Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

November 13, 2015, 9:00 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 276

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Poor Fandango Photo Credit: WWE.com

Could Probably Use a Gang of Giant Friends – Fandango
Poor Fandango. The first time we've seen him in months and Braun Strowman just crushes him in short order. I'm not even sure why Fandango came out for his match, but he did, so I guess we can consider him a brave soul, if nothing else. I felt intensely sorry for him, faced as he was with Strowman and the rest of the Wyatt Family. He should have brought out his own gang, West Side Story style, and fiercely snapped his way to the ring. Speaking of things that are silly, I still can't take Strowman seriously, lethal bearhugs notwithstanding. You know when people who haven't ever really watched wrestling do an impression of a wrestler and what they come out with sounds like a cross between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage at their Hoganiest and Savagest? That's Braun Strowman. He's like a caricature of a wrestler.

Most Felt Friendship Absence – Sheamus
I loved that on Raw Sheamus was so distracted by King Barrett tangling with a soccer player that he lost his tournament match. It was an adorable display of friendship, but Sheamus did not accompany Barrett to the ring on Smackdown. I hope they haven't broken up because Barrett certainly could have used someone telling him to just finish what he was doing instead of running of his mouth. However, I have to say that given Barrett's lack of sustained success over the years, it's kind of admirable that he's still such a cocky bastard. Admirable or sad. Due to the aforementioned yakking, he lost his tournament match against Neville, so maybe he and Sheamus can make up as they console one another. I was excited about the match on paper, but in execution I only enjoyed it in parts. I don't know why they insist on doing a David and Goliath thing with every single Neville match. He takes a ton of damage, gets tossed around (and don't get me wrong, he's a man who knows how to get tossed around), and eventually manages to eke out a win. The Red Arrow is a devastating move, but it looks like that's all that Neville has, like he just has to wait for his opponent to make a mistake in order to hit it and couldn't deal any other damage. Yes, Neville isn't super tall, but he's a pretty solidly built dude. There's no reason to disbelieve that he couldn't take down King Barrett without having to take advantage of Barrett stopping to have a chat. Indeed, the best bits of the match were when Neville was able to get into some back-and-forth with Barrett.

Better Without Friends – Kalisto
I was super excited for Kalisto to have a singles match, even if it was against Ryback, and it ended up being my favourite match of the night. In direct contrast to the preceding Neville/Barrett match, Kalisto started out strong and established himself from the get-go as a valid opponent. He appeared cautious – he was facing a guy much bigger than him, after all – but that didn't stop him from dealing out offense with a will. I really liked how smart this made Kalisto look. Ryback had no idea what to do against a smaller opponent who wasn't on board with just being tossed around, and it cost him the match. Kalisto did also take a lot of damage, of course, but not in such a way that I could only see him coming out on top through sheer fluke. It was a much more balanced match than the Neville/Barrett one that I'm starting to feel bad about harping on. I did not expect Kalisto to win, and even though I know there's no way he's going to win against Del Rio in the next round of tournament matches, it was still the nicest surprise WWE has given me in a long time. I love the Lucha Dragons, but I also loved the crowd getting behind Kalisto based on his individual merit.

Should Not Be Friends – Alberto del Rio and Zeb Colter I like Alberto del Rio. I've always liked him, and in theory I'm glad to see him back, but this return has just been the worst. The MexAmerica thing and the oddly muted Zeb Colter are doing nothing for del Rio. Seriously, what's up with Colter? I admit I never was the biggest fan of his shtick even when he was first paired with Jack Swagger, but at least the character used to have a conviction that could not be ignored. His commitment lately has felt lacklustre at best, a general aura that del Rio is projecting, too. I really wanted to get into his tournament match against Stardust, more for poor, forgotten Stardust's sake than anything else, but I could not get past the general apathy overshadowing everything. It was a perfectly fine match – it's Alberto Del Rio and Stardust, of course it was technically good – but it wasn't the barn burner that I know those two could have had. del Rio won and, as I mentioned, he's set to face Kalisto next. Maybe Kalisto will be able to inspire something in him that Zeb Colter sure isn't.

Least Effective Friends – Luke Harper and Erick Rowan
Ugh, this whole Wyatt Family thing is so damn depressing. Despite having lost to the Undertaker one on one at Wrestle Mania and despite the Undertaker and Kane having escaped from soul eating and dark imprisonment in order to demolish the Wyatt Family two on four, Bray Wyatt is still angling for a match at Survivor Series wherein he chooses two of his family members to face off against the Brothers of Destruction. I guess he's a glutton for punishment or something. We've already gone over Braun Strowman dealing with Fandango. Harper and Rowan, meanwhile, in a match that I cannot believe was the main event, were soundly taken to task by the Usos. The USOS. Now, I like the Usos, and I'm glad to see them back together, but there is no way that they should be gaining the upper hand against two monsters like Harper and Rowan to the point that Wyatt got so frustrated that he and Strowman jumped in and handed the Usos a win via disqualification. It takes four people to stop the Usos' momentum, but you STILL want to run TWO people against the undead guy with lightning powers and the literal fire demon who won't even stay down when you EAT THEIR SOULS? Okay, friend.

This whole story went off the rails so fast I still can't quite believe it. Why should I ever take the Wyatts seriously as a threat ever again? It's absurd and disappointing to see them like this. At the end of the show commentary solemnly averred that this was a message to the Undertaker and Kane, who accepted Wyatt's Survivor Series proposal, but a message stating what, exactly? “Look how mediocre we are?” The scattered “we want Harper” chants during the match warmed my heart, but, man, what an awful way to end Smackdown. The Wyatt Family hovering over the Usos' bodies was the exact opposite of the effective ending of the Halloween episode when they took on Ambrose, Cesaro, and Ryback. That was impressive and intimidating. This was just sad.

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I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 276

November 16, 2015, 7:30 am

≫ Next: The Master of The Ten Dollar Word: Farewell, Nick Bockwinkel

≪ Previous: Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

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Snitsky may not have done "it," but he was on the Colt Cabana podcast Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown: I listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in my regular rotation that I feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If I can save other folks some time, I'm happy to do so.

Show: Art Of Wrestling
Episode: 276 (Nov. 11, 2015)
Run Time: 1:03:07
Guest: Snitsky (10:25)

Summary: In an interview recorded a few months ago, Colt Cabana talks to his former WWE contemporary Snistky about having a lighthearted approach to wrestling, being the one going over in enhancement matches and the true-life origins of the foot fetish aspect of Snitsky’s character — that leads to talk about meeting his wife and his high school, college and professional football career, including his relationship with Andy Reid at Missouri. He explains training to wrestle with the Samoans and Dory Funk, a memorably awful Greyhound bus experience, his relationship with Court Bauer and a 28-day world tour as a rookie playing “The Patriot.” Turning serious near the end, Snitsky talks about his WW/ECW run, feeling like a “bench player” and being dismissed, life post-WWE, his competitive nature and the importance of giving back.

Quote of the week:“All the reports I got I was doing great, everything was great. So I’m still at a loss as to why I got released. I still haven’t been told the real reason. Because it’s not the economy. I was the only guy that got released. It’s either shit or get off the pot. I’m not just gonna sit around, you know what I mean? Take it or leave it, I’m not gonna pull any punches. If you want me here, great. If you don’t, that’s great too. I don’t want to be here just to be here. That’s the point. I didn’t bust my ass all those years to get to WWE to sit and watch the show backstage.”

Why you should listen: It’s delightful to hear Snitsky’s many attempts to subvert the natural order of the show with a sense of humor less raunchy but more awkward than Cabana’s. And although it’s a strong departure from the silliness of the first half, the second part — in which a now-serious Snitsky speaks frankly about how his “use me or lose me” attitude cost him his WWE job — is solid in its own right.

Why you should skip it: The flip side to Snitsky joking his way through the first big chunk is a disjointed interview that sheds little light on the man beyond just as absurdist approach to talking with Cabana. The back half runs the risk of landing with some as little more than a bitter guy claiming creative didn’t use him well, blended with a little career counseling from Cabana delivering the “it’s OK if you’re a square peg to WWE’s round hole mentality” reassurance.

Final thoughts: I missed a good deal (all?) of the Snitsky era, so perhaps I am off-base when I report this episode came across as a revealing look at a good person behind one of WWE’s sideshow gimmicks. Unlike the “recently gone from WWE” interviews, such as those with the guys who played Mason Ryan, Jinder Mahal, Evan Bourne or Curt Hawkins, Snitksky’s unique personality mixed with his time away and added life perspective bring a much needed freshness to this category of guest. Although, let it be said Cabana’s weaknesses as an interviewer and self editor are on display. He clearly comes in with a “we’ll talk for about an hour and get what we get” approach as opposed to either mapping out a strategy in advance or having a better feel for the direction his guest would go and forcing that into something more useful. As he always implies, this is entertainment, not journalism. Fair. But there are times when a guest gives enough glimpses of being compelling that the listener wants for a more journalistic approach.

The Master of The Ten Dollar Word: Farewell, Nick Bockwinkel

November 16, 2015, 10:30 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 272

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 276

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A master smithy of vocabulary Photo Credit: WWE.com

Nick Bockwinkel died yesterday, November 15, 2015. It would be easy to list his accomplishments – and there were MANY, including being the AWA World Champion at the age of 52 (!) and wrestling a match against Jumbo Tsuruta with Terry Funk as special guest referee – but instead I want to talk about Nick Bockwinkel’s master classes in promos.

A lot of wrestlers point to guys like Ric Flair as inspiration for their promo style. Flair was great, no doubt about it, but when Nick Bockwinkel called Mad Dog Vachon one of the lowest elements of humanity? You could almost taste the disdain for every single one of the crowd who liked and supported Vachon, because here was Nick Bockwinkel, of all people, holding the title, wearing his fancy suits (oh, but subtly; no flash over substance here, Nick Bockwinkel was a gentleman, albeit not of the fancy British sort, but a gentleman armed with a tiny dictionary and all the words to bring you down five sizes smaller and the physical ability to kick your ass once you were diminished), using his huge vocabulary to insult the guy YOU wanted to win, making you feel incredibly, deliciously low-class, and you HATED him for it.

They gave Bockwinkel Bobby Heenan as a manager and I suppose that’s how it was done, back in the day, but my god was Bockwinkel the least likely guy to need any managing. He used phrases like “obdurate recalcitrance” to imply stubbornness and a frustration on his part for men who didn’t seem to understand that he, Nick Bockwinkel, was the very best, and don’t you forget it.

As the years changed, so did the style in which wrestlers worked. Flair was gold watches and jets in a time where most folks were struggling against things they didn’t understand, like big government and poverty. Bockwinkel was a dictionary and a disdain for the common man that was palpable without being ostentatious. Flair made you feel poor; Bockwinkel made you feel dumb, which was somehow worse, because you could always find ways to earn money, but intelligence wasn’t so easy to come by.

Any more, in wrestling, words are meaningless without actions and vice-versa. It will be a long time before any wrestler manages to combine both their words and the prowess to back them up in such a way as Bockwinkel, but men like Damien Sandow are hearkening back to that era.

Thank you for making us feel insignificant, Mr. Bockwinkel. You made it fun to prove to you we were anything but, but my goodness, how we loved to hate you.

And how you will be missed. Goodbye, sir.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 272

November 17, 2015, 7:00 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 273

≪ Previous: The Master of The Ten Dollar Word: Farewell, Nick Bockwinkel

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Austin talks to Wade Keller this episode of UNLEASHED Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown. We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in our regular rotations that we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we're happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show — Unleashed!
Episode: 272 (Nov. 12, 2015)
Run Time: 1:16:38
Guest: Wade Keller (14:40)

Summary: Steve Austin is on the horn with Wade Keller of The Torch for a “state of the union” on the current condition of WWE. They start with the biggest story, the Seth Rollins injury, before moving on to Alberto del Rio’s return, if Cesaro will finally get the chance to shine, handling the immediate future of Roman Reigns, the current ratings scene and how WrestleMania 32 might look. There is a little look ahead to the Ronda Rousey fight and Keller ends by stressing the importance of informed criticism from someone like Austin.

