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Look at what we have here folks, to the only show that matters.
The queen of the crop, Duke, loves wrestling and there is no.
One that does it better. Than your house.
I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and I'm all out
above. You brothers and sisters, he's
back. I I tried to warn you.
This man is like that, that Candyman movie, OK?
You keep saying his name and eventually he's going to
reappear. And you know, for those of us
who are on the right side of history, and who respect and and
who uplift our brother here, it's all good.
And for the rest of you who keep begging and pleading for someone
that you can direct your ire at, well, hey, your hero, you made
him come back. You made him do this thing.
So now it's time to paint the town red.
It's time to to to set the world on fire.
It is go time, Jack, because the man himself, Brad Shepard, has
officially returned. What's going on there, Shepard?
Duke, what's going on? Good to be here, as always.
I'm kind of like Beetlejuice. You say my name three times and
I appear. Well, you know what I love about
the fact that, at least with Brad Shepard, we know that
you're not begging for cheese boards or or having emotional
breakdowns over anything that Triple H may or may not say
about you, Right? Some people just need a little
cheese with their wine. But yeah, there would be no
Gofundmes. There'd be no cheese spreads or
anything like that with Brad Shepherd.
Let let's just. Jump right into it Shepherd,
because I know that people are are curious about your opinion
on this. At the scrum the the media event
that happens, you know after the pay-per-view WWE just had in
France, there was a question posed to Triple H and you know
what was stated and attributed to fight Full and PW Insider was
inaccurate information. They said that Drew Gulick was
released and that is not the case.
Triple H was able to correct the record and say no, he wasn't
released. We just chose not to renew his
contract, which you know, we do that all the time.
The NFL does that. That's part of doing business.
So but the thing that everybody latched onto and the thing that
made our good buddy the thigh rubber himself sniffles Sean
Ross Sapp literally have a conniption was the fact that
Triple H said you got to get some better sources more
accurate ones you know and and I guess that SAP took that as a
personal attack on him, even though he wasn't the one that
reported it initially. At least that he's not
attributed as being the person reporting it initially and
Triple H never said his name but this guy took it upon himself to
turn it into a personal crusade and and and he got all the the
band of Mary Dirt Sheep gang and and GoFundMe warriors and
goofballs all together and they're threatening Triple H
they're threatening WWE SAP is talking about his emotional
stability because he just lost a loved one and he can't believe
that the WWE and Triple H would attack him and his company this
way. He can't believe it's.
And he's gonna, he's gonna and then suddenly you you you going
to give me a public apology? And you and you better do this
and you better do that. And then he's posting a picture
of a cheese board that was mailed to him because Triple H
and Nick Khan felt so sorry for this emotional, unstable con man
who utilized the passing of a loved one to leverage sympathy
at a time when no one was even talking about him.
He pulled a 649. The switcheroo.
This, this, this literally morally bankrupt goofball,
right? And he managed to get a gift and
a letter out of it. And and and instead of just
accepting that and and moving on, he's got to put it up in
lights and post it online because you know what?
The grift has to keep going. Brad Shepherd, tell us we
haven't heard from you in a while, our brother.
Tell us what you think about our good man's sniffles pulling
another fast one. Well, I think they wrote a song
about it. Yeah, you're so vain.
You probably think this song is about you, you know?
And and that sums up Sean Rossap in a nutshell.
And you know, he presumed this was about him.
And because Fightful, you know, was named, He's not fightful.
He's part of Fightful, but why would that automatically be
about him? Well, that's an ego thing.
He is so vain. You said, you know I'm going to
puke, right? I'm going to puke.
That's how I felt. Listen to that.
Look, I mean, we have all lost loved ones.
I sympathize with him. And everyone who has lost a
loved one, they're close to that.
They've cared for. I can totally sympathize and
relate with Sean on that. I'm not criticizing that.
I'm criticizing that Sean Ross Sapp has to use things in his
personal life for sympathy and share them with the world.
