In this week’s Interview Classic episode from ten years ago (9-3-2015), PWTorch editor Wade Keller talked live with former WWE writer Matt McCarthy discussing a wide range of topics with live callers including Summerslam, Daniel Bryan, and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (01:05):
Now PW Torch in Spreaker bring you the Wade Keller
Pro Wrestling Podcast. It's time for this week's Interview Classic,
where Wade Keller interviews one of Pro Wrestling's newsmakers.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Ten years ago. This week I interviewed former WWE Creative
Team member Matt McCarthy. He's also a stand up comedian
and wrestling podcaster, a big wrestling fan. We talked about
SummerSlam and just reviewed the quality of event, talked about
the top stories coming out of it. We also looked
at Night of Champions and also should Danga Bryan head
to New Japan and many more topics with live callers
for over an hour and a half. This's originally live
(01:43):
streamed on September third, twenty fifteen, and it is today's
Wade Keller Progressling Podcast ten years Ago Interview Classic for Saturday,
September sixth, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Welcome to thep W Torch Livecast. I am Wade Keller,
editor and publisher of Pro Wrestling Torch weekly newsletter since
nineteen eighty seven, also PW torch dot com, MMA Toorch
dot com, and new this week, Wadekeller dot Com. My
blog covering mostly pro wrestling, some MMA and UFC topics,
(02:26):
including daily blog updates, sometimes multiple blogs throughout the day,
Polls where I respond to a hot topic and then
ask you to chime in and respond to it, and
a pretty cool new feature too on camera video updates
the Wadkeller Video Blog now available at wadkeller dot com.
On my video blog, I talk for six to ten
(02:47):
minutes about three hot topics of the day and give
my thoughts on them. Check it out wadkeller dot com.
Brand new launched just this week. It's a new new
totch with if you're a pro wrestling fan for the
new Fall season bookmarket check it out. It's customized for
your computer or your mobile device. Wadekeller dot com. This
(03:09):
is the PW Torch live cast on Thursday, September third,
two thoy fifteen, and it is Interview Thursday. And we've
had some great guests the last few weeks. Jim Ross
last week, Domidellis Page the week before that, and Mick
Foley making his first live cast appearance the week before
that one. So if you've missed any recent Interview Thursdays,
(03:32):
please do check them out in the archives. It's even
easier when you're a VIP member because you can just
go right to the PW Torch Live Cast interview section
on our ad free main page. I'll talk about VIP
membership later in the program, but first We're going to
introduce a returning guest who is always a fantastic guest
(03:52):
on the PW Torch Live cast, and that is x
WWE rider Matt McCarthy. Matt, welcome back to the program.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well, hello, they're Wade.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Great to hear your voice. I am always excited to
hear what you have to say about what is going
on in the world of professional wrestling. You are somebody
who worked in the trenches with WWE several years back.
What year was it now, it seems like it's been
a white about three years since you were there.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Yeah, Jesus has I started there in the end of
November twenty eleven and I left in the middle of
October twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, so we're approaching three years.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well a lot has happened since then, including just in
the last week, and we'll talk a lot about that
Summer Slam Summer Slam fallout at XT. Now, did you
attend the Progressing Girl at Battle of Los Angeles shows
at all this weekend?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I did not, but my we watched Wrestling podcast co
host Vince Abriel did and our past episode issue one
oh five, Vince gives a full Bowler report and uh
I had family business back east tonight the you know
with cartbreaking to missus and it sounds like Night two.
(05:07):
A lot of people are saying it's the best show
PWG has done yet today. Wow, really really saying something.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, Yeah, that is really saying something. So I assume
that you'll look forward to watching those sometime on video.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
I have already pre ordered my DVDs.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I know you're a big PWG fan. Well, I want
to let people know that they can call us on
the program here and participate live. Our phone number is
six four six seven two one nine A two eight
six four six seven two one nine A two eight.
You can also email us at the at the show
right now live if you're listening to us live at
five thirty five Eastern two thirty five Pacific time on Thursday,
(05:49):
September third. The email addresses pw torch Live cast at
gmail dot com. That's pw torch live Cast at gmail
dot com. And we'll check the inbox for some topics
you can talk about. I assume we're probably going to
talk mostly about WWE happenings, the return of Sting, looking
ahead to Night at Champions follow up on SummerSlam TV ratings,
(06:12):
a lot of hot topics out there. If you watched
Impact last night, you want to talk about Jeff Hardy
becoming EC three's personal assistant since EC three, thanks to
a low blow, managed to beat Matt Hardy in the
main event for the world title to retain the title.
You can certainly do that, and you're going to talk
about the Jeff Jare at Dixie Carter battle for power
and pride in TNA and all that good stuff. So
(06:35):
just topically, I wanted to bring up TNA in case
anybody out there wants to bring that up. Matt, you
not only work behind the teams of WWE, not only
a big progressing fan. You mentioned it already, You've got
a podcast that you do. Tell our listeners right up
front a little bit more about that podcast so that
they can hear you more often if they like what
they hear on today's show.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Yeah, I am the host of the We Watch Wrestling.
We are on Farrell Audio dot com. You can check
us out at We Watch Wrestling podcast dot com. And
that's got our you know, we put up new issues
every Wednesday at three sixteen am. We have our back issue.
Our time Theayre, so you can check out the previous
(07:18):
one hundred and four issues. And then yeah, every once
in a while we do special issues where we haven't
done one in a long time, but we got to
figure out how to do it. Our producer Rob Sibley
moved back to New Jersey, so we've been kind of
floating the water without a rudder. But we do special
issues where we want wrestling documentaries or live shows and
(07:40):
you can you know, listen along with us with ultimate
commentary type thing. And yeah, our twitter is at we
watched w podcasts and we love it. It's great. It's
you know, it's two lifelong fans. I worked at for
WWE for for a year and then the third Hostom Sibley,
(08:00):
is a brand new fan. So a lot of the
show is uh, you know, kind of explaining things to
Tom and uh, you know, introducing things to him, you know,
to be it's it's it's it's a fun dynamic, and
it's not we are you know, we go out of
our way to not just be like, uh, it's it's
it's not your typical wrestling podcast. We're not just a
recap or review show. It is just a celebration of
(08:23):
being a fan, and there's a there's a lot more
to it than just talking about wrestling. It's it's you know,
it's it's a it's a celebration. It's a celebration of
of wrestling fans and and they you know, a defense.
We we we fight for the integrity of wrestling fans
all over the world.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
How how do you think UH wrestling is Is UH
serving the fan base who want integrity of the product
these days?
Speaker 4 (08:49):
What?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
What what jumps out to you as especially good or bad?
A very open ended beginning question here.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Well, I mean, unfortunately, whenever somebody says wrestling, you know,
you you almost have to assume they mean WWE. And
but that's one of the things that we've introduced a
lot a lot of our listeners to things like PWG
UH and even New Japan Pro Wrestling or Luke Underground
when that was on. But PWG especially, we've gotten a
(09:20):
lot of people interested in that and and going to
the shows and going to UH to their website to
buy their DVDs. But I mean also in New Japan
Pro Wrestling, we we had a friend, we have a
fan of a listener who's living in Tokyo who didn't
know about it obviously, I think an expad or or
at least an American working over there. And so he
went to the last five nights of the g One
Climax uh and he said he was almost brought to
(09:42):
tears when when uh Hanma won finally won a match
when he beat So it's uh we we like spreading
the words. So I mean as far as what what
what is wrestling doing today? I mean I think everything
that everything that Professional Wrestling Guerrilla is doing is served
thing the fans. I mean, it was the hottest ticket
in LA. It was you know, my my co husband's
(10:04):
Abril who you know, he went to all three nights.
It wasn't even a sure thing if he was going
to be able to get into night too. But it's
you know, thank God, bless social media, God, bless the show.
Reaching out and getting in touch with other people, he
was able to get a ticket all three nights. As
far as what w w E is doing for the
fans right now, I think n XP is probably the
greatest gift that that certainly at least Triple H has
(10:28):
bestowed upon wrestling fans. You know, real just work, right, promotion,
but also, you know, not everybody in the it's it
is a diverse roster because it's not just you know,
a bunch of guys who can and girls and women
who can put on unbelievable matches.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
I think Bailey and Sasha Banks stole the weekend of
of of all of Summer Slam weekends, you know, but
I mean it's just what a phenomenal, phenomenal match, So
happy for both of them.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I will mention too talking to Steve Boss. I've been
on both Steve Buston shows this week, by the way,
so if you are a fan of the Steve Boston podcast,
or if you're not even check it out. If you
don't know about it yet, check it out. Steve and
I just spent I don't close to three hours breaking
down a four hour pay review over the last two
shows he did. The first one dropped Tuesday at the
Steve Boston Show at the family friendly version, and then
(11:20):
today on Steve Bouston Unleashed. We broke down the second
half of the show close to another hour and a half.
I think of analysis, so and we talked about a
few other things in the mix two not just SummerSlam,
but mostly SummerSlam. He did bring up the Bailey Sasha
Banks match. Boy, was he a fan of it, and
I had to, I want to say, twist his arm
to do it. But I before we did the before
he recorded part one, you know, I said I'd like
(11:42):
to talk about that match in particular, and he's like,
all right, I'll watch it. And then after we watched it,
he wasn't mad at me. He was very glad that
I pushed him to watch it, and I think he
went back and has watched the whole show. And when
we're actually looking at doing another review looking back at
NXT Takeover, probably next week, but check out the Steve
Boston show. You want to hear Steve and me discussed
for close to three hours SummerSlam in depth. I learned
(12:04):
so much walking through the matches, in the psychology of
what the wrestlers are trying to do and Steve's observations
on you know, what he would have done differently and
what jumped out to him. It's a really cool thing.
And Matt, I am with you. The Bailey Tascho Banks
match was a template for I think what all women's
wrestling division should aspire to achieve. It was just a
(12:26):
phenomenal match with a crowd investment in the one on
one matchup of a face and a heel and great
wrestling and a title that means something. I just thought
it was a culmination of I don't think I've seen
a better match in America for women's wrestling than that one,
and and there's been some good ones in NXT lately,
but I think that one, especially because of the setting,
(12:49):
probably is number one. I mean, I'm just not sure
where all the factors that come together to make a
match I think great in terms of a title match
on a big show within the context of nx T,
I'm not sure I've ever seen anything better.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Yeah, you might be right. I mean, I'm trying to think.
I'm trying to rack my brain. I mean, the first
names that would pop into my head would be probably
a Chaquar show with like Sarah del Rey and Daisy Hayes,
but I can't think of a specific one. And also,
when what's her name, an Ami Toyota came to the States, again,
(13:24):
that was an intergender tag match. I take her at Sara,
but again, you know, Toyota was a little past their
prime when she came to the States, so I mean
it very well might be. I mean, and also you know, my, my, my,
my huge PWG crush, my number one favorite wrestler, and
that promotion. Candice Lawray is always put on fantastic message.
(13:47):
But now that I think about it, I've never seen
her wrestle another woman. It's always been an intergender match.
That's that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Yeah, all right, well, let's uh so many thing. We'll
talk about it, but I want to get to call
who've got on hold and we'll kind of sprinkle them
in throughout the show. Again. Our phone number is six
four six seven nine eight two eight.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You don't have to wait for the way Keller Pro
Wrestling post show to find out what I thought of
Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. Each week, you can check
out my reports that are updated live throughout Raw and
SmackDown at pwtorch dot com. My written report will tell
you what's happening in detail in case you missed the show,
and it will also analyze key segments and give my
random thoughts quips on what I am watching as it airs.
(14:35):
So check it out every Monday night and Tuesday night
at pwtorch dot com. That also applies to wwepayperviews. I
cover those live at pw torch dot com with a
detailed written report with star ratings, and of course you
can find other TV reports from other contributors to pw
torch such as NXT, ROH, Impact Wrestling and more. Check
it out pwtorch dot com your first stop for TV
(14:58):
and pay per view written report.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
All right, let's go to the phone lines here and
begin with a phone call from airy code eight eight
one three or the first color of the day. Please
state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Hey God, this is Jacob Tampa J from Tampa.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yes, okay, yep, I thought it was Jay.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
So good.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
What have you got for Matt McCarthy today's guest to.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
Me two questions. One is, for the last two weeks,
I've watched uh even Marie on n XT. And my
question about that is because we kind of know from
Total Divas of a little bit of her background and
(15:49):
whatnot that seems went there to.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Kind of get better.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
But you know, uh, do you think it's somewhat of
a step back that we kind of know she's coming up?
Seems like based off of looks and while we're already
in another revolution of the other divas as far as
how they work and getting away from the diva. It's
(16:14):
almost like we had a period of divas, now we're
ushering in a period of workers. And then right behind
that in the NXTE, now you have another diva coming
behind that.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
My second question was about getting your take on the
you guys take on that little interview from Dolph Diggler.
How it's just kind of talking about where you know,
they as as his character versus who he really is
and how he how he feels and things like that,
(16:48):
you know, just a quick rap about that interview.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Sure, well, let's let's go to Matt And first, Matt,
do you want to start with even Marie the uh,
you know, to go from a diva's revolution and you
know WWB touting that and having these women from NXT
who are just you know, really at a level higher
than I think what WWWE fans have been used to
since at least the Trish Leada, Victoria don Marie. Who
(17:19):
am I trying to say? You know a variety of
other people there since that era. Certainly it's a huge
step up since the kind of diva contest began ten
years ago, and we ended up seeming more like about
looks and really short matches than about any kind of
foundation when it comes to wrestling skill. Is even Marie
somebody who fits in on that? Is it an opportunity
(17:40):
to get heat if she gets kind of injected into that?
What are your thoughts on ww' seeming commitment to her?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I mean, it's you know, it's no secret she's there
because she's gorgeous. And then but I mean that's also
what kind of wweh they love that that they also
meaning they love the idea of someone who can't wrestle,
(18:10):
doesn't know a thing about the business, but has a
tremendous look. And then you know, the w w E
could then say, well, we we trained them, you know,
we made them a wrestler, and we made them fantastic.
(18:31):
I mean, it's kind of interesting that both of his questions,
you know that Chase's first question was about even Marie
in that respect, and the second question was about Dolph Ziggler.
It doesn't get brought up very often, but Dlf Ziggler
is a example of just that, Like golf didn't come
from indies, you know, he was you know, plucked by
(18:52):
w WE and you know.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
The university straight to developmental. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Yeah, which is very interesting because it's because he's obviously
so gifted, uh, such a tremendous athlete to wrestling, you know,
obviously a little bit better than maybe even Read did.
But uh, you know, it's it's the woman is a
work in progress, you know, who knows where she'll wind up.
(19:19):
But I mean it's it's also you can't buy that
tiny heat. You know, she she got booed like nobody's business. Uh,
SummerSlam weekend. You know, she might have been the most
hated person in the Bark Plays Center all three nights,
you know, and that's saying something too, considering you know,
John Stewart turning heel or you know, the Undertaker with
(19:42):
the low clothes and then even even the timekeeper with
that whole you know, uh dynamic. I mean, it's it's
it's very interesting. So it's it's it is one of
those things where she could start getting better, or they
could even play into it. You know, I don't know
how much they want to play into the idea that
you know, she's here because she's good looking. But then
she can't wrestle, but there is she's a natural heel
(20:07):
because she's gorgeous and because she uh, you know, in
a lot of ways doesn't belong. But I mean it's
it's there's value to that, there's value to the people
because it's also like the people aren't just sitting there,
you know, with their arms crossed, like they vehemently hate her,
you know, and that's great, you know, that's that's exactly
(20:30):
what they want. I don't know, what what what did
Dolf say about being himself versus being golf?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah? He uh interview. Yeah, We've got some highlights up
at pw torch dot com if anybody wants to look
those up in the WWE news section. I mean, I
plugged way Keller dot com as my blog today. Pw
torch dot com continues to be the place to go
if you just want to keep up on everything going
on and wrestling. James Caldwell and the whole team. Our
(21:01):
whole team does a great job. But James is working
day and night putting up concise picking out the highlights
of all these interviews that wrestlers are doing in the
mainstream media and putting up concise. But you know, detailed
but concise, if that's not too contradictory, picking out the
highlights and putting them up there. So it's a really
efficient way to keep up on what everybody out there
(21:21):
is saying. And the Del Siegler interviews he did were
pretty interesting. He talked about the relationship with Lana and
on air and getting to know her off air a
little bit better to try to improve their honor chemistry.
He talked about how he is somewhat frustrated because he
feels like he works really hard but doesn't always get
exactly what he you know, gets the push that he
(21:43):
thinks he deserves. He said, when you're as hard on
the product as I am, you get mad about things,
you get bitter about things, you get bored with things.
And I'm the harshest critical we have on my own
stuff in certain things, and we always try to make
it work. So when something special happens in wrestling, it's
that much more special to me. He talked about his height.
He said, somehow I'm here at six feet tall eleven
(22:03):
years later. The guy who's stealing Shawn Michael's gimmick isn't
really good. Flips around the ring like he doesn't know
what he's doing and is one of the guy who
loses almost every night and gets ninety nine percent of
these places to blow the roof off when he comes out.
Why would that be? And he said he changed his
ring gear from shorts to pants because he's going for
an eighties rocker. Look, I'm in the mix of getting
another pair made and if it works out at the
(22:24):
next pay per view, maybe we'll stick to them. We'll see.
If I don't have that time to develop my character,
let me slowly become the guy who wears the stuff
he wants to wear. I'm never sure if he's doing himself.
Favors Matt the way that he kind of talks about
his frustration with his push, But you know, he certainly
has a passion for what he does. But I don't know.
(22:46):
What do you think about What do you think about
those comments? And from your experience in WWE, do you
think it helps wrestlers to speak publicly about their frustrations
with their push. Does management look at that as grabbing
the brass ring and roofless aggression or do they see
it as made speaking out of school a little bit?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah, I mean it's a little bit of both. I mean,
because it's well, first of all, I agree with everything
that he said. I mean, it's like the he should
have he should have been a top guy three years ago.
He should have been a top guy when I was
working there. You know, as far as is that going
(23:23):
to get him any heat, it might. You know, there's
there's so much heat to go around at that place
where it's just like it's it's almost like you can't
do anything right. You know, if they want to find
a flaw, if they want to find something you know,
negative about what you're doing or what you're saying, they
will find it. But that being said, Vince also Vince
(23:44):
McMahon loves when people stand up for themselves. You know,
that's what he wants. He wants people to you know,
fight for it who want it. So in that respect
it could be a positive form. But I mean it's
also it's like, you know, to all forget heat for
you know, working matches too well, you know, or like
bumping too hard, or it's.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Kind of referencing. He's like, I'm the guy who's bows
hard and doesn't know what to do and slips around
too much.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Yeah exactly, you know, and it's like geez, you know,
it's he gets heat from being too good. I mean,
is that a paradox or what I mean, that's just
like you can't win, it's just to catch twenty two.