Quote of the week:“The guy that he beat, John Cena, they don’t want to talk about. Because they don’t want fans thinking, ‘Oh yeah, where is he?’ So they’ve just decided not to talk about him. And I think that hurts del Rio, because they did create a storyline for del Rio where he could gloat about taking the US Title in Cena. I mean, it’s almost in passing. It shifted immediately to it’s like he’s been around for four months, or he showed up and the didn’t beat Cena. They’re not kind of owning what he did. He ended one of the greatest US Title reigns ever.”

Why you should listen: This is a pretty good run through the top WWE stories of the day. The agenda is what a good episode of Cheap Heat might resemble, except Austin and Keller are much more able to stay on task than Peter Rosenberg. Content wise it’s not all that different from what Austin might cover if he requested listener emails or took calls, but Keller’s presence (and perhaps his time limitations) bring a brisk pace that yields delightful conciseness.

Why you should skip it: Aside from the comfort in knowing Austin is a staunch member of the Cesaro Section, and perhaps his strongest assertion yet you won’t see Austin in the ring any time soon, if ever, there’s not a good deal of substance here. That’s no knock on Austin’s opinions — I tend to agree with most, and Keller is completely right about the importance of Austin speaking his mind — it’s just that anyone who regularly listens to either guy will be able to predict both halves of the conversation.

Final thoughts: In the context of what else has been released in the last few weeks across the wrestling podcast spectrum, this is nothing special. But in light of what Austin has offered over more than two and a half years, it’s a good indicator of how much the show has improved in conceit and execution. Again, I don’t know anything about Keller aside from what I hear on Austin’s show, but in that capacity I certainly don’t mind having him appear once a month.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 273

November 18, 2015, 8:00 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair: Episode 29

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 272

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Austin gabs beer and rasslin this episode Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown; we listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in our regular rotations that we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we're happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 273 (Nov. 17, 2015)
Run Time: 1:20:18
Guest: Rob Croxall (17:22); Court Bauer (48:00)

Summary: Steve Austin is finally back at the Broken Skull Ranch. After a bit of chatter with his wife, Austin goes to a phone interview with Rob Croxall of El Segundo Brewery to discuss the creation and launch of Austin’s new IPA. After the break, it’s a different phone all, this one to Court Bauer, who opens talking about the high-impact style of modern wrestlers. That leads into discussion of how Rusev and Lana were misused over the summer, the evolving role of managers, Ronda Rousey’s stunning defeat and Billy Gunn’s dismissal from WWE.

Quote of the week: Bauer: “When you’re facing a Heenan’s Family or a Dangerous Alliance or a Devastation Inc. or whatever it is, you’re facing a cause. And they can throw a million guys and you can overcome those guys, but you’re still facing that cause until you beat the cause, that story can go on forever.”

Why you should listen: Croxall appeared way back in July on Episode 237. While that was a deeper dive on brewing in general, his return appearance should be illuminating for anyone wanting to go beyond the surface of “Stone Cold has a beer now.” The Bauer portion touches on areas of current WWE news that Austin didn’t broach during his Episode 272 call with Wade Keller, and it’s fresh with reaction to the Rousey fight.

Why you should skip it: Because dude, this episode is Capital B Boring. I could not bring myself to be interested in the beer half, especially the reminiscing about the launch party, and Bauer might want to have someone come in and check for a pulse. I don’t disagree with most of his talking points, but the approach seemed more suited to a typical Jim Ross whine session.

Final thoughts: Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace or whatever for this one, but the best part was Austin and his wife catching us up on life at the ranch. I’m really glad he’s continuing to make the effort to have real guests and stay current, despite traveling across the country, but with that comes accepting that some of the guests just aren’t going to deliver great entertainment. Still, we’re streets ahead of reading a bunch of Uberfacts tweets with a tipsy Kevin Nash, so it’s not all bad.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair: Episode 29

November 19, 2015, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Best Coast Bias: Seeing Red Again

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 273

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Blanchard is on his old Four Horseman buddy's podcast this week Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown; we listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in our regular rotations that we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we're happy to do so.

Show: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair
Episode: 29
Run Time: 1:15:24
Guest: Tully Blanchard

Summary: The episode begins with Flair briefly memorializing Nick Bockwinkel, one of the people who taught him the very most about the wrestling business. Co-host Conrad Thompson then brings up this week's episode of RAW, in which Paige made an insensitive comment about the death of Flair's son Reid. Flair holds back from saying all he wants to say, but it's quite clear that he didn't like it. He says the comment probably shouldn't have made it to air, but "one man is making that decision." After a lengthy discussion of this issue, Flair and Thompson bring on this week's guest, Tully Blanchard. He gives a brief summary of his personal history that led him into wrestling, specifically his father Joe who was a wrestler and promoter. This month is the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Four Horseman, so many memories of the glory days come forth. Flair talks a little about their hard partying, and it all makes Blanchard smile. What doesn't make Tully smile are his stories about leaving WCW and then never coming back, mostly due to receiving low money offers when according to him, "we were the ones selling all the friggin tickets."

Quote of the Week: Flair - "Here's the problem: I obviously have an opinion, but I'm afraid to voice it because I don't want anything to affect Ashley's career. I will just say that I know that Hunter and Stephanie and Michael Hayes have her back. I think if anything could be considered negative, I don't feel like she's comfortable enough to say no to anything yet. It's a tough spot to be in. Even though she's a champion, it doesn't mean she goes, 'Here's what I'm gonna do, and here's what I'm not gonna do.'"

Why you should listen: The failing of some podcasts hosted by former wrestlers is when the hosting duties lie solely on the shoulders of a guy who is in no way a trained broadcaster. WOOOOO! Nation fixes this problem by having Conrad Thompson essentially host the show and facilitate the interviews, allowing Flair to speak his mind and be loose without having to think of questions and guide the audience through an hour-plus of listening. Thompson is knowledgeable and doesn't try to step on Flair's toes. As for the episode itself, it's intriguing to hear Flair be reserved in giving his full opinion about the Reid thing, but the fact that he isn't too happy about it should probably tell you whether or not they were right to do it. Having Blanchard on the show means that Flair gets to tell his party stories with someone who was actually on the front lines with him, and though Blanchard doesn't go into much detail regarding that stuff, it's fun to hear two old friends reconnect and laugh about days gone by.

Why you should skip it: The failing of WOOOOO! Nation is that Flair always does the show by phone, with only Thompson being in a studio on a decent mic. Flair's speech isn't exactly crystal clear these days, and with Blanchard also being on a phone here, the audio quality doesn't exactly impress, and the guys are sometimes accidentally talking over each other. It occasionally feels like Blanchard is just happy to let Flair do more of the talking, and it's particularly disappointing when Thompson asks a vaguely worded question and Blanchard just answers it in like two sentences, and then he's done. The interview does not cover a deep amount of information. Lastly, there are two instances of a weird audio glitch where a 30-second chunk of the interview loops and immediately replays itself. Perhaps the phantom spirit keeping Ric Flair alive caused the audio to malfunction.

Final Thoughts: Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard were two of the absolute coolest wrestlers to ever walk the planet. That might be reason enough to listen to these guys talk. If you're looking for deep analysis of Blanchard's "I Quit" match with Magnum T.A., you won't find it here. But if you can roll with a flyover of Blanchard's time in the business and how he feels about what they did, this will satisfy. Maybe if Blanchard reappears on the show down the line, we'll get an even better interview.

Best Coast Bias: Seeing Red Again

November 19, 2015, 12:00 pm

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat Nov. 18

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair: Episode 29

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"Come on, preen harder!  Make them hate you!" Photo Credit: WWE.com

To the NXT cognoscenti that have filled Full Sail for weeks, months, and years on end, Eva Marie is like gonorrhea without the upside, a Jenga made out of hobo feces and broken glass they're being forced to play against their will--a living, breathing reminder of everything they revile about the main roster that in a lot of a cases may've sent them running to the more wrestling-focused welcoming arms of Wednesday night's flagship.

And all of that may be true. But what else is true is that in a week's time, they may be forced to call her something else - Champ.

It took her a while longer than it might've normally done to do so, since the crowd was rousting her at such volume that it took her a couple minutes to get out the words to completion without getting booed so loud you could've easily thought that Halloween had extended a few weeks and all the ghosts of wrestling nerds past decided to test their spooky capabilities in unison. (Hilariously, Bayley wordlessly leaned into Eva a few times while this was going on as if an actual Spectorian Wall of Sound was going up in the arm's reach between them.) Eva's eventual first words being "the inevitable was happening" only added to the meta aura that the whole thing was carrying off whether it was intentional or not: to which did she refer? Her being possibly the biggest heel in the offshoot's short but storied history? The absolute 180 from that which Bayley got not only in their short time together but in the match she'd just finished winning over Alexa Bliss (more about which imminently)? The sinking suspicion of many that possibly the most illustrious belt in probably all of WWE when it comes to match quality and making title matches matter may end up being nothing more than a sop to throw at Exclamation Point? All of this? None of this? Some combination of the aforementioned and/or the not mentioned? Stare into a funhouse mirror too long and even the logical starts developing cracks.

But for all the complaints registered against big brother on Monday nights and the occasional Sunday night, the one that seems to have the most ticks in its ledger along with the depth to be the most damning of the lot is that WWE puts on a day's plus of original programming a month and none of it connects on an emotional level, leaving a more serious fan flat at the ceiling and despairing why they continue to let this waste their time at the floor. This is not that. This is the dictionary definition of the opposite of that; whether by design or accident (...you know, what the marks call works and shoots) they've stumbled into the best two possible avatars on the best stage to tell this story, furthered very quietly and subtly by having Nia Jax squish Carmella halfway back to Staten Island in the opener to bookend the show but not bringing up the conversation she had with Ms. Everything last week during the program. If they're looking for a troll move to anger the audience yet still keep them invested, one of the ex-Shielders or Mr. Money in the Bank going corporate Sunday night couldn't catch a plane flight to get on a bus to run a marathon to get the heat that could possibly be generated by Jax more or less gifting Eva the belt off of a distraction after the Total Diva got beat about the ring for a few minutes. Even a pair of title defenses with Eva would make the Iron Bowl or Michigan/Ohio State look like fun-sized au gratin in comparison. And you thought Izzy cried when Sasha yanked her special headband off; some of the reactions by the male supporters would suffocate that in comparison. So as you can see, you can make an excellent case for it, and all the obvious reasons for Bayley to retain up to most hilariously Eva running across the ring into a Bayley-to-Belly to be the shortest non-Lone Wolf match in NXT history leading to a more evil leveling up are still in play.

The latest checkmark in the "or we could just have Bayley hold the belt until Asuka finishes kicking off the heads of the rest of division" was the thing that All Red Everything overshadowed by not choking on her own air, Bayley having a battle with but still pretty decisively stamping the L on Alexa. With Regal having banned the former Tag Champion Dubstep Cowboys from leading out their charge it seemed fait accompli that the Champ would retain, but to the credit of Ms. Bliss quietly into that good night she did not go. That being said, even with some fine taunting, facial selling and armwork, there was never the sense she was going to do what she'd done twice previously if only momentarily by snatching the belt. Bayley cut off the one possible Sparkle Splash attempt and shortly after a flurry of offense and receipting a slap connected with her signature suplex para la victoria. Most notably, the match saw Fancy New Bayley continue evolving on with some new offensive parts and a borderline heelish aggression right from the outset of the match. Bayley 2.0 Championship Edition is not her for your smacktalk and will respond by stomping you down in not one but two corner. B2CE is going to slam your head into the mat multiple times if you disrespect her by standing on her head. And she'll stand there wordlessly trolling you while you try to get out Word One, knowing full well in Full Sail to her people like the sun she exalts whatever she decides to shine upon. She said something along the lines of Bliss was good but batting slightly out of her league in the prematch interview, and another thing B2CE hasn't done yet so far is lie.

