411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction: Would You Rather See Steve Austin vs. Brock Lesnar at WWE Wrestlemania 38?

Welcome back to the 411mania Wrestling Fact or Fiction. I’m your host Jake Chambers.

This week we’ve got two prolific 411 writin’ titans joining us to debate the recent goings-on in the wacky world of pro-wrestling: it’s the king of the B-movies Bryan Kristopowitz versus the king of the B-shows Robert Leighty Jr.

Who’s going to B the man? Let’s find out!

Statement #1: Stone Cold Steve Austin coming back for a match with Brock Lesnar would be better than the current Wrestlemania plans for both.

Robert Leighty Jr.: FACT – It’s Austin vs Brock for the first time with 20 years of history behind it, so of course it would be better.  The build and the crowd response would be epic even if the match would be terrifying to watch as you would have to hold your breath each time Austin got dumped on his head.  Speaking of that though, I can’t see Austin going to Suplex City so they would have to work around that and really, just putting the two of them in the ring would get the biggest pop on the show.  Just by sheer star power and spectacle this would be better than what either man is doing.  Plus it would also be a match and we aren’t even guaranteed that with Austin and KO this year.  

Bryan Kristopowitz: FICTION – The only match I want to see Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar have right now is some sort of “cinematic match” because that’s the only way it would be interesting or work. Because Austin isn’t interested in having a “real” wrestling match because he can’t wrestle like he used to, and Lesnar does like three moves in his current matches: German suplex, punches, and F5. How would that match work? How could it even happen? I’m fine with whatever Austin is going to do with Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania. I’m sure it will be entertaining.

Statement #2: CM Punk should be the next challenger for Hangman Page’s AEW Championship.

Robert Leighty Jr.: FACT – Realistically there should be a rubber match between MJF and Punk to see who is next for Page, but it seems the Dog Collar Match was the blow off and Punk winning should be him next in line.  Double or Nothing would be the perfect place and I think Punk gets the shot, but there could be a wrinkle if they feed Page someone else on TV before we get to DON.  So, FACT that Punk should be his next challenger as far as on PPV.  

Bryan Kristopowitz: FACT – At this moment in time Punk is the only real deal main event on the AEW roster. I mean, yes, Bryan Danielson is still a badass main event guy, but he’s doing some sort of tag team thing with Jon Moxley and it doesn’t look like they’re going to jettison that for another world title program between challenger Danielson and champion Hangman. Adam Cole has been completely devalued (he’s already lost to Page, and the run-up to his title match with Page was absolute garbage so Cole is done for right now). MJF would be an interesting potential match but it looks like he’s going to be feuding with Wardlow in some capacity. Who else is left beyond Punk that makes sense? If AEW wanted to do, like, Malakai Black or Jay Lethal or somebody else there would have to be some heavy duty build up to make any of that work and I don’t see AEW doing that (or having the attention span to even try to do that). So Punk is the only real main event guy that makes sense right now to challenge for the world title.

Statement #3: Pete Dunne’s new Butch gimmick will be successful on Smackdown.

Robert Leighty Jr.: FACT – I don’t get annoyed by names like others and I think anyone can overcome as long as given the proper chance.  I mean, Steve Austin was The Ringmaster and things worked out for him.  Mick Foley was rebranded Mankind and if that happened today twitter would be in an uproar.  It happens and whether Dunne is successful or not won’t be due to his name.  He could have be introduced at Pete Dunne and in the end all it matters is how long Vince will stay interested and invested and perhaps the new name with give Dunne a longer window to get this over than others.  I tend to remain positive and the pairing with Sheamus is ideal.  

Bryan Kristopowitz: FACT – Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by “successful.” Will Dunne be a featured player on Smackdown for the foreseeable future? It looks that way, yes, as long as Sheamus doesn’t get hurt. If they decide to abandon the whole “Sheamus gang” thing after what happened with Big E, the new Butch is probably screwed. He’ll be a jobber on Main Event in no time in that scenario. So it all depends. I don’t think there’s any news or indication that the Sheamus gang is going to be disbanded/ignored, so Butch will be on TV for the next bit of time and be a somewhat featured player. He won’t be Pete Dunne again until he gets sent back to NXT or quits/get the “budget cut” call from the WWE. Now, will Dunne’s Butch be any good/worth watching? Who the hell knows?  

¡SWITCH!

Statement #4: Dolph Ziggler being the NXT Champion is annoying.