So it's like, I mean, even talking about his ring, Gary,
He's like, well, why don't I just wear what I
want and do what I want? I mean, it's it's
I don't know, it's it's one of those. And it's
(24:34):
such a strange thing because they he should be the
prime candidate for them loving him, because they developed him,
they made him into what he is. And then if
it becomes this weird backwards kind of oh the people
you know got behind him before we told the people
to get behind them type of nonsense. I mean, I
(24:54):
just throw my hands up in the air because that's
also something that happens to that place. I mean, it's
such a b are uh dynamics sometimes as far as
who who they allowed to get over and who they
you know, decide is you know, is over but for
the wrong reasons, and you know, it's just I mean,
it makes my eyes got across sometimes it is this.
(25:20):
But it's endously entertaining, fascinating place because it's just what
are they going to have a problem with? Next?
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Let me go to Jay, let me go back to Jane.
Just make sure we addressed what he was asking. When
it came to Dolph, Jay, was there any other interview
or comment you saw that jumped out that you want
us in particular to respond to.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
Yeah, I mean the raw part, but but more so
when he was saying, I mean when the guy first
asked about about I guess.
Speaker 7 (25:45):
They were in Miami, he mentioned about being from Hollywood.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
He was like, yeah, he was.
Speaker 7 (25:50):
To me, he was staying in this sarcastic where it
was just like, yeah, but I'm really and then he
said his first his real first and last name, from
where he's really from. He said, so then you had
to kind of Wikipedia information about, you know, way they're
telling fans that you're being built from tou you know,
(26:11):
so you'll no information about it. I was just saying
that was in my mind. I was like, well, what's
the points on that extra?
Speaker 4 (26:18):
I was confused by that.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Matt, did did you pick up on that? You want
to comment?
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Yeah, that is a strange. It's one of the I
don't I don't understand the booking mentality sometimes of you know,
either changing the city or you know, making their hometown.
I mean, I do understand. It's to an extent that
when they're you know, if it's a heel or if
it's a baby face. Like I remember a few years
(26:46):
ago somebody noticed that all the Canadian wrestlers when they
were babys faces were built from you know, wherever they
were living in the States. But if they were a heel,
it regardless that they lived in the States, which most
of them he did, they were built from their city
of birth, which was up in Carnada because still somehow
(27:06):
I guess that residual heat from nineteen ninety seven was
still there, or or just the idea of a foreigner
being you know, a despicable personally, I don't know, But
I mean dolphs he's just an interesting guy and he's
such a gifted talented guys. I don't blame him for
(27:27):
being frustrated at all.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yeah, I get frust I get frustrated with golf sometimes. Yeah,
sometimes I think he's well, I get frustrated with not
his push, but like him the things he does and says.
I don't think emulating badass Billy Gunn was particularly a
good move and coming out and you know, turning his
turning around and turking for the camera made a lot
(27:51):
of sense for the demographics he's trying to go after.
I think that his pops right before his concussion are
we are we are two and a half years ago
that that happened Matt when he one and then when
I WrestleMania and then ended up with a concussion of
missing time. I think it's two and a half now.
I I think he's cooled off quite a bit since then,
and I think sometimes he seems more interested in when
(28:14):
he was a heel, and I think frustrated management he
was more interested in a heel and getting pops instead
of getting booed. And the thing is this, I'm with
you though on it's not WWE's job to get frustrated
with guys who are more interested in how many Twitter
followers they have than how much they get booed as
heels and get people into the story they're telling in
the match. I think is ww's job to take somebody
(28:35):
as immensely talented as Dolf and work with him to
correct those things or steer it in a direction where
they're more willing to push him. But when Dolph says publicly,
I want to wear what I want to wear, and
it's an eighties rock gimmick, but you don't have the
writers in Vinsic Man on board with this eighties fashion
stonewashed Jean's look that Lana's in, and now he apparently
(28:58):
wants to kind of go that direction. I think you
all have to be on the same page, you know it.
Just it seems so counterproductive to be pulling toll, to
be rowing this boat of Dell Sigler to try to
make money and there's no coordination between the front and
back hours and that's what it seems to have been
for years with him.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
Are you a fan of AW looking to sit back,
relax and listen to some like minded podcasters who share
your passion.
Speaker 9 (29:27):
Do you want to be topped off the ledge after
a segment that has you wondering what the heck are
they thinking?
Speaker 8 (29:32):
Do you want to join a discussion on what AW
is doing right and what they could do to improve?
Then join me Joel and me Greg for.
Speaker 9 (29:40):
The All Eleee Conversation Club every Friday on the PW
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Speaker 4 (30:08):
No, absolutely, and and and I did name that I
get frustrated with him as well, you know, and that
like he's not doing himself any favors sometimes, Like I
remember when when he was big into doing you know,
he would speak his mind on Twitter, which would come
back to bite him in the butt, or like doing
you know, hashtag heel. You know, McMahon gets gets it
(30:29):
really drives some nuts when the guys start using too
much you know what he calls insider terminology, even though
we're all you know, we've all been smartened up over
hears because of the Internet, are because of whatever, because
of that rotten wade teller exposing the business. You know.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
But I never thought when I talked about the inner
workings that they would ruin the immersive, the immersive sports
like environment by talking about it on the air. Like
we can talk about it on the show. But please,
from the opening of the closing credits, make me believe
what's happening is real.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Oh, absolutely, but I mean, yeah, you know what it
is too, is I think, you know, for lack of
a better term, if guys are going into business for
themselves and not necessarily like changing the finish of a
match or doing something like that, but like cultivating your
own character on screen because you feel like they're not.
They're not you know, WWE isn't you know, it doesn't
(31:22):
have a you know, their focus is usually on the
tippity top guys. You know, they're like whatever, this next
pay per view coming up, is it's going to be
a one match show, Like like with Summer Slam, it
was okay, Brock versus Undertaker is the draw. Everything else
doesn't matter, you know, more or less Night of Champions
and Staying versus Rolins that's the you know, that's the draw.
(31:44):
Everything else is going to kind of be whatever. Obviously,
John Cene is always going to be important, but then
you can see why a guy like Golf his figure
and well what am I doing? They don't know, It
doesn't even seem like they care. He's been kind of
stuck in the Russeph program for a while file now,
even longer than it probably originally was planned to be
(32:05):
because of Ruscev's injury. But at the same time, you
can't I can't help but look at someone like Steve
Austin back in the day, who came in with so
much momentum from you know, his ECW stuff, then gets
kind of saddled with this the Ringmaster thing and then
finally it's just like that kind of just just by
(32:26):
sheer luck, ted Y Biafi leaves for WCW. Then he's
just kind of like left in limbo and he's like, well,
let me just do what I want to do. And
unfortunately that was at a time where Vince needed something new,
whereas now they're just kind of Unfortunately WWE, they're at
the top and they're kind of in a state of
limbo because of it, and they've just kind of been
(32:47):
in this John scene or Randy Orton on Talkking for
a decade now, and it's you know, there's a reason
that the ratings are the exact same every single week,
no matter what they do. If it's the night after
Summer Slam, if they try to promote every thing is
a big night, it's still going to be like, you know,
a two point nine rating or whatever it is. I mean,
it's just it's it's the brand itself, and it's not
(33:09):
they don't have that guy or those two guys, like
they were so lucky that they had Rock and Steve
Austin back in the day. You know, it's just it.
But I mean again, I can't help but think of
Stone Cold being like, let me do what I want
to do, and then the people reacting to it. If
that was the case these days, Vince would have a
problem with it. You know. It certainly seems like Vince
(33:32):
would try to bury Stone Cold Steve Austin because it's like, well,
he's getting over with the people when he's supposed to
be a heel. He's doing it wrong, He's you know.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
I think if if Vince had the nWo opposite overall
right now drawing three point eight ratings while he's doing
two point sevens, I think he'd be more open to
that change that you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Matt.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
I think he was during the Stone Cold era scared.
I mean I talked to him at that time a
few times, and I sensed he was I mean I
sensed he was scared, you know. So I mean I
asked him once I would if he would move off
from Mondays to perhaps Tuesdays, and he told me, yeah,
he wasn't afraid to blink, and he just you know,
was blaming it on Ted Turner using funds from from
(34:12):
his other divisions to to prop up WCW and use
predatory aggressive practices to try to drive him a family
business out of business. He saw himself as a victim
who might have to blink and move days. And so
if he's in if he was in that state of mind,
he's more open at pushing somebody like Steve Austin, whereas, yeah,
you're right, today, maybe he would not be open to
(34:33):
pushing Steve Boston. And you just have to look back
at what he did with Daniel Bryan to see that
there is a certain belief that you have to fit
a certain framework literally invigatively in order to get a
big push. But they thought they had that in Roman reigns,
and it hasn't worked out so well. And Roman seems
to be you know, kind of upper mid card now
or certainly lower top tier at best. So you know,
(34:55):
their vision doesn't always work out. And you're right, Matt,
it wouldn't be nice if they adjusted two things landing
their lap unexpectedly that are good as opposed to going well,
I was expecting twenties, not fifties. Get out of your
pile of money.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Cam kidding. I mean, that's what Daniel Brian was, That's
what Zulf Ziggler is. But what Sean Punk was. I mean,
and you know those other two guys in Brian and Punk,
it's it's amazing that they were able to achieve what
they did despite the company. I mean, it's just it's
(35:28):
so backwards, the idea of the company not wanting people
to get over, you know, or like deciding no, that's
not the right guy that's supposed to get over. It's
supposed to be this guy. And you know, Roman Reigns,
you know, is a victim of that circumstance. It was
a victim of you know again the people wanting to
see Daniel Brian on top and not him. But I mean,
(35:50):
it's it does remind me of when you know, Rocky
my Via first came in and was pushed to the
moon and then the people rejected it. But I don't
know that they have handled the Roman thing well, like
just putting him into it an endless program with Bray Wyatt,
So I don't know, we'll see how that Peter's out.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, all right, Well, if you're just joining us. My
guest on today is PW Torch Live Cast Interview Thursday
is Matt McCarthy x WWE Rider, stand up comedian, host
of We Watch Wrestling podcast Looking Up on iTunes and
PWGFN to boot and Big Pros and Fenal Roll. So
we are talking about current events in WWE and pro wrestling.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
We are.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
We've talked a decent amount about Dolf Zigler and also
some of the women women's wrestling. We're gonna now go
to another phone call. Appreciate Ja from Tampa getting us started.
We'll go next to seven seven zero and then on
deck four seven eight seven seven, Oh things for holding.
Please state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Jimmy, Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Hey Jim, thanks for Colin. What have you got for us?
Speaker 6 (36:55):
I just wanted a quick opinion how he would write
the steamed sess.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
Ending all right, but what he would do that.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
That's a fun one to play with, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Matt?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I did on my blog at Weadkeller dot com yesterday
and today what was it? Earlier scenarios say whatever? I
think it was actually today. I wrote about thing yesterday,
but I wrote about some ideas for different booking scenarios
for Sting on my blog and talked about it a
little bit in my video blog at wade Keller dot com. Matt,
I want to know what you think. What are some
ideas you have for Sting? And we ran a pull
(37:26):
at way Keller dot com asking if people wanted to
see Sting win the world title, like should he have
a world title run? Without looking at the results, Matt,
I assume you haven't. How do you think the voting
is coming? Yes or no? Do readers of my blog
want to see Sting with the title with some sort
of title run?
Speaker 4 (37:47):
I kind of almost imagine it would be a yes,
it's interesting. I don't know if it would. I don't
know if it's in the cards for Sting. I would
like to see it.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
I mean two thirds, two thirds want to see Sting
with the title win.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
We're at sixty. Only twenty seven percent say no, and well,
I don't think this is very good, but six percent
say they don't carry the way. But of those who voted,
I think we're up to about sixty. Yeah, sixty seven,
a little over sixty seven percent actually are saying, yeah,
let's give let's give Sting a title run.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
I mean, I love it. I love that idea. It'd
be interesting to see where to go from there, to
be honest, when it first came up, when first was
it was first revealed that Sting was going to be
feuding with Rollins at least before you know, I'm coking
in a few minutes before he picked up the WWE
Heavyweight Championship and was like, you know, it was obvious
(38:48):
when Rawl went off the air that night that oh,
Sting's going to be challenging for that title. I almost
thought for a second that he was going to try
to get the US title just because he has, you know,
a history that or at least the lineage if we're
going to go back to w CW with it and
still a prestigious belts you know, what was the John Cena,
(39:09):
you know, kind of elevating it over the last year
and now Robin's having it. But I mean, it's interesting
with with Sting challenging for it. I don't know if
he'll win. I would love to see him have a
run with the belts. I think he would deserve it,
he's it. He would be an interesting candidate for it.
(39:31):
He's you know, a legends in that right specific winning.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Do you have an idea of a way to specifically
have Sting win. Would you have him win straight up
with a you know, a Singer flash and the Scorpion
deathlock and have Seth loose cleanly and then just have
Seth get his heat back afterwards? Do you have some
sort of interference maybe Triple H gets involved in it backfires.
And the other scenario too, is because Seth will be
defending the title twice, maybe Seth has a really grueling
(40:01):
match with Sena and then Sting goes in and beats
Seth clean. But you can make the argument Seth doesn't
really get hurt losingto a guy in his mid fifties
because what was Seth's second match, and Seth can dwell
on it to the point that people just get sick
and tired of him hearing him dwell on it. Like
I mean, there's different ways they can go with it
if they give Sting to run. So that's kind of
part one. I'm kind of curious what you think are
some ideas. But two, do you have Sting hold it
(40:23):
for a while, or do you just kind of give
it to him as a sort of an honorary short
run but have him lose it a week or a
month later.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Yeah, I mean, well, to answer the second part, first,
I think if you give it to him, it has
to be a little bit you know, lengthy of a run,
at least a few months. It's because they're definitely not
in the mind frame of booking those titles for the
short term. Lord knows they used to. You know, one
guy would be a champion and then literally the next
(40:52):
day he lose if it was even twenty four hours
and we're run And I don't see that happening. But
I could, you know, could conceivably see if we went
down that direction, it wouldn't it wouldn't hurt Sting. You know,
Sting is kind of a guy who's you know, he's
he's impervious because he's he's you know, he doesn't need
any help and he kind of nothing could really hurt him.
(41:17):
But as far as the first part, I don't see
a scenario where Sting wins. I mean, I agree with
you that, you know, if if Rollins had a grueling
match with Sena and then he goes and you know,
to fight Sting. There could be you know, the argument
made while he's worn down, you know, he's he's already
(41:37):
you know, exhausted. You know, that's not much of a
babyface win for Sting. But I feel like the story
that could be told is the you know, the authority
being very concerned that's because of that situation, Because of
that scenario that like, oh, Rollins had a grueling match
with Sena, whatever the outcome was, even if he won
(41:58):
or if he lost, you know that they still worried
about their investment in Rollins. Then they definitely definitely don't
want their title, you know, it's their title, han Sting.
So I feel like the story that could be told
is that triple H or at least you know, if
he gets you know, Chan and j Security back or
Kine comes back or something like that and interferes on
(42:21):
Rollin's behalf helps Rollins win. But then Rollins isn't happy
with that because he's like, I didn't need your help
to beat Sting. I didn't need your help at any
point over the past year to keep my you know
title on me and then keep developing the you know,
(42:41):
the the rift between Rollins and Triple h that way,
and especially if it is like a Kine returning on
the Authority's behalf and you know, and upsets Rollins even
though it is in his favor. We could finally see
that Rollins Kane you know, pay per view match, or
(43:01):
or it definitely just builds towards you know, next year's Mania.
I think it's it might be a safe bet that
we'll see Hunter versus Rollins, which would be a fambulous,
a fantastics match, you know, I'd love to see that.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
Can you see the Hunter Seth match going either way
in terms of who plays the face and who plays
the heel, because a lot of us are waiting for
the authority to go away or go babyface. So you
don't have Stephanie and Hunter standing in the ring excitedly
announcing Summer Slams four hours this year, and the fans
are supposed to cheer and we have a great carter
to give you, and the fans are supposed to appreciate, Hey,
(43:34):
thanks for giving us a good card. But then you know,
next you know, two minutes later, you're supposed to be
doing them and hating them. It's such a contradictory thing
to do. So part of me just thinks, any way
Hunter can go babyface, I'm all for it, even whether
it's with Steph or Againster. But then there's part of
me that just thinks Seth would make a really good babyface.
But maybe it's too soon. You know, he was so
good at SummerSlam. A lot of people observed and Steven,
(43:56):
Steve Austin was talking about, you know, the white the
white pants, the white out fit, the flashy move set H.
That's where Steve Austin told me that he thinks Seth
might be the guy to follow in John Cena's footsteps
as the next leak babyface for that company. But if
Seth takes on a Hunter, is it too soon for
set to be healed? You try to keep him heal
another year or two.
Speaker 4 (44:14):
First, I think you probably keep him heal. And it's
you know, he's so obnoxious that you can almost look
half how much you enjoy watching him wrestle. But it's
also with the authority, and especially with Triple h Is
it's like their heels one minute and their babyface is
the next. And people seem pretty you know, accepting of it.
(44:36):
And certainly internally, you know, they're.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Like, oh, they should have that.
Speaker 4 (44:40):
I mean, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
People accept that that's terrible because that means they're not
invested emotionally in the characters because they don't feel strongly
or they're not committed to feeling one way or the other.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
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(45:13):
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Speaker 4 (45:24):
Well, that's just it is, because that's why WWE is
becoming less and less of a and buy their own
doing and by their own saying, you know, there be
they are not doing pro wrestling shows. They're putting on
WWE entertainment shows, you know. So it's like in that respect,
it's it makes sense in their little world in their minds,
(45:47):
you know, yeah, because they're they're they're they're too they're
too insulated, they're two, they're too you know, full of
their own you know bs. Whereas it's like outsider looking
in or dedicated pro wrestling sam looking in can be
a little confused as to, you know, who's who's a
(46:08):
good guy this week and who's who's a heel the
next week. It's just it can be a little confusing
and frustrating and convoluted is definitely the word I've used
the most when discussing Raw or SmackDown, you know, where
it's like, all right, I guess this is what we're
doing now. But and especially with the authority, whereas it's
like am I supposed to be cheering you? Or am
(46:28):
I supposed to be booing you? You know? But I mean,
but they definitely internally, internally, they definitely feel like, you know, wow,
you know, Triple H. She's I mean that whole past
episode of Raw, the whole thread going throughout the entire
show was Triple H is the greatest of all time,
(46:50):
and no one can touch him, so it's like, all.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
Right, it's like they treated as a given and it's
Seth trying to take the title from him. Seth, not
even Seth. The yel is saying, well, yes, Triple H
was the greatest of his time, but when he first
started saying it, Rick Flair was. And it took a while,
but Triple H you became. You became that. It's like, yes,
at one time, Rick Flair was the greatest and you
were a little premature saying you're the greatest, but of
(47:14):
course now everybody knows you were. And I'm like, I mean,
that's quite the narrative to try to pass off. But
it does sometimes seem like it's a little bit of
an ego trip for Triple H, where they build the
storyline around the ego trip rather than the the pouting
of Triple Ah. And Triple Ah had a great career.