And truthfully, next week's show looks to be a borderline Clash of Champions level hourly show, with that title match also being home of the tag title rematch between Not The Mechanics and the Vaudevillians, the contract signing for Finn Bálor/Samoa Joe at Takeover: London and Asuka/Dana Brooke II: This Time It's Kickier. With this week featuring showcases not just by the aforementioned Nia Jax but also Dash and Dawson as well as Emma, the only thing besides the main event to really register as a re-establishment of a story being told match-wise was the bout between the Ascension against Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. It was unnotable for the end result, but rather another meta moment where guys honoring the Road Warriors by mocking them or vice versa getting the Hawk and Animal pop from a crowd so psyched to see them you'd be forgiven for wondering if Viktor and/or Konnor thought at some point even with a couple of tendrils "...wait, we left this place to eat crap every third Monday why?" It wasn't as if the former amateur stylists were reviled by any stretch of the imagination, and by the time the match had settled in proper it just turned out to be the semi-normal morass that can sometimes happen down in the land of black and yellow when the audience won't fully play along unlike their big league counterparts, but it was still kind of weirdly jarring to hear and see.

That being said, if you're intrigued by the idea of the most rabid yet most mainstream audience not playing around a little bit if at all--or horrified--or amused--or any combination thereof, then next week's show and possible main event is appointment television just like Master Of None or You're The Worst or Game Of Thrones...

...hell, you may even get your own Red Wedding between the ropes, and a Total Diva will be more than happy to send you little dorks her regards.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat Nov. 18

November 20, 2015, 7:30 am

≫ Next: Lobster Head and the Darkest Timeline: WWE Survivor Series 2015 Review

≪ Previous: Best Coast Bias: Seeing Red Again

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The Owens/MJH Twitter beef is detailed in this week's Cheap Heat Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown; we listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Cheap Heat
Episode:“Controversy Creates Cash” — Nov. 18, 2015
Run Time: 1:16:25
Guest: None

Summary: After touching briefly on the death of Nick Bockwinkel and the Kevin Owens-Melissa Joan Hart Twitter beef, the guys get deep into the Divas Title contract signing that ended RAW. Peter Rosenberg takes a hard left into shilling the Cheap Heat t-shirt, then just as quickly shifts lanes to preview Survivor Series, wherein David Shoemaker explains the event’s origins. They bounce back to the RAW tournament matches and those participants, spending a good deal of time on Alberto Del Rio. After NFL and Ronda Rousey tangents, the guys make Survivor Series predictions, lament the plight of Smackdown and listen to Stat Guy Greg’s corrections.

Quote of the week: Rosenberg: “Reid was a wrestler. He’s the reason she’s a wrestler. He; there is a part — and this may be hard for people to understand — she wants to carry him in her storylines. This makes him a part of her storyline, and that’s a beautiful thing. Even if it’s playing on a real tragedy. I think Charlotte probably knows Reid better than anyone else and felt comfortable the same way I thought it was laughable when people were offended at Paul Bearer being a part of the Undertaker-CM Punk storyline. Like that wasn’t appropriate for a man, Percy Pringle, who not only his entire life was dedicated to wrestling, but his character also played on death for 20-some years.”

Why you should listen: The boys are back for real this week, and it’s time to get ready for one of the biggest WWE shows of the year. The deep dive on the final RAW segment was respectful to people who were bothered while giving a good amount of context and analysis that examine parts of the debate largely ignored in the Twittersphere and help soften a lot of hot take fever. I also appreciated the time spent breaking down the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament and the respect given the guys outside the final four.

Why you should skip it: Time wasted discussing t-shirts and especially football deserved to go to Bockwinkel. What’s the point of having Shoemaker co-host a podcast if he can’t grab the microphone for a few minutes to properly eulogize a dead wrestler? The Rousey discussion went too long for my tastes, though it is relevant given her tenuous WWE affiliation. Still, if you’re going to check in at roughly 75 minutes, there’s no excuse for idle chatter — especially if it short-shrifts a more pressing topic.

Final thoughts: This is eight pounds of bologna in a 10-pound sack. The good is great, the bad is awful. This episode should have been RAW, Bockwinkel and Survivor Series. That easily would have justified a 75-minute show. We almost had it, but Rosenberg will not be denied his tangents. Still — glad to have them back in the regular rotation and especially to note Shoemaker is still writing for ESPN and hoping against hope someone form the Worldwide Leader’s audio department will give the boys some kind direction heading into WrestleMania season.

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Lobster Head and the Darkest Timeline: WWE Survivor Series 2015 Review

November 22, 2015, 10:25 pm

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 277

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat Nov. 18

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Dear Lord Photo Credit: WWE.com

In the TH Style. Yeah, this show.

Highlights:

• Roman Reigns defeated Alberto del Rio with the spear in the first semifinal match of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament.
• Dean Ambrose countered the pop-up powerbomb twice, the second time into Dirty Deeds, to get the duke in the other semifinal.
• Ryback, Jey Uso, and Kalisto were the survivors in the traditional Survivor Series match when they hit Sheamus with a flurry of moves ending in Ryback's Shell-Shocked.
• Charlotte retained the Divas Championship via the Figure Eight on Paige.
• Tyler Breeze used misdirection and a low kick from the apron on Dolph Ziggler to get the drop on him and defeat him with the Unprettier.
• Undertaker and Kane bested Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt when Taker pinned Harper following the Tombstone Piledriver.
• Reigns won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with a spear on Ambrose.
• After the match, Triple H came out to congratulate Reigns, to which Reigns answered with a spear. In the confusion, Sheamus hit Reigns with the Brogue Kick, cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, hit another Brogue, and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

General Observations:

• Lilian Garcia sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" to open the show, which was odd given that WWE only rolls that out for WrestleMania. Then again, Survivor Series was on high alert for an ISIS attack, and if Vince McMahon couldn't get promo time to tell Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to shove it up his own ass, the next best thing was a rousing rendition of our Nation's national anthem.
• Jerry Lawler wondered aloud during the Alberto del Rio/Roman Reigns match if the former won, would it be an international incident? WWE announcers say things sometimes that sound like they may be smart, but I'm not sure they know what those words actually mean.
• No matter how many times Reigns does the Bob Backlund Memorial Short-Arm Scissor Lift, it never fails to impress. He busted it out twice vs. del Rio, and with el Patron looking like he's been on IcoPro (if you know what I mean, wink wink nudge nudge), the move came off looking extra impressive.
• JBL called Dean Ambrose a "wild card" before his match with Kevin Owens began, only adding more fuel to the fire that he reads Twitter and knows about the subculture that has named Ambrose the Charlie Kelly of the WWE Universe.
• Owens locked in a chinlock towards the beginning of the match and immediately barked to the referee "ASK HIM." It's such a little thing to do, but it definitely makes what Owens does resonate. In another era, Owens would have been the best heel. Now? All the smark-ass motherfuckers in the crowd wanna cheer him for it, present company included.
• WWE production has been sketchy as of late, but cutting to Triple H in the back during an Owens resthold was brilliant placement.
• The sequence going from Owens throatily shouting "STAY DOWN" through Ambrose hitting the Nigel was A+ storytelling from two guys who know a thing or two about that.
• Xavier Woods came out sporting a hybrid haircut between Egon Spangler and James Brown. I don't know how he keeps doing it, but he keeps topping himself. Now I gotta go pour one out for Harold Ramis, whose 71st birthday would have been this past Saturday.
• Everyone does dives in WWE nowadays, but watching the Usos and Lucha Dragons go plancha quadrangular on the heels in the traditional Survivor Series match still held the kind of batshit insanity that those moves held back before they were spammed into eternity. But then Ryback going from the top to the floor reminded me and should have reminded everyone of how the mid-Aughts indie scene and thus present day WWE has ruined the dive for everyone.
• Woods got on the trombone after the traditional "New Day Stomps on a Dude in the Corner" spot (which JBL dubbed the "Unicorn Stampede") thing and then Big E went into his patented sleazy sensual dancing. However, Wade Barrett got in on the action, and instead of what usually happens when a white dude horns in on a black guy's act, it got even more hilarious. It almost made up for Barrett predictably being the first to be eliminated in the match.
• The Lucha Dragons' combo monkey-flip-into-a-splash and the New Day's Demolition Device double stomp are both tremendous double-team moves for widely different reasons. The former exemplifies the grace and beauty of lucha libre at its finest, while the latter gives New Day a sinister edge to belie their power of positivity veneer. Having both happen within a few spots of each other in this match was great contrast.
• Woods and Kofi Kingston carried Big E to the back after he apparently tweaked his shoulder on that signature spear to the outside, leaving Sheamus to fend for himself against Jey Uso, Ryback, and Kalisto. It was an asinine, backwards decision especially in the face of what was going to happen later on. Storytelling in WWE is broken, but I guess that's what happens when the master storyteller in the promotion is a bully with a skewed worldview.
• When naming dirtsheets possible progenitors of the Divas Revolution at the beginning of the Paige/Charlotte match, JBL said that it began with Fabulous Moolah. While Moolah was a notable female competitor, I don't think taking liberties with her opponents/students and pimping out other female wrestlers for sexual favors makes her a prime candidate for the advancement of women in wrestling. Then again, JBL was kind of a bully himself in the locker room. Birds of a feather and such.
• Charlotte began the match with some rough grappling, and Paige shouted "GET OFF ME!" While I'm not a fan of WWE agents laying out BLOOD FEUDS with grappling, that bit of in-ring banter popped me a bit.
• That being said, after the action spilled to the outside, the brutality ramped up and really took on the complexion of a personal, intense brawl. Paige tossed Charlotte around like garbage bags and at one point had a half-crab locked in so tight that I thought Charlotte was going to tear something in her leg. Charlotte responded with a really stiff running big boot and dropping Paige on the apron with the electric chair.
• The centerpiece spot in the match, however, popped off the screen in a big way. Having Paige scream "THIS IS MY HOUSE" on top of the barricade before Charlotte took her down with the spear to the floor was memorable, or at least it would have been memorable if not in the backdrop of the Reid Flair stuff from last Monday that seemingly everyone wants to forget.
• Dolph Ziggler enters the arena with a new piece of flair on his gear every show. By the time 2017 rolls around, he's going to be a walking, talking, grappling rack of clothes and swag, billed from the clearance section of Hot Topic.
• That being said, he and Tyler Breeze probably had the best match all night, even though it went shorter than some other prestige matches might have gone. It was a tight, crisp sprint. Sometimes, two guys just need to keep it quick.

• 25 years of The Undertaker, 18 of that spent on entrances.

