odds, I don't think, on the Royal Rumble on ESPN bet or any of the official sites, but there is a bunch of them for the Super Bowl next week. You went through a few of them.

Speaker 1 Dallas Goddard's over yardage yesterday feels good because the Chiefs have not been able to defend against a tight end, and they give him the ball a lot.

Speaker 1 Is there any other bets that you've been looking at for the Super Bowl that maybe we should

Speaker 1 think about snooping around on?

Speaker 4 Yeah, a couple tidbits for today.

Speaker 4 Patrick Mahomes as a favorite of three points or less or a dog in the playoffs is 8-0 against the spread and 8-0 straight up, which is not a surprise at all.

Speaker 4 Andy Reid off of a buy. You know, we've been talked about 23-4, okay?

Speaker 4 23-4, Andy Reid is off of a buy. Technically, with this week off, it's technically off of a buy here for Andy Reid in that situation.

Speaker 4 Those are two heavy, heavy, heavy stats going in the Chiefs' favor.

Speaker 4 Seven of the last seven games, the Chiefs, or sorry, the Eagles have covered their first quarter spread. They're actually plus one and a half in the first quarter of this Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 So just a couple of things, a couple of tidbits for today as far as the Super Bowl is concerned.

Speaker 1 I love that. Also, some breaking news out of the Philadelphia Eagles camp.
Brandon Graham, stud linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, BG, I believe is what they call him, tore his tricep week 12.

Speaker 1 They have opened his practice window today. So he could potentially be playing in the Super Bowl next weekend.
That would be a huge

Speaker 1 addition to a defense that has been buzzing and flying around. If BG tears his tricep week 12 plays in the the Super Bowl, you're talking legendary shit, folklore shit.

Speaker 1 I'm pulling for this story to happen. Yeah, without a doubt.
I mean, that was crazy.

Speaker 3 I don't know what noise that was.

Speaker 3 Okay, it looks like we got some tunes going mid.

Speaker 1 Man is panicking, sprinting across.

Speaker 1 The bump box bug bugs.

Speaker 1 Okay. Bruce Brown's having a morning.
Wow. Bruce Brown is a good boy.

Speaker 1 Hey, you're doing it, Bruce. You're a okay, Bruce.
It's all going to get figured out. Bruce is in charge of figuring out all the tickets for the Royal Rumble this weekend.

Speaker 1 Certainly a lot on his plate. People coming in from out of town, where are they sitting? Where are we sitting? Who's sitting? Where? There's booze bags going to be in places.

Speaker 1 We need to make sure we get it all figured out. Hey, Bruce, you're doing great.
Go ahead and forget it, Bruce. Keep it going, Bruce.

Speaker 5 That's on me.

Speaker 6 I was worried about that for the last two minutes.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and then it happened, obviously. And just think: the worst thing that could happen has happened, and it's not the terrible end of the world.
So don't worry about it.

Speaker 1 Maybe stress less, Bruce Brown. And also, when Stephanie gets here, make sure you take care of her.
Okay, so

Speaker 1 and her team. Let's make sure we're doing A-okay.
Bruce got a lot on his play to make it. He does.
A lot of logistical stuff that I don't think he's prepared for. No.

Speaker 1 But certainly 0 for 1 with the bump box.

Speaker 1 Only way we can go is up from here, Bruce Brown. But it's a beautiful Thursday here, Austin.
It is. He's great.

Speaker 3 Yeah, he is great in high-stress situations. Everyone says that about Bruce.
That's kind of like the 1A of when you're describing Bruce. This guy always performs under pressure.
Always does.

Speaker 3 We love Bruce. But Brandon Graham, this situation, I think is, it is, I mean, like you said, it's legendary.
I think there were talks that this might be his last year regardless.

Speaker 3 So if he were to come back, play in the Super Bowl, get a sack or have a massive moment, and if they win to go out on top, like

Speaker 3 that is a storybook ending. And like you said, like this is the Chiefs, or I mean, the Eagles' defense is unbelievable.

Speaker 3 Getting a guy like him back in just for a play or two, a couple third downs, it's huge.

Speaker 4 People remember the stuff like this forever. Remember, T.O.
came back off of a broken leg to play in the Super Bowl. Thomas Davis with his broken forearm came back to play in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 People love this shit and they'll talk about it forever if Brandon Graham's able to.

Speaker 1 They lost that particular game, Thomas Davis, with Carolina Panthers, although his forearm looked... gnarly, to say the least.
Cam Newton was asked this morning about MVP or Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 Would you give up your MVP for the Super Bowl? He said, no, I wouldn't. But then he gave a full answer about like, there's a lot of people that aren't good at football that have won Super Bowls.

Speaker 1 There's a lot of great players that haven't won a Super Bowl. There's not a lot of bad players that have ever won an MVP.

Speaker 1 So I think, you know, the way his answer was taken was kind of out of perception. But you won a Super Bowl, you're remembered forever.
Yep.

Speaker 1 You win a Super Bowl after tearing your tricep in week 12 and come back. You're remembered as an absolute dog.

Speaker 1 Not the BG wouldn't be, but that is something that Nick Siriani prides himself. Speaking to Nick Siriani, he'll be joining us tomorrow.
Yeah. 1.30 Eastern.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I had Andy Reid on yesterday, very close to the vest. Didn't tell us anything.
Sure. Nick Siriani, we assume will be a great conversation tomorrow at 1.30.
Cannot wait to catch up with him.

Speaker 1 How's the team feel? What is the

Speaker 1 vibes as they travel down to New Orleans? Are they loose? Do they feel like they're the team that's not getting any credit? Because all the storylines are the dynasty, the dynasty, the dynasty.

Speaker 1 Also, Jalen Hurts, is he good enough? He's not good enough. Patrick Mahomes, greatest of all time.
I assume Sirianni is utilizing all of those things to stack the chips onto his boy's shoulders.

Speaker 1 And I can't wait to hear him tomorrow, Con Man.

Speaker 2 Yeah, especially because they just lost to him.

Speaker 2 You know, like a lot of these players, although it will be some of their first Super Bowl, like Jalen, they just lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl a few years ago.

Speaker 2 There was that story last year about how Jalen's background on his iPhone was the Chiefs celebrating that victory over them. But I'm pumped for this game.

Speaker 2 You know, a lot of people saying they're not going to watch it. Those people suck and they're going to end up watching the game.
I think it's going to be a great one.

Speaker 2 You know, you think about the chips that Saquon Barkley has on his shoulder, let alone, you know, going in as one and a half point dogs, but just not really being wanted by the Giants, that entire...

Speaker 2 thing, him setting all those records. And then you just think about the vibes, like you mentioned, like My Lotta.

Speaker 2 We showed that clip yesterday of him, you know, pancaking three guys and then, you know, laughing as he's running down the field on the first play against the Commanders.

Speaker 2 And Saquon took it 60 yards to the house. Like, I think this is going to be a great Super Bowl, definitely better than ones of the past.
And who knows?

Speaker 2 If the Chiefs do win, Pat Riley owns the trademark for three-peat. He's going to make like a billion dollars.
So I know who he's rooting for.

Speaker 1 I think the Chiefs were trying to get ahead of that. Yeah.
They were trying to get ahead. Like, is it a Chiefs Pete? Is it three Chiefs?

Speaker 1 They wanted to get away from the three-peat. I think because Pat Riley has his raked.
Yeah. He's just raked in money off the three-peat stuff.
Since the 80s. Genius move.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Got the Bulls twice because they went three in a row twice.
Also had the Yankees in the 2000s when they won the World Series. Made a bunch of money off that.
I assume. Lakers.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Lakers, but that's where it started with him. But if, you know, if he gets 5%

Speaker 1 of every dollar made off of anything that has three-peat on it, just, oh, yeah, hey,

Speaker 1 great shirts. How much did you sell there?

Speaker 1 A million bucks. Sweet.
Okay. 500,000 is coming to old Uncle Pat Riley.
Yeah, I'm dealing with the Jimmy Butler situation.

Speaker 1 Yeah, the Miami Heat might be nowhere near a three-peat at this particular situation, but I am.

Speaker 1 I am for sure. So go ahead and pay the corner, pal.
Who's the corner? That is Pat Riley. Genius business decision.
All right, we have some breaking news out of the NFL.

Speaker 1 Steve Wilkes has been hired as the Jets defense coordinator.

Speaker 1 Steve Wilkes, obviously, has been around the NFL a very long time. Congrats to him getting a gig over there.

Speaker 1 Aaron Glenn, we assume, will be running the defense, but Steve Wilkes also has very, very, very deep resume of being a successful defensive mastermind in the NFL. What if the Jets don't suck?

Speaker 1 What if the Jets don't suck? Isn't that crazy to think about? I like Aaron Glenn. I like the way Aaron Glenn has handled himself.
I like the way he didn't bow down to the Jets media too.

Speaker 1 I think he understands the situation over there. He got Woody Johnson to say, maybe I haven't been the best owner.
Maybe the Jets are turning the corner.

Speaker 2 Or is this what we always do with the jets anytime there's a little bit of change yeah jets are the jets and still you know we we just watch them it is the bills division going forward and all eyes kind of turn to aaron rodgers because that is the biggest question mark when it comes to the jets but what do you think about the aaron glenn saying that he's not going to be calling plays that you know he is kind of passing it off is this one of those moves you bring in a vet like steve wilk i think that's why steve wilkes gets the gig you know i think obviously aaron glenn will be a big piece of what we're doing and strategy.

Speaker 1 But if you call the plays as the head coach and then you stink and then it's, you you know, you give it up, that's not good. Somebody else calls plays, they stink, then you can take it over.

Speaker 1 You know, that's like a very good move, I think, logistically, just for the future. Not saying Steve Wilkes will stink.
He has not stunk in the past. That's why he is who he is.

Speaker 1 He's been in the NFL a very long time. Great hire, I think, in my eyes for the Jets.
But it's hard to... be the head coach, stink as a play caller, then give up the reigns, kind of lose legitimacy.

Speaker 1 Somebody else doing it, if they stink, you picking it back up, always good move. Mike McCarthy down in Dallas was doing doing something similar.

Speaker 1 Doug Peterson down in Jacksonville was doing something similar. I think this is the right move.
And also Aaron Glenn knows he's a leader of men right now, not just a leader of the defense.

Speaker 1 I like the move by Aaron Glenn.

Speaker 3 But I think the OC thing is the more interesting thing, right? Because that kind of stems with everything that they're going to do with Rodgers. Obviously, they need a quarterback of the future.

Speaker 3 Rodgers isn't going to be there for the next five to 10 years, but they need to hire a guy that Rodgers gets along with who runs a similar kind of, you know, they're not going to bring in a guy and then make Rodgers learn a completely, I mean, you wouldn't think they would.

Speaker 3 Yeah, they might they might but you'd think he's gonna want a guy who kind of runs that primary like West Coast offense, you know, that he's used to so we'll see like that it's kind of all eyes on that and I guess that starts with are you gonna bring Rodgers back or not?

Speaker 1 And does Rodgers want to play? I mean, there's so many things and who knows what the deadline is. We have not reached out to Aaron Rodgers or Glenn to get an answer on that.

Speaker 1 I don't think that would be right for us to do, especially because we talk into microphones. But I think Aaron Glenn said that there has been texts exchanged with Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 1 I think Aaron Rodgers, from what we know, has great respect for Aaron Glenn. I assume Aaron Glenn has the same exact thing for Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 1 A lot of decisions have to be made on that front before it happens, but I don't think the Jets are going to be picking an offensive coordinator around Aaron Rodgers. Personally, I don't think.

Speaker 1 Because I believe if he comes back, the plan's going to be to get a young guy, have him watch Aaron, and then hopefully hand off the reins for the future.

Speaker 4 I wouldn't think so either. I don't think you want to hire your future OC based off of potential.
maybe one year with Aaron, you know, and just kind of put your whole future into that.

Speaker 4 But what I like with the Wilkes hire and what I like with all these first-time head coaching hires is when they get a DC or an OC or someone on their staff that has been a head coach before.

Speaker 4 Now, Wilkes was a interim head coach with the Panthers, but he did a great job with that Panthers team. So good that all the players wanted him.
and the Carolina Panthers to hire him.

Speaker 4 They did not do that, but like a guy with head coaching experience and running a team with a first-time head coach, I think is always a good idea.

Speaker 1 I think so too. More news.
Matthew Stafford will be playing next year.

Speaker 1 Congratulations to Matthew Stafford making the decision to run it back. He looked great this year at the end.

Speaker 1 You know, there was a lot of moments where we thought the Rams could go on and win the whole damn thing somehow out of nowhere. Very young defense.

Speaker 1 Obviously, Puka Nakua and Cooper Cup and Kyron Williams in that offensive line that figured out how to block because they were a crew that was getting kind of buried early in the year and last year.

Speaker 1 Matthew Stafford deciding to come back. Good for him.
Good for Matthew Stafford. I love that one of the old guard is still kind of doing it.

Speaker 1 And Les Need talked about it, actually, and here's what he had to say. Number one,

Speaker 7 could you see a scenario where you would trade Stafford? And if you did, do you think that's something that you guys would try to do quickly as opposed to dragging it out?

Speaker 8 Yeah, it's on that one. I think Matthew probably disturbed our rejuvenation period because I think we did play in the division around that year.

Speaker 9 And then maybe a week later.

Speaker 8 is when he

Speaker 8 when he when it leaked that, hey, he would like to be trading the Lions.

Speaker 8 we're thinking of trading. So we had to get back to work a little bit quicker than we wanted to.
But I haven't on trades, Gary, too.

Speaker 8 That's one thing, too.

Speaker 8 It'll take someone calling or us reaching out if we want to do. That's the things that will be determined down the road here.

Speaker 1 Okay. Yeah, we have no idea what's going to happen.

Speaker 1 There's a lot that has to get figured out. Les Need has done a great job building that roster.
Remember, they go all in. They go all in to win that Super Bowl in Los Angeles.
They do. They did.

Speaker 1 Then what do you do on the other side? You know, you kick the can down the road, kick the can down the road. Inevitably, that can is not going to have any more road to get kicked down.

Speaker 1 It's going to be staring you right in your dumb face. They did that.
They were able to adjust. They got great usage out of their draft picks, even though they didn't have a lot of draft picks.

Speaker 1 Remember, his entire thing was.

Speaker 1 Fuck them draft picks. Now he's got young guys in very important positions.
He's able to manage the roster and Matthew Stafford coming back.

Speaker 1 Look out for the Los Angeles Rams out there in a battle for L.A. as the Chargers also on an upswing.
Good for both of them.

Speaker 2 Yeah, awesome. And with the Rams, like you mentioned, I think earlier in the week, they were one of those teams early on in the season where it's like, hey, they might trade everybody they have.

Speaker 2 Cooper Cup was heard and they were talking about him being a guy who's going to get moved.

Speaker 2 And then when they beat the Vikings on that, you know, last second kind of controversial face mask on Sam Darnold is when their whole entire season turned around.

Speaker 2 And, you know, they have so much young talent. Like, why would Stafford, you know, want to get out of there?

Speaker 2 He's kind of rumored to get traded, it feels like, every year, whether that's some sort of contract negotiation or something along those lines.

Speaker 2 But when it comes to Les Sneed, basically everything that he does, I feel like now is, hey, probably the right move just because of them winning the Super Bowl and them being able to turn it, you know, around so quickly.

Speaker 1 And Sean McVay. Yeah.
I think we have faith in Sean McVay.

Speaker 1 Already a Super Bowl champ, so he's already cemented as a guy that can get it done. So damn young.
And literally, Liam Cohen just gets a gig.

Speaker 1 You know, his coaching tree is starting to become bigger than a lot of the greats that have ever been around there.

Speaker 4 It might be already one of the biggest coaching trees of all time. I mean, like, literally, if we talked about it a couple years, like a cup of coffee with McVay, get you a head coaching job.

Speaker 4 And I feel like that may have died down for a year or two. But I mean, we are fully back into it.

Speaker 4 I don't know, probably 12 teams, 13 teams is basically from his coaching tree.

Speaker 1 Also, Raiders are bringing back Patrick Graham as their defensive coordinator. Congrats to Patrick Graham.
Congrats to the Las Vegas Raiders. Max Crosby spoke to Jim Gray about Pete Carroll.

Speaker 1 Just said his energy is the one thing that that he has realized. Joining us now is a man who has deep history with the raiders.

Speaker 1 He's currently the general manager of the University of North Carolina Tar Heel football team, friend of the program. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Lombardi.
Hey, hello.

Speaker 10 How are we doing? Lombardi.

Speaker 11 I love Chuck. I love that Chuck gave you the donuts.
You got to love Chuck. You can't, you know, what a great guy.

Speaker 10 Yeah. Congratulations.

Speaker 1 I mean, I'm pretty excited that Chuck isn't going to be bringing in 50,000 calories every single Thursday, but we will miss his presence as we will miss, obviously, you as you continue to work on your UNCGM job.

Speaker 1 Let's talk about the Raiders here, though. Obviously, you have deep history and love for that particular franchise.
You like the Pete Carroll hire? You like Pete Carroll becoming their guy?

Speaker 1 And what do you think he brings to the Raiders that maybe they haven't had for a while?

Speaker 11 Well, I think sometimes these owners need to buy credibility, right? Because they've made so many mistakes along the way that they have to buy somebody who brings them credibility in the building.

Speaker 11 And Pete Carroll, who will, you know, whatever people want to say outside the NFL and in the media, Pete Carroll has had an NFL Hall of Fame coaching career.

Speaker 11 If you just look at what he's been able to accomplish in Seattle, the winning that he did there, going to two Super Bowls, winning one, you know, he gets his team into the playoffs.

Speaker 11 I think to me, the Raiders bought credibility. They needed it.
And they needed somebody who's going to give them some competitive nature within the framework of how they're going going to play?

Speaker 11 I think it's a great hire. He's a young 73.
He's got incredible energy.

Speaker 11 I think he'll be able to walk in front of that team and get in front of them and have the ability to say, fellas, if you want to win a Super Bowl, this is what you have to do.

Speaker 11 And look, when they went out there with John Schneider, when they started in Seattle, when he left to go from SC there, they were not a good team in Seattle.

Speaker 11 And between him and John Snyder working together, they rebuilt that team with a great defensive front. Michael Bennett, Cliff Averill, all those great players up front that they had.

Speaker 11 And that's why they were able to win Super Bowls in terms of they were dominating in their scheme.

Speaker 1 What do you think he did this entire last year, Pete Carroll? We didn't hear much from him. He was hanging out with Washington and you guys up there for a little bit, I think, with the Huskies.

Speaker 1 Was there anything else?

Speaker 2 Teaching at USC.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he had like, he's a professor for a bit. What do you, because like, we know Bill traveled around to a lot of different colleges to kind of see how it is.

Speaker 1 Chuck has remained dialed in throughout, literally since he retired. We assume Pete stayed with the game, stayed in the game.
How do you think he spent this past year?

Speaker 1 And what do you think has either helped him become a head coach again? Or do you think he's just going to pick up where he left off?

Speaker 11 I think the year off always helps somebody, especially it refreshes you, recharges you. Plus, you know, you go through that period of, wait a minute, somebody didn't want me.

Speaker 11 You know, I feel like I have a lot still to prove.

Speaker 11 And when you've got a career like Pete's had, where he's won a national championship in college, won a Super Bowl, I think you want to go out there and go out on your own terms.

