Opinion

News From Cook’s Corner 8.10.20: Chaos!

Cook covers quite a plethora of News this week! The happy, the crappy, the sad and the mad!

Published

5 years ago

August 10, 2020

Hi, hello & welcome to News From Cook’s Corner! It’s certainly been an eventful week in the world of wrestling. AEW & WWE have created more conversation than I can shake a stick at. As has seemed to happen a lot this year, Sunday marked the passing of a wrestling legend of some note. We’ll cover as much as we can before I get cranky about the Nashville Predators.

See, I don’t write about hockey anymore, so I probably shouldn’t call for any firings of people that have been there for two decades and haven’t produced a Stanley Cup. That just wouldn’t be nice, and maybe I’m just bitter that I wrote an article about the Predators GM for a publication a couple of years ago, was promised a sum of money and never got it. Might be that, I’m not sure.

That might have been the world’s first bitterbrag. Seems like a fine note to start on, right?

Best & Worst? Oof, let’s forget that lame title popped into my head.

Last week got off to an incredibly good start for Tony Khan. His Fulham F.C. made its way back into the Premier League by winning the EFL Championship Promotion Playoffs. AEW Dynamite had its best showing in the ratings in many weeks, especially in those key demos. Tony was feeling pretty good.

Thank you everyone who watched #AEWDynamite last night! Thanks to you we were top 5 in the 18-49 demo again + our biggest overall audience since pre-pandemic! With Fulham winning the Play-Offs & back in the Premier League + this Dynamite rating, it’s the best week I’ve ever had.

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) August 6, 2020

I mean, I can’t think of a week in 2020 that I’d rate in my top 1,000 weeks, so good for him, I guess? Things seemed to go downhill after that tweet, however. There was the AEW Heels “controversy”, which was a bit overblown on the Internet, but still a headache for management I’m sure. Friday brought some news that I’m sure Khan & the rest of management weren’t hoping to hear anytime soon: the dismissal of Kevin Reilly from WarnerMedia. Reilly was the president of TNT, TBS & TruTV & content chief, and the main force in bringing AEW to TNT. This is part of a management shakeup that seems to be taking place due to HBO Max’s stumble out of the gate.

Is it time to panic about the Wednesday Night Skirmish ending?

Well…logic would say no, simply because of those ratings. But then you take a look at who’s being inserted into Reilly’s spot, and then you wonder a bit. Casey Bloys, current President of HBO, will be overseeing HBO Max, TNT, TBS & TruTV. Bloys was responsible for getting HBO out of the boxing business, which was pretty shocking at the time since HBO had been airing boxing since almost day one as a pay television network. Bloys will be reporting to Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff.

Hopefully it’s much ado about nothing, but management shakeups always result in some unexpected changes. Us longtime wrestling fans still remember WCW’s end coming due to a management shakeup. WCW & AEW are different situations in that WCW was owned by Time Warner and AOL management came in and decided they didn’t want to spend money on running a wrestling promotion. WarnerMedia doesn’t own AEW.

It’s a situation to keep an eye on. Maybe nothing changes in the short-term, but one imagines that AEW’s leash might be a bit shorter if things take a turn. Even if Casey Bloys doesn’t have an obsession against combat sports, we’ve seen new management dump things just for the sake of getting rid of stuff the old guy approved. Hopefully Tony is hard at work making sure new management realizes the value of his programming.

Virus In My Mind

Oh, and just when things couldn’t get more interesting during Tony’s best week ever, we have Chris Jericho & Fozzy back on tour. Fozzy did shows in Iowa, North & South Dakota. Jericho spoke on this on YouTube, defending the shows by saying they took place in states with low numbers of cases. I would draw the conclusion that those states have low numbers of cases because they don’t have very many residents or much tourism. Well, except this week for South Dakota, where the city of Sturgis is holding their annual motorcycle rally with a complete lack of social distancing or any type of protocols.

Wanna guess where Fozzy’s last tour date was? That’s right, the former home of WCW Road Wild!

Jericho also said they were handing out masks at the door and doing temperature checks. The pictures of the concerts didn’t show too many masks from what I saw. Hopefully, there’s nothing to worry about here & Jericho will be healthy for his big match with Orange Cassidy on Wednesday night. The whole thing seems really risky and unintelligent from where I sit, but that’s kinda on brand for Jericho here in 2020. Just a series of unfortunate decisions, most of which have been harmless, except for the idea that people might actually listen to Jericho’s “all lives matter” rhetoric or his various conspiracy theories or his favorite politician kids. You might think they wouldn’t, but I learned a long time ago not to overestimate the intelligence of people.

