L_E_T_H_A_L

9 minutes ago, dopper said:

Can’t link to anything on my phone, but Conrad Thompson has tweeted in the last hour about how some guy has got Tony Schiavone fired from WHW Monday by writing a complaint about Tony’s sexist comments.

if you follow Conrad’s timeline you can see on ongoing argument between he and the guy.

He didn't actually get him fired. Conrad and Tony were talking about this on last Monday's show - this guy has been tweeting Tony's various employers to report him for sexism etc when he makes jokes about Madusa, Debra and the other various women he worked with during his wrestling career.

3 minutes ago, Rosler28 said:

Nature of the job, if your in the wwe your used to missing special events and to Americans Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas and New Years eve anyway.

Hi Vince!

In all seriousness, pretty shitty for the roster, particularly those with children who will miss being with them on Christmas morning.

Wonder which big stars will be making a jump to SmackDown before the festive season gets underway?

Almost all the matches set for Battleground feature an American against a non-American opponent:

Unfortunately for Team USA, the PPV is taking place in America's hometown so all the foreigners will be going over.

On 19/07/2017 at 9:18 AM, mim731 said:

I'd noticed that too. Is it likely to be a result of his addiction issues? Not my area of expertise, so not sure whether that is a factor. 

Not sure whether it's a combination of age and the effects of his past drug use, or whether he's just relaxed into his Pittsburgh local-speak. He says DubbaDubbaYeeh in a weird, stammery way. Perhaps trying to stop himself and pronounce it properly (in the perfect Michael Cole-style "Double-You-Double-You-E") but never seeming to catch it in time.

1 hour ago, WyattSheepMask said:

So is Elias Sampson a "dangerous worker" now that he's hurt Finn? Everyone else seems to be

He seemed to catch him side on with it - likely that the only gimmicked parts of the guitar were the front and back. Poor Finn took a right sore one unfortunately, but surely we can't say Elias Samson is a dangerous worker based off one accident. We can file that one under "It's wrestling - shit happens."

As far as "everyone else seems to be," I assume you mean Seth Rollins and Jinder Mahal.

Rollins had been earning a reputation as a dangerous worker already after injuring John Cena and Sting prior to Balor getting hurt at SummerSlam. A bit unjust maybe, considering Sting and Balor both accepted responsibility for the injuries they sustained. The Cena nose break was entirely his fault, though.

And Jinder Mahal just caught him badly off a miscommunication in the ring, which also happens.

Still makes me wince, that.

I think at the end of the day, Balor has just been very unlucky.

Kurt Angle really struggles to say "WWE" nowadays. It's quite strange.

He never had this issue during his original run in the company (reference the pre-match promo video for his match with Guerrero at Mania XX where he says it clearly a number of times).

9 hours ago, simonworden said:

Superstars the last time I was at a WWE event took about 20-30 minutes to film including the gaps between matches. 205 Live as a Live show would take the whole hour making everything a lot longer. Before Smackdown would be much better but that depends on how the arena looks when they start. Do most people show up as soon as doors open these days? 

I was at the Raw taping in Glasgow in November and people had been queuing up outside the Hydro for ages prior to the doors opening. Events I've been to in Manchester and Birmingham were the same. Not sure if they do the same in the States, but they would appear to given the number of people in the crowd at most Superstars tapings.

I truly can't see it being Stephanie. Didn't they squash the original HHH/Angle/Steph love triangle storyline in quite the anti-climactic fashion because HHH didn't want to do it? Seventeen years later, Trips holds about 10 times the power he had at that point and I can't imagine they'd want to do it now. Over the last seventeen years, Stephanie has always been a detestable heel but HHH was a massive babyface for lengthy spells during that time. I just think if they were going to do a cheating storyline, it would have been done by now.

Fairly confident it's not Dixie Carter either, simply because the majority of the WWE audience won't recognise her, as several others have pointed out.

