This week on BWF Radio, Joe, JT, G, and Mark discuss terrible segments on Monday Night RAW (we’re looking at you, Kathy Lee and Hoda) and how they affect other segments (hello, Joan Lunden). They decide not to spoil tonight’s Bound For Glory TNA Pay-Per-View. The 15th anniversary of SmackDown is discussed.
In the news, why won’t cable channels touch IMPACT? Why did The Rock only punch Rusev on RAW? Who in the world thought it would be a good idea for Brian Christopher Lawler to release a rap album? Plus, Great Muta wants to beat up The Rock, Michael Elgin “quits” Ring of Honor, and B. Brian Blair gets honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. All this and more on BWF Radio episode 147! Tune in!
We initially hadn’t planned on doing a post-show this year – but then the moment happened. You know which one. That unbelievable, unthinkable moment where Brock Lesnar pinned The Undertaker at WrestleMania. That’s the moment where G messaged me on facebook and said “we have to do a podcast.” I knew why. I agreed. So G, myself, JT, and the dudes from Booker Tees jumped on Skype and did a WrestleMania XXX post game show. We cover the card top to bottom and try to answer the questions we’re sure were on everybody’s mind as best we could as fans of this business. Even Mrs. ThinkSoJoE hopped in for a moment. Enjoy!
Arnold Schwarzenegger is in New York today to be on one of my favorite TV shows! That’s right, he’s a guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote his new movie, Sabotage. And he’s also on some other show filming live from New York tonight – Brooklyn to be more precise. He’s one of the guest hosts of Monday Night RAW! But we’ll get there in a little bit. Some other stuff happens first. What kind of stuff? I guess you’ll have to read on!
I watched 2 hours of this show and still have no idea what happened, so I’ll start over and post my findings here. Go ahead, click the “Read More” link. You know you want to.
Jorge returns and… the show goes less than two hours?!? Yes folks, Joe, JT, G, Jorge, and Mark return to tell you all about the wonderful week that was in professional wrestling, including RAW, IMPACT, and SmackDown reviews and all the latest professional wrestling news. Will Brock Lesnar return for one more UFC fight? Cowboy James Storm talks about Wildcat Chris Harris’ run in WWE as Braden Walker. Mark Henry talks about Kizarny – the gimmick, anyway. Samoa Joe may or may not be welcome back to ROH if he chose to return. Ricardo Rodriguez is the new Heath Slater? All this, and much more on BWF Radio Episode 106!
Why “almost” you ask? This stems from the fact that the two involved indeed cut their teeth in the Hart Dungeon, but Stampede Wrestling was inactive at the time of this match.
On February 4th, 1994, Lionheart Chris Jericho would square off against Lance Storm in a ladder match for the Mid-Heavyweight title. (more…)
And here we are… the fallout from the Survivor Series PPV on Sunday… yeah. A new Heavyweight Champion is crowned tonight? Really? Let’s hop to it, shall we?
Big props to Al Creed for sending this one my way, and what a better sentiment to represent the WWE’s current fetish?
Wrestlemania 27 is in the books. My initial thoughts were it was pretty bad. Considering the fact it was Wrestlemania, that makes it pretty awful. It was like a double-stuffed Raw. And it wouldn’t have even been a good Raw. It conjures up a lot of comparisons to what most people consider to be the worst Wrestlemania – #9.
First of all, I loved the pageantry and the excess of it all. This is their spectacle. The WWE knows how to do big at Wrestlemania, and I think they should get the credit they deserve. The pyro, the big-ness of everything, the video packages (especially the Miz’), it had the feel of a big event, production values-wise.
I love The Rock. I really do (though nowhere near as much as my wife does). But having him there was completely pointless. When I think that Sheamus and Daniel Bryan had to cut their match short so The Rock could do his nonsensical promo, it makes me mad. Relax. I’m not one of those “You sold out” fans that think wrestlers should do nothing but wrestle all their lives. Dwayne Johnson has made a nice name for himself in Hollywood. I have moved on. He is not a wrestler anymore. I don’t want to see him in the ring, unless he’s talking. He showed up at the arena 2 times in a 6-week period. What in the Blue Hell has The Rock done to deserve that lengthy promo at the beginning? Recently? I think that is the biggest slap in the face to the Daniel Bryans and Sheamuses and the other wrestlers who have given everything. Hell, even The Great Khali did more to earn that promo than The Rock did. Instead of giving that time to The Rock, they should have been giving time to wrestlers who will become the next Rock. The focal point of this Pay-Per-View was somebody who hasn’t been in a wrestling ring since Ric Flair was active (Wait…).
