2026 Royal Rumble Analysis and Predictions

January 30, 2026 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

WrestleMania season starts this weekend with the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. The WWE has taken Saudi blood money for years, hosting multiple events in the country since the late 2010’s. But this is the first time the WWE has hosted a tentpole event in the petro-state dictatorship. I guess they’re getting us ready for when they host WrestleMania 43 there next year.

For what it is worth, I attended Raw at Barclay’s Center earlier this month, and the crowd booed every commercial for Riyadh Season. That’s not going to get us much. WWE’s holding company, TKO, is firmly in bed with the brutal dictatorship that is attempting to sports wash its well-deserved horrible reputation.

Anyway, this WrestleMania season feels a bit cold. The last two years featured long-running stories including The Rock, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, Seth Rollins, and John Cena. This year, there doesn’t seem to be much of an obvious direction for things to head in. The John Cena retirement tour is over, Seth Rollins is injured (and filling his time doing play-by-play for skyscraper climbers in Asia), and Roman Reigns has been aimless since he lost the championship two years ago. On top of that, the same Cody Crybabies that willed him to win a championship at WrestleMania XL just two years ago have turned on him because he’s done nothing but be himself this whole time.

CM Punk and Drew McIntyre are doing a serviceable job as champions of their respective brands, but their championship reigns both started off rather quietly. Punk won his on Saturday Night’s Main Event because Rollins was injured and had to forfeit the title, and Drew won his on an episode of Smackdown. There was no big premium live event pay off for either.

Given all that, it’s anybody’s guess who is going to get hot and get a push for one of the two coveted main event slots at WrestleMania 42. In fact, it’s anybody’s guess who will even be holding the two championships that weekend. This makes the Royal Rumble extremely pivotal this year, the WWE must give us something to be surprised and excited about now. I’ll take a stab at predicting what will happen.

Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sami Zayn in a Singles match for the Undisputed WWE Championship

This is a curious matchup that came out of nowhere when Sammy won his way into the number one contender spot on Raw. It seems highly unlikely that Sammy is going to carry the title to WrestleMania. This is likely a match to get some heat on Drew for his nascent championship run.

Prediction: Winner and still champion: Drew McIntyre

AJ Styles vs. Gunther in a Career Threatening match, if Styles loses, he will be forced to retire from in-ring competition

All the complainers about John Cena’s career-ending loss to Gunther are missing the point. That match wasn’t about John Cena; it was about John Cena paying it forward to the next guy. Gunther is red hot right now, the fans despise him and he gloats about it to them. He can claim that he forced the retirement of both Goldberg and Cena in one year, and that is the perfect setup for this match.

AJ Styles had a reasonably good decade-long run with the WWE. He certainly won’t be revered at the level that Goldberg and Cena are, but the fans have respect for him and will be sad to see him go when Gunther does it again and ends the career of a third WWE legend.

Prediction: Winner, Gunther

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

As usual, the women’s division is a directionless mess with only a small handful of talents that can carry a match. Check out season two of WWE Unreal on Netflix for more details on how bad the in-ring ability some of them have. They blow spots so badly that they either embarrass themselves or badly injure their opponents.

There won’t be a women’s match in either WrestleMania main event this year, the best they can hope for is an opening match slot.

As an added bonus, the women on this card will be subject to Saudi decency standards and will have to dress modestly. It just adds insult to injury.

Prediction: Lots of awkward and blown spots with an uninspiring winner at the end.

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

The only intriguing match on this card is the Men’s Royal Rumble. As of this writing, only 22 entrants have been announced. Two of them, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were added rather clumsily just this week with no storyline build at all.

The elephant in the room is that fans expect 55-year-old Chris Jericho to return to the WWE as a surprise entrant in the rumble. It is mind-boggling to me that fans are clamoring for his return. He was never as good as he says he is in his prime. From what little I know about AEW is that his career fizzled out there as fans would chant “Please retire!” during his matches. Why these same fans want him to return to WWE is beyond me. Even if he does return, there is zero chance he wins and goes on to headline WrestleMania, there are too many better positioned full-time talents on the roster ahead of him.

There is some intrigue around the main-event level characters in this match. Gunther is working double-duty, Jey Uso is a former winner, and Cody Rhodes is looking to tie Stone Cold Steve Austin’s record of three lifetime Royal Rumble wins. All members of The Vision are in the match and stated their intent to ensure a Bron Breakker victory. But is this alliance tenuous in an every-man-for-himself match?

Realistically, there are only a small number of wrestlers who make sense to win the match this Saturday. I’ll group them by category:

No Chance in Hell:

Dragon Lee
Jacob Fatu
Austin Theory
Je’Von Evans
Oba Femi
Rey Mysterio
Trick Williams
The Miz
Ilja Dragunov
Matt Cardona

Darkhorse Possibility:

Penta
Solo Sikoa
Randy Orton
Jey Uso
Bronson Reed
Damian Priest

Most Likely to Win:

Cody Rhodes
Gunther
Roman Reigns
Bron Breakker
Logan Paul
Brock Lesnar

I’ll be happy if it isn’t Jericho. I’ll be even happier if he doesn’t return at all.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, John Cena, Logan Paul, Roman Reigns, Royal Rumble, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, The Vision, WWE

I’m Never Too Far Gone to Save

January 24, 2026 by njnonconformist 1 Comment

A diary of my trip to Colorado to see Metallica on the M72 World Tour in June-July 2025.

I was down to my last planned stop on the M72 World Tour. After three years of following Metallica, Denver was the last city I picked to visit to see them. I had never been to Colorado before, and it seemed like an obvious choice.

I originally planned to buy a Lux Æterna Platform for the shows with seven other people. The platforms are elevated and close to the stage and are the ultimate Metallica luxury experience. Despite my Metallica Legacy Fan Club membership, I was unable to get one because they sold out instantly. That was a huge letdown, but I wanted to buy tickets and go anyway.

I asked Susan to join me and she agreed. She had a second home in Denver for a spell and had a lot of friends in the area so I knew she would be a great trip planner and tour guide. Chris said he’d still like to go with his wife Nicole because it was her birthday weekend. So, I grabbed tickets for four seats (Gasp, no Snake Pit or general admission!) and we planned flights and accommodations.

My expectations for the trip were to take in the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains and to watch The Greatest Band of All Time put on two killer shows. I wanted to rent a Harley and spend two days on the road riding through the mountains.

Our plan was to fly out on the Monday before the first show on Friday and rent a bike for two days that week. But the weather forecast looked terrible for the entire region on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, we changed our flights and hotel reservation and took off on Wednesday instead and scheduled our return for the following Wednesday. We would ride on the following Monday and Tuesday when the forecast looked more promising. At least, that’s what we thought.

Wednesday June 25, 2025

Susan and I left early for our uneventful flight from Newark to Denver. The car rental process became a bit of a saga, and we had a bit of a drive to our first destination, Colorado Springs. I was tired of traveling by the time we got there and wanted to take it easy.

Susan booked a room at a quaint motel called Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort. It was a century old and was festooned with bicycles throughout the property. Had we had more time there, we could have borrowed one of their complementary bikes and rode around town.

We grabbed a locally brewed beer at the bar, something I would go on to find there is a lot of in Colorado. I was about halfway into finishing my IPA when I began to feel the effects. That was my first indication that not being at sea-level would make things different for me.

The motel receptionist gave us a recommendation for a restaurant called Swirl in neighboring Manitou Springs. She said she made her boyfriend take her there when she was in the mood for something fancy. That gave me a good laugh. We grabbed an Uber and rode into town.

Manitou Springs is a tourist trap with century-old charm. The mountain views were stunning. The stunning mountain views would go on to be a common refrain for the rest of the trip.

We ate dinner at Swirl Restaurant and Wine Bar, then visited Manitou Brewing Company. A mild shower passed by, and it made a rainbow in front of the mountains.

The town shut down early, so we went back to the motel for one more round. A local band was finishing up their set, and we had a friendly conversation with one of the other visitors. It was a good, relaxing start to the trip.

Thursday June 26, 2025

Susan picked Colorado Springs as our first destination because she wanted us to visit Garden of the Gods, a rock formation in front of Pike’s Peak Mountain. It was only a few miles from our motel. We wanted breakfast so I quickly searched for a restaurant with a view, and we drove to The Garden of The Gods Resort.

We found our view at the restaurant there. It looked so fancy that Susan was initially concerned we were not dressed well enough to get in. That was not the case, and they sat us on the deck facing the rocks and the mountains.

The panoramic view from our table was stunning. A mule deer wandered up the hill and munched on the perfectly landscaped flowers while I ate my breakfast burrito. After breakfast, we wandered the resort grounds to see the views and take a few pictures.

Panoramic view from The Garden of The Gods Resort

We didn’t wear our Sunday best, but they let us eat there anyway. I mean, I thought we looked pretty good.

Following that, we drove to The Garden of The Gods Welcome Center. The welcome center has a small museum with artifacts and information about the local rock formations. There was even display about the various types of animal poop one might encounter in the area.

Everything you wanted to know about the local poop

We were early for our e-bike tour reservation, so we walked along a short hiking trail to see parts of the rocks. The views were pretty wild and the weather was perfect.

We went back to the welcome center to check in for the e-bike tour. The guide showed us how to ride an e-bike. I’m an avid motorcyclist and Susan is a competitive bicycle racer, but neither of us had ever operated an e-bike so it took a few minutes for us to settle in.

But once we did, the ride was a lot of fun. It was just the two of us on the tour, so we had our guide’s full attention. He took us all around the rock formations so we could see them from every angle. We made a few stops to walk around and see them up close. They all had names and stories behind them. Most of that was lost on me, I just thought it looked cool.

I thought I’d get a leg workout in by lifting this rock

This rock had some fancy name which did not stick with me at all

Colorado Springs turned out to be a cool place to visit. The sightseeing was spectacular and the food was enjoyable. We wrapped up and drove back to Denver and checked into our hotel on Little Raven Street near the South Plate River.

We went for a walk around the neighborhood and found a restaurant named Linger for dinner. Apparently, it was once a mortuary before being converted into a restaurant. Sweet!

I learned that night that Denver is not a late-night town. Everything was closing or closed by the time we finished dinner. We walked around a bit, found a place for a nightcap, and called it a night.

Friday June 27, 2025

Unfortunately, both of us had to wake up and work remotely on Friday. But it was going to be a good day anyway, we were going to see Metallica!

Unlike most of the stadiums we’ve visited on this tour, Empower Field at Mile High Stadium is in the middle of the city and surrounded by eateries and bars. We settled on Briar Common Brewery + Eatery as a meeting place and found Chris and Nicole there for a pre-show happy hour and dinner.

I met a guy named Joe who was there by himself to see the show. He had also followed Metallica around and had seen them numerous times. We finished up and walked two blocks to the stadium in time to get our complimentary Metallica Yeti bottles and get to our seats in time for Limp Bizkit to take the stage.

Limp Bizkit was one of my favorite bands in the early 2000’s. They were somewhat brutish and banal, but their music really moved me, and singing along was fun. I got to see them from the Snakepit in Philadelphia earlier in the year and because of the rain that night, DJ Lethal could not complete the set after his equipment fried.

This time around, the weather was perfect and they played a high intensity set. Wes Borland donned an outfit and wig that imitated James Hetfield’s look from the early 1980’s.

I wasn’t used to sitting in seats on this tour and we had a great view of the crowd which participated fully throughout the set. I got the impression that the band really enjoyed playing to a willing crowd of that size.

Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit doing his best retro James Hetfield imitation

I guess the one advantage to having seats was that we could sit down in between sets. After what seemed like forever, the lights dimmed and “Long Way to The Top” blared from the speakers in the center of the stadium. It was time.

Metallica took the stage and tore into “Creeping Death”. Amidst my excitement, I noticed that the audio was much different from the stands than it was earlier on the tour when I was standing in general admission. The mix was much cleaner, and I could distinctly hear all four instruments. The view of the stage was cool, too. I could easily see all four band members at any time which is impossible from general admission or the Snakepit. Maybe this perspective would not be so bad.

I wasn’t able to get my up-close photos this time around, but the view was pretty good anyway

James Hetfield in the guitar playing and singing zone!

Having seen them so many times on this tour, the set was familiar at this point. That did not make it any less exciting. The audience hung on every note, singing along and pumping their fists in the air. Even from the stands I felt connected to the audience and the band.

Metallica played “Holier Than Thou” in the third slot which brought me back to the first M72 show we saw in Paris two years prior when they also played it. I love that they stuck with this song for so long on the tour, it is an unheralded “Black Album” classic.

“If Darkness Had a Son” stood out to me as well, the Hetfield-lead “Temptation!” chant brought the energy in the stadium to a fever pitch. Watching the band play “Orion” near the drumkit was a near-religious experience. The pyro during the intro to “Fuel” was stunning and brought a huge cheer from the crowd.

Gimmie fuel!

They brought it home with “Seek and Destroy” (featuring exactly 72 beach balls being dropped from the lighting towers into the crowd) and “Master of Puppets”. We were drained and so was the crowd.

We walked along the river and made our way back to Little Raven Street. It was among the easiest commutes back to our hotel after a concert on the whole tour.

Saturday June 28, 2025

Saturday was earmarked as “Tourist in Denver Day” so we got up and headed into town. I had to run an errand. I forgot to pack a pair of jeans for the planned motorcycle ride on Monday so we took an Uber to the Cherry Creek mall so I could buy a pair.

The mall is directly across the street from Urban Egg, so we went there for brunch. I ordered the breakfast burrito, and it was slamming good!

Something I enjoyed about Denver was the shared e-scooters scattered throughout the city. I once lived in Hoboken, NJ and they had Lime e-scooters for a few months. The local Karens complained that they felt unsafe because of them, so the city declined to bring them back after the first season. Not Denver, they embrace personal travel devices, and they were plentiful across the city. They are so much more convenient and fun than using Uber to get around.

After breakfast we took Lime Scooters along the Cherry Creek Trail to get back to the hotel. The trail is below street level and serves as a straight shot to get through the city with several points of entry. Riding up and down that trail turned out to be one of the most fun things we did in Denver.

