The Coach and Dr. Tom Prichard are the hosts for today's show. Triple H and Shawn Michaels will be on the show and today's show could be the biggest Byte This!, ever!
Droz
The Coach asked Droz to talk about how big it is to have Summer Slam in New York especially with September 11th coming up? Droz said to have Summer Slam and RAW in New York, it uplifts everybody's spirits when they're out there watching it and are involved in it. It brings a lot of joy to people and it can take their mind off things at a time when they need to sit back, relax and have a good time.
They wrapped it up with Droz and Droz wished Tom a happy belated birthday and he felt like a heel for not saying that last week.
They showed clips from this past Thursday night after Smackdown! went off the air. The Rock brought a kid into the ring and The Rock asked the kid if he likes pie and the fans laughed at that comment and The Rock said that he's talking about apple pie! The kid said that he's never had pie before... The Rock told the kid to stay away from pie because pie will get your ass in trouble every single time! Tazz got up out of his seat and handed his glasses to The Rock and The Rock gave them to the kid.
The fans chanted for the kid and his name is Mitchell and The Rock told everyone to chant his name at the count of three and they did just that. Mitchell took the and did his version of "If you smell..." and the fans clapped for the eight year old kid.
The caller asked why they took away the 24/7 rule? Tom said he thinks that Eric Bischoff is trying to find a new way to make his niche on RAW. If that means getting away with something and taking away something, then that's how it's going to be. He's exercising his power so to speak. The Coach said that Eric is trying to make RAW fresh and new and the Hardcore Title was great at one time when Crash was holding onto it and Eric was trying to fix that. The caller brought up some unpredictability with the 24/7 rule and that was taken away, but they're going to move in a different direction with the Hardcore title.
Caller
Matt asked if the videos of Kane are a sign of him coming back or something? The Coach said, "Ya think?" Matt said he hopes so and he sounded like a rather young caller, so please, forgive the ignorance.
Caller
Josh asked them what they think of Jeff and Matt breaking up? The Coach said for both men, it's a good move. We've seen how successful Jeff Hardy has been in the past couple of months and Matt felt disrespected so he went to Smackdown! to make a name for himself. The Coach said that there has been a Lita sighting and she will be on Velocity this Saturday night doing commentary with Marc Loyd. The Coach put her over as being 'good' and she always looks good!
Triple H
The Coach asked him for his thoughts on facing his former best friend on Sunday and Triple H said Shawn has bitten off more than he can chew. He's been out for four years and he's sat on his couch and done nothing and he has to come back and come to realize that he's no longer the show stopper and the icon. Shawn bit off more than he can chew and that may mean he'll never physically take another step after this match.
The Coach asked Triple H if Shawn can physically match up to Triple H? Triple H said that Shawn Michaels is still Shawn Michaels. At 50%, he is probably better than 90% of the locker room but he's still not the Game and he's going to prove that to him on Sunday and put him back on the shelf where he belongs.
The Coach asked Triple H for his thoughts on X-Pac's departure and Triple H said this is the first thing he's heard of this. If he's not in the WWE, it's for good reason. He's got a lot of things going on in his life so he needs some time off. Once he gets his life back together, he'll be back and he'll make a force. He's one of the best talents in this industry and unfortunately, he needs to move on and do different things and settle his life down and once he gets that back in order, Triple H would place money on X-Pac returning in the future.
Tom asked Triple H about his quad and is he feeling at 100% right now? Triple H said his leg is feeling better than it's felt since the injury. He was in shape to come back and released to come back but there's a big difference in being in rehab doing jumping jacks than being in the ring. It took a while for him to get his legs back underneath him and he's feeling it now that it feels back to being 100%. This extra time off allowed him to get more rehab done on his knee and strengthen his quad even further. His elbow is probably not at 100%, but it doesn't bother him at all in the ring. He doesn't feel it in the ring. It actually bothers him when he's training.
They talked about the schedule on the road and Triple H said that it's no rougher than it's ever been with being on the road so much. Getting to perform in front of 60,000 fans in Australia is a thrill. And then coming back to the states and getting ready for Summer Slam, there's nothing better than that. As far as being tired, he doesn't really worry.
Tom asked Triple H if he's more comfortable as a heel? Triple H said yeah because he's a rotten baby face. When he came back from his injury, he had no choice but to be a face but he was looking for the first opportunity to make the switch as a heel. He feels like he's a lifer on the heel side. That's where he's comfortable and that's his niche. It's not that he hated being a baby face, but turning heel, it felt like someone took a leash off him.