I mean he I have a ton of respect for
his ringwork. I just think it's pushing a little and
(47:38):
I get there, like, well, but Triple H is a character,
he's here full time. We want to use him as
an asset. Let's build him up. It's just sort of
convenient that Triple H is the one who is in
charge sort of and also the one who's now talked
about as just it's a given that he is the greatest.
Speaker 4 (47:53):
Oh yeah, of course. But I mean they really believe
it too, like it's it's they have. I mean, the
people that get worked the most are is WWE itself,
you know, like they believe it that it's like, well,
you know, it get as far as the Divas Revolution goes,
and whoever they're else, they're going to bring in the
(48:14):
top diva is always going to be Stephanie herself. You know,
no one will ever make her look dumb or weak
or what have you. Like, it's amazing that they even
had that glimmer of it with Ronda Rousey getting in
the ring at this past Mania, you know, but I
mean it's I feel like in their mind they're going
(48:34):
to be building towards Stephanie versus Ronda at this coming Mania.
And if they do that, if they actually have that match,
I can guarantee you it's not going to be a
typical Ronda Rousei match where she walks in and makes
a tap out an eighteen second, which would be the
logical match to do. It will be a competitive back
(48:56):
and forth, like Stephanie will have round Rausi down on
the canvas begging for mercy. As ludicrous as that south,
you know, but that's to them that makes perfect sense.
How could you not do that? Like what a waste
it would be to put stephan in m match and
have her lose immediately, you know, God makes no.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Sense, you know, if that happens. I am looking forward
to the what they attempt to get away with as
far as that goes, that will be that really will
be fascinating. I do want to just break in with
just a little bit of news. T and a impact.
Actually ratings we mentioned them earlier. If people want to
call up about TENA topics are certainly welcome to. But
they actually were up to four hundred twenty thousand viewers
last night, the most since July eighth, when they were
(49:37):
at four hundred fifty three thousand, with Matt Hardy and
EC three in the main event for the world title,
and a lot of bickering going on between Global Force
wrestlings Jeff Charett and T and A sixty carters. So
that's got to be a relief because they were their
average is three hundred ninety two thousand, but they were
down way down last week, so a little bit of
news there. For more details on the ratings breakdown, including
(49:59):
how are away h did relative to TNA, and a
historical perspective on that pw torch dot com is the
place to go or the PW Torch app James Caldell
does a great job putting these ratings in perspective and
breaking down the important figures, and so check that out.
PW torch dot com, book market, check it out every day,
keep up on what's going on in wrestling. Let's let's
(50:19):
go ahead keep rowthro's calls because we've got more and
more people on hold. And I promised that uh uh
four to seven eight would be next. After that we'll
go to uh probably seven three two. Looks like they're
up next four to seven eight. Things we're holding. Please
state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 4 (50:35):
Derail from Georgia.
Speaker 3 (50:37):
A Derrell. Thanks for Colin. What do you got for us?
Speaker 5 (50:40):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (50:40):
I have two questions. My first question is a continuation
to the talk with sting is Seth Rowland. My question
is if they don't continue all with the program between
staying at seth rawling. It's like going on to Vibra series.
What do they because how do they get up to Saviracillies.
(51:01):
Do they go back to the John Tina program or
do they continue to bring part time in to keep
that main event scene going. And my second question is,
since the main event scene it's kind of down, where
do they go to get that back up? I understand
that they tried the rum and Raine thing and it
(51:22):
didn't work. It didn't pan out at first, they kind
is it kind of heat on somebody like Daniel Bryan, who,
even though he's hurt, he's still considered maybe the number
two guys right behind in the fans eyes behind John
Cena that I know he can't help that. He got hurt,
but he's not in there and they fell playing with
(51:43):
rum and Raine didn't work, so he's hurt and not available.
Is it heat on him for not being here at
this time or are they just holding him out so
they can use him later on the line like Rod
Rubbles to boost up radio that way?
Speaker 3 (51:59):
Those my two sure, go ahead, Matt, take whatever you
want from that, and I'll chime into At some point.
Speaker 4 (52:07):
I didn't I couldn't make out what the first question was.
Second question, I don't know that. I think Dame le'brian
is still he might still be the number two guy.
I mean it's tough because it's like, I mean, like
(52:29):
he showed up he did you know the show in
uh in Washington when they did the raw and they
had U did they do miss TV with him? And
you know, I mean everybody loves them, everybody still remembers them,
but it is one of those things in wrestling where
it it's like, you know, they not that they're going
to forget him, but it's like it's, you know, they
(52:50):
need people to go out there and work each week,
and they're definitely not doing you know, like when Steve
Austin got hurt but was still showing up up on
TV each week. They're definitely not doing that with Daniel Bryan.
And I feel like the company would tend to prefer
Daniel Bryan stay off TV, even if it is for
(53:15):
a reason in as inasmuch as you know, to help
Rowan Rains get over, because that was such a you know,
it's just it was it was it was a timing thing. Yeah,
both both of those back to back Royal rumbles, you know,
with Daniel Bryan not not in the first one and
(53:36):
then not winning the second one, and then Roman Reign's
getting the residual heat from it because again it was
you know, the people being a little fed up with
we're sick of you trying to force feed us and
then uh, but then at the same time, you always
tell us we're the most important thing that we decide
what happened that it's you know, if it weren't for
(53:58):
the fans, there would be no w W lee they
even had. I mean, how ironic is it too that
they used to do that promo with Daniel Bryan coming
out of Gorilla onto the stage to do the X
Chance and then he realizes the arena is empty, you know,
because it's like it's it's it's almost a little backwards
that they would do that, but I mean, unfortunately it's
(54:20):
it's it's just a case of they need to build
up new stars and build up new main eventters and
and top top guys, like you know, Kevin Owens is
still in a pretty decent spot, but it's not he's
not the top heel like he like it felt like
he was the top heel when he came in and
(54:42):
was like, you know, rubbing John Cena's face in the dirt,
and uh, it's I mean, Dan Kevin Owens should be
the US champion right now. You know, there's just he
should have beaten John Cena in every match they had,
Like it should be like that's how you build up
something because you it can't hurt Sena like oh, you know,
(55:02):
did he not sell enough wristbands that week? Or you know,
bar rags or whatever is that thing is he comes
out with each time. It's just like then they panic
and then they have to you know, build sena backup
or something. You know, it's just it's nonsense. Whereas it's
like John Cena is impervious and he's also on the
downward slope of his career at this point. You know,
(55:24):
how many more years does John Cena have? Hopefully a lot,
But as the top top guy, it's you know, that
transition shouldn't be that difficult, you know, for for somebody
else to be the new, you know, top baby face,
even if it is Roman Reigns, even though personally I
would think he's not the correct choice for it. But
(55:48):
looking at the roster now, it's like I'm not sure
who that guy would be. But it's also it's like
ww's own doing. Kevin Owens should be the top heel
right now. Kevin Owens should like how much more interesting
would the show b if there was a guy who
had John Cena's number, you know, because it really kind
of negates with his For his debut on Raw, he
(56:10):
lays out Sena in a way that nobody thought was
possible anymore. Their first pay per view match, he beats
and clean in the middle of the ring, which I
mean I was screaming, like I blew the roof off
my apartment watching that. It was unbelievable. And then it
just kind of goes back to, well, yeah, he's you know,
(56:32):
he got lucky is basically what the story became, you know,
not that he is a force to be reckoned with.
It's too bad and it's frankly a little silly, you know,
to just keep going back to John Cena, who's just
you know, is it an animal farm where they have
(56:53):
the uh in the George Orwell book animal farm where
there's the the workhorse boxer who they just you know,
they just keep using him and using him until he's
just completely broken down. And then they're like and then
they're just done with them, you know, whereas it's like
it's that's just kind of how it feels to me.
It was scene where I'm like, I I it, he
(57:13):
can be a draw and he can be a top babyface.
But I mean it's it's still it's holding the company
back because they are not progressing forward. They have not
progressed forward in the decade. You know, they haven't built anything.
And that's that's the only problem. That's the only problem
with WW right now is that they have And it's
(57:34):
like and that's the reason there is a lack of
depth in the roster is because they haven't created new stars,
you know, and they' and it's and it's you know,
they would make the argument, well, we've certainly tried, but
it's like, m you tried to push Roman Reins and
Shamus down our throats, you know. I mean even like
Rye Back. You look at Rye Back like that was
(57:56):
a guy that it was like it was actually starting
to happen, like people were actually it was starting to
get over, like people were getting into it. People were
no like stopping the Goldberg chance and then it's you know,
it winds up with that, you know, the hell and
a cel with the Brad Maddox as the referee with
see him Punk and it's just like it killed the
(58:17):
whole thing. It killed all the momentum, you know, and
it's not even like Ryback could have been the top,
top guy. But I mean it's like it's you when
you protect someone like they know how to do it,
they know how to do it when they want to
do it. You know, Like you look at Russep like
that whole build up to Rucef and how ironic is
(58:38):
it too that then it's just building up to a
match against who John Cena? And then what does John
Cena do? And he wins? And then Russef is now,
you know, just kind of stuck in limbo with Dolph Ziegler,
two guys who should be on the top.
Speaker 3 (58:55):
His other topic Matt was how do you get from
here to viver series? You look at Night of Champions
with Seth against Bolsena and Sting on top. You know,
I guess it depends on whether Sting is a one
off or they try to do three months in a row.
I mean, I could see them doing three months in
a row with Seth and Sting. I could see Seamous
and the Money in the Bank getting into the mix.
(59:16):
I could see a three way or a tag match.
Maybe I don't know that they would bring Hunter out
to team with Seth, but I wouldn't even be shocked
to see John Cena and Sting against Hunter and Seth
at Survivor series, or maybe even a larger team with
Caine added to one side and you know, another babyface
added the mix. I mean, I think there's a variety
of things you can do if Sting is part of
(59:37):
the mix, for say a three month program where you
can keep things kind of fresh with Sting but basically
stick to Sting versus the authority.
Speaker 10 (59:51):
I'm Kelly Wells, host of the seven Star podcast, the
new ongoing Torch show covering the world of New Japan
pro wrestling. We'll drop new episodes as major and noteworthy
events dictate.
Speaker 11 (01:00:03):
And I'm Chris Lansdowe join us as we cover the
ever changing landscape of New Japan as they navigate an
era with no lack of talent. But I really need
to create some new staves you can stream then your
seven Stop podcas now from Pro Wrestling Torch.
Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
Yeah, I'm always. I'm always for a traditional Survivor Series match,
you know, and like you could build that, you can
build it that easily with you know, one side being
the authority. If they want to bring back Joey and
Jamie and Kane, and even if you want to have
Hunter on the team as well with Rollins, that would
(01:00:48):
be really cool. My fear is that they think, you know,
Hunter's too big, that Hunter needs to be WrestleMania only
type of thing, which is fine, but I mean it'd
be a great draw for summer first the Virus series
and then on the other side, you can have you know, uh, Sena,
(01:01:09):
you know, you can have Cizarro. Who else you put
on that team? Uh? You know, like you know, my
first thought is Rains and Ambrose, but I think you
maybe maybe, I mean they'll probably say, actually, what will
probably see is this is a Survivors Series match with
(01:01:30):
the Wyatt family versus you know, a haphazard shield or something.
Maybe I don't know. I've always but I mean as
far as how to get there, I mean basically, I
guess we're asking, well, what are we gonna do at
Helena Cell again? I mean, if if let's say, Robins
retains and then do Rollins And because I still I
(01:01:57):
feel like the best story to go is that the
authority intervenes to help Rollins win, and then Rollins is
furious because he didn't need their help to beat Sting
because he's the man. He's the now, you know, Sting
is the past, triplacious, the past. Everybody's the past. So
then have it be like Cain makes his return at
(01:02:18):
night a Champions he's their beans on, Rollins behalf. Then
they go to Rollins versus Caine in a Helena Cell,
which would be really cool to see Rollins in a
Helena Cel, and especially with you know Cain, who's you know,
he's got that history with the Helena Cel. He debuted
in the first one and it's you know, there's always
(01:02:40):
like that undertaker kind of vibe to it as well
with the Helena Cel and also, you know Cain, it
benefits from a a gimmick match and that type of environment,
and like just Rollins and himself, like you know, talking
to being a tremendous athlete but at the same time
being kind of kind of a chicken and running away
(01:03:01):
and begging off you got nowhere to go, and hell
In a cell. I mean that's that, but then also
have some sort of Sting involvement, you know, because nobody's
supposed to be able to get in or out, but
then somehow Sting manages to get in, you know, type
of thing. I don't know's there's a lot of different
ways you can get there, but I feel like it
needs to go three more or two more, I should say,
(01:03:25):
you know, the Sting is involved, but it can still
because it's a B pay per view, it can be
it can have it be like a B match like
Rollins versus Cane, but then Sting helps Kane win type
of thing, or at least he's certainly just costing Rollins
the match type of thing. I would like that, and
(01:03:46):
then and then go to like a team Sting versus
team Rollins or team Authority type of thing.
Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
I kind of I think it might be headed that way.
It just depends on if Triple H wants to get
in ring shape, you know, and work a Survivor series.
But it seems like they're trying to make each month
in its own way special and not just have people going, well,
I can check out it too, a world rubble, you know,
and I think the network. Not being on a six
month commitment, but months to month has actually given WWB
that incentive to try to make every month special. And
(01:04:16):
that's why we're getting sting in September as opposed to
just loading up SummerSlam to try to set some record
by rate, to try to keep people month to month
hooked on the product, which I think is a good thing.
Let's go next here on People Do Torch Live Cast
with my guest Matt McCarthy x WWE Creative Team member
here on Interview Thursday, and we'll go next to Eric
Code seven three to two seven three two. Thanks for calling.
(01:04:38):
Please state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 5 (01:04:41):
Hey guys, it's Scott the IP member James Burden, New Jersey.
How are you to that?
Speaker 3 (01:04:45):
Great Scott? Thanks for Colin. What have you got for
Mat McCarthy and me today?
Speaker 4 (01:04:48):
Not the guys.
Speaker 5 (01:04:49):
I got a couple questions. And first we're talking about
the great work Seth Rollins is doing. And I know
what the WWE, even Stephen's file booking or fifty to
fifty booking whatever.
Speaker 4 (01:04:58):
They're proper towards connaction, even Stephen.
Speaker 5 (01:05:01):
Even Stephen, and you know they're saying maybe he would
split Rowins at the pay of view. But if you
want realities to come out strong, could you see him
winning both matches and then attire Robin's with Seamus coming
in to try to cash his money in the bank,
and then Rowinds survives that that need to have something
he can continue to brag about and gloat about on
(01:05:22):
television to get under Triple H's skin. Could you see
anything like that guy's.
Speaker 3 (01:05:28):
Matt, what do you think?
Speaker 4 (01:05:30):
Uh, definitely, I mean, I mean, first of all, I
don't think Seamus is going to successfully cash it that
they've They've set the precedent that, you know, whoever has
the briefcase isn't necessarily going to be the next champion.
I don't see much point in putting the title on Seamus.
(01:05:52):
And there's a story to be told, you know, because
Seamus is an effective heel when he's you know, got
something to complain about, you know, whether it's you know,
he had to like the idea that, like the fancy channing,
you look stupid at him because of his physical appearance.
I mean, how stupid is he gonna look when he
(01:06:14):
catches in and fails at it? Now, he really looks stupid.
You know, he can kind of blow a gasket type
of thing. But then you know that can play into
whoever he's gonna be in a program with after that,
or maybe even you know, start a new program fresh
based off of some baby face like say like Neville
or whomever pointing out you know, you look, you thought
(01:06:36):
we all thought you looked stupid before. Now you look
really stupid, Shamus. It'd be interesting anyway I could see,
you know, maybe that could happen at Night of Champions,
maybe even on a raw, but like I could see
that maybe if we if we do go into the
direction of Rollins versus Cane, there could be some sort
(01:06:58):
of because there's no necessarily incentive for Caine to want
to be the champion, to say, but like definitely he
just wants to hurt Seth you know, and like Sting
obviously wants to be the champion. So if like Sting
is standing there and Rollins is down, maybe even that's it.
(01:07:19):
Maybe then you know, Seamus starts to cash in and
then Sting stops it just because it's you know, I
don't know, because it's an interesting dynamic of like if
Rollins is able to fight him off, I mean probably
that's the best scenario. Rollins has just been able to
fight him off and then have more bragging rights.
Speaker 5 (01:07:38):
That you know he was.
Speaker 4 (01:07:39):
You know, you can't cash in on me. I missed
the money in the bank. I you know, apparently I'm
still missing money in the bank. You know I was
able to cash in at Mania and do it successfully,
and you know you didn't learn anything from me. But
then there is you know the idea of just somebody
doesn't want Seys to be the champion or or you know,
(01:08:02):
because then there is the dynamic of like if it
was like a sting, let's say, whereas it's like he's like, well,
I know I could beat Ron's, but maybe I can't
beat Shamus, so I have to stop Seamus. I don't
think you want to go down that road. But and
when it talks n done, I don't think Seamus is
gonna be successful cashing in the briefcase one bit.
Speaker 5 (01:08:21):
All right, Uh yeah, go ahead, Scott, I agree, Yeah, though,
I agree, I think it's that's I totally agree Matt
and Willis. I don't think Shames wull cash in, but
I think that's really a great way to take advantage
of him. Not being able to cash in and give
robins like imagine coming out in money the bank's I'm sorry,
come out of the pay per viewer. He goes three
(01:08:42):
and oh he's seen it in the first match, sing
in the second match and then defeats Seamous. That really
would give him some great heat and some great like
it's something great to come off all guy. That one
more question to ask you know all the Daniel Brian talk. Wait,
I actually asked this question that Bruce maybe last month.