Earlier in the trip, I noticed an amusement park near the river called Elitch Gardens. I suggested we head over for the afternoon. It was neat to find something like that in the middle of the day, we walked through and hit a few of the roller coasters.

After making it through most of the afternoon there, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We planned to meet Chris and Nicole for dinner and drinks. We started off with a happy hour at a rooftop bar with nice views of the city called Sorry Gorgeous. It was one of the better views we had of the city while we were on the trip, we could see skyscrapers with the Rocky Mountains off in the distance.

We met Chris and Nicole for dinner at Fish N Beer. I ordered fish and beer. We had a fun time with Chris and Nicole. Chris has an interesting career arc, and he is full of stories about it. He certainly is a fascinating guy to have dinner with.

Following dinner, we went to TRVE Brewing Company which is a heavy metal-themed bar. The décor was interesting, but the music was boring and the bar was dead. It wasn’t a very good showing for a heavy metal bar considering the greatest heavy metal band of all time was there to play two concerts that weekend.

TRVE bar. At least it looks cool. The beer and the music sucked.

We spent some time at TRVE and Chris and Nicole called it a night. Susan and I found a nearby bar named Hi-Dive. A band was playing when we got there but wrapped their set shortly thereafter, and the crowd cleared out. It became apparent to me that nightlife in Denver really isn’t a thing. Without much else to do, we called it a night.

Sunday June 29, 2025

Today was going to be a big day, we were going to see Metallica one last time on the US leg of the M72 World Tour! We started the day with brunch at Syrup Cap Hill. I was impressed with brunch for the second day in a row.

After we ate, we went to Downtown Aquarium Denver. This was the most exotic aquarium we saw on our M72 travels. They had two piebald chuckwallas, and two critically endangered Sumatran Tigers. I liked the tigers; they reminded me of my cats Ozzy and Lemmy.

This was the 9^th city that I had seen on the M72 World Tour, but I had yet to get one of the t-shirts made specifically for one of the shows. Either the lines were too long, or they were sold out before I could get one every time I tried. But Chris got on the line at the merchandise stand before the show on Friday and got me one. I had time after the aquarium, so I returned the favor by getting on the merchandise stand line and buying us the corresponding Sunday shirts.

Susan organized a get-together with some local friends at the Patio at Sloan’s before the show. We met Chris and Nicole there for something to eat. Having time for a civilized dinner was a rare luxury on the M72 World Tour. For the most part we had general admission tickets, so we had to get there early to secure a good spot near the stage. Since we had seats for Denver, there was no rush to get there.

We arrived in time to see most of Pantera’s set. I was happy, but Susan declared that she had seen enough of Pantera on the tour. I don’t get what her problem was.

The Sunday Night Crew, bearing a close resemblance to the Friday Night Crew

After Pantera finished, we had one last one hour wait for our final Metallica set on the M72 World tour. I really felt the gravity of the situation, having followed the tour for three years across four countries. As bittersweet as the moment was, my head was ready to explode when the lights went off.

Predictably, Metallica opened the set with Whiplash, and the crowd went wild. I don’t recall any other tour where Whiplash was the opener, but it was the perfect choice for the M72 layout. It immediately whipped the crowd into a frenzy and set the energy level to high.

Watching these last two shows from the stands turned out to be better than I thought it would. I wasn’t close enough to have James sweat on me or catch any picks at the end of the show, but the layout of the stage in the center of the field and the crowd activity made it feel like an intimate affair anyway.

The sound quality is also a lot better from the outside of the speakers, rather than on the inside, which is how you listen when you are close to the stage. We could see every inch of the stage, see all four band members clearly, and hear every note perfectly throughout the entire show.

Not only is he the coolest guy in the room, but he’s got the coolest guitar in the band!

From our great vantage point, we spent the rest of the show letting Metallica batter our senses as they tore through the set. The highlights for me were in the middle of the show with powerful renditions of some of my favorites, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Wherever I May Roam, and The Call of Ktulu.

Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo having fun with their daily “doodle”

Metallica filling a stadium with their sound and lights

Following the grand finale of Enter Sandman, the band gave thanks to the crew for their work on the US leg of the M72 World Tour. It was hard to believe that after three years, it would be my last Metallica concert on home soil on this tour.

Monday June 30, 2025

Now that the Metallica part of the vacation was over, it was time to move on to our second priority for the trip: ride a Harley through the Rocky Mountains. I booked a full-bagger rental at Easy Rider in Denver.

The plan was to ride to Breckenridge for the day, and to return the next day, forming a scenic route in both directions. I asked for advice in a Facebook motorcycle group and picked out the best ideas I could find for the route. Easy Rider would let us stash our suitcases and remaining luggage there while we rode so we just packed the essentials for the two days.

We arrived at Eagle Rider as soon as they opened. The receptionist checked me in and insisted I get the walk away insurance for the bike. I thought it was a bit of an upsell, but I also assumed that they would come after me for thousands of dollars if I somehow chipped the paint so went ahead with it.

We rented a Harley in Paris and in Sedona on earlier stops on the M72 World Tour, but this was the biggest bike of the three. It had two hard saddlebags and a top case for storage. It was much bigger and heavier than the Fat Boy that I own.

We loaded the bike up and Susan got on back. I fired it up and struggled to engage first gear with the clutch. The friction zone was in a different place than mine and I had a hard time finding it. It took me a few tries, but I managed to pull away from the curb and head towards the highway. I felt uneasy on the bike; it was much bigger and bulkier than anything I had been on before, but once I was moving it was fine.

We left the city on and headed west on CO-74. The views as we headed towards the mountains were already stunning. Susan suggested we stop at Red Rocks Amphitheater which was along the route.

There was no event at the time, but the amphitheater was open to the public. It was a long walk uphill and then upstairs to get all the way up there, but it was a very cool view from the top.

We got back on the bike and headed west towards a small town named Georgetown at the northern terminus of Guanella Pass Road. On a map, this looked like an awesome road with hundreds of turns and twists traversing a big mountain.

I felt like the motorcycle trip really started when we hit Guanella pass road. Lots of ups and downs and vistas as far as the eye can see. I had to focus on keeping the bike under control on the hairpin turns while trying to take everything in. We passed a herd of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep that were hanging out on the road.

We stopped at a scenic rest area at the top of the mountain. Susan pointed out that the mountain range we were looking at had no trees above a certain point indicating that the elevation was at about 11,500 feet.

Susan the top of the Guanella pass, we were just at the tree line

We got back on the bike to continue south down Guanella Pass Road. I approached the exit of the parking lot and came to a stop to look for cross traffic. Before I knew what happened, I felt the bike going down and dumped it.

The bike was nearly at a standstill when it came down, and we both hit the asphalt. Before I could even move, I checked with Susan to ask if she was OK and she said yes. The bike hadn’t landed on either of us, and we didn’t fall hard enough to get hurt.

I was shocked. I could only recall one time I dropped a bike that was moving and it was in my first year as a bike owner in 1999 in a gas station parking lot. I have over 130,000 miles of riding experience since then, so I felt like I knew what I was doing. I even hit a deer while travelling 55 miles per hour in upstate New York with Susan on back and the bike didn’t go down.

While I was still gathering my thoughts, the 800 lb. bike was laying on the ground and leaking brake fluid from the front brake reservoir. The bike’s tilt mechanism cut the engine off. I started to lift the bike, and Susan grabbed it from the back and helped me get it upright. I didn’t even stop to think that was the wrong way to do it, but what we did worked.

I surveyed the damage. The right saddlebag was scratched and the tip of the front brake lever snapped off. Between us not getting injured and me buying the walk away insurance earlier in the day, my biggest problem was a severely dented ego.

I shut the bike on and off to reset the tilt cutoff and tried to get the bike going. For some reason, it wouldn’t get up to speed, I couldn’t get it above about 10 mph. I didn’t know it until later, but that was expected behavior. The bike automatically entered a temporary “limp” mode so the system could stabilize before returning to normal operation.

I was unaware of that feature and thought the bike was broken. I rode it around the parking lot a few times to no avail. I tried to call roadside assistance, but because I was on the top of a mountain, there was no signal. Without much choice, I kept circling the parking lot until the bike came back to life. Susan hopped back on and we continued south to the bottom of the mountain pass.

I suppose I was a little bit rattled, but a bike that’s moving can’t just fall over so I was fine as we kept going. The mountain was just as beautiful on the way down as it was on the way up. We got to US 285 and headed west towards CO-9 which would take us north to Breckenridge for the evening.

I noticed a sudden drop in temperature and the thermometer on the console read 50⁰F. The sky turned gray and it started to rain. I’ve ridden through the rain hundreds of times. It is unpleasant, but it is nothing I can’t handle. Then it started to hail.

It felt like I was in the middle of a science fiction movie. I couldn’t see anything, I was freezing, and I was getting pelted in the face with hail. I badly wanted somewhere to pull over, but we were in the middle of nowhere. There was no shoulder, no cross streets, no exits, no gas stations, nowhere to safely go. Susan insisted that I stop, and with no other choice, I parked on the fog line and hoped we didn’t get flattened by a truck that didn’t see us on the road. The drop at the top of the mountain suddenly didn’t seem like much of a problem anymore.

Eventually the hail let up so we were able to start moving again. We were freezing and soaked to the bone. I found a gas station with a cafeteria, and we went inside to get out of the rain. They had the air conditioning running and it made us feel even colder. We stayed there until the rain slowed to a drizzle and we powered through to Breckenridge. I had never been so happy to park the motorcycle and call it a day!

We checked into a hotel called Gravity Haus and changed out of our wet clothes, much to our relief. I noticed my nose had some light bruising from being smacked in the face with hail at 50mph. I sat down to catch my breath and dry out.

I suppose we have an expectation that every minute of our vacations should be as perfect as we planned and nothing ever should go wrong. I consider myself to be a very experienced and confident rider. Given all that I was having a hard time shaking the notion that I struggled with the bike, and I had to get it back to Denver the next day.

I texted a few friends that ride motorcycles to confess what happened. I reached out to Andrew who was part of what inspired me to ride in the first place and told him about the struggles with the clutch and the drop. He thought the whole experience sounded cool anyway. I sent a similar text to Ralph, who is the most experienced rider I know. He also thought it sounded like a great experience, and he apparently resisted the urge to make fun of me.

I had to let it go. If this was the worst thing that happened to me in three years of following the M72 World Tour, I’d take it. I’d figure out the clutch and make it back to Denver and have an awesome time doing so.

We headed out and walked around Breckenridge. It sits in a beautiful location among the mountains. As such, the real estate listings reminded us that we were interlopers in their exclusive neighborhood.

We stopped at the Breckenridge Distillery Tasting Room for a whisky flight. We followed that up with dinner at Radicato Breckenridge Italian which exceeded my expectations. It felt surreal that just a few hours prior, we were stranded on the side of a highway being pelted with hail. It was a calming way to end the day, and I slept like a brick when we got back to the hotel.

Monday July 1, 2025

I woke up determined to make the most out of the day on the road. We grabbed a quick breakfast in town and got back on the bike. I planned a simple route, CO-9 north to US-40 east to I-70 east back to Denver. It would take us around a large mountain range and point us back towards the city.

This turned out to be one of the most breathtaking motorcycle trips I have ever been on. I was left alone with my thoughts, concentrating on maneuvering hairpin turns and steep grades while admiring the stunning scenery. I got the hang of the clutch and didn’t have any problems throughout the day. I was fully connected to the road and felt good the whole time.

There were moments when I instinctively wanted to grab my phone and take pictures of where we were. But there was no need to stop and record what I was seeing, it meant a lot more to be present in the moment.

We stopped for a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Winter Park before we got back on the Interstate towards Eagle Rider to drop the bike off. The traffic got rough when we got closer to the city which really tested my newfound ability to work the clutch. I could tell that Susan was happy to be done with the bike after all that had happened.

It was time to show the bike to the receptionist at Eagle Rider. It was the same woman who sold me the walk away insurance. I didn’t mention the drop and was waiting for her to say something before I would shrug my shoulders and say, “I’m insured”.

For reasons I can’t explain, she looked right at the damage and didn’t say anything about it at all. She asked me to sign off without a word. Either she noticed it and knew it was covered so there was no need to discuss it, or she was dumb. It was no matter to me, we grabbed our stuff, hailed an Uber, and got out of there!

We had a simple dinner where we were staying at Hotel Indigo which was near Coors Field. And because “when in Rome,” we grabbed a pre-roll at The Green Solution Recreational Marijuana Dispensary down the block.

Epilogue

It was ironic that we initially moved the trip to avoid bad weather and still got stuck in a nasty hailstorm. But in the end, that was just a humorous footnote. The Colorado trip was a huge success. Metallica kicked ass and everything about the city and the mountains was amazing.

Including my home state of New Jersey, this was the ninth city that I saw Metallica play on the M72 World Tour, spanning four countries. I got to live my dream of seeing the greatest band of all time on the road. Every show was special, from the first one in Paris to the final one in Denver. I have distinct memories of each one. I also have stories and pictures of every place I visited, several of which I probably would not have visited were it not for Metallica.

This wasn’t quite the end for me, I had tickets to see Back to The Beginning in Birmingham, UK that Saturday and Metallica was going to open for Ozzy Osbourne with an abbreviated set. But it was the end of my M72 journey, and I was satisfied that it was done right. I was especially grateful for the great company I had along the way.