Caller
Rebecca thanked Triple H for entertaining her and Triple H said that she's a fan of the Coach... Rebecca asked what the expectations are out of Shawn? Triple H expects nothing short of the Heartbreak Kid that everyone remembers. Like he said before, Shawn at 50% is probably better than 90% of the people that will ever step in that ring.
The Coach brought up Brock Lesnar's main event match and Triple H said there's going to be a lot of pressure on him. He's got a lot of momentum behind him but that's a double edged sword. As much as that's a great thing, that can be a horrible thing. Triple H has to lean towards Rock as far as expectations of being a pros pro. It's going to be a tough one for Brock. Rock learned from wrestling the best which was Triple H so Brock has his work cut out for him.
They shifted gears to Kurt vs. Rey Mysterio and Triple H put Rey over as the best Cruiserweight in the world. If Kurt thinks he's going to go in there and Olympic Shuffle all over Rey, he's got another thing coming. Rey has proven time and time again that he can hang with the big guns.
The Coach asked Triple H for his final thoughts on Summer Slam, but the entire week in New York in the upcoming days. Triple H said the WWE always over exceeds your expectations and this is going to be one of the greatest PPV cards in years. There hasn't been a more anticipated card all around. He can go from top to bottom and there's not a match that he's not looking forward to. As much as he's looking forward to compete in it, he's looking forward to watching it.
They wrapped it up with Triple H and Triple H told The Coach to wear some long pants to the pay per view. The Coach laughed and said that he's going to start getting on the leg machines because he can't take this teasing any longer.
Shawn Michaels
The Coach asked Shawn how excited he is? Shawn said he's very excited. He's getting more excited. He came up here this week to Stamford to have time to be alone and focus and get some physical therapy done. They got in the ring once yesterday and probably did 30-45 minutes of 10-15 different things. Four years is a long time and in one day you aren't going to work off four years and you can't do that in two weeks. It's something that's just going to have to be there. He doesn't have the luxury of having the time to prepare for it and instead of being intimidated by it now, he's very excited and positive. It's going to be a blast. No matter what happens, it's going to be fun.
Shawn prayed a lot about this. The lord and the people are going to be the ones that are going to make the difference in this for him. What he did last Monday was the most he did in the ring in four years and he didn't feel a thing. He felt great and it was because of that electricity that he was feeding off from the people.
Tom asked Shawn how his wife and his son feel about him coming back? Shawn said she's good. All the times it was brought up, she wasn't comfortable with it. This time, it came from a deep spiritual place and when he told her about it, she had peace with it and was comfortable with it. Of course, his son doesn't watch wrestling and he won't watch this match because it's not something he needs to see. Maybe someday when he gets older. His family will be behind him and they will be at the building and they're all very excited and that's what made this already a wonderful success for him because the last time his parents were there was the last Wrestlemania and he was hurt. There was a lot of animosity at that time and it was 180 degrees different. There's so much joy and peace going through this one.
Tom asked Shawn if he comes out of this match feeling okay, does he see more matches down the road? Shawn said he doesn't know. He honestly thinks that this is his last singles match. It's real hard to say. If everything goes well and he comes out of this healthy, he thinks that they can maybe talk about a tag team match or something to that effect. It's not something he can put his body through on a fairly regular basis. His choice right now is not to put his body through that on a regular basis.
The Coach brought up Wrestlemania 18 with The Rock and Hulk Hogan and there was a big buzz and that same buzz is there for Summer Slam because they don't know what to expect from Shawn Michaels at Summer Slam. Shawn said it's very gratifying to be out of it for four years and then to come back and be a major part of a pay per view. It's also great to be put in the same class of Rock and Hogan, but the only difference is that The Rock and Hogan had an idea of what was going to happen, but Shawn and Hunter have no clue what's going to happen at Summer Slam.
Tom asked Shawn if he's nervous and Shawn said that he is. He was always pretty confident in his matches, but he's nervous for this match. That is one of his concerns also. He's in good shape but nerves can blow you up to nothing flat. His biggest concern is that beginning so he would like to get to the ring first and have the time to get a feel.