I have challenges. You have challenges.
We all have challenges and hard times.
And you know, we, we don't share those with the world for
sympathy and and certainly don't make things about us that
aren't. And so that is where I take
issue with Sean Sapp. And I shouldn't use his middle
name. I don't know why I'm doing that.
Who goes by their middle name usually only douche bags.
So Sean Sapp, Sean, that's who he is.
We shouldn't call him Sean Ross Sapp.
So I'm going to call him Sean or Sean Sapp.
So excuse me for that. But yeah, that's my issue with
Sean. And I see not a lot has changed
with him. He can't stop mentioning me or
putting me over in some way, and neither can his friends.
And then again, you know, hey, maybe they're they're rubbing
the magic lamp and they're asking the genie for their one
wish, for Brad Shepherd to return.
But they can't keep my name out of their mouth, whether it's
public or private. Well, and and that's got to be
disturbing just to be on the receiving end of that Brad.
I know they do it to me, certainly not even close to the
scale. They do it to you.
But when they do it to me, it's always bizarre because it's
like, I'm not even talking about you.
I'm not even thinking about you. Why are you talking about me?
Why are you posting about me? Why are you taking shots at me?
This is what these goofballs do. And then they cry foul when we
have to do an episode where we start doing a little dive into
them, right? The fact that every single
solitary day, whether it be Twitter, X, whatever the hell
you want to call it today, whether it be Instagram, whether
it be Facebook, whether it be Reddit.
The fact that every single day, these goofballs and they're all
connected with each other, by the way, they will mention Brad
Shepherd in general conversation that has literally absolutely
nothing to do with you. The fact that they mention your
name every single day, I just don't know what to do with that.
I got to ask you, Brad, are you flattered or are you disturbed?
Honestly, a mix of both. You know, I am flattered that
they think so highly of my opinion because if they did it,
they wouldn't talk about me. I mean, my opinion only holds as
much value as they allow it to. So that's why I'm flattered,
because clearly they allow it and they care about what I have
to say. I mean, I've, I've been out of
the spotlight for quite a while now and they are still
mentioning my name on X, on Instagram, on Facebook,
Podcasts, you can go down the list and these are you know,
professional wrestlers and people in the media and
wrestling fans. So that is flattering.
It's also a little disturbing because generally speaking,
don't know these people and don't know why they're so
invested in me. And a lot of them don't have
good intentions, you know, people who are not my
supporters, for example. So it is definitely a mix of
both. But you want Brad Shepherd,
you're going to get them because every time I try to go away,
Duke, they pull me back in. They want Brad Shepherd.
The pro wrestling community genuinely wants Brad Shepherd.
I mean, and there's a lot you can look at.
You can look at my podcast Numbers, a top ten global
podcast, and I have it recorded an episode in almost a year.
Think about that. The people want Brad Shepherd,
whether they want to admit it or not.
So I'm going to give the people what they want, Duke.
Plain and simple. And what they want is they want,
you know, some people want a hero.
They want someone that they can believe in and and and blindly
follow. In your case, they want someone
to blame. And there was something about
Brad Shepherd. He it's like you're their
favorite stepdad. You know what I mean?
That it's just they they cannot make it in this world without
you. And without you they start
turning on each other. They cuss each other.
They threaten each other. You know you have, since we
talked about them already. You have SAP.
He's going around bragging about head butting Billy body, which
is legitimately one of the more bizarre things that I've ever
seen. You don't score points because
you head. But a guy that's barely 130 lbs
with a brick in his pocket? I don't know what to say about
that. Literally.
This guy is an emotional wreck. OK?
I'm telling you right now, SAP is an emotional wreck.
He wants to be known as Billy Badass, and it's the strangest
thing I've ever seen in my life. Because you're an adult, OK?
No one is afraid of you. No one is impressed with the
fact that you can go beat up some some little pipsqueak.
