Another Liv Morgan tease, and a reminder every show should be The Kevin Owens Show

WWE’s weekly YouTube hangout show, The Bump, is a pleasant Wednesday diversion.

Kayla Braxton, Matt Camp, Evan Mack, Dan Vollmayer and Ryan Pappolla are relatable hosts who are sometimes entertaining and never offensive. The WWE guests provide a the big hook, and provide an excuse to occasionally break some news. Outside of intermittent Network documentaries, it’s probably the place for big wrestling nerds like me to see Superstars talk about things like their mentors, best friends in the business, and favorite indie matches.

If you’re a fan of Kevin Owens, though, this week was a treat. KO started the episode solo, and used it as an opportunity to boost the profile of NXT’s Malcolm Bivens (fka Stokely Hathaway, whose use of social media has long proven he’s one of the savviest personalities in the business, and who has an ongoing storyline on The Bump about how he’s banned from the show for hacking their Christmas episode):

Once the regular crew returned, it was the usual mix of all the reasons KO’s so interesting and enjoyable. He spoke from the heart about his indie past and his family, sharing a nice moment with Steve Corino and choking up when he shared about finding a video of his wife watching his Raw debut.

He joked about being uncomfortable around people like Vollmayer who use the word “fly”, and ragged on his old partner/nemesis El Generico. And he got to express his love of animals and enthusiasm for zoos when a few folks from Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo showed up with a few friends in tow.

KO left with the animals, and the show honestly peaked at that point. It wasn’t the fault of the next guest, though. Toni Storm did a good job plugging Sunday’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II, and made an important appeal for help fighting the brushfires ravaging Australia:

The big letdown was that the show made it seem like we were going to get some insight into Liv Morgan coming off Dec. 30’s bombshell reveal she’s in love with Lana. But instead of any behind-the-scenes insight into her character or even advancement of her kayfabe story, she asked about next Monday’s Rusev/Bobby Lashley match then left to answer her door.

Oh well. We got a good 30 minutes of The Kevin Owens Show. It made the whole episode time well spent.