WrestleMania Week is here, and it is time to take stock of where everything stands heading into Las Vegas.
The build has been uneven. Some stories have genuinely landed, and a couple of programs have real heat going into the weekend. Others have felt like they are still finding their footing with the biggest show of the year right around the corner. And the McAfee situation feels like the moment that put a spotlight on everything that has felt a little off about this WrestleMania season.
But here is the thing: the talent on this card can deliver regardless of how the build got there. We have seen that before. The question is whether the stories have done enough to make the matches mean something when the moment arrives.
This is the Opening Bell. WrestleMania Week starts now.
#WrestleMania42 #WWE #WrestleManiaWeek #WrestleMania #CMPunk #RomanReigns #LivMorgan #StephanieVaquer #DrewMcIntyre #JacobFatu #ObaFemi #BrockLesnar #WWERoadToWrestleMania #WrestlingTwitter #LivingRoomLariat #PeterKlein
🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q
💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk | Kick.com/primetimepk
🔗 Support the Show:
- Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)
- Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!
The build has been uneven. Some stories have genuinely landed, and a couple of programs have real heat going into the weekend. Others have felt like they are still finding their footing with the biggest show of the year right around the corner. And the McAfee situation feels like the moment that put a spotlight on everything that has felt a little off about this WrestleMania season.
But here is the thing: the talent on this card can deliver regardless of how the build got there. We have seen that before. The question is whether the stories have done enough to make the matches mean something when the moment arrives.
This is the Opening Bell. WrestleMania Week starts now.
#WrestleMania42 #WWE #WrestleManiaWeek #WrestleMania #CMPunk #RomanReigns #LivMorgan #StephanieVaquer #DrewMcIntyre #JacobFatu #ObaFemi #BrockLesnar #WWERoadToWrestleMania #WrestlingTwitter #LivingRoomLariat #PeterKlein
🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q
💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk | Kick.com/primetimepk
🔗 Support the Show:
- Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)
- Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It has been a much-discussed build to WrestleMania.
00:05And I know a lot of people in wrestling would say,
00:07oh, you got him talking, no such thing as bad publicity.
00:10Not a lot of the talk's been positive.
00:12So, with just a few days left before the show of shows,
00:15the showcase of the Immortals, WrestleMania,
00:18let's take a look at where this show is at,
00:20where this build is at for 2026 with our opening bell.
00:36Just started talking about WrestleMania and in the chat,
00:39Tal John, Oba, Brock, that's, yes.
00:43It is so funny that, like, we put all these different things
00:48and all these different stories and all the,
00:50try to be the guy from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
00:52with the strings attaching to everything
00:54and the best built, most anticipated match on the show.
00:58So, the entirety of the build is,
01:01this guy's huge.
01:03This guy's huge.
01:04This guy doesn't lose a whole lot,
01:06but this guy has just powerbombed him to hell a couple of times
01:09and now they're going to have a match at WrestleMania.
01:12And it is the biggie, big meaty men smacking meat.
01:14And that's it.
01:15That's what we got.
01:16They haven't got personal about family.
01:19Oba has said, like, eight words in this entire build,
01:21but he's done the strut down to the ring
01:24and then he's beat the tar out of the dude
01:26that everyone likes to see the tar get beat out of.
01:28And that's been the build.
01:30And so, it's a nice reminder
01:32that sometimes simple works.
01:35And look, WWE has run into problems
01:38of just like, hey, these are two big dudes,
01:40we're going to put them in the ring at WrestleMania.
01:41That's gone poorly before.
01:43But sometimes, when you got the right two big dudes,
01:48it's, oh, it's great.
01:49Oh, it's so good.
01:50And I'm not, like, it might sound like I'm mocking,
01:53I'm not, I'm not.
01:54This has been great.
01:55I've loved it.
01:56It's been so simple.
01:57It's been so perfect.
01:58And it's the match I'm looking forward to the most
01:59at WrestleMania.
02:01It is this generation's superpowers match.
02:03Yeah, like, it's, you can, like,
02:05everyone knows the way we want it to go,
02:08but you can make a very compelling case
02:10for it to not go that way.
02:11Not to me, I'll yell at you,
02:13but you could, if you wanted to,
02:16make a compelling case for it to go the other way.
02:18So that's obviously been the best built match
02:19of the program, right?
02:21Like, there's no, no question about
02:23what has been the most exciting, best build so far.
02:27In terms of the rest of it,
02:29it does feel like the McAfee thing
02:31was the straw that broke the camel's back.