Who who? His biggest claim to fame is
that he was some reality * and he likes to say a lot of
bombastic things. Good for him.
But the fact that you think you did something because you
headbutt that guy. I'm just telling you, Sean, and
I've told you this directly, you need help.
You have a lot of emotional issues with you, buddy, OK?
And the fact that you want to be known as some tough guy.
Listen, go go go fight in UFC or PFL or something like that.
Go show us what you really can do against professionals.
Beating up some little skinny punk who doesn't even really
want to fight anyway. Who?
Who, as you claimed, he runs
away from you. You don't score points today.
You just look like a goofball and a bully, OK?
That's what you are talking tough online and then picking on
these little scrawny goofs buddy.
You don't get any any Pats on the back for that and all those
weirdos and and emotionally unstable people that cheer you
on for that. Just look around.
What does that say about them? Do you really feel good about
that? You need help, man.
You you need a lot of help. Yeah, I mean, I have to agree.
You know, I I think mental health in full transparency is
something to take seriously. And if you're a loved one of
Sean, you should encourage him to get help with his emotional
issues. You know, I think that's
important. He clearly does have a lot of
issues and could probably talk to someone.
I mean, I look at Sean and I just see a guy who's, you know,
in his 30s and is like living this childlike life with a
meaningless existence, you know, no kids.
And he covers pro wrestling for a living.
He just lives this childlike existence, you know, for himself
and I. It's just kind of a sad
situation when you think about it.
You know, I can't relate. I don't have, you know friends
in a similar situation but I do think you know he's had some
difficult things going on and I I don't think it's a bad thing
for him to talk to somebody and and seek help.
But I the behavior that I've seen from him online and again
you know here's a guy in his 30s married you know and and he's
you know seeking out fights with people, challenging people to
fights threatening them, you know people in the industry,
people who are fans etcetera. And I I get the, you know, the
threats and the stalking and harassment.
He and his group have been doing that to me for years and
responsible for that. So I'm, I'm well familiar with
that scenario. I would just say he should
address that and it's OK. It absolutely is OK.
And this is a thing, you know, his his way of dealing with
things. Again, he wants people to
believe he's some kind of Billy Badass tough guy, and he's not.
He, he legitimately is a scared little person.
That's what he is, a scared, emotionally bankrupt little
person. And we know this by the way,
that he conducts himself, OK? You don't need to cuss and carry
on and threaten and literally and at one point beat up the
the, the weakest guy in the room, A person who legitimately
could not do anything to anyone, right.
You do not score points beating up Billy Body.
That's just goofy. It legitimately is goofy and and
and you ought to be ashamed of yourself, Sean.
You know, by the way, Duke, I just want to say he did this
allegedly during WrestleMania weekend while he was there
potentially doing work for Fightful, right?
That's what we would presume. So that's how professional he
is. He's on the job, the biggest
show of the year in the industry he covers and he's literally
chasing down and physically assaulting other people
allegedly and so and not in self-defense.
And so if I'm WWE, I have to remove that guy from covering
any of my events moving forward because he is a safety risk to
be at events covering them. That's not a good thing for WWE.
And if you're Jimmy Van and FIFO, what the hell are you
thinking? Why is that OK?
Why has he not talked about it? Has that been addressed with
Sean? A lot of questions surrounding
this story that Sean came out with.
That's a great point. And I I don't even know what to
make of this this Jimmy Van character.
I mean, clearly he's finding ways to tap into emotionally
unstable people who like being lied to and will pay to be lied
to. That seems to be his thing.
So if he can find the ringmaster, like like SAP, who
is very skilled. By the way, I've never taken
away the fact that this guy is talented.
He has figured out how to take emotionally unstable people who
part of their kink is just to give money and and be
mistreated, and that's what they do.
SAP is very good at that, and Jimmy Van is very good at
convincing that person to essentially be his, his earner.
Bring me the money and I'll give you a couple of pence on the
dollar. Bring me the money.