Now he’s taking the risk of bringing the biker corona to AEW. So much for not running a sloppy shop.

You can’t stay mad at Chris Jericho

At least I can’t. Not too long after writing the above screed about Jericho’s idiotic concerts in covid pits, he busts out this gem on the Twitter Machine:

I am officially banning @TheJimCornette from watching any & all future episodes of #AEWDynamite & #AEWDark. He is under @AEWrestling suspension until further notice. Thank you. #DemoGod

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) August 9, 2020

Come on now. How can I stay mad at this guy? Just when I think he’s done the dumbest thing anybody could possibly do and I lose faith in the Demo God, he goes and completely redeems himself. It’s amazing, honestly.

Now we just gotta hope the old coot adheres to the suspension.

Chaos?

A few hours after this column got posted last week, the Internet was all abuzz over news that was coming out of Orlando. Apparently, the Raw tapings had decended into complete & utter chaos. There were several news posts about this throughout the day, with people getting all crazy over whatever Shane McMahon was planning to do, along with the debut of a new faction. Would it be the Undisputed Era? Much discussion was had online, and the common consensus I saw was “Well, Raw could be interesting tonight!”. Which is exactly what WWE was hoping people would say.

Honestly, WWE wants us to think things are chaotic backstage. They’ve always wanted us to think so. See, wrestlers & promoters are carnies at heart. They’re always working. What do they do when they run across fans that think they’re smart? They play into that. If they can’t get interested in their stories on-screen, they’ll try and get us interested in what’s going on off-screen.

Mind you, Vince McMahon is still hands on with everything and writers have to go insane trying to write something that appeases him. But whenever I read these reports about how things are super crazy backstage, I tend to roll my eyes. If nothing else, these “sources” should be used to the types of things they feed reporters by now.

WWE’s main storylines at the moment are all about chaos. NXT has a renegade NFL punter running around and kicking former champions in the head. Raw Underground features Shane McMahon running a fight club somewhere in the Performance Center. Then we have Retribution, which…well, WWE told us it wasn’t supposed to be political, which absolutely means it’s political. Vince McMahon saw some Antifa stuff on Fox News, and now we have Retribution. A bunch of small people in dark masks and attire spray painting stuff, flipping over tables, cutting ring ropes with chain saws & beating up random audience members.

I mean…the rumor a couple of weeks ago was that they were going to do a new Nation of Domination. So it’s probably for the best they’re going this route instead.

Kamala

James Harris had an interesting wrestling career. He started out in the Gulf Coast region as “Sugar Bear” Harris, collecting a number of regional titles. At 6’7 and 380 pounds, Harris was going to have a good chance at being successful wherever he went. That included Europe, where he spent some time in Britain’s Joint Promotions as the Mississippi Mauler, challenging for the heavyweight championship.

An ankle injury sent him home to America. He went to Memphis to catch up with a friend, “Dream Machine” Troy Graham. Once Jerry Lawler met Harris & got a look at him, he knew there was some potential there. Harris went to Jerry Jarrett’s house soon after, Lawler painted him up, and some videos were shot to introduce “Kimala the Ugandan Giant” to the CWA.

Why Uganda? Well, former Ugandan president Idi Amin had been in the news & was the subject of a popular movie fairly recently. He was a remorseless dictator who had no qualms about taking out political opposition or wives that displeased him. He was even a rumored cannibal. Definitely the kind of guy that pro wrestling could take something from, so Kamala was billed as a former bodyguard of Amin. J.J. Dillon was given credit for discovering him, since top heel manager Jimmy Hart was in Memphis way too often to make any trips to Uganda.

Kamala laid waste to everybody in his path with simplistic offense. He could also do some pretty athletic things, but mostly he just pulverized people. Lawler feuded with him on top of cards, and promoters were paying attention. Bill Watts booked him for Mid-South once he was done in Memphis, with Skandor Akbar managing him as part of Devastation Inc. Kamala wrestled the likes of Andre the Giant & Junkyard Dog, doing big business in the Mid-South territory. World Class was Kamala’s next stop, where of course he feuded with the Von Erichs.