02:33And I think in a vacuum,
02:35I was talking, because my wife was gone for a week,
02:37and I showed her, like, hey, this is what happened.
02:39What do you think?
02:40She said, it's interesting.
02:41Like, it's, it got a reaction.
02:43It, like, it's Pat,
02:44and he's got a lot of charisma.
02:47And I think there's an interesting story you can tell.
02:49So I'd like to see what happens.
02:51And that's, that is how I would view this, right?
02:54Like, I, I think it was
02:57maybe not the guy we were expecting.
02:58A lot of people wondering if it was going to be The Rock
03:00or a Stephanie McMahon.
03:02I went through the WWE roster on their thing today.
03:04Shane McMahon is still listed on the active roster.
03:06So there was maybe some thought it could be him.
03:09And so when it's Pat McAfee instead of The Rock,
03:11there's a bit of a, hmm.
03:12But I think the way he did it,
03:14the promo wasn't the greatest,
03:16but I think you can kind of tell a story around it.
03:19It would be in a lot of other builds.
03:22It would be a story where I would say,
03:24let's just see how it plays out
03:26because I think there's a really cool way
03:27that they could go with it.
03:28The problem is that aside from Oba
03:31and a couple of things
03:32is the whole fucking show is,
03:34well, let's see there.
03:35You could go somewhere with it.
03:37This could be an interesting story.
03:39You could, if you finish it the right way,
03:41you could have something big out of this.
03:42There's very few, this is going to rock.
03:45This story has been great.
03:47There's been a lot of, well, in theory,
03:49and that I think is the problem
03:50is that you are already
03:51at a bit of a tipping point anyway.
03:53And then you have this back of your thing
03:54and the promo doesn't exactly go
03:55the way you want it to from a fan standpoint.
03:57And now it's just like, all right,
03:59F this, F that, F everything.
04:01Done, done with it.
04:02Not, no, I hate it.
04:04So it feels like if this was a couple of years ago
04:08and everything else was clicking,
04:09this would be a story that you're like,
04:11okay, let's just see how it goes.
04:12Because we're rolling with the bloodline,
04:13Cody's story and all of that.
04:15This is great.
04:16But now it's just a,
04:19it's like the fifth celebrity
04:21that we're going to have on this show.
04:23And we're already a little upset
04:25about the ticket prices
04:26and being in Vegas for another year
04:28and then going to Saudi Arabia
04:29and taking it away from New Orleans.
04:30And it's all these things that have built up.
04:33And now this feels like it was the match
04:35being placed to the fuse
04:36that just made everyone go F this
04:38and get really, really frustrated with all of it.
04:41And so it has felt a little underwhelming.
04:44I think they did pretty good on Raw
04:45to kind of get the ball rolling a little bit more.
04:48There have been a couple of stories
04:49that have been good.
04:50We talked about Oba Brock.
04:52I think Liv against Stephanie Viqueire
04:54has been very well done.
04:56And we'll see how Liv is
04:58after getting her head drilled off
05:01of Roxy's head last week on Raw.
05:03But I think that story has had
05:06the appropriate intensity and the build.
05:08And that has felt like a WrestleMania feud.
05:10It's been really good.
05:11I think Drew and Fatou,
05:13I'm excited for the match.
05:15I understand the high level of intensity
05:19that they want to portray in this feud.
05:23And because of all the different steps
05:25that we've had in it,
05:25it makes sense to have all that intensity.
05:28It feels too over the top
05:30where the guys are like,
05:31well, that was murder
05:31jumping off of the scaffolding.
05:33And then they're back the next week
05:34and we're still brawling
05:36and we're still doing all these things.
05:37And it's just like, okay,
05:39you are making me well aware
05:40that this shit's fake right now, you know?
05:42So let's just, hmm, hmm,
05:45chill on that a little bit here.
05:46But overall, like it's,
05:50I think it's going to be a good show, you know?
05:52And I kind of, I have in my notes here,
05:54it feels like the Vince era.
05:55And by the way, the people being like,
05:56oh, bring Vince back.
05:57Like guys, the shows were objectively horrendous
06:02when he was in charge of it all, right?
06:05Like, maybe Levesque has kind of run out of ideas
06:09and lost his fastball a little bit,
06:11but this is still worlds ahead
06:13of anything that was going on
06:15in the back part of the McMahon thing.
06:17And when I say back part,
06:18I mean the last decade of the McMahon stuff.
06:21So let's not, I mean, like for human being reasons,
06:24the dude's a piece of shit.