  — IVPvideos (@IVPvideos) November 23, 2015

  
  
• Interesting that JBL and to an extent Michael Cole brought up Hulk Hogan without really saying his name while rattling off Undertaker's history at Survivor Series. I can only imagine McMahon yelling KILL KILL KILL in JBL's headset when he said Taker beat "The Immortal One" at Survivor Series for the title a year after his debut. Then again, Triple H publicly expressed desire for Hogan to come back to the fold and "make amends with the world" so who knows.
• I know Taker needs to come out and put in a full effort if he's going to be booked on shows from here on out, but I can imagine several other things he can do that don't involve a 50+ year old man doing a leg drop on the hardest part of the ring.
• Honestly, if anyone was going to take Braun Strowman off his feet and make him bump, REALLY bump for the first time in his main roster career, it makes sense that the two supernatural brothers would do it by simultaneously chokeslamming him through a table.
• For all the unease over Undertaker's current run, the spot where he and Kane sat up simultaneously while Bray Wyatt did the crab walk and Luke Harper stalked them was a damn cool visual.
• Ambrose and Seth Rollins supposedly had a blood feud going, and they began their matches with collar and elbow tie-ups. Meanwhile, Reigns and Ambrose are BROS 'TIL THE END, DAWG, and they came out throwing hands like one of them caught the other banging his spouse. I don't get WWE road agents sometimes.
• Honestly, ending the main part of the show at around 10:35 PM majorly telegraphed how the real ending was going to go. That being said, I was super-relieved when Ambrose bro-hugged Reigns and rolled out of the ring. Turning Ambrose right now would be the worst possible thing. He's a populist character, and he still has a ton of miles left before a heel turn makes logical sense. In fact, I was hoping he'd come back and deck Sheamus after the bell had rung for his cash-in as a favor to Reigns. That would have been some gnarly storytelling.
• Reigns spearing Triple H seemed to me to telegraph a match between the two in the future. I'm far more stoked to see those two face off than Trips going up against Rollins, to be honest.

Match of the Night:Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler - Not every great match has to be a sprawling, spanning epic. Sometimes, one just has to let the quick guys who bump hard and go in and out of counters do their thing, and everything will end up being alright. Ziggler and Breeze worked briskly and injected some emotion and hatred into the proceedings to make the cooldown match for the secondary main event. They began the match hot, which is not exactly a given in WWE. When the "blood feud of the year" had matches beginning with collar and elbow tie ups, an observer might be justified in thinking the agents drop acid before each show. But Ziggler and Breeze playing the game of one-upsmanship at the beginning fit the feud's tone perfectly.

The procession from that beginning where Breeze and Ziggler traded sojourns across the top turnbuckle was crisp and taut at the same time. The counterwrestling was on point, and each wrestler hit into his transitions through tight windows without losing the spontaneous and chaotic atmosphere a match between two guys who really don't like each other should have. But the end sequence with the big counters out of the finishes into Breeze taking the apron was a whirlwind that Breeze kicking the shin out from under Ziggler felt like a jolting wakeup call. The Unprettier was more shocking for leading to a clean win in such decisive fashion, but it was a refreshing way to end a match, especially in the valley of fuck-finishes WWE has seemed to find itself in.

Overall Thoughts: Survivor Series, on paper, looked to be one of WWE's finest shows, but the way it played out in real life was disappointingly slow and clunky. WWE seems to put on its best efforts when no one is really expecting the company to, but the inverse rarely seems to be the case. This time, however, the compelling series of Monday Night RAW episodes leading up to the latest installment of the second oldest pay-per-view on the slate as a wet fart.

To be completely fair, in a vacuum, the visual of Sheamus cashing in on a weary, exhausted Roman Reigns after the pyro and after the typhoon of confetti would have been the bedrock for an epic chase into WrestleMania. It could, and really should, have been a moment, and WWE loves to hype the fact that it's a company that creates moments. But context is a tricky, fickle beast. WWE has completely and utterly fumbled Sheamus since he won the briefcase out of what seemed to be nowhere. His character was not developed outside of owning the briefcase, and he wasn't developed as a true contender. Sure, the cache of holding the golden ticket is that the win can come out of nowhere, but at the same time, the difference between being groomed while remaining out of sight and out of mind and being made completely irrelevant upon the eve of the cash-in is staggering. Hell, Sheamus even lost in ill-fitting fashion in the traditional Survivor Series match.

And it's not like Reigns was built for that kind of moment either. Atlanta is as close to a Roman Reigns town as one can get in WWE, and even that crowd turned on him. The writing was on the wall for a heel turn to happen if Reigns was going to win the tournament, and WWE didn't seize it. Instead, Vince McMahon's vision for Reigns as the next rock-solid babyface led him to keep fucking that chicken. Obviously, the future is still unwritten, and anyone can be rehabilitated. Reigns could very well walk into WrestleMania against whoever the Champion ends up being, win, redeem himself, and take the mantel like he was always meant to. However, right now that future looks improbable.

Of course, Reigns, Sheamus, nearly everyone who has been done wrong to this point is a victim of the backwards way WWE tells stories. Sheamus, for example, never should have been put in a situation where he was down one-on-three in the Survivor Series match. That situation should be reserved for the babyface either looking to make a giant comeback or to go down valiantly to build up a big heel. The way it played out felt like a schoolyard beatdown of an unpopular kid, which really isn't a good look for anyone. Charlotte and Paige fought over words that were conveniently cut out of the recap packages (that made Charlotte look like the goober for overreacting) and that WWE is allegedly making Charlotte take the fall for. And the supernatural stable of hillbilly Deliverance cosplayers once again got its lunch handed to them. I'm not one to make big deals about wins and losses, but if one is to believe Bray Wyatt is a force, shouldn't his group be more than ineffectual to the point of hilarity? All the group is right now is bluster. They don't win matches against their opponents, and their actions don't have any long-lasting effects.

Sure, the night wasn't all bad in terms of booking or wrestling. Charlotte and Paige worked a fine match, and Tyler Breeze and Dolph Ziggler quickened the pace and tried injecting some life into the show. Breeze in particular took center stage and has been built into something worth fearing, booing, or even getting behind. How long that may last, however, is a mystery. And that's modern WWE in a nutshell. Guys come up and they make splashes, but one is left waiting for when the bottom falls out on them. Sometimes, a Kevin Owens will luck out and parlay his hot start into a substantial, consistent run, but for every Owens, a Ryback is there to fizzle out, whether through fault of his own or via the machinations of shitty organizational structure, and get stuck in midcard hell. Then, when WWE tries to make that wrestler a thing again, well, it ends up producing Sheamus winning Money in the Bank and cashing in at the end of Survivor Series to the general reaction of watching those Sarah McLachlan commercials for pet shelters.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 277

November 23, 2015, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

≪ Previous: Lobster Head and the Darkest Timeline: WWE Survivor Series 2015 Review

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Alexander was one of many guests for this week's live AOW Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

If you're new, here's the rundown. We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Art Of Wrestling
Episode: 277 (Nov. 19, 2015)
Run Time: 1:13:46
Guests: Cedric Alexander (10:35); Josh Alexander (21:34); Ethan Page (28:10); Dick Justice (43:00); Colin Hunter (55:25)

Summary: Colt Cabana is live from the Knights of Columbus Hall in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with a recently recorded live episode tied to an Alpha-1 Wrestling show. After some opening banter, he brings on Cedric Alexander, who discusses coming up in the Highspots environment and training with George South. Josh Alexander talks about retirement and his neck injuries before being joined by his tag team partner Ethan Page. After the live song of the week, “Supercop” Dick Justice, like page before him, recalls a border crossing challenge and then explains his character approach and professional background. The final guest is Colin Hunter of Kayfabe News, who talks about some of his favorite headlines, some unused ideas and his own journalism background.

Quote of the week: Page: “He was the product, I was selling the product. And that’s how I would get us everywhere. I would always be like, ‘Come on, Josh. Let’s go to this random show in the middle of nowhere. There’s gonna be 15 people here, but that’s 15 more Twitter followers, 15 more fans. If we get over in the small company in Chicago, we’ll get to the big company in Chicago. Then we’ll go to this town and do the same thing.’ I was always like, ‘Please, keep with me, keep with me.’ Then eventually he was on board and we started rising stock in our name. And then someone flew us out to California and then the rest was history.”

Why you should listen: This is a pretty decent effort by Cabana’s live podcast standards. It’s quite timely (recorded the day Nick Bockwinkel died) and lands nicely between lighthearted (so you don’t feel as if you’re cheated out of a deep dive with a guest who appears on the brink of a compelling interview) and playing for cheap laughs with broad, crude humor. Hunter probably doesn’t deserve a full episode, but like the comedians who appear during the Fringe shows, he fits here. Josh Alexander and Page are great together, and Cedric Alexander reminiscing about South was fantastic.

Why you should skip it: Very little about the Hunter segment struck me as worthwhile. If you like Kayfabe News you’ll enjoy revisiting the headlines, but it would have been far more interesting for Cabana to spend more time investigating either Hunter’s background or the site’s history. What we got is “Hey, remember these jokes? Those were funny.” Likewise, Justice was more or less glossed over. Neither segment was offensive or tasteless, but both would be fairly labeled inessential and certainly unsatisfying for people hoping to hear anything of substance from those particular guests.

Final thoughts: Both Alexanders (no relation) probably warrant their own full episodes. If that happens, Cabana did them right here by not spending too much time covering the parts of their lives that would make for a great solo chat. That said, if you start at the 10:35 mark and stop around minute 40, you’ll probably have a decent time with little downside.

Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

November 23, 2015, 10:00 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 274

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 277

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Miz is forever alone Photo Credit: WWE.com

Probably Wishes He Had a Friend – The Miz
Poor Miz. Has anyone better perfected the art of being impotently indignant? First a segment of Miz TV spiraled beyond its host's control (I loved the awareness that Miz showed in acknowledging that his show always devolves into chaos – but HE wants to be the one directing it, not his guests), then he was punched out by Dean Ambrose, and then instead of having his match canceled the way he wanted, he was promptly dispatched by Cesaro (in a tragically short waste of Cesaro). I bet Miz would love to have Damien Sandow around to take some of this punishment.

Most Pointless Friendships – Stardust and the Ascension, Neville and the Dudley Boyz
I never can tell from week to week whether Stardust and the Ascension are still together. Stardust rarely comes out for their tag matches, and they only occasionally accompany his singles ones. It's only when they're involved in a three-on-three tag match that seem to be a unit. And they hardly ever talk to each other. So where is this kinda sorta team going? For that matter, what about Neville versus Stardust? Is that still a thing? Did I blink and miss the resolution? Or is Stardust moving on to Cesaro? What stake did the Dudleys have in this? Did Neville just grab the first tag team he saw to help him out? Commentary kept going on and on about all the history in this match, but it was a classic WWE case of telling and not showing. The match was fine, and I don't always need a reason for wrestling to happen (wrestling for the sake of wrestling is fine), but in this case I'm tired of all the water treading. DO SOMETHING. (and hopefully that “something” will be a series of Stardust/Cesaro matches. Neville can be involved too)

Deservedly Without Friends – Dolph Ziggler
I feel like I say this about Dolph Ziggler a lot, but he really is the worst and deserves to be alone. Rather than doing some much-needed self interrogation about the fact that he really HAS always fallen short, and Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae have a point (unsubtle dick jokes notwithstanding), Ziggler decided to stand at ringside during Breeze's match against Zack Ryder. Not do anything, just stand there, drink Breeze's beverages, and ruin the VIP section. Then after Breeze's quick victory, Ziggler beat him up. Because that's how adults react to things, by sulking and ruining someone else's good time followed by physical assault. However, I do like the idea of Ziggler just dressing worse and worse solely in order to annoy Breeze and Summer Rae. That's a level of immaturity I can get behind.

Most Lackluster Friend – Alicia Fox
By far the most hilarious part of Charlotte and Brie Bella's match was listening to Alicia Fox's half-hearted cheering for Bella. That was the quietest, “C'mon, Brie!” I've ever heard. Poor Foxy must be seriously re-evaluating her decision to join Team Bella. It got her absolutely nowhere, and now that Nikki's out of commission for a while she's stuck listening to Brie talk about juice cleanses or whatever. Had the camera stayed on her for long enough, I'm pretty sure we would have been able to hear “The Sound of Silence” radiating from her mind.

