It's a new era in WWE | WrestleMania 40 | Wrestling Observer Radio 

I was stunned to find out Meltzer is married, can you imagine? " Dave, do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife? " " Ok well here's the thing, its like, I sorta do but ok, I think its like I want to in a sense but ya know I sorta don't, but its like if I did it'd be really great, but also bad, but its like ya know, I could? "

Dave just cutting off Bryan mid flow at the start there so he could talk about his experience was so rude

Dave meltzer complete a sentence challenge: level impossible

Dave rambles like there's about 50 other people in the same room with his voice

Correction to Bryan. It was 10 years ago when Seth hit Roman with the chair.

If Austin's music hit the stadium would've been deafening. As it stands, Taker was one of the loudest stadium pops of all time. This show and match ruled

If you edited Dave’s rambling out, this video would be 2 minutes long

Seth to Cody: Let me be your shield

The fact that Cole said I love pro wrestling should already make you feel like it’s a new era

Dave is right there at the end, I mean we saw early in the week, we saw classic Ricochet, Sami doing El Generico's moveset, along with IYO doing her classic three step moonsault (which she never used, even in NXT).

If you hated this you’re the issue, end of story. Insane fan service. Everyone cooked

Dave genuinely likes Cody. He’s clearly happy for him

I want Vince Russo vs Dave in a "Ya know" off vs "Bro" off

Let’s be honest, Tony Khan couldn’t book that kind of ending if his life depended on it. Triple H deserves a lot of credit but he also surrounds himself with guys like Paul Heyman and others who have had a lot of success in the wrestling business for decades. Tony Khan surrounds himself with yes men dirt sheet writers and middle aged white women who wrote for D level sitcoms.

Can Dave ever say two sentences in a row without getting distracted and heading off on a tangent? He is so difficult to listen to

They got the same exact watch because his sister knew the person at the pawn shop and they kept it because dusty pawned it as his watch to get more from it. The guy paid way more just to have his watch. His sister told Nick Khan the story and they got the watch. Someone on Facebook who went to school with Cody and is friend with the family posted this. It’s pretty dope if this is true

Dave is glitching out

the ending was most reminiscent of Starrcade 97, without the Hogan "botch" when the babyfaces in the company came out; it reminded me of fhe end of that show

Can we take a moment to appreciate how incredible Samantha Irvin was throughout Mania. The emotion when Cody won was all of us!

If I had a nickel every time Dave Says you know...

Take a shot everytime he says "ya know"

Someone cut Dave's mic. Holy fuck.

Bryan said the babyfaces who did run-ins didn't interfere with the match, but Cena gave an AA to Roman.

I'm not a watch guy so someone who is can correct me on this, but I actually think a specific Rolex is one of the easier things to track down in terms of collectibles/heirlooms. I'm pretty sure most Rolex's are sold as a complete package with the paperwork and original bill of sale. It's not easy to find, but I think it's easier than trying to find someone's specific guitar by a serial number or another piece of jewelry.

As someone that has a Rolex, and only the intro one, that company keeps track of that shit. It's far easier to find than a regular watch.

If he says “ya know” one more time

Night 1 was "ok" it was the equivalent of pretty good non big 4 PPV, but night 2 was EXCELLENT! My only real complaint about the entire weekend was as much as I like Sami Zayn. I believe that Chad Gable should have been the one to dethrone Gunther. With all the start stop pushes, the stupid Shorty G gimmick, and his Kurt Angel level ring ability, he's been an underdog since he debuted on the main roster. Throw in his family story he's more deserving than Sami, who's been a multi time champ and headlined a PPV for the Universal title. So, between the two, who's the actual underdog? I'm going with Gable

This was beautiful story telling. Roman choosing to hit Seth because he just couldn't let go of the past & it ultimately being his downfall was pure cinema

Been watching Wrestling probably as long as Dave… ( I was there as a little kid at MSG when we all thought Dusty won the title from Superstar Billy Graham! Those were the days when big super matches with the champion were NEVER on free TV. Here in NYC we had to go pay to see them at the Garden!) But I really think that in terms of story, drama, and real emotion… …this was the very BEST finale to a Wrestling show that I’ve ever seen. Tremendous job by Triple H and WWE.

This is a sterling example of why Dave’s success came from the written word and not the spoken word.

