X-Pac opens today’s show by discussing the upcoming WrestleMania weekend. He says that while he’s excited for WrestleMania, he’s also quite excited for a lot of the other shows and events that are taking place around New Orleans. Unfortunately he won’t be able to make it to some of the shows because he has commitments with WWE, but he’s excited for the entire weekend nonetheless.
He points out that he can’t wait to watch the NXT Takeover show on Saturday night, specifically the match between Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. He wonders whether this match will close the show given the emotional investment a lot of fans have in it, noting that the NXT Title match hasn’t always closed Takeover shows in the past.
X-Pac has no idea who’s going to be Braun Strowman’s tag team partner at WrestleMania, but he wasn’t a fan of “Brains Strowman” making an appearance on RAW this past week. He doesn’t think WWE should have done this type of comedy segment with a performer like Strowman. He called this segment, “Bad, Bad”.
He feels that the Intercontinental Title match between The Miz, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins might steal the show on Sunday. He points out that fans got a nice preview of this match on RAW this past week, with Rollins and Balor putting together a great singles match.
He notes that the Fatal 4-way match for United States Title will probably be great as well, but he’s starting to get annoyed with all these multi-person Title matches at WrestleMania. He understands that WWE is trying to find ways to get as many talents as possible on the show, but he thinks they need to find other ways to make that happen.
X-Pac thinks the Triple H and Stephanie/Angle & Rousey match is going to be amazing and he’s not just saying that because he’s friends with Triple H. He points out that people care about this match and Angle/Triple H are two of the greatest performers of all time. He promises that WWE wouldn’t leave a match like this to chance, and he’s sure it will deliver.
He thinks Nakamura will win the WWE Championship on Sunday. He points out that when Nakamura was still in NXT he predicted he’d be the first Japanese WWE Champion and he’d bet money on that happening this Sunday.
X-Pac says that Roman Reigns is over as a performer and people care about this match, despite what the internet might say. He adds that Reigns does an excellent job in the ring, and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
X-Pac welcomes Cody Rhodes to the show.
X-Pac asks Rhodes about his transition from WWE to the independent scene. Rhrodes informs that he had time to prep for his jump to the indies because he was unhappy for a long time in WWE. He admits that he asked an absurd amount of questions to Kevin Owens about the indie scene in order to prepare for the transition as much as possible. He points out, “If it doesn’t scare you, than it’s not an adventure”.
Rhodes informs that he felt like he had a taste of grabbing the brass ring in WWE early in his career and he couldn’t get that taste out of his mouth. That’s what made the last few years in WWE so frustrating for him creatively. He doesn’t really think wrestling is a fair business, and just because you work hard that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll ascend up the ranks.
X-Pac asks Rhodes how he came up with the “list”. Rhodes informs that he spoke to a couple of indie promotions and there were a couple of matches that were as good as booked right away. He thought it’d be a cool idea to write those names down along with a bunch of other names he’d want to work with. He adds that he wrote it once but it looked so terrible that he got his wife, Brandi to write it, and her copy was the one that he used to tweet out.
Rhodes informs that he’s having so much fun putting the “All In” show together. He points out that any major decision needs three thumbs up from him and the Young Bucks, but he’s had to get out of his comfort zone somewhat because he can’t be hands on with everything. He adds that Matt’s wife has been a great resource for them, fielding all corporate emails while they’re working in Japan.
X-Pac asks Rhodes about his recent Twitter argument with Disco Inferno. X-Pac thought that this was a terrible example for Disco Inferno to use of reckless or careless behaviour in the ring. Rhodes agrees, pointing out that this was just a freak accident which resulted in a “boxer’s cut”. He also argues the notion that he’s trying to work for high star ratings from Dave Meltzer.
He points out that he likes Meltzer and thinks he’s a nice guy who does right by the sport of wrestling, but he’s definitely not a “Meltzer guy”. He adds that he’s never been rated highly by Meltzer. Rhodes mentions that he regrets coming back at Disco Inferno on Twitter because it took the spotlight off of his upcoming match with Omega.
Rhodes finds it somewhat upsetting that some veterans of the business criticize the way the business is today. He points out that the business is growing right now, and this weekend is a great example of that. The “Supercard of Honour” is happening right down the street from “NXT Takeover” on the same night, and both buildings are sold out. The fact that all those performers will want to out-perform their competitors is great for business as a whole.
X-Pac asks Rhodes how his body is feeling right now. Rhodes points out that his recent eye injury was unfortunate and his lower back is starting to act up from time to time, but he considers himself to be very lucky in the sense that he’s never had a real serious injury. He points out that he has never used steroids and he thinks that’s helped his career.
That sums up today’s episode of X-Pac 1, 2, 360. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