I wonder what you think about it, Guys, I did
(01:09:03):
one way or the other. Coming up next year, Brian
will be in the ring and I don't know if
I agree or not. Wait, just like you've said very
eloquently over the last few months based on the book,
but I always thought like if wwe would doctors win,
you clear them see him going and working in New
Japan and Lee, I remember in January he said who
(01:09:24):
could be the faith of New Japan in America? Couldn't
that person be Daniel Bryan or a lighter work schedule
and with his work rate and all the matches he
could work with those great guys. That's my last question.
I'll be listening to guys, keep up the great work
and be the d team member. Wave's the best morning
I spend each month. Keep up the great work.
Speaker 3 (01:09:41):
Thank you, Scott. His question remains a floating out there
for you to answer, which is Daniel Bryan the face
of New Japan? If New Japan's interested in making more
inroads into the United States? Is that a good idea
for New Japan and for Daniel Bryan And would WWE
let that happen?
Speaker 4 (01:09:57):
I don't see that happening. And if Daniel Bryan isn't
cleared to perform in WWE, I don't think he needs
to be going over to New Japan and potentially end
his career because that that is a that is a
very god. They work really hard over there, really stiff matches.
(01:10:18):
I mean Daniel Bryan obviously he you know it would
be I would love it. I would love to see
him reprise the role as the American Dragon, go back
over there and be like, you know, I took everything
I could learn from you people. I went to the States,
I became a superstar many times over I'd be I'm
mister WrestleMania thirty and now I'm back here in Japan
(01:10:42):
to you know, to claim my rightful place as the
king of Japan now. But if that might not be
in the cards for him. But that is one of
the other things. If if WWE was ever to let
him go, to let Daniel Brian go. He said it
before that that week he will be you know, wrestling
(01:11:03):
in armories and and bingo halls, and you know, God
willing the American Legion Post number three O eight receive California.
I uh, you know, I believe me, there's there's no
one I'd rather watch perform in the ring than Daniel Bryant.
But not if it's uh not, not if it's if
(01:11:25):
it's at its own detriment, you know, because it's right,
I mean, if it's especially these days, what what we're
still what we're still learning about concussions and post concussions,
concussion syndrome, and you know what what the real you know,
cost of of of some of this, uh, some of
(01:11:48):
these things are you know, it's not worth it in
the long run. But I don't know if if they
were too. If w w E were to you know,
reignite a working relations ship in New Japan Pro Wrestling,
that would certainly be the guy to send over there.
You know, in an ideal world, all things being equal,
(01:12:08):
that would that would be that would be it have
him lead you know, the American invasion of Japan type
of thing. But I don't know, I don't know if
that relationship will ever rekindle. I mean, and it also
seems like at least with the you know, Jusians under
Liger work in the NXT show and potentially more shows,
(01:12:32):
that might just be a deal with uh with Liger,
you know, whereas it's not necessarily a working relationship that
with New Japan, like New Japan has with with the
Ring of Honor right now. Although you know what they
said that who it was Okada was backstage at SummerSlam
(01:12:53):
or at least at Raw or something. It's very interesting,
you know, but I don't know. It's it is also
a symptom of WWE is less in the wrestling business,
and it's and it's almost interesting that they that NXT exists,
as you know, it's almost like NXT is WWE's wrestling product,
(01:13:17):
you know, whereas w WE is just the I don't know,
it's just there. That's their their their home base, so
that's their you know, that's their main product that that's
just their entertainment show. That's certainly the way they think
of it. Which again, you know it. You know, it's
(01:13:38):
Monday Night Raw, there's a wrestling ring on the street,
your wrestling company.
Speaker 3 (01:13:44):
Show, you know, yeah, I mean, well look at I
mean you look at the reactions NXC Takeover, and that
was a wrestling show, and the fans.
Speaker 4 (01:13:51):
Ate it up absolutely. People love wrestling. People will always
love wrestling, you know. And it's like they're like, oh, well,
you know, you can have five star matches every match
and it's not going to make any difference in the ratings.
You know, it's about star power, it's about stories, and
it's like, yeah, it is. It's about those things. But
it's also can we have awesome matches? You know, it's
(01:14:13):
we're at a place where we can do that. Everything
is boutique now. Nothing has to be everything at once.
You know, there's no reason that the ww network has
to be crappy Netflix. It can be the all wrestling channel.
You know, people want that, people would be interested in that.
You know, nobody's buying the network to watch swerves, you know,
(01:14:34):
I mean, come on, they're swerving themselves. They're swerving themselves, Wade,
they are I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (01:14:43):
I hope they come around. I hope crowd reactions like
take Over in Brooklyn helps helps them come around in
that regard and it opens up insic man to see, Hey,
maybe there's another way to do things.
Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
Anytime you're watching WWE Raw or SmackDown or AEW Dynamite
in particular, send us an email if you've got thoughts
on the show or a topic you want us to
address or a question for us. Wade Keller Podcast at
pw torch dot com. Wadkeller Podcast at pewtorch dot com.
If there's anything else going on in pro wrestling that
you want us to address on our main podcast during
(01:15:16):
our mailbank segments, that same email applies Wadekeller Podcast at
pw torch dot com. We invite that interaction. Let us
know what you think of what we're saying, and let
us know what you want us to talk about and
ask us specific questions. Wade Keller Podcast at pw torch
dot com.
Speaker 3 (01:15:33):
Let's go next to Eric Code seven seven three. You're
on Interview Thursday with Matt McCarthy. I'm Wade Keller. What
is your name and where are you calling from.
Speaker 12 (01:15:40):
Boris from Chicago. Hey, wait, you as you don't know me?
Wade right, congratulation success too. By the way, you've been
really hall of fame and now I don't know.
Speaker 4 (01:15:54):
Is it all once you hit you? Wait?
Speaker 3 (01:15:57):
Has it hit me?
Speaker 4 (01:15:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 12 (01:15:59):
It hasn't went to went to your head yet. All
your your hall of fame and all this you know,
all know the riotings.
Speaker 4 (01:16:05):
That you get.
Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Now, I don't know. I'm too busy too. I'm too
busy to stoke up with a makeing star I am.
Speaker 4 (01:16:11):
But thank you right this tas way you know how
we do.
Speaker 3 (01:16:15):
I do it.
Speaker 12 (01:16:15):
But Matt, I enjoy your show. I already put you
in on demand and I enjoy your show and I
love how you your perspective on wrestling. Just like wait,
I want to ask you guys a question because way
really really you know, spoke up against smoke up out
against the Hogan thing, and he came out on good
(01:16:36):
morn America. I want your perspective on on that because
he just won't sit.
Speaker 4 (01:16:40):
Down and just just go away for a minute. Well,
I mean, I guess what what else would we expect
from Houlkogre? You know he can't leave well enough alone.
He can't he can't keep his mouth shut. It'll be
interesting to see what happened. I mean, it's funny. I
(01:17:01):
mean just today I was, you know, I turn on
my Twitter and I see him still retweeting people. You know,
Can I get a retweet for my birthday to day?
Or we have this picture in front of them. I'm
just like to lay low. You need to just you know,
I don't know that this thing will ever blow over.
People's memories are pretty short, and especially when it's you know,
(01:17:23):
someone that they it's it's just people. There are way
too many, so many people in this country and worldwide
that just have fond childhood memories involving that guy that
they will look past or or conveniently forget, you know,
(01:17:43):
this whole episode, or or try to justify it somehow.
But it's I don't know, it's just strange that he was.
I don't know, it's Hulkogan not being involved in WWE anymore. Uh,
put the put the damper on it, definitely put the
(01:18:06):
a definite you know, effect on it, because where else
is he gonna go? I know, I don't I don't
see any I don't see anyone else picking him up
or whatever he does next is only just an opportunity
for whomever is working with him to then be accused
of being racist. You know, this is ugly, is an
(01:18:28):
ugly thing that happened, and I don't I don't see
any way out of it. You know, if he can
just cash in his chips and go away, that might
be the best thing for him.
Speaker 3 (01:18:38):
Well, and I do wonder if if he wins the
Gawker lawsuit, if he doesn't kind of catching his chips
and go away, or if that gives him he thinks
that some wind under his sails, even though it has
nothing to do with the you know, the grotesque things
that he said about black people and even gay people too,
both in that uh you know, that leaked sex sex
(01:18:59):
tape and also in that jail health conversation with his
son over the phone. I mean, I just I don't
know how the hul Cogan image recovers from that, You know,
does how do you portray Hull Cogan as a hero
to children and Hulkamanian? You know, just look up the
lyrics to real American How can he ever come out
to that music again? You know, fight for the rights
of every man I mean, it's just it's all about ever.
(01:19:22):
It's so the opposite of what was revealed. And I
loved down the Good Morning America interview Matt where he goes,
I didn't know I was being taped. I'm like, that
makes it worse, not better. Yeah, No, that makes it worse.
Like I read, I think Ultimate Warrior Jim Halwig said
some vile, hateful, awful things about Katrina victims and gay people,
(01:19:44):
And I mean, he was so off the chart awful
as a person, a horrible, horrible person for a while there,
and never asked for forgiveness, never step back from those comments.
Yet Wwe named an award after him and talks about
how great he is for all of humanity. It's insane,
but at least Ultimate Warrior was willing to stand at
a podium and say some of those horrible, vile views
(01:20:06):
in front of college students as some sort of guest speaker.
He got heckled for it, you know, And when when
a gay college dan stood up, he said, get that
thing out of your mouth so I can understand you.
I mean, he was awful. He was an awful, awful,
awful human being for a number of years. Publicly, and
he never backed down from those comments, but he said
him he had he had the bravery to Sam in
front of people, and so in that respect, I give
(01:20:27):
him more points in Hogan, who's willing to sign autographs
and take pictures with black people with I guess suppressing.
And I wrote about this at wad Keller dot com.
By the way, I wrote an editorial on this a
couple of days ago on Hogan going or maybe it's
yesterday going back on Twitter, and I just said, I
guess I congratulate Hogan for suppressing telling every black person
who came up for an autograph, stay away from my daughter.
(01:20:49):
You're not worthy. N word, you know. I mean, like
because the fact that the cameras weren't roll were rolling
and he didn't know it doesn't make it less bad.
It just means that he was two faced and he
got caught. So it's just I mean. And again, I
don't think I'm not upset at his daughter for forgiving him,
his friends, for forgiving him people he knows well. But
the fact is is, I think Matt the threshold to
(01:21:10):
be a national hero on that a baby face like that.
I think that threshold is really, really high, and I
think Hogan is beneath it.
Speaker 4 (01:21:21):
And it's also interesting in a different day and age,
you could have just parlayed this into him becoming the
top most hated heel in the world again, yeah seven
or earlier. Sure, yeah, I'm with you, but we're you know,
(01:21:41):
it's you think, gad, we're past all of that too,
that you know, be like, well, we can make money
having Hologan's all with that and say these wretched things.
It's just so you know, I don't know the hulks there.
He just needs to, you know, hoist that yellow and
red sail and and and and just cruise off into
(01:22:02):
the sunset. Probably if he wins his gofer case, then
there you go, and there's his nut and he can
just live off of that for the rest of the exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:22:10):
I just I don't think money makes up for fame
for him. I think he likes money, but I wonder
if he could oh.
Speaker 4 (01:22:16):
Yeah, you know he can't help though, No, he can't.
He can't deal with that.
Speaker 3 (01:22:23):
Before we wrap up here, Matt, probably at the top
of the hour here, let's hit a couple of email questions.
If you got time for that, let's do it cool
Helmo c says, my question for Matt McCarthy, why do
people love Arn Anderson even though he always looked like
a middle aged dad? Is it a southern thing and every.
Speaker 4 (01:22:40):
Man type of look?
Speaker 3 (01:22:41):
I forgot to mention in regards to stinging a champion,
he's up there in age too. Do people really want
to see someone that old be champion? It seemed to
work for Arn. He's looked old his entire career. I
love this question that what do you think?
Speaker 4 (01:22:54):
Hi, He's just a big burly bear. You know, he's
just he's he's kind of Arne's cool looking, you know.
I mean, he's just got such a solid look. He's
got those beady eyes, you know, like a like a
stone blooded killer. And you know he's got that the
weird horseshoe hair, but like you know, you look at
it at the right angle, it looks like a full
(01:23:15):
head of hair. Cool beard, cool boy. You know, he's
just that character worked, that persona of the enforcer that
he was, the that he was deadly, you know, like
when he would he would It's funny. I'm watching I
got the network on in the back room right now.
(01:23:35):
It's it's flair versus arn Anderson on the ball.
Speaker 3 (01:23:38):
Brol nine out, Did it creep you up when I
asked you an arm question? No, it made me hap
like it's like you didn't you don't know you're being filmed, Matt,
I'm filming you. I know what you're wanting.
Speaker 4 (01:23:48):
I didn't know I was being solved. I was watching it.
I mean, he's just there's there's no there's no moment
when you don't believe it. That's why people like arn
Anderson every word he said. And at no point could
you think of an inauthentic moment with arn Anderson and
(01:24:10):
maybe being you know, Burley and Harry adds to that
because he's not one of those you know, he didn't
shave his chest or his legs. He was like, this
is who I am. I'm gonna go out.
Speaker 13 (01:24:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (01:24:23):
He was just when when he would run his thumb
across the throat, you know you believe that, You're like,
oh my god, he is going to kill this guy.
He is going to eviscerate someone.
Speaker 3 (01:24:36):
I am so in favor of wrestlers not looking like
they're like you know, swim swimmers, you know, like the
swimmer body or body build their body it's like the shaved, muscular,
toned look. I really like that variety. It's what I
got Mad Dog, but Sean and Crusher, Jerry Blackwell and
Adrian Adonis and Layry the Axe Heading. I paid money
to see them, and I don't need all my wrestlers
(01:24:58):
looking like they can just jump jump into Olympic swimming
or on a bodybuilding stage. I think, you know, Drew
McIntyre is fine, Drew Galloway is fine. It's good to
have that body type, but you don't have to run
every run through the Drew Galloway Randy Orton model to
make sure that they fit that to draw money. So
I brought up the question because I just think it's
kind of you know, it's kind of silly. Although I
think like Lou Grant, for instance, has looked the same
(01:25:18):
age his entire existence that I've ever watched him on TV.
You know, it's like there's you know, you kind of
age with them, and they are always a certain amount
older than you, and you always kind of that perception.
But do you think it works against Sting in particular
matt Or does the face paint and the gimmick. You know,
as long as they don't draw attention to his age.
Does that really matter? I bet most people think, oh,
thing must be in his forties by now. I don't
think most people think he's deep into his fifties.
Speaker 4 (01:25:40):
Yeah, no, no kidding. The face paint is to his advantage.
And it's the same thing like with Kiss when you
see them on stage, you're like, oh, it looks like
kit you know, and also but it's it's to Sting's credit.
He is in phenomenal shape. Yeah, absolutely fantastic shape any
but he doesn't you know, he doesn't look like somebody's dad,
(01:26:03):
you know, in kabuki makeup. But I mean that it
was part of the appeal of arn Anderson and even
whole Coogan. You know, when he was, you know, in
nineteen eighty five, he was probably you know, if he
was even thirty yet, but he looked like he was
in his late forwards. You know, it was just you know,
a victim of that time period with you know, the
receding hairline and the facial hair kind of adds as
(01:26:27):
a decade, you know, as it were. But I mean,
you know, Arne did look like a dad, but he
looked like your friend's dad. Who could you know, kick
everybody's button, the neighborhood type of thing. Exactly. As far
as the Stinger, it's he it's such a sentimental favorite too,
of like wow, Sting because I mean, I'm still getting
over the fact that I saw a Sting on, you know,
(01:26:51):
on WWE, that he showed up in that Survivor series.
It's crazy that he showed up on RAW. I was like,
oh my god, Sting is on. Like I turned to
who everyone was with the room, like, Sting is on
RAW right now, dude, Like I'm staying with ww champion.
It would be another one of those moments, but he
doesn't necessarily need it thing away from his career if
he didn't do it. It's just cool in and of
(01:27:12):
itself that he's in the title picture, you know, I
mean it's the Stinger. It's awesome.
Speaker 3 (01:27:18):
Yup. All right, Let's go to another email topic here
Anthony B. From Stanton Island, New York. First, he wanted
to address the Ziggler russev Engel. He said, I think
this spoils down to WWE appealing to many different audiences.
I'm twenty nine. I watched WWE with my girlfriend aged
twenty six and a little cousin who's seven. I've been
(01:27:39):
a hook a maniac, to stone Cold, to the rock Et, cetera.
So I've seen a ton of wrestling. I generally enjoy
heels like Rollins, Owens, Russ of Wyatt, but maybe Cousin
is a typical wwee kid where it's a seen a
headband and loves Roman. However, my girlfriend's a casual fan.
She watches Total Diva segments on raw I show her
and occasionally a pay per view if we go. Of course,
I share the opinion that among the Internet that Ziggwa
(01:28:00):
and Russev aren't being used correctly, but we have to
understand wwez a huge company with different types of fans.
My girlfriend enjoys Ziggler Roussev because it is what it is.
It's an over the top story, as most WW stories are.
That's just fun. It doesn't have to be so serious,
and I think it's meant to be enjoyed with a
grain of salt. A z any story with many possible
outcomes isn't a bad thing. It draws into casual fans.
(01:28:20):
We want Lana. It's one of the most over chants
of a recent show. I've been to the point of
the story. I think is to just sit back and
enjoy this for what it is, a break from reality
that's entertaining, as wild as it may be. Hence the
entire era. You know, we hear this sometimes, Matt. You know, Oh,
sit back and enjoy it. It's meant to appeal to
different audiences. You know, Raw when you were there.
Speaker 4 (01:28:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (01:28:38):
I assume the scripts had that little checklist ONNIC go
and be sure there's some comedy, some sex appeal, something
for kids. We need a midget, we need a fat guy,
we need a sexy lady, we need a bickering women,
like did we hit all the checkboxes? I understand WWE
and RAW is a variety show, and they're trying to
appeal the different demographics. Your quote earlier, you know that
you can't be all things to all people. It's a
(01:28:59):
boutique right now that we're in is I think real poignant.
But I will say this, if you think rusev Ziggler
Lana Summer Ray that storyline belongs in wrestling, I'm for that.
I love World Class champiship wrestling back in the mid
eighties with Georgios, Jimmy Garvin and Precious against Chris Adams
and Sunshine. I mean, this stuff has been going on
for a long time. There's been women involved in wrestling
(01:29:21):
and different angles, and that was sort of a left
triangle type thing in its own way, with Precious switching
sides or Sunshine switching sides. Excuse me. So it's not
like this is new and Wwe invented it. All we
want is to have how they're portrayed on television not
be grown inducingly awful, and to not have Lana who supposedly,
and maybe this will make sense in retrospect, supposedly it
(01:29:43):
is the baby face completely overreacting to something that Ziggler
had no fault in, and so there's aspects of this
that can work. I just think we're watching it and
like Summer Ray, Matt, you know, we talk about last
time you're on the show. We talked a lot about
and it seems like somebody heard. You know, when someone's
being they should know it, you know, Like, and I
like that Renee was why is a camera showing triple
(01:30:04):
H on it cell phone? How did he know? How
did the director know Kine was about to barge in
and make it relevant? That we're showing on her standing there.