Who else could it be? Well, we just need to look at the RAW roster and see what females are currently in relationships with male superstars Angle could become embroiled in a feud with. Renee is obviously newly married to Dean Ambrose, but I hope it's not her for two reasons: I have zero interest in seeing Angle and Ambrose in the ring, and Renee is too good for that shit. In relation to @Wrasslin's point -  if it's Maryse, Angle would probably be the babyface just because of how scumbaggish Miz is. Being a wife-stealing, cheating bastard > being a slimy, cowardly, arrogant bastard with a hot wife. Although again, I'd be left deflated about the prospect of the match/feud itself. And they've never alluded to Big Cass's relationship with Carmella on TV - she's never been on Raw during Angle's time back in the company, so unlikely to be her.

Best case scenario would be Brie Bella, for me - her hubby Daniel Bryan is the only WWE performer who could possibly have a returning Kurt Angle booed out of the building for his big WWE return match, because he's possibly the most beloved babyface in the company. I know that's absolutely pie in the sky, but how fucking great would that be? Raw GM vs SmackDown GM, both company legends, both absolutely magnificent in-ring performers, both returning from long lay-offs, both thought to be finished. Again, the chances of it happening are almost absolute zero.

First time I've been genuinely looking forward to Raw in some time - I hope they don't fuck this up.

On the flipside of the argument, worst puncher ever is surely either Sid - his strikes with Vader during the show-closing brawl of IYH: Mind Games are making me cringe as I think about them right now -  or Great Khali, who was just terrible at everything. At the moment, I'd say Dean Ambrose is up there as one of the worst active punchers in wrestling (in the ring - outside of it he's punching excellently with Renee).

Cena's look terrible at times as well - notably here.

On 15/07/2017 at 7:45 AM, King Pitcos said:

It doesn't make any sense. If they were just taping it they'd have to call it 205 Taped, and it'd make the Raw event four hours long.

I meant they could record it before Raw, not tape it. Show it live, tape it, whatever - in place of Superstars which was making Raw events just shy of four hours long anyway.

4 hours ago, garynysmon said:

On the whole, I think he adds more than he detracts. But he can be an annoying fucker at times. The mark also seems to fund the show through his mortgage business.

Aren't MLW Radio funding the show?

4 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

 

More chance of Scotzwizard winning poster of the year and denouncing Russo. Then again, one punch is all it takes.

He's worth at least three or four punches, to be safe.

Well played sir.

Wasn't Dixie romantically involved with AJ Styles in TNA, only for the plug to be pulled on it because her parents were getting stick at the golf club off their rich pals thinking the angle was real?

49 minutes ago, Ladiesman345 said:

I listened to a few clips of the show on Youtube and Pritchard is entertaining as hell, but this Conrad character with his obese hick voice can fuck off.

I don't mind Conrad that much, to be honest. The big lad gets a lot of hate on here but he clearly puts a lot of effort into researching each topic (yes, I know he essentially reads excerpts from the Wrestling Observer but this has to be compiled from years of issues). He's also evidently a passionate and well-informed fan of the business as well which is how he's able to argue back against BP on the occasions that he has tried to rewrite history to suit the company's preferred narrative.

I know it's irritating when he cracks open coke cans every 20 minutes and bitches at Bruce to give information we don't need (like how much so-and-so earned for an event etc), but I genuinely believe he's one of the best at what he does (when compared to guys like the shameless, arse kissing Jeff Lane on Russo's podcast and the guy who co-hosts on Bischoff's).

Daniel Bryan was a revelation on Talking Smack as well, seemed to relax into it and have a good laugh.

If only they'd moved the cruiserweights to Raw and taped 205 Live before Raw instead of Superstars, then Talking Smack could have been shown live directly after SmackDown. Then again, that makes too much sense doesn't it?

1 minute ago, sj5522 said:

What an upgrade Dunne for El Patron is! 

I second this. Pete Dunne is a guaranteed cracking match and won't bring half the sideshow and 'big star attitude' that El Patron would.

For a while now they've been advertising a Goldberg WWE 24 episode as coming soon, but it still hasn't happened. Any word on this?

On 01/07/2017 at 11:02 PM, kidzero said:

gonna watch wrestlemania 11 tonight  have to say i know 1995 doesn't get a lot of love but have fond memories of it

There's some great stuff from '95 WWF out there for anyone who wants it.

