diff --git a/src/dispatcher.rs b/src/dispatcher.rs
index b5e78467c3..13edbd1432 100644
--- a/src/dispatcher.rs
+++ b/src/dispatcher.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use lazy_static::lazy_static;
 use log::{info, warn};
 use regex::Regex;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
+use crate::proto_utils::get_payload_type;
 
 pub trait Handler {
   /*fn handle_message(&self,
@@ -29,10 +30,9 @@ impl Dispatcher {
   pub fn handle_pubsub_event(&self, message: protos::PubsubEventPayloadV1) {
     info!("Handling Proto: {:?}", message);
 
-    let payload_type = message.ingestion_payload_type
-      .and_then(|num| protos::pubsub_event_payload_v1::IngestionPayloadType::from_i32(num));
+    let maybe_payload_type = get_payload_type(&message);
 
-    let payload_type = match payload_type {
+    let payload_type = match maybe_payload_type {
       Some(p) => p,
       None => {
         warn!("No payload type; skipping.");
@@ -42,48 +42,10 @@ impl Dispatcher {
 
     match payload_type {
       protos::pubsub_event_payload_v1::IngestionPayloadType::TwitchMessage => {
-
+        info!("TWITCH MESSAGE!!!");
       },
       _ => {},
     }
-
-    /*let message = match twitch_message.message_contents {
-      None => return,
-      Some(ref m) => m.clone(),
-    };
-
-    let captures = match COMMAND_REGEX.captures(&message) {
-      None => return,
-      Some(caps) => caps,
-    };
-
-    let command = match captures.get(1) {
-      None => return,
-      Some(cmd) => cmd.as_str().trim().to_lowercase(),
-    };
-
-    info!("Command: {}", command);
-
-    let unparsed_payload = match captures.get(2) {
-      None => return,
-      Some(p) => p.as_str().trim(),
-    };
-
-    info!("Unparsed payload: {}", unparsed_payload);
-
-    if let Some(ref handler) = self.handlers.get(&command) {
-      handler.handle_message(&command, unparsed_payload, twitch_message);
-    }*/
-  }
-
-  fn parse_message(&self, message: &str) -> String {
-    lazy_static! {
-      static ref COMMAND_REGEX : Regex = Regex::new(r"^\s*(\w+)\s+(.*)$").expect("Regex should work");
-    }
-
-    "".to_string()
-
-
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index c874b80288..b77b64aead 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ extern crate serde_derive;
 
 mod dispatcher;
 mod handlers;
-mod message_to_command_parser;
+mod proto_utils;
 mod protos;
 mod redis_client;
 mod redis_subscriber;
diff --git a/src/message_to_command_parser.rs b/src/message_to_command_parser.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 03adca7055..0000000000
--- a/src/message_to_command_parser.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-use crate::AnyhowResult;
-use regex::Regex;
-
-pub struct MessageToCommandParser {}
-
-pub struct ParsedCommandFirstPass {
-  pub command: String,
-  pub raw_arguments: String,
-}
-
-impl MessageToCommandParser {
-
-  pub fn parse_raw_command(message: &str) -> AnyhowResult<ParsedCommandFirstPass> {
-    lazy_static! {
-      static ref COMMAND_REGEX : Regex = Regex::new(r"^\s*(\w+)\s+(.*)$").expect("Regex should work");
-    }
-
-    Ok(ParsedCommandFirstPass {
-      command: "".to_string(),
-      raw_arguments: "".to_string()
-    })
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/proto_utils.rs b/src/proto_utils.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..901ad1741f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/proto_utils.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+use anyhow::anyhow;
+use crate::AnyhowResult;
+use crate::protos::protos::IngestionTwitchMessage;
+use crate::protos::protos::pubsub_event_payload_v1::IngestionPayloadType;
+use crate::protos::protos;
+use prost::Message;
+
+// TODO: add some type safety w/ generics and type bounds
+
+pub fn get_payload_type(event_payload: &protos::PubsubEventPayloadV1)
+  -> Option<protos::pubsub_event_payload_v1::IngestionPayloadType>
+{
+  event_payload.ingestion_payload_type
+    .and_then(|num| IngestionPayloadType::from_i32(num))
+}
+
+pub fn get_twitch_message(event_payload: &protos::PubsubEventPayloadV1)
+  -> AnyhowResult<IngestionTwitchMessage>
+{
+  let payload_type = match get_payload_type(event_payload) {
+    None => return Err(anyhow!("no payload type!")),
+    Some(p) => p,
+  };
+
+  match payload_type {
+    IngestionPayloadType::TwitchMessage => {},
+    _ => return Err(anyhow!("wrong payload type!")),
+  }
+
+  IngestionTwitchMessage::decode(event_payload.ingestion_payload_data())
+    .map_err(|_| anyhow!("error decoding proto"))
+}