Most Unnecessary Friend – Ryback
Ugh, Ryback, stop ruining things I enjoy. I was very excited about Kalisto and Big E facing off against each other, and even though the match was woefully short I still liked it. Running the Lucha Dragons against the New Day is a good idea because sometimes I love the New Day too much, and I forget that they are in fact bad guys who are only in it for themselves (and the tables). Kalisto is a magical marshmallow who should be protected at all costs, so having the New Day set out destroy him – holding him down and LAUGHING AT HIM – after having first put Sin Cara out of commission was a great way to not have me on New Day's side for once (even though THE TROMBONE WAS WEARING A TOQUE. How can I NOT love them forever?). Kalisto also continues to be a short dude who is not at all helpless. He could have gone against Big E if only the damn numbers game hadn't come into play. And then Ryback had to come out and save his little buddies, and ugh. Do not want. He can go pal around with someone else. He's so incongruous with everyone involved here.

Best Temporary Friendship – Alberto del Rio and Kevin Owens
Normally I'd be talking about Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns here, but I think everyone is talking about them, and commentary was broadcasting pretty clearly that it's going to come down to the two of them at Survivor Series, what with all of the, “They're brothers now, but what happens on Sunday?” talk. So I'll let the Shield shards fall where they may (and by the time this post runs we'll already know what happened).

Instead, I'll just express my appreciation for del Rio and Owens being paired together. I liked that there was absolutely no reason for them to team up other than the tournament situation, and it's unlikely their paths will cross again soon. Kevin Owens being utterly bemused by Zeb Colter's talk about haters was beautiful (and can we please, PLEASE stop having Colter say the word “haters?” It's embarrassing for everyone). However, I felt that the two worked well together during their tag match. They both made multiple saves for the other, and del Rio seemed to have some of the drive and energy back that he's been sorely missing. If that's what Owens can do for him, I would like to see these two bond further through a desire to hurt their opponents as viciously as possible. And wouldn't it make much more sense for the Mexican and the Canadian to take on the Americans than for the Mexican to join up with the historically anti-Mexican, pro-American militant?

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 274

November 24, 2015, 8:00 am

≫ Next: We Watched a 50 Year-Old Man Walk Up Four Steps and Take Off His Hat, and It Was Awesome: A Live Perspective on Survivor Series

≪ Previous: Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

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Austin gabs with a WWE director this episode Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown. We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show — Unleashed!
Episode: 274 (Nov. 19, 2015)
Run Time: 1:22:16
Guest: Kerwin Silfies (14:45)

Summary: Austin welcomes Silfies, a veteran WWE TV director, to the Broken Skull Ranch. After getting into Silfies’ pre-WWE career, they look back at working with Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon. Austin then shifts to a technical discussion, such as how many cameras are used for modern productions and the way the shows have evolved. Silfies talks about stressful situations and why WrestleMania is his favorite show of the year. He tells the story of suffering a heart attack at age 48 following WrestleMania XV — including his near-death experience — then begins to wrap up by thinking about his backstage colleagues and the possible end of his career. Right before ending, Austin asks Silfies his opinion of when McMahon decided to begin an in-ring career.

Quote of the week:“I think (McMahon) stopped (doing play-by-play) because he was frustrated having to sit there and not be able to control other aspects of the show because he had to be doing the commentary. And he could make do with someone else doing the commentary easier than he could sit there and watch everybody else, myself included, screw things up because he wasn’t able to help.”

Why you should listen: This episode is easily one of Austin’s best efforts. He brokers his personal relationship with a WWE employee into an hour-plus of fascinating stories and information that predates the Hulk Hogan era while still looking forward to WrestleMania 32. And because Silfies is a backstage guy, most of his interview is completely fresh for Austin’s listeners — or when he talks about familiar moments, he does so with a unique angle. The heart attack tale has little to do with wrestling, and certainly there will be skeptics, but hearing a guy talking about watching himself flatline on the operating table is interesting at the very least.

Why you should skip it: It probably goes without saying, but those who are endlessly committed to kayfabe ought to skip out on this one. Further, those who routinely find themselves appalled at the type of slavish dedication to the corporate master McMahon demands of his crew are likely to be aggravated listening to a little-known company man who is clearly more dedicated to Titan Tower than just about anything else in his life. And if you love hearing Stone Cold work blue, be advised the interview is family friendly (though of course the opening monologue is not).

Final thoughts: This was clearly recorded when Silfies was at the Ranch shooting the Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels podcasts being promoted on WWE Network. I’m going to go out on a limb that neither of those chats with repeat, oft-explored guests will be as entertaining as this little sitdown with a guy whose name I might have heard a handful of times before pressing play. You don’t need to have any TV production experience to enjoy this episodes (though it certainly doesn’t hurt), and I commend it to anyone from the most veteran listeners to those who have never downloaded a single episode. It won’t change your life or the way you view WWE, but it’s a terrific way to laugh and learn.

We Watched a 50 Year-Old Man Walk Up Four Steps and Take Off His Hat, and It Was Awesome: A Live Perspective on Survivor Series

November 24, 2015, 10:00 am

≫ Next: An All-Weekend Rave: The 2015 Scenic City Invitational Review

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 274

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Always stay til the very end Photo Credit: WWE.com

Living in the hotbed of professional wrestling that is Atlanta is great. Lots of indieshows! Regular visits by WWE! Scott Steiner is opening a Shoney’s 15 minutes from my house! With this in mind, I attended the 2015 Survivor Series at Phillips Arena. While TH has already let us know his thoughts on the show, I had a very different experience being there live.

As the show started, there was a general sense of resignation that Roman Reigns was going to win the title and the crowd did what it could to register its displeasure. There was a pop anytime Alberto del Rio hit any offense, and reactions to Reigns have went full-on Cena. I’m not sure if they registered during the broadcast but the “let’s go Roman” chants were consistently answered with “Roman sucks!” ones. I guess if Vince is trying to turn Roman Reigns into the new John Cena, it’s working.

I wasn’t a fan of the women’s match, but that is utterly irrelevant because the posse of little girls in my section were totally transfixed by it. One of the highlights of the whole night was the six-or-seven year-old girl across the aisle from me who was literally on the edge of her seat throughout the match. Watching her spontaneously jump to her feet and applaud when Charlotte won was really cool. If you don’t think representation matters, you’re wrong. I saw it firsthand Sunday night and it was great.

I guess I have to talk about ISIS. Saturday afternoon, one of our local television stations sent out an alert that ISIS planned to blow up Phillips Arena during the show. I was concerned; I didn’t want to get blown up, but if I chickened out, the terrorists would have won. And I wouldn’t get to see The New Day. Also, what would people say about me if I got blown up by ISIS at a wrestling show? Probably something like “He died doing what he loved, sitting with a bunch of weirdos watching dudes pretend to hit each other.” Luckily, after a few minutes of research, it turned out that the entire thing was the creation of a local reporter named Mark Winne – the real world version of Herb Welch and subject of this video. I concluded that if Winne was reporting it, Phillips Arena was probably the safest place on Earth.

Moving on…

I’ve attended dozens of WWE shows, but I’d never seen the Undertaker live until Survivor Series. I’ve never been much of an Undertaker fan. I could always appreciate him, but I like my wrestling with a little more verisimilitude. I was always way more into guys like Bret Hart and CM Punk than a wrestling zombie wizard. However, I am pleased to report that after attending this show I am a changed man. That crazy old guy has a confidence and charisma that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

And finally, I was reminded of a running joke my family has. Whenever we see a Marvel movie, we’ll look at each other when the credits start and say “well, that’s the end – let’s go” knowing full well there will be more. I didn’t say it was a particularly funny joke. I felt a lot like that last night when Reigns pinned Ambrose and my section immediately emptied out – despite the fact that there were ten minutes left in the show. And sure enough, I had section 214 virtually to myself as Triple H and Sheamus came out to upend the happy ending my neighbors assumed they saw.

Seeing a live event allows you to focus on the in-ring performances without the mediation of commentary, commercials and weird camera angles. It allows you to create an experience of your own as well as being part of a common experience with the people around you. While I sure love watching wrestling on TV, it’s great to get out and see the real thing.

An All-Weekend Rave: The 2015 Scenic City Invitational Review

November 24, 2015, 7:05 pm

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It was Jimmy Rave's weekend Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

In the TH Style, obviously. You are going to want to get this thing, either on DVD or some kind of digital format. Contact WHOO! Wrestling for all the details. Seriously, do it now, even before you read this review. The tournament originally took place on August 7 and 8, 2015.

Highlights:
Night One

• Corey Hollis upended Joey Lynch with an eye poke and a basement superkick to win the opening first round match in the tournament.
• Ace Rockwell advanced over Mark Vandy after blocking a pump kick and hitting an Aces High ace crusher as a counter.
• Moose overcame an in-match knee injury to defeat KT Hamill with the big spear.
• In a battle of the behemoths, Kongo Kong crashed down from the heavens with the big splash to take out Tank.
• Jason Collins eliminated Caprice Coleman with a bridging cradle suplex and leverage from the ropes.
• Gunner Miller countered a Chip Day flying chop from the top with a big spear to advance in the tournament.
• In the longest match of the first night, Jimmy Rave tapped out Anthony Henry with the Dusk 'Til Dawn crossface to move on.
• In the main event, Gunner took advantage of a missed Chrisjen Hayme 450 splash to nail him with the PTSD Bomb to win.

Night Two

• In non-tournament action, Lynch defeated Henry with a one-handed, high-leverage roll-up.
• Hollis was the first to punch his ticket for the four-way tournament final with the eye poke/basement superkick combo on Collins.
• Gunner maneuvered out of a ring-in sunset flip to wrangle Rockwell into a PTSD Bomb to claim his spot in the final.
• In a certified HOSS FIGHT quarterfinal match, Kong countered a corner bomb with a hurricanrana and finished off Moose with the big splash from the top.
• Rave controversially dispatched Miller in the final quarterfinal match by faking an injury for a substantial amount of time and rope-a-doping him into an inside cradle.
• The team of Cameron Coxx, Mr. Sports Entertainment, Vandy, and Tank defeated Day, Ryan Vega, Alexander S. Kirk, and Matt Fortune when Tank smushed Day with a chokebreaker.
• Rave captured the first ever Scenic City Invitational Tournament by outlasting Kong, Miller, and Hollis in an elimination-style four-way match. Rave captured the final fall with the Dusk 'Til Dawn on Hollis.

