Episode Details

Coach opens the show with two headlines: AEW's first-ever event in France, and ESPN's price hike on ESPN Unlimited — the streaming home of WWE's Premium Live Events — from $30 to $32 a month. From there, Coach and Vince Russo dive into a double personal anniversary before working through a loaded wrestling news day: a predictably-booked Kevin Owens homecoming, a bizarre Baron Corbin stipulation match, TNA signing AJ Styles' teenage son, and a long stretch of fan super chats, old road stories, and a very memorable pedicure.

The back half of the show turns to bigger-picture business talk — WWE's brutal five-day-a-week creative workload, The Rock's rumored WrestleMania 43 payday colliding with his movie schedule, and a running theme that ties the whole episode together: wrestling (and now streaming) tickets just keep getting more expensive.

[0:00:00] Headlines — AEW announces its first-ever France event, Grand Slam France, October 6 in Paris. ESPN raises ESPN Unlimited pricing from $30 to $32/month, following similar hikes at Paramount and Peacock.

[0:01:40] Double anniversary — August 24 marks Vince McMahon's birthday, the anniversary of the first-ever episode of SmackDown (1999), and the anniversary of Coach's on-air heel turn in Phoenix (2003). Vince Russo tells the story of Kane's "Phoenix Gorilla" tombstone stunt from that same Phoenix show.

[0:29:20] Topic 1 — Kevin Owens' predictable Toronto loss. Coach argues WWE's creative team is "too close to it" to see how predictable Sami Zayn's interference in the CM Punk vs. Kevin Owens title match really was. The two note the show reportedly distributed over 15,500 tickets, making it the highest-grossing SmackDown ever held in Toronto, and debate whether Owens' surprise return (rather than an advertised one) left money on the table.

[0:39:45] Topic 2 — WWE's five-day workload and the Corbin/Yachty stipulation. Coach lays out WWE's brutal weekly schedule (Raw, a same-night SmackDown taping, and NXT), which Vince Russo blames for "mediocrity" in the writers' room. That leads into the Baron Corbin vs. Lil Yachty stipulation match set for Sunday Night's Main Event, where Yachty must survive five minutes with Corbin to win Trick Williams a U.S. Championship rematch.

[0:51:00] Topic 3 — Avery Styles signs with TNA. AJ Styles' 19-year-old son Avery officially signed with TNA at Lockdown, debuting as "The Phenomenal Son." Coach and Vince Russo debate whether the nickname and shared ring gear put too much pressure on him too early, comparing it to Bron Breakker's more successful break from the Steiner name.

[1:15:45] Topic 4 — The Rock, WrestleMania 43, and the WWE title picture. The hosts speculate that Bron Breakker vs. Oba Femi is being positioned as the real WrestleMania 43 money match, with The Rock more likely on the undercard against Cody Rhodes. They also flag a report that the next (and reportedly final) Fast & Furious film starts shooting in December, which could complicate any in-ring