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Bill Simmons: We've got a big show coming up, going to talk the Eastern Conference finals, our NBA mock drafts, and some DJ Killa Kyle news. Looks like he's going to be checking into rehab, good for him, but while we're on that topic... Russilo, I know that we're about to get into our Celtics, but did you catch that halftime interview?

Ryen Russillo: Are... Are we really going to talk about this? Because if we're going to talk about this, we're going to need a good five minutes.

Bill Simmons: Well, personally, I was a little surprised to see Summers at the game. You've got Ludacris, Tyreek Hill, and then.... Brantley Summers? When was the last time we had a Brantley Summers talk on the show, Russilo? It must've been years, probably the last time he came up was when he had his WWFG World Title Run deleted? What was that, like 10 years ago? Where has this guy even been? They put the camera on him, and he's talking this girls ear off and... And then the interview..

Ryen Russillo: The interview.

Bill Simmons: What do you make over the interview? With Allie LaForce? My kid tells me that he's actually back in WWFG, I was surprised WWFG is still even open? I thought CWF was what all the young people were into now...

Ryen Russillo: I mean, look, there's a lot that goes into this. To me it was just another publicity stunt. You know how I feel about Brantley Summers. Good tag team worker in his old days. A real workhorse. The Midnight Marauders were a nice one two punch. Yes he's a multiple time champion, but is he someone you can trust in big moments? I think the jury is still out on that, frankly. But at least you know you're working with something, right? And if you look at the tape, which I do, you see that play out. But I dunno, man, he's like a lot of these guys that get big money, that get accustomed to a certain lifestyle, we've seen it over and over again. This guy, like so many others, at a certain point, once you get to that main event level, he sort of just got complacent. And I actually went back to check out some of his recent stuff, see what he's up to..

Bill Simmons: Did... Did you really? You actually turned on your TV and put on WWFG, in 2023? Are we going to have to call KOC and do an intervention for Russillo? Must have been a slow week--

Ryen Russillo: Uhh... Yeah, I'll say. I could only watch for a few minutes before I turned it off, but I did see his match with Fusion and... Man... I just got kind of depressed. It's obvious the guy can still go. It's not like he has a bunch of mileage on him, we all know the Brantley Summers formula, we've all seen it a thousand times. He walks down to the ring, and you can tell from his face that he's not booked to win. Barely hiding it. Struts around. Does his fist drop. Rubs the baby oil. And he puts over the young guy, which is probably what he should be doing at the stage of his career, you know..

Bill Simmons: So what's the issue? It sounds like they're using him how they should've used him once Freakshow came back as a manager, I always thought he was a little overexposed in that 2013-2015 era. And as far as the call to take the strap off him? I kinda liked it. Shakes things up a bit, you know?

Ryen Russillo: My issue, my issue isn't with Summers per say.. Moreso how he's being used. I mean, you look at the roster, and you've really got some great young talent. You've got Bison. You've got Ryback, who I see as the future of the business. And then there's the women's division they've got building up, and it's like, if people actually watched the show they'd be cooking with something. But out of all the people you could pair this guy with, they've got him working with Nick Williams?

Bill Simmons: "The Archangel" Nick Williams?!

Ryen Russillo: Yes Bill, that Nick Williams. Guy comes out, costs him the match. I dunno, maybe they're building to something else, but it looks like it's going to be Summers vs Williams for the time being.

Bill Simmons: So they're trying to build off him vs Freakshow in EEW?? And Summers agreed to that?? Does he not have any creative control?! I dunno, if our younger fans remember this, but back in what was it, 07-08, Freakshow actually had a ton of momentum before he got bogged down in that Nick Williams feud. Then it branched off into that stuff with Elisia and Fox, where he had to pretend to be in a relationship with this girl who... I mean.... Just look back at the tape.. Zero sexual chemistry between the two. You can tell he doesn't want to be there at all. Basically a career low point for the guy, took years to build him back up from that.

Ryen Russillo: Just completely and utterly derailed him for almost a year. You would think, if this guy is your mentor, that maybe he would've passed that on to him? "Hey, you might want to avoid feuding with the guy who completely siphoned all of my heat for like 2 years of my career in my prime?" I just don't get it. Nothing he did with Elisia, Emiko... And I don't want to be harsh here, because I know she's been having her own issues... But nothing Freakshow ever did with that family elevated him in the slightest. By the time it was over, everyone saw him as a complete joke. And how did they blow it off?

Bill Simmons: The Suck-A-Duck Match.

Ryen Russillo: The Suck-A Duck Match. Do I even need to say anything more? I dunno man. I just don't get it. They seem talented, that whole crew, Williams, Elisia, Fox and I don't want to trash talk anyone... But it always devolves into this weird, psychosexual stuff with them and, man, it just feels kind of gross you know? Like they're just using what TV time they have to project these really deep seeded, personal issues. Maybe go see a shrink instead? Again, maybe I'm wrong. We know Summers, we know he can be a gamer. We know he's a master politician. I just would hate to see this end up like it did with his old boss, you know? I mean, at least when the EEW audience got sick of it, they could bounce it around GWWF, GCW, and eventually finish it off in EWA. But now? What happens when Summer's conservative Pakistani fanbase figures out that he's doing this kind of stuff? Can WWFG recover from that? Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe it'll all blow over. Who knows. I've been wrong before. It happens. And things will continue to happen. That's just the way it works.

Bill Simmons: I want to move on from this and get into the other stuff, but you mentioned Pakistan and I just wanted to bring this up: I'm sure some of you have heard what's going on with Khan in Pakistan. It's a fluid, complex issue that's always evolving. But i just wanted to say, that we here at the Ringer Podcast Network stand with the Pakistani people. If you'd like to donate to the PTI. we have a link in the Spotify description. Every cent makes a difference.