The Wrestling Archives

Tim and Rich pop into the vault to bring up WCW's 24th Clash of the Champions from 1993. If you know, you know, amirite? This show starts out pretty good, but you can tell it's just doomed from the start, and then it happens, the most shocking debut in all of professional wrestling, and not in a good way. It's another one of those times where kayfabe is broken and a landmark moment in the history of wrestling is created, for better...

Today, we travel back to 2015 for WrestleMania 31. I was going to make a Terminator timeline reference since this show is heavily sponsored by Terminator: Genisys, but the timeline is so messed up I can't tell what happened 2015. What we do know: Sting is not Japanese, HHH is not a robot, DX and the NWO are old, and Roman Reigns can work a shoot with Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker gets back on his winning ways, The Rock panders, and ...

We were truly blessed to be given some time to talk with Cliff Bumgardner and Chris Lea, the makers of the new PBS documentary, When Giants Walked Here. This fantastic documentary tells the story of the famed J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC. It's the little engine that could of wrestling arenas. The story of the creation of the building to the stories of the incredible wrestling presented there by Jim Crockett Promotions. You don'...

For the first time ever, Tim and Rich recorded in the same room with each other! They took some time out of Rich's visit to the tidewater to sit down and talk about SummerSlam 2024, which is coming live from Cleveland, Ohio. Who will keep their belt? Who will have their hearts broken? Hear what Tim and Rich think, plus they recount the awesome weekend they had going to the VCW Liberty Lottery where they got to meet and chat with Th...

When the Brooklyn Brawler says "Let's do it, baby" to you, you do it. That's exactly what happened here. Tim was given a phone number. He called it and Steve Lombardi answered and was ready right then to talk, so Tim got to have a 15 minute chat with the legend. We decided that wasn't quite enough for an episode so we hopped in the studio and had a talk about The Brooklyn Brawler/Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz/Kimchee/Doink the Clown. ...

Tim and Rich are back, this time getting into a favorite topic of every longtime wrestling fan, the fall of WCW. We've heard the stories a million times. Tim and Rich approach it from what the WCW product looked like at the time of death, WCW Greed, March 18, 2001 from a 50% capacity Jacksonville Coliseum. It's just a mere 8 days before the final Monday Nitro where Vince McMahon shocks the world with his bargain basement purchase o...

We stayed up past our bedtime to have the opportunity to talk with the legendary Jesús Ricardo Rodriguez. He shares his incredible story that took him around the world twice over. We talk about his introduction to the business, his love for Eddie Guerrero, and his meteoric rise to fame as the personal ring announcer and valet to the WWE/World Heavyweight Champion and AAA Mega Champion, El Patròn Alberto del Rio! He was on top of th...

Alright, you've been having a pretty killer summer. In an exchange with your mom, you watched (and secretly enjoyed) "A League of Their Own." In this bargain, you got to go see "Batman Returns." Your dad said no to "Lethal Weapon 3," but felt bad so he secretly took you to see "Encino Man" because Pauly Shore is so funny!!! In the lobby of the movie theater, you blasted through $10 (oh no, your popcorn money!) of quarters playing S...

It's January 1990. You're happy they've finally stopped playing that dang Christmas song by Band Aid and you are fully jamming to Hangin' Tough by New Kids on the Block. Most Sundays you have to decide between America's Funniest Home Videos or ALF. But, not this Sunday. You were really good and did your chores and washed your grandma's feet so your parents would spring for the Royal Rumble on Pay-Per-View. They even ordered Domino'...

It's April 7,  2014. You've turned off Happy by Pharrell Williams so you can sit down for the next four hours and watch WrestleMania from the SuperDome, not the SilverDome (Looking at you Hulk Hogan). You have on your Obama-esque "YES!" shirt. Everything seems normal and routine. They parade out last generation's superstars. They wheel out the new members of the Hall of Fame. But, this is New Orleans, there's dark forces, mystery a...

If you're a wrestling fan from the late 90's, you already know why we're doing an episode on this event. June 28, 1998, Pittsburgh, PA. Wrestling changes. Whether it's for the best or the worst, that's up for debate. What we do know is that it saved the WWF and secured the win for Vince McMahon in the Monday Night Wars with Ted Turner. While we definitely discuss at length the elephant in the room, we also talk about the actual Kin...

The Greek God Papadon blessed Tim and Rich with his presence in a no holds barred interview that talked about everything. One thing I can tell you, this God among men loves Star Wars and hates thigh slapping. This interview gets raucous as we discuss his 3-way match against Dirty Money and Chris Slade next week at Virginia Championship Wrestling's return to Hampton High School. Papadon is a veteran of the business, approaching his ...

Tim and Rich flashback to Texas in 1984. Tragedy had struck the Von Erich family in February when David Von Erich was stricken with an intestinal illness and passed away while on tour in Japan. Fritz, the patriarch and promoter of World Class Championship Wrestling assembled a super card in his honor with the main event being Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The card is sprinkled with other f...

One of the most notorious and infamous wrestling shows ever. In 1995, six months before the start of the Monday Night Wars, WCW decided to bring peace and harmony through violence. The great Antonio Inoki contacted Eric Bischoff with the terrible idea of taking professional wrestling to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, street name North Korea. Not only did we watch the wrestling show, we watched the Dark Side of the Ring ...

Hey y'all we made a friend! The Hoss of all Hosses and former Virginia Championship Wrestling United States Champion, Devantes stops by to have a chat. He's been burned by his former manager, scum of the Earth Neil Sharkey, and is looking for vengeance. While we do talk a lot of wrestling, our boy is from Philly, so that leaves us with no choice but to talk food. The go-to cheesesteak, steak preparation, mid-tier steakhouses of old...

Look, some strange stuff has happened over the years in pro wrestling; Mae Young birthing a hand, the Gobbledy Gooker, Kane beating up Pete Rose, but nothing has become quite as infamous or part of the wrestling lore as Capital Combat '90: The Return of RoboCop. Tim and Rich break down this show which had a pretty solid card for an early WCW show. Ric Flair and Luger, the Four Horsemen running amuck, and Doom and The Steiner brothe...