Wednesday PWTorch Livecast with Pat McNeill
Special Guest: Former ECW champion/current ROH announcer Steve Corino
Aired Live: April 20, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap by Dominic DeAngelo
SUBJECTS COVERED
– The New, New Japan
– ROH Discussion
– Upcoming PPV Line-Ups
TIME STAMPS OF COVERAGE
(2:23) Pat McNeill intro
(3:35) Steve Corino intro
(6:40) Global Wars PPV
(11:40) How’s Steve’s neck doing?
(14:35) Did Mr. Wrestling III get consent from Mr. Wrestling II to name himself “Mr. Wrestling?”
(16:35) Is it bad luck when wrestlers get limbs caught in their ropes?
(19:00) What does Steve think about Connor McGregor potentially going into wrestling?
(21:25) Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal
(24:50) Naito vs. Iishi
### COMMERCIAL BREAK ###
(36:55) Sanada discussion
(39:22) What moves are on Steve Corino’s banned move list?
(41:50) Would ROH consider buying TNA?
(44:10) Adam Page vs. B.J. Whitmer
(47:00) TNA getting loan sharked?
(49:40) Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata
(50:45) Camacho & Tama Tonga/English commentary in NJPW
(56:40) Does it seem surreal to have NJPW guys in ROH?
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
(3:50) Steve Corino says his time in NJPW was a great. So very organized. He’s been suspended from ROH for seven months now, and maybe he can get around that loophole by being a NJPW analyst.
(5:35) Steve says this is a crazy time to be in wrestling. All the rules are being broken and it really is a fun time. Pro wrestling is like pizza, even when it’s bad it’s good. A very exciting time.
(6:40) Global Wars PPV on May 8. Iishi will be taking on Bobby Fish and The Addiction vs. Jushin Liger & Cheeseburger. Steve says from the staff to the fans, everybody loves Cheezeburger. People don’t expect him to win, so it’s no big deal if he doesn’t. Bobby Fish is a prime-time player. That match is going to be fun and hard-hitting.
(11:40) When Steve did the tour of Zero One last month, how did his neck feel after the match? His neck feels great, it’s a testament of the surgeon that help him get back together. He was pretty frightened going in there, but C.W. Anderson help protect him and at the end of the day he felt great. When he went in September for an MRI, the doc told him he was done, which was very disheartening. He’s so excited he’s had that opportunity to rehab.
(14:35) Did Mr. Wrestling III get consent from Mr. Wrestling II to name himself “Mr. Wrestling?” Yes he did, Mr. Wrestling II and Mr. Wrestling III won the Hawaii Championship Tag Team Championship in 2007. It’s all hearsay from Corino, though.
(16:35) Is it bad luck when wrestlers get limbs caught in their ropes? From Steve’s experience, it happened more when there are real ropes. Most rings use steel cable, but WWE does use real ropes. Foley actually lost his ear in steel cable ropes.
(19:00) What does Steve think about Conor McGregor potentially going into wrestling? Steve’s the wrong person to ask, he doesn’t know him very well. He’s sure it would be huge news for wrestling, but he’s not a big MMA guy. The more cross-over could help WWE, since there are MMA fans who are wrestling fans and vice versa.
(21:25) Colt Cabana will be going after Jay Lethal’s ROH Title at the Global Wars PPV. One thing that people forget about Cabana is that he’s trained in so many different wrestling styles. This may be a match for the ages since it’s in Chicago. Corino can’t tell you how many times he’s pushed for Colt to wrestle for ROH. He believed Colt had to go on his own terms and return when the time is right. Jay Lethal reminds Corino of when he’d watch Ric Flair wrestle in Philly. He made Lio Rush look like a star, which shows the professionalism of Jay Lethal.
(24:50) There is a NJPW PPV on May 3 where Naito will defend the IWGP World Title against Tomohiro Ishii. It’s the perfect first defense for Naito. He could also see Ishii as a world champion, too. The unpredictability makes matches like these so much fun.
(36:55) Sanada has immediately made an impact in NJPW already. Corino was shocked to see him – he’s totally changed his look and is an untapped talent. This is certainly the right direction for him. Pat comments how deep New Japan’s roster is. Corino doesn’t think this change will hurt New Japan whatsoever, a roster-shake up has made things more exciting.
(39:22) What moves are on Steve Corino’s banned move list? Anything that requires him to land on the top of his hand. Left-handed forearms and no piledrivers. He isn’t on or doesn’t plan on going full-time wrestling, but you’ll never know what can happen. He’s ready for anything. He believes this neck injury has put him in better shape whether he wrestles full-time or not. A blessing in disguise.
(41:50) Would ROH consider buying TNA? Pat hasn’t heard any news on that. Steve would say no because that’s not in the business plan. He does say that TNA has improved ten-fold since moving to Pop TV.
(44:10) Adam Page vs. B.J. Whitmer. He believes Page has unlimited potential. He needs to win to get to the next level. Corino is looking forward to that match.
(47:00) One website is reporting that TNA is low on capital since Panda Energy isn’t funding them anymore, but they are borrowing money from Aroluxe. If they don’t pay them back by today (Wednesday) then the company gets turned over to Aroluxe. Pat says TNA hasn’t denied this, but he guesses we’ll figure out more of that on Thursday at the next set of tapings.
(49:40) Shibata will be taking on Yuji Nagata at the next NJPW PPV. Corino says he’s so impressed with Yuji Nagata. He looks great and just like him, he’s a big baseball fan.
(50:45) What does Corino think of Camacho & Tama Tonga? One thing about Camacho is he stayed extra long in the New Japan Dojo to train and get the feel for the environment. Corino really respected that. Pat thinks it’s great to have English commentators on NJPW shows. Corino wants his and Kevin Kelly wants their commentary to come across as fun, but when he went to New Japan he wants to be more like an analyst. Hopefully one day he’ll get back to that. Steve’s still learning commentary and he’s so blessed to have a guy like Kevin Kelly help him along. He has fun out there for sure.
(56:40) Does it seem surreal to have NJPW guys in ROH? It does, Steve grew up a Japanese wrestling fan. For him personally, it was really rewarding to see fans half his age enjoy NJPW. There is different ways to do everything, and wrestling is truly art. This isn’t the 70s and 80s where kayfabe is strong, which makes an added effort.
(59:22) Catch Steve on Twitter @KingCorino and on Facebook.
SCORE & REVIEW
7.0: Don’t let the 7.0 fool ya, this could be an 8-9 for you, but you have to be pretty into New Japan and ROH to appreciate all the routes Pat and Steve took. As someone who isn’t as knowledgeable of the current ROH storyline or New Japan product as others, I had a tough time following along (e.g. Googling NJPW names, playing audio back, etc.), but it is evident that “The King of Old School” is still very passionate about the business (in all aspects). Pat asks Steve a lot about particular match-ups, so any New Japan junkie will find this to be a fun listen.
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