Relax. I’m not a hater. I’m happy to see The Rock. I loved the Mae Young skit, and I loved the PeeWee Herman thing. How do you not? What I have a problem with is making a person who should no longer be the focus being the focus. Roy Halladay may retire as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. But if every time he is supposed to pitch, he is replaced by Steve Carlton, he will never be able to take the spotlight he deserves. Rock, you are the Great One. But somewhere in that WWE locker room could be the next “Great One.” WWE, get him out of the way.
(I would like to say in his defense that The Rock never held another wrestler “down.” The dude put over The Hurricane. I don’t see him holding a wrestler down here. I just see him being over-utilized.)
The first match had some really nice drama. I love the submission hold and the drama of “Is he going to tap?” I was waiting for the Christian heel turn that never came. It was fun watching them destroy the car, but really, shouldn’t that have been done on Smackdown!?
Cody-Rey was a decently done match. I wanted to see Dusty (but it makes sense that he not appear in Atlanta, as there is no way that Atlanta crowd would boo “The American Dream”).
All the skits were pretty funny. I loved Regal rapping. I marked out like a 13-year-old girl when I saw Rowdy Roddy Piper (There are 3 wrestlers I mark out for: Piper, Undertaker & Arn Anderson). I loved Mae Young pinching the Rock’s “candy ass” and wanting the “People’s Strudel.” And of course, Pee Wee Herman and Mean Gene were great. I like the Rock/Stone cold face-off, but as I said previously, I’ve moved on.
The 8-man with the Corre was insulting to those 8 wrestlers who have given everything.
Orton-Punk stole the show, in-ring wise. I hope this feud is over. There were some incredible athletic things that happened here. Neither person lost anything in this match.
The Cole-Lawler… “whatever you want to call it” was fine and had some entertaining moments. I loved Swagger throwing in the towel and Austin looking at it clueless and then wiping his head with it. The image of Cole against the glass was great, too. Loved how there were 3 stunners. And the best part was JR-King calling the rest of the night.
The Undertaker-Triple H match was everything we had hoped it would be. The entrances were phenomenal. The drama was sensational. There was no announce table still left standing. Nobody interfered (and goodness knows, between the two’s sins, anybody could have attacked either one and be justified). The drama of HHH grabbing the sledgehammer and Taker putting him in the rear naked choke. (Young wrestlers, you take a look at the drama that can be created through a submission hold like ADR’s or Undertaker’s. You don’t need to do a 1260 splash onto plates of glass to get a crowd going.) Triple-H tapped out at Wrestlemania. The cart was a nice touch. The people I was there with and my timeline on Twitter couldn’t tell whether Taker was ok or not.
The Snooki match was everything it should have been. The former cheerleader did her backspring thing and then pinned Michelle McCool. A lot of people were complaining about this match going on next-to-last. This was the best possible match they could have placed there. I remember a very wise blogger saying “There are going to be some very emotional matches at Wrestlemania. Triple H-Undertaker is going to be a very emotional match, as will Edge-Del Rio and whatever else they come across. There needs to be a moment the crowd gets to unwind from the tension and emotion. Whether we like it or not, this is going to be one of those matches.” Somebody had to follow HHH-Taker. Would you rather it be a legitimate match or the Snooki “match?” They got their TMZ moment.
The main event was really disappointing. The best part about those was the video packages before-hand. The Miz video package, for lack of a better word, was awesome. The John Cena package was well-done, but the music was way too religious for his character. I’m sure nothing screams religious connotations nothing more than the “5-Knuckle Shuffle” or the “STFU.” (<-heavy sarcasm) I loved the choir, though I really couldn’t figure out their purpose. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I think his background kinda looked like a Confederate flag. John Cena just cannot win. First he becomes the target for GLAAD after dropping some homophobic slurs which we know he did not write. Now he gets to walk out to the ring with a Confederate flag-like logo while a predominantly-Black choir sings. Next, I think for an encore, he will kick puppies. The match wasn’t mind-blowing, but the two did a very good job with their intensity. I did pop for Rock reading the email from the Raw GM. I have no idea where they’re going with The Rock’s interference. Right now, I don’t really want to know.