06:25But for like, like creatively,
06:29and you think he's just been sitting there
06:30for two years coming up with good ideas?
06:32No, get out of here.
06:34So I'm not with that.
06:35It does make me think though.
06:36It does remind me.
06:37I used to, for those who don't know,
06:41used to host a wrestling radio show out here.
06:43We called it Combat Central.
06:44We did a lot of UFC and boxing stuff too,
06:46but we did some wrestling stuff
06:47and actually got to interview
06:49a lot of really cool people.
06:49One of them was Christopher Daniels.
06:51And I asked him,
06:52what would you take from the comic book world
06:54and bring it into the pro wrestling world?
06:56And it felt like he,
06:58like he kind of paused.
06:59He was like, oh, okay.
07:00And I'm not doing that to toot my own horn
07:02as an interviewer,
07:03but it was just like,
07:04he gave a genuinely thoughtful answer.
07:06And one of the things he said was,
07:07I wonder if you kind of need to let
07:11people only have a small chunk of time with it.
07:15And I know that's what we made fun of WCW for
07:17and Crockett for back in the day,
07:19where every six months something was changing.
07:20But his point was like every 18 months,
07:23you only have so many ideas.
07:24And so in comics, it's okay.
07:26We've had this person in charge for a little bit.
07:27We've had this person in charge,
07:28whether it's the movies or whatever.
07:30We've had this person in charge
07:31and directing these for a bit.
07:33Let's now go to someone else
07:34and let them have at least a couple of ideas
07:36and try to string it along.
07:38And then if it sucks,
07:39we can go back to that guy.
07:40If it's good,
07:40we can kind of keep it rolling.
07:41But let's not make someone have to do this
07:44for five, six years in a row.
07:46Because at some point you do run out of ideas.
07:49And I get that that's kind of the point
07:50of a creative room
07:51that we now have access to through Unreal.
07:54But it does kind of make you wonder,
07:55like maybe it would be good for Levesque
07:57to take a bit of a break.
07:59Because this is,
08:00it hasn't been great the last little while.
08:03That's for sure.
08:04Taljon in the chat.
08:06First on Brock and Oba.
08:08I want to let them,
08:09I want them to let Brock lose
08:13to push Oba to the,
08:14or sorry,
08:15I'm having trouble reading today.
08:16I want them to let Brock
08:18push Oba to the limit
08:19even if they let him win
08:20for the future storyline.
08:22I think there's a couple of interesting things
08:24that you could kind of have
08:25coming out of it.
08:27Hollywood kicking 310.
08:28Hi, it's going well.
08:29How are you?
08:29That's over in the YouTube chat.
08:31But for Taljon,
08:33I think like there is a world,
08:35I want Oba to win.
08:35And by SummerSlam,
08:37he's winning the world title.
08:37Even by Backlash.
08:39You know, like he gets the next,
08:40whether it's Roman, Punk, whoever.
08:43He just like,
08:43give him the title and just go.
08:44Like just run with it.
08:46Like just take off,
08:47beats Brock,
08:48keeps rolling,
08:49does that thing.
08:50I do also wonder
08:51if the Gunther Seth story
08:52is leading to
08:54Gunther wants to retire Brock
08:56in Minneapolis.
08:57That's,
08:58that's what brought,
08:59that's the favor that Gunther wants
09:00from Paul Heyman
09:02in exchange for this.
09:04And so does it make sense
09:05to have Brock lose to Oba
09:06and then lose to Gunther?
09:09I think so.
09:10Because I want to see this guy,
09:11I would prefer it
09:12if his retirement match
09:13was like Joe Hendry
09:14and he's just lost
09:14to everyone along the line
09:16because blank that guy, right?
09:18But,
09:18um,
09:20I,
09:20like you can,
09:21you can make somewhat of a case
09:22if they want to try
09:24to keep Brock strong,
09:25but Oba should be the project.
09:27He is,
09:28as Conrad Thompson
09:29on his podcast would say,
09:30over like Grover.
09:30So just let him be,
09:31let him keep rolling,
09:32let him keep doing his thing
09:33and get that win.
09:36But I do want,
09:36I don't want it to be 30 seconds.
09:38I kind of want it,
09:39I want the start of it.
09:40Well,
09:41we'll talk about this more
09:41in the week,
09:41I guess,
09:42but what I have right now
09:43is the start of this match
09:44is Ultimate Warrior,
09:47Hunter Hearst Helmsley,
09:48WrestleMania 12,
09:49where you've got this big thing,
09:51it's the entrance,
09:51everyone's fired up,
09:52Hemsley hits the pedigree
09:54and Warrior just pops up.
