“WE WATCH WRESTLING”
EPISODE #111
HOST: MATT MCCARTHY
CO-HOSTS: VINCE AVERILL, TOM SIBLEY
RELEASE DATE: OCT. 14, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Steven Ganyo, PWPodcast reporter
TOP QUOTES
Matt: “There are guys like Honkey Tonk Man I can remember specifically saying, like, ‘Yeah man, there are times I wanna kill my wife or I wanna choke her, but once you kill that kid, you’ve gone too far now.'”
Vince: “I’m not gonna say I didn’t think [X-Pac] was crappy, I just thought he was crappy in a way that was kinda fun.”
Tom: “She was really showing off her butthole, A LOT, in the strip.”
HOT TOPICS ON THE SHOW
This week the boys talk some New Japan and NXT, show off their latest haul of gifts from listeners, hate hate HATE on VKM, and more!
SUBJECTS COVERED (w/Time Stamps)
*Intro*
*NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling Review* 03:35-12:55
*Gifts From The Listeners* 12:55-15:40
*Tom Finally Watched Kimona Wanalaya Dance* 15:40-20:40
*More Gifts from the Listeners* 20:40-28:35
*Tom Read One Of Jericho’s Books*
*Jericho on Benoit* 28:35-34:45
*The Boys talk NXT* 42:10-50:20
*Rapid-Fire Topics* 50:20-57:25
*Superstars Purgatory/VKM Is Done* 57:25-1:08:20
*Who’s Your Favorite Wrestler?* 1:08:20-1:25:28
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
This week’s issue begins with some New Japan talk. Vince is the only one who has not seen their most recent PPV and he’s happy to talk about it. Highlights include a possible botched finish in the IWGP Junior Tag Title match, an entertaining bout between Tanahashi and Naito, and Vince has ish with Bullet Club.
Next, a listener has drawn pictures of the boys mashed up with their favorite wrestlers and sent them in. They look at ’em and we listen.
Then, Tom announces that, after repeated urgings from his co-hosts, he finally watched Kimona Wanalaya’s dance from high atop the ECW Arena in 1996. Tom breaks down the dance itself and the boys discuss how that gimmick fit into the ECW product at that time. The conversation takes a brief detour to pirated tape-trading before Matt brings it back to an infamous angle involving Wanalaya to close that topic.
Transition back to more gifts from the listeners. Listener Gary sent a package full of old wrestling mags and some WCW and WWF ’90s trading cards, while listener Tommy sent in “a S– load of magazines,” including Rampage magazine, which neither Matt nor Vince remember existing. Meanwhile, Vince finds treasures hidden inside the WCW trading cards, and who fell asleep at the wheel of the Titan Sports card factory?
Tom then took the conversational wheel to talk about the Chris Jericho book he just read. I don’t think the title was mentioned but based on the discussion, my guess is Jericho’s second book, “Undisputed.” Tom was fascinated by Jericho’s thoughts on Chris Benoit, their friendship, and his final grizzly days. This leads to discussion about a shoot video compilation of wrestlers talking about Benoit, and the boys have a chuckle at the prospect of Jericho putting himself over even while talking about the tragedy.
Following that, Tom asks about the lengthy 2007 match between Shawn Michaels and John Cena on Raw, which Jericho credits for drawing his interest back to WWE. Tom recaps the finish of the match while wondering why they’d give it away for free instead of on a PPV.
The boys then turn their attention to NXT. They share their thoughts on Fínn Balor’s current look, their concerns about the fate of the gorgeous Tyler Breeze, and their excitement over the free flow of unsigned talent in and out of NXT.
This leads to a quick succession of discussion topics including a now-defunct New Jersey wrestling promotion, The Beastie Boys, friend of the show Jesse Popp, and whatever happened to that Cesaro guy?
Speaking of whatever happened to… the boys dig into their perceived mishandling of the lower card. Why have names like Cesaro, Swagger, and Sandow been relegated to nothing programs on Superstars? Matt recites a very curious recent Adam Rose promo and the conversation turns to speculation that Vince McMahon is too out of it to ever get back in.
We’ve reached that time once again. Who’s your favorite wrestler? Tom goes with Steve Austin, version ECW. He notes that he was already the Stone Cold character long before he made a dime in the WWF. Vince’s favorite this week is Japanese star and current NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii. He talked about a recent Ishii vs. Makabe match and looked forward to upcoming matches he’s expected to have with Tomoaki Honma. Last but not least, Matt’s favorite wrestler is Sasha Banks because she’s got it all. Great wrestler, great look, great character. The whole package. The show closes with brief talk of WWE’s constant revisionist history, bending the truth to suit their needs.
SCORE & REVIEW
(8.0): The “We Watch Wrestling Podcast” is unique in that there’s three hosts that are fans just like us, aside from McCarthy’s year-long tour of duty as a WWE writer, which he doesn’t lean on. It’s only occasionally even mentioned. If you’re a logical, well-versed wrestling fan, you should enjoy this show. If you like personality and a bit of comedy in your wrestling talk, you should enjoy this show. If you’re a scooch hound who’d rather see an Attitude Era cat fight than a Sasha-Bayley Brooklyn classic, you might be one of the co-hosts of this show!
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