General Observations:

• Normally, I run through the card and point out various moments that stood out, but since most of the competitors are unfamiliar to the audience at large, I'll just recap each of the matches in each of the bullet points.
• Joey Lynch vs. Corey Hollis - This match was a hot opener, setting the pace even with a few missteps here and there. Hollis did well to establish himself as the big heel during the whole thing with some subtle (kicking the ropes while Lynch was draped over them) to not-so-subtle (poking the eyes), and really came off looking like a star.
• Ace Rockwell vs. Mark Vandy - Vandy was actually explained as coming from the Indiana area, so it was his first foray into the Georgia scene as well. He also looked like he could be Erick Rowan's lankier, thinner brother. The match started off strong with tight mat work, almost with a #grapplefuck kinda feeling to it. It definitely stayed strong throughout, although it didn't reach the heights that some other matches that followed would. Rockwell's Aces High OUTTA NOWHERE was one of the better finishes of the first night.
• KT Hamill vs. Moose - It was weird to see Moose work underneath against a dude that was at least 75% his size, but Hamill was such a tenacious pit bull going after the leg that I bought it. Hamill really established himself with his wily tactics and wide-eyed intensity, but Moose showed he could be a top guy anywhere in this match. It also had the spot of maybe the entire tournament, when Moose caught Hamill in a rana on the outside and seamlessly powerbombed him on the apron.
• This point is probably a good time to point out how good the announcing was during the whole two-day slate. Dan Wilson and Al Getz may not be household names, but they honestly should be. They brought essential information, which was vital for a tournament featuring guys that many consumers may not know, but they were also engaging, entertaining, and amusing at points. Wilson exclaiming that the Tank/Kongo Kong match was a "good ol' fashioned HOSS battle" sold me for the rest of the viewing.
• Kongo Kong vs. Tank - I had high hopes for the violence level in this match, but it was probably the least consistent, spottiest match in the whole slate. Points in the match seemed to have both competitors slogging around and almost looking like they were wading through swamps, but at other points, they looked sharp and on-point with their movements, especially Kong when he unleashed his discus lariat for the first time.
• Caprice Coleman vs. Jason Collins - This match got my nod for the best of the entire two-day show, so I'll go in more detail below about it.
• I will say that Wilson's line about Coleman denying he was a vampire was golden. The cliche is that "black don't crack," and Coleman doesn't look like he's pushing 40.
• Gunner Miller vs. Chip Day - This match had the unfortunate task of being sandwiched between the two best contests of the first night, maybe of the whole weekend. However, it was a solid affair between a talented chickenshit heel (Day) and a potential top hero-type (Miller). Miller was allowed to display his big power spots, especially a damn-impressive military press that he uses only one hand for at the start.
• Anthony Henry vs. Jimmy Rave - This match was billed as Rave vs. the guy who could be the next Rave. Henry didn't have the villainous traits like Rave had built up over the last few years, but the dude could do some mad high-flying shit in the air, to put it bluntly. This match pretty much was everything one might want from a modern indie junior heavyweight match, even if towards the end, it got a little too into itself. Still, it could have main evented the whole weekend and gotten nary a complaint over here.
• Gunner vs. Chrisjen Hayme - The Hayme I remember from back in the day was a lot more high-flying than the one presented here, although according to the announcers, he had a pretty bad in-ring accident that had him curtail his high-spots. Hayme worked with the most overt personality of the other 16 competitors, and his shtick was an appropriate counterbalance for Gunner's rah-rah intensity. It wasn't the best match of the night, but it was a worthy end to the first show.
• The first night overall was punctuated by tight action, quick pace, and most importantly, strong finishes. A huge reason why I think night one is a strong contender for show of the year is because at least seven of the matches had tremendous, tightly-executed finishes that raised the quality of the matches beforehand by a few levels.
• Anthony Henry vs. Joey Lynch - Much like with Lynch/Hollis the first night, this opener for the second show was meant to set the pace for the rest of the night. It was a sprightly and exciting opener, and the final pinfall was super athletic even though the pinning combination seemed simple.
• Before the first match of the second night, Getz announced that Rave had suffered an injury against Henry to his shoulder and then had it aggravated earlier in the day in a car accident. Trust me, it came back into play later on in the card.
• Jason Collins vs. Corey Hollis - My one critique of this match was that they were paired together at all, given that Collins heeled his way to beating Coleman the night before and Hollis was established as the King Prick for the whole weekend. However, Collins worked well as a good guy here. Collins' suplex array wasn't as varied as it was night before, but he was able to bring that fire offense regardless.
• Gunner vs. Ace Rockwell - I found out after the fact that more than a few people who watched considered this their match of the tournament. I thought they were really ambitious and tried a lot of cool stuff in it, but it fell a little flat for me. However, the finishing sequence was really strong.
• Moose vs. Kongo Kong - This match, by far, was my favorite of the second show. It was a knock-down, drag-out HOSS FIGHT. Kong was unleashed here, and again, Moose totally played up the pathos of a sympathetic, underdog face although in an entirely different circumstance. Plus you're not going to want to miss a nearly 400 pound man attempt a corner Frankensteiner.
• Gunner Miller vs. Jimmy Rave - Aside from the controversial finish, this was another really strong match helping to establish Miller as a top-level face. Putting him against Day and then Rave was super-smart, and Miller acquitted himself well. Seeing him pull off the Croyt's Wrath was kinda mind-blowing too. Rave was great here, even through the ending.
• So about that ending, yeah, at first I had no idea what to make of the extended referee stoppage and everyone-pouring-out-of-the-back to check on Rave thing. As I was watching it, the scene unfolded like one of those overly long Family Guy gags that more often than not had an underwhelming payoff. But Rave popped out of the medical stoppage and sprung into the inside cradle so devilishly that in retrospect, it was an excellent trolling device. That being said, that finish will probably be the most polarizing aspect of this entire two-show slate.
• Tank, Cameron Coxx, Mr. Sports Entertainment, and Mark Vandy vs. Chip Day, Ryan Vega, Alexander S. Kirk, and Matt Fortune - This match was the textbook-definition of a palate cleanser between the dramatic fuck finish prior and the big four-way final match to follow, and it was fun and entertaining.
• Jimmy Rave vs. Corey Hollis vs. Gunner vs. Kongo Kong - Generally, four-way matches have been presented in tiresome fashion, but this match was done only two wrestlers in at a time and via elimination rules, which freshened the format up by going old-school. Imagine that. This match had so much going on in it, from Kong looking like the unbeatable golem through the impromptu reformation of Rave and Hollis as Jimmy Rave Approved though the end where Day and Vega came out to try and interfere on Hollis' behalf. The match did go a bit too long for my liking, but then again, it was a four-way final for the first ever SCI crown, and it also had so much action to dissect, compartmentalize, and enjoy that the length wasn't a dealbreaker in the end.

Match of the Weekend:Caprice Coleman vs. Jason Collins, First Round Tournament Match - The Scenic City Invitational's first night contained nary a bad match. The action flowed crisply and still contained all the rich storytelling that makes good wrestling great and great wrestling iconic. One match stood out among the slate of eight, and it featured the tenured-yet-still-youthful looking Caprice Coleman taking on the relative newcomer Jason Collins. The match was wonderfully paced without losing a sense of purpose or devolving into the sort of move-trading that the worst of wrestling can become, and yet the big moves in the match popped off the screen in tremendous fashion.

They began hitting all the best notes for a prestige tournament match. The preliminary grappling, the feeling out process, if you will, was both tight and felt rough, before going into the first strikes that looked absolutely stiff. The tone of the match had to be chippy or else moving to the outside and throwing each other into barricades and the like wouldn't resonate as well as it did. Even the stuff that might have seemed elementary, like countering a springboard ring-in attempt by Coleman by "slam-dunking" him on the top rope, came off super brutal and helped play up the big match atmosphere.

But the match was cemented and keystoned at the end with amazing displays of athleticism timed and paced perfectly. They saved their big bombs, Collins with his Taz-esque display of suplexes and Coleman with his aerial acrobatics, for the end, and it made for an impressive rally to the end. Coleman's backflipping Northern Lights suplex trio has to be seen to be appreciated. But with all the bombs being thrown around and subsequently survived, it made sense that Collins would have to resort to trickery to win the match. On a weekend stacked with tremendous wrestling, Collins and Coleman stood out above the pack as having the best match of them all.

Overall Thoughts: The Southern independent scene has deserved a revival for the longest time. Ever since NWA Wildside closed, the national gaze has drifted away from Georgia and the surrounding states, but over the last few years, Dixieland has grown into a healthy, vibrant scene. North Carolina and Florida have come into prominence, but Georgia has been ready to join the exchange with the rest of the country for years. The Scenic City Invitational on paper put together a slate featuring nationally-known names (Moose, Jimmy Rave), on-the-cusp guys who have tasted national fame (Kongo Kong, Corey Hollis), and a lineup of some of the best local guys Georgia and the surrounding states have had to offer. Suffice to say, those plans worked out in sterling fashion.

Out of 15 matches that took place from first bell on night one through the end of night two, none of them was anything worse than "pretty good." The wrestling was top-notch in every single contest, ranging from deep psychology and limb work to big high spots even to some subtle comedy, especially in the Gunner/Chrisjen Hayme and the eight-man tag matches. Everyone got a chance to show off their wares in extended spots, and all of them showed off their worth in varying degrees, whether in shorter bursts like Joey Lynch or for extended portions of the two-day fray like Kong.

Additionally, several wrestlers came out of the double-shot looking like absolute stars. Gunner Miller, for example, was able to build a character and establish himself as both intense, hard-nosed, but also sympathetic and noble. Even though his best moment came when he was just standing around during Rave's injury okey-doke, it was a time that cemented him as a wrestler worth pulling for. Hollis spent over 70 minutes total in the ring showing that he could weasel and heel and take an absolute thumping with the best of them. Even though the decision to end the final match with him and Rave, two of the biggest heels of the weekend felt weird at first, he was able to provide enough counterweight to Rave on the biggest weekend of his wrestling career. Moose may have been featured on Ring of Honor television all year, but he hasn't felt like as big a deal as he did during this weekend, and it wasn't even completely because he was exerting his size. Yeah, catching KT Hamill on that plancha attempt and powerbombing him into the apron was as eye-popping a spot as one could get during the weekend, but he showed real promise as a sympathetic underdog, which is mind-boggling for someone his size. But whether working with a bum limb against the smaller Hamill or as a legitimate size-challenged underdog against Kong, he showed likability, pathos, and fire.

But the eye-opener of the weekend was Kong. He's a guy who doesn't look like he should be more than a freakshow of a Kamala clone, but the dude consistently projected a fearsome aura without needing to be hokey. He made Tank and Moose, two guys who aren't small by any means, look like legit underdogs in his presence, and even though he was eliminated first in the final match, he was the final boss, the megalith that needed to be tumbled down in order to win the whole thing. And he didn't just do it by being tall and fat, but the dude was among the best workers of the weekend too. One might not want to see a questionable face-painted savage gimmick work holds, but at the same time, why shouldn't a guy from the deepest, darkest jungle who has been in the biz for nearly two decades have picked up a thing or two? And when you have a guy that size who CAN do everything that everyone else can do in addition to the stuff only he can do, shouldn't that also add to his aura rather than "undermine" some dumb gimmick?

But the weekend belonged to Rave, who almost went through a whole career microcosm during his three matches. He worked a prestige junior indie match against Anthony Henry on night one, a match that might have ended up the best of the show if not for some clunkiness at the end. He helped establish Miller as a sympathetic character and a future star in the second match as well as establish himself as perhaps the heel of the weekend by going through a prolonged faux-injury trap angle. And in the final, he reprised mantel as stable master when he and Hollis temporarily reformed Jimmy Rave Approved before they turned on each other to ramp up towards the finish. In that setting, the whole weekend worked.

In fact, the weekend was a success because it was a team effort. WHOO! Wrestling doesn't have HD cameras, but the cameramen got all the best shots and captured the essence of the Empire Arena. But mostly, the announcers were completely and totally on point. One couldn't ask for two better narrators than these two. Not only did they get the action in the ring over, they were informative about the wrestlers in the ring, which was huge for a slate of guys that may not be familiar to the average viewer, even one as in touch with the indie scene as myself. They were also humorous and engaging too. They did what any good announcer should do - supplement the action.

Overall, this show should be mandatory viewing for any wrestling fan. It's not perfect, but it is wholly satisfying from top to bottom. It should be the thing that puts Georgia indie wrestling back into the national spotlight. This tournament stands up to anything that any other company around the country has produced in the last five or six years, including most iterations of the Battle of Los Angeles. If you need something different, this tournament is the cure for what will ail you. If you don't get it, you have no one to blame for your malaise but yourself. And if you are happy with the wrestling you like, why not pick this up and try to add something else to your world? Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Dispatches from the Lake: Webster’s Dictionary Defines Underdog As…

November 25, 2015, 7:00 am

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Pictured, an underdog and Roman Reigns Photo Credit: WWE.com

I didn't want this post to be about Daniel Bryan. I really didn't. But after the very familiar looking ending to Survivor Series, it's impossible not to invoke his specter. If rumor is to be believed (and it really shouldn’t be), WWE is keeping Bryan off the program so as not to interfere with Roman Reigns’ current story. If any part of that ridiculous notion is true, then WWE needs to stop reminding the audience of Bryan. It’s not doing Reigns any favors.