My M72 Would Tour Itinerary

Show #	Date	Venue	City
1	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
2	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
3	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
4	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
5	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
6	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
7	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ
8	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
9	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
10	8/2/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
11	8/4/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
12	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
13	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
14	6/14/2025	NRG Stadium	Houston, TX
15	6/27/2025	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO
16	6/29/2025	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #	ShowDate	VenueDescription	City	Tour/Event	VantagePoint
1	4/8/1992	Brendan Byrne Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Wherever We May Roam	Seats
2	7/17/1998	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Poor Retouring Me	Seats
3	11/24/1998	Roseland Ballroom	New York, NY	Garage Barrage	General Admission
4	11/23/1999	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	S&M	Seats
5	7/20/2000	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium	General Admission
6	7/8/2003	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium 2003	General Admission
7	4/20/2004	Nassau Coliseum	Uniondale, NY	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
8	10/22/2004	Continental Airlines Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
9	1/17/2009	Wachovia Center	Philadelphia, PA	World Magnetic	Seats
10	1/31/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	General Admission
11	2/1/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	Seats
12	11/14/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	General Admission
13	11/15/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	Seats
14	9/14/2011	Yankee Stadium	New York, NY	The Big 4	General Admission
15	6/23/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
16	6/24/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
17	5/12/2017	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
18	5/14/2017	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Worldwired	General Admission
19	5/17/2017	The New Coliseum Presented by NYCV	Uniondale, NY	Worldwired	General Admission
20	7/19/2017	Parc Jean-Drapeau	Montreal, QC	Worldwired	Snake Pit
21	10/20/2018	Bryce Jordan Center	State College, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
22	10/25/2018	Wells Fargo Center	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
23	9/6/2019	Chase Center	San Francisco, CA	S&M2	Seats
24	9/24/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
25	9/25/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
26	5/29/2022	Harvard Athletic Complex	Boston, MA	Boston Calling	General Admission
27	8/11/2022	Highmark Stadium	Buffalo, NY	(none)	General Admission
28	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
29	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
30	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
31	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
32	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
33	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
34	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
35	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
36	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
37	8/2/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
38	8/4/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
39	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
40	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
41	6/14/2025	NRG Stadium	Houston, TX	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
42	6/27/2025	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO	M72 World Tour	Seats
43	6/29/2025	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO	M72 World Tour	Seats
44	7/5/2025	Villa Park	Birmingham, England	Back to The Beginning	Seats

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

Song	Times Seen
Creeping Death	9
Fuel	9
Lux Æterna	9
Nothing Else Matters	9
Orion	9
Sad But True	9
Seek and Destroy	9
Enter Sandman	8
For Whom The Bell Tolls	8
Harvester Of Sorrow	8
If Darkness Had A Son	8
Master of Puppets	8
One	8
Ride The Lightning	8
The Day That Never Comes	8
72 Seasons	7
King Nothing	7
Moth Into Flame	7
The Call of Ktulu	7
Wherever I May Roam	7
The Unforgiven	6
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	6
Whiplash	6
Battery	5
Blackened	5
Fade To Black	5
Holier Than Thou	5
Shadows Follow	5
The Memory Remains	5
Too Far Gone?	5
Whiskey In The Jar	5
Cyanide	4
Hardwired	3
Screaming Suicide	3
You Must Burn!	3
Fight Fire With Fire	2
Inamorata	2
Leper Messiah	2
Until It Sleeps	2
Dirty Window	1
I Disappear	1
No Leaf Clover	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Unique:	43
Total:	245

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

Song	Times Seen
Nothing Else Matters	34
Enter Sandman	33
Master of Puppets	33
One	33
Sad But True	33
Seek and Destroy	30
For Whom The Bell Tolls	28
Creeping Death	26
Fuel	21
Fade To Black	20
Wherever I May Roam	18
Battery	16
Blackened	16
Moth Into Flame	16
Ride The Lightning	16
The Day That Never Comes	15
The Unforgiven	15
Harvester Of Sorrow	14
Whiplash	14
The Memory Remains	13
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	13
Holier Than Thou	11
Cyanide	10
Hardwired	10
King Nothing	10
Orion	10
The Call of Ktulu	10
Lux Æterna	9
Whiskey In The Jar	9
Fight Fire With Fire	8
If Darkness Had A Son	8
72 Seasons	7
Now That We’re Dead	7
Atlas, Rise!	6
No Leaf Clover	6
The Four Horsemen	6
All Nightmare Long	5
Broken, Beat And Scarred	5
Halo On Fire	5
Of Wolf and Man	5
Shadows Follow	5
That Was Just Your Life	5
The End Of The Line	5
Too Far Gone?	5
Breadfan	4
Hit The Lights	4
Last Caress	4
Until It Sleeps	4
I Disappear	3
Screaming Suicide	3
St. Anger	3
The God That Failed	3
Through the Never	3
Turn The Page	3
You Must Burn!	3
Am I Evil?	2
Bleeding Me	2
Blitzkrieg	2
Die, Die My Darling	2
Dirty Window	2
Don’t Tread On Me	2
Frantic	2
Inamorata	2
Last Caress/Green Hell	2
Leper Messiah	2
Motorbreath	2
My Friend Of Misery	2
Overkill	2
The Outlaw Torn	2
The Shortest Straw	2
The Struggle Within	2
The Thing That Should Not Be	2
Trapped Under Ice	2
– Human	1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth	1
…And Justice For All	1
All Within My Hands	1
Confusion	1
Damage Inc.	1
Devil’s Dance	1
Disposable Heroes	1
Dyers Eve	1
Escape	1
Hell And Back	1
Helpless	1
Hero of the Day	1
Hole in The Sky	1
Iron Foundry	1
Johnny Blade	1
Jump In The Fire	1
Justice Medley	1
Killing Time	1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling	1
Low Man’s Lyric	1
Mastertarium	1
Mercyful Fate	1
Metal Militia	1
My Apocalypse	1
No Remorse	1
Phantom Lord	1
Sabbra Cadabra	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Small Hours	1
So What	1
Spit Out The Bone	1
Stone Cold Crazy	1
The Ecstasy of Gold	1
The Judas Kiss	1
The Prince	1
The Unforgiven III	1
The Wait	1
Unique:	111
Total:	735

Filed Under: Metallica, Riding Tagged With: 72 Seasons, Colorado, Harley-Davidson, M72, M72 World Tour, Metallica, Travel

I Can Definitely Say That Sports Karma Exists

July 24, 2025 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

by Ned Moraghan, special to The North Jersey Nonconformist

Exhibit A – Catching an MLB Baseball

The first game I attended was Braves at Phillies in the early 80s. We were on the first row on the first base side right next to Pete Rose. A foul ball came by us and if I was sitting in my brother’s seat, I would have caught it. For the next 20 years of my life, it would always be really close but no cigar. This includes a Cubs Mets where a Sammy Sosa foul ball ricocheted off me. Per my tour of baseball stadiums, I hit the three in Southern California along with some friends and my future wife. In the game at Dodger Stadium I caught a ball intended for a kid. The kid was crying and Dave told me I should give him the ball. I reluctantly did. The very next game, my 55th overall, we’re in the 500 level of Angels stadium and a foul ball practically falls in my lap.

Exhibit B – Always believing in your team.

Upon going to college, I turned into a hard-core Devils fan. They were on the rise with new goalie, Martin Brodeur. The 1994 playoffs, the Devils lost a heartbreaker to the Rangers. The following year, the Devils went on a run to the Stanley Cup finals, beating the Bruins and Penguins in five games each and the hated Flyers in six. Before the series started, a friend had obtained tickets to games 3 and 4. Prices were $90 for game 3 and $110 for game 4. Please remember those are 1995 prices and I was a poor college student. My historically bad statement: I’ll take game 3, It’s not like the Devils are going to sweep. I’ll just leave it there.

I learned my lesson. In 1998, the Giants were having a forgettable year standing at 5-8. Their next opponent: the 13-0 Broncos. I worked for JDEdwards which was based out of Denver. I didn’t mind that they won the Super Bowl the year before but now they were getting arrogant. All week prior they were telling me the Giants were just a speed bump on the way to a perfect season. I had enough and bet one of my friends straight up that the Giants would win. I attended that game and it was a classic. The Giants came to play. They led at halftime and still had the lead late in the 4th quarter until the Broncos took a 3 point lead with 4 minutes left. The Giants were driving and then turned the ball over. However the defense held and the Giants had one last shot. Kent Graham hit a bomb to Amani Toomer with less than a minute to go for the win. 13-1! My loyalty paid off and I got a nice Colorado sweatshirt as a souvenir.

Exhibit C – Don’t anger the sports gods

In 2017, we vacationed in Ohio. I took my girls to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the exhibits is all the previous winners of Super Bowl rings. As I was showing my girls the four Giants championships, a Cowboys fan was doing the same thing for his wife for their titles. Where are the Eagles fans? At the design your own ring kiosk. The Cowboys fans, Amelia and I laughed at this. The Eagles heard our laughing and were ready to start a fight. Strike one on karma. As you probably know, the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl. After the match up was set. I emailed Bill Simmons on how all Giants fans would be rooting for the Pats. This was an epic level troll. Not only am I knocking the Eagles, the only team that the Pats hate are the Giants because of Eli Manning’s two wins over Tom Brady. The post and several other Giants fans’ emails to Bill are still up. One of my friends who’s an Eagles fan saw this and called me out. Strike two. The roles are currently reversed between the Giants and the Eagles.

Filed Under: Guests

Approaching Thunder, Awaiting the Light

June 19, 2025 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

When Metallica announced the 2025 leg of the M72 World Tour, they included several cities that would only get one show, as opposed to the two no-repeat shows they performed across the tour in 2023 and 2024. Houston was one of those one show-only cities on the 2025 list. I initially ruled it out as a destination, picking the two-show cities of Philadelphia and Denver instead. I bought my tickets for the two cities and locked in my travel plans.

But my good friend Chris reached out and told me he had a friend who had two extra Snake Pit passes for the Houston show. That changed the calculus in an instant. I offered the second one to my steady travel companion Susan who accepted. Suddenly, I was off to Houston for a quick one-off weekend on the tour.

June 13, 2025

Fresh off the highs from having watched the premiere of “Metallica Saved My Life” in close proximity to the band just two days prior, we hopped an early flight from Newark to Houston. We would only have about a day and a half to take in the sights and sample the local cuisine.

I wanted to visit the Space Center Houston Museum, so we set that as our first destination. But we also wanted lunch, and I wanted to try Mexican, so I found a casual spot nearby, Los Lopez Taqueria. I’m used to global cuisine in New York City, but I enjoy the authenticity of Mexican food when I visit a border state. This restaurant was perfect, and we both enjoyed our meal.

The Space Center Houston was a quick ride from there. My dad worked in the aerospace industry for most of his career, and NASA was always at the forefront in our household. I was excited about making my visit to the museum.

The museum has a wide array of exhibits of the history of American space travel, as well as those that describe future missions to the moon and eventually to Mars. We wandered around the whole museum and took in most of them.

There was a lot of information about past Space Shuttle missions and how their engines worked.

There was an exhibit about the International Space Station and how it is built to include life-sustaining features for both humans and plants. I had no idea the space station recycles and purifies water and sweat.

Astronauts drink their own, and each other’s piss

Next time I take a leak, I won’t take gravity for granted

There was a wall with pictures of every manned space mission crew, from the very beginning with Alan Shepard, to the most recent missions to and from the ISS. Coincidentally, the first one I happened to read was from the doomed Space Shuttle Columbia flight in 2003 that exploded on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

We wrapped up at the museum and drove towards the hotel. I haven’t spent too much time in Texas, but I am certainly amazed by their maze of elevated highways. In some places they look like they are stacked four high. From a distance, I couldn’t even guess which one I was headed towards.

I made a quick stop at the NRG Stadium to shop at the merchandise truck. I wanted the Houston-specific artwork shirt, but they were sold out of my size by the time we got there. They never have enough of the local shirts, so I haven’t gotten one on this tour. I had to settle for the Houston stadium shirt, and two generic M72 2025 World Tour shirts. Poor me.

After a quick trip to the hotel to check in and get gussied up for the evening, we headed out to dinner. I traveled with Susan on this trip, and she has a knack for finding good restaurants and bars. Unlike Pooch who does PhD-level research ahead of time when we travel, Susan operates by feel of a city, and she always nails it.

I suggested Texas barbecue for dinner, but she found something that looked good, so I deferred to her expertise. We took an Uber to The Travelers Table, which billed itself as a “globally-inspired eatery”. That was not what I was expecting from a restaurant in Houston. We were early so we sat at the bar, and I ordered the margarita flight from the menu, a first for me.

Susan ordered the duck, and I ordered a shrimp concoction, and both of our meals were a hit. Score one for Houston cuisine!

From looking at the map and from our observations while in transit, there appears to be a good restaurant scene in Houston. We saw enough places that made me wish we had a few extra days in town. But for the rest of the night, we wanted to at least check out the bars and the clubs.

I found a bar on Yelp that was highly reviewed, but it totally sucked so we split and found another bar in the area called Soho Garden. It had outdoor seating and a good cocktail menu.

It was a very lively scene and a fun place to spend the rest of the night. Unfortunately, there were too many Astros fans there, apparently the bar was only a few blocks from the stadium and the game had just ended. As a Yankee fan, I am still upset they cheated their way past us in the 2017 American League Championship Series. Other than that, the crowd was interesting, especially the dude passed out face down at a table.

I only spent one evening in Houston but came away with the impression that it was a good town for dining and partying. I will need to find another reason to come back.

June 14, 2025

Today was going to be the main event of the weekend, the Metallica concert at NRG Stadium. But first we had to get our “passes”. The way it was described to me by Chris, that an old friend of his who lives in town was connected to a guy who was connected to a guy at Live Nation and would get us inside the stadium without a ticket and give us Snake Pit passes. Seemed legit. Well, it turned out to be legit but only after a series of agonizing events that we can only look back on and laugh at.

The idea was that Chris and his friend would meet us for lunch at 1:30 at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, a Cajun seafood restaurant a short distance from NRG stadium. Our connection was scheduled to meet us at 3:30 with our passes. Sounded great.

Susan and I headed to the restaurant and met Chris and his friend, Ralph, and his wife. The first thing that Ralph said to me was “trust the process and be patient, it always works out.” I had no reason not to, so I sat down to lunch with them. This restaurant was another winner. I ordered the Texas Redfish which I had never even heard of. My fish was adorned with crab, shrimp, and a brown-butter lemon sauce. I thought it was fantastic.