You know, So is, is Jimmy Van, is is that like a form of
pimping? I don't know what that is.
I'm just asking a question here. I'm not, you know, I'm not the
arbiter of anything, but maybe Jimmy Van.
Maybe this is a question I'm just pondering out loud.
Maybe Jimmy Van is the greatest pimp in the history of quote UN
quote wrestling media and he has his his workers who know how to
go and get the tricks. Maybe, Who knows, Who knows.
But you know Jimmy, I don't have much nice to say about you
brother cause your your business practices are bizarre.
You should have been paying Denise Salcedo the most money
and the fact that you have that woman of color who is carrying
that company, especially during the pandemic.
And yet you were paying this emotionally disturbed individual
and SAP who's going around threatening people and beating
up folks from other countries who who can barely, who can't
defend themselves. Quite frankly, the fact that
you're paying that guy more when Denise, whether you like her or
not, Denise was carrying that company and you were just
disrespecting her by not paying her as much as you would pay any
other goofball Jimmy Van. You, in my opinion, are a
disgrace. It's as simple as that.
Well, a wise man once said pimpin ain't easy, but I'd have
to beg to differ because he is indeed the pimpin chief Jimmy
Van, and he's made it look easy. He sure has.
And and listen, you know, Speaking of which, since we're
lining them all up, it's been a while Shepherd.
I haven't been cancelled in a while, so I might as well make
it good. I want to bring up another name
that popped up recently, surprisingly.
Matt Coom. My my favorite Jingle man.
All right, this this guy, he can he can make a Jingle brother.
Let me tell you that man knows how to make a tune.
OK, Matt Coon, the Jingle man found himself in a little bit of
controversy recently. He was presenting himself as
captain SJW no hashtag boy and all that good stuff there.
He loves to. Try to cosplay, caring about
causes and and being anti racist and all this other stuff which
is interesting when strictly for the culture.
Our friends over there shout out to them and some other folks
raised the question about MJFA guy who disrespected all black
folk and and anyone who's an ally by essentially comparing
slavery to the Holocaust and saying that the Holocaust was
much worse, literally pitting different folks, different
cultures who have been brutalized, pitting US against
each other. And MJF is Jewish.
So the fact that he would take it upon himself to try to uplift
himself and his culture by putting down my culture is kind
of strange and kind of scummy and certainly racist in my
opinion. And strictly for the culture.
They felt the same way and they brought it up and they brought
it to Matt Coon's attention. And Matt Coon suddenly could not
identify the racism in that situation.
In fact, he said he didn't see it.
So when I observed this Shepherd, I just pointed out,
listen, Matt Coon, you know, you your your Conrad's goofy buddy.
You're a talented guy. I like when you make the music
and all that stuff, when you make your jingles stick to
making the jingles and stay out of the racism talk because
clearly you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
Clearly you you are not honest enough, brave enough to stand
firm and just call it what it is.
You you pick your spots depending on what the popular
crowd says. So so let me get your take on
this here, Shepherd. I mean is am I missing something
here with Matt Coon or? Or is he as as phony as a $3.00
bill? Well, I think first of all, his
name is extremely racist. I just want to point that out
for the record. So I think he should change his
name immediately unless he is in fact racist.
With that being said, look, the problem with Matt Kuhn is Matt
wants to be liked. I mean, he is mentally ill by
his own admission, so there's that.
But ultimately he's, you know, kind of a loser.
He is mildly talented. I will definitely give him that.
But he's just one of those like outcasts in society that wants
to fit in, that wants to be liked and wants to be liked more
so than the average person. Because at some level everybody
wants to be liked. But even more so, like in Matt's
case, he wanted to be part of this cool kids club with the, I
guess, the online pro wrestling communities and with the
wrestlers themselves and that's why he would drive them around.
It shows for free, you know, That's why he's made friends
with people like Sean, SAP and others, you know.
So that's Matt in a nutshell. I think pretty much, you know, I
don't think he has good intentions.