That’s part of the larger problem with Reigns. It’s a level of disconnect beyond Machine Gun Kelly declaring John Cena as one of the biggest underdogs of all time. WWE, have you watched your show? Do you know what an underdog is? I’m starting to think that you don’t. Grab a dictionary! Look it up online! THIS IS NOT A HARD CONCEPT.

Let’s look back to the night after SummerSlam ‘13. The proto-Authority was in the ring, praising Randy Orton’s victory and toasting their genius. The entire roster was forced to watch this group of narcissistic dickheads, knowing they couldn’t do anything or they will lose their jobs. Daniel Bryan got called down to the ring so that he could address Triple H’s betrayal from the night before, but then he got jumped by the Shield, who kept him from getting into the ring. Bryan fought back, because he was full of babyface fire, but he still took the beating. He didn't get to speak, and the Authority celebrated over his charred corpse. At no point during this segment did he get to stand tall over his enemies. That would have to wait about eight months because that’s how you tell a damn story.

There’s some key differences here. Triple H hit Bryan with cheap shot to set up the Orton cash in, and Bryan took a beating the next night with no comeuppance. Bryan is also not the WWE’s ideal ‘Superstar’. An underdog story works for a guy like Bryan.

It doesn’t work for a guy like Reigns. He’s not an underdog. If anything, he’s an idiot. At Survivor Series, Reigns got murked because he was more concerned with spearing Triple H than watching his ass. Why should I feel bad for someone who just attacked his boss without provocation? Just leave him hanging on the handshake. That shit is ice cold, and Reigns doesn’t look stupid for forgetting that Money in the Bank is in play. He did get jumped the following night, but who could predict a surprise Rusev to the face? NO ONE. But Reigns got that back later in the show, but fending off his enemies with a steel chair.

I still think there’s potential to work with the Roman Reigns character. He’s a fun guy to watch in the ring, and when he’s not trying to be Supercool McCleverphrase on the microphone, he can be an engaging promo. Stop looking at your screen like that. Positioning him as an underdog makes no sense, especially when he isn’t allowed to show any kind of weakness. Let the guy show some vulnerability. Because as it stands now, the only thing Reigns reminds me of is John Cena, and I don’t want another ten years of that.

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I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat Nov. 25

November 30, 2015, 6:30 am

≫ Next: Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

≪ Previous: Dispatches from the Lake: Webster’s Dictionary Defines Underdog As…

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Sheamus and his cash-in are topics for this Cheap Heat Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown: We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Cheap Heat
Episode:“Fool Me Once, Sheamus On You” (Nov. 25, 2015)
Run Time: 1:02:41
Guest: None

Summary: Peter Rosenberg and David Shoemaker get the ball rolling before Stat Guy Greg reaches the Hot 97 studio. Most of the episode revolves around Survivor Series, which leads to talk about the Money In The Bank contrivance, RAW, WWE Network shows, the Cesaro injury, naming the inaugural MVP Of The Week (Stardust, Roman Reigns and Alberto Del Rio get votes) and World Class Championship Wrestling’s Christmas Day supercards. They end the show by leaving a birthday voicemail for Rosenberg’s wife.

Quote of the week: Shoemaker: “There’s no way to be really shocked by the guy with the Money In The Bank briefcase cashing in at the end of the pay-per-view, right? Unless it’s Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, they’re never that surprising. Like, you get into the moment, it’s like being excited every time somebody enters the Royal Rumble. … At any night, Triple H can come down and make a new Championship match after a match. So it’s just this unnecessary level of overt storytelling, like, just kind of boring storytelling. And almost every time the cash in is gonna happen, at least from now on, it’s not gonna be exciting. It’s not fun. It always seems forced. And it seems like desperation on their part. Like unnecessary.”

Why you should listen: The guys do a fairly good job of looking at the main event of Survivor Series in the micro of the moment and the macro of what the future can and should hold for the Money In The Bank plot device. The quick hits on RAW interspersed throughout the show are useful for illuminating what might otherwise be forgotten moments (the Mark Henry-Neville handshake and the Stardust-Titus O’Neill encounter) and there is promise in a new weekly feature giving the show a dose of needed structure.

Why you should skip it: The guys gloss over huge chunks of the PPV, and Rosenberg hadn’t watched RAW before the recording session, so a lot of time is spent either remembering what happened Sunday or recapping Monday for a guy who ostensibly should know at least as much about the ongoing plot as his audience.

Final thoughts: This is the first wrestling podcast I listened to after a week spent largely away from my usual technology. While at first I was happy to get recalibrated somewhat to the ongoing WWE cycle, I quickly remembered how little use I have for Cheap Heat when Rosenberg hasn’t bothered to watch all the relevant action before recording. Shoemaker and Greg tried their best to carry the episode, but it’s clear this was hurried into production on a holiday week schedule. With as little time as was given for the bulk of the card, I wish they hadn’t bothered mentioning the Paige-Charlotte or Dolph Ziggler-Tyler Breeze matches at all. Giving them lip service instead of fair critique seems even more disrespectful than ignoring them outright, especially when time was spent lamenting the onslaught of injuries and wondering who might capture the audience’s attention.

Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

November 30, 2015, 8:00 am

≫ Next: No Good Yarns in Sight: The Depressing non-Story of Roman Reigns and The Shield

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat Nov. 25

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They may look fearsome but on the inside... Photo Credit: WWE.com

Saddest Friends – The Wyatt Family
Poor Wyatts. This week their descent into the doldrums continued with Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman facing the Dudley Boyz. Because why not keep running them out against old dudes for absolutely no gain? Here's what's frustrating me most about his situation; is Braun Strowman the strongest and scariest man in the entire world or not? And if he is, why would Bray Wyatt throw him away on a match that means nothing? Why not save him for do-or-die situations? And if you ARE going to put him in random matches, maybe don't have Bubba Ray Dudley hold his own against him. Yeah, Strowman eventually overpowered him, but Dudley was still able to go toe-to-toe with the alleged BLACK SHEEP for far too long, and then he and D-Von together were able to shove him over the top rope. That's absurd. The Wyatts should not be coming up short in matches like this. Luke Harper shouldn't have to interfere and get them disqualified. The Wyatts ending up standing over the bodies of the Dudleys after overpowering them four-on-two doesn't erase the fact that they couldn't get the job done the regular way. This is the opposite of making them fearsome. It makes them pathetic. And it's just repetitive.

Better Without Friends – Becky Lynch
I'm not looking for Becky Lynch and Charlotte to end their friendship any time soon, but it's really nice when Lynch gets to shine on her own. Charlotte stayed backstage during Lynch's match against Paige, so we were spared any ringside shenanigans. Lynch looked great, and I really want to see her wrestle solo more. Paige looked okay, too, but her shtick has been wearing thin with me a lot lately, and the roll-up pin to end the match was hugely unsatisfying.

Worst Ex-Friends – Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter
Jack Swagger and Alberto del Rio had a match and I have to write about it. The match itself was... fine. The spark of life that del Rio has found lately seems to be holding, but, good Lord, I do not care about Swagger being bitter about losing his racist uncle. In fact, Swagger continued to be the worst face ever, moving toward Colter while del Rio was indisposed. What was he going to do to the mobility-challenged old man?!? del Rio was disqualified when he went after Swagger with a chair, which in wrestling logic meant that Swagger was totally justified in just WHALING on del Rio with a chair after the match was over. It made me incredibly uncomfortable watching the character formerly all about the white supremacy, who never actually renounced ANY of his racist rhetoric; we were just suddenly supposed to cheer for him, beating on the Mexican who is advocating for unifying Mexico and the United States. Lest we forget that Vince McMahon is real-life besties with Donald Trump.

Worst Friendship Role Models – The Usos and the Lucha Dragons
What was it with the good guys being absolutely terrible people on this episode? Earlier in the show the New Day was doing good work getting us all in the Thanksgiving mood, including us non-Americans. They even made me appreciate the Ascension (you can't bring DESTRUCTION to a potluck, guys!), and all-in-all were pretty harmless as far as supposed villains go. Xavier Woods even dressed as the Gobbledy Gooker to spread Thanksgiving cheer. Big E and Kofi Kingston later had a match against the Lucha Dragons, and it was fine. Not the greatest effort out of either team, but serviceable. Then at the end we were supposed to believe that the New Day would be so thrown by the apparent betrayal of Gobbledy Woods that they would instantly lose the match, and I refuse to believe that New Day would be so easily undone. The Usos then revealed that they kidnapped, stripped, and tied up Xavier Woods, and Jey took his place at ringside as the Gobbledy Gooker. Okay, guys. Prank successful.

But they didn't stop there! After Jimmy dragged out the still tied-up and practically naked Woods in order to further humiliate him, the Usos and the Dragons teamed up to beat on the New Day. But it was okay because...the New Day are sometimes cheating bastards? I know that turnabout is supposed to be fair play, but, again, this mostly just made me uncomfortable. The New Day weren't even a little bit horrible this episode! They didn't deserve this! Is this, like, an American Thanksgiving thing? Do you prepare for the goodwill of the holiday season by getting all the awfulness out of your systems on Thanksgiving? THIS IS NOT HOW YOU USE THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

Best Non-Friends – Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens
Dean Ambrose won a triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, and I am happy about it. That's pretty much all I have to say. I'm looking forward to Ambrose and Kevin Owens going to town on each other. I wouldn't have been averse to Tyler Breeze winning either, and I definitely think an argument could be made that he deserves to have a shot more, if only to get him on the map. He looked fantastic in the match, and I was more impressed with Dolph Ziggler than I have been in a long time. The match was fast-paced and tense. All three guys just went hard for it, and, as Owens himself said, they made it look like getting a shot at the Intercontinental Title is something that MATTERS. Owens was also a delight on guest commentary, and all of it added up to this being an excellent Smackdown main event.

No Good Yarns in Sight: The Depressing non-Story of Roman Reigns and The Shield

November 30, 2015, 10:30 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 278

≪ Previous: Smackdown: Friendship is Magic

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Running on Empty Photo Credit: WWE.com

Most people who deride professional wrestling point out its staged nature and say it's fake. But, we, the fans, know that this is the most brutally honest form of entertainment there is. This is principally because there is nothing "fake" about the emotions that millions of fans have derived from this staged dance for the past three-or-four decades. I didn't feel a lot of emotion when my country's cricket team (its the more elegant form of baseball) won the world cup even though that's a so called "legit' sport. I had a little dust in my eyes at the end of WrestleMania 30 even though I knew the results beforehand, and even accounting for individual idosyncracies I know that that was not an uncommon reaction to that particular event.  For some reason, Daniel Bryan's truimph, Eddie Guerrero's David vs. Goliath victory over Brock Lesnar, Mrs Foley's baby boy becoming the champion on RAW; these moments made me feel anger, despair, joy. 

And that to me is the first lesson for producing a professional wrestling product. What do you want the audience to feel? 

Another peculiar thing about wrestling is that it relies on a knowledgeable audience, but not wholly. For many fans, watching Daniel Bryan win the title was a vindication of his hard work and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds (quick, how many 5'8" wrestlers have beaten Triple H in a one on one match and then won the Championship in the main event of the same WrestleMania?). I watched a ton of Bryan's indie/ROH videos so that I could get the context of what the man was able to acheive. Being a long term fan is rewarding, and it should be that way. Wrestling in 2015 is not just about the immediate past (the three weeks before a PPV), its also about the remote past. It should be deliberately designed to appeal to the long term viewer. 

Reward the long term viewer and make a newbie so inquisitive about history that he becomes as well versed with history as the long term guy. 

