Bryan Alvarez: Alright, Dave, before we move onto the next topic just want to touch on something else. So we've been hearing a lot of speculation regarding the radio silence from the Summers camp after he walked out at the Royal Rumble. Do you have any update on that?

Dave Meltzer: Oh yeah, well I mean the deal with that is basically him and Russo were trying to do the classic thing they always do which is play both sides against the middle to sort of leverage a deal out of that from CWF. Which they did, you've got to give them that--

Bryan Alvarez: Right I mean it's the classic MMI playbook, we saw it with the wrestling war in 2011, right? So if they've got the deal, why isn't he booked for CWF at Wrestlemania?

Dave Meltzer: Well see, I mean, yeah, that's one of the issues. In 2011, someone like a Freakshow could leave EWA to work exclusively for WWFG and because of the short sighted nature of how the product as booked at the time you basically have a situation where he was hot shotted into a World Title run that seemed like a good idea in the moment but wound up setting back the company for years--

Bryan Alvarez: And CWF doesn't operate like that?

Dave Meltzer: No, not at all. They plan out their storylines months, if not years in advance. I mean, I hate the speculate, but if Summers thought he was going to be able to burn his WWFG Wrestlemania paycheck and just walk right into CWF for, I mean, admittedly, a much bigger paycheck, well, I just don't think that's what's going to happen. And, I mean, even if they did operate like that? They have so much roster depth, Matt Gennison, Ryback, Samoa Joe... They're already up in the ratings, so why change anything?

Bryan Alvarez: So basically we're in a situation where unless he's willing to shake a few hands and make amends he's going to be watching both the WWFG and CWF Wrestlemania's from the sidelines? That's rough. Can't he at least go to DHW?

Dave Meltzer: I mean, yeah, there's a couple things with that. So the first thing, I don't know if you listened to the podcast that came out with that guy who was on the uh, what do you call it, the team, the creative team, he was a writer for WWFG in 2012ish like right after the walkout? You know, when Summers was doing the whole King of the Indies run and doing stuff in SCW, all that jazz?

Bryan Alvarez: Oh yeah! This was right before he went crawling back to EWA? So what did this guy say? Is there heat with Summers and the Damones? You know, we were doing the Retro show and there was that ladder match they had that got a little stiff--

Dave Meltzer: No, no, this was before that, the match your thinking of was before he got the WWE:E push. But yeah, it was right after the walkout and Summers was holding out for more money from EWA so obviously, in all the press and stuff he would bad talk Chrono... And then you have the infamous picnic thing in 2013 where its obvious he just doesn't want to be there and sort of gets big timed. So, you know it was easy for him to pitch himself as this anti-authority, Zack Ryder type grassroots figure, when the whole time--

Bryan Alvarez: Ohhhhhhhh... This is about the raps, isn't it?

Dave Meltzer: Yeah, while the whole time he's putting out these battle raps and the whole time, at least according to this guy who was running creative, the whole time he's taking orders from Chrono on who to roast on his mixtapes. It was actually a huge controversy. I mean, now we look back and we sort of think of Summers as a guy who reached his peak in EWA but to those guys in the locker room? After his partner had been ousted and all the stuff that went down?

Bryan Alvarez: Tap dancing for the guy that ran his old boss out of the company? Well, I guess you can't say he didn't learn a thing or two from Freakshow over the years.

Dave Meltzer: Right, and I mean obviously he goes back to EWA and they do the whole invasion angle where they act like they want revenge for all this stuff and "kill" the company which obviously gives them a lot of credibility in that outsider role to the casual fans. And you know, Freakshow would always talk about in shoot interviews how he killed EWA yadda yadda yadda. But to the guys in the back? Its an obvious controlled opposition type deal. And that's the thing, to all the people, to all the people who say well if they aren't wanted in DHW then why not just invade it, well they aren't going to invade unless they have a man inside.

Bryan Alvarez: Which they don't have. And that's why people like DHW. I mean, this is a guy who talks a big game about being non-political? DHW is a company where the best wrestlers in the world go in to duke it out and it's easily the #2 company behind CWF.

Dave Meltzer:Well, I mean, yeah, that's the thing. It's not so much that they think BS is going to stooge to Chrono, or Russo or whoever it's more of a difference in philosophy. We've heard it over and over again and we're going to continue hearing it: The Midnight Marauders want preferential treatment and they will go wherever they can get it. Unfortunately, sometimes that means sitting on the sidelines especially as you start to get older.

Bryan Alvarez: Well if he wanted preferential treatment, I'm not sure what more you could want than a battle royal to pick who shakes your hand. It's a tough sport to be in for sure, especially now when you've got a stud like Matt Gennison coming in, I can't imagine WWFG is any rush to go hat and hand to the guy that just stood them up. Can you believe that, Dave? Matt Gennison? in WWFG? For what they pay those guys up there?

Dave Meltzer: Yeah when I heard that news I couldn't believe it, talk about taking a step down. But hey, the guy wants to prove that he's the best in the world and for him that means winning the World Title in the oldest company in the world. All I'll say to that is that, well, you know, on one hand, with age comes stagnation, and with stagnation comes decay. Matt Gennison, he may be ready to compete with the best of him, but will he be able to handle the deep rot at the heart of a floundering WWFG?

Bryan Alvarez: Well Dave, that remains to be seen. A lot of people saw Summers as the source of a lot of those issues, others will say he was just a product of the toxic culture of the time. Personally? I'd like to just move on past it all but unfortunately, I doubt this is the last we're going to hear from The Midnight Marauders.