I had an enjoyable time catching up with Chris, he has a fascinating career, and his stories are always compelling. It was good to meet Ralph and his wife; they were very friendly. We wrapped up lunch and sat at the table for a while. We decided to get up and wait outside for the “pass guy” to show up. That is when things got interesting.

Our scheduled meeting time of 3:30 came and went. There was no sign of the guy. Ralph swore he was coming. Chris started to get agitated. Susan was hoping to grab the pass and head back to the hotel to do some work and rest before the show, and the window to do so was closing.

Things started to get ridiculous around 5PM. The guy was an hour and a half late. I am not saying I ever doubted Ralph and Chris, but the situation was at least getting weird and annoying.

Susan pointed at some slovenly dude in a pink shirt, talking on his phone and pacing back and forth nervously. She said that she thought it was the guy with our passes. As it turns out she was right. After pacing back and forth on the phone for a long time, he found Ralph and we met outside the restaurant. Suddenly a huge crowd appeared around him. We were not the only people waiting for him, there were nearly 20 of us promised these passes and we were all on time and waiting for the guy.

After a protracted discussion, we learned that we all needed to go to the stadium to some loading dock to get our passes. After all that, the dude did not have them. Traffic had started to build around the stadium, so I could tell this was going to be an exercise akin to herding kittens.

Ralph’s wife drove us a half mile to the stadium and dropped us off near the loading dock. There were two people there waiting for their passes and they were annoyed. The opening act, Suicidal Tendencies, was about to hit the stage and we were stuck outside.

Of course, the pass dude took forever to get there. He went the wrong way around the stadium and needlessly passed through security. Then when he got to the loading dock, security wouldn’t let him in. He had to call whoever it was that had the passes and that guy wasn’t answering the phone. Maybe it was because the show started and the guy was working, and he expected us to be there at 3:30 PM!

At this point, all of us were ready to strangle the guy. Ralph went from telling me to trust the process and be patient to apologizing profusely. We could hear the band playing from inside the stadium.

Finally, some guy sitting at the gate heard what was happening and said he would radio in to get the guy who had our passes. Nobody answered at first, so he walked inside the stadium. After a wait that seemed like forever, some important looking guy came out. All of us huddled around them as they exchanged pleasantries. I grabbed Susan and Chris and said let’s get there first. I was worried after all this, he would be one or two passes shy, and I just wanted to get inside and never see the pass guy again.

We got our passes and Snake Pit bracelets. The passes weren’t tickets; they were some sort of Live Nation employee pass. We walked in through the loading dock, went through a security check and entered a side door into the stadium while Suicidal Tendencies was playing. Finally!

This was our “pass” to get in the side door at NRG Energy Stadium. Whatever!

I went straight for the Snake Pit. Susan went for a walk; she wasn’t interested in the opening acts. Chris went to try to get a Houston Metallica shirt, but the line looked like it was an hour long and they only had medium left. If only we got in early like we were supposed to.

I got some explanation that the guy was out getting drunk and was late because of that. The guy had about twenty people waiting for over two hours and let us in late. I just wanted to put it out of my mind. I was happy to be inside. I was so worked up that I followed Mike Muir around the donut-shaped stage from inside the Snake Pit.

I got close to Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jay Weinberg and watched him play. He grew up in my home state of New Jersey and is the son of the legendary E Street Band drummer, Max Weinberg. I am a graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ and so is Jay. Prior to Jay’s arrival at Stevens, its most distinguished graduate was Henry Gantt, the inventor of the Gantt chart. Jay surpassed him as the most distinguished Stevens graduate when he landed the gig drumming for Slipknot. Here he was that day drumming on the same stage that Metallica was about to play on. I can’t think of a better alumnus in school history.

I always wanted to see him play up close. The drunk, slovenly, pass dude robbed me of a half hour of the show, but I enjoyed what I could.

The greatest graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology

Suicidal wrapped up and Pantera soon followed them. The Snake Pit was not very full yet and I was able to get very close to the stage. I got some very close up views of Zakk Wylde playing just feet away from me.

The fifth greatest guitar player of all time, Pantera’s Zakk Wylde

Pantera finished their set and the hour-long wait for Metallica began. I wrote about M72 World Tour Snake Pit positioning in my Philadelphia blog. I wanted to position myself in front of the first Metallica drum kit to pop up. To do that, I had to orient myself inside the circular stage. I picked the spot based on where the Suicidal Tendencies drumkit was placed for the Philadelphia show, assuming they would be consistent. The first Metallica drum kit first popped out directly to the right of where Jay Weinberg’s drums were.

Some woman standing in front of me insisted that spot was the third drum kit. She said she had seen Metallica before, and she knew what she was talking about. To me, she seemed dumb, and her opinion did not hurt my resolve. Most of the fans around me agreed we were in the right spot.

Eventually, a stage manager came to us and introduced himself. He said that he oversaw opening and closing the trap doors and that if we had our hands in the wrong place they’d get cut off so we should be careful. I asked him if it was the first drum kit, and he winked and smiled at me, so I got my affirmation from an authoritative source, not the idiot in front of me. Chris decided to find a stationary spot for himself on the other side of the stage. Ralph and Susan stuck with me.

There is no barricade inside of the Snake Pit, so I was about a foot away from the stage when the lights went off. As “Ecstasy of Gold” played, the trap door in front of me opened and I saw drum tech Jimmy Clark being lifted with the drums.

Jimmy Clarke riding the drums directly in front of us

In just a moment, Lars Ullrich was going to be right here!

I was overwhelmed with excitement as Lars Ulrich sat down on his kit and Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo converged. I hate fans who record videos of concerts, so I grabbed my phone and hit record anyway. Lars counted in “Creeping Death”, and I lost my mind. The show was off to a fiery start.

A quick video I took of Creeping Death to start the show

I stopped recording after a minute; I just wanted to capture a quick moment of the perspective I had. I got to jumping up and down and screaming along with the song like a proper fan should.

The first three songs were all from the 1984 classic album “Ride the Lightning” and they bled into each other. I can’t imagine that anyone thought in 1984 that Metallica would fill football stadiums and play those songs on a stage like this.

Lars walked over and gave the fans nearby a high-five. I haven’t washed my hand since mine touched his.

So close to the band inside a huge stadium

Me and Susan in front of the Greatest Drummer of All time and some uninterested security guy

The last song of the first set was “The Memory Remains” and the band played an extended outro while the crowd sang along to the eerie Marianne Faithfull melody. Normally I like to switch spots during the fourth song, but I was having too much fun being so close to Lars, so I waited there for the last note. I immediately grabbed Susan and Ralph and said, “LET’S GO!” We bolted from our spot and pushed our way towards where the second drum kit would be. We nailed it perfectly and got there in time for the high energy “Lux Æterna”, a song Metallica wrote about the exhilaration of their own concerts. Once again, we had a great view of Lars and the rest of the band.

Followed the drums all night, that’s where the action is

They played through another newer song “If Darkness Had a Son.” I love part of that song where the crowd can shout “Temptation! Temptation!” along with James Hetfield. It rattles the whole stadium. They transitioned into an epic rendition of “The Day That Never Comes”.

James played the opening guitar part while sitting on a stool to our left. It was my seventh time seeing this song played on the M72 World Tour, but my best vantage point for it yet. The song features time changes and punishing instrumental sections. Unfortunately, a couple near us got engaged during the song, but I didn’t let that ruin things for me.

They play “The Day That Never Comes” with such intensity

When it was over, we bailed on our spot again to head over to where the third drumkit would be. We were in transition while the pyrotechnics lit for “Fuel”. We rocked out to that while we waited out the next drum transition because I knew what was going to happen next.

The third drum kit popped up right in front of us again. I nailed our positioning three times in a row! I think at this point, I became the best Metallica Snake Pit Strategist of all time! The band converged on the drums and played the instrumental “Orion”.

Our third stop of the night to see “Orion”

Watching Metallica play Orion from six feet away is as close as a religious experience one can have at a heavy metal concert. James dedicated it to the late Cliff Burton.

Next up was “Nothing Else Matters” and the crowd pulled their phone lights out to create an amazing visual scene.

As the band played through another Black Album classic “Sad but True”, we made our final transition to the last drum kit. The concert wrapped up with the barrage of classics “One”, “Seek & Destroy”, “Master of Puppets”, and “Enter Sandman”. There was a frenzy of activity as the band roamed the stage more freely for the last set. I didn’t know which direction to look in as we were completely immersed in Metallica.

They always look like they’re having fun

Another epic Metallica show was over, and I was sore and exhausted. We regrouped and took the obligatory group photo in the center of the pit.

Myself, Susan, Chris, and Ralph made our way into the show and survived the Snake Pit

I thanked Ralph and Chris again. Despite the ridiculousness of the entry process, everything worked out great in the end. We had another unforgettable Metallica experience, and I got to travel to another city that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

I wrapped things up in the morning and went to the airport. Susan had a business trip in Germany, and she flew straight there. We had two weeks off until ours and Metallica’s last stop on the US leg of the 2025 M72 World Tour in Denver.

My M72 Would Tour Itinerary

	Show #	Date	Venue	City
Complete	1	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
	2	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
	3	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
	4	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
	5	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
	6	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
	7	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ
	8	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
	9	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
	10	8/2/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
	11	8/4/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
	12	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
	13	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
	14	6/14/2025	NRG Stadium	Houston, TX
Upcoming	15	6/27/2027	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO
Upcoming	16	6/29/2027	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #	ShowDate	VenueDescription	City	Tour/Event	VantagePoint
1	4/8/1992	Brendan Byrne Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Wherever We May Roam	Seats
2	7/17/1998	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Poor Retouring Me	Seats
3	11/24/1998	Roseland Ballroom	New York, NY	Garage Barrage	General Admission
4	11/23/1999	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	S&M	Seats
5	7/20/2000	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium	General Admission
6	7/8/2003	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium 2003	General Admission
7	4/20/2004	Nassau Coliseum	Uniondale, NY	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
8	10/22/2004	Continental Airlines Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
9	1/17/2009	Wachovia Center	Philadelphia, PA	World Magnetic	Seats
10	1/31/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	General Admission
11	2/1/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	Seats
12	11/14/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	General Admission
13	11/15/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	Seats
14	9/14/2011	Yankee Stadium	New York, NY	The Big 4	General Admission
15	6/23/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
16	6/24/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
17	5/12/2017	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
18	5/14/2017	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Worldwired	General Admission
19	5/17/2017	The New Coliseum Presented by NYCV	Uniondale, NY	Worldwired	General Admission
20	7/19/2017	Parc Jean-Drapeau	Montreal, QC	Worldwired	Snake Pit
21	10/20/2018	Bryce Jordan Center	State College, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
22	10/25/2018	Wells Fargo Center	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
23	9/6/2019	Chase Center	San Francisco, CA	S&M2	Seats
24	9/24/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
25	9/25/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
26	5/29/2022	Harvard Athletic Complex	Boston, MA	Boston Calling	General Admission
27	8/11/2022	Highmark Stadium	Buffalo, NY	(none)	General Admission
28	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
29	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
30	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
31	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
32	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
33	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
34	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
35	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
36	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
37	8/2/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
38	8/4/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
39	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
40	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
41	6/14/2025	NRG Stadium	Houston, TX	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

Song	Times Seen
Creeping Death	8
Fuel	8
Lux Æterna	8
Nothing Else Matters	8
Orion	8
Sad But True	8
Seek and Destroy	8
Enter Sandman	7
For Whom The Bell Tolls	7
Harvester Of Sorrow	7
If Darkness Had A Son	7
Master of Puppets	7
One	7
Ride The Lightning	7
The Day That Never Comes	7
72 Seasons	6
King Nothing	6
Moth Into Flame	6
The Call of Ktulu	6
Wherever I May Roam	6
Fade To Black	5
Shadows Follow	5
The Unforgiven	5
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	5
Whiplash	5
Battery	4
Blackened	4
Holier Than Thou	4
The Memory Remains	4
Too Far Gone?	4
Whiskey In The Jar	4
Cyanide	3
Hardwired	3
Screaming Suicide	3
You Must Burn!	3
Fight Fire With Fire	2
Inamorata	2
Leper Messiah	2
Until It Sleeps	2
Dirty Window	1
I Disappear	1
No Leaf Clover	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Unique:	43
Total:	215

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

Song	Times Seen
Nothing Else Matters	33
Enter Sandman	32
One	32
Sad But True	32
Master of Puppets	31
Seek and Destroy	29
For Whom The Bell Tolls	26
Creeping Death	24
Fade To Black	20
Fuel	20
Wherever I May Roam	17
Blackened	15
Moth Into Flame	15
Ride The Lightning	15
Battery	14
The Day That Never Comes	14
The Unforgiven	14
Harvester Of Sorrow	13
Whiplash	13
The Memory Remains	12
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	12
Hardwired	10
Holier Than Thou	10
Cyanide	9
King Nothing	9
Orion	9
The Call of Ktulu	9
Fight Fire With Fire	8
Lux Æterna	8
Whiskey In The Jar	8
If Darkness Had A Son	7
Now That We’re Dead	7
72 Seasons	6
Atlas, Rise!	6
No Leaf Clover	6
The Four Horsemen	6
All Nightmare Long	5
Broken, Beat And Scarred	5
Halo On Fire	5
Of Wolf and Man	5
Shadows Follow	5
That Was Just Your Life	5
The End Of The Line	5
Breadfan	4
Hit The Lights	4
Last Caress	4
Too Far Gone?	4
Until It Sleeps	4
I Disappear	3
Screaming Suicide	3
St. Anger	3
The God That Failed	3
Through the Never	3
Turn The Page	3
You Must Burn!	3
Am I Evil?	2
Bleeding Me	2
Blitzkrieg	2
Die, Die My Darling	2
Dirty Window	2
Don’t Tread On Me	2
Frantic	2
Inamorata	2
Last Caress/Green Hell	2
Leper Messiah	2
Motorbreath	2
My Friend Of Misery	2
Overkill	2
The Outlaw Torn	2
The Shortest Straw	2
The Struggle Within	2
The Thing That Should Not Be	2
Trapped Under Ice	2
– Human	1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth	1
…And Justice For All	1
All Within My Hands	1
Confusion	1
Damage Inc.	1
Devil’s Dance	1
Disposable Heroes	1
Dyers Eve	1
Escape	1
Hell And Back	1
Helpless	1
Hero of the Day	1
Iron Foundry	1
Jump In The Fire	1
Justice Medley	1
Killing Time	1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling	1
Low Man’s Lyric	1
Mastertarium	1
Mercyful Fate	1
Metal Militia	1
My Apocalypse	1
No Remorse	1
Phantom Lord	1
Sabbra Cadabra	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Small Hours	1
So What	1
Spit Out The Bone	1
Stone Cold Crazy	1
The Ecstasy of Gold	1
The Judas Kiss	1
The Prince	1
The Unforgiven III	1
The Wait	1
Unique:	109
Total:	699

Filed Under: Metallica Tagged With: Houston, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, M72 World Tour, Metallica, Robert Trujillo, Snake Pit, Travel

Metallica Saved My Life – With Metallica!