Don't book angles but write biographies. 

Each wrestler is an unique individual. Write his life story. Some of it might be contrived but as long as its written well that won't matter. There will be crests and troughs. Absences. Pain. Ennui. Broken relationships. A graceful aging. Retirement. Farewells.

And now it becomes apparent why I don't really care about Paige vs. Charlotte, Roman Reigns, Sheamus et all. We are unclear about what story they are trying to tell about the characters, what stage they are at. If a real life death was going to be a talking point, that should have been introduced way back. Like, in NXT or something. Not Paige's remark but Charlotte's inspiration and hurt. As it is, no one looks good, and people are staring at each other flummoxed by what just happened. 

What is Reign's story? Short answer is nothing. Long answer, is that he would have had more of a chance if he had come up through present day NXT but back then he was just Leakee in a fledgling developmental, unknown to the audience until Survivor Series '12. As it is, once The Shield were booked as an unstoppable dynamo, it became too late in the day to revert them to being underdogs. You see how that wouldn't work? Frodo was an underdog. Neville Longbottom was an underdog. The Shield - not an underdog, not remotely. You cannot have boxes in which you throw people - heroes, villains. Such reductionism hampers story telling and obscures the grand narrative. So on the Shield break up Seth Rollins gets assigned to the villain side and Reigns and Dean Ambrose are stuck as heroes. 

I doubt that anybody answered the question - yes, maybe Reigns and Ambrose are less evil compared to Rollins but does that definitively cast them as heroic characters? Weren't these guys mercenaries not so long ago? If Reigns had to be turned into a traditional hero like say, Bayley (no better example of long term story telling and biography writing)  there had to be an event, a definite marker after which there is no going back lightly. 

To take a simple example, in the first Star Wars, Harrison Ford's character is a crook and mercenary only interested in making money for his own needs (and Chewbacca's of course). In fact his character is defined by his coarse humour and matter of fact approach - what cares he for revolutions and justice so long as he can get on unharmed and rich? To mark the twist in the tale the script requires him to do something that requires self sacrifice and without the hope of success or reward. He comes back to save Luke Skywalker hit the bullseye and destroy the Death Star contrary to his own plans. Such a positive act of valour turns him into a hero for the rest of the story. 

Now imagine if we were supposed to consider him heroic just because he gets injured while saving Princess Leia. Big whoop. He was doing it to get a profit and not out of any idealism towards a cause. (I am forgetting the whole script, but it was something like that right?)   

WWE expects us to accept Reigns as a hero just because he got cashed in on by the Money in the Bank holder, and said no to Triple H's offer for getting a bye into the finals. Maybe that could have worked for a man who was downtrodden to begin with but that expression cannot be used with any honesty for the early part of Reigns, Story of a wrestler. Hey, the cash in, as far as cash ins go, was fair and square. There was no reason to refuse Triple H's offer because you already had the number one contender spot won, fair and square. 

If he was to be a hero at all, after the Shield's break up, there required to be a turning point in the story which told us - here, this chapter ends, another begins. The Shield could have been a brilliant jumping point, an unparalleled opportunity to tell the tale of three men united by necessity, divided by treachery. Instead it again fizzled out into goodness knows what.

The WWE unfortunately, has forgotten to write biographies. They don't even attempt to anymore. While there have been moments of brilliance and the occasional stroke of inspiration, the majority of the television produced in the last, well, since ever, has been drab and just painful to sit through.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 278

December 1, 2015, 7:00 am

≫ Next: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Eps. 276/277

≪ Previous: No Good Yarns in Sight: The Depressing non-Story of Roman Reigns and The Shield

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Roode talks to Cabana this week Photo Credit: Lee South/ImpactWrestling.com

If you're new, here's the rundown. We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Art Of Wrestling
Episode: 278 (Nov. 26, 2015)
Run Time: 1:04:24
Guest: Bobby Roode (10:44)

Summary: Colt Cabana sits down with former TNA World Champion Bobby Roode. They open with Roode’s resistance to using social media, hit on the idea longevity, especially with TNA, then go over his series of WWE dark matches. Cabana switches gears to Roode’s personal background, watching Maple Leaf Wrestling as a kid and the career paths that never seemed to fit. He explains training with Sean Morley and especially Shane Sewell, the importance of Jim Kenner inviting him into the 2002 ECWA Super 8 tournament and how he got started in TNA, as well as some of the ups and downs of his (so far) 12-year run with the company. Roode also has some good words about the steady influence of Jeff Jarrett.

Quote of the week:“They didn’t hate me, but they kinda like — they knew. They saw me, right? Every week, it felt like I was there every week. … It’s funny, the excuse I always got from John Laurinaitis was, ‘We have nothing for you, and you’re too good for developmental. So, you know, go get over somewhere else and come back and see us.’ So I went and then got over somewhere else, and, you know, I just haven’t left.”

Why you should listen: This is a much more condensed, concise interview than Roode’s April appearance on The Ross Report. And while I had to crosscheck my notes from that show to confirm, it seems Cabana takes Roode on a much different path than Jim Ross. Roode’s experiences with WWE are in no way unique, but he’s well spoken and justifiably proud of his career and his choices, without an air of smugness.

Why you should skip it: In a word, boredom. Roode is remarkably low key — that’s either his personality or he’s uneasy with Cabana. There’s a reason Cabana insists his show is simply a recorded conversation between friends. When he’s tasked with conducting an actual interview, he noticeably struggles to move things along, and his lack of preparation is evident. Roode’s not a bad guest by any means, and it isn’t a horrible show or anything, it’s just not one of Cabana’s best, and it seems fans had a right to expect more from a guest of Roode’s caliber.

Final thoughts: This is a conversation between peers (they’re not overly friendly, but certainly contemporaries) instead of an old dude vetting a guy who really doesn’t need to answer to his host. So in that regard it trumps Roode with Ross. And it’s certainly better than another live panel show. But whether or not Roode and Cabana have any real life chemistry — they may well not — there’s hardly a shred of it here. It’s a shame, but Roode fans still probably will enjoy the chat regardless.

I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Eps. 276/277

December 2, 2015, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Best Coast Bias: Y'All A Bunch Of Puppets

≪ Previous: I Listen So You Don't Have To: Art Of Wrestling Ep. 278

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Foley is on Austin's latest podcast Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you’re new, here’s the rundown. We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show — Unleashed!
Episode: 276 (Nov. 25, 2015)
Run Time: 1:36:11
Guest: Wade Keller (17:35)

Summary: Austin is at the Broken Skull Ranch and on the phone with Keller. After touching briefly on Survivor Series, Keller explains his concern with wrestlers working only for crowd excitement and the struggles of performing via formula as opposed to being organic, then considers the influence of early 1990s wrestling on today’s young performers. The guys talk about the Divas division, in- and out-of-character confusion, how wrestlers respond to crowds and the difference between NXT and the main roster. After a break, Keller answers Austin’s questions about the idea of “sports entertainment,” then reviews the current disabled list and explains why he wants WWE to allow more performers to appear human on camera.

Quote of the week:“I think the biggest dick thing that you can as a wrestling fan is chant ‘You fucked up’ at a wrestler in the ring. There might be an occasion where somebody’s known for being super lazy, they’re pushing themselves, they’re the son of the promoter, they’re unprofessional and they’re missing spots left and right, maybe on that occasion. But when somebody’s out there working their ass off and they’re trying to do spots — and on occasion, like everybody, there’s a mistake — in the middle of a match saying ‘You effed up,’ completely dick move by fans.”

Why you should listen: This is not officially a two-part episode, but this conversation is somewhat foundational for the Ep. 277 talk with Mick Foley. Keller and Austin (and eventually Foley) are careful in trying to present their opinions with as little invective as possible, allowing the listener to fairly consider the points rather than wonder if there’s a hidden agenda. They cite examples of what they like and what they don’t, and it conveys a sense of educated fans who simply want to better enjoy their passion.

Why you should skip it: Keller is a few paces ahead of Austin, as usual, so some time is wasted by simply rehashing verbatim context most listeners will bring (things like the nature of various injuries or specific moments from recent RAW episodes). There was no need to go back down the “pro wrestling vs. sports entertainment” alley, and although I feel 276 and 277 complement each other, it’s probably fair to say Keller’s thoughts are well known and if you have time for only one such discussion, you should spend it on the Foley talk.

Final thoughts: This alone doesn’t justify listening to the entire show, but Keller’s insight about how wrestlers like Mojo Rawley who grew up idolizing the Ultimate Warrior and Goldberg didn’t understand their appeal was due in large part to their contrast to everything around them is indicative of why he remains a relevant voice, especially as he is able to do so without (near as I can tell, as someone who doesn’t consume his every word) much of the baggage of a Jim Ross or Dave Meltzer. I listened to this episode about a week after it was released and still found it plenty relevant, if only because there’s never enough reasoned criticism from qualified voices.

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Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 277 (Dec. 1, 2015)
Run Time: 1:28:35
Guest: Mick Foley (7:00)

Summary: In an appearance set up on Twitter, Austin calls up his old tag team partner to discuss Foley’s recent Facebook post about his frustration with WWE’s current direction. Foley explains why he’s ready for a change from the current Authority-based plots and his feelings about Roman Reigns. The guys discuss the challenges of being overly coached as performers and Austin talks about the importance of wrestlers listening to one another. They also recall the challenges and opportunities of being allowed to work on the fly. Foley details a few specific issues with recent RAW episodes and the guys lament constraints on ring time. Foley dumps praise on Sasha Banks and recalls Vader’s struggles in WWE. They settle a dispute over Austin’s working punches and relish how they were allowed to make mistakes. To wrap up, Foley promotes Sock Tuesday and explains how he’s beginning to slow down on his travel schedule.

Quote of the week:“Leave her alone, let her do her thing. Don’t tell her — you’re 70, Vince. She’s 23. You don’t speak for everybody out there. Just because you don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s not there to be gotten. When you have people chanting ‘We want Sasha,’ it’s not without reason. Like, please Mr. McMahon, please leave her alone. Let her do her thing. If they want her, give her to them. Let her do the thing. Look at the faces, future faces of the company. Here’s one of them. … It makes me sad to see someone work so hard who’s there and who’s being led in different directions.”

Why you should listen: Hearing Foley’s opinion on the current state of WWE in full context is superior to his written thoughts, especially with Austin being able to tease out deeper thoughts, identify the influence of Foley’s personal experience and needle at his various arguments. That probably makes this sound like a more high-minded discussion than it actually is, but whether or not you’ve read Foley’s Facebook post, any WWE fan will appreciate understanding his viewpoint. Further, the digressions off the main topic are entertaining. And where else might you hear Sasha Banks compared to Vader?

Why you should skip it: Whereas the Keller talk in Episode 276 has a bit more of an evergreen feel, this one already lost some appeal before it was released because it was recorded before Monday’s RAW. Given that Foley had made the content of that show something of an focal point of his fan ultimatum, it’s quite unfortunate to not hear his reaction to the episode, especially in light of his appreciative tweets that cry out for richer understanding. Beyond that, Austin hasn’t watched nearly as much recent WWE programming as Foley, to the point he doesn’t have any standing to ask things such as what Foley thought of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament. Also, maybe you’re just tired of nitpicking RAW segments.

Final thoughts: The attraction of these two episodes boils down to how much you care about dissecting what does and doesn’t work about the very recent WWE television product. I certainly don’t agree with all the points made herein, but I appreciate the presentation. Obviously these types of discussions aren’t for everyone, but I’m in a place at the moment where I’d much rather consider the flaws of focusing TV around angles that have little relevance at house shows than the actual issues in the world, so it’s a welcome diversion. At least listeners who have little interest in such topics can feel comfortable in knowing they’re missing little if they take a pass this time around.