Speaker 11 I think Pete wanted to stay in Seattle. The organization made a decision to move on, and I think he wants to prove it was the wrong decision.

Speaker 11 So when you're out of football, I think you're constantly evaluating, what can I do better in the next job I get? What do I need to improve on? Where were the mistakes I've made?

Speaker 11 You do this ongoing autopsy of your career. And I think you have to do it every year, whether you've been fired or not.
It's the only way you can improve.

Speaker 11 I mean, after a year here at North Carolina, we're going to go through an extensive understanding of what we did well, what we didn't do well. We've done it after the portal.

Speaker 11 We'll do it after recruiting because the only way you get better is to learn from your mistakes. And I think Pete's one of those people who's very curious.

Speaker 11 You know, he listens to a lot of leadership podcasts. I know that.
So I'm sure he's ready to take it up another level.

Speaker 1 Yeah, we can't wait to watch Pete back there with the Raiders. And once again, we all feel the same way as I believe you do.

Speaker 1 The NFL is better whenever the Raiders are rolling, especially with a city like Las Vegas, who's never had a great NFL team until maybe next year. Let's go down to

Speaker 1 Duval.

Speaker 1 Ty has a question for you.

Speaker 3 Lombo, what do you think about Jacksonville hiring Liam Cohn? We've seen all the stuff come out.

Speaker 3 Obviously, he's getting killed for saying Duval in his press conference and not really knowing the cadence.

Speaker 3 And then all the stuff's coming out from Tampa about him pissing off the front office and a lot of coaches with the way he left there.

Speaker 3 He only has five years of NFL coaching experience, but he's well-respected coming from McVay's tree.

Speaker 3 Do you think they made the right hire, and is he ultimately a guy who's going to be able to turn around Jacksonville?

Speaker 11 I think it's a really hard job. You know, they're not going to play at home for the next two years.
So you've got a lot of obstacles that you're not in control of.

Speaker 11 I think one of the things you have to do in Jacksonville is change the culture. You've got to convince people down there that you know how to win.

Speaker 11 I think there was a team that needed to buy credibility more than anything. And I hope Liam can do that.

Speaker 11 But as a young coach with five years, he's going to have to win people over at every single staff meeting, every single team meeting, and show that, you know, look, we can win this thing.

Speaker 11 The Bucs lost a playoff game, so he doesn't come in there with the stature of saying, hey, follow me, guys. I know how to win Super Bowls.
He's going to have to show that they can win.

Speaker 11 I think Jacksonville has that losing mentality that they're going to have to erase because it just naturally flows. Uh-oh, something bad happens.
It's going to continue.

Speaker 11 I think he's got a challenging leadership job ahead of him. I don't know who's going to help him, whether they stay with the interim general manager or they find someone on the outside.

Speaker 11 But I think it's a huge job. I really do.
I think he's got a lot ahead of him because becoming a head coach at any level is hard.

Speaker 11 Becoming a first-time head coach at a job that's challenging is going to really tax him. I don't think he even remotely understands the terrain that lies ahead of him.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and you know, you can be a goober in your opening press conference. We've seen that before and end up working out.
We've seen it end up not working out.

Speaker 1 We would like to reserve judgment on any of these coaches. Can you really tell if a guy's going to suck as a head coach? You have no idea, right?

Speaker 1 If a first-time head coach is going to be good or not, right?

Speaker 11 No, I think you need to, you know, look, to me, I think you need to see their leadership skills immediately. Are they going, how they hire coaches? I think, are they going to hire their friends?

Speaker 11 Are they going to hire the best person for the staff? That's the first, to me, that's the first look at what you're dealing with. Are they going to be head coaches?

Speaker 11 Are they going to be subcontractors? I know Liam said he's going to call plays. That's great.
But is he going to be involved with the defense? Everybody wants Jacksonville to fix Jehervin Lawrence.

Speaker 11 Jacksonville's lost so much they need to fix their franchise, right? It's like us coming here in North Carolina and said, all we have to do is fix the quarterback.

Speaker 11 No, we've got to fix everything if we want to get to the next level. And I think that's Liam's challenge, too.

Speaker 11 You've got to be able to work in all areas as a head coach or else the rest of the organization feels like... you're not paying as close attention to him.
So he's got a challenging job.

Speaker 11 And I hope they give him a support system to help because these young coaches are out there on an island.

Speaker 11 I think after you've been fired from your first time as a head coach, you realize, I'm sure if you talked to Robert Sala today, he would say, wow, there's so much I didn't know that I know now.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and Robert Salah back is the defense coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. We assume his name will be up for another head coaching gig at some point.

Speaker 1 And that second time around has been very good for a lot of people. Head coach is not easy, not easy to know.
He won't even remember that duva

Speaker 1 in about two weeks because the amount of shit that's going to come across his desk. We're pulling for him.
Legit. We would like everybody to have great success.
Hopefully he's able to do it.

Speaker 1 You bringing up the point about not having a home game in two years is a very good one too because they're doing stadium renovation, right? Aren't they? Rebuilding a full stadium?

Speaker 1 Okay, so that's a task in and of itself having to manage that because that's more distractions. Anything that is a distraction from winning is going to be tough to navigate.

Speaker 1 Hopefully Liam's able to do that. There is a chance he doesn't, though.
A lot of coaches end up stinking in the NFL. We hope he's not one of them.
Connor has a question for you, Lombo.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Lombo, different kind of situation in Cincinnati. Duke Tobin came out and he kind of talked about how Jamar Chase is obviously a priority as far as a contract goes.

Speaker 2 But then you think about, you know, T. Higgins, Trey Hendrickson, he said, look, hey, we can't be paying, you know, top dollar at multiple positions around the league.

Speaker 2 The exact one was we can't have guys at the top of the payroll in every position, right?

Speaker 2 How do you think they go about assembling their team?

Speaker 2 And how do teams not fall into this kind of category like the the Cowboys are in now and seemingly the Bengals are in, where you're paying three guys, you know, 50% of your cap, but you kind of have to hold on to those guys because of how productive they are.

Speaker 11 Yeah, well, you want to hold on to them. You just got to draft really well.
I mean, the Rams got away with it.

Speaker 11 I know I listened to what Les said before I came on, and Les has done a great job of rebuilding that defensive front with the draft. And to me, if you're Duke Tobin, you've got to say,

Speaker 11 I've got to sign Hendrickson. He's my best pass rusher.
He gives me a presence on defense. I love to sign T.
Higgins, but unless I can get T for the right deal, I'm going to have to draft somebody.

Speaker 11 I'm going to have to find, again, it's the same thing whether you're in pro football or college football. They're replaceable parts and they're non-replaceable parts.

Speaker 11 And I think when you're talking about a great pass rusher like Hendrickson, they're hard to find. They just don't come walking down the street.
You've got to pay him.

Speaker 11 And you're going to have to pay him. You can never overpay for great.
But what happens is when you start overpaying for good, you get in trouble. And I think that's something that Cincinnati can't do.

Speaker 11 Look, Cincy has been, look, the offensive line has been a mess. Their defense hasn't been very good because of the way they practice and because of the way they don't really demand physicality.

Speaker 11 Look, the reality of it is teams that can't run the ball don't play good run defense. I mean, that's just a fact.
Look, the Rams, one of the areas they have to improve on is their running game.

Speaker 11 They were 31st in the National Football League in yards per attempt. And guess what? Their defense was 26 in allowing yards per attempt.
Those two things have to go together.

Speaker 11 And Cincey never puts those two together. I think it's one of the hardest defensive coordinator jobs in football because of the way they approach offensive football in Cincinnati.
They never run it.

Speaker 11 They really don't manage the game correctly. They just want to score, score, score.
And all of a sudden, they're in a scoring duel and they end up losing.

Speaker 11 So Duke's got a challenge, but he's going to have to draft really well.

Speaker 1 Okay, so let's stick with the Cincinnati Bengals and T. Higgins situation.
You think he's going to be okay without Jamar Chase? Obviously, there was a lot of games where Jamar was not playing.

Speaker 1 Obviously, there was games without Joe Burrow playing and everything like that. You think he's going to be able to become a true number one somewhere if it's not in Cincinnati?

Speaker 11 I think he can be. I think they're going to have to move him around.
I think he is certainly a dynamic player.

Speaker 11 And I think if he goes to the right team where he is, let's call him a one, where he also has inside slot receiver or a tight end, then I think he becomes a player.

Speaker 11 Because remember, when you have Chase on the field, everybody's rolling the coverage or trying to double him some way.

Speaker 11 Now, they did a good job in Cincinnati this year, motioning him, keeping him away from double teams. But I think T's really talented.
And and I think T can go somewhere and be a really good player.

Speaker 11 You put T. Higgins on a team like the 49ers, my lord.
You know, he could end up shining because they've got other players around him, and then he looks really good.

Speaker 11 Brandon Ayuk would be even better with someone like T or Debo or someone there. So, yeah, I think he's, and here's the problem that Duke has.

Speaker 11 Duke's not going to be able to pay what other teams are going to pay because people are going to overpay for T. Higgins in the sense that they need him.

Speaker 1 Yeah, got the Patriots over here saying, give him him to me. A lot of caspies.
Right, talking about overpaying. You got the Packers here saying, give them to me.

Speaker 1 And then people in Indianapolis, fans of the Colts, they're saying, he'd be great here, especially because we got Pittman already on one side, Alec on the other side.

Speaker 1 T would be great to open up the entire offense. I assume there's a lot of teams that are envisioning potential T.
Higgins on their offense, making him better.

Speaker 1 And anytime that happens, you know, all you need is two to really drive up a price. If there's more than that, you're talking, congrats to T.
Yeah. Congrats.
You've earned it, brother.

Speaker 1 Welcome to New England.

Speaker 1 and also all the mic'd up segments i've seen from t beloved by his teammates like absolutely beloved by his teammates and him not being the number one guy i think there's a sense of humility that comes with that i think there's a sense of work that comes with that i think he is a prized possession of this particular free agency and before the season there was that uh entire video he released of him from his car knowing like hey this is probably my last year in cincinnati but still going out there and playing and not causing any problems and his mom came out yeah and was like he's gonna do what's right he's gonna go do this entire thing.

Speaker 1 I mean, he is a guy that could potentially change your offensive franchise. We shall see how he's going to be able to do that.

Speaker 11 And I think what people lose sight of, too, here, Pat, is since he's not a tax-free state, so, you know, Duke's not going to be able to match the deal that someone else puts out there.

Speaker 11 And because he's not in it, whereas if he were in, say, Houston, Houston could get close because of the tax implications.

Speaker 11 Don't ever think that that's not a big factor in these deals because it is. You know, you go to Massachusetts, he's going to pay a hefty sum.

Speaker 11 The Patriots are going to have to pay way more than, say, the Raiders did if they sign them.

Speaker 1 You're talking about Taxachusetts?

Speaker 1 Is that what you're talking about? Yeah, that is what you're talking about.

Speaker 11 Or any of those states, right? Any of those states.

Speaker 11 I mean, that's just the cost of doing business.

Speaker 10 Taxation.

Speaker 1 Without representation up there in Massachusetts, now a place is known as Taxachus. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
There's representation.

Speaker 11 That's why the Tea Party was there, Connor. I mean, I don't want to disrupt you, Connor.
I understand you want him there. I know.

Speaker 1 Now, Lamba, you get it.

Speaker 2 And that tea is still at the bottom of that harbor. Don't you forget it, brother.
But I mean, that's happened these last two years, though, with Ayuk and Calvin Ridley.

Speaker 2 That was a conversation, and they did overpay and overshoot everyone else because of taxation.

Speaker 1 And how did it work out?

Speaker 2 We don't need to talk about that.

Speaker 1 Drake May.

Speaker 1 All right, okay. He's a Pro Bowler.

Speaker 2 That was before Drake May was a Pro Bowler.

Speaker 1 He's a professor. Now we're going to Pro Bowl quarterback.
All right, let's move away from the NFL. Let's go to trying to get into the NFL.
A.P. Tone has a question for you, Lombo.

Speaker 4 Yeah, Lombo. One of those reasons why T is, you know, coveted so much is because it's not.

Speaker 4 The wide receivers in this upcoming class aren't like the ones that we've had in the past few classes, they say right now but right now on my timeline it's all shrine game it's it's all senior bowl it's all highlights from that stuff where do these the the shrine game the senior bowl where does this rank in the process uh of the draft process and and for for guys like you for gms for scouts and stuff like that I wish Chuck was still here today because we could reminisce about watching the Senior Bowl 12,000 times with Al Davis.

Speaker 11 I mean, that's all we watched. And people say, well, why did you watch one game all the time?

Speaker 11 We would watch practices and we would watch the game because college football is about level of competition. That's really what it's about.

Speaker 11 And the senior bowl, historically, going back to my first year in 1984 when Bruce Smith played in the game and Jerry Rice played in the game and some great players played in the Senior Bowl, is you get good on good.

Speaker 11 You don't have to worry about who we play in, who's the guy across from them, who they block in, who's the corner. And so the Senior Bowl tape for scouts and organization is a valuable tool.

Speaker 11 The other value that goes into the game is can players improve their way from Monday when they start practice till Saturday when the ball gets kicked in the air?

Speaker 11 Are they improving using NFL techniques and fundamentals? And it's different there than in college. So I think it's huge for every player to go in there.

Speaker 11 If I were a quarterback and I represented a quarterback from college, I want my player to play in the senior bowl because there's no blitzing. It's either cover three or one man.

Speaker 11 The middle of the field is always going to be closed and you're not getting blitzed. And if you can't succeed in that offensively, then you've got no chance to play in the NFL.

Speaker 1 They're saying Tez is really showcasing well out there at Oregon. He's a great returner as well if you need him.
Quick is a hiccup. Absolute stud.
Getting a chance to take on corners.

Speaker 1 One-on-one is obviously something that's going to be watched very closely for wide receivers and corners.

Speaker 1 A few snaps ago, we saw Mike Green out of Marshall led the FBS in sacks, just deboing a guy from Ole Miss, I believe. No, Oregon.
I'm sorry. Oregon Tackle.

Speaker 1 He's never going to get the chance to play against Oregon Tackle as the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Speaker 1 So whenever he runs somebody over like that, obviously he's going to open Scouts' eyes as a Senior Bowl Hall of Famer. Hell yeah.

Speaker 1 That's true. As a Senior Bowl Hall of Famer, I will say it was an honor to get a chance to meet everybody down there.

Speaker 1 What's happening in the lobby and the handshaking is an extension of the combine is what they're saying. The meet and greet, the face-to-face time and seeing people is a big deal, right, down there?

Speaker 11 No question. And you get to see them in an environment.
And the best time to really spend time in Mobile is when everybody goes home. Today's Thursday.
Most of the NFL teams will go home.

Speaker 11 And if you stay for Friday and then you stay for the game, you really get more time with the kids because most teams have gone home from their week. And I think it really gives you a chance to see.

Speaker 11 Plus, you want to see how the kids behave and prepare for the game. I think that's really important.
You know, you want to watch games on players. We spend too much time watching highlights.

Speaker 11 You know, you should watch a quarterback. Look, you know, when you're watching a quarterback play in high school, I don't want to watch all the throws he makes.

Speaker 11 I want to watch what happens after he gets sacked. I want to watch what happens after he has a bad play.
I want to see the next play. That's never on the highlight tape.

Speaker 11 And when you're down there at the senior bowl and you're watching games or the full game, you see that.

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 I enjoyed my time down there. Wasn't able to do much, you know, because there's only one field.

Speaker 1 So kickers, punters, you don't really get a lot of opportunity.

Speaker 11 Thomas Messenger. You know, Pat, people saw you boom the ball, though.
That's really, you know, and they could see that. And this way, you didn't have to work.

Speaker 11 You know all what you want to do at the senior bowl is put put the question man we need to do more work on that guy or we need to spend more time with that guy and then all of a sudden that momentum will build you know because what what's happened is they don't really have a great look at you through college because they now they see you live live is always better than watching tape i think they got a chance to hear it you know the ball come off my foot i i i legitimately think that was what the difference i think they got a chance to hear it and like oh shit wait a second this guy's got i think that's a great point because it's like the golf shot.

Speaker 11 I mean, how many times when you see them hit that golf ball the way it sounds? It's the same thing.

Speaker 11 Punters, great punters have a different sound than average punters. Bingo.

Speaker 1 Like, if I was to go to the combine, which I think I'm going to be down there for the specialist this particular year, I'm going to get a chance. And I wasn't invited to the combine.

Speaker 1 I was invited to the senior bowl as a kicker, but I was punting and kicking at the practices before the practices. It's like, you can tell by the sound, I think.

Speaker 1 For me, anytime I went to a kicking camp, and this is no offense to anybody that I was at the camp with, and Thomas Morstead, who's still punting in the NFL, was at some of those camps.

Speaker 1 It's like, you can just hear the different, there's levels to this entire thing. At the combine, if I was to be scouting somebody, it'd be like, I want to hear who's out there first.

Speaker 1 And then once I hear it, let's go see if their form is worth a shit at all. And if they can pound it and boom it and their form's okay.

Speaker 1 This is probably going to be a guy. Now you got to figure out mentally if they're somebody.
All the other positions, you know, there's certain things you're looking for.

Speaker 1 Like, I think they want to see the ash of some of those DNs and some of those offensive offensive linemen.

Speaker 1 But then the sound too of the thud that these guys are bringing, I think is a big deal, which is why boots on the ground is so damn important. I enjoyed my time down in Mobile.
Absolutely enjoyed it.

Speaker 1 Most of the practices, though, I was just making like one-handed catches,

Speaker 1 just trying to showcase my athleticism on a sideline. Like, hey, I could throw this thing 70 yards if I had to, like, anything to try to make myself look like I was a little bit more of an athlete.

Speaker 1 But congrats to all the guys that get invited to the Senior Bowl. And also,

Speaker 1 congrats to Shrine Bowl people.

Speaker 1 No offense yeah you know because magi puts out a tweet that says like all right scouts recalibrate your eyes it's time for the senior bowl and the shrine bowl guy got all offended it was like i don't think he was talking i guess you could take it as shit talk i think he was just saying like recalibrate your eyes like there's a whole new batch yeah of people but the shrine bowl guy was like you don't have to bury us to put yourself it's like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa it's all good we're all scouting we're all trying to get guys into the nfl the senior bowl though has been the thing for the longest Let's talk about the Super Bowl now, Lombo.

Speaker 1 We're over a week away, obviously, and there's some storylines developing. Nothing will really start cooking until next week.

Speaker 1 Today, Brandon Graham got announced his practice window has been open after tearing his tricep in week 12. That is certainly something.
Everything else is just seemingly Chiefs versus Eagles.

Speaker 1 Two different styles here. Eagles are our 1990s football team.
They're going to pound the rock. They got the most explosive player on the field in Saquon Barkley, whenever he has it.

Speaker 1 And then the Chiefs just win. They're coming off their best offensive performance by far of the entire season.
How are you looking at this as we're about a week away?

Speaker 1 And what should we be thinking about as we talk about it?

Speaker 11 Well, I think we should spend a lot of time thinking about Andy Reid going against Vic Fangio. And there's a lot of examples of that.
When he was in Denver, he's the head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Speaker 11 So you've got a lot of tape to watch. I think Andy Reid has spent most of his week this week watching Denver Broncos versus the Kansas Chiefs.
What will Vic Fangio try to take away?