June 12, 2025 by njnonconformist 1 Comment

I just got to watch “Metallica Saved My Life” with Metallica! Like, I was in the same theater with the four members of the band watching it with them. It was a surreal Wednesday night that I won’t soon forget.

I got a note from their emailer a few months ago about a world premiere for “Metallica Saved My Life” at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan on June 12, 2025. I work in downtown Manhattan not too far from the theater and it just so happens that I was not ironically planning to visit a city the band was playing in that day (I wasn’t set to leave for Houston until Friday). The email teased that the band might be there.

Normally, I wouldn’t be caught dead at the Tribeca Film Festival. In fact, I wouldn’t be caught dead at a movie theatre. I hate movies. But this was a no-brainer exception to those rules, and I used the pre-sale link to grab general admission tickets.

I didn’t know what to expect other than I’d get to see the movie and maybe they’d trot one of the band members out on stage after it ended. As it turned out, with a little luck the experience far exceeded my expectations.

It started with a sequence of events that got me in the exact right place at the exact right time. I was supposed to take Monday off work to help my dad with some things around the yard. But it rained on Monday, so we rescheduled for Wednesday. That altered my plans slightly, I wouldn’t be in my office that day and would have to commute into the city in the evening. I would end up getting there later than I would have if I was at work.

I arrived about 30 minutes before showtime. When I got there, because they just love doing this in New York City, there was a line down the block to get in. So, I had to wait there for no reason. But when I got inside, just before they took my tickets, I scored big time.

Some dude who I didn’t even see said to me “Hey, do you want an upgraded ticket?”. I said “sure”, and he handed me two tickets for assigned seats in row D. If I got there ten seconds sooner or later, I would have missed it.

My original ticket was General Admission, this was much better

As the letter on the tickets implied, D was the fourth row, and it was close to the center of the stage. How lucky was that?

Not too long after I found my seat, I heard a small commotion to my right. Lars Ulrich, the greatest drummer of all time, was standing at the end of my row to my right! I was in complete shock. I wasn’t sure if I should scream and yell or run over there and say something. I got hold of myself and sat down. Lars sat down in the same row in the next section over. I was going to watch the Metallica movie in the same row as Lars!

I looked around some more and in the section to my left in the fourth row was James Hetfield! He was with his girlfriend and his daughter Marcella whom I coincidentally met when she was working at my favorite jeweler in Manhattan. At that point I was completely beside myself. How on earth did I manage to land tickets to the premiere of a Metallica movie and sit in the same row as the two founding members?

Luckily the lights went off and the movie started before I could faint. I couldn’t help myself the whole night, my eyes kept darting from James, to the screen, to Lars, to the screen, and back to James. I wanted to see the movie, but I also wanted to see how they reacted to it.

There are going to be plenty of reviews of the movie as it is released globally this week. I won’t attempt to properly review it, nor will I spoil anything about it, but I will say that I was blown away by how good it was.

My first impression was that the title “Metallica Saved My Life” was a bit misleading. It was not a movie solely about fans who would have died had Metallica not been in their lives somehow. In fact, there was only one person featured in the movie who could legitimately say that he would have been dead had it not been for Metallica.

I would categorize the movie more as a documentary about both the band and its powerful connection to its diverse and global fan base. The poster advertised it as “starring a shitload of Metallica fans” and that was an understatement.

There were over a dozen compelling main-character storylines about Metallica fans from all around the world. It covered fans from every continent, including Antarctica. They ranged from original fans, to obsessed fans, to fans who had to overcome terrible adversity in their lives and used Metallica as the soundtrack of their perseverance. The stories they told were heartbreaking, irreverent, and inspirational. The common thread across all the storylines in the movie was the intensely powerful connection between Metallica and their fans.

I especially enjoyed the scenes about fans who travel the world to see Metallica play. I can relate because that’s what I’ve been doing since the beginning of the M72 World Tour. I also enjoyed a blink-and-you-miss-it picture of one of the fans in Duff’s Brooklyn with its owner, Jimmy Duff. It is one of my favorite bars in the world and I immediately DM’d Jimmy to tell him he made the movie. He had no idea!

Unfortunately, I did not make the movie. I need to fire my agent. But I don’t think I’ve ever felt as connected to the band as I did that night. James was rocking out to scenes of fans covering Metallica music. He laughed out loud at some scenes, especially ones that featured children. Lars took the movie in a bit more quietly. He appeared to be in a reflective mood. I don’t know where Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujilo were sitting, but I know they had to be somewhere nearby in the reserved section. I don’t know what I did to be so lucky as to get that seating upgrade, but I am forever grateful to whoever that guy was who handed it to me.

As the movie drew closer to the end, James and Lars left their seats so they could get backstage. When the movie ended, the band took the stage for a moderated discussion about the movie. They sat down right in front of me!

Metallica and some lame moderator who tried to impress the band by wearing a Metallica shirt

The best dressed guy in the band, Kirk Hammett

They answered the interviewer’s softball questions about themselves and the movie. Some insights they offered up were about how the movie came about. Lars explained that the band sold “tour passes” for every show on the arena leg of the WorldWired Tour, and that got them interested in the stories of the people willing to go to every show.

They introduced some of the people in the audience including director Jonas Åkerlund, their manager Cliff Burnstein, and the director of the first theatrical Metallica documentary “Some Kind of Monster” Joe Berlinger. I wasn’t just sitting among the members of Metallica, I was surrounded by Metallica royalty.

The interview ended and Metallica left the stage to a raucous ovation. As I made my way up the stairs, I said hi to Marcella when I walked by her. I held up my ring that she repaired for me when we first met.

I was on cloud nine. My mind ran through all the special Metallica experiences I’ve had in my life:

Seeing them play at the old Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan
Watching concerts from the Snake Pit in Montreal, Madrid (twice), and just two weeks prior in Philadelphia
Meeting Robert Trujillo at Blackened American Whiskey bottle signings on two separate occasions in crappy liquor stores in New Jersey and Arizona

But this one instantly became one of my top Metallica experiences, and it wasn’t even at a concert.

I’m off to Houston for the weekend to see them from the Snake Pit again. I’m hoping Lars and James see me in the crowd, recognize me from the theater, and feature me in “Metallica Saved My Life Part II”. If not, I’m sure my memories from all my past and future Metallica experiences will be good enough.

Filed Under: Metallica Tagged With: Duff's Brooklyn, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, M72 World Tour, Metallica, Metallica Saved My Life, Robert Trujillo, Tribeca Film Festival

Craving Dopamine

June 10, 2025 by njnonconformist 3 Comments

I was working from home the day before I was to attend the first of two Metallica M72 World Tour concerts in Philadelphia. I was trying to focus on getting through the workday so I could get ready to split in the morning. I got the alert that I won two Snake Pit passes through the Metclub contest and my mind went blank.

The best email I ever received in my life

“HOLY CRAP! I finally won one of these contests!”

“HOLY CRAP! I’m going to be in the Snake Pit tomorrow for the show!”

“HOLY CRAP! I need to pick somebody to come with me! What am I going to do?”

The M72 World Tour stage is shaped like a donut in the middle of a football stadium. The Snake Pit is the donut hole. If you are in the Snake Pit, you are immersed in the performance all night. I spent two nights in the Snake Pit in Madrid in 2024 and was blown away by the experience. I could not believe that I would be there again the next night. But I had to pick only one of my friends.

As I explained to them, they were all my favorite. But in 2017, Pooch scored us Snake Pit passes for Metallica in Montreal, and I have always felt like I was beholden to him since. I called him and offered him the pass, which he quickly accepted so that problem was solved.

With that dilemma solved, I was able to focus on the weekend ahead. I’ve been following the Metallica M72 World Tour since 2023, and these would be my first shows of 2025. I was excited to get back on the road.

May 23, 2025

I had a grandiose plan to ride my motorcycle to Philadelphia so I could enjoy a scenic ride back on Memorial Day along the Delaware River. Those hopes were dashed when I woke up to rain and cold that showed little sign of letting up. I also had a work emergency which ate into my day so there was no time to load the bike. I was bummed but was not going to let it ruin my weekend. I traded the excitement of my Harley for the comfort of my relatively uninteresting car.

I could have written a blog about how awful the traffic was from the moment I left my house in Hudson County, NJ until I got to Lincoln Financial Field, but you would not want to read it. By the time I got there, I felt like I ran a marathon. But we all managed to check into our hotels and since I had the car, I told the group I would be the designated driver. I grabbed Joe, Pooch, and Lefty and we made it to the show.

The Friday Night Crew before we split up

It was a bummer to have to split off from the rest of the crew. Lefty and Joe went into ham-and-egger general admission to meet up with Ed and Rita. Bobby was already somewhere along the rail; he lined up early to secure his spot. Pooch and I grabbed our Snake Pit wristbands from the box office and quickly made our way inside. We missed the first opening act, Ice Nine Kills. No big deal, they are not my favorite act on this tour.

I paused for a moment on my way into the Snake Pit. It is a bit of an overwhelming experience to begin with. But I especially enjoy walking past the losers on the other side of the general admission barrier knowing that I will have a much better view than they will. I sensed their jealousy. Granted, I would have been one of those losers had I not won the contest, but they didn’t know that.

I quickly found Chris and his stepson inside the Snake Pit. Chris cashed up and bought his way in. They picked a spot along the inside wall near where one of the four drum kits would pop up during the Metallica set.

Without much delay, Limp Bizkit hit the stage. This was my first time seeing them since July 8, 2023 when they opened for Metallica at Giants Stadium. This lineup was mostly original with a grey-bearded Fred Durst, accompanied by Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, DJ Lethal, and John Otto. We were standing right in front of Borland’s guitar rig.

Limp Bizkit is one of those bands that the cool kids did not want to admit they liked in the early 2000’s. But I never cared, I thought their tunes were catchy and I was excited to see them again. Durst sounded great and they played through their classics with intensity.

Not too long into the show, it unexpectedly started to pour. The road crew attempted to put a canopy over DJ Lethal and his equipment but appeared to fail and gave up. His stuff got soaked and apparently ruined. He unplugged everything, gave it to the fans, and eventually jumped into the Snake Pit to mosh with us. I got to high-five him.

When Limp Bizkit finished, things got real in my mind. It was my first time seeing Metallica in nearly nine months and not only was my wait about to end, but I was going to be surrounded by them all night.

This is when my Snake Pit strategy came into play. I was in the pit twice in Madrid in 2024 so I have a good feel for how things work inside and how to maximize the experience.

Metallica plays 15 songs per night, and there are 4 drumkits, one for each quadrant of the stage. The band roams the whole stage throughout the show, but most of the action takes place near the drums. They play four songs in the first quadrant, four in the second, three in the third, and four in the fourth. In a regular general admission concert setup, there is a crush of people in front of the stage. But since there is no front of this stage inside the circle, there is no singular crowded spot so you can move around. Therefore, I wanted to plant myself in front of all four drumkits before they popped up before people crowded them.

My original instinct told me we were in the wrong spot and standing in front of the third drumkit. Pooch was happy where we were and didn’t want to move. I told him I was going to the other side of the stage and that I’d find him. But when I got to the other side, I asked security, and they told me that side was the third drumkit. I immediately made it back to Pooch and Chris and told them that this must be the right spot for the first drumkit. Since my sources were not 100% reliable, I was very nervous for the rest of the break in between sets. I really did not want to screw this up.

The lights went off and AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)” blasted over the insane PA system Metallica uses for their stadium tour. It was time! AC/DC transitioned into “Eecstacy of Gold”, the traditional opening song for Metallica concerts. Much to my relief, a trap door opened in front of us and I caught sight of Jimmy Clark, Lars Ulrich’s drum tech being lifted on to the stage along with the drums. We got it right. We were about eight feet away from drums!

In a flash, Metallica took the stage and Lars counted in “Creeping Death”. The rest of the band huddled close to him and tore into the song. The crowd was screaming and jumping up and down. We were so close to the drums, we could hear them over the PA. It was bedlam.

We were just a few feet from the band when the show started

You can’t get closer to Metallica than the Snake Pit

Metallica was fired up as they ripped through the first song. They quickly transitioned into the slower but just as heavy “Harvester of Sorrow” and followed that with the deeper cut “Holier Than Thou”. They were moving at a blistering pace and had the entire stadium hanging on every note. With a quick pause to introduce “King Nothing”, I knew it was time to find the next spot.

Chris from his spot in the Snake Pit with James in the background

Chris elected to stay put, but Pooch and I pushed towards the second quadrant and found it with relative ease. “King Nothing” ended and the second drumkit popped up right in front of us and the band followed for two newer songs, “72 Seasons” and “If Darkness Had a Son”. The latter was made to be played live with James Hetfield prompting the crowd to chant “temptation!” repeatedly.

James sat on a chair for the intro to the “Death Magnetic” epic “The Day That Never Comes”. Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo huddled close throughout the long instrumental parts of the song, and the band was in a zone.