Andre recommended Kamala to the WWF brass, so Kamala got to go on Tuesday Night Titans and eat a live chicken. He had three seperate stints with the WWF, the first being the second half of 1984 where he feuded with Andre & Hulk Hogan. Kamala went away for awhile, working for the AWA, All Japan and pretty much everywhere. People liked booking him. His return to the WWF in late 1986 led to a memorable series of matches with Hogan that did really big box office. Not much happened after, though. The big guy didn’t even make WrestleMania III, and his pay not being what he thought it should be led to his departure.

Again, there were no shortage of options for Kamala. Japan, Mexico, Memphis, World Class, if somebody had a ring and was on this planet , Kamala was there at one point or another. He returned to the WWF in 1992, and this is where I saw the Ugandan Giant for the first time. Talk about impressive! The guy needed a little work learning how to pin people, and I didn’t think Dr. Harvey Wippleman & Kim Chee were the brain trust to get it done, but Kamala definitely impressed eight year old me.

Kamala’s main business during this period of time was a feud with The Undertaker. It was a perfect fit, as Undertaker had recently turned good and needed to fight somebody that just might be able to get some heat on him. Kamala was the right person to do that. You thought it could go either way at SummerSlam 1992. However, there was a pay disparity, Kamala wasn’t too happy about it, and he was pushed down the card afterward. I can’t say that Kamala turning good and joining the Reverend Slick did anything for me. I preferred my Ugandan Giants to be headhunters, what can I say?

The next time Kamala popped up on television, he was back to being a headhunter. He joined Kevin Sullivan’s Dungeon of Doom in another attempt to destroy Hulk Hogan. Shockingly they were unsuccessful. Kamala’s appearance in War Games at Fall Brawl 1995 was his last major match. I mean, we could count the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven, but that was about it. He did make several appearance for WWE in the mid-2000s, including matches with Randy Orton & Umaga. We also can’t forget his Diva Search appearance.

He also challenged Bryan Danielson for the ROH Championship, squashed Larry Sweeney & Eddie Kingston, and was a guest at Jay Lethal & SoCal Val’s wedding.

James Harris went through serious difficulties later in life. He lost part of both of his legs due to diabetes. He was put on life support in November 2017 but managed to recover. Sadly, last week he tested positive for the coronavirus and would pass away on Sunday at the age of 70. The bright side is that his pain & suffering is over now. He might be hanging out with Sweeney & Marvelous Mitch Ryder for all I know.

I’ve discussed the life & times of Kamala without addressing one subject that comes up from time to time: was the gimmick racist? Absolutely, but the man made a career off of it. He should have made more money, which also speaks poorly of the wrestling business, but at the end of the day James Harris was able to get over with what he was given. That’s all you can do sometimes.

I was going to discuss the news involving Marty Jannetty possibly confessing to a murder a number of years ago, but honestly I just think the guy needs help. No need for me to delve any further into that. So until next week, keep your stick on the ice.

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

3 days ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

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About Chairshot Radio Network

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CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

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Classic POD is WAR

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: WrestleMania 41 Las Vegas

Time for The Chairshot personalities to put their money where their mouths are! WreslteMania 41 predictions from the “expert” staff at TheChairshot.com and Chairshot Radio Network.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 18, 2025

PC Tunney

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Chairshot Staff Picks. And what better setting than WrestleMania for this article to return! This 41st edition has one of the most stacked rosters in WWE history. So, without further ado, let us get to the predictions and prognostications…

AJ – The New Day
Andrew – The New Day – No one seems to hold tag titles long anymore.
Dave – The New Day – They have earned it.
DJ – The New Day – Feel tha Powah!
DPP – War Raiders – Big E distraction.
Jason – The New Day – We are not getting E in a working capacity though everyone wants it.
Patrick – The New Day – WWE doesn’t care about this match, so why should I?
Rey – The New Day – Its a New Day, bruh.
Rob – The New Day – New Day rocks and wins!
Greg – The New Day – New. Day wins. New. Day wins!

Tunney’s Take: War Machine – Yes, WAR MACHINE. I have personally had the pleasure of throwing back a few cold ones with these guys on more than one occasion. Not only being tag champs in WWE but defending the titles at Mania and against The New Day is really cool for me as a long-time fan. Would it be fun to see The New Day have another title run.. YES. I think it’s smarter to give the War Raiders a big Mania W.