Speaker 11 I understand the Chiefs' offense is different, but Vic has a certain style that he wants to play, and I think Andy will study those four games or six games, how many they were in Vic's tenure.

Speaker 11 I think he was there for three years.

Speaker 11 His tenure in Denver will really be the providing the launch pin for what the game plan will be for Andy Reid as he goes forward, because he's got the tape, and he wants and he'll see from game one to game four how he wanted to play him.

Speaker 11 And look, this Chief team, you know, forget about all the nonsense about the officials and all that. They just know how to win, right?

Speaker 11 They know what it takes to play, and they knew they needed to score more points. They revved up their offense last week, and then they were able to make the plays that they needed to to win the game.

Speaker 11 And it's the same thing with Philadelphia.

Speaker 11 I mean, Philly, you know, was probably anticipating play in Detroit, and Washington took care of that, so they were able to get in this game, and they let Jalen Hurts kind of take over a little bit and wear the Washington commanders down.

Speaker 11 So I think it's a great game, but I think both teams are peaking at the right time. There's no question.

Speaker 1 I I think so, too. We're in for a great one.
I'm excited for it. Lombo, we can't thank you enough for making time.
Thanks, guys.

Speaker 1 What are we doing right now? We're still scouting. We're recruiting.

Speaker 11 We've got a couple more days on the road, and we're going to keep hammering those young men out there that want to play professional and come see our school. Well, getting business lined up, Pat.

Speaker 11 We got a long way to go. We're working on a lot of things, so it'll be fun.
It's great.

Speaker 1 Realistic expectations of next year. Have you guys put that out there yet or no? Are we trying to win it all all the time?

Speaker 11 I think we're just, well, you know, we're going to stick with the Belichick mantra i'm just trying to get better today that's all i'm worried about i got to get a little bit better today if i do that i'll be good you're the man look ladies and gentlemen guys multiple time super bowl champion lombardu and lombo

Speaker 1 we'll be joined by vanderfield yates here in a matter of moments he's live down at the senior bowl can't wait to get his kind of takeaway on everything lombo is just like 4 000 miles an hour all the time oh he's the best in the best he's got an answer for everything he does never has said you know i haven't thought about that like legitimately ever ever he has thought about about everything all the time.

Speaker 1 Vic Fangio versus Andy Reid, that's a beautiful thing. You were holding up seven.
What's that? Six.

Speaker 4 So they played six times when he was with the Broncos, two times when he was with the Dolphins, I believe. And I think Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are eight-no against Vic Fangio, if I have to say.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah, that was a stat that hit the internet last night. I forget who tweeted it.
Somebody said,

Speaker 1 not for nothing.

Speaker 1 Patrick Mahomes, pretty good against Vic Fangio in this entire thing. Now, this defense with Vic Fangio, a little bit different than the defenses that Vic Fangio has had in the past.

Speaker 4 It is 100%. I mean, the playmakers that he has with the Eagles is much different.

Speaker 5 Also, you know, Patrick Mahomes is good against a lot of people.

Speaker 1 Well, and also Jalen Carter. Bingo.
Yeah. A little different animal.

Speaker 2 It's a little new. They also have two rookie cornerbacks, too.
So it's not as if they've been in the league for very long.

Speaker 1 Jalen, just knowing it's the last game, not that he ever saves anything. Okay.
I'm not saying he plays like 98% of the snaps.

Speaker 1 It's absolutely unbelievable, especially with what was being said about him whenever he came in. This guy's a workhorse, actual workhorse.
Dog, can't wait to talk to Nick Siriani about him tomorrow.

Speaker 1 But there is an obvious difference in plays when he's trying. Like whenever he decides, like, yeah,

Speaker 1 I'm going to beat you on this play.

Speaker 1 He comes out of his three-point stance, and you just see every person that he's ever, he just presses them, and then it's a swipe, and then he's in the backfield chaos completely.

Speaker 1 Patrick Mahomes has done well with that, though.

Speaker 1 Patrick Mahomes has done very well with that throughout the past. Are they not going to do that? Are they just going to try to keep Patrick Mahomes in the pocket?

Speaker 1 Because that is when Patrick Mahomes allegedly is not at his best.

Speaker 1 When he's extending plays making the mahomes magic is when mahomes is mahomes i'll be interested to see what vic fangio tries to do but you can't overthink it either you can't you got to be yourself yeah fascinating game of chess especially with two weeks to prepare for it it's like do we do too much do we do our shit do we change do we not there's so much going on behind the scenes right now that's why whenever we get to the game it's exciting to watch that first drive yeah like okay you can tell what they're declaring they're going to be doing and that's why the first 15 is so important yeah and you kind of saw it against jaden daniels too like if you know jalen is pushing the pocket crazy and Mahomes does have to escape.

Speaker 2 Like, Nolan Smith runs a 4-3. So, like, he can run in space as well.
So, it is, I mean, this is a great matchup.

Speaker 1 I, I,

Speaker 2 truly cannot wait for the Super Bowl. I can't believe the thought that you're not going to watch is even out there for some.

Speaker 1 That's over. I think that kind of passed.
I hope so. Joining us now live from the Senior Bowl is a man who has obviously been in scouting departments in the NFL before.

Speaker 1 He's a fantasy football guru for ESPN, friend of the program, ladies and gentlemen, Vanderfield Yates

Speaker 1 stay on or no yes you can do whatever the hell you need to do wow this is maybe the coolest looking dude that's ever been on our show yeah thank you field geez Louise how's the weather how's the weather down there it's cold everywhere it looks like it's okay

Speaker 10 70 degrees for the past three days. It's unbelievable.
And, you know, listen, I'm a Northeast guy. I live in Connecticut full-time.

Speaker 10 I haven't had anything other than like a hoodie for three straight months on. So this is tremendous.
I am soaking up every last bit of sun before the senior bowl practices include in a couple hours.

Speaker 1 Okay, as you should, we're happy for you. We'll try to embrace the 70-degree weather via osmosis here.
What has been the big thing that has stuck out down there?

Speaker 1 I know there's been a lot of heat on Jalen Milro, maybe not performing that great. Mike Green there out of Marshall, obviously.
Debo and the Oregon tackle and one-on-ones has been a story.

Speaker 1 Kej Johnson, Oregon wide receiver, has been stealing some headlines. What are the storylines of this year's Senior Bowl, you think, Vanderfield?

Speaker 10 Yeah, you're on it right there with a lot of those.

Speaker 10 I'd say that one of the cool things for this year is this is the first real full year we've had in which juniors were allowed to participate in their senior bowls.

Speaker 10 So I think there's a chance that the top end talent from this class, by the time it's all said and done in April, ends up being about as good as you've seen from the senior bowl.

Speaker 10 That really has been one of the big themes this week. But at the top of the board, you mentioned some of the guys that have made their biggest marks.

Speaker 10 There's a good crew of pass rushers here this week.

Speaker 10 Mike Greene, you mentioned it went viral yesterday for de-cleating Josh Connerly, who, by the way, himself, I think, is going to go in the first 15 to 20 picks out of Oregon.

Speaker 10 Donovan Ezaraku from Boston College, other name, that had such a good first couple of days that he is now no longer at the senior bowl.

Speaker 10 Kind of guys that are doing exactly what they need to do to prove to NFL teams that the perception of those players coming into the week was accurate.

Speaker 10 And I think the quarterbacks are always going to be one of the big storylines.

Speaker 10 In this second practice, we'll have Jalen Millro and Jackson Dart, two SEC quarterbacks who go about their business in very different ways.

Speaker 10 I think we've kind of seen with Jalen Milro, sort of the peaks and the pits for this player, right? The very good of Jalen Milro, the guy who had 20 rushing touchdowns last season.

Speaker 10 I think if he runs during the pre-draft process, it's going to be a sub-4440 time, which that's obviously uncoachable.

Speaker 10 But as far as his consistency as a passer, that's going to be something he has to prove to NFL GMs that he can do at a high enough level to be a sustained starter in the league.

Speaker 1 Okay, so obviously, I hate doing this because we have no idea what the projections are going to be, but Jalen Milro with the ball in his hand, special.

Speaker 1 Throughout all of his career in Alabama, when he would decide to tuck it, he was the fastest guy on the field. He had great toughness.
He had great vision.

Speaker 1 Is there any conversations about him potentially taking some reps at different positions? Or are we all in on quarterback Jalen Milro still?

Speaker 10 Yeah, we're all in on quarterback for Jalen Milro. I think these players, you know, they deserve it.
I understand why people ask these questions.

Speaker 10 It's a natural one to ask, but he might be as fast as any running back that he is on the same field with this afternoon. It's all been quarterback focused for Jalen.

Speaker 10 And, you know, the tricky part about Jalen is that it's not that he isn't capable of making specific types of throws. He's not the best rhythm passer yet.
It's just he doesn't do it frequently enough.

Speaker 10 You know, there was a throw on the first day of practice here that I thought was maybe the best that we saw from any quarterback on the field.

Speaker 10 It was a dart to a wide receiver Jalen Royals from Utah State. And then it was like the next rep, Jalen Milro, has a ball that lands in the dirt at the feet of a wide receiver.

Speaker 10 And you're saying to yourself, if you could just do the first half of what we saw at a much more consistent level, there'd be no question that you would be in the first round conversation.

Speaker 10 He's a really unique player. I do think that whatever team takes him, hopefully we've learned our lesson from some of these quarterbacks that have come into the NFL young.
And Jalen is a true junior.

Speaker 10 So he is a younger prospect. That I know that we have guys that come in and make their mark like Jaden Daniels and Bo Nicks this past year, but those guys are much more the exception than the rule.

Speaker 10 And development is going to be a massive theme for what Jalen Milro's early career looks like.

Speaker 1 Special talent and also beloved by his people down there in Alabama. Great personality, great leader.

Speaker 1 And we saw the viral video, not the one in the dirt, of him overshooting somebody by like 15 yards, maybe. And they said his hand size wasn't as big as maybe they were looking for.

Speaker 1 They're always going to cut you down. Good luck down there, Jalen.
We're pulling for you. Conman has a question for you, Field.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Vanderfield, down there, does there seem to be one position group that's kind of the most stacked when you're just looking at it?

Speaker 2 And do you think because of that, you know, will some of the top players in that position maybe drop a little because of how stacked, you know, D-tackles or tight ends might be this year?

Speaker 10 Yeah, I kind of feel like you've got two draft classes jam-packed into one at running back, defensive tackle, and tight end as well. This running back class is so deep.

Speaker 10 We know that Ashton Jempty is going to be the first one taking on a boise. He stayed at deserving, you know, I would say he's maybe top eight prospecting live book.

Speaker 10 I just don't know where he'll go because we know the NFL values running backs in a different way than how the top 100 of your respective favorite draft analyst board looks.

Speaker 10 He's terrific, but you've got a bunch of other guys that you might see them fall to the third round just because of supply and demand and look like guys that could start.

Speaker 10 Trevor Etn, who finished up his career in Georgia, is about to practice here in just a few minutes. I thought he's looked excellent the past couple of days.

Speaker 10 No surprise, younger brother of Travis, who's also a big factor in the passing game, or has been for Jacksonville. Trevor, easy pass-catching skills, that much is for sure.

Speaker 10 But we've seen guys that come in all different shapes and sizes too. Like Ollie Gordon from Oklahoma State.

Speaker 10 He was a dope walker finalist in 2023 for the best running back in college football. He had over 1,700 rushing yards two seasons ago.
Wasn't as dominant this year.

Speaker 10 But I'm just telling you, you walk past the guy. And if you told me he was actually like the starting defensive end for Oklahoma State, I'd buy it.
He is absolutely massive.

Speaker 10 So how these guys end up falling off the board beyond Ashton Jenke and a couple others, I think they're really going to come down to what exactly is your team prioritizing?

Speaker 10 Because you've got guys that can catch the ball at a high level. You've got guys that can run for power.
You've got guys because they can do a little bit of both.

Speaker 10 But this running back class is ridiculously stacked.

Speaker 1 Can't wait to watch how it all unfolds on draft night. Obviously, we'll be keeping up with Vanderfield until then.
Tona has a question for you, Field.

Speaker 4 Yeah, Field, I do. And you talked about the running backs.
I was looking at the tight ends as well. I mean, Tyler Warren's not there.

Speaker 4 Colston Loveland's not there, but I saw Harold Fannin has been dominating the tight end out of Miami. Arroyo, I believe his name has been dominating.

Speaker 4 Is this one of the best tight end classes in a few years as well?

Speaker 10 It really is. Elijah Arroyo, 6'4 ⁇ , 251 pounds.
He averaged nearly 17 yards per catch, which for a tight end is just ridiculous. And you watch him out there athletically.

Speaker 10 He had a catch in the end zone today in which he jumped high. I certainly couldn't jump as high as he did, but it looked like he barely efforted to do so.

Speaker 10 And just a reminder of how physically gifted he is.

Speaker 10 And Harold Fannin, Fannin, you know, this is one of the things that I keep coming back to with Fannin during the pre-trap process is that when you play against Bowling Green, and with due respect to the rest of that roster, everybody knows what the plan is.

Speaker 10 It was to throw the football to Harold Fannin last season. So you think that a defensive coordinator would say, I don't care if we got to put three guys on him.
Let somebody else besides him beat us.

Speaker 10 He had 117 catches last year and over 1,500 yards. The guy's production every single week looked like a Madden box scorer.
So the numbers speak for themselves this past year.

Speaker 10 And whenever you see these guys come down here, and this is one of my favorite parts of the senior bowl, they're guys from Bowling Green and North Dakota State and Alabama AM and Marshall sort of stepping up in terms of the competition level.

Speaker 10 How do they look? And I'd say Harold Fenton looks like one of the guys. So that's a good sign for where he will end up as an NFL prospect.

Speaker 10 He's had a really solid week this week and he catches the crap out of the ball that much for sure.

Speaker 1 I appreciate the fact that you're judging these prospects on whether or not they can jump higher than you. I did not know that was a piece of the entire thing.

Speaker 1 Absolutely. We didn't hear you, though, because the air pods cut off.
That's on us. I'm sure it was a great line.

Speaker 1 We only have a couple minutes left before the heart out here. How are the kickers and the punters doing? Were you hitting big balls or no?

Speaker 10 Oh, yeah, we had it. So at the end of each practice, these coaches have been doing these call-out competition periods.
Well, okay, give me an offensive and defensive lineman.

Speaker 10 Give me a running back and a linebacker. See who wins the rep.
The final rep of the practice this morning was not a one-on-one. It was a one-on-one.
Everybody else.

Speaker 10 As the kicker, Fitzpatrick from Florida State had to drill a 50-yarder for everybody to avoid push-ups. This thing would have been good from 65.
And there was a bit of wind here this morning.

Speaker 10 So we've got a couple Australian punters. As you know, those Aussies are all over FCS punting right now.
And these guys have been dropping some bombs this week. That's for sure.

Speaker 1 Yeah, not as many going into the NFL as there had been in the past. But hopefully, you know, whatever gets in there is the greatest of the great.
We can't thank you enough for making time for us.

Speaker 1 Enjoy your time down there in Mobile.

Speaker 10 All right, guys. Have a great week next week in New Orleans.
Can't wait to watch.

Speaker 1 Are you going to to be down there?

Speaker 10 I will be, I'm hoping to get down there late in the week, but I'll come over and, well, I don't know, I'll crash the set.

Speaker 10 You guys have gotten like, you know, legitimate A-listers there, but at least come over and watch from the stands.

Speaker 1 Sanderfield. Dan Marino's joining us.
But if you show up with those shades, I think you'd get in anywhere. Ladies and gentlemen, Field, yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 See you, Field. See you, Field, see you.

Speaker 1 Love that.

Speaker 1 I enjoy, you know, looking back on my time at the Senior Bowl, that would have been cool to have been able to do that. Yeah.
That guy hits that 50-yarders. That's sweet.
Everyone watching.

Speaker 1 That's like real pressure, too. That's like a real moment.
He hits it good from 65. Good from him.
Good for him. I assume that's only going to boost it.

Speaker 1 Combine for the specialists, obviously, a big deal. Senior Bowl happening currently.

Speaker 1 Royal Rumble happening this weekend. Super Bowl next weekend tonight, though, Conman.

Speaker 2 Yeah, massive Pro Bowl games. I mean, this is why we watched.
We got Dodgeball tonight. We also have the quarterback challenge tonight.
I believe there are a few others.

Speaker 2 I'm not sure if the lineman spike is tonight. It is.
The big spike is tonight. I know Ragnow is going to be doing that.
There are a bunch of awesome things. It starts at 7.
It's on ESPN.

Speaker 2 I believe it goes till about 8.30. This is just night one.
Night two slash day two is on Sunday. The game itself, the flag game starts at three.

Speaker 2 But of course, they have the entire, you know, kind of obstacle course,

Speaker 2 the great football race, the head-to-head Madden as well. be awesome.
Tug of war, a classic, and then perfect punt. That does sound like kind of a cool little...

Speaker 1 Punt perfect. Oh, excuse me.

Speaker 2 Punt perfect, kind of like dude perfect, where they're kind of punting into like a beer pong type six cops. But yeah, some absolute dogs.
Kyle Yuszchek is punting for the NFC, which is kind of sweet.

Speaker 2 Marlon Humphrey, also both non-punters. The Logan Cook from Jacksonville and Jack Fox, the actual punters for each AFC and NFC.

Speaker 2 I know dodgeball, there are a few places you can actually place bets on for tonight, which is pretty sweet. Yeah, no big deal.

Speaker 1 Hey, Drake May, good dodgeball player, right?

Speaker 2 Yeah, Drake May preseason this year actually drilled a kid right in the beat.

Speaker 1 He's not on the team.

Speaker 2 He's not on the team. They don't want anyone to get hurt.
And that kind of makes sense. And that's why I wouldn't put Drake May out there.
I assume Drake May is going to shatter

Speaker 2 the quarterback challenge tonight. If I had to guess, yeah, boom, he is.
Oh, this is for the trivia game, I believe, the passing the test. That looks pretty sweet.

Speaker 1 Quarterback's out. That's not trivia.
Jeez.

Speaker 1 You don't even know what the hell you're talking about.

Speaker 2 Well, I saw trivia.

Speaker 1 I don't know why trivia is on the trip.

Speaker 2 I believe trivia bases it.

Speaker 3 How well they do in the trivia is how much time the quarterbacks get in the past the test.

Speaker 1 So Johnny Smith's going to be hooking up Drake May. Yeah, which is great.
Nico Collins, dog, is going to be helping Joe Burrow.

Speaker 1 Miles Garrett, big brain, helping Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh's dealer quarterback. Yeah.
And then Josh Jacobs for golf, Fred Warner for Sam Donald, Mike Evans for Baker.

Speaker 1 Tonight should be a spectacle, to say the least.

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Speaker 1 Football is wonderful. We're so lucky that we get to talk about it every single day.
Tonight, the Pro Bowl games kick off on ESPN at 7 o'clock Eastern.

Speaker 1 Should be fun to watch the charades in the horseplay of the NFL's best or the NFL's average that have been voted in the Pro Bowl because the starters have opted out of these particular things.

Speaker 1 Should be fun to celebrate the game and the league that we love.

Speaker 1 Cannot wait to see how all of the players perform, especially in that big old spike as offensive linemen try to put a football through the earth and then they will measure the amount of power that they have.

Speaker 1 All starts tonight at 7 p.m.