James playing the intro to “The Day That Never Comes”

By my count, it was time to think about the next move. Before the band could start “Cyanide”, Pooch and I had rushed towards the third drumkit. We had to sacrifice being close to Lars on this song, but it would pay off when the next song hit. Once again, we were mere feet away from the band and just in time for “Orion”, the greatest heavy metal instrumental song ever written.

The band stayed closest to each other during this song. Being within feet of Metallica playing one of their greatest songs is like having had the opportunity to watch Leonardo da Vinci paint.

Our view of the third drumkit while the band played “Orion”

Watching Metallica play “Orion” from this close is a near-religious experience

Next up were two more “Black Album” concert standards, “Nothing Else Matters” and “Sad But True”. About the time I wanted to depart for the fourth drumkit, James was standing right in the spot. I started to panic, there was no way we could make it to the front if everybody was looking right at him. Eventually I said we should go and figure it out on the way. Then I looked up and saw Robert being pushed through the Snake Pit on a mobile platform, and he was coming right at us! I looked up at Robert as he looked down at me, I couldn’t believe my luck. Pooch instinctively ducked behind the platform as it moved because it parted the crowd and gave us a path right to where we wanted to be for the fourth drumkit. We made our own luck this time.

With four songs to go, I was happy with how we progressed. We nailed the spot for all four drumkits and had the best Snake Pit experience out of anybody there! At the end of “Fight Fire With Fire” Kirk threw one of his picks and it hit me in the right ear. It stuck to my jacket and the guy behind me handed it to me. I would have kept it if I was him.

Our spot for the final four songs of the show

Metallica rounding out their set right in front of us

The set rounded out with pyrotechnics during “Fuel”, a beach ball drop during “Seek and Destroy”, and a frenzied rendition of “Master of Puppets”. Metallica owned Lincoln Financial Field that night.

May 24, 2025

One of the many cool things about the two-night schedule for the M72 World Tour is that it leaves a gap on Saturday. It is even cooler if you are visiting a city that you wouldn’t normally be in and you have your friends with you.

Unfortunately, Ed and Bobby couldn’t stick around on Saturday, but Joe, Lefty, and Pooch were ready to go. I was especially happy to have Pooch there, he is known for his PhD-level research of things to do when travelling, with a focus on breweries and restaurants.

We met at The Butcher Bar on Chestnut Street or brunch. It is probably not a coincidence that Pooch picked a place with bottomless brunch drinks.

To avoid making it a messy all-day drink fest, we planned a bit of sight-seeing and spontaneous exercise following brunch. We walked to The Philadelphia Art Museum to visit The Rocky Statue. Someone had the idea that we should run the steps. We all made it up without having a coronary. All the time I spent at my local gym was worth it.

After we triumphantly conquered the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, we took the obligatory picture in front of the Rocky statue.

Proud of our accomplishments, we walked south on the scenic Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Victory Brewing. I tend to be a Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller Lite guy, so I was a bit lost. Pooch was already well versed in their offerings, so I asked him to fill out a flight order for me. They started off OK, but the flavor fell off a cliff on the last two. They didn’t convince me to be a craft beer guy.

Dressed in my Metallica shirt, several people at the bar asked if I was at the show the previous night. I’m not sure who would walk around Philadelphia in a Metallica shirt the day after they played there and have not attended the concert, but I answered their stupid questions in the affirmative anyway. They all said something like “I thought about it but didn’t go”. Talk about people who make really, really, really bad life decisions in this town.

But every time one of them asked me about the show, I could not help but picture Metallica right in front of me. It was my 39^th Metallica concert and I was still just as stoked as ever to have seen them and could not get over how good they were and how amazing the Snake Pit experience was. It really made me realize how appreciative I was to have had that experience. I made sure to let each one of those idiots know that they completely blew it.

We left Victory and made a few more stops. First was at a rooftop bar for some cocktails. Then we went to Barcade Philadelphia. Barcade is a small chain of bars that has rows of retro video games and pinball machines. A friend of ours, Brian, happens to be the manager there so it was cool to see him. Another lucky way Metallica brings us all together.

Barcade had the wrong band’s pinball machine. It was fun anyway.

At dinner time and Pooch directed us to Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse. Pooch is a big rodizio guy, so it was no surprise he wanted to go there. The waiters aggressively carved grilled meats on our plates, it was very intense. I flipped my stop/go card to the red side after I ate what felt like 17 pounds of beef.

Our last stop of the night day was a heavy metal bar called Doom that Pooch found. It was very spacious and was outfitted in gothic décor. There was custom stained glass and original art on the walls. There was one major flaw, however. The music they were playing was so obscure that we couldn’t identify it using Shazam. It was Metallica weekend in Philadelphia and there were only a handful of people there. Not a good showing for the only heavy metal bar in town. It looked like they had a good idea when they built it, but their execution was poor, and it did not catch on. It was worth checking out, but I would not recommend it.

May 25, 2025

I got a call from Bobby that he was in town and on the line for the Metallica pop up store. I drove over and cut in line next to him, saving myself about 45 minutes. These stores are very popular and often difficult to get in to. I grabbed three t-shirts and a license plate cover because I don’t have enough Metallica stuff already.

Me and Bobby outside of the greatest store in Philadelphia history

We finished our shopping excursion, and Pooch told us to meet him and Lefty at Yards Brewing. I was shocked that he picked another brewery! I never drink on Metallica days so I couldn’t partake in another crappy flight, but everyone else seemed to enjoy their beers.

The culinary highlight of the trip came next. We made the short walk to Del Rossi’s Cheesesteak & Pizza Co. for cheesesteaks. I’ve had a handful of Philadelphia cheesesteaks in my day, but this one was my favorite. Great bread and great cheddar cheese made the sandwich perfect.

Cheesesteaks usually do not photograph well, but this one was a 10/10

Pooch and Lefty wanted to hit a distillery, so I went back to the hotel to grab my stuff and check out before heading back to the stadium for the final time. I didn’t miss much, Pooch later told me that each successive taste of whiskey in his flight tasted more and more like turpentine. Even PhD’s have errors in their research sometimes.

We met up and took an Uber to the stadium. Pooch, Lefty, and Joe wanted to grab some beers at Victory Brewing at the Xfinity Center entertainment complex outside the stadium. I wanted to catch Suicidal Tendencies, the first opening act so I went in early. I said hi to Sue, Ned, and Colleen who were on the rail already.

I visited Ned and Colleen near their spot on the rail

Then I found Bobby who was dutifully lined up close to the rail on the side of the stage. It was a bit of a bummer being reduced to ham-and-egger general admission status for this show, but I was stoked regardless. We had a good spot, and I was going to make the most of it.

Suicidal Tendencies now features a rhythm section of Jay Weinberg on drums, and Robert Trujillo’s son, Tye Trujillo on bass. During the show, we noticed that Robert was watching the show from one of the Lux Æterna platforms on the far side of the stage. It must have been a proud moment for him as a father and a former bass player for Suicidal Tendencies. It was a fun show and Suicidal played all their hits. I could see Chris in the Snake Pit directly across from me and we had fun taking pictures of each other and sending them back and forth.

After the ST set ended, Pooch, Lefty, and Joe came in and met up with Ed. Unfortunately, too many people surrounded me and Bobby by that time, and they were not able to get very close to us. Pantera hit the stage and people started to mosh behind us. It was a lot of fun, it reminded me of seeing the original Pantera lineup in the late 1990’s. I always love watching Zakk Wylde play, he is one of my favorite musicians.

The hour-long wait between Pantera and Metallica always feels like it is a day long. But when AC/DC hit the PA, it felt like we were hit by lightning. Metallica took the stage and started with the 1-2 punch of “Whiplash” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. They always hit the stage and sprint out of the gate. I never understood how they can get so fired up so quickly.

In my third year of following this tour, I pretty much always know what song is coming next. But the lack of suspense never dulls my excitement for the classics like “Ride the Lightning” and “The Memory Remains” which followed. Metallica played an extended outro at the end of the latter which I had never seen live. It looked like something they improvised.

We were on the side of the stage where the final two drumkits would pop up. We stood in front of Robert Trujillo’s rig and bass tech, so he spent a lot of time in front of us between songs.

Robert Trujillo’s side of the stage was right in front of us

When the drums made it to our side of the stage for the second half of the show, we had our best views of the evening. They started with “The Call of Ktulu”, an instrumental on par with “Orion”. The band stuck together like they normally do for that song and looked like they were having a blast playing it. I think that is one of the things that make these M72 concerts so great. Since Metallica is in the round, they can’t hide anything. You can sense their genuine enjoyment throughout the night.

Not quite the Snake Pit, but close enough

The final songs of the night battered our senses with fire, fireworks, beach balls, and loudness. They played through hits, finishing up with “One” and the anthemic “Enter Sandman”. I was completely drained.

We huddled up and took the subway back to the hotel. Since I couldn’t ride my motorcycle as originally planned, I just drove home after the show. It wasn’t quite the ending to the weekend I was looking for, but my spirits were high. I got everything else I wanted out of the weekend. Time spent with friends in a fun city, and 30 unique songs from The Greatest Band of All Time.

Next up for me is a trip to Houston for a one night-only stop at NRG Stadium. A friend of a friend scored us Snake Pit tickets, so it is going to be worth the quick trip.

My M72 World Tour Itinerary

	Show #	Date	Venue	City
Complete	1	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
	2	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
	3	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
	4	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
	5	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
	6	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
	7	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ
	8	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
	9	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
	10	8/2/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
	11	8/4/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
	12	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
	13	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
Upcoming	14	6/14/2025	NRG Stadium	Houston, TX
	15	6/27/2027	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO
	16	6/29/2027	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #	ShowDate	VenueDescription	City	Tour/Event	VantagePoint
1	4/8/1992	Brendan Byrne Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Wherever We May Roam	Seats
2	7/17/1998	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Poor Retouring Me	Seats
3	11/24/1998	Roseland Ballroom	New York, NY	Garage Barrage	General Admission
4	11/23/1999	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	S&M	Seats
5	7/20/2000	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium	General Admission
6	7/8/2003	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium 2003	General Admission
7	4/20/2004	Nassau Coliseum	Uniondale, NY	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
8	10/22/2004	Continental Airlines Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
9	1/17/2009	Wachovia Center	Philadelphia, PA	World Magnetic	Seats
10	1/31/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	General Admission
11	2/1/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	Seats
12	11/14/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	General Admission
13	11/15/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	Seats
14	9/14/2011	Yankee Stadium	New York, NY	The Big 4	General Admission
15	6/23/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
16	6/24/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
17	5/12/2017	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
18	5/14/2017	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Worldwired	General Admission
19	5/17/2017	The New Coliseum Presented by NYCV	Uniondale, NY	Worldwired	General Admission
20	7/19/2017	Parc Jean-Drapeau	Montreal, QC	Worldwired	Snake Pit
21	10/20/2018	Bryce Jordan Center	State College, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
22	10/25/2018	Wells Fargo Center	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
23	9/6/2019	Chase Center	San Francisco, CA	S&M2	Seats
24	9/24/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
25	9/25/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
26	5/29/2022	Harvard Athletic Complex	Boston, MA	Boston Calling	General Admission
27	8/11/2022	Highmark Stadium	Buffalo, NY	(none)	General Admission
28	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
29	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
30	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
31	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
32	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
33	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
34	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
35	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
36	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
37	8/2/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
38	8/4/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
39	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
40	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	General Admission

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

Song	Times Seen
Creeping Death	7
Fuel	7
Harvester Of Sorrow	7
Lux Æterna	7
Nothing Else Matters	7
Orion	7
Sad But True	7
Seek and Destroy	7
72 Seasons	6
Enter Sandman	6
For Whom The Bell Tolls	6
If Darkness Had A Son	6
King Nothing	6
Master of Puppets	6
Moth Into Flame	6
One	6
Ride The Lightning	6
The Call of Ktulu	6
The Day That Never Comes	6
Wherever I May Roam	6
Fade To Black	5
Shadows Follow	5
The Unforgiven	5
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	5
Whiplash	5
Battery	4
Blackened	4
Holier Than Thou	4
Too Far Gone?	4
Whiskey In The Jar	4
Cyanide	3
Hardwired	3
Screaming Suicide	3
The Memory Remains	3
You Must Burn!	3
Fight Fire With Fire	2
Inamorata	2
Leper Messiah	2
Until It Sleeps	2
Dirty Window	1
I Disappear	1
No Leaf Clover	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Unique:	43
Total:	200

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

Song	Times Seen
Nothing Else Matters	32
Enter Sandman	31
One	31
Sad But True	31
Master of Puppets	30
Seek and Destroy	28
For Whom The Bell Tolls	25
Creeping Death	23
Fade To Black	20
Fuel	19
Wherever I May Roam	17
Blackened	15
Moth Into Flame	15
Battery	14
Ride The Lightning	14
The Unforgiven	14
Harvester Of Sorrow	13
The Day That Never Comes	13
Whiplash	13
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	12
The Memory Remains	11
Hardwired	10
Holier Than Thou	10
Cyanide	9
King Nothing	9
The Call of Ktulu	9
Fight Fire With Fire	8
Orion	8
Whiskey In The Jar	8
Lux Æterna	7
Now That We’re Dead	7
72 Seasons	6
Atlas, Rise!	6
If Darkness Had A Son	6
No Leaf Clover	6
The Four Horsemen	6
All Nightmare Long	5
Broken, Beat And Scarred	5
Halo On Fire	5
Of Wolf and Man	5
Shadows Follow	5
That Was Just Your Life	5
The End Of The Line	5
Breadfan	4
Hit The Lights	4
Last Caress	4
Too Far Gone?	4
Until It Sleeps	4
I Disappear	3
Screaming Suicide	3
St. Anger	3
The God That Failed	3
Through the Never	3
Turn The Page	3
You Must Burn!	3
Am I Evil?	2
Bleeding Me	2
Blitzkrieg	2
Die, Die My Darling	2
Dirty Window	2
Don’t Tread On Me	2
Frantic	2
Inamorata	2
Last Caress/Green Hell	2
Leper Messiah	2
Motorbreath	2
My Friend Of Misery	2
Overkill	2
The Outlaw Torn	2
The Shortest Straw	2
The Struggle Within	2
The Thing That Should Not Be	2
Trapped Under Ice	2
– Human	1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth	1
…And Justice For All	1
All Within My Hands	1
Confusion	1
Damage Inc.	1
Devil’s Dance	1
Disposable Heroes	1
Dyers Eve	1
Escape	1
Hell And Back	1
Helpless	1
Hero of the Day	1
Iron Foundry	1
Jump In The Fire	1
Justice Medley	1
Killing Time	1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling	1
Low Man’s Lyric	1
Mastertarium	1
Mercyful Fate	1
Metal Militia	1
My Apocalypse	1
No Remorse	1
Phantom Lord	1
Sabbra Cadabra	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Small Hours	1
So What	1
Spit Out The Bone	1
Stone Cold Crazy	1
The Ecstasy of Gold	1
The Judas Kiss	1
The Prince	1
The Unforgiven III	1
The Wait	1
Unique:	109
Total:	684

Filed Under: Metallica Tagged With: 72 Seasons, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Limp Bizkit, M72 World Tour, Metallica, Pantera, Philadelphia, Robert Trujillo, Suicidal Tendencies, Travel

WrestleMania 41 Postscript

April 23, 2025 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

WrestleMania 41 week has finally finished. It feels like WrestleMania runs longer than a seven game World Series. It is a lot of fun, but it is also a lot to take in.