They've actually moved away from that, and this week's rob
was really good because Renee Young's doing an interview and
over her shoulder some Ray shows up. Now my problem
is they got halfway there good, but some are Ray
apparently is unable to see Renee Young and the cameraman
because she's looking around. I'll paranoid, we're staring at her
(01:30:26):
do that. But somehow fifteen twenty feet away there's Renee
Young and a cameraman and she doesn't notice they're there.
So they sort of got half right and half wrong.
So to me, it's more about the execution that it
is the idea of involving Lan and some Aray in
a storyline with rus seven Ziggler.
Speaker 14 (01:30:48):
Longing for some nostalgia, or maybe you want to learn
some wrestling history. Don't miss the nineties pass cast Every
Friday on the PW Towards Daly Cast Feed. Alex and
Patrick will transport youth thirty years into the past by
taking you through the Torch issue from that very week.
Follow news from the WWF and WCW and all the
(01:31:08):
happenings from across the wrestling industry in real time as
The Torch reported it thirty years ago. That's the nineties
pass cast every Friday on the PW Torch Daily Cast feed, right,
(01:31:29):
you know, and it is.
Speaker 4 (01:31:30):
It's funny because it's watching that on raw and I'm like, wow,
there's a lot of renee this week because I appreciated
that where it's it's like, you know, the right back
backstage got interrupted with more of the dolf like golf
screaming out of his locker room type of thing. But
I mean there's just the you can have storylines like this,
(01:31:55):
and you can have you know, absolutely, but it's just
the idea of all the women, are these these for
lack of a better word, like divas, like it is
it is a negative word. And then ultimately it's just
(01:32:15):
the story hasn't so much been I mean, it's hilarious
that like Russev pretends that he's over Lana and then
replaces her with a woman that he dresses. I mean
that's great, that's great. But then where it's it's just
it doesn't need to be like they're just such catty women.
(01:32:37):
And I'm talking about like in general and wwe like
they're trying to move away from that, but it's still
contrived that they just get put into these arbitrary teams,
you know, the three on three on three. But then
like with Lana and and Summer, it's like it's always
a it just degenerates into a cat fight, grabbing each
(01:32:58):
other by the hair and then you know, somebody's skirt
gets pulled up over their you know, buttocks type of
thing where it's it's like, it's not it's not the
most positive portrayal of women, whereas it's like it could
be a little more of a you know, there's a
sophisticated way of telling the story, or at least you
know that these women can have brains, you know, as
(01:33:21):
a brief to just being jealous, vindictive harlots, which unfortunately
is what they all kind of get relegated to when
there is a storyline that plays out because unfortunately, like
a lot of the story is just you know, like
we talked about before even Stephen booking or or the
winds and losses don't matter. As Nicky Bella eloquently said,
(01:33:44):
I'm wrong. You know, it's just there's you just it's
it's not hard. It's like Jerry Jarrett said in the
Memphis Heat documentary. Booking pro wrestling is not complicated, right,
And look no further than NXT, you know, look no
further than the story they told with Bailey, Who's just
(01:34:07):
it's what a breadth of fresh air Bailey is for
a female wrestler in WWE. You know, a fresh character
appeals to children, appeals to you know, the men and
the women in the audience. Is believable. It's just a likable,
lovable babyface that you you know, she's a great athlete.
(01:34:27):
She puts on a great show. And then she goes
up against you know, Sasha Banks, who's just such an
immense talent, such a great gimmick, and they both have
such a high level of believability. And it's also, you know,
I mentioned ever before, Sarah Delway Delray no doubt, you know,
she's the NXT female trainer down there. She absolutely had
(01:34:50):
a hand producing and laying out that match. I'm sure,
you know. Yeah, and more more power to them, you
know it. I mean, for me, I want to see
Sarah Delray on ah, you know, I want to see
her performing on the screen. If that's not gonna happen,
then at least have her produced matches, yet please are
right by all means more more of it, have her
(01:35:11):
produced on raw, you know, bring her up to not
just be training the developmental talent. And I use that
in quotations because you know, NXT has just kind of
become its own brand and it's not so much even
developing new talent, although that is so the the idea
of you know, women's wrestling, having it be women's wrestling
(01:35:32):
and not just you know, it's it's weird with the
with the you know, the three on three on three,
with the Bellas and the PCV and the UH and bad.
It's a little too it's too much of an island
onto itself where it's like, Okay, now we're just gonna
go to Monster Island and watch all the monsters fight,
whereas it's like there's no story there. It's just this
(01:35:54):
is the league and these are the ones who fight
each other.
Speaker 5 (01:35:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:35:57):
It's it's it's just kind of like overra versus g
I Joe. It's like they're fighting because they're the ones
that fight, as opposed to they're being a little bit
more of an organic, you know, story to it. So
in that respect, and Summer Ray have at least an
advantage on them where they have an actual story, but
it is still their secondary to a man. And they
(01:36:20):
are defined by men. You know that they only because
of men have given them, you know, reason to exist.
So that's that's still backwards. You know, these women can
have problems with themselves on their own, and you know,
can have a story playout on their own, you know,
or at least have a title that means something as
(01:36:42):
opposed to just oh, it's your turn to be the
Davis Champion now you know exactly. Well, we'll see, we
can get there. I say, we'll see.
Speaker 3 (01:36:49):
Let me.
Speaker 4 (01:36:52):
Going.
Speaker 3 (01:36:52):
Matt Fincher thought of her.
Speaker 4 (01:36:54):
No, no, no, that was my point. Never say never.
That's rule number one. Rule number one.
Speaker 3 (01:37:00):
What did you watch much?
Speaker 7 (01:37:01):
Tough enough?
Speaker 4 (01:37:03):
I didn't watch it at all.
Speaker 3 (01:37:05):
I was like, yeah, yeah, I was. Don't blame you.
I don't blame you. I'm gonna ask you about it
if you did. But now now I don't have.
Speaker 13 (01:37:13):
To do that.
Speaker 4 (01:37:15):
Wasn't to worry about it now.
Speaker 3 (01:37:17):
Yeah. I watched it every week and Todd Martin and I.
Tom Martin is a Torch columnists and audio contributor, and
on the VIP side of things, and we talked about
it every Wednesday on The Fix with Todd Martin and
we're kind of uh, we had a lot of fun
talking about it because it was just that it was
so many things about w W and they're you know,
pandering to network types and uh dwell and and and
(01:37:38):
focusing too much on pulling back the curtain as opposed
to taking advantage of the format to tell better stories
and build their characters in a different environment. It was,
It was quite the It was. It was a fascinating
display of all of w DOUBLE. There's so many of
WWW's quirks that that I think are counterproductive for them.
So yeah, but I wouldn't you know, it was kind
of a guilty pleasure too, But I wouldn't say that
(01:37:59):
you've you your life is a wrestling fan is in
complete Matt for not watching.
Speaker 4 (01:38:02):
Oh yeah, no, no, no, I mean that's what it was.
It was Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn being like, we're
not wrestling promoters, we are TV producers and watch us
produce TV show and it's like, well, then good for you.
I'll be over here watching wrestling. Bye.
Speaker 3 (01:38:19):
Yes, well, Matt, we watch wrestling as your podcast. If
I wasn't careful and looking at the clock, I could
talk three hours instead of just an hour and a
half here with you and lose track of time because
there's a lot of things we haven't talked about that
we will have to table for next time, or you
can talk about on your podcast again. We watch Wrestling
by Matt McCarthy. Tell him about how to find your
show again, Matt. There's various ways websites and iTunes and such.
Speaker 4 (01:38:41):
Absolutely, we are the We watch wrestling podcast on Pharaoh Audio,
Feral Audio dot com. We watch wrestling podcast dot com.
Shoot us an email. We watch wrestling podcast at gmail
dot com. Shoot us a tweet over there on Twitter
at we watchw podcast. I'm Matt McCarthy. My website is
(01:39:02):
This is Matt McCarthy dot com. My Twitter is at
McCarthy Redhead, and we watch Wrestling podcast every Wednesday at
three sixteen am. It's on iTunes, it's on Stitcher, It's
on every concealable format for a podcast to exist on.
And yeah, we get more listeners every single week. The
(01:39:22):
show keeps getting bigger and bigger because it's the most
unique wrestling podcast that they're is. It's just three fans,
three friends sitting around talking about wrestling. You know, we
try to celebrate. We try not to veer into the negative.
It's easy to just sit around and complain about WWE.
That's not what it's about. You know. If we don't
like what WW is doing, we try to find somebody
(01:39:44):
that we do like what they're doing. So there's a
lot of PWG talk, a lot of New Japan talk,
there's a lot of loot underground talk. There's a lot
of I've been on a kick now of trying to
get together old Wrestling magazine than this past issue. I
just read a cover story about in the Ring from
The Wrestling I somebody I forget who wrote the article,
but they were responding to Eddie Mansfield exposing the twenty
(01:40:08):
twenty Yeah, phenomenal, phenomenal article. And Yeah, lately I've been
driving around to fast food restaurants in the Los Angeles
area with my affordable digital recorder asking the clerks who
their favorite wrestlers are. Uh so, you can check out
issue one hundred and four for that.
Speaker 5 (01:40:30):
It is the very entertain thing.
Speaker 4 (01:40:32):
It's my favorite thing in the world to do right now,
just asking random people who their favorite wrestler. Yeah, a
lot of fun. We have a lot of phone over there.
We watched wrestling.
Speaker 3 (01:40:40):
I was at FYE. Is that the media store? Is
that the big media thing?
Speaker 5 (01:40:46):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (01:40:46):
Yeah, for your entertainment?
Speaker 3 (01:40:48):
Sure, yes, yes, I was there is there a couple
of weeks ago and picked up the d XV or
the click Ruove DVD? Excuse me? And the lady behind
the counter was basically Target Lady from snl OH Wrestling.
Whoa you're fan? And Target Lady with a Minnesota accent.
She was so excited She's in her forty show. What's
gonna happen with Undertaker and Lesner?
Speaker 4 (01:41:06):
What do you think?
Speaker 3 (01:41:07):
And I'm quizing her. You know who do you want
to win? Or are you mad about Undertaker hitting Lesnard
with a low blow? She's like, no, he's Undertaker. He's
like fifty years old. He needs to do everything he
can to beat that monster. It was just it was
really fun. I know what you mean, you know, just
talking to people on the street.
Speaker 4 (01:41:20):
Oh, I love it. My my buddy Brendan, he was
just talking to the custodian at his building where he
works about the Undertaker Lesnar thing building up to it
and it's it's such a funny perspective. I had never
thought of him before. But the guy's like, ah, it
just feels sad watching an undertaker. He looks so old
and he goes it looks like your friend's dad who's
really huge but thinks he's tough, and then he goes
(01:41:41):
to the bar and gets drunk, and then you have
to watch the bouncer of brock Lesnion and just beat
the crap out of him. That is a fresh perdu
because I hadn't.
Speaker 3 (01:41:50):
Considered Yes, yeah, funny. All right, Matt, I am watching
you on a loop do the cross chop on. This
is Matt McCarthy dot com. So people want that disturbing
image full screen on their computers. I think that's possible
to just go ahead and spread that out and have
that in the background while you write your college papers
(01:42:11):
or whatever it is you're doing, kind of keep yourself entertained.
But that does. By the way, Matt have the link
that we watch wrestling on there too, and so that's
a good place for people to find the podcast too.
Very cool. The website is a new thing.
Speaker 4 (01:42:21):
Isn't it. Yeah, yeah, a plant a site that I
forgot to renew for a little while and then turned
into like this Japanese blog or something. I kept going
on and I was like, I don't know. So then
I was almost like I liked my old links of
led to this whole Japanese writing. But then I realized, now, no, no,
(01:42:41):
I need an actual hub. I need a resource where
people can go and find out where I'm doing shows
and what's going on. Yeah, if you're in the Los
Angeles area, I'm starting a monthly comedy show downtown at
a place called Basic Flowers.
Speaker 3 (01:42:55):
It used to be a.
Speaker 4 (01:42:56):
Flower shop now it's it's a really cool art space
and some number twenty fifth eight pm is the inaugural
show of the Matt mccomedy show, Starry Matt McCarthy. So
check that out if you're in LA downtown.
Speaker 3 (01:43:10):
Super cool. That's awesome, Matt. Thank you always a pleasure
talking wrestling with you, and we'll talk to you again
soon on the line. All right, thanks a lot, way
you bet, Thank you everybody for you continue support here
at Peter w Torch Live cast and until tomorrow we're
Bruce Mitchell and Travis Bryant take over with the Peter
Bleby Torch Live cast Friday edition, taking her calls at
seven Eastern. This is Wade Teller, thanking my guest Matt
(01:43:32):
McCarthy and signing off. Invite you to email the show
(01:44:02):
with feedback or questions or comments. That email address is
Wadekeller Podcast at petwtorch dot com. That's Wadkeller Podcast at
pwtorch dot com. Also welcome your feedback on Twitter. You
can follow us on Twitter at pw torch and follow
me at the Wadekeller. That's at PW Torch and at
the Wadekeller.
Speaker 15 (01:44:23):
Searching for more great pro wrestling talk, then join me.
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(01:44:45):
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Speaker 1 (01:44:54):
Thanks for listening to our podcast. Did you know we
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Speaker 18 (01:46:59):
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(01:47:50):
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(01:48:13):
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(00:21):
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(00:43):
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Speaker 2 (01:05):
Now PW Torch in Spreaker bring you the Wade Keller
Pro Wrestling Podcast. It's time for this week's Interview Classic,
where Wade Keller interviews one of Pro Wrestling's newsmakers.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Ten years ago. This week I interviewed former WWE Creative
Team member Matt McCarthy. He's also a stand up comedian
and wrestling podcaster, a big wrestling fan. We talked about
SummerSlam and just reviewed the quality of event, talked about
the top stories coming out of it. We also looked
at Night of Champions and also should Danga Bryan head
to New Japan and many more topics with live callers
for over an hour and a half. This's originally live
(01:43):
streamed on September third, twenty fifteen, and it is today's
Wade Keller Progressling Podcast ten years Ago Interview Classic for Saturday,
September sixth, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Welcome to thep W Torch Livecast. I am Wade Keller,
editor and publisher of Pro Wrestling Torch weekly newsletter since
nineteen eighty seven, also PW torch dot com, MMA Toorch
dot com, and new this week, Wadekeller dot Com. My
blog covering mostly pro wrestling, some MMA and UFC topics,
(02:26):
including daily blog updates, sometimes multiple blogs throughout the day,
Polls where I respond to a hot topic and then
ask you to chime in and respond to it, and
a pretty cool new feature too on camera video updates
the Wadkeller Video Blog now available at wadkeller dot com.
On my video blog, I talk for six to ten
(02:47):
minutes about three hot topics of the day and give
my thoughts on them. Check it out wadkeller dot com.
Brand new launched just this week. It's a new new
totch with if you're a pro wrestling fan for the
new Fall season bookmarket check it out. It's customized for
your computer or your mobile device. Wadekeller dot com. This
(03:09):
is the PW Torch live cast on Thursday, September third,
two thoy fifteen, and it is Interview Thursday. And we've
had some great guests the last few weeks. Jim Ross
last week, Domidellis Page the week before that, and Mick
Foley making his first live cast appearance the week before
that one. So if you've missed any recent Interview Thursdays,
(03:32):
please do check them out in the archives. It's even
easier when you're a VIP member because you can just
go right to the PW Torch Live Cast interview section
on our ad free main page. I'll talk about VIP
membership later in the program, but first We're going to
introduce a returning guest who is always a fantastic guest
(03:52):
on the PW Torch Live cast, and that is x
WWE rider Matt McCarthy. Matt, welcome back to the program.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well, hello, they're Wade.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Great to hear your voice. I am always excited to
hear what you have to say about what is going
on in the world of professional wrestling. You are somebody
who worked in the trenches with WWE several years back.
What year was it now, it seems like it's been
a white about three years since you were there.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Yeah, Jesus has I started there in the end of
November twenty eleven and I left in the middle of
October twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, so we're approaching three years.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well a lot has happened since then, including just in
the last week, and we'll talk a lot about that
Summer Slam Summer Slam fallout at XT. Now, did you
attend the Progressing Girl at Battle of Los Angeles shows
at all this weekend?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I did not, but my we watched Wrestling podcast co
host Vince Abriel did and our past episode issue one
oh five, Vince gives a full Bowler report and uh
I had family business back east tonight the you know
with cartbreaking to missus and it sounds like Night two.
(05:07):
A lot of people are saying it's the best show
PWG has done yet today. Wow, really really saying something.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, Yeah, that is really saying something. So I assume
that you'll look forward to watching those sometime on video.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
I have already pre ordered my DVDs.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I know you're a big PWG fan. Well, I want
to let people know that they can call us on
the program here and participate live. Our phone number is
six four six seven two one nine A two eight
six four six seven two one nine A two eight.
You can also email us at the at the show
right now live if you're listening to us live at
five thirty five Eastern two thirty five Pacific time on Thursday,
(05:49):
September third. The email addresses pw torch Live cast at
gmail dot com. That's pw torch live Cast at gmail
dot com. And we'll check the inbox for some topics
you can talk about. I assume we're probably going to
talk mostly about WWE happenings, the return of Sting, looking
ahead to Night at Champions follow up on SummerSlam TV ratings,
(06:12):
a lot of hot topics out there. If you watched
Impact last night, you want to talk about Jeff Hardy
becoming EC three's personal assistant since EC three, thanks to
a low blow, managed to beat Matt Hardy in the
main event for the world title to retain the title.
You can certainly do that, and you're going to talk
about the Jeff Jare at Dixie Carter battle for power
and pride in TNA and all that good stuff. So
(06:35):
just topically, I wanted to bring up TNA in case
anybody out there wants to bring that up. Matt, you
not only work behind the teams of WWE, not only
a big progressing fan. You mentioned it already, You've got
a podcast that you do. Tell our listeners right up
front a little bit more about that podcast so that
they can hear you more often if they like what
they hear on today's show.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Yeah, I am the host of the We Watch Wrestling.
We are on Farrell Audio dot com. You can check
us out at We Watch Wrestling podcast dot com. And
that's got our you know, we put up new issues
every Wednesday at three sixteen am. We have our back issue.