Speaker 1 Eastern time. Batanya is spiking a ball tonight.

Speaker 1 Dexter Lawrence is spiking a ball tonight. This might be the one.
Quinn and Williams is spiking tonight.

Speaker 1 I mean, this might be the one that steals the entire weekend for the Pro Bowl games. Obviously, that's tonight, 7 o'clock on ESPN.

Speaker 3 The talks and tables here at boss connor ty schmid ty know you've been looking forward to this the big spike is maybe the thing that's going to save the pro bowl games i think i didn't realize we had a proprietary you know spicometer as well so i mean they they've they're they're pulling out all the stops for this and then yeah you mentioned it we got sexy dexi we got frank rag now but chris lynch he tore his pack didn't he he did so he's gonna have to be using his left arm maybe maybe he uses both oh maybe it's a double-handed spike yeah double-handed spike tragedy is gonna be maybe it's a major league situation where it's fixed now and it's so tight that when he spikes it, he's going to throw it through the earth.

Speaker 1 Oh, Rookie of the Year. Rookie of the Year.
That's what I meant. Yeah, one half of the hammer.
Dad. Cowboys APTO.

Speaker 1 And that's the first time I've ever been able to correct somebody on a pop culture round.

Speaker 1 I feel pretty good about that. Garden Hoser and I had a good summer, a couple different ones.
Not as good as his friends had when they were building that boat. Yeah, sure.

Speaker 1 But certainly a great, great movie there. You got to hit that floater at the end.
Maybe that's what Ragnall's going to do. Maybe Ragnow's coming in and only needs a two on the Spike O meter.

Speaker 1 He decides to throw it up as high as he can and dunk it in there. Joining Joining us now is a man that we wish we could see on a Spikeometer.
Break it, probably.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I don't know how he would handle it. Obviously, I think in the punt perfect, he would do a great job as well.

Speaker 1 He's a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion, a Roderick Cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawk.

Speaker 1 AJ, the Spike O meter tonight, almost like the Spike-O-Matic

Speaker 1 in the entirety. Are you excited for tonight's 7 p.m.
Pro Bowl games, pal?

Speaker 9 Yeah, I'm very excited. But the first thing I saw, you guys just mentioned Frank Ragnell, the torn peck.
That dude, I hope he doesn't tear that peck again or figure it out.

Speaker 9 But I don't know if the big spike is going to be my, you know, the number one thing I'm tuned into.

Speaker 1 There's a couple others maybe, but yeah,

Speaker 9 I guess I want to see the technology they invented for this event.

Speaker 1 Riddle me this. What are you tuning in for then if it's not the big spike, pal? Well, what's that?

Speaker 9 Was there a five-legged race I saw on there? I thought there was three-legged, but was there five?

Speaker 1 That is Sunday.

Speaker 2 The great football race is on Sunday.

Speaker 1 This is Sunday. Can you hear back to tonight's, please? Can you put on tonight's events, please? There we go.

Speaker 1 You're talking about the relay race. You're talking about the relay race tonight?

Speaker 9 Yes, yes. I want to see these guys run.

Speaker 1 Yeah, me too, especially if they're going to go for it. You know, like they've had these races in the way past.
People tried. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Recent memory, some try. Sure.
Michael Parsons became the fastest guy because Tyree Killer and many others just didn't even try.

Speaker 1 Did they not try because they didn't want to get hurt or because they didn't want to lose? Oh. You know, if you don't try and you lose, you could say, I didn't try.

Speaker 1 If you try and you lose, then all of a sudden it's,

Speaker 1 well,

Speaker 1 yeah, I guess I'm just slower than everybody else. AFC, Jonathan Taylor, he's going to try.

Speaker 1 I bet.

Speaker 1 He should. I hope so.
I bet he's going to try, if I have to guess. Everybody is.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Happy to see that.

Speaker 2 Leader in the clubhouse, it seems.

Speaker 1 He's the anchor.

Speaker 3 Azer? Well, no, he's not. He's leading them off, but you get it.

Speaker 1 That's one name, and I can already tell this is probably going to be a laughing stock.

Speaker 1 I can probably already tell they're not going to give a damn, a shit about anything in this. Well, Jared Verse versus.
That's a bummer that I just see that.

Speaker 2 Jared Verse will be cool. He's probably going to be moving.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Joey Bosa, he's certainly going to give maximum effort right now.

Speaker 1 Nick Bosa as well.

Speaker 1 Keith Van Noy.

Speaker 1 I'm calling Kyle right now. Keith is going to bust his ass.
Yeah, can we FaceTime Kyle Van Noy, please, just so we can see, if yes, please call him so we can see what the effort level is going to be.

Speaker 1 Derwin James is not going to lose, I don't think, in anything.

Speaker 1 Buddha Baker's not going to lose in anything.

Speaker 1 Tripping Kadarrell Hodge.

Speaker 4 This is Bobby Wagner's first Pro Bowl, right? So he's going to fucking go all out.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he certainly is.

Speaker 1 I love it. I'm a little bit worried about this.
Patrick Ricard going is good news. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Because he's going to want to seem to be faster than people could imagine because he's always been, you know, probably downplayed on speed.

Speaker 1 Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, Pro Bowler Kyle Van Noy. Kyle.

Speaker 1 Keith, what's going on? You guys.

Speaker 16 Hey, I also got a special guest with me, Fred Warner.

Speaker 1 Good to see you, Fred. I think we'll see you next week down in Radio Row.
We appreciate you joining us. Yes, sir.
We can't wait to see you. Yes, sir.
I'll see you all there.

Speaker 1 How's the golf game going, boys? How are we doing down there?

Speaker 16 Forget him right now. Forget him right now.
You got him next week. You get me right now.

Speaker 1 Okay. Hey, we're talking about this relay race thing that's happening tonight.
What's the effort? What's the effort level going to be on this, Kyle?

Speaker 16 Hey, you see how they paired me and Bobby Wagner up against each other.

Speaker 7 That's the type of effort we're getting.

Speaker 1 You understand?

Speaker 1 How has it been down there? How's it going?

Speaker 16 You see me and Bobby, the old the older states, the elder statesmen of the group, they paired us up against each other. You know what type of effort I'm giving you.

Speaker 16 I'm giving you that championship effort, that just first-class effort of just making it to the finish line.

Speaker 1 That's the type of effort.

Speaker 1 Okay, let's not pull anything. Obviously, we are old as shit now after a very, very long season.
How has it been down there chit-chatting with everybody, catching up with all the Bro Boilers?

Speaker 16 Honestly, it was dope.

Speaker 16 i i had a great conversation with mike evans last night you know shout out to the 2014 draft class that's the homie we had a good conversation and it was awesome it was awesome to let him know how i felt about when he earned his money at the end of the year i felt like i earned money for like with him you know that's the type of love that the 2014 class have for each other and it was just awesome to catch up with him meet his family proud of john new Smith, former teammate that ended up getting into the Pro Bowl, broke records this year.

Speaker 16 So the vibes are high right now.

Speaker 16 Elite time so far.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that is, the Pro Bowl has always had that.

Speaker 1 Now, the product on the field in the Pro Bowl games certainly can get called into question, but the behind the scenes, everybody mingling is always great. Go ahead, AJ.

Speaker 9 Kyle, you ever think of throwing some suggestions out there possibly for the relay race tonight?

Speaker 9 Maybe you guys have to start, you get a bat, and you spin around the bat five or six times, and we watch you guys stumble around and try to figure this thing out.

Speaker 16 Louisville Chugger, yeah, I think it would be good to mix it in there, you know, maybe throw in a couple other

Speaker 16 random things like that.

Speaker 16 Spin around the spin around. I like that.
See, let's see who's got balance, who's got effort and energy after you get dizzy. I like that.
What do you guys?

Speaker 1 Are you guys going to give a lot of fake energy? Edmi!

Speaker 1 Hey, you know me. You're going to be hyping everybody up.

Speaker 16 You're going to be hyping everybody up.

Speaker 16 Hey, I love that work, young gun. I love it.
I love it. I need more, though.

Speaker 1 I need more.

Speaker 16 Are you going to let, are you going to, Patrick Queen, are you going to let Fred Warner beat you?

Speaker 1 That's, you know, you got to play the mind game. Yeah, talk a little shit.
I appreciate that. Speaking of talking shit, you guys took Chuck Bogano from us.
Congratulations. Do you know him?

Speaker 1 Aside from talking to him on the program, he's the man.

Speaker 16 Hey, honestly, I tweeted at you guys the other day. You guys are four for four with getting people jobs, getting people paid.
We appreciate that. I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 Well, we're lucky to do it.

Speaker 16 We're honestly happy to have him. You know, he's obviously Harbaugh's guy, but getting to know him a little bit outside of outside of football, just the man he is.
He's first class.

Speaker 16 And to have him in the building just adds that. that juice.
He's got that old school juice, you know, that you need to have in a building.

Speaker 16 And I think that's something that the Ravens are missing besides Harbaugh, you know, on the staff. We have the young guys.
They brought Dean Pease in as a consultant.

Speaker 16 And now you brought in Chuck Pagano. I mean, the sky's the limit for that group, leading with Nate Wiggins now and Kyle Hamilton, who's an avatar, who's behind us.
He's playing golf too.

Speaker 16 They're too far. But just a great group of guys in this.
in the secondary and we are excited. We're excited to get them in the building, bring that old juice energy up in there.

Speaker 1 Have you thought about the Super Bowl much? What are your thoughts?

Speaker 1 Yeah. All right.
Hey, enjoy your day. We appreciate the hell out of you, Pro Bowler.
Ladies and gentlemen, Cal Van Dor.

Speaker 1 So he basically just said him and him and Bobby,

Speaker 1 we're going to do it.

Speaker 1 We're going to finish.

Speaker 9 We're going to finish the race.

Speaker 1 We are going to get to the end, aren't we? You know, they did that obstacle course a couple years back, and Miles Garrett broke his foot or something. Yeah, broke.
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 Because he was giving actual effort.

Speaker 1 And it's like, we were so close to almost getting effort and then a guy gets hurt and everybody goes, see?

Speaker 1 That's why and agents are calling going, see, now his offseason is real. You know what his offseason is now? Rehab for a broken foot.
For what? Was it getting a sack in the playoffs?

Speaker 1 Was it maybe during the season? Did he hit an escalator? Get paid more money. No, it was at the Pro Bowl jumping over a tire.
So let's make sure we're not doing that.

Speaker 1 And that's kind of a part of the problem. of it all AJ.

Speaker 9 That is the problem. The more,

Speaker 9 yeah, there's just so much money on the line.

Speaker 9 And so like the teams, I can imagine if you're a coach and you see one of your players out there giving maximum effort, you're like, hey, I'm very glad that you're the standard is the standard, but you need to figure it, like, you play for whatever team we're on.

Speaker 9 You don't play for them.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and

Speaker 1 there will be a couple people that get like uber competitive and can't help themselves. Normally, it's the younger guys.

Speaker 1 You know, it is like the younger guys that like feel like they're untouchable and they're, you know, invincible and everything like that.

Speaker 1 But just like the thought of tonight being awesome feels like a little bit of a pipe dream, but

Speaker 9 expectations. Expectations.
You got to manage them.

Speaker 1 Yeah, let's look for vibes. Yeah, we're going to see a lot of superstars.
There's going to be moments that are going to come from it.

Speaker 1 And let's try and enjoy it that way, as opposed to thinking, like, yeah, this is going to be high-level competition and all these things.

Speaker 2 Well, and like, dodgeball is consistently fun. Like, that will be a kind of a sweet event no matter what happens because it does get heated and they take it very seriously.

Speaker 2 And then, of course, too, like, the cornerback challenge is awesome.

Speaker 2 I wish that they did put like an Orlovsky or just a regular average Joe out there to show you how difficult these throws are just because they don't look that hard because the moving targets and all that type of stuff.

Speaker 2 But I think there's a lot to look forward to. The big spike, I think Ty kind of hit it.
It's the best there is. It really might steal the show.

Speaker 2 Like if they spike the shit out of this ball and they have some sort of measurement for like pounds of how much pressure they have, it'd be awesome.

Speaker 1 Let's just hope to God, okay, that nobody gets hurt doing a spike a meter. Can you imagine imagine if Ragnow re-tears his pack? Never gonna happen again.

Speaker 1 Beat Mike.

Speaker 1 It'll never happen again. And with Ragnow, with the way he competes, he might see somebody get 700 megameters

Speaker 1 on

Speaker 1 a spikometer or whatever. Here's the spike meter down there at Pro Bowl.
They're already practicing with it. This is from two years ago.

Speaker 1 That's thy

Speaker 1 83.

Speaker 1 Russell Wilson gets a 1360.

Speaker 1 Tyron Matthew, 1335. That's sick, dude.
Yeah.

Speaker 9 What if someone bounces one back up off their nose and breaks their nose and it bleeds all over?

Speaker 1 There's a chance. I guess that's why they got the net around there.
To be clear,

Speaker 1 you go to your local state fair, there's a much better setup with the axe than this particular thing.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it is a spicometer, though.

Speaker 9 Yeah, but what do you think, Ty? You think the same thing? You still thinking that, Ty?

Speaker 3 I think this is a proprietary item, so I think they've probably reworked it a little bit. I would still think that the Spiko meter is going to steal the show.
I think this was kind of just like the

Speaker 2 Spike of Meter is two years ago.

Speaker 1 Look at this. Look at all these names.
Look at these guys lining up.

Speaker 3 These guys are waiting 40 minutes to get in on the Spike of Meter.

Speaker 1 Yeah, there is a line out the door, he said. Just prototype.
Jacap Jordan got a 907. Okay.
Whoa. Patrick Mahomes, 1386.
That's good enough for third place.

Speaker 2 Jaquim Grant Sr., is that who that is?

Speaker 1 Wow.

Speaker 3 That was a good spike. Tyree.

Speaker 1 That was a good spike, yeah.

Speaker 4 He's been in the end zone.

Speaker 1 Shaq Barrett really brought the hammer down.

Speaker 2 I think he missed it.

Speaker 1 It better not be like this.

Speaker 1 What do you mean? It better not be like this. What do you mean? This is what it is.
This sucked. No, this could not happen.

Speaker 1 Frank's going to be able to do it. Get out of this tournament.
No, he's not going to be able to do it. We need to get bought a Scott.
Like, the big thing about a Spike is the after.

Speaker 1 Oh. Oh, well, that makes sense, actually.

Speaker 1 Come on. I'm a little worried about Spike.
No, no, no. Don't let this.
This is a prototype. It doesn't look like this.

Speaker 9 This could be a two-minute segment. This would be an hour and a half.
This could be a two-minute segment.

Speaker 1 This is Shaq Leonard. Yeah, it is Shaq Leonard, maniac.
Let's see what he does. Go for

Speaker 1 spot.

Speaker 1 That's what I'm talking about, Shaq. He's got that punch, too.
You know, he's punching balls out, so he's got explosion power. He won the Spicometer.
He did by a landslide. Yeah, by a lot.

Speaker 1 Are you kidding me? So, is it still the same decibels and measurement? What is that? 2,000, Spicometers?

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 2,091 pounds of pressure on the Spicometer. Bingo.
So it's like the equivalent of like dropping a ton, a ton from the sky onto the ground.

Speaker 1 I go back to that Bargettsi thing. A ton, 2,000 pounds.
What's 1,000 pounds?

Speaker 1 Half ton.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 None of it makes a lot of sense. Nah.
Imagine somebody that doesn't watch football, happens to be in America. Sure.
Happens upon the ESPN tonight. Hey, we've got all-stars, mate.

Speaker 1 These are the best in the world. Spy-o-media.
What?

Speaker 2 Dude, 2091 on Spico-Media.

Speaker 3 What does that mean?

Speaker 1 That has to be visually a lot better.

Speaker 1 I hope it's good. I'll be honest, I don't remember that from last time they did it.
I thought it was a new event. Me too.
It is a new event.

Speaker 4 That was just practice. That was like a hey, we're trying something.

Speaker 1 It's two years of work since then.

Speaker 2 That was a social clip. It is a brand new event.
There's going to be something so much cooler.

Speaker 1 Fireworks? So much cooler.

Speaker 3 They might have like Glaze in like a dunk tank.

Speaker 1 J-Glazer? Yeah. And if it's like...
If you get 2,500 Spikeometers. Exactly.
There's definitely smoke drops them in there.

Speaker 4 Like once they hit the spike. Like when you guys hit the anvil.

Speaker 9 Yeah, there needs to be.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but that ball needs to.

Speaker 2 There might be Pyro.

Speaker 1 There might be pyro out there. We don't know.
Fireworks. I'm worried about Spike over here.

Speaker 2 Think about the sound.

Speaker 1 We shouldn't have watched that. We shouldn't have.

Speaker 2 Yeah, because that was a prototype. It's like we're looking at a Blackberry thinking that it's going to be an item.
Oh, that was the pilot episode.

Speaker 1 Exactly.

Speaker 4 Blackberry Pearls.

Speaker 1 You don't know how good that was when it had the little rolling.

Speaker 2 Actually, I am well versed in the Blackberries. I do know how sweet it is.

Speaker 1 Really? Oh, you're a little bit too young, I think, for the Blackberry. No, no, I'm not.
Brickbreaker. Come on.

Speaker 1 My paw had one, so I messed around there. I messed around on there from time to time.
Let's talk about some changes the NFL made this year. The kickoff, okay, remember the new dynamic hybrid kickoff.

Speaker 1 New kickoff rule stats are coming out now in the season.

Speaker 1 57% increase in returns. Average starting field position improved by several yards.
The more touchdowns, more returns past the 40-yard line, and a lower injury rate. Overall, positive sign.

Speaker 1 And if you look at the championship games, it felt like every kickoff was returned. Yeah.
Now, I don't know what's going to happen in the Super Bowl. Bucker has a massive leg.

Speaker 1 He's able to put the ball out if he wants to. Jake Elliott as well.
It should be warm weather. Obviously, perfect climate down there in New Orleans.

Speaker 1 So maybe it'll just be touchback, touchback, touchback. But in the championship games, when weather wasn't perfect, everybody was kind of forced to return, made the game much more exciting.

Speaker 1 I enjoyed that it ended up working out because we had a lot of questions going into the season, AJ.

Speaker 9 Yeah, I mean, I think this is exactly what they wanted, right? They say it's a lower injury rate and we have 57% increase in returns.

Speaker 9 I mean, I think, I guess as the season goes, we've seen more and more return, right? Early on, we were seeing a bunch of touchbacks. Is that just due to weather?

Speaker 1 Weather. I think it's weather and also kickers' legs getting maybe tired, you know, because there was even some teams that were really focusing on this.

Speaker 1 They were bringing it out from like one, two deep. You know, if it was going four, five deep, I think it was a guaranteed touchback.
But some teams were bringing it out from too deep.

Speaker 1 Some kickers weren't able to get it any deeper than that later in the season because their legs were tired. And then weather obviously has a massive implication.

Speaker 1 A couple snow globe games, the ball's not going into the end zone. Guys are being forced to return it.
Strategy was on display.

Speaker 1 I think if you're a Riz and the special teams coordinators that came together and put this together, you're celebrating massive success in keeping the kickoff in actual play for the sport.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 4 It was awesome this year. And, you know, hopefully they make that one little change that we talked about in the beginning of the year.
That would make a huge difference on if they bring it out or not.

Speaker 4 But Nico Remigio. Chiefs punt returner, kick return, he brought one out from like eight deep this weekend.

