Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast – #146
Release Date: August 10, 2017
Guest: Joey Janela
Recap By: Matthew Wilkinson
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Newsworthy Items
- Seth Rollins and Sasha Banks will be Sam’s guests for SummerSam.
- Sam Roberts believes that Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Championship.
- Sam doesn’t think it is the right time for Baron Corbin to become WWE Champion.
- Joey Janela doesn’t believe the Lio Rush spot killed the business.
- Janela admitted his ultimate goal is WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
- Joey said he almost lost his thumb falling from the roof of a building in a spot.
Show Highlights/Rundown
Sam says he feels there is a lot to talk about every week at the moment (which is a good thing) and he introduces what is coming up on the show.
He then promotes next week’s SummerSam show and teases that he will reveal his guests later on in today’s show.
Sam said he got to spend the weekend being a true fan again. He discussed his history before he got into podcasting and how he was a tape trader, which exposed him to more people.
He then went on to discuss death matches and the history of them, particularly in Japan and he found the original CZW VHS tapes. He links this together with the death match legend, Atushi Onita and the fact he will be coming to do a death match in CZW.
Sam said he bought a ticket for the show and the meet-and-greet, which is how he felt like a fan again. He enjoyed the meet-and-greet and said that it was a very good show overall.
He thought the whole show was great too, not just the main event with Onita. A match between Joey Janela and Lio Rush stood out to him. He thinks that Rush has signed with WWE and will pop up in NXT soon.
This moved into Sam explaining about Janela, who is this week’s guest. Sam discussed who he is and what he has done, including being thrown from a building into some light tubes.
Sam talked about a spot where Janela power bombed Lio Rush from a ladder through a table and Rush no sold the move. He said live and in the moment, he didn’t care too much, but he spoke to a wrestler and his mind changed a little.
The wrestler said that going through a ladder on a table is one of the things they have to convince people that it is real and hurts.
Joey Janela Interview – Crazy Spots
Sam welcomes Joey to the show, who admitted he was a little hungover (but it goes with the Bad Boy gimmick).
Sam asks if he has always been into doing big spots and taking risks. Joey admitted he had. Even from when he was just a teenager at very small shows he was still doing it to try and stand out.
Joey revealed getting to CZW was always a goal for him, as he had grown up watching the show. He joked that it ruined his life (considering the crazy bumps he now takes).
They discuss a spot that Janela took where he ended up being knocked out and having seizures on the floor. This was a moment Sam saw live. Joey then admitted he has panic attacks still to this day over that fall.
Sam said after that he would tone it down but Joey instead has gone crazier. He said that while it looks crazy, everything he does is very protected and he makes sure that nothing like that can happen.
Sam asks if there has ever been someone he wanted to wrestle that said no. Joey revealed that Vader had turned him down.
Social Media
Sam then moved on to social media, saying he thinks Joey is one of the best indie wrestlers at promoting himself and where he is working as he calls out wrestlers.
Joey said he tries to never say anything that could hurt a potential WWE career, even though he swears a bunch on it.
Joey believes he is now working all over and isn’t just stuck with CZW. He says he would like to work PWG. He thinks that WWE doesn’t shy away from people’s crazy pasts on social media with WWE.com talking about Dean Ambrose’s CZW work.
Getting Started
Sam points out that Janela started wrestling in a different way to most, training via backyard wrestling and not at a school.
He said he used to do what he does now and just call out other backyard wrestling shows and asks to be involved or work dual shows with his.
Through backyard wrestling he met another wrestler who used to botch all the time, but he got him a professional wrestling booking and that’s how it began.
His first ever match had five people in attendance and the booker of the show didn’t turn up as he went to rehab that day. He ended up doing his first ever match very drunk and not trained. He took a tombstone on an open chair.
Joey admitted that he had a terrible attitude when he was younger by getting into locker room fights from the way he was. He thinks that when he got good at wrestling he humbled himself out.
Working With Lio Rush
Sam said that his seven-match series with Lio Rush is what got him on the map of being a real wrestler and not just someone who did big spots.
Joey gave props to Lio and his abilities and said he was happy with him being signed. He then said people are getting signed all around him as he used to wrestle all of the 205 Live guys.
They then go into detail to discuss Joey’s infamous roof spot. He said he was shocked that he was alive when he landed, but then the light tubes came down on him and he just got hit by loads of glass. While Joey said his thumb nearly fell off, his opponent broke his back.
Joey himself had to go to physical therapy three days per week and started working the fans online saying that his career was over.