I don't think he's stable or trustworthy and he's certainly
proven that to be true. So you know I'm not a fan of
Matt Coon at all. Like most white male liberal SJ
WS I think he is much more likely to be the actual racist
one. You know and and doesn't
actually believe in what he's saying.
But yeah, I I, you know, Matt is a is another guy who loves to
talk about me, who loves to lie about me in spite of evidence.
And it's all ultimately to get people to like him.
Because hey, if you say my name and you say bad things about me,
this sort of toxic online Internet audience, you know this
Twitter wrestling group of people, they're going to like
that. So, you know, and then they're
going to like Matt and Matt's going to be loved and that makes
him feel all warm and fuzzy. But you know, Matt needs to
focus on himself, believe me, and not people like me or
others. I agree.
And I'm just going to, you know, say this and and this is just me
talking. So you know, Matt, you don't
need to invoke Brad's name and what I'm about to say, because
I'm talking directly to you, You talk to me, young man.
Again, I like the Matt Coon who who's Conrad's goofy buddy?
That's what we know you As for better or for worse, when you
start venturing off into things that you're really not qualified
to venture off into. You make a fool of yourself and
you and you really make a fool out of Conrad who used his
cachet to vouch for you and and help you even.
You know, be somebody that anyone knows anything about.
Because without him, I don't know if anyone would know who
the hell you are. Matt.
Now again, I think you're a talented guy, so just do me a
favor And again, this is me talking to you here, Matt.
I need you to get up, take your big back self into the studio.
Get your Jingle machine and make me something that I could tap my
foot to and just do that and stay out of grown folk business.
Thank you. All right, Shepard.
Moving on here. A little birdie told me that you
are putting the band back together, Shepard.
I am putting the band back together again.
I tried to stay away, but these people just won't let Brad
Shepherd stay away, so I'm going to give them what they want.
The band is coming back together.
Brad Shepherd Unleashed is returning.
I'm very happy to announce that. And every week on Tuesdays,
starting May 14th, you'll have a new episode of Brad Shepherd
Unleashed. I'm back.
And whether you like it or whether you don't, you know
you're going to be talking about me.
You heard it straight from the man's mouth.
And again, for for all of us who you know, appreciate Brad and
appreciates the idea of somebody being able to just tell it like
like it is and tell it like they see it, there is no reason why
we all have to sound the same, think the same, have the same
perspective on things. We need variety in the space,
and certainly Brad Shepherd provides some excellent and much
needed variety in the space. So for all of us who appreciate
that this is wonderful news and for all of you who have a
problem with that, this is wonderful news for you, even
more wonderful news for you, because now you have something
that you can hate. Listen to again.
You know, I I kind of love you to sleep with my interviews and
stuff like that because we don't get too controversial.
We got to get the sizzle back here with Brad Shepherd.
It really gets you stirred up because that's what you folks
are missing in your miserable lives.
So guess what? You're going to get it, OK?
Brad Shepherd is back, baby. Like you said, we got what,
another five weeks before we get the the next episode there,
Brett? Yeah, absolutely.
And look, it's coming, and it's coming hard.
No ditty. There it is.
What else?
What else in the wrestling world before before we let you go
there, Brad, what else is something that you want to weigh
in on? Because we had again, we haven't
heard from you in a while and so much has happened since the last
time you were on. I mean the WWE has a totally
different ownership company now and Vince McMahon is completely
out. Folks like Triple H has been
exalted as you know the the big thing now and and you know
everyone is a Triple H guy suddenly you know, which is
interesting to me. Then on the flip side, you have
AW losing international partners who don't want to carry their
programming anymore because of how terrible it is.
They still don't have a deal from WBD even though their their
current contract, which they had an extension on it ends in
December. So it's so literally as it
stands right now, the United States of America, AEW has no
place to air their content in 2025.
What do you want to talk about, Brad?