Speaker 1 And that's Tob, who prides himself on having a great special teams unit, as does the Philadelphia. Any teams that have depth and are good are normally be good at special teams.

Speaker 1 Coach Riz obviously becomes the interim head coach of the Saints.

Speaker 1 Going into the year, the only thing anybody knew him for is being the guy who kind of pieced together this new dynamic kickoff, taking some stuff from the XFL, adding some stuff from special teams practices, which is where this all began, so you can save guys' legs.

Speaker 1 And then inevitably, we get something that adds more exciting plays. Congrats to everybody.

Speaker 1 Not an easy decision to do something like that, especially with how stupid it looked at the beginning of the year.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and it wasn't a kickoff, but I mean, if you even just think about the last time the Eagles and the Chiefs played in the Super Bowl, that Kadarius-Tony punt return, it kind of swung the entire game.

Speaker 2 That kind of got the Chiefs back into the football game.

Speaker 1 AJ, we thought it had no chance. We thought the kickoff was going to be over.
We thought it was going to be a fourth and 25 or whatever on the other 25 to kind of start drives.

Speaker 1 Now it feels like the kickoff's at least going to stay for a while. I remember beginning of the year, to your point, we weren't seeing many kickoffs return and everything just looked stupid.

Speaker 1 And we thought, wow, they're going to have to do something drastically different or they're going to get rid of it instead now we're looking back at the stats we're saving football baby we're saving kickoffs i love it congrats to all parties Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 9 I can't say I love it. I don't love it visually.
I still think it's kind of awkward and weird, but I do love the fact that the kickoff feels like it's here to stay.

Speaker 9 Like they, I felt like going into this season, they're like, well, I don't know. A kickoff feels like it's on its last leg.
Like they're ready to get rid of this thing. And so they were just waiting.

Speaker 9 It felt like they were waiting for reasons to almost get rid of it. So now I think this does it does a lot.

Speaker 1 It does to quiet the noise, too, about player health and all that stuff it goes it gives another check bark in their box you know of the league like hey we're taking care of these guys 33 yard extra point looks stupid for a long time yeah you know now it just kind of looks normal you're right you get used to it you do get used it is surprising how fast you can get used to something yeah humans are uh by nature you like for instance with music you hear a song one time it's like nah And then whenever they force that song down your throat 50, 60 times, it's like, kind of a bop.

Speaker 1 It's awesome. Kind of a a bop.
And I think, you know, a couple seasons into this, people will be a little bit more used to the awkwardness of the setup. I think players will get used to it.

Speaker 1 I think coaches will get more used to it. I think there'll be more strategy that'll come about it.

Speaker 1 And if it continues to go the way it's going with these numbers, I think the NFL is going to be excited to have the electricity of returns remain in the game.

Speaker 3 Now they just got to change it so that you don't have to declare if there's an onside kick before you kick something.

Speaker 1 I don't know how you do that. How do you do that?

Speaker 3 Just don't make them do it.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but you got the rest of the team 30 yards away. Yeah, that is.

Speaker 4 I think the kicker sprints down with the ball to where everyone else is lined up.

Speaker 1 Sprints down, sets it up, and goes, ah,

Speaker 1 yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I guess you can't do it anymore.

Speaker 1 Yeah, legitimately, there's, I don't know how you wouldn't.

Speaker 2 Landed inside.

Speaker 1 Is college going to keep it?

Speaker 9 Is college keeping the real kickoff? Because you go to watch college. They do the old school.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but they do fair catching

Speaker 1 a lot. Yeah.
Which.

Speaker 9 I would imagine dudes are still knocking themselves out in college kickoffs.

Speaker 1 I don't love the fair catch on kickoffs. No.
I don't love that.

Speaker 1 I don't, they need to get rid of that. They need to, they need to, just for the good of sport.

Speaker 4 Sure.

Speaker 1 People can't be watching that. And especially for the good of the players that are out there.
You know, like you got some really good players.

Speaker 1 There's guys 30 yards away and they're giving themselves up. It's like, you look soft.
You look like you're not an actual football player. That's an embarrassment.

Speaker 1 If your special teams coach can't draw up something where you catch a kickoff at that 10-yard line and you can't get to the 25 or the 30, maybe you need to fire your special teams coordinator.

Speaker 1 Maybe you need to go back to the drawing board as opposed to the fair. I don't like it at all.
I think it is an embarrassment for football, the fair catch on kickoffs.

Speaker 2 Definitely, and it does suck, but because they still have the element of surprise on-side kicks, would you keep the fair catch so that they can keep surprise on-side kicks? Yes.

Speaker 1 Yes. I mean, I guess we would do that.
But also, surprise-on-side kicks started dwindling away too at the end of this whole thing. Successive on-site kicks started dwindling away.

Speaker 1 There was actually more successful on-site kicks this year than I think any of us could have expected.

Speaker 1 Remember, there was a couple times when those got to happen, and I think it's because kickers started working on it, but also maybe because they're not working on it defensively as much.

Speaker 1 You know, you're not having as many hands-team reps, you're not doing as much because your kickoff team is all the way down there.

Speaker 1 It's a very small chance you're going to have to take on an on-site kick, so then you don't really rep it or practice it as much.

Speaker 1 But yeah, it's impossible to not have to declare because where everybody's standing.

Speaker 3 Well, in college, too, with like some of these really good teams who are super deep, you would think, like, hey, that's really the only way some of these like four four or five star, you know, underclassmen are getting on the field at all.

Speaker 3 So like, is that, is that the only way you want to see what you got from them? It's just like, hey, go stand out there. We're going to fair catch it.

Speaker 3 So I just want to make sure you're going through the motion. Like, you know, some of the, like, Ohio State, like.

Speaker 1 They had a Buka out there. That's what I'm saying.
Like, they got, they got. He's a great player.
You got him acting like he's scared to return a catch, right? What are we doing? What are we doing?

Speaker 1 Makes no sense. Ryan Day's doing a little media tour.
How come he didn't stop by our show, AJ? What's that all about?

Speaker 9 Yeah, I don't know. It's good.
It's a a good question. We should reach out.

Speaker 1 Is he scared to coach?

Speaker 9 No, I thought he was on Kelly Clarkson. He did her show.

Speaker 1 She was on Jim Fallon.

Speaker 4 Was she sitting awkwardly close to him?

Speaker 1 Jim Fallon. Kelly Clarkson.

Speaker 1 I don't know if she was or not.

Speaker 1 Did he do the

Speaker 1 Jennifer Hudson? No,

Speaker 1 I don't know if he did that show.

Speaker 9 The Dan Orlovsky danced down the hall.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I hope he did.
I hope he did. I don't think he did that.

Speaker 9 Did he do that show? How weird would that be? If he's like, okay, I'm not dancing down the hall, though. Oh, come on, but I'm not doing that.
You have to.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you don't have a choice.

Speaker 1 That's the happy place. That'd be awesome.

Speaker 2 That'd be sweet if he just walked super fast straight past the camera, though.

Speaker 1 Head down. Yeah.
Santina Morelo speed walk.

Speaker 9 At the very end, at the very end, he hits the worm as he gets through the line, right into the studio.

Speaker 1 Ladies and gentlemen, we have a living legend in the Thunderdome.

Speaker 1 Traveling to the great city of Indianapolis, Indiana for the Royal Rumble. We have royal tea.
Ladies and gentlemen, the queen of queens,

Speaker 1 Stephanie McMahon.

Speaker 1 Clapping, Jack.

Speaker 3 Editing the end.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Yup, crush it.

Speaker 2 Nice, Stephanie McMahon. How you doing?

Speaker 1 How you doing, how are you? Good to see you. Thanks for having me.
Absolutely. Our pleasure.
No, we're lucky. Yeah.
Thank you. We are lucky to have you.
Great boots. You see these boots? Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. Love them.
Holy shit. Yeah, those are badass boots.
Those ain't chickers. Those are badass boots right there.

Speaker 14 Now, which one is Dan? Dan? There's a sign about Dan farting outside.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's Dan Orlovsky.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he's actually from Connecticut. Oh, hey.
Yeah, the great state of Connecticut. He's on TV all the time on ESPN.
Thank you for making the trip. Thank you for coming on the show.

Speaker 14 Thank you so much for having me. Okay, Royal Rumble week.

Speaker 1 We were trying, or weekend, we were trying to describe it earlier.

Speaker 1 I think Royal Rumble is something that encompasses all wrestling fans, all entertainment fans, because literally anybody can show up. Obviously, with Paul, Mr.
H, Mr.

Speaker 1 Levesque in charge of all the creative, what should we be expecting this weekend? And what are your favorite things about the Royal Rumble?

Speaker 14 Oh, well, you're asking me standard fare here, Pat.

Speaker 14 You know, yes, the Royal Rumble kicks off the road to WrestleMania.

Speaker 14 So as you know, the winner of the men's Royal Rumble match and the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match, they go on to choose the championship that they'd like to compete for at WrestleMania, which of course is the granddaddy of them all, the show of shows.

Speaker 14 I mean, that is the spectacle, you know, and that all starts with the Royal Rumble. So, I think, you know, John Cena competing in his last Royal Rumble ever is going to be really meaningful.

Speaker 14 I'm looking forward to Charlotte Flair's return to the ring. It's been way too long.

Speaker 14 Lots of surprises that I don't even know about, and if I did, I wouldn't be allowed to say.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah, you should. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I don't know truthfully.

Speaker 14 I mean, I know some things, but not all things. I was certainly surprised yesterday at the office when Triple H was announced that he was going into the Hall of Fame.

Speaker 1 Congratulations, Mr. Ring.

Speaker 14 Yes, by Sean Michaels and the Undertaker, who were so happy that they were able to pull one over on him.

Speaker 14 And they got me too. I had absolutely no idea.
It was so incredible.

Speaker 1 Magical time for the WWE right now. Yes.
A lot happening. It is.
It is. Saw you at the Into a Dome for the Netflix premiere.
Yes. Big pop for Steph whenever she got.

Speaker 1 Massive pop for Stephanie McMahon. How proud of you are you of the WWE right now, of Mr.
H, and of everything happening with the business?

Speaker 14 I couldn't be more proud. And I put out a tweet or a post on X, you know, that morning because I was just so overwhelmed.
I saw saw the spot and it just, it made me cry. I mean, I was just so proud.

Speaker 14 I was in tears. To think about WWE, I mean, when my parents first started trying to promote WWE, we actually had to buy time to get on the air.

Speaker 14 And you think about how it's progressed and then how we've been on cable and broadcast and then ultimately launched one of the first D2C services, one of the first streaming platforms.

Speaker 14 It was Hulu Netflix and WWE Network. There may have been a couple other ones, but that's how, you know, it was big.

Speaker 14 And then we were one of the first to sell, you know, to sell our content then to Peacock. And then now to be on Netflix.
I mean, we're the first regularly scheduled live program on Netflix.

Speaker 14 I mean, that's, that's incredible. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 14 A lot of pressure, I tell you.

Speaker 1 A lot of pressure. I told Paul then.
I say, hey, listen, as somebody who is regularly scheduled is live

Speaker 1 and has relationships with WWE and the NFL, which Netflix has invested billions into both. Let's get it right, Paul.

Speaker 14 Well, so far, so far, I think he is, you know, and it's so funny because

Speaker 14 I am so proud. But whenever I talk to him and I say how proud I am of him, he always talks about everybody else.
Yes. Because it's about the team.
It's about everyone who brings it together.

Speaker 14 It's you too, Pat. I mean, every Monday night, you know, and then Netflix is going to have the Royal Rumble internationally.

Speaker 14 So for the first time ever, in almost every country internationally, Royal Rumble will be streaming on one platform. And then, of course, domestically, it's Peacock.

Speaker 1 Okay, so let's talk about, you talked about the history of paying time to get it on the air and then all the evolution and the growth of the WWE. Let's talk about you.

Speaker 14 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You've grown up in front of all of our eyes. I've been a WWF, WWE fan my entire life.

Speaker 14 So I feel like I've. And now I'm an old lady.

Speaker 1 No. I am.

Speaker 1 Younger than ever.

Speaker 1 Younger than ever. 28 is not awesome.
Awesome mom, awesome mom, badass business, everything that you, philanthropists, everything you've been a part of.

Speaker 1 But growing up in the spotlight, I assume, is a bit absurd, especially whenever it involves the wrestling business. Do you stop and think about that ever? Do you get a chance to get away?

Speaker 1 Have you reset it all? What is it like to be Stephanie McMahon?

Speaker 14 So one of the things that I learned when I stepped away is that I'll never get away from WWE ever. It is a part of who I am.
It is what I love. You know, I really did grow up in this business.

Speaker 14 So it was not unusual to have shoots done at our house. I was in in the first ever Saturday night's main event.
I went trick-or-treating at Roddy Piper's house, which was actually our house.

Speaker 14 And he was putting candy, you know, bowling balls, breaking our candy bags. I mean, you know, he was a heel at the time.
And I was on that episode with Chip from Kate and Allie.

Speaker 14 Like, it was just random, right? I did modeling for, you know, the catalog. And I didn't get paid.
We didn't have child models at the time. You know, it was like all of the employees' kids.

Speaker 14 We were just dressed up.

Speaker 14 And, you know, I've just, I've lived this amazing life with so many opportunities to meet incredible people and be a part of something that's so special that connects people all over the world.

Speaker 14 And I feel it everywhere I go and every arena I go to is something that is just so special.

Speaker 1 Big pops for Steph everywhere she goes.

Speaker 14 You know, it's not like that for her. It's not necessarily true.

Speaker 1 That is true. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 That is absolutely true. And a lot of people, you just talked about stepping away.
A lot of people thought you wanted to get away from it all, you know, and it had been your entire life.

Speaker 1 Was there a moment where you wanted to get away and then you realized that like you're proud actually of everything that happened?

Speaker 14 I never stopped being proud ever.

Speaker 14 I do think I wanted to disappear for a little while.

Speaker 14 And I kind of did, you know, and it was good for me. I needed it.
And now I'm back.

Speaker 1 Yeah, well, it's great to have you back. Conman has a question for you, Steph.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Steph. As far as like the evolution of the superstars, so you kind of just mentioned, you know, way back with rowdy, rowdy piper and everything like that.

Speaker 2 And now the things they're doing in the ring are insane. Do you feel like the athleticism is at an all-time high? And can it even go further just because at some point, is there like a stop to it?

Speaker 2 Yeah, like a too much factor? Like, we're talking about Kevin Owens going off like eight ladders on Saturday night. Like, can that continue to kind of climb and reset the bar?

Speaker 14 Well, you know, I don't want our talent to ever put themselves in danger. You know, of course, course, there's a risk to what we do, but I think the athleticism has evolved in all sports.

Speaker 14 You know, it's not just WWE. When you watch football now, when you watch every different sport, I mean, you see these athletes taking it to another level.

Speaker 14 When you watch high school athletes now perform, it's at another level. I think it's just the evolution of human beings, and we're going to continue to see that.

Speaker 14 And yes, I think the athleticism will continue to wow and amaze everybody watching in WWE.

Speaker 1 How do you feel about the company's ability to create new superstars? You know, because there's other wrestling promotions, obviously, that have existed throughout time.

Speaker 1 I'm not just talking about currently, I'm talking about through time. And the ability to create superstars is something that is very hard for a lot of people to do.

Speaker 1 WWF, WWE have always been able to do that. Now, obviously, with the Performance Center and with NXT and everything that's been invested in that, how do you feel about the ability to create superstars?

Speaker 1 And why do you think that that is something that this company, your company, has been able to do for so long?

Speaker 14 Gosh, I think it's because it all starts with the superstar. It all starts with that talent and that character, because you have to have a reason to care, right?

Speaker 14 You have to have a reason to care to see, to watch them in the ring, to want to see them win, to want to boo, to see them lose. You have to care about the character.

Speaker 14 It's not enough to just have in-ring action. So I think that's something that WWE knows better than anybody.
And it's a process. It's working with the talent.
It's finding out who they are.

Speaker 14 It's the vision for the character. It's giving it a try.
You know, at NXT, you'll see multiple different

Speaker 14 personas sometimes come through and it's the same person. It's because you're trying different things and seeing how the audience is going to react.

Speaker 14 And ultimately, it's the audience that chooses what's going to work or what isn't going to work. You know, I think Stone Cold Steve Austin's told plenty of stories about that.

Speaker 1 Yeah, stunning Steve was certainly beautiful.

Speaker 14 Or the Ringmaster.

Speaker 1 The Ringmaster back in the day was glorious. You're one of the best heels of all time.

Speaker 1 Did you enjoy that?

Speaker 14 Love being a heel.

Speaker 14 But thank you. Yes, I hate being a babyface.
It's the worst.

Speaker 1 The worst. Love being a heel.

Speaker 14 Prefer to be booed. Yeah.

Speaker 14 Much, much. Whole lot.

Speaker 1 You felt that way? Oh, yeah.

Speaker 14 Even when I was growing up, like, I always loved the heels. You know, I didn't like cheering for Hogan.
It just wasn't.

Speaker 1 Well, I like it.

Speaker 14 But he was the most over ever. But I just, like, yeah, I didn't.
I wasn't on the bandwagon.

Speaker 1 When did the smack come into

Speaker 14 the slap so it was when I became you know a character and obviously when I became a heel um and I don't know what the my first slap was but I remember the advice that I was told because all the boys were like you got to lay it in Steph

Speaker 14 they said you got to lay it in it's got to look good and make sure you don't pop anybody's eardrum you got to hit them you know in a particular spot but but hit them hard so That's how the slap kind of starts.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you lay it in there.

Speaker 14 I think, yeah, it was like Foley, I think. Jericho.
I got, I remember one time DX was holding Jericho. I forget the storyline, but I was going over to slap Chris and he, he like winced.

Speaker 1 All the guys thought it was so funny and they made me wait and let him wince.

Speaker 1 And then they had me slap him.

Speaker 14 It was really funny.

Speaker 1 How are your relationships with, let's, I don't want to say ex-talent, but OGs of the WWF? Because obviously there is situations that happen with superstars. I think it happens in any business,

Speaker 1 definitely in a business where there's a lot of egos, only a certain amount of spots, a lot of travel, a lot of exhaustions, and a lot of physicality, where people kind of get on the outs with the family, shall we say.

Speaker 1 Now, in the family, the WWF to WWE, how have you been able to maintain relationships with people that have been through the WWE?

Speaker 1 And does it always feel like a reunion every time people come back home? And do you feel a big part of that whenever people come back?

Speaker 14 So to answer in reverse order, I don't necessarily feel a big part of it if I wasn't.

Speaker 14 It is always a big reunion when somebody comes back. And I try to keep good relationships with everybody.

Speaker 14 If there is a falling out or some particular

Speaker 14 negative aspect,

Speaker 14 that's not what I choose to focus on. And if someone needs to

Speaker 14 get over whatever that is, and then

Speaker 14 that's their purview.

Speaker 1 It feels like the business, everybody like takes a break. Not everybody.
Michael Cole's been doing this for 28 years straight.

Speaker 14 In that insane. Yeah, I know.
I love Michael Cole.

Speaker 1 Me too. What amazing.
I slap the crap out of Michael Cole.

Speaker 14 You should do that again.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Amen.
You should do that again. Ask him about that.
Let's get one of those.

Speaker 1 Let's get one of those at the rumble. Ty has a question for you, Steph.