Sam then asked about another spot where Joey fell from the top of a ladder at the roof of a building through a table on his first match back. He admitted that he just slipped off because he was too sweaty. He said he was lucky with what happened.
Lio Rush Spot
Joey said that Lio always texts him with ideas, which was hard to come up with as they had already done everything under the sun.
Sam then asked about how he felt regarding criticism over Rush no selling his powerbomb off a ladder through a table. He said that they argued over doing the spot because the table was a cheap, poor quality table and the original plan was that the move would be taken from the top rope.
Janela said he knew the reaction would be what it was, but he thinks it was something people will always remember if Rush is one-day wrestling at WrestleMania.
He said that they both play supernatural type characters in CZW and that people have no sold before, including Hulk Hogan.
Janela said he would love to wrestle for New Japan one day. Sam allowed him to plug his social media channels and this brought an end to the interview portion of the podcast.
End of Interview
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SummerSlam Announcement
Sam discussed how fans already know that he will be hosting a show on SummerSlam weekend and teased some appearances.
He then moved on to the SummerSam event that is taking place the day after and his guests will be, Sasha Banks and Seth Rollins (huge news!). This is a free show and guests must email his general admission list and admitted the line is going to be very long.
Sam guaranteed entry to anybody who has the VIP ticket to the night before (a very cool option for fans of Sam Roberts).
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State of Wrestling – SummerSlam
Sam says if he was a betting man he would be placing a bet on Brock Lesnar winning at SummerSlam and staying with WWE as champion. He thinks the fact Brock has not passed USADA testing and isn’t in the pool, which you have to be for six months, is a clear sign that it isn’t happening.
He thinks that Brock will stay with WWE until WrestleMania and then be ready to fight in UFC after that. He also thinks this could be a way for Lesnar to earn a better deal with WWE for his next potential contract.
As far as the WWE Championship is concerned, he does not think Baron Corbin will be cashing in his briefcase as he doesn’t believe this is the correct time for it.
Sam admits he thinks Jinder Mahal’s run has had a few problems. He believes it could still work if they actually built him as a champion, rather than have him lose non-title matches cleanly.
Like Corbin, he doesn’t believe it is the right time for Nakamura either. He wants to see Mahal begin to win big matches clean, rather than with help each time.
He thinks it will be interesting to see Enzo Amore in the cage. He thinks WWE wants people to believe the reports of the heat he has. Sam thinks that the speculation is accurate and that he does have heat.
Sam believes the fact there are so many references to it, including the section on Bring it to the Table is intentional but he isn’t sure what the reason behind it is.
Having Enzo inside a shark cage is strange to Sam. He believes that is something that happens to bad characters not babyfaces. Sam doesn’t think Enzo belongs on 205 Live, as he doesn’t fit the style. He feels the same way about him going to NXT, as he would fall behind too many people on that brand.
Sam discussed the fact Bayley was getting heat from the crowd and he admitted he can’t fault the crowd for it. However, the reaction to the Shield situation is an example of storytelling going right.
Focusing back on the women, he thinks for all parties involved Sasha Banks is the right person to be facing Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam.
In terms of SmackDown Live, he thinks John Cena vs Baron Corbin is a good way to go for both guys as well as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match.
This brings an end to this week’s podcast, as Sam says he will focus on SummerSlam fully next week on the live show.
Rating 7/10
Another solid episode of the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, providing an interesting look into independent wrestling and the crazier side of it. It is always good when Sam interviews somebody from outside of WWE as the conversations always have a different feel. Sadly, the State of Wrestling wasn’t as long or detailed this week, but two shows next week will make up for that.
Subjects covered (with timestamps)
00:00-Sposor Ads
00:59-Show Introduction
4:30- Death Matches/Atushi Onita
25:35-Joey Janela/Lio Rush Spot
27:40-Joey Janela Interview
28:20-Crazy Spots
42:01-Social Media
46:33-Getting Started
54:17-Lio Rush
1:09:31-Lio Rush Spot (No Sell)
1:19:01-End of Interview
1:19:23-Sponsor Ads
1:21:48-SummerSlam Announcement
1:26:27-Sponsor Ads
1:28:37-State of Wrestling-SummerSlam
1:51:18-End of Podcast
About the writer
Matthew Wilkinson is from Bradford, England. He’s been a fan since the late 90’s with the Attitude Era and was then heavily invested again through the rise of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. He can be found on Twitter at @MC_Wilkinson1
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