Well, the wrestling scene has certainly changed a lot since my
last podcast, that's for sure. And you know, some for the
better and some certainly not. I don't think that knows man
Paul Leveque is the savior like many people in the IWC do.
There are things under his leadership that have changed, I
think for the better, and certainly some things for the
worst. Look, I don't need a video
package on DIY. I don't want to see a video
package of them. I want to see them, like not in
the company wrestling somewhere else where I don't have to see
them because they don't belong in the biggest company in the
industry. They're not at that level.
And so I don't want to see DIY shove down my throat every week
in any capacity. They don't belong.
They belong in the minor leagues like AEW.
So that's what I would like to see.
So I would like for Paul very much to stop promoting these
little fellas. What's this other one?
These little UK guys who were A tag team.
Some, they've got some weird name now, I don't even know, but
they came from NXTNXTUK, whatever.
And you know, they formed A-Team.
And I don't know why, but it's like he's taking all these
little NXT guys and tried to bring them up.
And you know, I I I just don't understand that mindset.
That's to me something that Vince McMahon was smarter and
better on from a business perspective than Paul.
Look, I've said it before, Rey Mysterio is a legend.
Rey Mysterio is someone I want to see wrestle.
When you got 30 Rey Mysterios, you got too many Rey Mysterios.
You don't need a bunch of little guys in pro wrestling and and
that's one thing that that Paul has done, you know, So I don't
like that. At the same time they seem to
have more freedom and I think we've seen some positive things
out of the product that are taking place even down to
getting rid of Kevin Dunn in the camera.
What you're seeing as ATV Viewer has improved tremendously
without Kevin Dunn and has really shown how they can take
things to the next level as good as they were already from a
production perspective. So they've done that.
Now you look at AEW and again, they're the minor leagues.
They're a clown show run by a clown.
I mean, that is an embarrassing pro wrestling company filled
with embarrassing pro wrestlers. You know how many times are they
going to mention CM Punk's name and put over that he bitched out
Jack Perry. And the greatest thing about
Jack Perry is his father. The guy has no charisma.
Now he's being promoted as one of the bigger stars in this
faction with the Young Bucks who also have been a complete
disappointment in AW who haven't really been over, haven't really
made any impact whatsoever. They brought in a bunch of
people like Mercedes, who's been a total flop, which I knew would
happen. They brought in Will Osprey.
They paid these people a bunch of money.
They're not moving the needle. In fact, the needle is moving in
the opposite direction. They're losing viewership year
over year over year over year. That's what's happening.
That's undeniable. And then you've got this crazy
man with wild hair who who looks like he's on, who knows what and
telling you they're about to get some massive rights deal.
I mean, this is total delusion and the show is unwatchable.
It's, you know, when when WWE is doing well, so goes the
industry, It should be providing opportunities for others.
But AW isn't taking advantage of that because it's so bad, you
know, and Tony Khan has the money to make it work, but he
doesn't have the vision. He doesn't have the creative
ability and so it's not working. Impact Wrestling is awful.
It is the shits. Look, this Joe Hendry guy heard
a song he did recently. I think he's entertaining.
That should probably push him. But when I look at that show, I
mean, that show is awful. It sucks.
So pro wrestling should be getting better as WWE does
great, but in many ways they're really not.
So I, you know, I think overall I've been more interested in WWE
recently than I was historically.
But at the same time, they're still missing opportunities too.
Cody had the big story. He finished it.
Well, what happens next? What happens next is they have
to create a story that's going to keep you invested in Cody as
the champion, not a guy who's the underdog trying to win the
big one because he's done that now.
So what is the story? And they haven't been able to
capitalize on that. And I see Logan Paul come out
and cut a promo with Cody, and Logan Paul outshined Cody in
that promo, in my opinion. So they have to figure out what
they're doing with Cody because he is clearly someone they're
pushing as the top of their brand.
And frankly, he'll probably be outshined by Roman when he
returns, and certainly The Rock when he returns.