Speaker 3 Yeah, Steph, you mentioned, you know, stepping away and how that was great for you. But once you kind of go out there and you get that pop and, you know, people are booing you.

Speaker 3 And we've talked to so many superstars who say how intoxicating that is and like the adrenaline you get from that.

Speaker 3 Do you ever miss that aspect of it and wish, like, oh man, I wish I was still doing this on a consistent basis, going out there every single night and getting booed and kind of feeling that rush from the a live crowd?

Speaker 14 It's a great question.

Speaker 14 And I think there was a period of time that I, you know, have felt that way. I think there's various periods of time where I've felt that way.

Speaker 14 But honestly, after I wrestled Rhonda and Kurt at WrestleMania, it... for some reason didn't become my driving force.

Speaker 14 Like it it was so amazing that match and what we were able to to the story we were able to tell, what we were able to accomplish that me being the only non-athlete, you know, it was it was a tall order for me.

Speaker 14 And ever since then, I haven't had that craving. Honestly, it's more how are they going to react? It's not like, oh, I'm craving them to do this or that.

Speaker 14 It's more like, oh, are they going to react at all when I come out? Because I've really only been out at WrestleMania, you know, opening the second night of WrestleMania.

Speaker 14 And then I've been in the crowd. So it's not like I've, you know, really been out in front of you.

Speaker 1 Great promo at Mania. Yeah, great promo at Mania.

Speaker 14 Well, I got to usher in the Triple H era, the Paul Levesque era. I mean, it was such a cool moment for me to be able to do that.
How is that?

Speaker 1 Watching him transition from all these different phases. Because that

Speaker 1 I was just a fan, so I've only followed along. I've never asked him or you.
I believe it was just Bit

Speaker 1 for a show that you guys were maybe concocting to happen. Then you come fall in love.

Speaker 14 Oh, Oh, oh, oh, that. Yeah.
Mr. H.

Speaker 1 And now there's been so many different iterations of you, so many different iterations of him, so many different iterations of the business, kind of watching it all grow.

Speaker 1 How do you feel about the current state of Mr. H and you guys as a family? Because he's more busy now, maybe than ever.

Speaker 14 Yeah, he's busier now than ever, but he's happier than ever. You know,

Speaker 14 he's working so hard, but it's something he actually just talked about at the town hall to all of our employees. I say hour.
I know it's not hour anymore, but to the WWE employees.

Speaker 4 Yeah, place.

Speaker 1 And I can't get the hour out of out of my lexicon, but he

Speaker 14 shouldn't have.

Speaker 14 But he talked about the fun, you know, and how everybody is having, as hard as they work, they're having that much fun and how important that is.

Speaker 14 I mean, I think you guys know that better than anybody, right? You can put in all the hours you can grind away, but if you're having fun, you know, that's where the money is.

Speaker 14 And then if you're having fun, if our talent are having fun, then the audience is having fun.

Speaker 1 yeah and it radiates to the screen I think it does you feel it yeah and you got to find people that love the business like for football for instance we talk about all these NFL teams trying to find guys that love ball like I feel like in the wrestling business you find out quickly who loves the business right don't you think you do I think so yeah yeah because if not you're not some people though come from different walks of life but they fall in love with it you know and and that's where the passion resides it's like you don't have to have been a fan your whole life but yeah if you're a fan it makes a huge difference I think you guys have the most loyal and passionate fans out of any business.

Speaker 14 I would say that. I mean, I'm sure other leagues, sports leagues would say differently, but I believe that wholeheartedly.

Speaker 1 There's about to be, what, 65,000 plus? Maybe 75. Oh, maybe 70,000 here at Royal Rumble, biggest Royal Rumble attended event happening here.

Speaker 14 But I think also because our fans are such a part of our journey, they are the reason for our success and they are part of making it so successful.

Speaker 14 So even this move to Netflix, it's like, that's what I put in my post post because it's everybody who's ever been a part of WWE or loved it in some capacity that has gotten us to this place.

Speaker 14 And our fans know that.

Speaker 1 They're a part of it.

Speaker 14 And I think that's kind of what makes it different.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you just said our fans again.

Speaker 14 You should be doing it.

Speaker 1 I know I told you I think it's like everybody should keep doing that. It's very natural and everybody understands it.
The fans are a character. Yes.

Speaker 1 You know, and I don't think that's necessarily something in all sports or any other entertainment business. It's like the fans matter more in wrestling than any other place.

Speaker 1 And it's a beautiful thing. I was lucky to be a part of the WW universe.
Now I get a chance to say dumb things into a microphone in your business. AJ has a question for you.
Steph, he's in Ohio.

Speaker 9 Yeah, Stephanie, someone that I've been a big fan of for a long time and an absolute great company, man, for you guys, The Miz. Now, are we seeing, we hear The Miz talk a lot of times.

Speaker 9 He feels like if he's not forward-facing in some of the posters or some of the promo, he may get a bit excited. Are we expecting to see a nice, like a push for The Miz here over the next couple years?

Speaker 14 You never know what's going to happen with The Miz. He's very surprising.
Comes out of nowhere.

Speaker 1 How do you feel about the amount of content, amount of superstars, and trying to keep everybody happy that your business has to do?

Speaker 14 I don't think it's possible to keep everybody happy, you know, ever in any capacity. You're always going to have some people who are happy, some people who aren't.

Speaker 14 But I think the amount of content that is being produced is at a record level. But again, we have such an incredibly talented team, our production team being led by Lee Fitting.

Speaker 14 We have, you know, of course, all of the talent. You know, everybody's willing to shoot content.
Everybody wants to shoot content. And we have more programs and shows now than we ever have before.

Speaker 1 And Trailblaze everywhere. Speed.

Speaker 1 X was the first one that showed up. It's like everything you guys are doing is like Trailblazing.
Not everything's a home run.

Speaker 1 It can't be. I think everybody would agree with that.
But you guys step into the batter's box more than anybody, which I think is why I love your guys' business so much.

Speaker 1 And also, you know, with how, I don't say old the business is, but with how long the business has been around.

Speaker 14 Okay, so do you know that really if you position the business, right?

Speaker 14 And this is something I used to do at all these business conferences when I would talk to the audience, is really it goes all the way back to the days of the Roman Colosseum.

Speaker 14 And then I say, thank God, you know, we evolved from, you know, with the outcome.

Speaker 1 Chill, yeah.

Speaker 14 We evolved descripting the outcome, and that was a good thing.

Speaker 1 Yeah, smart idea.

Speaker 14 But, you know, really, it does go all the way back. You know, it's some, it's the oldest form of entertainment.

Speaker 14 I think, you know, hand-to-hand, man-to-man kind of combat goes along with being a human being. And it's a part of survival, right? And then it evolves over time.
Abraham Lincoln

Speaker 14 was a professional wrestler. Some historians refute that and some absolutely support it.
And when you think about his style and his promo, if you will,

Speaker 14 he always talked about people. He told stories.
And that is what WWE does better than anybody. And that's what this business does.
You tell stories.

Speaker 1 Standing at six foot six

Speaker 1 wearing a top hat making him seven foot one out of illinois honest a

Speaker 1 lincoln that's good billing for him but without at the carnivals which is where this whole thing kind of starts you know people talk about carney and everything like that and kfabe and everything like that the the language is a carney language and the history of it everybody you know you would think with how big the business has got billions dollar deals billion dollar deals it's still family run business always will be there's only a few people that are making decisions in there.

Speaker 1 Obviously, your family has been a part of that for as long as any of us can remember it. How has it been to not like

Speaker 1 take it personal, all the pop shots or all the shots that have been taken at you, your family, everything? Do you try to stay above it? Do you try to stay away from it? Do you try not to see it?

Speaker 1 How do you kind of engage in all that type of stuff?

Speaker 14 So it's been my whole life. And when I was in high school was when my dad was indicted by the federal government.

Speaker 14 And the media came after my family in a really big and really hard way to deal with when we were in high school.

Speaker 14 And I think at that time, I was filled with a lot of anger and resentment. And I had a hard time, you know, navigating all of that.

Speaker 14 And I think, you know, now in my later years, when all of it seems to happen again,

Speaker 14 it's, you know, with a little bit of reverence that I can appreciate all of it because it's just noise. You know, people have opinions no matter what.
And that's great.

Speaker 14 And you can think you know exactly what's going on. You can give whatever dart you think you know.
But at the end of the day, you know, I know where I stand.

Speaker 14 And that's how I have to just be grounded and rooted in who I am and what I believe in and try to ignore the noise.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and I think that's why people view you the way they do, even if they view your dad or your family differently. I think that's why everybody appreciates the hell out of you.

Speaker 1 That's why there's big pops every time Steph comes out.

Speaker 1 We have a graphic here of the Queen of Queens, co-founder of Connor's Cure, like the amount of stuff you've given back to the world to make the society better, I think you've felt an onus to do and you have certainly managed to do and helped to do.

Speaker 1 Why is that such a big part of what you think the WWE is all about?

Speaker 14 Because it's all about our fans and it is all about giving back. I mean, that's been a part of the ethos of WWE from the very beginning.

Speaker 14 We were one of the first partners of Make-A-Wish Foundation, you know, over 30 years ago. And our talent were the most requested wishes, you know, out of anybody.

Speaker 14 And that's really how the relationship started. And it's like, of course, yes, of course, bring this child.
Yes, we want to make this wish come true. What more can we do?

Speaker 14 And that then evolved into Special Olympics, and that evolved into a lot of other partnerships, you know, that we have that are all about giving back. Connor's Cure was founded because of a little boy

Speaker 14 named Connor Mahalek who was impossible not to fall in love with. And he was, I met him at the Royal Rumble.
It was after the show.

Speaker 14 And he was standing there. He was wearing a shirt that was like dragging on the ground.
And Justin Roberts, one of our referees, introduced me to him.

Speaker 14 And he was telling me all about his t-shirts and how Seamus had just given him this one that was dragging the floor.

Speaker 14 And that he underneath that, he had a Daniel Bryan t-shirt on because Daniel Bryan was his t-shirt.

Speaker 14 And under that, he had a Skylanders t-shirt on and I was like oh buddy he was just you could tell he was sick because he had a scar running up the back of his head and he had a little lump on his head and he you know you could tell he he was sick but you'd never know it from his personality I asked him for a hug and he said no and I said why not and he goes because I give chokeout hugs and I was like try me buddy

Speaker 14 and it was the best little hug and when I stood up that's when his dad told me he said you know, you guys aren't supposed to be back in Pittsburgh until the summer. And this was Royal Rumbles.

Speaker 14 And he said, and the doctors say that Connor's not going to make it. Yeah.

Speaker 14 And

Speaker 14 I just couldn't get over that. And when I said goodbye to Connor, I gave him a little kiss on his cheek.
And I'll never forget how soft his cheek was. And then he turned around and he looked at me.

Speaker 14 And I know this sounds crazy, but I swear our souls touched. And I made an unspoken promise in that moment.

Speaker 14 And went on the bus that night because we were on the tour bus and Paul and I were talking about what we could do. And we invited him to WrestleMania.

Speaker 14 And we were thinking, give him something to hang on for. And it worked because hope is really important.
And hope really does matter.

Speaker 14 And his dad said that at WrestleMania, it turns out the doctors told him not to travel. And they said this will be a disaster.
Don't travel. His dad did it anyway.

Speaker 14 And he said it was like he had his little boy back. He could tie his shoes.

Speaker 14 He could feed himself he could do all these things and then his hero Daniel Bryan ultimately wins it all at WrestleMania WrestleMania and Daniel Bryan came over to him with the championship and and said you did this and you have to continue your fight and um

Speaker 14 and Connor did for three more weeks. Man.

Speaker 1 And then he died.

Speaker 14 He died in his dad's arms three weeks later.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Jenser, little Jenser kid in Pittsburgh Children's Hospital, obviously, is an powerful one, a great one.
We appreciate everything you've done for him. I'm getting emotional.

Speaker 1 I think we all are.

Speaker 1 I have an almost two-year-old. He's got a daughter.
He's got two kids.

Speaker 1 It makes a difference. As you tell these stories, we're thinking about it.
But so what can we do? That's what WWE does, though.

Speaker 14 That's right. And so there's something we can do.
And we galvanized our fan base, and we've raised millions of dollars for kids with cancer. And it also maintains a personal commitment for me.

Speaker 14 And I'm doing a number of different things outside of the company. Hell yeah, Steph.

Speaker 1 Hell yeah, Steph. All right, as we all get past the tears of remembering.
Sorry about that. No, don't be starting at all.

Speaker 1 We are very lucky that you are doing that and giving back to the world, especially in the city that we are from, Pittsburgh. So we're very grateful.
A.P. Tone has a question for you.

Speaker 4 Yeah, with your vast knowledge and wisdom of the business and the company, and now that you're back, do you feel an obligation or do you have a lot of superstars or people around the business?

Speaker 4 I mean, Pat talks about every time he comes back, talks about how much of a, how awesome everyone is, from the superstars to the camera people to everybody.

Speaker 14 Do you ever feel an obligation obligation to you know be a mentor or give advice to any of the superstars or anyone in the business now because of of that you've been in all your entire life i don't feel an obligation but i'm more than willing certainly and and anybody who who wants my opinion i'm happy to give it you know um but it is true how great everybody is oh the best i mean it just the culture of the company i think just hands got called into question a lot yeah got called into question a lot by people that don't know the company but you're talking about camera people that have been there for like 30 years.

Speaker 1 Yes. You're talking about like Nikki and his crew, the production crew's been there for like 25 years.
The guy who threw Steve Beers during the Attitude Air is still there right now doing it.

Speaker 1 It's like everybody is at the top of their profession that it's been there and they won't leave.

Speaker 14 And then think about all the life you live during that time and the challenges because life kicks everybody around, right?

Speaker 14 And then the challenges that you have personally in this team that's always there every single week, there for you. And I think that that's just another part of it.

Speaker 14 It's another part of why it is so special.

Speaker 1 I don't want to put you on the spot here, but have you ever given your Mount Rushmore of WWF, WWE superstars?

Speaker 14 No, I can't do that. Yeah, I'll do that.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's way, way too many.

Speaker 14 That's way too many. It leads me to the Hall of Fame, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 But there are a couple different people that have, obviously, you mentioned Hulk Hogan earlier. Yeah.
And LA booed his ass out for

Speaker 1 maybe comes back with the NWO.

Speaker 14 Oh, yeah, the black and white. Yeah, he's offering it.

Speaker 1 But what he was able to do, obviously, alongside Andre and that entire crew, kind of launched the business into something very different.

Speaker 1 And then Stone Cold, The Rock, that entire Attitude Era, the X, that old crew, they do what they do. Cena takes the reins, takes it to another.
This group takes it to another.

Speaker 1 Do you view it as different eras, or how do you kind of view the history of the?

Speaker 14 I think it's appropriate to break it up in eras. You know, I think it helps define it because it is so big and there has been so many special people and special moments.

Speaker 14 So I think eras work.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 What's your favorite era? The attitude era.

Speaker 14 What an insane time to to be. The attitude era was out of control.

Speaker 14 It was crazy. It really was.
To be a part of it on the inside and outside, it was, yeah, lunacy.

Speaker 1 That's where I grew up in. So

Speaker 14 that makes so much sense.

Speaker 1 Exactly. Exactly.
In the back, there's a guy named Nikki Skates, massive wrestling fan. He has a question for you, Steph.

Speaker 6 Stephanie, what... Does the future look like for you from the wrestling standpoint, like the business? Like, where do you go from here? You're on Netflix now.

Speaker 4 You're all over the world, like how much further can you guys take this thing?

Speaker 6 And I know there's been shows in Europe now. Is that the next step? Where are we going next?

Speaker 14 So international is a big focus, but again, I'm not an executive at the company right now.

Speaker 1 So just, you know, right now? Oh, my dad. No, and I don't mean anything by that.

Speaker 14 I just mean I'm, you know, speaking on my own here. Absolutely.
But international is absolutely a huge focus.

Speaker 14 And that's part of one of the reasons why the partnership with Netflix is so important to us.

Speaker 14 You know, when you think about even NXT and you think about our developmental center in Florida right now, the Performance Center, what if you have those all over the world?

Speaker 14 What if you can grow sort of mini territories? What if you replicate NXT in different countries all over the world? Ultimately, then what does that do?

Speaker 14 Aside from a programming standpoint, but then you level that up and how do you then a global world tour where we're competing against ourselves in different countries?

Speaker 14 What does that look like? I mean, there's the sky, there's one thing about WWE is we've never put a ceiling on anything, you know, and

Speaker 14 we're limited only by our imagination. So I think that, you know, that's the best answer.
But yes, international is a huge focus.

Speaker 1 It's the greatest business in the world. I'm so incredibly lucky to be a small, little tiny part of it.
I'm so lucky to be invited back.

Speaker 1 We will continue this conversation on ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, YouTube, and TikTok Live. Still live.

Speaker 1 TikTok Live still bringing it. Still bringing it.
Still bringing it. We don't don't know how much longer it will be.
Royal Rumble on Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern.

Speaker 1 SmackDown kicks it all off tomorrow from Gainbridge Fieldhouse here in Indianapolis, Indiana. We'll continue our chat with royalty, Stephanie McMahon digitally.

Speaker 1 We can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice.
It might change their life.

Speaker 1 All right, we got it out. Yep, now boom.
We're no longer on ESPN. So if you want to just drop a bunch of motherfuckers.

Speaker 14 But we didn't promote the ESPN show. What are you talking about? My show.

Speaker 1 Oh, shit. Oh, God.

Speaker 1 That's part of our problem.

Speaker 1 We'll continue to get better. We'll continue to evolve.

Speaker 4 Wouldn't be us if we did.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, that's it. Oh, shit.
Yikes. That is 100% on us.

Speaker 14 Will that be? I was going to steer it, but then I wasn't going to be able to do it. You should have.

Speaker 1 You should have.

Speaker 1 You should have.

Speaker 1 You can just view this show as your show. Whenever you say our show, just do whatever you need to do.
But we are live on ESPN Plus currently. Awesome.
Awesome.

Speaker 14 and we're live on Disney Plus currently yep and YouTube and I believe that is going to be a few of the homes for a show that you are creating that is correct and uh I think this is an announcement that is it is it is in partnership with Omaha Productions and and ESPN and WWE it is a part of the Peyton's Places show and it is called Stephanie's Places

Speaker 14 and I'm going all over the the country and hopefully the world to really find out the stories behind the biggest stars in WWE.

Speaker 1 I believe we have a sizzle reel for

Speaker 1 Steph's Places. It has no audio on it, but it is a bunch of the shots.
You caught up with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Speaker 14 I did.

Speaker 1 You got a chance to catch up with Charlotte Flair. What?

Speaker 1 Roman Reigns.

Speaker 14 And the whole bloodline, by the way.

Speaker 1 Down on a yacht down in Florida.

Speaker 1 Hilarious.

Speaker 1 And it's coming in March. ESPN Original, Stephanie's Places.
You know the history of this business through and through. What is the goal of Stephanie's Places?

Speaker 14 It's really to tell the stories that haven't been told and to

Speaker 14 find out more about the people behind the characters. And

Speaker 14 what I want to do is bring some type of advice to the audience. Like, you know, these people are all hugely successful, but like most people, they've been knocked around a lot.

Speaker 14 So how did they overcome the challenges that were put in front of them? How did they get over certain things to become who they are today? And it's really their journey.