My initial reaction to the Saturday and Sunday shows is that they were entertaining but fell short of perfection. There were some great matches and some fun moments. But there were one or two head-scratching moments that were a distraction.

With a few exceptions, it was a good weekend to be a bad guy. It is rare to have a WrestleMania end with the bad guy winning, but both main events featured just that. The heels thrived in the undercard, too.

We were led to believe the Saturday main event was a story about CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. But that match was all about WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman. Heyman started off dancing to Living Color as he walked CM Punk to the ring. He proceeded to off the rare feat of making two heel turns in a single match, turning on both CM Punk and Roman Reigns! Who saw that coming?

The Sunday main event won’t be remembered as a classic. The match’s major creative flaw was that The Rock failed to appear and interfere. Instead, Travis Scott was the heater. I never understood why Travis Scott was at the Elimination Chamber, and I don’t understand why he interfered in the match at WrestleMania. Nobody talks about him and his motivations, and he never cut a promo.

On the WrestleMania Sunday post show, Peter Rosenberg quipped that nobody will “put the match in The Louvre”. But the historic outcome remains, John Cena won his record-breaking 17^th world championship, breaking Ric Flair’s record of 16.

Elsewhere over the weekend, The New Day, Jacob Fatu, El Grande Americano, Drew McIntyre, Dominik Mysterio, and Logan Paul all won as heels. Dominik Mysterio got a huge babyface reaction to his win. It is almost as if the bad guys are the good guys in today’s WWE.

The only major heel to lose was Gunther in a fantastic match against Jey Uso. But don’t shed too many tears for him, his attack on Pat McAfee on the following Monday Night Raw will keep him very hot going forward.

The biggest takeaway from the weekend was it is apparent where the WWE is headed, and where it is not headed.

The company is clearly behind the John Cena retirement tour in 2025. Seth Rollins was anointed as another top star in the company with his main event win. Jey Uso is going to have a long run as the secondary champion. Dominik Mysterio is going to rule the mid-card with his Intercontinental Championship run. Bronn Breaker went from losing his championship to being a Paul Heyman Guy.

On the other end of things, Roman Reigns is now stuck in neutral, he no longer has Paul Heyman, The Bloodline, or a championship. Cody Rhodes, whom the fans willed to a championship win at WrestleMania Xl, was loudly booed during his match which he lost. These two feel like they are a long way from their “face of the company” tenures.

My breakdown of winners and losers is as follows.

Losers

The War Raiders: That was probably their last big match in WWE.
LA Knight: What is he going to do now that he is no longer a champion of any kind?
Charlotte Flair: Her comeback from injury was botched by the company, no way someone of her stature should have lost to Tiffany Stratton.
Roman Reigns: If he isn’t the top guy, where does he even go from here?
Bayley: I don’t know if her injury is real or not, but it sucks to get pulled from the WrestleMania card like that. It tells me her best days are behind her.
The woman in the front row: Steve Austin is either losing his ability to drive or was drunk when he hit that barrier knocking that woman to the ground. How much did she pay for that ticket?
Cody Rhodes: Is it me, or is he losing the crowd? That’s almost unfathomable considering where he was just one year ago when he finished his story. Maybe he needs to write a new one. I hear that being a heel is all the rage these days.
Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn, and Braun Strowman: There was nowhere on either card for these guys?

Winners

The fans that no longer have to listen to “F!EIN”: That had to be the worst WrestleMania theme song of all time. That is not because I don’t like the genre. It is because it is objectively bad. It was just someone singing “FE!N” repeatedly. It didn’t have a hook or anything catchy to it at all. Give me Flo Rida or The Weeknd any day over this guy.
Jey Uso: He is an organic babyface that won gold at WrestleMania. A difficult feat to achieve these days.
Jacob Fatu: This guy came out of nowhere to win a WrestleMania championship match. He has a lot of upside potential.
El Grande Americano: The best luchador on the roster today!
Seth Rollins: Biggest win of his career, and a red-hot storyline going forward.
Iyo Sky: She looked terrible headed into WrestleMania but pulled off a big win in a surprisingly fun match.
Drew McIntyre: He always looks good no matter what he is asked to do.
Dominik Mysterio: A signature win for this Judgement Day member. He even managed to win over the crowd.
Joe Hendry: Whoever this guy is, he managed to have his WrestleMania moment even though he is not a WWE wrestler!
Logan Paul: Just keeps on winning.
John Cena: GOAT status with his 17^th championship win, and first as a bad guy

I am excited for the possibilities for the rest of 2025. There is a two-day SummerSlam in my home state of New Jersey and I expect excellence!

Filed Under: WWE Tagged With: Bronn Breaker, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Dominik Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, El Grande Americano, Gunther, Jacob Fatu, Jey Uso, Joe Hendry, John Cena, Logan Paul, Pat McAfee, Paul Heyman, Ric Flair, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The New Day, The Rock, Travis Scott, WrestleMania, WWE

WrestleMania 41 Analysis and Predictions

April 19, 2025 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

The WWE hits Las Vegas this weekend for a two-night celebration of professional wrestling at its best. The WWE has such a glut of talent on the main roster that even fourteen matches over two nights do not have enough spots for some familiar names. There was room on the card for Nia Jax, Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, or Solo Sikoa. But all that means is that we should expect the best of the best to attempt to collectively raise the bar from last year’s classic WrestleMania XL.

There are a lot of matches to analyze and predict so I will get right to it.

WrestleMania Saturday

The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) (c) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) in a Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship

Kingston and Woods were working with the most tired and overused gimmick we have seen in some years and were overdue for a change when they turned heel. Despite the necessity for a change, the heel turn landed with a thud and these guys are still boring and uninteresting.

The War Raiders endured a litany of name and gimmick changes under Vince McMahon’s direction in the beginning of their WWE run. They’ve finally settled on something that works for them, a straight-talking, badass duo. They will undoubtedly be excited for this opportunity and will bring their A game to the show.

Prediction: Winners and still World Tag Team Champions, The War Raiders

Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano

Rey Mysterio is somehow still hanging on as a full-time performer in WWE. He is often referred to as the greatest luchador of all time. But he now has competition for that title as he faces off against El Grande Americano. This relative newcomer to the WWE is handling himself like a tenured veteran. This match will be a great demonstration of the lucha libre style of wrestling.

Prediction: Winner, El Grande Americano

Jade Cargill vs. Naomi

This match is barely fit for Smackdown, let alone WrestleMania. This feud is boring, and neither one of them is very good in the ring. These two are taking a spot that could be used by wrestlers that are compelling to watch.

Prediction: Winner, Naomi

LA Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu in a Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

LA Knight is good for his staccato catchphrase and not much else. His promos are short and sweet, and they resonate with the audience. But Jacob Fatu is force to be reckoned with. In his short time on the WWE main roster, this Bloodline member (where do they get so many of them?) has gotten over quickly with both his credible microphone work and his in-ring skills. This is a great opportunity for both guys to put on a signature WrestleMania match.

Prediction: Winner, and new United States Champion: Jacob Fatu

Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair in a Singles match for the WWE Women’s Championship

Many consider Charlotte Flair to be the women’s wrestling GOAT, yet somehow the WWE managed to botch her return from injury at the Royal Rumble. The crowd was not too pleased when she won the Royal Rumble match, punching her ticket to WrestleMania. Tiffany Stratton is the current champion but has not done much to distinguish herself. This program is so boring that the two of them had to dig into each other’s personal lives in a live segment just to get people talking.

Prediction: Winner and new WWE Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair

Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso in a Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Jey Uso shocked the wrestling world when he eliminated John Cena from the Royal Rumble to clinch a WrestleMania championship match. Out of all the entrants in the Royal Rumble, Uso was the darkest of horses to have his hand raised. But this former WrestleMania main eventer has what it takes to carry a big match, and he has an army of fans behind him.

Gunther is a legitimate superstar in his own right. He built a reputation as a no-nonsense bruiser who is almost adorned in championship gold. Most importantly, he is easy to hate, and he is the perfect foil for the fan-favorite Uso. This should be the hardest-hitting and most physical match of the night.

Prediction: Winner and still World Heavyweight Champion, Guenther

Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk (with Paul Heyman) vs. Seth Rollins in a triple threat match

Leaving the company for ten years did nothing to help accelerate CM Punk’s timeline to main event WrestleMania, nor did his immediate injury upon his return in 2023. But here we are in 2025 and CM Punk is a WrestleMania main eventer for the first time.

This story behind this match blends a lot of real-world situations into the worked drama. Paul Heyman was a mentor, friend, and protector to Punk early in Punk’s career. Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns have a slightly less dramatized off-screen friendship to match their on-screen relationship. Seth Rollins harbors a grudge with CM Punk for leaving the company in 2013.

Heyman’s allegiances to Punk and Reigns will be tested. Rollins stands as the wildcard in this situation. These are three of the best wrestlers in the world right now and this match has instant classic written all over it.

Prediction: Winner, Roman Reigns

WrestleMania Sunday

Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley in a Triple threat match for the Women’s World Championship

While the triple-threat main event on Saturday night has the potential to be an instant-classic, this triple threat has the potential to be a disaster. The big difference is talent. The Saturday night main event has three of the best wrestlers in the world. This match has two of the best female wrestlers in the world, and one of the worst.

Bianca Belair already proved she can carry a WrestleMania match very capably when she main-evented WrestleMania Saturday at WrestleMania 37. Rhea Ripley dominates the women’s division right now and can stand with anybody. But Iyo Sky is a mess. She is undersized, cuts bad promos, and does not look like a credible threat against anybody. This is one of the bigger booking mistakes we have seen in the Triple H-era, and it would have been much better had they rolled with Belair vs. Ripley only.

Prediction: Winner, and new WWE Women’s World Champion, Rhea Ripley

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria in a Tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

I watch a lot of wrestling, and I still wouldn’t recognize Lyra Vaklyria if she bit me on the ass. Is that on me? Or does she just not make an impression? Maybe I haven’t given her enough of a chance, but I do not have high hopes for this match. It will be tough for these four that were thrown together to find some chemistry with each other and make it look good.

Prediction: Winners, and still WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez

AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul

This match is slightly lost in the WrestleMania shuffle but has a ton of promise. Styles and Paul are two of the very best the WWE has right now, but with the logjam of talent at the top they are stuck on the mid-card of WrestleMania Sunday.

In his short and part-time WWE run, Paul has mastered crowd psychology like a 15-year veteran, and his athleticism is unparalleled. Styles wrestled all over the world and has been to the top of the WWE himself. This could be a hidden gem on this WrestleMania card.

Prediction: Winner, Logan Paul

Bron Breakker (c) vs. Penta vs. Finn Bálor vs. Dominik Mysterio in a Fatal four-way match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

This looks like one of those “let’s get everyone booked somehow” matches from afar. But under the surface, there is a compelling championship match between four entertaining wrestlers.

Breaker is off to a good start on the WWE main roster. He is still a little rough around the edges and has a bit of a ways to go, but his speed and athleticism have delivered some noticeable in-ring spots. I would not want to be on the receiving end of his 22mph spear.

Bálor and Mysterio are a bit of an unlikely duo but have undeniable chemistry in the Judgement Day. The jealousy and mistrust between the faction members is classic heel work.

The newcomer Penta is one of several luchadors on the roster but received an open-arms welcome by the WWE fans upon arrival. WWE fans always like new and Penta is fun to watch. This is a quick ascension to WrestleMania status for him so he should be motivated to try to steal the show in what should be an unpredictable match.

Prediction: Winner and new WWE Intercontinental Champion, Dominik Mysterio

Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre in a Sin City Street Fight

Much like Logan Paul and AJ Styles match, this match features two stars who could be in the main event themselves. Both are former champions and are known for putting on hard-hitting matches. If you want a preview of what you could see, check out the McIntyre vs. Punk Hell in a Cell match from 2024.

A Street Fight allows for a lot of creativity. Expect this match to go anywhere in the stadium, maybe even out to the Vegas Strip!

Prediction: Winner, Drew McIntyre

Randy Orton vs. TBA

Kevin Owens had to bow out of his announced match against Randy Orton due to a spinal injury that requires surgery. It is good to see Randy Orton still on the card with an open challenge match and I am looking forward to seeing who the surprise entrant is. An NXT callup? A top star left off the card like Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, or Solo Sikoa? A Hall of Famer? Goldberg?

Prediction: Winner, the other guy

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena in a Singles match for the Undisputed WWE Championship

The reaction that John Cena has received since “The Heel Turn Heard ‘Round The World” has been amazing. His heel promos are so good that the audience can’t help but cheer him when they are over. With Cena set to retire in 2025, he has saved some of the best work for the end.