09:55I want that for Brock Oba.
09:58Like,
09:59you get Oba coming in,
10:01Brock just quickly,
10:02like,
10:02five seconds,
10:03up,
10:04F5,
10:04boom.
10:07Everyone watching
10:09would buy it
10:10because
10:12the hardcore fan base
10:13is like,
10:14oh my god,
10:15they want Brock
10:16to kill this guy
10:16and they want to keep Brock strong.
10:18They've had Oba look strong
10:19the whole way,
10:20now they're going to even it out
10:21for Brock to win,
10:21oh we hate this.
10:22And you would have like
10:23the casual wrestling fan
10:24being like,
10:24oh my gosh,
10:25Brock Lesnar,
10:25he does this all the time,
10:26and then have Oba pop up
10:27right away.
10:28If you want to do
10:29a count of one,
10:29fine.
10:30I wouldn't even let it
10:31get to a cover.
10:32I would just,
10:33it eats the F5
10:34and Oba gets up
10:35as if it's an arm drag
10:36to start the match
10:37and then we just get into
10:40WWE 2K26
10:41where everyone has
10:41their finishers built up.
10:43Like,
10:43that's,
10:44that's how I would start it
10:45and just get this thing
10:46moving hot.
10:47That's kind of what
10:48I would look at there
10:48for sure.
10:50Tall John,
10:52lack of tail,
10:52on lack of ticket sales,
10:54McAfee and Ram Trucks,
10:55etc.
10:55Just a bad taste in my mouth
10:56after CM Punk drops the bombs
10:58about asses in seats.
11:00The tickets are slow
11:01and they are rubbing it
11:01in fans' faces a little bit.
11:03Yeah,
11:03that whole aspect of it.
11:05Like,
11:05you can see
11:07there is a world
11:08where you can tweak
11:08the McAfee promo
11:09and it makes a ton of sense.
11:10Like,
11:11Randy Orton,
11:11he's the biggest draw
11:12and what all you guys
11:14are doing
11:14obviously isn't working
11:15because Randy Orton's the draw
11:16and ticket sales aren't there.
11:18But then,
11:19to keep kind of hammering
11:20at that point,
11:21like,
11:21it should be
11:22the subtext
11:23of kind of the bigger thing
11:24and it's become the main focus
11:26of a lot of that
11:26and that shouldn't be happening
11:27with this right now.
11:28Which it shouldn't.
11:29So,
11:30that,
11:31that is where I think it has
11:32kind of rubbed people
11:33the wrong way.
11:34When it has been about ticket sales
11:36and making this company money
11:37and then the hypocrisy of,
11:39well,
11:39like,
11:40CM Punk saying,
11:41well,
11:41get your,
11:42get your boss
11:43to get the ticket sales down
11:44when obviously,
11:45like,
11:45Cody is the face
11:46of this company
11:47and has been with a lot of stuff.
11:48Like,
11:48it's just,
11:49once you get past
11:50the surface level of it
11:51and if you want to do,
11:52like,
11:52the work shoot stuff,
11:53that does lead to those types of,
11:55like,
11:55okay,
11:56well,
11:56let's look at this
11:56in a deeper level
11:58and it falls apart
11:59even on,
12:00like,
12:00the step below.
12:01So,
12:02I just don't,
12:03I get what they're trying to do
12:05but I don't think it's working
12:06and they're not doing it
12:07in a very good way
12:08and that's been
12:10a little frustrating,
12:11I think,
12:11for a lot of fans.
12:13Absolutely.
12:14So,
12:14it just,
12:15it's not,
12:17it's not great.
12:18But again,
12:19I think the show's gonna be awesome.
12:20Like,
12:20that ladder match is gonna be insane.
12:22I think
12:23we're going to get a really good match
12:25out of Punk and Roman.
12:26I do think something
12:27really interesting
12:28is gonna happen
12:28with Randy and Cody
12:29and I think a lot of the matches
12:31are gonna be very,
12:31very good.
12:32but it's just
12:33the build-up to it
12:34has not really captured people
12:36in the same way
12:36that it did
12:37a couple of years ago
12:39and it feels like
12:40it's been going in that
12:41trend here
12:42for a little bit.
12:43So,
12:44let me know,
12:44again,
12:45where you're at
12:45on this WrestleMania build
12:46as we sit an hour out
12:47from Monday Night Raw.
Comments