Chairshot Pick: THE NEW DAY 9-2

AJ – Jade Cargill
Andrew – Jade Cargill – She needs to stay a dominant force.
Dave – Jade Cargill – Gotta gear her up for the long term.
DJ – No contest – Naomi puts another beat down on Jade.
DPP – Jade Cargill – Nervous for how this match will go.
Jason – Naomi – Way more runway with Naomi as a bad guy. Keep it going!
Patrick – Jade Cargill – Jade gets her revenge.
Rey – Jade Cargill – Best non-title feud going. Naomi should win but Jade sneaks by.
Rob – Naomi – Naomi gets help to win.
Greg – Jade Cargill – They ain’t beating Jade here.

Tunney’s Take: Jade Cargill – I imagine WWE sees Jade’s ceiling much higher than Naomi’s. What better way to keep Jade climbing the ladder towards a World Title than to pick up a decisive victory in Vegas!

Chairshot Pick: Jade Cargill 8-2-1

AJ – Jacob Fatu – “AJ does a pretty good LA Knight impersonation” – PC Tunney
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – I’m biased, Jacob for President.
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Getting gold back in the Bloodline is smart.
DJ – Jacob Fatu
DPP – Jacob Fatu
Jason – Jacob Fatu – Thanks for coming pal, YEAH!
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – C’mon cuz! All gas no brakes with it. Yadadamean??
Rob – LA Knight – Solo costs Jacob.
Greg – LA Knight – Solo screws Jacob.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – It has been quite the journey for the Samoan Werewolf. I feel like that journey and the positive turn around it has taken deserves to be rewarded. Let’s see what Jacob can do on his own. Plus, LA Knight is ready to challenge for a World Title.

Chairshot Pick: Jacob Fatu 9-2

AJ – Tiffany Straton
Andrew – Tiffany Straton – I hate Charlotte Flair, no objectivity here.
Dave – Charlotte Flair – Tiffy might be the future, but she kinda failed the litmus test.
DJ – Charlotte Flair – The Queen crowns the freshman.
DPP – Tiffany Stratton
Jason – Charlotte Flair – Tiff wasn’t ready for this spot. Charnos is inevitable.
Patrick – Charlotte Flair – Lol Charlotte wins.
Rey – Charlotte Flair – Tiffany SHOULD win but, if Charlotte can squash, she will.
Rob – Charlotte Flair – Charlotte gets number 15.
Greg – Tiffany Stratton – Lol Charlotte wins. (Actually she doesn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Charlotte Flair – Charlotte needs the title for the first time in her career. Tiffy has had a nice run but now needs to take that all important step of not losing momentum after losing the title. Despite the drama and lackluster build here, I see a really good match coming this weekend from these two.

Chairshot Pick: Charlotte Flair 7-4

AJ – El Grande Americano
Andrew – El Grande Americano – I’d like to see Gable gain some momentum. Rey is Teflon.
Dave – El Grand Americano – He needs a marque win much more than Rey.
DJ – Rey Mysterio
DPP – El Grande Americano – Grande wins with the switcheroo to prove he is not Gable.
Jason – Rey Mysterio – Unmask Grande at the end. It is fun but has a shelf life.
Patrick – El Grande Americano – TOTALLY NOT CHAD GABLE
Rey – Rey Mysterio – Someone’s mask is coming off and it ain’t Rey.
Rob – El Grande Americano
Greg – Rey Mysterio – Hall of Famer wins but doesn’t take the mask.

Tunney’s Take: Rey Mysterio – Go listen to DWI 471. DP, Greg and I lay out exactly what this match should be, FUN! Multiple Americanos!!!

Chairshot Pick: El Grande Americano 6-5

AJ – Jey Uso
Andrew – Jey Uso – Kinda booked themselves into a corner here.
Dave – Jey Uso – It just makes sense.
DJ – Jey Uso – Jey YEETS all over The Ring Genreal.
DPP – Jey Uso – Jey wins after normal Gunther beating.
Jason – Jey Uso – Land the plane man. YEET
Patrick – Jey Uso – Jey has earned this one.
Rey – Jey Uso – YEEEEEEEEEEEET!
Rob – Jey Uso – YEET
Greg – Jey Uso – If Jey loses we riot. We don’t cause he wins.