Dave’s been doing wrestling journalism for over 30 years and he still has not improved his public speaking. He’s gotta go to a Toastmasters meeting.

Dave Meltzer is a real life Looney Tune

About the watch, I believe Rolex watches are serialized so if they had access to the info of the watch dusty bought they could maybe track it down

All expensive watches have a unique ID number, with modern technology it wouldn't be that difficult to track down. Really not as mind-blowing as they seem to think it is...

Them finding the exact watch is that crazy if they knew the right pawn shop they'd probably have records

Ya know drinking game! Oh crap…. I died of alcohol poisoning

Dave is a wordsmith

“You know, well, you know what, um, I mean. I mean, uh, um, yeah. I mean, you know it’s, um, yeah. Well, you know….”

It's possible if you paid the pawn shop to tell you who bought it. If that person is a regular customer or at least you have their contact info.

They never said it's the actual watch, they said it's the same watch, not the one that was on Dusty's wrist. They make it pretty clear at least three times in the press conference

Dave Meltzer makes everything about him and completely confuses 😕 the masses about the main topic of discussion.

I totally popped when Bubba Ray Dudley came out

My son was named after Cody Rhodes but he really wasn't. Good to see Dave can't even get that right

I was watching it with my brothers and when they announced it is time for the main event, my friends went , " wait really?!?" It was so good that time just flew by . And I was watching it with my dad for the first time ❤️

I would go even further than Dave. The greatest climax in the history of wrestling.

This was perfect, my only problem is that I missed Austin to come out, where was heeee

Mick Foley talks about fans sending him his ring worn gear all the time because Mick wanted it. Cody getting the same watch isnt that far fetched as Bryan thinks.

Hey WWE, thanks for uploading the last 30 seconds of your main event because i thought i was gonna have to download your PLE and skip to the end.

I mean how the heck do you even find that watch?

Lets not forget the most important part of him shaking Codys hand and saying thank you for sacrificing everything to make this happen. Seth was tony Stark to his Cap

Dave stop interrupting Bryan you fool

Alvarez can't even get through one sentence before Dave has to supercede him.

It’s only predictable if you pay attention to the internet. I bet people would enjoy it much more if they just watched the shows. I know I did when I knew nothing of what went on behind the scenes in the late 80s through the attitude era

Levesque stated in the press conference that, although it originally was Nick Khan's idea, Bruce Prichard did the actual legwork tracking down the watch. I personally interpreted what Paul said as, they got Cody an identical watch, but it wasn't made entirely clear.

They did a masterful job with this show. Each one of the top guys has some type of story with at least three other top guys. They can basically go in any direction that they want to.

I'm so glad to see the comments pretty universally have turned on Dave. I found this dude unlistenable a long time ago. I skip his sections to hear what Alvarez wants to say. Ya know?

U do kno Rolex can be directly tracked by their serial number 🙄🤣

I'm thinking maybe the Rolex had a special engraving on it that can help identify it as Dusty's. Also there are secondary market sellers that specialize in finding rare pieces.

It wasn't necessarily predictable, but they went with the most logical ending to these feuds. They looked at each match, and gave the fans what they wanted to see. They decided to send everyone home happy.

That is the closest Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks get to Mania.

The amount of mainstream coverage of WM has been a surprise and kind of amazing this year. Wrestling is in a boom for sure.

It's really not unfathomable at all that they were able to track down Dusty's watch. Musicians find old, long ago sold guitars on the used market all the time

Nights and moments like last night made me love wrestling again!!

Taker is my fav wrestler so I loved it but Austin giving Rock a Stunner would have made the most sense.

Dave interrupt Bryan is a take a shot moment

I thought the match was pretty much the same as their moments in night 1. The over booking of interference was ridiculous. The ending however was incredible and it was great to see Cody finally get the title. Should have been Austin in the Taker spot though.

Rolex's have serial numbers. Im assuming dusty had it written dowm on a receipt somewhere.

Dave makes exactly the same sound when he talks as a jelly does when it wobbles. Its amazing really

Its soo difficult to listen to dave speak

A new era including The Rock, Cena, and Taker is WILD

The mark era. Inside the ring , outside the ring, announcers, commentators, booker. Under triple h, its just nxt black and gold 3.0 with monster marketing

They have that whole show where they track down all that wrestling items you never know somebody could have had it knowing that that was the watch and held on to it as a wrestling memorabilia collector

Both nights were great, they were a lot of fun.