Bryan Kristopowitz: FICTION – It’s only annoying if you want the NXT title to be a thing exclusively for NXT wrestlers. If you’re okay with established veterans showing up on NXT and doing a program with someone/hanging out for a few weeks, then Ziggler being NXT champion is no big deal. Ziggler seems more motivated at the moment in NXT and a motivated Ziggler is better than the “collecting a paycheck” Ziggler we’ve seen for the last while. His upcoming match with Bron Breaker at the whatever the hell the Wrestlemania NXT show is called should be fantastic. NXT 2.0 could use more established guys to work with the new people (one of the many reasons it was stupid for the WWE to gut NXT and fire most of its established “name” people. Green rookies wrestling with green rookies on TV is a recipe for disaster).  

Robert Leighty Jr.: FICTION – Dolph is a known name and is down in NXT just to put Bron over at WrestleMania weekend.  This is a perfect place for Dolph and it may get a few more eyes watch NXT, so in no way am I annoyed by this.  Dolph is also a good hand in the ring and I am sure they want him to test Bron and see what he has.  It was also help Bron working with someone who has been in the WWE for nearly 20 years.  FCW used to bring down main roster stars and it just gives a shine to the next big thing in the territory.  Now if Dolph keeps the title past Mania then we have an issue.  

Statement #5: You remember when you first saw Scott Hall invade WCW.

Bryan Kristopowitz: FACT – Before Scott Hall showed up in WCW I remember switching back and forth between watching Raw live one week and taping Nitro, and then watching Nitro live and taping Raw the next week. But then the week Hall showed up was the first week where Nitro was 2 hours, so I watched Nitro live that week (it wasn’t because I knew Hall was going to show up and change pro wrestling forever, but I decided to watch the two hour show to see if it was worth watching a two hour Nitro). After the intrigue of Hall showing up I became a full on “watch Nitro live every week no matter what and then watch Raw on tape” person for most of the summer. It was a great, electric time to be a pro wrestling fan. And that time period was also when the WWE had its infamous In Your House: Beware of Dog pay-per-view, where a storm knocked out the PPV show on Sunday and everyone missed the middle of the show (the feed came back on for the main event. I remember watching the restaged middle part of the pay-per-view that Tuesday, anxiously watching my PPV channel to see if the WWE’s promise would be kept about everyone who ordered the original PPV would get the restaged middle part for free during the Tuesday night replay).  

Robert Leighty Jr.: FACT – May 27, 1996: It was Memorial Day and also my 15th birthday, so I will never forget.  I just opened a card from my parents with $50 inside and thought that was the best thing that would happen that day and a few minutes later Razor Ramon in all his denim glory, walked through the crowd and interrupted a match on Nitro.  My mind was blown and his proclaiming war had me yelling and running around my house.  I wasn’t yet online with my wrestling fandom as we didn’t get internet until Jan of 1997, so I truly believed WCW vs WWF was happening.  I have watched the clip countless times and it still fires me up.  Just an incredible moment that I will never forget and it has been cool knowing the nWo angled kicked off on my birthday.  Again, Rest in Peace Mr. Hall!  

Thanks again to Bryan Kristopowitz and Robert Leighty Jr. for battling it out this week, especially for their fantastic tributes to the late great Scott Hall.

You can check out more of Robert Leighty Jr.’s retrospective reviews on the career of Scott Hall in two outstanding columns just published:

Leighty’s Retro Review: Living on a Razor’s Edge: The Scott Hall Story – https://411mania.com/wrestling/leightys-network-finds-living-on-a-razors-edge-the-scott-hall-story/

Leighty’s Retro Review: WWE Photo Shoot: Scott Hall – https://411mania.com/wrestling/leightys-retro-review-wwe-photo-shoot-scott-hall/

As well you can read all of his recaps right here at 411mnania of the WWE B-shows you might not want to watch (but DO want to read about), like RAW Talk, Talking Smack, Main Event or NXT Level Up – https://411mania.com/wrestling/leightys-wwe-nxt-level-up-review-03-11-22/

And thanks are due to B-Movie chronicler, Bryan Kristopowitz, who resides mainly in the Movie Zone, where he’s recently been dropping bangers like punks hitting the floor in a Scott Adkins movie.

Do yourself a favour and check out any of his great list columns, such as his current series ranking the George A. Romero movies:

https://411mania.com/movies/ranking-george-a-romeros-movies-from-worst-to-best-12-9/

… his cult TV review project of the every episode of the short-lived ’80s Lee Van Cleef samurai TV series The Master:

https://411mania.com/movies/cult-tv-the-master-episode-8-the-good-the-bad-and-the-priceless/

… and especially his new series – From the B-Movie Vault – where he revives and complies some of his legendary reviews, of movies like the Phantasm series, that were long lost to the “ravages of the internet“:

https://411mania.com/movies/from-b-movie-vault-phantasm-and-phantasm-ii/

Speaking of movies, surprise coming next week! See you then!