Tunney’s Take: Jey Uso – ‘Til sweat drop down my balls, ‘Til all these bitches crawl, ‘Til all… YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET YEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chairshot Pick: Jey Uso 11-0

AJ – Roman Reigns
Andrew – Seth Rollins – I can see Rollins being the last piece of Team Rock.
Dave – Roman Reigns – I can’t see Roman losing two years in a row.
DJ – Seth Rollins – Paul Heyman is a Seth Freakin Rollins guy.
DPP – Seth Rollins – The Rock helps Rollins.
Jason – Roman Reigns – Seth’s favor is a red herring. Make-A-Wish Brooks got his main, now look at the lights.
Patrick – Seth Rollins – Seth Rollins… Paul Heyman guy.
Rey – Seth Rollins – I smeeeeellllllll a new soul to sell.
Rob – Roman Reigns – Paul Heyman helps Roman win.
Greg – Seth Rollins – Brock Lesnar returns to help Seth win.

Tunney’s Take: CM Punk – I really have no idea here. I picked Punk because nobody else did. This is going to be professional wrestling cinema at its finest. The story is thick and neatly woven. All the participants are legends and so are the potential party crashers. Will The Rock stick his nose in here? Will Brock Lesnar return to play a factor? Obviously, Paul Heyman has a Plan A… but what is it? All these questions and more will be answered Saturday as night 1 will definitely go out with a bang!

Chairshot Pick: Seth Rollins 6-4-1

AJ – Iyo Sky
Andrew – Iyo Sky – Rhea vs Bianca doesn’t need a belt to be compelling.
Dave – Rhea Ripley – Going with Rhea barely, hoping Iyo wins.
DJ – Iyo Sky – Unfinished business.
DPP – Iyo Sky – Rhea and Bianca are too consumed with each other.
Jason – Iyo Sky – More layers to Rhea/Bianca. Iyo rules.
Patrick – Iyo Sky – Iyo stole the build and gets the win.
Rey – Iyo Sky – Smart money is on the underdog champ.
Rob – Iyo Sky – Iyo survives.
Greg – Bianca Belair – Naomi helps Bianca win and turn heel.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – Rhea is the best women’s wrestler in the world. Give her the biggest win on the grandest stage of them all!!! Bianca needs to go full heel. Iyo has been amazing in this build.

Chairshot Pick: Iyo Sky 8-2-1

AJ – Dominik Mysterio
Andrew – Finn Balor – I can see a Judgement Day meltdown incoming.
Dave – Bron Breakker – Bron is about to become a MegaStar.
DJ – Bron Breakker – Judgement Day implodes.
DPP – Dominik Mysterio – Finn take the pin.
Jason – Penta – I literally do not care because the winner is us, the fans.
Patrick – Bron Breakker – The WWE doesn’t care about this matchup, so why should I?
Rey – Dominik Mysterio – Only match without a clear winner. I choose chaos.
Rob – Bron Breakker – Finn and Dom cancel each other out.
Greg – Dominik Mysterio – Dom steals the pin from Bron, on Finn.

Tunney’s Take: Bron Breakker – The case can be made for any of these four to walk away with the most prestigious non-World title in pro wrestling history. The short of it is though that the Main Event picture isn’t really readily accessible for Breakker right now. Let this IC reign go through the summer, to SummerSlam.

Chairshot Pick: Bron Breakker 5-4-1-1

AJ – Damian Priest – “AJ does a pretty good Drew impersonation” – PC Tunney
Andrew – Drew McIntyre – Priest has not been interesting in this face incarnation.
Dave – Drew McIntyre – Time for Drew to get that win back.
DJ – Fuck finish – To be continued at Backlash.
DPP – Drew McIntyre – Physical matchup!
Jason – Drew McIntyre – Either one is fine here.
Patrick – Drew McIntyre – With two eyes, Drew turns the tide.
Rey – Drew McIntyre – Low key match of the weekend.
Rob – Damien Priest
Greg – Damien Priest – Priest wins, Drew tweets about it half hour later.

Tunney’s Take: Drew McIntyre – With the addition of the Street fight rules, these two behemoths have a really good chance to have one of the best matches of the entire weekend (winks at Rey Ca$h-A-Mania)! I do wonder what is next for both of these talents moving forward. Priest has staled since leaving the Judgement Day and Drew seems stuck in the same cycle for a while now. Very interested to see what the summer holds for this pair.

Chairshot Pick: Drew McIntyre 7-3-1

WHO WILL BE RANDY’S OPPONENT?!?