Caller
With Shawn's style the way it used to be with him taking so many bumps and he did a good job in selling other people's moves, he probably doesn't know what he's in store for, but how is his style going to have to change? Is Triple H going to have to sell a lot more moves for Shawn to change his style up? Shawn said that what's going to take care of that is the fact that it's a street fight. There lies the difference. For Shawn to show his style was in a classic type of wrestling match and he doesn't know if he can do that anymore. Putting this in a context of a street fight where you do sell things a little more works more. The faster pace is what concerns him. He's not sure if he can adjust to this so this match being a street fight works more for what he's capable of doing now. We'll see if he's slower or if he can't jump as high. Shawn pointed out that besides the injuries he's been through, he's older now.
Shawn said that as of a week ago, the expectations were pretty low, but after Monday night, the expectations were jacked up to a new level. You can either be intimidated by that or be flattered by it and turn it into a confidence builder and take that into the match.
Caller
Thoughts on rising Superstars like Brock Lesnar and John Cena? Shawn said that he doesn't know a lot of the guys that well. Brock was on RAW and he's talented, big and strong and he has a very bright future in this company. Shawn has always been a fan of Edge and Christian and RVD. There's certain aspects of the business that constantly changes so you constantly have to learn and adapt to the changes. There are things that all of those guys need to learn to move up to that next level but their ability certainly isn't one of those things.
Tom brought up the MSG curtain call and they had a plan to take over the business and they were the top dogs everywhere! When he walks into the locker room, does he feel responsibility as a role model or a leader? Shawn said he thinks it's important that when they say take over the business, they've said from a joking standpoint. It's something you joke about but it's something they could have done, so why not try it? As far as coming into the locker room, he tries to live his entire life as an example but he doesn't know if he's comfortable with the term role model since he doesn't know what that is. Shawn doesn't present things to guys unless they ask or unless he feels compelled to say something. On this last TV, he saw Test out there and he thought to himself that Test has really gotten good. Shawn hasn't watched in years so he can only compare to years ago. Shawn told Test that he really gotten good and he meant it as a compliment.
The Coach asked Shawn if it's difficult for him to leave to travel with WWE? Shawn said this has been a full week for him. Last week, they went to the beach and it was the first time for his son to be on a plane. Shawn can still remember what it was like to travel weeks on end and he knows he couldn't do anything like that. His son is old enough now where they can talk on the phone and he knows his dad is going to work and he's coming home. Shawn has been home everyday for the past 2 and a half years and they built something that will never be able to be broken. The most special thing is that he's built a bond with his son that will never change.
Tom brought up X-Pac's release and Scott Hall's departure months ago. Shawn said it's unfortunate for a lot of different reasons but they all make choices and you have to live by those choices or you change. Hall and X-Pac have chosen their road but they're all still friends. As everybody knows, the door is always open when you have a relationship with this company and have ability and Shawn's hope and prayer is that they can get things straight and come back here and go to work.
Last question, how would Shawn like the fans to remember him? Shawn said that as a guy that went out there and performed at the best level he could, but as a guy who also gave us more of himself than a lot of the other guys did. The personal side of him, a lot of times it's boring and they don't want to hear it but it's who he is. The people that have been with this company in the office and the boys have seen him grow from a boy to a man. He's been here since he was 22 and he came in as a boy and has turned into a man. Everyone in this company has grown with each other and he'd like them to remember him as part of the family and one of the guys who did everything to improve himself, his ability and his profession.
They wrapped it up with Shawn Michaels and then they showed clips of The Rock training for Summer Slam for his one on one match against Brock Lesnar with the Undisputed Title on the line!
The Coach - He thinks The Rock will leave Summer Slam as the Undisputed Champion. The Rock is always at the top of his game and always in great shape but there's something to be said for the New York Yankees of Baseball. When you've been there before, you know what you're doing. The Rock knows what it takes to perform in a big time atmosphere and because of the intangibles, The Rock will leave as the Champion.
Tom Prichard - He's a big fan of The Rock and The Rock is every bit the Superstar that he claims and everyone claims him to be, but he has a problem on Sunday with the Next Big Thing and Paul Heyman. Paul Heyman has managed Champions before, but he is a genius when the big show is on the line. Brock is coming to the ring labeled the next big thing and if he doesn't walk out as the WWE Champion, that's going to crush all hopes of any success he has here, so Tom predicts that Brock Lesnar will become not only the new WWE Champion, but he will be the only big thing in WWE.
They wrapped up the show and plugged this Sunday night's pay per view of Summer Slam. The show ended with a clip from the 1996 Summer Slam when Shawn Michaels defended the title against Vader!