MLW Radio (flagship) # 289
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Recap By: Desman
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Top Stories:
- Richochet vs. Strickland at MLW One Shot
- Traveling incidents in wrestling history
- Brock Lesnar coming back to UFC?
- GFW/TNA comings and goings
- Total Divas adds to cast
- WWE Battleground
TIMESTAMPS
5:15 – Shane McMahon’s helicopter crash
7:30 – Small planes, travel accidents in wrestling
11:40 – Lesnar reenters USADA drug testing pool
17:30 – Professional wrestling versus “a play”
23:45 – Global Force Wrestling departures
28:00 – Total Divas cast additions
32:15 – MLW Events Center
34:30 – Battleground thoughts
44:00 – Punjabi Prison Match
46:10 – Monday Night Raw
RECAP
MSL and Bocchini are back and they start off the show with the announcement of MLW One Shot’s main event, Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland. Strickland is one of the hottest guys on the independent circuit and Ricochet has a lot of hype behind him as well, Rich says, as the guys are not strangers but two high profile guys who should have a great match.
5:15 – They mention Shane’s helicopter “crash” (forced landing) from last week and a reporter’s question asking Shane if he was Vince McMahon’s son.
7:30 – MSL talks about Larry Zbyszko occasionally piloting his own plane to get to a wrestling show, and wonders how many plane crashes or travel incidents have happened over the course of wrestling history. They name Ric Flair’s crash in 1975 that paralyzed Johnny Valentine and talk about how many wrestlers, notably Harley Race, drove from city to city while drinking alcohol.
11:40 – Brock Lesnar reportedly reentered the USADA testing pool. UFC is denying it. MSL mentions Ariel Helwani getting banned for announcing Brock Lesnar’s return a while back and asks Rich if he thinks we’ll see Brock back in the octagon soon. Rich thinks he either wants to go back and fight again or try to clear his name a year later, leaning towards him wanting to fight again. He also mentions the possibility of New Japan being in play when Brock’s contract is up and perhaps Brock trying to gain some leverage in negotiations.
17:30 – Pennsylvania Athletic Commission is trying to shut down a wrestling promotion that’s denying it’s a wrestling promotion, instead claiming that they are a stunt studio. MSL says that this could be a landmark case, with regulation of wrestling becoming illegal and wonders if WWE would get involved to support the promotion, or if they would rather keep out any and all potential competition by supporting the regulation.
23:45 – GFW/TNA departures. Matt Morgan, Davey Richards leaving GFW. Morgan has a day job and was originally told tapings would be on the weekends. Richards is apparently trying to become a doctor. Rich says a lot of new people are being brought into GFW and well-known talent leaving shows that GFW/TNA is growing stale and that new blood needs to be injected into the promotion to generate interest.
28:00 – Arrivals. Carmella, Nia Jax, and Alexa Bliss added to Total Divas. Rich isn’t sure if the changes will make him watch, and questions the unscripted nature of the show, whereas MSL never missed an episode for the first few seasons and missed the last season or two and says that most reality shows are heavily manipulated or scripted and that the idea of it being a reality show is kind of a joke. However, Total Divas doesn’t have to go to the extent that other reality shows do in terms of staging, as most of the talent is actually interesting. Rich adds that certain things definitely were scripted but it’s a crazy enough life to be entertaining.
32:15 – Sean Mooney reports from the MLW Events Center. Mooney once again mentions the main event announcement for MLW One Shot. RassleRap talks Kurt Angle getting down with the swirl, the immortal Shane McMahon, and the A.J. Styles/Nakamura tease. Marty and Sarah talk about the Punjabi Prison Match and Battleground, Bischoff analyzes the latest in pro wrestling on Bischoff on Wrestling, and Lucha Talk talks Sam Adonis vs. Blue Panthers upcoming hair vs. hair match and the Johnny Mundo/Taya Valkyrie controversy.
34:30 – Historically July is not where major stuff goes on in the world of WWE according to MSL, who thinks The New Day act doesn’t feel right without the Tag Team Titles. Rich doesn’t think the gimmick has run its course yet, and that it still feels kind of different to him (heels, comedy, or a mix of both) and thinks there’s still a lot of mileage left. MSL mentions Vince neglecting tag team wrestling overall, and Rich adds that there really isn’t another credible tag team threat outside of these two teams, especially since a lot of tag teams have been broken up. New Day does a lot of media stuff, did the intro for the WrestleMania set, and Rich agrees that showcasing them is helped by them holding the Championships. MSL agrees that The New Day defending the titles against any team is a semi-main event for a house show. He calls out Charlotte pinning Becky with no part of her body touching Becky as being the fakest thing he’s seen in WWE in quite a while. On the flip side of the coin he likes the idea of Kevin Owens dropping the title to A.J. Styles at a house show and the belt being traded back and forth as it legitimizes the house show and makes things more interesting.
41:45 – Flag match. The flag obviously means so much to Cena as per Rich, and thinks building that emotion into it makes sense, but the storyline feels like a rehash of what they were doing two years ago through WrestleMania. MSL loves everything Cena does outside of WWE, not so much in WWE, and says that his character makes no sense, as a grown man who dresses like a 6-year-old boy who’s a thug rapper guy, yet also obsessed with the military. Rich actually thinks he can make sense of it, referencing kids that he grew up with. Some poor kids headed down the wrong path that were kind of thuggish and ended up in the military. M says that when they come out of the military they don’t dress like a 6-year-old boy, which Rich agrees with.
44:00 – Punjabi Prison Match. M had no idea Great Khali was coming back. There’s been chatter that Jinder Mahal might not be getting over as much as they’d like him to, which would make sense why they’d bring Khali back, as he’s thought of as a God there. Rich wants to see Ranjin Singh back, but agrees that Khali is hugely successful over in India and not just a wrestling star, whereas here in the U.S. we’re not too excited.
46:10 – Raw. Roman Reigns insanity continues. The fans s**t on everything he says, and MSL doesn’t go back to the well on that argument, but asks Rich if there’s any way Brock Lesnar walks out of SummerSlam with the Championship. Rich thinks that it goes to Strowman unless you give the belt to Roman leading to Survivor Series. If Brock resigns and there’s a deal done, he thinks if Strowman pins Reigns, Brock would be unaffected, but if Brock is leaving he could possibly take the pin from Strowman. MSL thinks they should make Strowman wait to get his hands on Lesnar until possibly WrestleMania, with Brock holding on to the title until then.
Rating – 7 out of 10. Some interesting conversation about transportation and regulation. Light on entertainment but heavier on analysis of some topics that are by nature not that exciting. I did enjoy their analysis of Total Divas and Battleground, but I will still beat the drum that this show misses Court terribly.
About the Author:
Desman (@Desman6) has been an avid wrestling fan going back to the very first WrestleMania and has attended four WrestleManias during his tenure as a WWE Shop card-carrying member of the WWE Universe. A financial professional by day, he spends his nights and weekends with his wife, rescue dog, and 2 rescue cats, watching WWE programming and listening to a number of wrestling-related podcasts. His true passions are food, film, and fights and he is forever fascinated by the business of professional wrestling.
If you missed it, check out last week’s recap of MLW Radio #288.
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