AJ – Nick Aldis – Orton wins
Andrew – Orton and Aldis vs Solo and Tama – Orton and Aldis win
Dave – Someone is getting an RKO!
DJ – A segment w/ the Wyatt s6cks.
DPP – Rusev – Aldis introduces Rusev who defeats Orton.
Jason – Nick Aldis – You got one more in ya, bubba. Aldis wins!
Patrick – Nick Aldis
Rey – Solo then Rusev – Solo in a squash and Rusev MATCHKA(wins)
Rob – Nick Aldis – Aldis proves himself, Orton wins.
Greg – Nick Aldis – Orton beats Aldis, they shake after.

Tunney’s Take: I would really love to see a singles match between Orton and Aldis. More likely this is some type of involvement with Solo and Tama. Rusev as a surprise challenger would be cool but, I feel that would be better left for RAW. An impromptu Goldberg retirement match would be crazy and fun, yet highly unlikely and illogical. Whatever happens, best believe exactly what Dave Ungar said, “Someone is getting an RKO!”.

AJ – Logan Paul
Andrew – AJ Styles – Logan doesn’t need the rub and should stay upper mid card.
Dave – Logan Paul – It’s the smart move and would be a statement win for Paul.
DJ – Logan Paul – Kross gets involved somewhere.
DPP – AJ Styles – AJ wins a great high-flying match.
Jason – AJ Styles – Just enjoy it or get a beer, nerds.
Patrick – Logan Paul – Logan Paul will main-event Mania sooner than later…
Rey – Logan Paul – Pass the torch, my wily vet.
Rob – Logan Paul – Kross helps Paul win.
Greg – AJ Styles – Styles wins after Paul’s cheating backfires.

Tunney’s Take: Logan Paul – Logan seems to really have dedicated himself to becoming great in this business. Anyone with that type of goal must have a World title on their mind. Beating AJ at Mania will be a great springboard for Logan into the Main Event sooner than later (winks at Patrick O’Dowd).

Chairshot Pick: Logan Paul 7-4

AJ – Liv & Raquel
Andrew – Liv & Raquel – Not really a fan of Lyra, she needs more work.
Dave – Liv & Raquel – This Bayley and Lyra team makes no damn sense.
DJ – Liv & Raquel – Bayley crashes out.
DPP – Liv & Raquel – Bayley continues a potential heel turn tease.
Jason – Bayley & Lyra – Finish the story!
Patrick – Bayley & Lyra – The WWE doesn’t care about this matchup, so why should I?
Rey – Liv and Raquel – Bayley want a title but it ain’t the ones in this match.
Rob – Liv & Raquel – Champs retain.
Greg – Liv & Raquel – Liv and Raquel retain thanks to Carlito and maybe JD.

Tunney’s Take: Liv & Raquel – Liv and Raquel need to be kept as the cornerstone of the women’s tag division for a lengthier period of time. Building tag teams in this division is difficult enough, let alone without a North Star.

Chairshot Pick: Liv & Raquel 9-2

AJ – Cody Rhodes
Andrew – Cody Rhodes – They are mentioning it so much, I don’t think 17 happens.
Dave – Joh Cena – Record falls and we head to summer with a built-in storyline.
DJ – John Cena – Some kind of Final Boss involvement.
DPP – John Cena – Cena wins and retires on RAW.
Jason – John Cena – Story’s over, “Captain” BIG MATCH JOHN.
Patrick – John Cena – A record breaking night for Cena.
Rey – John Cena – They’d be really stupid to turn John just to lose. (Post-Mania: Rock, Cena, T Scott, Seth & Drew, TEAM Corporate)
Rob – Cody Rhodes – Cody surprises us with the W.
Greg – Cody Rhodes – Cody wins to piss off Rock and set the table for Cena to turn back face. Crowd is behind Cena all the way through.

Tunney’s Take: Cody Rhodes – They had me until the threat of retirement. Been there. Done that. Didn’t fall in love with it back then. I love John Cena. I love this final run. John will get his 17th just not here. I expect nothing less than an absolute GEM of a match here to close WrestleMania 41. This has all been, is, and will continue to be about Cody Rhodes. WM40 defeats Roman Reigns. WM41 defeats John Cena. WM42 defeats The Rock (The Final Boss).

Chairshot Pick: John Cena 6-5

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We wait all year for this so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!