Speaker 14 That's what I'm trying to tell is the story of their story, their journey of how they've gotten to where they are.

Speaker 1 Have you enjoyed hosting? Have you enjoyed hosting?

Speaker 14 I've loved it. So I have to say, I was really nervous to do it.

Speaker 14 You know, again, it was like my first step back, if you will, and into the business. And I was really, really worried about it.

Speaker 14 And ultimately, it's just been so rewarding to get to hang out with our talent that I know so well on a certain level, but then to get to know them so much better and differently.

Speaker 14 And again, to bring their stories out.

Speaker 14 And it's interesting because with each person, it's different. In some cases, like I'm the younger person who remembers them as a big star and how do we do this.

Speaker 14 And then in other cases, I'm the older person and I'm trying to pull things out of a younger superstar. And

Speaker 14 it's no one show is the same.

Speaker 14 And it's just a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 Hell yeah. We can't wait to watch.
Coming in March. Go ahead, Tom.

Speaker 4 Did you get to meet Steve's cats?

Speaker 1 Because this office sponsored. shows.
Poncho, Poncho, Poncho. Poncho.

Speaker 14 But he kept running away.

Speaker 1 Well, that's a poncho. That's a classic poncho.

Speaker 14 I don't like cats. What? I don't like cats.

Speaker 1 Neither do I, but Steve's cats are different.

Speaker 14 Well, I know, and that's what he said. He said they were like dogs and they were great.
And I'm not disparaging Steve's cats, but yes, in general, I am not a cat.

Speaker 1 Well, there are cats that are like dogs, though.

Speaker 14 They say that. They say that.

Speaker 14 I don't like cats since I'm a kid, and they mess with me. So my husband's sister, she had a cat that was like 22 years old or something.

Speaker 14 Never came out of the closet, but it would just stay there unless I came over and it would come sit behind me on the sofa. And his sister was like, this never happens.

Speaker 1 I don't know why.

Speaker 14 No, they mess with me. They know I don't like them.
I was a sophomore in college and my roommate and I, we had this apartment, the bathroom door wouldn't close all the way.

Speaker 14 And this cat would come in and perch on the sink when I was taking a shower. And I'd wash my hair like, I thought this cat was going to to jump over.

Speaker 1 No!

Speaker 14 It was not, it was messing with me and it knew exactly what it was doing. I was bit by a cat when I was in like daycare.
Black cat bit my middle finger.

Speaker 1 What does that mean? Whoa, man. So many of them.

Speaker 1 We know what that means. It means you're going to hate cats for the rest of your life.
That's right. I think is what happened.

Speaker 1 Okay, before we let you go,

Speaker 1 you can tell us now. Congratulations.
You're going to be in the Rumble this weekend.

Speaker 14 I am not in the Rumble match. That is

Speaker 14 I am not in the Rumble match at all.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Well, you wouldn't tell us if you were.

Speaker 1 We'll dump it. We won't let anybody hear it.
Okay, well, we appreciate the hell out of you. Let's take a break on the other side.
We'll wrap up all the stories.

Speaker 1 Let's celebrate the hell out of Stephanie McMahon in Stephanie's place.

Speaker 14 Thank you guys.

Speaker 1 Thank you for making time to stop by. I know this is your first time doing any interviews since stepping down as an executive.
That's right. At WWE.
You came in here and crushed it. We were crying.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, I did. So, real legit.
This is my first time crying in here. Really? Definitely.

Speaker 14 Ah, so great. I have, I have a credit.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I'd say Tone was crying too. I mean, everybody, so was Dodd.

Speaker 14 And I didn't even have to slap you to make you cry.

Speaker 1 I'll do the Jericho. Yeah.

Speaker 4 So great.

Speaker 14 I got to get that footage. Thank you very much for having me.
It was an honor.

Speaker 1 No, the honor is ours. Thank you for everything you've done for society, for the business, and for us.

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Speaker 1 Football! It's wonderful. That's AJ Hawk.
He's a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion.

Speaker 1 H,

Speaker 1 I mean, that's the first time I've ever cried in here with Stephanie McMahon. She absolutely crushed it.

Speaker 1 So thankful she stopped by with the WWE team. It's always nice to see them.
Great people all around. Talks to Tevas here at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt.
We talk about it a lot. And,

Speaker 1 you know, anytime we say it into a microphone, I almost feel like we're braggarts. And I don't mean to sound that way.
But like, anytime we're around WWE people, they're way too nice to us. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And I think that is, I mean, they put you guys in a video game. But

Speaker 1 they are, to us, they've always been the coolest people. And we've been around them now, what, six, seven years in this entire thing.
A lot of wrestling marks leave that out of their...

Speaker 1 comments whenever they bury me for certain different things.

Speaker 1 It's like this started back with the NXT kickoff panel all the way back in New Orleans, all the way through doing that, to commentating NXT, to doing some of the panels and kickoff shows for the WWE, to getting to commentate on SmackDown, to now getting to do Raw, to doing some matches.

Speaker 1 It's like they've been cool to us since the beginning.

Speaker 3 and it's not just me it's all of us and it's absurd every single time no i mean and very rarely do you do something like we're going to like their biggest events of the year where you know like they have so much going on and a lot of times we're going to places with like 10 deep you know and it's not easy to just like accommodate you know like oh yeah like you guys like whatever you need seriously you know we we got we got seats for you you know you can go to this area you can do this you can do this like it'd be very easy if there are that many people to just be like, Pat, you're good, but like, get get your fucking posse.

Speaker 3 Like, you know, they can go sit up in the nosebleeds and kind of just be done with it. And they've never done that.

Speaker 3 Like, at WrestleMania this year, we were sitting behind the rocks, mom, you know, like

Speaker 1 Tuesday's was right by us. Exactly.
Titty boy. Yeah, titty boy.

Speaker 3 I mean, it's, it's insane. And it's time and time again, you know?

Speaker 1 They're good people. They've been so nice to us.
We're incredibly thankful. Obviously, Stephanie and Mr.
H have been incredibly kind to me. I started NXT whenever Triple H was running NXT.

Speaker 1 He has been nothing short of just a, I mean, whenever he was on at the Intuit Tome, we almost, I almost got like emotional when he was like, hey, watching you and your guys too from the beginning.

Speaker 1 I think they feel like they're a part of it, AJ. Like, I feel like the WWE people are like, and Michael Cole definitely is like, man, whenever we met.

Speaker 1 to where you are now, like they feel like, hey, the little boy has done pretty good and his friends.

Speaker 1 And that's a cool thing to feel, you know, especially from a company that I've obviously been a fan of my entire life, H.

Speaker 9 I told you from the first time I ever went to anything,

Speaker 9 WWE, when you were doing NXT back in the day, like from the first, I remember the first time I went down there with you, I was there for like, we were there, what, five, six, seven hours.

Speaker 9 It was during COVID, all this stuff's going on. And I just couldn't believe, like you said, like I was like, why? I felt like I was stepping on toes.
Okay, I shouldn't be here.

Speaker 9 I shouldn't be doing, hey, and they were so open. And they're like, yeah, man, whatever you guys need.
Like, it was a family. Like, it truly felt like a family atmosphere.

Speaker 9 And that was, it's it's always cool to see all the old wrestlers coming back and they all have a gig and they all have a place in what they do and they have so much respect for them.

Speaker 9 Like it's a cool like old school type culture, I think, too.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I agree. And, you know, when I mentioned getting away, because that happens with everybody in the WWE.

Speaker 1 Like you get to a point, you know, we can see it happening publicly with some people maybe, where you get to a point where you forget.

Speaker 1 how good it is and how lucky you are to maybe be working where you are and how pumped you should be.

Speaker 1 And it's like that happens in every business especially in one where you have to travel around it's a lot of work there's a lot of this there's only a certain amount of spots it's like people get away and then they kind of get like refreshed and then whenever they come back it's always like uh welcome back it's great to have you that business has a lot of that and i think it kind of happens literally for everybody but michael cole michael cole is like the only constant for like 28 years and i'm always like cole like don't you think you need a break is a break i take a break i'm gonna firing my ass what are you doing and i'm like no no like it is kind of one of those things.

Speaker 1 It's one of those businesses where it can be a lot, but everybody has the same mindset. Like, let's just do the best shit and let's serve our fans.
That's legitimately how they feel.

Speaker 1 And Royal Rumble being in Indianapolis, and I know Mr. H said this, but like I pushed very hard for it to be, for them to come to Indy for a lot of things.

Speaker 1 Now, certainly did Nick and Triple H say and Michael Cole go, oh, you want a home game? Huh?

Speaker 1 Everybody wants a home game, you know? Like Michael Cole in San Antonio the other night, it was said like three times, like, I'm from 20 minutes down the road.

Speaker 1 So, like, Michael Cole drove home after the thing. So, anytime I was promoting, like, hey, you guys need to come through Indianapolis more.
We need bigger shows in Indianapolis. Give us a chance.

Speaker 1 Indianapolis people are going to show up. They're all like, oh, okay, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. We'll stay in Indianapolis.
And then what, Louisville? You want Louisville next?

Speaker 1 And then, you know, we'll go to Chicago too. And then maybe Detroit.
You just want us to maybe stay in there.

Speaker 1 there and they were talking shit obviously but then whenever I started saying like no I think this place would be a great host because we're a great hosting place.

Speaker 1 And they like, I feel like whenever they got the deal done to do it, they're like pumped to come tell me like, hey, we're coming to Indie, man, like very excited for it.

Speaker 1 And that's why this weekend is so damn cool because I think the crowd that is going to show up for this Royal Rumble is going to be an electrifying crowd.

Speaker 1 I think they're a crowd that is going to be very thankful that the Royal Rumble is here. And obviously WrestleMania is coming.
That was agreed to in the deal.

Speaker 1 And I think Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and SummerSlam were all deals that were agreed to with the city of Indianapolis.

Speaker 1 And it's like, whenever that deal gets done, one of the first calls that Nick and Triple H make is to me, and they're like, hey, man, we got it done. Like, let's enjoy the hell out of this.

Speaker 1 And it's like, this weekend is the first of that. And I'm so lucky and pumped to be a part of it all.

Speaker 1 I saw you crying over there because the things that WWE is giving back to the community too is immense. And it very rarely gets talked about outside of the wrestling fans.

Speaker 4 You're right. The Connor Scure thing, I didn't know the story of it.

Speaker 4 Yeah,

Speaker 4 ever since we've had kids, just a ball of mush.

Speaker 4 um but no but then like see what seen is the most of all time for make-a-wishes like though and he's not the only one like he's just because he has done a thousand of them but yeah all the wwe superstars they're always with kids they're always giving back to the community it's awesome great business yeah and you can do anything in the business yes work their asses off that too That's the biggest thing right there, what Connor said.

Speaker 1 It's like all that other stuff. Yes, I retweet, but they all work so hard and you just have to respect that.
Yeah, and you could do anything.

Speaker 1 I mean, they could put a WWE baseball game together somehow. Yeah.
And it would work. Sure.
You know, they would make it work somehow. Like, if you have an idea, they want to hear it.

Speaker 1 And, all right, let's make it happen. You know,

Speaker 1 as opposed to like, nah, that can't happen, which some places are like, you know, I'm not going to point any fingers at anybody.

Speaker 9 Most places. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Most places. But WWE, you have an idea.
They're like, okay, figure this out. Let's see.

Speaker 9 Sounds like Andy Reid a little bit, like what Coach Andy Reid said yesterday. He'll listen to anyone who has advice.
He's not guaranteed to call it, but he'll listen.

Speaker 1 Okay, speaking of Andy Reid, do you know on

Speaker 1 this day, seven years ago, the Chiefs traded Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a third-round pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller? This trade would inevitably lead.

Speaker 1 to Patrick Mahomes becoming the starter for the Kansas City Chiefs. Alex Smith had just got done with his best season of football.

Speaker 1 Alex Smith started that season by beating the shit out of the New England Patriots on opening night.

Speaker 1 Then they would lead to a season where they'd be so comfortable with their seeding, they would rest the starters in the final week.

Speaker 1 Patrick Mahomes, this quarterback out of Texas Tech, would play against the Denver Broncos in the final game of the season.

Speaker 1 Once again, because they had such a good season, they didn't have to play the last game. It did not matter.
That's how great Alex Smith was.

Speaker 1 Everything they thought Alex Smith could be, he was in this particular season with Andy Reid. Patrick Mahomes would beat the Denver Broncos.
in the final game of the year.

Speaker 1 Then the Chiefs would not win the Super Bowl. That offseason would start, and what would they do?

Speaker 1 They'd get rid of Alex Smith after he lives up to the hype and expectation from all the years ago in draft night. And everybody, including us, would say, the hell is Andy Reid doing?

Speaker 1 Why the fuck would you get rid of Alex Smith whenever he plays his best ball and only going to play even better ball, you assume going forward in this Andy Reid system?

Speaker 1 And then we had a caller call into our show from Kansas City go, Patrick Mahomes is going to be the best player to ever play football for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Speaker 1 And we said, look at this blind loyalty that these people have to the Chiefs and to Andy Reid.

Speaker 1 Little did we know that everything that was happening in practices and everything happening in that Denver Broncos game was something that they knew was going to become a very consistent level of play.

Speaker 1 So obviously this day, January 30th, is one that's remembered for a lot of things, I would assume. But the biggest one is that this is when the Patrick Mahomes era began.
in Kansas City.

Speaker 1 And you have to give credit to Andy Reid for pulling the trigger and making the decision happen, especially with how good Alex Smith was playing. And

Speaker 1 the rest, they say, is history, A.J. Hawk.

Speaker 9 They had to know. Obviously, they did know.
They didn't think they knew. They knew what they had in Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 9 And I do remember, I mean, I don't know anyone that's like, oh, yeah, that's normal that they're training away Alex Smith. We remember the season that he did have then.

Speaker 9 But I do remember hearing throughout like different players talk about through camp or whatever just about Mahomes. Like, hey, I'm just telling you, like, this dude is, he's next.

Speaker 9 Like, they weren't saying get Alex Smith out of here, but they were talking about about him, what he does in practice.

Speaker 1 Hold on, I got a text from a Colquit, right? The punter? Yeah. I think as we were doing our show, we did a full one.
Oh, what a stupid decision.

Speaker 1 And then I got a text from Dustin Colquit that was like, Bub, Bub, this is, you are, this is the guy. This is who we want.
This is the guy that is going to be great.

Speaker 1 And wait until you see what this guy is going to become. And what's he become? Oh, well, he's 29 years old.

Speaker 1 He's a multiple-time Super Bowl champion, and he's already in a conversation of being the greatest of all time.

Speaker 4 I also never forget, I want to say clip in the show, because I don't know if we had rights yet or not, but there was a preseason game.

Speaker 4 I can't remember who was against, but there was multiple throws where he was rolling right and just throwing the ball like 80 yards down the field. And we're like, oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but the day of. Not a single day.
No, not the day of.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I appreciate us all going, yeah, on day we remember saying we were all, I was gobsmacked that they moved on from Alex Smith. And that was at the very beginning of our program.

Speaker 1 You know, that was at the very beginning of us being doofuses talking about sports.

Speaker 3 and it's like boy has this worked out for them pretty well i'd say well and even so like they could have known what they had in him and you know like oh this guy's unbelievable in practice like there's no way that they would have thought hey we're gonna make this trade and we're gonna be at least in the afc championship every year for the next seven years like that that's still a pipe dream so that like that just speaks to mahomes too like how how good he actually is like there there was no fall off ever it's like he came in and he just continues to win and continues to win and it's crazy i don't think anyone could have said they saw that coming.

Speaker 1 All right. And

Speaker 1 more news coming out of Baltimore. Sounds

Speaker 1 a little bit alarming about Justin Tucker. We will obviously follow along with that.
And ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, a man who's from Dublin, Ireland. What?

Speaker 1 One of the greatest hosts in the history of international travel.

Speaker 1 Ladies and gentlemen, WWE superstar

Speaker 1 Shave!

Speaker 1 Big sample bedy.

Speaker 1 Damn! Sorry! My neck!

Speaker 5 Oh, I'm surprised you had me back after the last time, huh?

Speaker 1 You were great? Yeah, you were great the last time. That's why we had you on.
Seamus in town for the Royal Rumble. Gonna win it this weekend.

Speaker 5 That's it, man. The plan.
2012, one of the last times. I'm about to another win, I think.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you're about due.

Speaker 1 You're about due for another win. How you feeling? I feel great.
Yeah, look at AJ there looking sharp again, man.

Speaker 5 Fresh coat. Is it a fresh coat, AJ?

Speaker 9 Yeah, it's pretty fresh a day or two, Seamus. I appreciate the vest you gave me as well.
I'm picking a great day where I'm going to wear it on a big scale.

Speaker 1 He lost that. He threw that thing away.

Speaker 5 I was going to say, I haven't seen you wear it. You know what I mean? A bit disappointed.

Speaker 5 He said it was shite, Seamus.

Speaker 5 That's terrible.

Speaker 9 Maybe if I give a renewal of my vows or something, something really serious.

Speaker 5 That means we're never going to see that thing.

Speaker 1 No! Well, to be clear, he has no idea where that thing is, which is a shame. But

Speaker 1 he's still on the plane. It feels like just yesterday we were in Dublin, Ireland together.
That was the beginning of the college football season. We just wrapped that up last Monday.

Speaker 1 The college football season ended. You were almost right with your national championship prediction with Notre Dame.
And also, you picked Georgia Tech to beat Florida State.

Speaker 1 Sounds like you were a big brain college football guy.

Speaker 5 Oh, huge brain college football guy, you know. Huge brain.

Speaker 5 I'm already working my picks for next season.

Speaker 1 Yeah, weren't you? you? He was a mascot. Yeah, you were Georgia Tech's mascot.
In the Rambling Record.

Speaker 5 Yeah, I ended up going to a couple of games. They were awesome.

Speaker 5 The whole team and the Cyldi and all that are brilliant. Everyone was great.
They really welcomed me in. So

Speaker 5 I think it all stopped, though. We went to Syracuse and they lost at Syracuse.
So I went to the obviously the one in Dublin, they won. And then

Speaker 5 I went to the one in at Georgia Tech when they played Georgia. And then it was after when they lost at Syracuse, I didn't get an invite back.

Speaker 1 So the lucky charm stuff far off, you know? The lucky charm.

Speaker 5 The lucky charm stuff. But let's talk about Dublin.
What a time it was.

Speaker 1 Can we still back?

Speaker 5 Pop McAfee with his short off, you know, taking the 10 beats at the far.

Speaker 1 The whole world

Speaker 5 was Karen coming back like, you know, like a magician.

Speaker 1 The whole world saw us over there on the internet having a good time. We're going back.
Oh, yeah. They're taking a lot of football over to Ireland now.

Speaker 1 The NFL has said that they're going to take a game over there. Another college football game is going over there.

Speaker 1 I don't want to say it's because of you, but I want to say it's because of you, Seamus. You need to know that.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 5 Appreciate it.

Speaker 5 Listen, it was a blast, mate. And would we go back to that? Would we have the show over there for the whole week this time?

Speaker 1 It's a good idea. I don't think it's a good idea.

Speaker 1 It's a great idea, right? Yeah.

Speaker 5 Put on Patty's Amex cards.

Speaker 1 Get one of those black ones. I know what I mean.
Listen, it's not the money I'm worried about.