Our time Theayre, so you can check out the previous
(07:18):
one hundred and four issues. And then yeah, every once
in a while we do special issues where we haven't
done one in a long time, but we got to
figure out how to do it. Our producer Rob Sibley
moved back to New Jersey, so we've been kind of
floating the water without a rudder. But we do special
issues where we want wrestling documentaries or live shows and
(07:40):
you can you know, listen along with us with ultimate
commentary type thing. And yeah, our twitter is at we
watched w podcasts and we love it. It's great. It's
you know, it's two lifelong fans. I worked at for
WWE for for a year and then the third Hostom Sibley,
(08:00):
is a brand new fan. So a lot of the
show is uh, you know, kind of explaining things to
Tom and uh, you know, introducing things to him, you know,
to be it's it's it's it's a fun dynamic, and
it's not we are you know, we go out of
our way to not just be like, uh, it's it's
it's not your typical wrestling podcast. We're not just a
recap or review show. It is just a celebration of
(08:23):
being a fan, and there's a there's a lot more
to it than just talking about wrestling. It's it's you know,
it's it's a it's a celebration. It's a celebration of
of wrestling fans and and they you know, a defense.
We we we fight for the integrity of wrestling fans
all over the world.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
How how do you think UH wrestling is Is UH
serving the fan base who want integrity of the product
these days?
Speaker 4 (08:49):
What?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
What what jumps out to you as especially good or bad?
A very open ended beginning question here.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Well, I mean, unfortunately, whenever somebody says wrestling, you know,
you you almost have to assume they mean WWE. And
but that's one of the things that we've introduced a
lot a lot of our listeners to things like PWG
UH and even New Japan Pro Wrestling or Luke Underground
when that was on. But PWG especially, we've gotten a
(09:20):
lot of people interested in that and and going to
the shows and going to UH to their website to
buy their DVDs. But I mean also in New Japan
Pro Wrestling, we we had a friend, we have a
fan of a listener who's living in Tokyo who didn't
know about it obviously, I think an expad or or
at least an American working over there. And so he
went to the last five nights of the g One
Climax uh and he said he was almost brought to
(09:42):
tears when when uh Hanma won finally won a match
when he beat So it's uh we we like spreading
the words. So I mean as far as what what
what is wrestling doing today? I mean I think everything
that everything that Professional Wrestling Guerrilla is doing is served
thing the fans. I mean, it was the hottest ticket
in LA. It was you know, my my co husband's
(10:04):
Abril who you know, he went to all three nights.
It wasn't even a sure thing if he was going
to be able to get into night too. But it's
you know, thank God, bless social media, God, bless the show.
Reaching out and getting in touch with other people, he
was able to get a ticket all three nights. As
far as what w w E is doing for the
fans right now, I think n XP is probably the
greatest gift that that certainly at least Triple H has
(10:28):
bestowed upon wrestling fans. You know, real just work, right, promotion,
but also, you know, not everybody in the it's it
is a diverse roster because it's not just you know,
a bunch of guys who can and girls and women
who can put on unbelievable matches.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
I think Bailey and Sasha Banks stole the weekend of
of of all of Summer Slam weekends, you know, but
I mean it's just what a phenomenal, phenomenal match, So
happy for both of them.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I will mention too talking to Steve Boss. I've been
on both Steve Buston shows this week, by the way,
so if you are a fan of the Steve Boston podcast,
or if you're not even check it out. If you
don't know about it yet, check it out. Steve and
I just spent I don't close to three hours breaking
down a four hour pay review over the last two
shows he did. The first one dropped Tuesday at the
Steve Boston Show at the family friendly version, and then
(11:20):
today on Steve Bouston Unleashed. We broke down the second
half of the show close to another hour and a half.
I think of analysis, so and we talked about a
few other things in the mix two not just SummerSlam,
but mostly SummerSlam. He did bring up the Bailey Sasha
Banks match. Boy, was he a fan of it, and
I had to, I want to say, twist his arm
to do it. But I before we did the before
he recorded part one, you know, I said I'd like
(11:42):
to talk about that match in particular, and he's like,
all right, I'll watch it. And then after we watched it,
he wasn't mad at me. He was very glad that
I pushed him to watch it, and I think he
went back and has watched the whole show. And when
we're actually looking at doing another review looking back at
NXT Takeover, probably next week, but check out the Steve
Boston show. You want to hear Steve and me discussed
for close to three hours SummerSlam in depth. I learned
(12:04):
so much walking through the matches, in the psychology of
what the wrestlers are trying to do and Steve's observations
on you know, what he would have done differently and
what jumped out to him. It's a really cool thing.
And Matt, I am with you. The Bailey Tascho Banks
match was a template for I think what all women's
wrestling division should aspire to achieve. It was just a
(12:26):
phenomenal match with a crowd investment in the one on
one matchup of a face and a heel and great
wrestling and a title that means something. I just thought
it was a culmination of I don't think I've seen
a better match in America for women's wrestling than that one,
and and there's been some good ones in NXT lately,
but I think that one, especially because of the setting,
(12:49):
probably is number one. I mean, I'm just not sure
where all the factors that come together to make a
match I think great in terms of a title match
on a big show within the context of nx T,
I'm not sure I've ever seen anything better.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Yeah, you might be right. I mean, I'm trying to think.
I'm trying to rack my brain. I mean, the first
names that would pop into my head would be probably
a Chaquar show with like Sarah del Rey and Daisy Hayes,
but I can't think of a specific one. And also,
when what's her name, an Ami Toyota came to the States, again,
(13:24):
that was an intergender tag match. I take her at Sara,
but again, you know, Toyota was a little past their
prime when she came to the States, so I mean
it very well might be. I mean, and also you know, my, my, my,
my huge PWG crush, my number one favorite wrestler, and
that promotion. Candice Lawray is always put on fantastic message.
(13:47):
But now that I think about it, I've never seen
her wrestle another woman. It's always been an intergender match.
That's that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Yeah, all right, well, let's uh so many thing. We'll
talk about it, but I want to get to call
who've got on hold and we'll kind of sprinkle them
in throughout the show. Again. Our phone number is six
four six seven nine eight two eight.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You don't have to wait for the way Keller Pro
Wrestling post show to find out what I thought of
Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. Each week, you can check
out my reports that are updated live throughout Raw and
SmackDown at pwtorch dot com. My written report will tell
you what's happening in detail in case you missed the show,
and it will also analyze key segments and give my
random thoughts quips on what I am watching as it airs.
(14:35):
So check it out every Monday night and Tuesday night
at pwtorch dot com. That also applies to wwepayperviews. I
cover those live at pw torch dot com with a
detailed written report with star ratings, and of course you
can find other TV reports from other contributors to pw
torch such as NXT, ROH, Impact Wrestling and more. Check
it out pwtorch dot com your first stop for TV
(14:58):
and pay per view written report.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
All right, let's go to the phone lines here and
begin with a phone call from airy code eight eight
one three or the first color of the day. Please
state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Hey God, this is Jacob Tampa J from Tampa.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yes, okay, yep, I thought it was Jay.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
So good.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
What have you got for Matt McCarthy today's guest to.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
Me two questions. One is, for the last two weeks,
I've watched uh even Marie on n XT. And my
question about that is because we kind of know from
Total Divas of a little bit of her background and
(15:49):
whatnot that seems went there to.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Kind of get better.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
But you know, uh, do you think it's somewhat of
a step back that we kind of know she's coming up?
Seems like based off of looks and while we're already
in another revolution of the other divas as far as
how they work and getting away from the diva. It's
(16:14):
almost like we had a period of divas, now we're
ushering in a period of workers. And then right behind
that in the NXTE, now you have another diva coming
behind that.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
My second question was about getting your take on the
you guys take on that little interview from Dolph Diggler.
How it's just kind of talking about where you know,
they as as his character versus who he really is
and how he how he feels and things like that,
(16:48):
you know, just a quick rap about that interview.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Sure, well, let's let's go to Matt And first, Matt,
do you want to start with even Marie the uh,
you know, to go from a diva's revolution and you
know WWB touting that and having these women from NXT
who are just you know, really at a level higher
than I think what WWWE fans have been used to
since at least the Trish Leada, Victoria don Marie. Who
(17:19):
am I trying to say? You know a variety of
other people there since that era. Certainly it's a huge
step up since the kind of diva contest began ten
years ago, and we ended up seeming more like about
looks and really short matches than about any kind of
foundation when it comes to wrestling skill. Is even Marie
somebody who fits in on that? Is it an opportunity
(17:40):
to get heat if she gets kind of injected into that?
What are your thoughts on ww' seeming commitment to her?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I mean, it's you know, it's no secret she's there
because she's gorgeous. And then but I mean that's also
what kind of wweh they love that that they also
meaning they love the idea of someone who can't wrestle,
(18:10):
doesn't know a thing about the business, but has a
tremendous look. And then you know, the w w E
could then say, well, we we trained them, you know,
we made them a wrestler, and we made them fantastic.
(18:31):
I mean, it's kind of interesting that both of his questions,
you know that Chase's first question was about even Marie
in that respect, and the second question was about Dolph Ziggler.
It doesn't get brought up very often, but Dlf Ziggler
is a example of just that, Like golf didn't come
from indies, you know, he was you know, plucked by
(18:52):
w WE and you know.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
The university straight to developmental. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Yeah, which is very interesting because it's because he's obviously
so gifted, uh, such a tremendous athlete to wrestling, you know,
obviously a little bit better than maybe even Read did.
But uh, you know, it's it's the woman is a
work in progress, you know, who knows where she'll wind up.
(19:19):
But I mean it's it's also you can't buy that
tiny heat. You know, she she got booed like nobody's business. Uh,
SummerSlam weekend. You know, she might have been the most
hated person in the Bark Plays Center all three nights,
you know, and that's saying something too, considering you know,
John Stewart turning heel or you know, the Undertaker with
(19:42):
the low clothes and then even even the timekeeper with
that whole you know, uh dynamic. I mean, it's it's
it's very interesting. So it's it's it is one of
those things where she could start getting better, or they
could even play into it. You know, I don't know
how much they want to play into the idea that
you know, she's here because she's good looking. But then
she can't wrestle, but there is she's a natural heel
(20:07):
because she's gorgeous and because she uh, you know, in
a lot of ways doesn't belong. But I mean it's
it's there's value to that, there's value to the people
because it's also like the people aren't just sitting there,
you know, with their arms crossed, like they vehemently hate her,
you know, and that's great, you know, that's that's exactly
(20:30):
what they want. I don't know, what what what did
Dolf say about being himself versus being golf?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah? He uh interview. Yeah, We've got some highlights up
at pw torch dot com if anybody wants to look
those up in the WWE news section. I mean, I
plugged way Keller dot com as my blog today. Pw
torch dot com continues to be the place to go
if you just want to keep up on everything going
on and wrestling. James Caldwell and the whole team. Our
(21:01):
whole team does a great job. But James is working
day and night putting up concise picking out the highlights
of all these interviews that wrestlers are doing in the
mainstream media and putting up concise. But you know, detailed
but concise, if that's not too contradictory, picking out the
highlights and putting them up there. So it's a really
efficient way to keep up on what everybody out there
(21:21):
is saying. And the Del Siegler interviews he did were
pretty interesting. He talked about the relationship with Lana and
on air and getting to know her off air a
little bit better to try to improve their honor chemistry.
He talked about how he is somewhat frustrated because he
feels like he works really hard but doesn't always get
exactly what he you know, gets the push that he
(21:43):
thinks he deserves. He said, when you're as hard on
the product as I am, you get mad about things,
you get bitter about things, you get bored with things.
And I'm the harshest critical we have on my own
stuff in certain things, and we always try to make
it work. So when something special happens in wrestling, it's
that much more special to me. He talked about his height.
He said, somehow I'm here at six feet tall eleven
(22:03):
years later. The guy who's stealing Shawn Michael's gimmick isn't
really good. Flips around the ring like he doesn't know
what he's doing and is one of the guy who
loses almost every night and gets ninety nine percent of
these places to blow the roof off when he comes out.
Why would that be? And he said he changed his
ring gear from shorts to pants because he's going for
an eighties rocker. Look, I'm in the mix of getting
another pair made and if it works out at the
(22:24):
next pay per view, maybe we'll stick to them. We'll see.
If I don't have that time to develop my character,
let me slowly become the guy who wears the stuff
he wants to wear. I'm never sure if he's doing himself.
Favors Matt the way that he kind of talks about
his frustration with his push, But you know, he certainly
has a passion for what he does. But I don't know.
(22:46):
What do you think about What do you think about
those comments? And from your experience in WWE, do you
think it helps wrestlers to speak publicly about their frustrations
with their push. Does management look at that as grabbing
the brass ring and roofless aggression or do they see
it as made speaking out of school a little bit?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah, I mean it's a little bit of both. I mean,
because it's well, first of all, I agree with everything
that he said. I mean, it's like the he should
have he should have been a top guy three years ago.
He should have been a top guy when I was
working there. You know, as far as is that going
(23:23):
to get him any heat, it might. You know, there's
there's so much heat to go around at that place
where it's just like it's it's almost like you can't
do anything right. You know, if they want to find
a flaw, if they want to find something you know,
negative about what you're doing or what you're saying, they
will find it. But that being said, Vince also Vince
(23:44):
McMahon loves when people stand up for themselves. You know,
that's what he wants. He wants people to you know,
fight for it who want it. So in that respect
it could be a positive form. But I mean it's
also it's like, you know, to all forget heat for
you know, working matches too well, you know, or like
bumping too hard, or it's.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Kind of referencing. He's like, I'm the guy who's bows
hard and doesn't know what to do and slips around
too much.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Yeah exactly, you know, and it's like geez, you know,
it's he gets heat from being too good. I mean,
is that a paradox or what I mean, that's just
like you can't win, it's just to catch twenty two.
So it's like, I mean, even talking about his ring, Gary,
He's like, well, why don't I just wear what I
want and do what I want? I mean, it's it's
I don't know, it's it's one of those. And it's
(24:34):
such a strange thing because they he should be the
prime candidate for them loving him, because they developed him,
they made him into what he is. And then if
it becomes this weird backwards kind of oh the people
you know got behind him before we told the people
to get behind them type of nonsense. I mean, I
(24:54):
just throw my hands up in the air because that's
also something that happens to that place. I mean, it's
such a b are uh dynamics sometimes as far as
who who they allowed to get over and who they
you know, decide is you know, is over but for
the wrong reasons, and you know, it's just I mean,
it makes my eyes got across sometimes it is this.
(25:20):
But it's endously entertaining, fascinating place because it's just what
are they going to have a problem with? Next?
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Let me go to Jay, let me go back to Jane.
Just make sure we addressed what he was asking. When
it came to Dolph, Jay, was there any other interview
or comment you saw that jumped out that you want
us in particular to respond to.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
Yeah, I mean the raw part, but but more so
when he was saying, I mean when the guy first
asked about about I guess.
Speaker 7 (25:45):
They were in Miami, he mentioned about being from Hollywood.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
He was like, yeah, he was.
Speaker 7 (25:50):
To me, he was staying in this sarcastic where it
was just like, yeah, but I'm really and then he
said his first his real first and last name, from
where he's really from. He said, so then you had
to kind of Wikipedia information about, you know, way they're
telling fans that you're being built from tou you know,
(26:11):
so you'll no information about it. I was just saying
that was in my mind. I was like, well, what's
the points on that extra?
Speaker 4 (26:18):
I was confused by that.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Matt, did did you pick up on that? You want
to comment?
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Yeah, that is a strange. It's one of the I
don't I don't understand the booking mentality sometimes of you know,
either changing the city or you know, making their hometown.
I mean, I do understand. It's to an extent that
when they're you know, if it's a heel or if
it's a baby face. Like I remember a few years
(26:46):
ago somebody noticed that all the Canadian wrestlers when they
were babys faces were built from you know, wherever they
were living in the States. But if they were a heel,
it regardless that they lived in the States, which most
of them he did, they were built from their city
of birth, which was up in Carnada because still somehow
(27:06):
I guess that residual heat from nineteen ninety seven was
still there, or or just the idea of a foreigner
being you know, a despicable personally, I don't know, But
I mean dolphs he's just an interesting guy and he's
such a gifted talented guys. I don't blame him for
(27:27):
being frustrated at all.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yeah, I get frust I get frustrated with golf sometimes. Yeah,
sometimes I think he's well, I get frustrated with not
his push, but like him the things he does and says.
I don't think emulating badass Billy Gunn was particularly a
good move and coming out and you know, turning his
turning around and turking for the camera made a lot
(27:51):
of sense for the demographics he's trying to go after.
I think that his pops right before his concussion are
we are we are two and a half years ago
that that happened Matt when he one and then when
I WrestleMania and then ended up with a concussion of
missing time. I think it's two and a half now.
I I think he's cooled off quite a bit since then,
and I think sometimes he seems more interested in when
(28:14):
he was a heel, and I think frustrated management he
was more interested in a heel and getting pops instead
of getting booed. And the thing is this, I'm with
you though on it's not WWE's job to get frustrated
with guys who are more interested in how many Twitter
followers they have than how much they get booed as
heels and get people into the story they're telling in
the match. I think is ww's job to take somebody
(28:35):
as immensely talented as Dolf and work with him to
correct those things or steer it in a direction where
they're more willing to push him. But when Dolph says publicly,
I want to wear what I want to wear, and
it's an eighties rock gimmick, but you don't have the
writers in Vinsic Man on board with this eighties fashion
stonewashed Jean's look that Lana's in, and now he apparently
(28:58):
wants to kind of go that direction. I think you
all have to be on the same page, you know it.
Just it seems so counterproductive to be pulling toll, to
be rowing this boat of Dell Sigler to try to
make money and there's no coordination between the front and
back hours and that's what it seems to have been
for years with him.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
Are you a fan of AW looking to sit back,
relax and listen to some like minded podcasters who share
your passion.
Speaker 9 (29:27):
Do you want to be topped off the ledge after
a segment that has you wondering what the heck are
they thinking?
Speaker 8 (29:32):
Do you want to join a discussion on what AW
is doing right and what they could do to improve?
Then join me Joel and me Greg for.