Shawn Michaels vs Jeff Jarrett from IYH2, Bret Hart vs Bulldog from IYH5, Bret vs Diesel from both Royal Rumble and Survivor Series, Shawn vs Razor from SummerSlam in the second ladder match all spring to mind immediately but look out for other gems like Bret Hart vs Lean-Pierre Lafitte from IYH3. This was a particularly good in ring year from the Hitman - he had a couple of cracking matches with Hakushi as well, one on Raw and one at IYH.

Surprised at the lack of love for Steve Austin's working punch, which is excellent.

Bradshaw's working punch was very decent as well. And no, I don't mean at One Night Stand '05.

Good PPV overall, I thought.

Although short, the Lesnar-Joe match was solid and intense and I enjoyed it. Joe was elevated in defeat, although I'm not sure where he goes from here as it's probably the last time Brock will wrestle until SummerSlam when he defends against Reigns.

Speaking of Reigns: Does the finish of the ambulance match signal the beginning of a turn? It certainly doesn't mean the end of the Roman-Strowman feud, it just intensifies it. The match itself was a blast, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Hardys vs Cesaro and Sheamus was very good too. Hopefully soon we'll see Matt and Jeff go their separate ways (WITHOUT feuding again) and be the singles stars they are instead of messing about in the tag division as almost a nostalgia act.

Poor Enzo. Another cracking promo before the inevitable squash defeat. I think he wasted his hot comeback time on the microphone before the match. On the other hand, Cass looks like a million bucks. He's going to pick up steam as a heel very quickly, because his mannerisms and demeanor are excellent.

Just now, garynysmon said:

Aye, all good topics tbh. Would opt for the Harts or Demolition personally.

I won't be fussed whoever wins to be honest mate, I'll be listening nonetheless. It was a toss-up between Harts or Rockers, and I went with The Rockers as there's not much insight BP can give us after how searingly honest Bret Hart's book was when he covered the Hart Foundation's run in lengthy detail.

Just now, garynysmon said:

Aye, all good topics tbh. Would opt for the Harts or Demolition personally.

I won't be fussed whoever wins to be honest mate, I'll be listening nonetheless. It was a toss-up between Harts or Rockers, and I went with The Rockers as there's not much insight BP can give us after how searingly honest Bret Hart's book was when he covered the Hart Foundation's run in lengthy detail in his book.

To be fair, there's usually always an old-school WWF topic or two to choose, and it's the viewers that have chosen episodes on Punk and Cena.

Anyway, if it's classic WWF you want, you'll enjoy Friday's episode with a tag teams theme. It's Demolition ('87-'91), Hart Foundation ('87-'91), The Rockers ('88-'92) or The Brainbusters ('88-'92). I've voted for The Rockers.

I thought he was excellent, and especially enjoyed his level of intensity which was quite unique at that time. I enjoyed his feud with The Rock, although Ken destroyed him in the 4-on-4 match at Survivor Series 1997, Royal Rumble '98 (where Rock only won due to Shamrock being DQ'd), Wrestlemania XIV (decision reversed) and then in the KOTR '98 tournament final. All of them good matches. His "Lion's Den" match with Owen was also very enjoyable.

The "tapping out" aspect that he brought to WWE shouldn't be understated - it has added much more drama and realism to matches than the far less visually-pleasing verbal submission. Perhaps if not for Ken, we wouldn't have saw "tapping out" until the UFC's boom period several years later. Ken was way ahead of the game in 1997, for me.

I was hankering for Ken to come back for a couple of years after he left WWE to face Angle in a dream match over Angle having stole his finisher in his absence (in those simpler times, that was a good enough reason for a blood feud in my mind). I realised shortly after Ken's high profile loss to Tito that it wasn't going to happen, though and gave up on the idea.

IYH: Canadian Stampede. It was with great trepidation that I watched the entire event for the first time since about 2001, when the old VHS tape got a regular airing, but I went ahead and gave it a bash in preparation for this week's STWW podcast. Obviously I'd watched the stunning main event a million times over the years, but the entire event itself?

Every bit as great as I remembered. This card never dips below "very good," in my opinion. If it's not the best WWF PPV of its era, it's up there.

Why did it all go so wrong for Ken Shamrock in the WWF? In '97 up to mid '98, he was one of the hottest babyfaces in the company. Very decent in the ring too, for me. Believable, innovative.

Should never have turned heel and gone corporate. That fucked it.