Speaker 1 I don't know if I could survive a week over there. I think we did it right the last time, about 24 hours.
or so, but we would definitely take the show back over there. I had it.
Great.

Speaker 1 You were the best host I think we could have ever had. Yes.
International Trade. You had the Mahans.
Yeah, and the Mahans over there. Obviously, here's how they're doing.

Speaker 5 They are Mahans, Mahans, Mahons. What were you calling it? Yeah, Mahins.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 Look at us.

Speaker 5 Oh, I'm getting homesick watching this.

Speaker 1 It's the best. Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop.
Yeah, we had a great time over there, man. It feels like just yesterday, but everything kind of flies.

Speaker 1 Since then, you've signed a new deal with the WWE.

Speaker 1 Yeah, five years. Congratulations.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 5 Thank you.

Speaker 5 I was with so many Guinness deep that night that I was actually going to announce it.

Speaker 5 And I'm like, well, I hadn't actually put ink to paper at that stage, but I was just so, everything about that week was just such a huge hype for me as well.

Speaker 1 Ireland was on great display. I think showed up in a big way.
And that game was obviously electrifying. It comes down to a game-winning field goal.

Speaker 1 How do you feel, though, going into the Rumble? You look like you're in incredible shape right now.

Speaker 5 You know, I honestly, I feel the best I've had in years. I just celebrated birthday Monday,

Speaker 5 40, Sunday, 27th.

Speaker 1 Happy birthday. Happy birthday.
I'm delighted. Woo!

Speaker 5 I'm getting G'd up here. Big time, man.
I'm going to be going in with so much confidence on Saturday. But yeah, you know, like, I just feel like really good.
Training's going well. Diet's going well.

Speaker 5 And, you know,

Speaker 5 I still haven't lost. I think I'd say I'm more passionate now than I've ever been in my entire career.

Speaker 5 And I had that match with Braun Breaker. I was Saturday night's main event.
That was so close. We had Jesse Ventura calling the shot saying I was robbed.
You know what I mean? You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Oh, look at that.

Speaker 5 By the way, spear of the year there, mate. That's the hardest spear I've ever taken in my life from that kid.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think both of you felt that I was just feet away from there. Your

Speaker 1 rib would end up being a downfall. You'd go for a Brogue kick later.
Something would catch. You wouldn't be able to time it.
Braun would take advantage.

Speaker 1 He'd end up winning and retaining his Intercontinental Championship. The only title you have yet to win in the WWE.

Speaker 1 Do you have your eyes set on a rematch? Are we all focused on the Royal Rumble? What are you thinking?

Speaker 5 That's it, mate. I mean, I think most 29 other men in that match, they're going to be, if they win, they're going to go after like Cody or Gunther or Boyf.

Speaker 5 And I I win that match, I'm going right back after Bron Bray.

Speaker 1 Only title you haven't won.

Speaker 5 Only title I haven't won. And people are said to me, like, you know, what's the deal? You know, are you going to give up? Like, people say it's an IC course.

Speaker 5 But that title is one thing I need to be complete and become WBE's first ever ultimate Grand Slam champion. There's Grand Slam champions, and then there's the ultimate Grand Slam champion.

Speaker 5 That's what I want after 17 years with the company.

Speaker 1 Commander Supreme Champion. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Unbelievable. He's kind of weird.

Speaker 5 He's clapping in there like he's clapping. He's getting the clap.
Yeah, he got you.

Speaker 1 Zeit will give you a hey, anytime you need to be G'd up, which I don't know what that means.

Speaker 1 Zeit will help out. Connor has a question for you, Shaman.

Speaker 2 Sharon, we got a guy in here who's actually doing the workouts that you've been kind of putting yourself through, and he has really transformed over the last few weeks.

Speaker 2 But what are some of the hardest workouts you've ever done when it comes to your series?

Speaker 1 Talking about the Celtic Warrior workouts.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 So actually, I just did one today. That's why

Speaker 5 I flew in early. I did one with Penta.
He's obviously W's newest superstar. You've seen him.
He's unbelievable, crazy, acrobatic. He's also strong.

Speaker 5 And Tro's probably one of the hardest chops in the business. But I did a workout with him.
We played handball first, which he killed me at that. And then we had an arm workout.

Speaker 5 And it's obviously just a quick shout-out here. You know, I'm great at giving shout-outs on your show.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you should, yeah.

Speaker 1 Give the rub there. Get in.
That's really cool.

Speaker 5 But no, the hardest one, I think, so far has been the one with Maxine Dupree. It landed about two weeks ago.

Speaker 5 It was Pilates, and I got turned into a human pretzel, man. Like, there was, there's some shady pictures out there, you know, with two women just kind of bending me out.

Speaker 5 It looks weird, dude. But that was,

Speaker 5 I needed a couple weeks off after that one.

Speaker 1 What is it? Celtic Warrior Workouts.

Speaker 2 Yeah, YouTube.

Speaker 5 My YouTube channel, Celtic Warrior Workouts. And when are you going to be on, by the way?

Speaker 1 I got to start working out first.

Speaker 1 Let me figure out my workout first.

Speaker 5 You're saying that for last year for you.

Speaker 1 You do other people's workouts. That's right.

Speaker 5 And I'll be doing yours.

Speaker 1 We could do it here. Let everybody go in.

Speaker 5 We could have like a full-on bleeding aerobics class. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 5 The headbands, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 jazzer size

Speaker 1 i mean yeah maybe we do hawker's workout yeah maybe we do aj hawks tiebow billy blanks tie bow we should do that i don't know if seamus got that across the pond you know billy blanks i don't know double time go

Speaker 1 you don't remember you don't know wow workout expert you don't know billy blanks uh oh boy no never never think on the tieboat there aj sorry you need to pick up yeah me either what's your uh mindset going into the rumble you just got to stay on the ground why does anybody just go in there and just lay down?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's too crazy. Can you tie yourself? Can you tie yourself to you?

Speaker 9 Try that, please.

Speaker 1 Try that. Lay down.
Hold on to that bottom rope. Yep.

Speaker 1 Just like

Speaker 1 boom and bang. And just hang on on that bottom rope.
For real. Just think about it.
Just something to think about. I know it's not really your style.
You like to fight. I do.

Speaker 1 And you like to create banger.

Speaker 1 After banger.

Speaker 1 After banger.

Speaker 1 After banger. But if you hang on

Speaker 1 and hang on and

Speaker 1 hang on, and then wait for the banger at the end, I think you're final two, no matter what. Something to think about.
That's a good plan.

Speaker 5 That's a good plan. You know, I can't believe I didn't think about that.

Speaker 1 Boom. I do like the future.
You're welcome.

Speaker 1 Have fun getting your world title. Not only you cheat up.
Also, I queued up all of a sudden.

Speaker 5 I'd say if I was Bronson Reed or Otis, that would be an even better one. Or even Bronson Reed.
What are you saying about those guys? I'd say they're big guys.

Speaker 1 I'm saying they're big.

Speaker 1 They're heavy lifters. Brunson Reed broke both of his ankles right he did throwing the tsunami off the top was he in there or huh no i don't think he's

Speaker 1 yeah brunson tees and peas man yeah i couldn't even imagine i couldn't even imagine the amount of force that was coming down snap like chicken bones boom just like he's gonna be back bigger stronger faster than ever we assume that the tsunami is certainly lethal and i love working and that splash that's not i've taken that a couple of times i thought the first time i took that move the tsunami like the splash off the top i literally thought my neck was...

Speaker 5 Do you ever see those like

Speaker 5 those packets like with the kind of like the fruit packets they give the kids and stuff? Yeah. I felt like one of them.
I like my thought my head was going to literally pop off my body and fly in.

Speaker 1 Have you ever taken a Nia Jax Annihilator?

Speaker 5 No, I haven't actually.

Speaker 1 That one? No, no, I have not. But I saw Ria take one the other night and she was facing Ben.
Yeah. So she had it on her back.
I thought she snapped her spine.

Speaker 1 No, legitimately thought she snapped her spine. Instead, she got up, picked up Nia, did the entire dance.
What is the key to a Royal Rumble victory, though? 2012. Why do you think you won that one?

Speaker 1 I just, I mean, the plans for you. You got to get lucky?

Speaker 5 Plans for you. There's definitely a bit of look in there.
It's obviously what number you come in at as well.

Speaker 5 I think the one two years ago, my last Rumble, before I got hurt, I was, me and Gunter were number one on number two.

Speaker 5 And it was a slug fest, especially when Otis came in, that's it, or not Otis, almost came in, sorry, the giant. And clothesline, me, Drew, and Gunter in the face.

Speaker 5 And we're lying on the ground just looking at each other, just contemplating a life gun. That's kind of why they call him a giant.

Speaker 5 You want to talk about the hardest hitter? Almost.

Speaker 1 100%. How long have you been in business, though?

Speaker 5 20 years wrestling, 17 years, going to 18 years with WE. That's including developmental, like the NXT at the time, which was FCW.

Speaker 5 And

Speaker 5 June 30th will be 16 years on the main roster.

Speaker 1 Okay, that's amazing. Congratulations.
You should be incredibly proud of the durability, sustainability, and

Speaker 1 ability to remain relevant long enough for that to matter. I think I saw you take a clothesline from hell on a cut-up the other day from JBL.

Speaker 1 But these Royal Rumbles, there's like a nostalgia effect that happens. You've wrestled against a lot of these guys that come back in here.

Speaker 5 Yeah, man, I was in there when I first started the first year. I was in there, like, we're doing six-man tags on live events.
It was me,

Speaker 5 it was me, Randy.

Speaker 5 I think it was a show, a big show, and we're taking on like Taker, Sean, and Cena. And I remember Sean Michaels had this thing on Sundays.
We do a Saturday live event, Sunday.

Speaker 5 And it was like, Sean doesn't bump on Sundays. That was his thing, you know, just

Speaker 5 homage to his, you know, his faith.

Speaker 1 Jesus rest on Sundays. Yeah, right.

Speaker 5 Sean Michaels would never bump on Sundays. That's how far back, man.
You know what I mean? Like they were all in the ring. They're all WrestleMania 26, my first WrestleMania against Triple H.

Speaker 5 The most nervous I've ever been in my life, I think. And then, you know, you had Taker Sean in there as well.

Speaker 5 And

Speaker 5 so many other guys.

Speaker 5 I just saw many talent that have come and gone in my time here.

Speaker 5 It's great. And I love working with the younger talent now, you know?

Speaker 1 Great crack. Beating the shit out of them.
Yeah, it's beating the shit out of them.

Speaker 5 It's the shite out of them all. You know,

Speaker 1 shite. Bring them all, fella.
I'm ready for scientity. Let me hype for society now.
Let's go. Yeah.
We're going to win. Yeah.
Of course I'm going to win. Nobody.

Speaker 5 Are you going to be there calling it? You're going to be there. There you go, man.
You got the buzzwords, mate. You know, it fires me up.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Yeah. It's fighting.

Speaker 1 Baby! Yes! You're going against Braun Breaker the other night. Braun Breaker was my dog.
You know, that was kind of a tough thing for me to kind of be split.

Speaker 1 Just the body was kind of burying the Steiner family as a whole. So I felt obligated to kind of go to bat for my guy Braun as the body was kind of doing his thing.

Speaker 1 I saw you take a photo with him afterwards. Did he come and tell you you got screwed? You got raw? Yeah, he did.
You got raw.

Speaker 5 It was a pretty, it's a down, down moment for me, man. Like, I don't know how many shots I've had the icy tile, but I thought it was so close, especially after that brogue.

Speaker 5 And yeah, of course, it's you just got to pick yourself back up, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. Yeah, sign up.
Like you did the next day at College Game Day.

Speaker 1 By the way, the next day, right, College Game Day, after all this, I turned up fresh as a daisy and he was just like i you this i could see it manic within three hours we did i i see the pain in his face i completely forgot about that next day though i think that was kind of my problem yeah i was kind of caught up in the moment you know i wanted to go banger after banger after banger after banger i forgot about the day after all this but that's the thing though when you're out in dublin right and you're drinking that's what me and the lads used to do be like there is no tomorrow you know that rock eat that rough exactly there is no don't think about tomorrow you just think about that plank that's in front of you.

Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. And that's what we did.
And if we go back, I assume it'll be the same exact story.

Speaker 3 Without a doubt.

Speaker 1 Seamus, we appreciate you stopping by, man.

Speaker 5 I appreciate the call, Ariel. I appreciate you having me on the show.

Speaker 1 Do you want to do a giveaway? You want to do a giveaway?

Speaker 1 I don't know what.

Speaker 1 Take down Connor. I don't know what a barrier.

Speaker 1 My back hurts just from him grabbing my fucking neck. Yeah, me too.

Speaker 5 Dude, he'll come up for me. I'm excited to see you, Connor.

Speaker 1 I'm excited to see you, drive.

Speaker 1 What the hell to get her, bro? Yeah, I know. Do you know what I mean? How about after his matches? He's like the most sweaty guy I've ever seen in my life.
I also sweat a lot. I am too Irish lad.

Speaker 1 He'll come over to the commentary table, and I have no idea what's happening.

Speaker 1 I'm either getting punched in the face right now, I could get kicked in the face, or I'm getting a massive hug that's about to just drench me.

Speaker 1 Normally, it's a hug with

Speaker 1 a grab. You're an aggressive lover,

Speaker 1 I think people will say.

Speaker 1 And I want to let you know, we appreciate every second of it. Yeah, we, here's a moment here.
Yeah, obviously, whoa, okay, spill my my drink. There you go.
Love you.

Speaker 1 Headlock. Cole, how you doing? We had no idea that was happening.

Speaker 5 That was burger. That was burger after burger, Seamus, right there.
That was 274.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you spilled my entire drink. I mean, you see.

Speaker 1 Yeah, the drink everywhere outside there. But I want to let you know, everybody that's ever been around you loves you, Seamus.

Speaker 5 I love you guys, too. I appreciate that.
And anytime in Indy, I love popping up and saying love to y'all guys. And hopefully we can make Dublin happen again.
Hell yeah. Oh, yeah.
And we'll.

Speaker 1 Okay. What American sport do you think you're potentially best at? Can you throw football?

Speaker 5 I'm just, I'm not the greatest thrower.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 4 Football.

Speaker 5 I'm not going to play football, you know, like proper football, soccer.

Speaker 1 We have a hurl in here, don't we, still? Yeah.

Speaker 1 I don't know if we have the ball in order. Yeah, the ball right here, right?

Speaker 4 Bone said he could take him down.

Speaker 1 Where is he? There it is.

Speaker 9 Oh, yeah, you should try that.

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 5 It's all right, man.

Speaker 5 I'll demo this place a little bit. I'll bring a bit more light into the place.
It'll be grand.

Speaker 1 No, but we need to do this here. Make a putt.

Speaker 10 Make a putt. Can you putt?

Speaker 1 Golf?

Speaker 1 Can you make one putt? Like a Troy? All right, yeah.

Speaker 1 Let's see that. Yes, sir.
Then it'd be the easiest. He can make a putt, for sure.
Yeah, you can make a putt. Definitely can make a keeping it.

Speaker 5 You can always have them spear debone like Braun did.

Speaker 1 I'll watch that.

Speaker 2 It fell out of your. It fell out of the pack now, too.

Speaker 1 I did it.

Speaker 1 Just look.

Speaker 4 You are significantly more jacked than the last time.

Speaker 1 Yeah, good to see you.

Speaker 5 Hello, Kenneth.

Speaker 1 You're welcome.

Speaker 10 You're going to be down here, Seamus. All right.

Speaker 10 All you have to do is just make one cut into that. Okay, what's the name?

Speaker 1 What do I get?

Speaker 4 30 people will win $500.

Speaker 1 Oh, shit. Yeah,

Speaker 1 it's not just for you. 30 people will win $500 if Seamus

Speaker 1 got

Speaker 1 seven.

Speaker 1 The Celtic Warrior, Seamus, trying to win 30 people. $500.

Speaker 1 Oh, okay. All right.
Good aggressive line. I like it.
Good line. Yeah, it is very aggressive.

Speaker 1 Once again, he came fresh out of a workout, so he's all jacked up. 30 people, 500.
Oh,

Speaker 1 it is makeable. Jam it in there.

Speaker 1 He is trying to jam it in there, says A.J. Hawk.
30 people win

Speaker 1 30 people, $500. If Seamus is able to.
Oh. You're You're getting there, buddy.

Speaker 1 You're getting there, buddy. Speed, speed.

Speaker 1 All Seamus is going to have to do is put one golf ball into a hole and 30 people.

Speaker 1 Oh.

Speaker 1 You're getting better, though. Burger.

Speaker 9 He's not leaving any short.

Speaker 1 You got this. 30 people, $500.
If Seamus is able to bury the... Nope.
That's not a good one. He yanked it.

Speaker 9 I'll tell you what.

Speaker 1 I'll tell you what. Take a breath.

Speaker 1 She's

Speaker 1 sit down. Take a breath.

Speaker 1 Gumpy wants you to take a breath for a second dumpy wants you just kind of inhale take it a visualize the putt he's in the back all you got to do is just put that ball into that tiny little hole over there

Speaker 1 yeah i know i get the gimmick

Speaker 1 50

Speaker 1 50 people

Speaker 1 hey 50 people

Speaker 1 listen you're on the spot is where you're supposed to be this is something you'll be able to do come on 50 people will win $500.

Speaker 1 60 people, $500.

Speaker 1 All you gotta do is make one putt here.

Speaker 1 Shame ass! Oh, shit. Oh.

Speaker 1 It all comes down to this. We had banger.
After banger. After banger.
After banger. Can we get a putt that goes into the hole? 60 people will win five? No, we can't.
All right. All right.

Speaker 1 We got the Royal Rumble.

Speaker 1 Here's wins coming Saturday. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Save it for Saturday. Here wins coming Saturday, brother.

Speaker 5 Yeah, that's not a reflection of what's happened on Saturday.

Speaker 1 Bingo. No, it is.
Power. Power.
So much power. Blasting.
All right. All right.

Speaker 5 That's it.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it is.

Speaker 1 You're going to throw seven guys over the top. Rollbox.
All right. Hey, hold on, Chavez.
Don't leave it.

Speaker 1 To all the boys in in the back, great work today, boys. Great work.
Great work.

Speaker 1 To the WWE crews that is here, we appreciate the hell out of you.

Speaker 1 Thank you. Stephanie McMahon, phenomenal work.
And to Seamus, thank you for stopping by and lifting our spirits and our hopes for a great Royal Rumble weekend here in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Speaker 1 To all the people that watch along and allow us to do this for a living, we can't thank you enough. You're the greatest people on earth.
Be a friend, tell a friend something nice.

Speaker 1 It might change their life. We're going to sing sing together.
Team on me.

Speaker 1 Put it out. Hey, we don't set the bar.
There you go.

Speaker 5 We are at a bar.

Speaker 1 And we went to a lot of bars. Yeah.
And they were all a great time.

Speaker 5 And to AJ, who will one day wear that best I gave him.

Speaker 1 One day. Yes, I will.

Speaker 9 Yes, I will, Seamus.

Speaker 1 I'm going to get out of your way. You're sitting.
You see this camera? You see the, you're on the, you're behind it. Can you sit up a little bit? Yep, there we go.

Speaker 1 There we go.

Speaker 5 I'm a leaner.

Speaker 1 It's true.

Speaker 1 Team on me. Team on three.
One, two, three.

Speaker 1 Goodbye.

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