“WE WATCH WRESTLING” EPISODE #127
HOST: MATT MCCARTHY
CO-HOSTS: VINCE AVERILL & TOM SIBLEY
RELEASE DATE: February 3, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Steven Ganyo, PWPodcast reporter
TOP QUOTES
“Worst pain in the world. That’s what they do at Guantanamo.” – Tom, on stepping on a Lego
“You know what? I’m with Jannetty.” – Tom, weighing in on the Stephanie McMahon-Marty Jannetty kerfuffle.
– Tom: Can you get whiskey mail order?
Matt: Brother, what country do you think this is?
– Tom: Why the f— would I wanna go to Avril Lavigne’s birthday party?
Vince: ‘Cause you’re a skater boy!
Tom: I say see ya later, boy. Not for me.
“If that’s what he thinks is okay to wear out…and I know I’m wearing a cardigan sweater and sweat pants right now…” – Tom, on Meltzer’s fashion and his own.
“The League Of Nations is the League Of Patients.” – Matt, on the walking infirmary that is the League of Nations
HOT TOPICS ON THE SHOW
This week the boys discuss Shinsuke Nakamura, the return of Lucha Underground, independent wrestling, and more!
SUBJECTS COVERED (w/Time Stamps)
*Intro*
*Prince Devitt Vs. Kenny Omega* – 05:00-08:15
*Nakamura’s NJPW Farewell* – 8:15-16:55
*Golden Truth* – 16:55-21:05
*Ric Flair* – 21:05-24:50
*Dean Ambrose* – 24:50-31:25
*A.J. Styles* – 31:25-39:45
*Independent Wrestling* – 39:45-48:45
*NJPW* – 48:45-55:00
*Bret Hart And Cancer* – 55:00-1:01:30
*Marty Jannetty* – 1:01:30-1:06:15
*Wrestling Superstars II Book* – 1:06:15-1:09:20
*Lucha Underground* – 1:09:20-1:21:25
*Who’s Your Favorite Wrestler?* – 1:21:25-1:26:58
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Tom opens the show this week with a review of a Prince Devitt-Kenny Omega match he watched, including details of a very stiff table spot and the match spilling out into the street.
From there the boys recap Shinsuke Nakamura’s on-screen departure from NJPW, how difficult it must’ve been to leave New Japan, and Kenny Omega taking over The Bullet Club. Tom shares a theory on why WWE is bringing in this new crop of talent.
Next the boys look at the burgeoning relationship between R-Truth and Goldust, the potential entertainment value in the duo, and compare it to Goldust’s program with Booker T from the early 2000s.
On to Ric Flair’s latest adventures including the backlash from his Becky Lynch kiss and speculation on how much of his “crazy” public persona is a work.
Speaking of crazy, Tom’s hoping to see the lunatic fringe Dean Ambrose get the Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania, but Matt and Vince don’t see it. Matt compares Ambrose to one of his favorite Alec Baldwin movie characters and the boys bring it back to Dean and Brock’s confrontation on Raw to close the segment.
From there the boys assess A.J. Styles’s first couple weeks in WWE. They discuss WWE’s penchant for signing indie stars and treating them like rookies in response to The Miz running Styles down on Raw. Vince hopes A.J.’s in-ring ability is enough to get him over with the company and Tom wonders if Styles will be made the face of Smackdown.
Matt shares his experience with independant wrestling as a lifelong WWE fan. He talks about his preconceived notions of indie promotions and fans, being dragged, by Vince, to his first ROH show. He goes on to put over PWG and Chikara and talks about how he’s just now getting into British promotions like PROGRESS Wrestling.
The boys then spend a few minutes talking New Japan. Tom takes exception to Tanahashi playing air guitar until his co-hosts point out his affinity for playing air bass. They have a laugh over how corny Tanahashi’s catchphrases are when translated from Japanese to English. Matt highlights Will Ospreay and how impressive he is after only three years in the business, and the boys dream of traveling to Japan to to get Jackets from Ribera Steakhouse. They close the segment talking about which NJPW stars will be at the ROH anniversary show in Vegas at the end of February.
The show takes a bit of a somber turn as the boys talk about how wrestlers from the 80’s and 90’s abused their bodies and Bret Hart’s recent cancer diagnosis.
Tom takes a brief detour into how Shaun Michaels’s look has changed over the years and that feeds to Marty Jannetty taking exception to being referenced by Stephanie McMahon on Raw this week. Matt shares a Jannetty story that literally drove him to drink.
Matt has a book called “Wrestling Superstars II” from 1986. The boys disagree with some of the books opinions about VKM’s impact on the business and Matt shares a brief history lesson on pro wrestling evolving from mat-based to “slam-bang western style” wrestling.
On the subject of the evolving wrestling scene, the boys talk the return of Lucha Underground. They highlight Vampiro’s schizophrenic storyline until an impromptu bathroom break briefly shifts the show’s focus to Avril Lavigne and an AJ Styles-Bully Ray match that Tom watched. Back on track, the boys recap the first episode of Lucha Underground season 2, highlighting the Ivelisse-Mil Muertes title match. This leads Matt to rail against wrestling minds like Meltzer and Jim Ross claiming inter-gender matches are bad for business. They close the segment with more analysis of the episode.
Who’s your favorite wrestler?
This week, Tom likes Dean Ambrose because of his face-to-face with Brock on Raw, which he believes will lead to Lesnar vs. Ambrose at Mania.
Vince’s favorite is Kevin Owens because he’s looked strong of late and he hopes there’s an even bigger push coming.
Matt’s favorite is the king of strong style, Shinsuke Nakamura because of the fantastic presentation of his NJPW farewell match. The boys close the show looking forward to seeing Nakamura in NXT on Wrestlemania weekend.
SCORE & REVIEW
8/10: VINTAGE WE WATCH WRESTLING! Sorry, channeling Michael Cole there. As someone who’s still just dipping a toe into the independent wrestling world, it took me a bit to warm up to all of the indie talk but now that I have, I love it. Really enjoyed hearing about Matt’s preconceptions of and introduction to the indie scene. Otherwise, this issue frenetically bounced from topic to topic in a very entertaining way and the hosts played off of each other in the old familiar way. Very good listen.
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