Cody Rhodes is hanging on as a babyface champion a year after finishing his story at WrestleMania XL in an epic main event against Roman Reigns. It is not easy to keep the crowds hot for a year as a babyface in today’s WWE, but Rhodes has connected with an audience that loves him.

This is Cena’s last WrestleMania match it it might be his biggest one ever. Rhodes is no stranger to WrestleMania events, having competed in two at WrestleMania XL and in the Sunday main event at WrestleMania 39. All the ingredients are in place for this match to punctuate an epic WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas.

Prediction: Winner, and new Undisputed WWE Champion, John Cena

Filed Under: WWE Tagged With: AJ Styles, Bianca Belair, Bron Breakker, Charlotte Flair, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, El Grande Americano, Fin Balor, Gunther, Jacob Fatu, Jey Uso, John Cena, LA Knight, Logan Paul, Paul Heyman, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Rhey Ripley, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, TBA, Triple H, WrestleMania, WWE

The Top 10 Most Impactful Heel Turns of All Time

March 8, 2025 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

Among the most important facets of professional wrestling is the heel turn. A wrestler who is favored by the fans does something to draw their ire, thus changing the trajectory of their character.

A heel turn can take on many forms. Some are surprise acts of betrayal. Others are teased over a longer period until the situation boils over. But whether you see them coming or not, the best heel turns have a lasting impact on the wrestling landscape.

It has been a week since John Cena turned heel (spoiler alert, it will make the list) and it was such a welcome surprise that it transcended WWE and was widely covered in the mainstream media. It had a huge impact on WrestleMania season and will define his farewell tour in 2025. This was a heel turn done right.

Following last week’s shock, the Internet was plastered with lists of the greatest or the biggest surprise heel turns. I have a different take on what makes a heel turn great, and that is the aftermath of the act itself. Here is my list of the top ten most impactful heel turns of all time.

#10: Triple H Breaks up D-Generation X at WrestleMania XV

A European Championship match between X-Pac and a corporate Shane McMahon took a shocking twist when Triple H interfered in the match on behalf of McMahon. D-Generation X was the hottest faction in WWE at the time and nobody saw it coming. The fans did not want to see D-X break up, but Triple H went on a decades-long run as a top superstar in the company, ultimately accumulating enough credentials to be enshrined as a two-time member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

#9: Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin double-turn at WrestleMania 13

The submission match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin with Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee was the best match on an otherwise forgettable WrestleMania card. Hart was an established babyface at the top of the card. Austin was an upstart talent that found a character that worked so well, the crowd was beginning to cheer for him despite him being a heel.

The match was executed so well that over the course of the match, both men turned. The crowd turned on Hart and cheered a bloody Austin as he refused to submit to the Sharpshooter. One of the biggest babyface runs in WWE history was launched at that moment, due in large part to Hart turning heel to put Austin over.

#8: Roman Reigns returns to the WWE at SummerSlam 2020

Roman Reigns was a multi-time WrestleMania main-eventer and WWE Champion as a babyface. Despite, or maybe because of his overexposure, the fans never embraced his character. He seemed very disingenuous as if he was pretending to be someone he was not.

In real life, Roman Reigns is a cancer survivor and in the early days of COVID-19 in 2020, he decided it would be best to skip WrestleMania 36. A few months later, he made a surprise return at SummerSlam. Following the main event WWE Universal Championship match between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman, Reigns attacked them both.

It was the heel turn the fans had been begging for. It was the beginning of The Bloodline storyline that dominated every WrestleMania from then on.

#7: Steve Austin makes a deal with the devil at WrestleMania X-Seven

During the Attitude Era Steve Austin and The Rock took turns as the top babyface in the company. Throughout Austin’s run, his chief rival was not a wrestler, but the authority figure of Mr. McMahon.

Austin and The Rock both entered the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven as babyfaces. But to the shock of everyone, Austin sided with Mr. McMahon to underhandedly tilt the match in his favor to defeat The Rock and become champion.

This was a controversial heel turn as the fans did not want to accept it. But Austin was able to take chances with his character and he did some of his best work with his ensuing heel run.

#6: Seth Rollins turns on The Shield: There’s always a plan B

The Shield was one of the first NXT success stories following their main roster debut in 2012. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose were an unlikely trio, but there was no denying their individual and collective talents. They worked heel at the beginning, but the crowd cheered them on anyway and they became a wildly popular faction.

At WWE Payback in 2024, a surging Shield defeated Evolution in a six-man tag team match. At the following Monday Night Raw, with The Shield in the ring, Triple H told them that there is “always a plan B”. Without warning, Seth Rollins smashed Roman Reigns on the back with a steel chair and broke up the stable.

The fans did not want them to break up, but it was time for them to move forward as individuals. All three eventually won the WWE championship. Ambrose foolishly departed the WWE for the obscurity of AEW, but Rollins and Reigns are still on WWE Hall of Fame trajectories in the WWE.

#5: Shawn Michaels attacks Marty Jannetty on The Barber Shop

The Rockers were an entertaining tag team. The relationship between Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels had begun to fray. They attempted to air it out their differences on the Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake hosted Barbershop. Just when it seemed like things were smoothed over, Shawn Michaels stunned Jannetty with a superkick. What happened next cemented the heel turn when Michaels violently through Jannetty through the Barbershop glass.

Shawn Michaels went on to be a two-time WWE Hall of Famer. Marty Jannetty went on to be, well, Marty Jannetty.

#4: Andre the Giant challenges Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship

Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan were long-time veterans of the professional wrestling territory circuits, working both as babyfaces and heels. But the era of nationally televised wrestling began with WWF in the mid 1980’s, so most fans knew them both as good guys.

On the eve of WrestleMania III in 1987 that was set to be held in the Pontiac Silverdome, Hulk Hogan needed a challenger for the WWF Championship. On an episode of Piper’s Pit, much to Hogan’s, and everyone’s surprise, Andre the Giant appeared with Bobby Heenan to challenge Hogan for the championship.

Hogan reluctantly accepted the challenge, and Andre was suddenly a bad guy. The interest in that main event sold out the Silverdome. WrestleMania went on to be the biggest annual event in professional wrestling.

#3: Vince McMahon: Bret Screwed Bret

In a turn of events at the 1997 Survivor Series colloquially known as The Montreal Screwjob, Shawn Michaels applied the sharpshooter to Bret Hart and Vince McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell despite Hart not submitting. While McMahon had always been the owner of the WWF, most fans only knew him as a television announcer and did not know he had actual authority in the company. On top of that, nobody in professional wrestling ever admitted to the fans that it was a work.

Vince McMahon had to make a critical decision about how to present things to the fans on Raw is War just two days later. Of all the things he could have done, he borrowed a move from 17^th century Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes and interjected himself into the story.

In an interview with Jim Ross, McMahon said that let Hart go to the WCW for financial reasons and was forced to call the match short because Bret refused to drop the title to Michaels on the eve of his departure. He unapologetically declared that it was not his fault and that “Bret screwed Bret”. Not only did McMahon admit that wrestling was fiction and that he called the shots, but he gave birth to the Mr. McMahon authority figure character that was the reigning heel for the Attitude Era.

#2: John Cena turns on Cody Rhodes

There is some recency bias here, but in just one week this became known as “The Heel Turn Heard ‘Round the World”. In 2025, an all-time great John Cena is in the final year of his career. If there is any knock on him is that he was overused and was always a babyface for nearly two decades.

All that changed in an instant following his victory at the 2025 Elimination Chamber. The Rock came to the ring (accompanied by Travis Scott for some reason that is not clear) and asked Cody Rhodes if he was willing to sell his soul to him. Using some not-safe-for-work language, Rhodes declined The Rock’s offer. Cena gave Rhodes a celebratory hug, but The Rock gave Cena a throat-slash gesture and Cena’s smile turned to a frown. Cena kicked Rhodes in the clackers and all three men gave Rhodes a beatdown in the middle of the ring.

Not only did this upend the storylines for WrestleMania 41, but it was the most shocking and unpredictable heel turn since #1 below.

#1: Hulk Hogan joins The Outsiders to form the nWo

The heroic Hulk Hogan character that dominated the wrestling landscape for a decade had grown stale. In WCW in 1996 he needed a change. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had recently departed the WWE for the WCW and loosely branded themselves as “The Outsiders”. They teased the crowd by saying there was a third member of the group.

At the 1996 Bash at the Beach, Nash and Hall delivered a beat down to Randy Savage. Hogan walked down the ramp and appeared to be there to save his long-time friend from further damage. In a Shakspearian Twist, Hogan immediately delivered a leg drop to Savage and the newly formed trio beat him to a pulp.

In a post-beatdown interview with Gene Okerlund, Hogan admitted he was the third member of the group and called it the New World Order of wrestling. The nWo was formed at that moment and went on to be the most influential heel faction in wrestling history.

Filed Under: WWE Tagged With: Andre The Giant, Cody Rhodes, D-Generation X, Heel Turn, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Mr. McMahon, nWo, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Shield, Triple H, WWE

2025 Royal Rumble Analysis and Predictions

February 1, 2025 by njnonconformist Leave a Comment

Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, possible adversaries at WrestleMania 41

WrestleMania 41 season begins with the Royal Rumble, and the WWE is riding a creative high headed into the event. The two keys to their recent string of creative success have been effective long-term storytelling, and an embarrassment of riches of talent at the top of the card.

Fans were miffed that Cody Rhodes failed to capture the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 39. But that just gave us a year of anticipation headed into WrestleMania 40. That WrestleMania 39 loss made his WrestleMania 40 win that much more satisfying. Now ten months into his championship run, he has maintained his momentum as a babyface champion and is still a big draw for WWE.

WrestleMania is a two-night event now, and even that does not seem like enough time to feature all the main event-level talent on the roster. It seems likely that Rhodes is a lock for one of the main events, it is hard to predict who else could join him. It could be anybody in this list: John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Damien Priest, Gunther, Drew McIntyre, The Rock, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, Logan Paul, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley.

Some of those names obviously have longer odds than others of qualifying for one of the two main events. The Rock is probably the first domino to fall. If he is available to compete (it would require a break in his schedule to train for a match), he would likely get one of the spots. But after his appearance on the first Raw on Netflix, he seemingly buried any feud he had with Rhodes or Reigns, so there is no obvious path for him to return.

Looking past The Rock, John Cena and Roman Reigns look like the top candidates to be in a main event. John Cena announced that this is his last WrestleMania, so this is his last chance to main event a WrestleMania. Roman Reigns would qualify based only on his stature. Assuming those two qualify, the next likely candidate to join them would be CM Punk. Punk was probably slated for a top spot at WrestleMania 40 had he not been forced to miss the event due to injury, so he could get his shot this time. But so many others on that list are hot right now and none of them would be a huge surprise to be featured in one of the main events.

The undercard features a compelling championship match between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens, and two filler matches. My expert predictions are as follows.

#DIY (c) vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a two out of three falls match for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Everybody in this match is terrible, and there is no good reason it should be a two out of three falls. There is no good storyline coming into this match, and there will be no good outcome coming out of it. With any luck, none of these guys are on the WWE roster by the end of 2025.

Prediction: Winners, and still champions, #DIY

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Kevin Owens in a Ladder match for the Undisputed WWE Championship with the “Undisputed” and “Winged Eagle” championship belts will be suspended above the ring.

That is certainly a mouthful. I mean, what could be better than a regular ladder match, but one with two belts suspended above the ring. Who even thinks of this stuff?

If you look across the whole roster, there is nobody better at playing the good guy than Cody Rodes, and there is nobody better at playing the bad guy than Kevin Owens. This business about Owens stealing Cody’s belt and pretending it is his own is priceless.

That is what makes this match so intriguing. Owens did all the work to really make the crowd hate him, and Cody sold it perfectly. These two are going to tell a great story in the ring at the Rumble.

Prediction: Winner and still champion, Cody Rhodes

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

As of the Smackdown before the match, only 14 women were announced for this match. That speaks volumes about the state of the women’s roster. There are a handful of credible wrestlers, and the rest are there to make them look good. Pick between Nia Jax, Bayley, Charlotte Flair, and Liv Morgan to win. The rest, as a certain disgraced promoter used to say, have no chance in hell.

Prediction: Winner, Charlotte Flair

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

The Rumble is a perpetual creative trap for the WWE. If we know that the winner is going to get a title shot at WrestleMania, it eliminates the plausibility of winning for most of the field. But this year the field is stacked with main-event level talent. Many of them have spent the past few weeks giving killer promos telling us exactly why they are going to win the Rumble.

As of the Smackdown before the Rumble, 18 men have been announced for the match. That tells me that the likely winner is one of those 18, and the others will be a handful of competitors from the main roster, a few NXT callups, and one or two returning legends, none of whom have a shot.

I would expect that there will be a lot of positioning for WrestleMania to take shape for those who do not win, too. All the top guys are going to be booked for WrestleMania, so they will come out of the Rumble with a direction to head in. I would pay attention to who eliminates who and how they do it.

The field can be separated into probability buckets.

No Chance in Hell

LA Knight
Rey Mysterio
Shinsuke Nakamura
Penta
Chad Gable
Bronn Breaker
Carmelo Hayes
Santos Escobar
Jacob Fatu

Outside chance, wouldn’t be shocked with a win

Jey Uso
Drew McIntyre
Sami Zayn
Logan Paul
Damian Priest

Likely winners

John Cena
CM Punk
Roman Reigns
Seth “Freakin” Rollins

I’ll go out on a limb and make a prediction. John Cena wins the match by eliminating CM Punk. Cena goes on to face Rhodes at WrestleMania. Punk then can complain that Cena always screws him and gets the top spot. But he goes on to win the Elimination Chamber. Then he faces Roman Reigns for the title at WrestleMania after Roman defeats Gunther somewhere along the way. Man, I feel like I should be booking this stuff!

Filed Under: WWE Tagged With: Charlotte Flair, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, LA Knight, Logan Paul, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns, Royal Rumble, Sami Zayn, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, The Rock, WWE