So they have to figure that out. Those are a bunch of jumbled
thoughts, Duke. I've got a lot more, of course,
which I'll talk about on the podcast.
Brad Shepherd coming in hot with this one.
My goodness, I love it. I love it.
This is the stuff we've been missing, man.
Again. You know, things have been a
little too too quiet. A little, a little too.
What do I say, Sybil? We need a little chaos in here.
Brad and you being unfiltered with your takes and just calling
it the way that it is, that's good stuff that that really is.
And I I just wonder about something because we had Devon
Dudley on the show. In fact it was the last episode
he made his his second appearance in less than six
weeks and Devon talked about his impression of Tony Khan and and
and AW now he said yeah you know that there are some talented
wrestlers on that roster and and what have you but they just
they're they don't have proper direction.
They don't they don't have a Booker.
They don't have agents that they're listening to because if
they were then things would be a lot better.
And overall the root of the issue is Tony Khan he he just
needs to get his shipping order. Devon told the story of Tony
Khan using his sons to try to lure Devon in to AEW.
And you know, the sons were were were given an opportunity to be
on TV and wrestle with them and things like that.
And they brought Devon in for a few meetings and and offered him
a position and Devon told them, look, I don't want to wrestle,
you know, my back is in bad shape and what have you.
I I I would love to be an agent. I'm willing to compromise and be
a manager for my boys just to help them, you know, get out
there and get some visibility. But I don't want to wrestle
because I I don't want to have that kind of problem there.
And AW strung him along or, or as I should say, Tony Khan
strung him along three meeting. Shepherd strung him along and
then finally said, hey, we don't have any open positions for
agents, but you know, you could wrestle.
And Devon, that was the last time you spoke to him.
Thank you for your time. No thank you.
And left. And then promptly.
Devon's sons suddenly aren't getting any more bookings in AW.
They were essentially shown the door because their father
wouldn't wrestle for the company.
That is essentially the story that was told.
Devon was diplomatic and respectful, but he also just
stuck to the facts. What's your take on that type of
way of doing business on on Tony Khan's front there?
Well, I think it's awful, but this is the same person who
trashed WWE for their treatment of wrestlers and what is he
providing? Is he giving health insurance to
his contracted pro wrestlers? You know, what kind of benefits
do they have? So he can talk a big game
certainly, but what I've seen from Tony, not the words but the
actions is not very desirable. It's not impressive.
I think that's an awful way to do business.
And again, I think, you know, the biggest hindrance to AEW is
Tony Khan, ironically. And without Tony Kahn, there is
no AEW because he, along with his daddy Shad, are obviously
funding the operation. So he's necessary, but at the
same time he's hindering them. So that's obviously a problem,
you know, And he's bringing in people who aren't telling him
no. You know, I don't know where
Will Washington's nose begins and Tony Kahn's ass ends.
And that's a problem because there should be people telling
him when he is going astray, when he's doing something that
may not be good for the business, for the company, for
the creative, et cetera. And that's what Tony Kahn has to
have. I want AEW to fail, just to be
clear. I want to be very clear about
that. I do not want them to succeed
and I don't have to want them to succeed.
That's OK. You know, I don't look at all
businesses and think just because I like one specific
thing they offer that I should support all stores that offer
that I I'm a Patriots fan in the NFL.
I I don't want the Buffalo Bills to succeed, you know, That's all
totally normal and healthy. I don't have to like something
just because it's pro wrestling and I'm a pro wrestling fan.
I like movies too. I don't want all movies to be
successful or I don't want to see all movies because I like
what I like and that's OK. So you know that that kind of
trope is overplayed in the IWC. It's OK to not want AW to
succeed and and I want them to fail because they are not my
style of pro wrestling. They're not something I'm
interested in and I think there are numerous examples of them
being actually harmful for the industry and and surely they've
done some things that help. I agree with that, right?
They've offered job opportunities to pro wrestlers,
not in WWE where they can make a living.
