PWTORCH LIVECAST FRIDAY
HOSTS: BRUCE MITCHELL & TRAVIS BRYANT
SEPT. 9, 2015
LINK TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD EPISODE
Report by Mark Golden, PWPodcasts reporter
“We remember September 11, and all that it cost”
HOT TOPICS
-Kurt Angle announces he will not resign with TNA, and has no interest in signing with WWE.
-WWE’s Low Ratings
-Seth Rollins – Through the Looking Glass
SUMMARY (with Time Stamps)
0:00 – 5:13 Bruce Mitchell opened the show with a nod to 9/11. He then introduced Travis Bryant (EastCoastCast.com) – Bruce talked about Wade Keller talking with Scott Hall and Justin Credible on the Livecast on Thursday, as well as Wade recently being a guest on The Steve Austin Show (PodcastOne.com; iTunes) several times in recent weeks, where they analyzed both SummerSlam and NXT:TakeOver Brooklyn. He said Wade recently talked with Jim Ross on the Livecast, which segued into Bruce promoting his own upcoming appearance on The Ross Report, which will be recorded during Night of Champions weekend. Bruce also referenced his talk with Wade on the 9/10 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show (Torch VIP) and how they discussed Kurt Angle coming to the end of his wrestling career. (Plenty of wrestling audio to listen to)
5:50: Bruce and Travis talked Raw’s low ratings, and how, with the onset of the 2015-16 football and television seasons, the ratings will remain low.
11:30: Bruce asked Travis if he thought Seth should go back to NXT, as according to Bruce, Seth’s been portrayed as a bit of a loser. Travis didn’t exactly think so.
14:25: Bruce mentioned his chat with Wade, and they talked about what “retirement matches” they’d like to see with Kurt Angle. Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar were the unanimous choices.
16:00: Bruce asked Travis if he thought Sting would beat Seth at NOC. Travis, declaring that he’s not a Sting fan, predicted Seth would leave NOC unscathed, naming Cena’s newest merchandise as a hint to that theory, and the ultimate unlikelihood of former WCW star, the 56 year old Sting, being the company champion, as the other clue. He went on to say that Seth will probably vacate the US title, prompting the Authority to hold a tournament to declare a new champion, or they might just hand pick a successor. Bruce referenced Mid-Atlantic TV champion Roddy Piper, after defeating US champion Ric Flair for the US title, handing the TV title over to Flair, as a sign of disrespect. Travis said they are making Seth look like a child right now, what with his whining to the Authority. Travis said Sheamus might try to cash in and fail, making Seth the man. Bruce said the MITB shouldn’t always win the title. They said Damien Sandow are the only two to unsuccessfully cash in MITB.
26:13: They went to the phones. The first caller mentioned recent tweets between Eric Bischoff and a fan about wrestling needing to be “revolutionized” again, with Bischoff tweeting in response: “Stay tuned” – Bruce said he’s sick of hearing that over the last 20 years, as anyone that suggests revolutionizing wrestling doesn’t understand the business. Escaping the fundamentals, and delivering a macabre comedy show as a wrestling product is a recipe for failure. He also said that Bischoff wouldn’t spend his own money on a territory, but would more likely take a high paying job with a promotion in an executive role. He said this formula, however, has proven fruitless (Jerry Jarrett, Bill Watts, Ole Anderson) as lightening almost never strikes twice under these circumstances. Travis agreed, and had nothing to add. Bruce said to be revolutionary, they should just take the pre-existing talent, and put them in athletic wrestling matches built on compelling storylines that fans can get behind. Travis asked what other sport needed to be “revolutionized” and said that, with the exception of various innovative concepts, at the end of the day, sports are sports.
34:49: Next caller asked if Seth is overexposed at the moment due to lack of options. The Roman Reigns Project failed, and there was no “Plan B” – Bruce fully agreed, and said that while Seth can deliver in the ring, his act is getting stale among fans (i.e, The “boring” chants on Raw) – The caller also asked if there’s heat on Daniel Bryan because he’s injury prone. The hosts agreed that Bryan would be their savior right now, but his physical condition is too risky, but that doesn’t necessarily constitute backstage heat.
45:05: Next caller asked if Kevin Owens will win the IC Title from Ryback. Both hope he does, especially if it means great matches against a number of quality opponents, as opposed to a terrible, drawn out program with Ryback. The caller had a follow-up question, about a validity of a story Ric Flair told on his WOOOO Nation podcast (Play.It) about Ole Anderson questioning Flair’s status upon his return to WCW, fresh of a pinfall loss to Curt Hennig. Bruce verified it, saying there was underlying heat between the two already, dating back to the Horsemen days. Not to mention the fact that Ole tried to cut everyone’s pay, as he was old school through and through, and felt the current pay scale was unnecessary.
53:00: The final caller said brought up Seth Rollins’ promo timing, and said he seems to fit the WWE style today (pausing at the right times, et al) but questioned why WWE doesn’t try to create characters like they do on shows like Breaking Bad and House of Cards. The hosts basically surmised that neither would work, as none of the classic promo guys would gel well with a 3+ hour show (with a close exception being Steve Austin) and the secondly, the WWE would ot even could craft characters with the same ebb and flow of a compelling program like the ones mentioned, for myriad of reasons.
SCORE & REVIEW
I would rate this show a strong 3 out of 5. It was your garden variety Livecast, with the only detraction being the shaky audio. The hosts delivered a passable show.
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