Wasnt the term „kill“ considered unprofessional up until last week when Punk said he would’ve „killed“ Hangman?

Predictable but exactly what we all wanted. Triple h is doing an amazing job. Wwe might be the best it's ever been. Wm40 was the best ending to any wrestling event

Austin beating Shawn at 14 was the absolute best climax because it set the tone for a new era ushered in and validated Austin finally becoming a legit top guy that he thoroughly deserved.

Did they just spend 30% of time on how did they find the watch? This is great

I would love to hear more of Daves analysis of college wrestling. When Cody was graduating high school around 2003, Penn State was not powerhouse it is now. They were good, sure, but the national title run they've been on didn't start till 2011. In 2003, Iowa, Minnesota, or OK State were the top programs

Rolexes are registered to specific users - there is a chain of ownership. So they could have theoretically found the exact watch Dusty pawned.

Dave is talking out his ass about the watch 😂

It is the exact watch Dusty pawned. Conrad Thompson helped out.

Watch collecting wrestling fan here, all Rolex watches have a unique serial number and are issued a matching set of papers. If I had the serial number and Nick Kahn’s resources there’s a solid chance I could find it.

It could definitely be the same watch, many times the serial number and papers (Idk the official name, but it's like a title) are transferred from owner to owner. There's a lot of records kept in the watch industry, it's like if you find a guy, he probably knows a guy who can find any watch. Anyways, thanks for the story and all your commentating!

Pawn shops keep very detailed records. They have to because of the odds of receiving stolen property. If you know the shop he sold it to it was probably easy to track down with a little charm and $.

Dave , Cody did not say it was the exact same watch.

I swear this was the most coherent and cogent Dave has been in years. "DAMN!!" (as relayed by Mr. Ron Simmons)

Listening to Dave talk is very painful. The man talks I'm endless circles.

How many times does Dave have to say “you know “ and just rambles on

Rolex watches have serial numbers that identify them. That number would have definitely been recorded on the pawn paperwork. It would be incredibly difficult to find the exact watch, but not impossible for a multi billion dollar company, particularly if WWE had access to that paperwork. If the person who bought the watch from the pawn shop still owned it, it would be possible to identify and recover the exact watch. It would practically impossible for any other brand, but not for Rolex.

Austin instead of Taker and it would have been truly one of the GOAT moments. Can you imagine that pop if the glass shattered and we got Rock/Austin

Aren't Rolexes serialized and tracked? Probably wouldn't be impossible to find.

TK was at home furious because this show was so good

Its important to also notice when stephanie came out she talked about the new era with hhh and thanked him ...totally distancing herself from her dad

In with Bryan on the watch situation. Still a very nice gesture.

4:12 No, Dave. Triple H said that Bruce Prichard actually did it. He said it was Khan's idea, but Prichard did the sleuthing to find the watch. 5:15 This is true, but on the American Nightmare documentary they said that Dusty had made millions of dollars during his career. He may not have made as much money as top athletes from other sports, but he also didn't manage his money well. 6:30 That actually wasn't clear. Triple H said in the press conference that Bruce found the same watch, but it was probably just the same model. Bruce has stated on his podcast that he knows a Rolex dealer in Houston. Dixie Carter wanted to give Sting a fake Rolex and Bruce wanted Sting to get a real one so Bruce got a real one at a discounted price.

Vince will not get enough credit but I think Roman going over last year was the correct decision. Sami Zayn was the fans flavor of the month and a lot of people wanted him to beat Reigns the month prior. The fans were not white hot for Cody at last years mania. This year they told a better story and the fans rejection of Roman vs Rock gave us imo the most interesting 2 night mania main events so far and probably ever. We got Cody vs Roman twice once in a tag once in a one on one match.

Amazing mania. Amazing ending to both shows. Whatever Samantha Irvin is getting paid, it isnt enough.

You find the pawn shop in the area dusty lived. Or many shops. You bring up records and tell the pawn shop and give them money to bring up records. And ask the buyer to buy it back !

You could probably easily find it though cus I'm sure whatever pawn shop Dusty sold it to sold it as Dusty's watch and there's records of transactions

Bruce prichard found it but it was Nick Khans idea