At the same time, they've certainly made the business a
negative. Tony Kahn has whipped up these
lunatic fans and made this sort of cult of personality worse,
And that's been a negative for the interactions in the IWC.
And you see that. You see that on X, you see that
on the different social media platforms.
So just to be clear again, I want AW to fail and go out of
business. I'm telling you, Brad Shepherd,
OK, the man that you either appreciate because he tells it
like it is and he's not afraid and and he's not going to worry
about the popular opinion. He's just going to give an
honest take or you can't stand them.
But you also can't stop listening to him because he can
do the thing that you're not brave enough to do.
That's the Brad Shepherd we know as the Brad Shepherd we
appreciate. And and and look for all you
humanoids out there. You love to try to paint this,
this false picture. Brad and I disagree about a lot
of things and we have always through the years openly
disagree about things. But the difference between Brad
and I and you is that we are adults.
We are actually emotionally stable enough to be able to
disagree without being disagreeable.
We can, we can disagree on a topic, agree on another topic,
laugh about something else, you know, come together about
providing for our family and and and just being decent human
beings in society and move on. We don't need to sit here and
turn it into some stupid Crips versus Bloods nonsense that a
lot of you weaklings. This is all you know.
You want to gang up and and and try to destroy people because
they actually had the audacity to have a different opinion than
you have. Oh, the horror.
My God. But you know, I I really do
appreciate you, Duke. And you're right.
It it's, it's two adults and you know I'll be honest with you.
You know, I don't. I don't have really many
friends, or any friends that I agree with on just about
everything. How boring would that be?
Surrounded by a circle jerk of, you know, exactly similar
beliefs. That'd be so boring.
You know, I like to culture myself.
I like to have different experiences and backgrounds and,
you know, kind of branch myself out and diversify myself.
So I like to surround myself with people who have different
experiences just as much as people with similar experiences
or more. So I can definitely appreciate
what you bring to the table. And you know, I I have friends
that have opposite views of me, politically and and otherwise.
And that's OK. So you know all the haters out
there, you know who are, who are categorizing me in a certain
way. You know, we may have more in
common than you think. You know, I have a lot of life
experience. I'm easy to talk to.
I'm very relatable. And you know, if you just had a
conversation with me, you may realize that I'm not going to
bite. It's OK.
Brad, if anyone listening right now wants to keep up with you
and and and make sure that they're dialed in so that when
the new content drops they are absolutely there to listen and
and go along for the journey, What's the best way they can do
that? The best way to reach me as on X
at B Shep Unleashed. That's BESHEP Unleashed.
Follow me on X I'll be branching out from there, but that is the
one place right now where you can find all of the information
on Brad Shepherd and Brad Shepherd Unleashed.
You know, Brad, I appreciate you, man.
It's the eighth year anniversary of Duke close Rosslyn and it's
always fun to have you in the mix.
You know since moment one, you you and I have always been
straight up with each other and we've always made magic when we
collaborate, which I appreciate. And this show has grown
partially because of your contributions to it, man.
So I don't take that lightly and I appreciate you for it.
And it's it's interesting because when I reflect back on
the type of individuals that consistently give you a hard
time and who consistently give me a hard time, it's as if they
think they are sunny in The Godfather.
They think that they're these rough and tumble badasses who
can beat people up in the streets and they fly off the
handle and that's cool and it's awesome.
And you know, the kids are giggling and cheering them on
and stuff. They think they're sunny when in
reality they're bumbling, stumbling goofballs who want to
be smart, who want respect because they're smart.
They're Fredo. They absolutely are Fredo.
And I just want to tell you Brad Shepherd from 1 Michael to
another thank you for always being who you are, brother.
And always remember, Tom, this is business and this man is
taking it very, very personal. I.
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That's right. So next time, be kind to
yourselves and be kind to others.
Take it away, Tony Shivani. Mr. Tony Shivani.
And we're definitely out of. Time on Duke Love wrestling.