Speaker 9 (29:40):
The All Eleee Conversation Club every Friday on the PW
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Speaker 4 (30:08):
No, absolutely, and and and I did name that I
get frustrated with him as well, you know, and that
like he's not doing himself any favors sometimes, Like I
remember when when he was big into doing you know,
he would speak his mind on Twitter, which would come
back to bite him in the butt, or like doing
you know, hashtag heel. You know, McMahon gets gets it
(30:29):
really drives some nuts when the guys start using too
much you know what he calls insider terminology, even though
we're all you know, we've all been smartened up over
hears because of the Internet, are because of whatever, because
of that rotten wade teller exposing the business. You know.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
But I never thought when I talked about the inner
workings that they would ruin the immersive, the immersive sports
like environment by talking about it on the air. Like
we can talk about it on the show. But please,
from the opening of the closing credits, make me believe
what's happening is real.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Oh, absolutely, but I mean, yeah, you know what it
is too, is I think, you know, for lack of
a better term, if guys are going into business for
themselves and not necessarily like changing the finish of a
match or doing something like that, but like cultivating your
own character on screen because you feel like they're not.
They're not you know, WWE isn't you know, it doesn't
(31:22):
have a you know, their focus is usually on the
tippity top guys. You know, they're like whatever, this next
pay per view coming up, is it's going to be
a one match show, Like like with Summer Slam, it
was okay, Brock versus Undertaker is the draw. Everything else
doesn't matter, you know, more or less Night of Champions
and Staying versus Rolins that's the you know, that's the draw.
(31:44):
Everything else is going to kind of be whatever. Obviously,
John Cene is always going to be important, but then
you can see why a guy like Golf his figure
and well what am I doing? They don't know, It
doesn't even seem like they care. He's been kind of
stuck in the Russeph program for a while file now,
even longer than it probably originally was planned to be
(32:05):
because of Ruscev's injury. But at the same time, you
can't I can't help but look at someone like Steve
Austin back in the day, who came in with so
much momentum from you know, his ECW stuff, then gets
kind of saddled with this the Ringmaster thing and then
finally it's just like that kind of just just by
(32:26):
sheer luck, ted Y Biafi leaves for WCW. Then he's
just kind of like left in limbo and he's like, well,
let me just do what I want to do. And
unfortunately that was at a time where Vince needed something new,
whereas now they're just kind of Unfortunately WWE, they're at
the top and they're kind of in a state of
limbo because of it, and they've just kind of been
(32:47):
in this John scene or Randy Orton on Talkking for
a decade now, and it's you know, there's a reason
that the ratings are the exact same every single week,
no matter what they do. If it's the night after
Summer Slam, if they try to promote every thing is
a big night, it's still going to be like, you know,
a two point nine rating or whatever it is. I mean,
it's just it's it's the brand itself, and it's not
(33:09):
they don't have that guy or those two guys, like
they were so lucky that they had Rock and Steve
Austin back in the day. You know, it's just it.
But I mean again, I can't help but think of
Stone Cold being like, let me do what I want
to do, and then the people reacting to it. If
that was the case these days, Vince would have a
problem with it. You know. It certainly seems like Vince
(33:32):
would try to bury Stone Cold Steve Austin because it's like, well,
he's getting over with the people when he's supposed to
be a heel. He's doing it wrong, He's you know.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
I think if if Vince had the nWo opposite overall
right now drawing three point eight ratings while he's doing
two point sevens, I think he'd be more open to
that change that you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Matt.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
I think he was during the Stone Cold era scared.
I mean I talked to him at that time a
few times, and I sensed he was I mean I
sensed he was scared, you know. So I mean I
asked him once I would if he would move off
from Mondays to perhaps Tuesdays, and he told me, yeah,
he wasn't afraid to blink, and he just you know,
was blaming it on Ted Turner using funds from from
(34:12):
his other divisions to to prop up WCW and use
predatory aggressive practices to try to drive him a family
business out of business. He saw himself as a victim
who might have to blink and move days. And so
if he's in if he was in that state of mind,
he's more open at pushing somebody like Steve Austin, whereas, yeah,
you're right, today, maybe he would not be open to
(34:33):
pushing Steve Boston. And you just have to look back
at what he did with Daniel Bryan to see that
there is a certain belief that you have to fit
a certain framework literally invigatively in order to get a
big push. But they thought they had that in Roman reigns,
and it hasn't worked out so well. And Roman seems
to be you know, kind of upper mid card now
or certainly lower top tier at best. So you know,
(34:55):
their vision doesn't always work out. And you're right, Matt,
it wouldn't be nice if they adjusted two things landing
their lap unexpectedly that are good as opposed to going well,
I was expecting twenties, not fifties. Get out of your
pile of money.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Cam kidding. I mean, that's what Daniel Brian was, That's
what Zulf Ziggler is. But what Sean Punk was. I mean,
and you know those other two guys in Brian and Punk,
it's it's amazing that they were able to achieve what
they did despite the company. I mean, it's just it's
(35:28):
so backwards, the idea of the company not wanting people
to get over, you know, or like deciding no, that's
not the right guy that's supposed to get over. It's
supposed to be this guy. And you know, Roman Reigns,
you know, is a victim of that circumstance. It was
a victim of you know again the people wanting to
see Daniel Brian on top and not him. But I mean,
(35:50):
it's it does remind me of when you know, Rocky
my Via first came in and was pushed to the
moon and then the people rejected it. But I don't
know that they have handled the Roman thing well, like
just putting him into it an endless program with Bray Wyatt,
So I don't know, we'll see how that Peter's out.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, all right, Well, if you're just joining us. My
guest on today is PW Torch Live Cast Interview Thursday
is Matt McCarthy x WWE Rider, stand up comedian, host
of We Watch Wrestling podcast Looking Up on iTunes and
PWGFN to boot and Big Pros and Fenal Roll. So
we are talking about current events in WWE and pro wrestling.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
We are.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
We've talked a decent amount about Dolf Zigler and also
some of the women women's wrestling. We're gonna now go
to another phone call. Appreciate Ja from Tampa getting us started.
We'll go next to seven seven zero and then on
deck four seven eight seven seven, Oh things for holding.
Please state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Jimmy, Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Hey Jim, thanks for Colin. What have you got for us?
Speaker 6 (36:55):
I just wanted a quick opinion how he would write
the steamed sess.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
Ending all right, but what he would do that.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
That's a fun one to play with, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Matt?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I did on my blog at Weadkeller dot com yesterday
and today what was it? Earlier scenarios say whatever? I
think it was actually today. I wrote about thing yesterday,
but I wrote about some ideas for different booking scenarios
for Sting on my blog and talked about it a
little bit in my video blog at wade Keller dot com. Matt,
I want to know what you think. What are some
ideas you have for Sting? And we ran a pull
(37:26):
at way Keller dot com asking if people wanted to
see Sting win the world title, like should he have
a world title run? Without looking at the results, Matt,
I assume you haven't. How do you think the voting
is coming? Yes or no? Do readers of my blog
want to see Sting with the title with some sort
of title run?
Speaker 4 (37:47):
I kind of almost imagine it would be a yes,
it's interesting. I don't know if it would. I don't
know if it's in the cards for Sting. I would
like to see it.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
I mean two thirds, two thirds want to see Sting
with the title win.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
We're at sixty. Only twenty seven percent say no, and well,
I don't think this is very good, but six percent
say they don't carry the way. But of those who voted,
I think we're up to about sixty. Yeah, sixty seven,
a little over sixty seven percent actually are saying, yeah,
let's give let's give Sting a title run.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
I mean, I love it. I love that idea. It'd
be interesting to see where to go from there, to
be honest, when it first came up, when first was
it was first revealed that Sting was going to be
feuding with Rollins at least before you know, I'm coking
in a few minutes before he picked up the WWE
Heavyweight Championship and was like, you know, it was obvious
(38:48):
when Rawl went off the air that night that oh,
Sting's going to be challenging for that title. I almost
thought for a second that he was going to try
to get the US title just because he has, you know,
a history that or at least the lineage if we're
going to go back to w CW with it and
still a prestigious belts you know, what was the John Cena,
(39:09):
you know, kind of elevating it over the last year
and now Robin's having it. But I mean, it's interesting
with with Sting challenging for it. I don't know if
he'll win. I would love to see him have a
run with the belts. I think he would deserve it,
he's it. He would be an interesting candidate for it.
(39:31):
He's you know, a legends in that right specific winning.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Do you have an idea of a way to specifically
have Sting win. Would you have him win straight up
with a you know, a Singer flash and the Scorpion
deathlock and have Seth loose cleanly and then just have
Seth get his heat back afterwards? Do you have some
sort of interference maybe Triple H gets involved in it backfires.
And the other scenario too, is because Seth will be
defending the title twice, maybe Seth has a really grueling
(40:01):
match with Sena and then Sting goes in and beats
Seth clean. But you can make the argument Seth doesn't
really get hurt losingto a guy in his mid fifties
because what was Seth's second match, and Seth can dwell
on it to the point that people just get sick
and tired of him hearing him dwell on it. Like
I mean, there's different ways they can go with it
if they give Sting to run. So that's kind of
part one. I'm kind of curious what you think are
some ideas. But two, do you have Sting hold it
(40:23):
for a while, or do you just kind of give
it to him as a sort of an honorary short
run but have him lose it a week or a
month later.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Yeah, I mean, well, to answer the second part, first,
I think if you give it to him, it has
to be a little bit you know, lengthy of a run,
at least a few months. It's because they're definitely not
in the mind frame of booking those titles for the
short term. Lord knows they used to. You know, one
guy would be a champion and then literally the next
(40:52):
day he lose if it was even twenty four hours
and we're run And I don't see that happening. But
I could, you know, could conceivably see if we went
down that direction, it wouldn't it wouldn't hurt Sting. You know,
Sting is kind of a guy who's you know, he's
he's impervious because he's he's you know, he doesn't need
any help and he kind of nothing could really hurt him.
(41:17):
But as far as the first part, I don't see
a scenario where Sting wins. I mean, I agree with
you that, you know, if if Rollins had a grueling
match with Sena and then he goes and you know,
to fight Sting. There could be you know, the argument
made while he's worn down, you know, he's he's already
(41:37):
you know, exhausted. You know, that's not much of a
babyface win for Sting. But I feel like the story
that could be told is the you know, the authority
being very concerned that's because of that situation, Because of
that scenario that like, oh, Rollins had a grueling match
with Sena, whatever the outcome was, even if he won
(41:58):
or if he lost, you know that they still worried
about their investment in Rollins. Then they definitely definitely don't
want their title, you know, it's their title, han Sting.
So I feel like the story that could be told
is that triple H or at least you know, if
he gets you know, Chan and j Security back or
Kine comes back or something like that and interferes on
(42:21):
Rollin's behalf helps Rollins win. But then Rollins isn't happy
with that because he's like, I didn't need your help
to beat Sting. I didn't need your help at any
point over the past year to keep my you know
title on me and then keep developing the you know,
(42:41):
the the rift between Rollins and Triple h that way,
and especially if it is like a Kine returning on
the Authority's behalf and you know, and upsets Rollins even
though it is in his favor. We could finally see
that Rollins Kane you know, pay per view match, or
(43:01):
or it definitely just builds towards you know, next year's Mania.
I think it's it might be a safe bet that
we'll see Hunter versus Rollins, which would be a fambulous,
a fantastics match, you know, I'd love to see that.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
Can you see the Hunter Seth match going either way
in terms of who plays the face and who plays
the heel, because a lot of us are waiting for
the authority to go away or go babyface. So you
don't have Stephanie and Hunter standing in the ring excitedly
announcing Summer Slams four hours this year, and the fans
are supposed to cheer and we have a great carter
to give you, and the fans are supposed to appreciate, Hey,
(43:34):
thanks for giving us a good card. But then you know,
next you know, two minutes later, you're supposed to be
doing them and hating them. It's such a contradictory thing
to do. So part of me just thinks, any way
Hunter can go babyface, I'm all for it, even whether
it's with Steph or Againster. But then there's part of
me that just thinks Seth would make a really good babyface.
But maybe it's too soon. You know, he was so
good at SummerSlam. A lot of people observed and Steven,
(43:56):
Steve Austin was talking about, you know, the white the
white pants, the white out fit, the flashy move set H.
That's where Steve Austin told me that he thinks Seth
might be the guy to follow in John Cena's footsteps
as the next leak babyface for that company. But if
Seth takes on a Hunter, is it too soon for
set to be healed? You try to keep him heal
another year or two.
Speaker 4 (44:14):
First, I think you probably keep him heal. And it's
you know, he's so obnoxious that you can almost look
half how much you enjoy watching him wrestle. But it's
also with the authority, and especially with Triple h Is
it's like their heels one minute and their babyface is
the next. And people seem pretty you know, accepting of it.
(44:36):
And certainly internally, you know, they're.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Like, oh, they should have that.
Speaker 4 (44:40):
I mean, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
People accept that that's terrible because that means they're not
invested emotionally in the characters because they don't feel strongly
or they're not committed to feeling one way or the other.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
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(45:13):
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Speaker 4 (45:24):
Well, that's just it is, because that's why WWE is
becoming less and less of a and buy their own
doing and by their own saying, you know, there be
they are not doing pro wrestling shows. They're putting on
WWE entertainment shows, you know. So it's like in that respect,
it's it makes sense in their little world in their minds,
(45:47):
you know, yeah, because they're they're they're they're too they're
too insulated, they're two, they're too you know, full of
their own you know bs. Whereas it's like outsider looking
in or dedicated pro wrestling sam looking in can be
a little confused as to, you know, who's who's a
(46:08):
good guy this week and who's who's a heel the
next week. It's just it can be a little confusing
and frustrating and convoluted is definitely the word I've used
the most when discussing Raw or SmackDown, you know, where
it's like, all right, I guess this is what we're
doing now. But and especially with the authority, whereas it's
like am I supposed to be cheering you? Or am
(46:28):
I supposed to be booing you? You know? But I mean,
but they definitely internally, internally, they definitely feel like, you know, wow,
you know, Triple H. She's I mean that whole past
episode of Raw, the whole thread going throughout the entire
show was Triple H is the greatest of all time,
(46:50):
and no one can touch him, so it's like, all.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
Right, it's like they treated as a given and it's
Seth trying to take the title from him. Seth, not
even Seth. The yel is saying, well, yes, Triple H
was the greatest of his time, but when he first
started saying it, Rick Flair was. And it took a while,
but Triple H you became. You became that. It's like, yes,
at one time, Rick Flair was the greatest and you
were a little premature saying you're the greatest, but of
(47:14):
course now everybody knows you were. And I'm like, I mean,
that's quite the narrative to try to pass off. But
it does sometimes seem like it's a little bit of
an ego trip for Triple H, where they build the
storyline around the ego trip rather than the the pouting
of Triple Ah. And Triple Ah had a great career.
I mean he I have a ton of respect for
his ringwork. I just think it's pushing a little and
(47:38):
I get there, like, well, but Triple H is a character,
he's here full time. We want to use him as
an asset. Let's build him up. It's just sort of
convenient that Triple H is the one who is in
charge sort of and also the one who's now talked
about as just it's a given that he is the greatest.
Speaker 4 (47:53):
Oh yeah, of course. But I mean they really believe
it too, like it's it's they have. I mean, the
people that get worked the most are is WWE itself,
you know, like they believe it that it's like, well,
you know, it get as far as the Divas Revolution goes,
and whoever they're else, they're going to bring in the
(48:14):
top diva is always going to be Stephanie herself. You know,
no one will ever make her look dumb or weak
or what have you. Like, it's amazing that they even
had that glimmer of it with Ronda Rousey getting in
the ring at this past Mania, you know, but I
mean it's I feel like in their mind they're going
(48:34):
to be building towards Stephanie versus Ronda at this coming Mania.
And if they do that, if they actually have that match,
I can guarantee you it's not going to be a
typical Ronda Rousei match where she walks in and makes
a tap out an eighteen second, which would be the
logical match to do. It will be a competitive back
(48:56):
and forth, like Stephanie will have round Rausi down on
the canvas begging for mercy. As ludicrous as that south,
you know, but that's to them that makes perfect sense.
How could you not do that? Like what a waste
it would be to put stephan in m match and
have her lose immediately, you know, God makes no.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Sense, you know, if that happens. I am looking forward
to the what they attempt to get away with as
far as that goes, that will be that really will
be fascinating. I do want to just break in with
just a little bit of news. T and a impact.
Actually ratings we mentioned them earlier. If people want to
call up about TENA topics are certainly welcome to. But
they actually were up to four hundred twenty thousand viewers
last night, the most since July eighth, when they were
(49:37):
at four hundred fifty three thousand, with Matt Hardy and
EC three in the main event for the world title,
and a lot of bickering going on between Global Force
wrestlings Jeff Charett and T and A sixty carters. So
that's got to be a relief because they were their
average is three hundred ninety two thousand, but they were
down way down last week, so a little bit of
news there. For more details on the ratings breakdown, including
(49:59):
how are away h did relative to TNA, and a
historical perspective on that pw torch dot com is the
place to go or the PW Torch app James Caldell
does a great job putting these ratings in perspective and
breaking down the important figures, and so check that out.
PW torch dot com, book market, check it out every day,
keep up on what's going on in wrestling. Let's let's
(50:19):
go ahead keep rowthro's calls because we've got more and
more people on hold. And I promised that uh uh
four to seven eight would be next. After that we'll
go to uh probably seven three two. Looks like they're
up next four to seven eight. Things we're holding. Please
state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 4 (50:35):
Derail from Georgia.
Speaker 3 (50:37):
A Derrell. Thanks for Colin. What do you got for us?
Speaker 5 (50:40):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (50:40):
I have two questions. My first question is a continuation
to the talk with sting is Seth Rowland. My question
is if they don't continue all with the program between
staying at seth rawling. It's like going on to Vibra series.
What do they because how do they get up to Saviracillies.
(51:01):
Do they go back to the John Tina program or
do they continue to bring part time in to keep
that main event scene going. And my second question is,
since the main event scene it's kind of down, where
do they go to get that back up? I understand
that they tried the rum and Raine thing and it
(51:22):
didn't work. It didn't pan out at first, they kind
is it kind of heat on somebody like Daniel Bryan, who,
even though he's hurt, he's still considered maybe the number
two guys right behind in the fans eyes behind John
Cena that I know he can't help that. He got hurt,
but he's not in there and they fell playing with
(51:43):
rum and Raine didn't work, so he's hurt and not available.
Is it heat on him for not being here at
this time or are they just holding him out so
they can use him later on the line like Rod
Rubbles to boost up radio that way?
Speaker 3 (51:59):
Those my two sure, go ahead, Matt, take whatever you
want from that, and I'll chime into At some point.
Speaker 4 (52:07):
I didn't I couldn't make out what the first question was.
Second question, I don't know that. I think Dame le'brian
is still he might still be the number two guy.
I mean it's tough because it's like, I mean, like
(52:29):
he showed up he did you know the show in
uh in Washington when they did the raw and they
had U did they do miss TV with him? And
you know, I mean everybody loves them, everybody still remembers them,
but it is one of those things in wrestling where
it it's like, you know, they not that they're going
to forget him, but it's like it's, you know, they
(52:50):
need people to go out there and work each week,
and they're definitely not doing you know, like when Steve
Austin got hurt but was still showing up up on
TV each week. They're definitely not doing that with Daniel Bryan.
And I feel like the company would tend to prefer
Daniel Bryan stay off TV, even if it is for
(53:15):
a reason in as inasmuch as you know, to help
Rowan Rains get over, because that was such a you know,
it's just it was it was it was a timing thing. Yeah,
both both of those back to back Royal rumbles, you know,
with Daniel Bryan not not in the first one and
(53:36):
then not winning the second one, and then Roman Reign's
getting the residual heat from it because again it was
you know, the people being a little fed up with
we're sick of you trying to force feed us and
then uh, but then at the same time, you always
tell us we're the most important thing that we decide
what happened that it's you know, if it weren't for
(53:58):
the fans, there would be no w W lee they
even had. I mean, how ironic is it too that
they used to do that promo with Daniel Bryan coming
out of Gorilla onto the stage to do the X
Chance and then he realizes the arena is empty, you know,
because it's like it's it's it's almost a little backwards
that they would do that, but I mean, unfortunately it's
(54:20):
it's it's just a case of they need to build
up new stars and build up new main eventters and
and top top guys, like you know, Kevin Owens is
still in a pretty decent spot, but it's not he's
not the top heel like he like it felt like
he was the top heel when he came in and
(54:42):
was like, you know, rubbing John Cena's face in the dirt,
and uh, it's I mean, Dan Kevin Owens should be
the US champion right now. You know, there's just he
should have beaten John Cena in every match they had,
Like it should be like that's how you build up
something because you it can't hurt Sena like oh, you know,
(55:02):
did he not sell enough wristbands that week? Or you know,
bar rags or whatever is that thing is he comes
out with each time. It's just like then they panic
and then they have to you know, build sena backup
or something. You know, it's just it's nonsense. Whereas it's
like John Cena is impervious and he's also on the
downward slope of his career at this point. You know,
(55:24):
how many more years does John Cena have? Hopefully a lot,
But as the top top guy, it's you know, that
transition shouldn't be that difficult, you know, for for somebody
else to be the new, you know, top baby face,
even if it is Roman Reigns, even though personally I
would think he's not the correct choice for it. But
(55:48):
looking at the roster now, it's like I'm not sure
who that guy would be. But it's also it's like
ww's own doing. Kevin Owens should be the top heel
right now. Kevin Owens should like how much more interesting
would the show b if there was a guy who
had John Cena's number, you know, because it really kind
of negates with his For his debut on Raw, he
(56:10):
lays out Sena in a way that nobody thought was
possible anymore. Their first pay per view match, he beats
and clean in the middle of the ring, which I
mean I was screaming, like I blew the roof off
my apartment watching that. It was unbelievable. And then it
just kind of goes back to, well, yeah, he's you know,
(56:32):
he got lucky is basically what the story became, you know,
not that he is a force to be reckoned with.
It's too bad and it's frankly a little silly, you know,
to just keep going back to John Cena, who's just
you know, is it an animal farm where they have
(56:53):
the uh in the George Orwell book animal farm where
there's the the workhorse boxer who they just you know,
they just keep using him and using him until he's
just completely broken down. And then they're like and then
they're just done with them, you know, whereas it's like
it's that's just kind of how it feels to me.
It was scene where I'm like, I I it, he
(57:13):
can be a draw and he can be a top babyface.
But I mean it's it's still it's holding the company
back because they are not progressing forward. They have not
progressed forward in the decade. You know, they haven't built anything.
And that's that's the only problem. That's the only problem
with WW right now is that they have And it's
(57:34):
like and that's the reason there is a lack of
depth in the roster is because they haven't created new stars,
you know, and they' and it's and it's you know,
they would make the argument, well, we've certainly tried, but
it's like, m you tried to push Roman Reins and
Shamus down our throats, you know. I mean even like
Rye Back. You look at Rye Back like that was
(57:56):
a guy that it was like it was actually starting
to happen, like people were actually it was starting to
get over, like people were getting into it. People were
no like stopping the Goldberg chance and then it's you know,
it winds up with that, you know, the hell and
a cel with the Brad Maddox as the referee with
see him Punk and it's just like it killed the
(58:17):
whole thing. It killed all the momentum, you know, and
it's not even like Ryback could have been the top,
top guy. But I mean it's like it's you when
you protect someone like they know how to do it,
they know how to do it when they want to
do it. You know, Like you look at Russep like
that whole build up to Rucef and how ironic is
(58:38):
it too that then it's just building up to a
match against who John Cena? And then what does John
Cena do? And he wins? And then Russef is now,
you know, just kind of stuck in limbo with Dolph Ziegler,
two guys who should be on the top.
Speaker 3 (58:55):
His other topic Matt was how do you get from
here to viver series? You look at Night of Champions
with Seth against Bolsena and Sting on top. You know,
I guess it depends on whether Sting is a one
off or they try to do three months in a row.
I mean, I could see them doing three months in
a row with Seth and Sting. I could see Seamous
and the Money in the Bank getting into the mix.
(59:16):
I could see a three way or a tag match.
Maybe I don't know that they would bring Hunter out
to team with Seth, but I wouldn't even be shocked
to see John Cena and Sting against Hunter and Seth
at Survivor series, or maybe even a larger team with
Caine added to one side and you know, another babyface
added the mix. I mean, I think there's a variety
of things you can do if Sting is part of
(59:37):
the mix, for say a three month program where you
can keep things kind of fresh with Sting but basically
stick to Sting versus the authority.
Speaker 10 (59:51):
I'm Kelly Wells, host of the seven Star podcast, the
new ongoing Torch show covering the world of New Japan
pro wrestling. We'll drop new episodes as major and noteworthy
events dictate.
Speaker 11 (01:00:03):
And I'm Chris Lansdowe join us as we cover the
ever changing landscape of New Japan as they navigate an
era with no lack of talent. But I really need
to create some new staves you can stream then your
seven Stop podcas now from Pro Wrestling Torch.
Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
Yeah, I'm always. I'm always for a traditional Survivor Series match,
you know, and like you could build that, you can
build it that easily with you know, one side being
the authority. If they want to bring back Joey and
Jamie and Kane, and even if you want to have
Hunter on the team as well with Rollins, that would
(01:00:48):
be really cool. My fear is that they think, you know,
Hunter's too big, that Hunter needs to be WrestleMania only
type of thing, which is fine, but I mean it'd
be a great draw for summer first the Virus series
and then on the other side, you can have you know, uh, Sena,
(01:01:09):
you know, you can have Cizarro. Who else you put
on that team? Uh? You know, like you know, my
first thought is Rains and Ambrose, but I think you
maybe maybe, I mean they'll probably say, actually, what will
probably see is this is a Survivors Series match with
(01:01:30):
the Wyatt family versus you know, a haphazard shield or something.
Maybe I don't know. I've always but I mean as
far as how to get there, I mean basically, I
guess we're asking, well, what are we gonna do at
Helena Cell again? I mean, if if let's say, Robins
retains and then do Rollins And because I still I
(01:01:57):
feel like the best story to go is that the
authority intervenes to help Rollins win, and then Rollins is
furious because he didn't need their help to beat Sting
because he's the man. He's the now, you know, Sting
is the past, triplacious, the past. Everybody's the past. So
then have it be like Cain makes his return at
(01:02:18):
night a Champions he's their beans on, Rollins behalf. Then
they go to Rollins versus Caine in a Helena Cell,
which would be really cool to see Rollins in a
Helena Cel, and especially with you know Cain, who's you know,
he's got that history with the Helena Cel. He debuted
in the first one and it's you know, there's always
(01:02:40):
like that undertaker kind of vibe to it as well
with the Helena Cel and also, you know Cain, it
benefits from a a gimmick match and that type of environment,
and like just Rollins and himself, like you know, talking
to being a tremendous athlete but at the same time
being kind of kind of a chicken and running away
(01:03:01):
and begging off you got nowhere to go, and hell
In a cell. I mean that's that, but then also
have some sort of Sting involvement, you know, because nobody's
supposed to be able to get in or out, but
then somehow Sting manages to get in, you know, type
of thing. I don't know's there's a lot of different
ways you can get there, but I feel like it
needs to go three more or two more, I should say,
(01:03:25):
you know, the Sting is involved, but it can still
because it's a B pay per view, it can be
it can have it be like a B match like
Rollins versus Cane, but then Sting helps Kane win type
of thing, or at least he's certainly just costing Rollins
the match type of thing. I would like that, and
(01:03:46):
then and then go to like a team Sting versus
team Rollins or team Authority type of thing.
Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
I kind of I think it might be headed that way.
It just depends on if Triple H wants to get
in ring shape, you know, and work a Survivor series.
But it seems like they're trying to make each month
in its own way special and not just have people going, well,
I can check out it too, a world rubble, you know,
and I think the network. Not being on a six
month commitment, but months to month has actually given WWB
that incentive to try to make every month special. And
(01:04:16):
that's why we're getting sting in September as opposed to
just loading up SummerSlam to try to set some record
by rate, to try to keep people month to month
hooked on the product, which I think is a good thing.
Let's go next here on People Do Torch Live Cast
with my guest Matt McCarthy x WWE Creative Team member
here on Interview Thursday, and we'll go next to Eric
Code seven three to two seven three two. Thanks for calling.
(01:04:38):
Please state your name and where you're calling from.
Speaker 5 (01:04:41):
Hey guys, it's Scott the IP member James Burden, New Jersey.
How are you to that?
Speaker 3 (01:04:45):
Great Scott? Thanks for Colin. What have you got for
Mat McCarthy and me today?
Speaker 4 (01:04:48):
Not the guys.
Speaker 5 (01:04:49):
I got a couple questions. And first we're talking about
the great work Seth Rollins is doing. And I know
what the WWE, even Stephen's file booking or fifty to
fifty booking whatever.
Speaker 4 (01:04:58):
They're proper towards connaction, even Stephen.
Speaker 5 (01:05:01):
Even Stephen, and you know they're saying maybe he would
split Rowins at the pay of view. But if you
want realities to come out strong, could you see him
winning both matches and then attire Robin's with Seamus coming
in to try to cash his money in the bank,
and then Rowinds survives that that need to have something
he can continue to brag about and gloat about on
(01:05:22):
television to get under Triple H's skin. Could you see
anything like that guy's.
Speaker 3 (01:05:28):
Matt, what do you think?
Speaker 4 (01:05:30):
Uh, definitely, I mean, I mean, first of all, I
don't think Seamus is going to successfully cash it that
they've They've set the precedent that, you know, whoever has
the briefcase isn't necessarily going to be the next champion.
I don't see much point in putting the title on Seamus.
(01:05:52):
And there's a story to be told, you know, because
Seamus is an effective heel when he's you know, got
something to complain about, you know, whether it's you know,
he had to like the idea that, like the fancy channing,
you look stupid at him because of his physical appearance.
I mean, how stupid is he gonna look when he
(01:06:14):
catches in and fails at it? Now, he really looks stupid.
You know, he can kind of blow a gasket type
of thing. But then you know that can play into
whoever he's gonna be in a program with after that,
or maybe even you know, start a new program fresh
based off of some baby face like say like Neville
or whomever pointing out you know, you look, you thought
(01:06:36):
we all thought you looked stupid before. Now you look
really stupid, Shamus. It'd be interesting anyway I could see,
you know, maybe that could happen at Night of Champions,
maybe even on a raw, but like I could see
that maybe if we if we do go into the
direction of Rollins versus Cane, there could be some sort
(01:06:58):
of because there's no necessarily incentive for Caine to want
to be the champion, to say, but like definitely he
just wants to hurt Seth you know, and like Sting
obviously wants to be the champion. So if like Sting
is standing there and Rollins is down, maybe even that's it.
(01:07:19):
Maybe then you know, Seamus starts to cash in and
then Sting stops it just because it's you know, I
don't know, because it's an interesting dynamic of like if
Rollins is able to fight him off, I mean probably
that's the best scenario. Rollins has just been able to
fight him off and then have more bragging rights.
Speaker 5 (01:07:38):
That you know he was.
Speaker 4 (01:07:39):
You know, you can't cash in on me. I missed
the money in the bank. I you know, apparently I'm
still missing money in the bank. You know I was
able to cash in at Mania and do it successfully,
and you know you didn't learn anything from me. But
then there is you know the idea of just somebody
doesn't want Seys to be the champion or or you know,
(01:08:02):
because then there is the dynamic of like if it
was like a sting, let's say, whereas it's like he's like, well,
I know I could beat Ron's, but maybe I can't
beat Shamus, so I have to stop Seamus. I don't
think you want to go down that road. But and
when it talks n done, I don't think Seamus is
gonna be successful cashing in the briefcase one bit.
Speaker 5 (01:08:21):
All right, Uh yeah, go ahead, Scott, I agree, Yeah, though,
I agree, I think it's that's I totally agree Matt
and Willis. I don't think Shames wull cash in, but
I think that's really a great way to take advantage
of him. Not being able to cash in and give
robins like imagine coming out in money the bank's I'm sorry,
come out of the pay per viewer. He goes three
(01:08:42):
and oh he's seen it in the first match, sing
in the second match and then defeats Seamous. That really
would give him some great heat and some great like
it's something great to come off all guy. That one
more question to ask you know all the Daniel Brian talk. Wait,
I actually asked this question that Bruce maybe last month.
I wonder what you think about it, Guys, I did
(01:09:03):
one way or the other. Coming up next year, Brian
will be in the ring and I don't know if
I agree or not. Wait, just like you've said very
eloquently over the last few months based on the book,
but I always thought like if wwe would doctors win,
you clear them see him going and working in New
Japan and Lee, I remember in January he said who
(01:09:24):
could be the faith of New Japan in America? Couldn't
that person be Daniel Bryan or a lighter work schedule
and with his work rate and all the matches he
could work with those great guys. That's my last question.
I'll be listening to guys, keep up the great work
and be the d team member. Wave's the best morning
I spend each month. Keep up the great work.
Speaker 3 (01:09:41):
Thank you, Scott. His question remains a floating out there
for you to answer, which is Daniel Bryan the face
of New Japan? If New Japan's interested in making more
inroads into the United States? Is that a good idea
for New Japan and for Daniel Bryan And would WWE
let that happen?
Speaker 4 (01:09:57):
I don't see that happening. And if Daniel Bryan isn't
cleared to perform in WWE, I don't think he needs
to be going over to New Japan and potentially end
his career because that that is a that is a
very god. They work really hard over there, really stiff matches.
(01:10:18):
I mean Daniel Bryan obviously he you know it would
be I would love it. I would love to see
him reprise the role as the American Dragon, go back
over there and be like, you know, I took everything
I could learn from you people. I went to the States,
I became a superstar many times over I'd be I'm
mister WrestleMania thirty and now I'm back here in Japan
(01:10:42):
to you know, to claim my rightful place as the
king of Japan now. But if that might not be
in the cards for him. But that is one of
the other things. If if WWE was ever to let
him go, to let Daniel Brian go. He said it
before that that week he will be you know, wrestling
(01:11:03):
in armories and and bingo halls, and you know, God
willing the American Legion Post number three O eight receive California.
I uh, you know, I believe me, there's there's no
one I'd rather watch perform in the ring than Daniel Bryant.
But not if it's uh not, not if it's if
(01:11:25):
it's at its own detriment, you know, because it's right,
I mean, if it's especially these days, what what we're
still what we're still learning about concussions and post concussions,
concussion syndrome, and you know what what the real you know,
cost of of of some of this, uh, some of
(01:11:48):
these things are you know, it's not worth it in
the long run. But I don't know if if they
were too. If w w E were to you know,
reignite a working relations ship in New Japan Pro Wrestling,
that would certainly be the guy to send over there.
You know, in an ideal world, all things being equal,
(01:12:08):
that would that would be that would be it have
him lead you know, the American invasion of Japan type
of thing. But I don't know, I don't know if
that relationship will ever rekindle. I mean, and it also
seems like at least with the you know, Jusians under
Liger work in the NXT show and potentially more shows,
(01:12:32):
that might just be a deal with uh with Liger,
you know, whereas it's not necessarily a working relationship that
with New Japan, like New Japan has with with the
Ring of Honor right now. Although you know what they
said that who it was Okada was backstage at SummerSlam
(01:12:53):
or at least at Raw or something. It's very interesting,
you know, but I don't know. It's it is also
a symptom of WWE is less in the wrestling business,
and it's and it's almost interesting that they that NXT exists,
as you know, it's almost like NXT is WWE's wrestling product,
(01:13:17):
you know, whereas w WE is just the I don't know,
it's just there. That's their their their home base, so
that's their you know, that's their main product that that's
just their entertainment show. That's certainly the way they think
of it. Which again, you know it. You know, it's
(01:13:38):
Monday Night Raw, there's a wrestling ring on the street,
your wrestling company.
Speaker 3 (01:13:44):
Show, you know, yeah, I mean, well look at I
mean you look at the reactions NXC Takeover, and that
was a wrestling show, and the fans.
Speaker 4 (01:13:51):
Ate it up absolutely. People love wrestling. People will always
love wrestling, you know. And it's like they're like, oh, well,
you know, you can have five star matches every match
and it's not going to make any difference in the ratings.
You know, it's about star power, it's about stories, and
it's like, yeah, it is. It's about those things. But
it's also can we have awesome matches? You know, it's
(01:14:13):
we're at a place where we can do that. Everything
is boutique now. Nothing has to be everything at once.
You know, there's no reason that the ww network has
to be crappy Netflix. It can be the all wrestling channel.
You know, people want that, people would be interested in that.
You know, nobody's buying the network to watch swerves, you know,
(01:14:34):
I mean, come on, they're swerving themselves. They're swerving themselves, Wade,
they are I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (01:14:43):
I hope they come around. I hope crowd reactions like
take Over in Brooklyn helps helps them come around in
that regard and it opens up insic man to see, Hey,
maybe there's another way to do things.
Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
Anytime you're watching WWE Raw or SmackDown or AEW Dynamite
in particular, send us an email if you've got thoughts
on the show or a topic you want us to
address or a question for us. Wade Keller Podcast at
pw torch dot com. Wadkeller Podcast at pewtorch dot com.
If there's anything else going on in pro wrestling that
you want us to address on our main podcast during
(01:15:16):
our mailbank segments, that same email applies Wadekeller Podcast at
pw torch dot com. We invite that interaction. Let us
know what you think of what we're saying, and let
us know what you want us to talk about and
ask us specific questions. Wade Keller Podcast at pw torch
dot com.
Speaker 3 (01:15:33):
Let's go next to Eric Code seven seven three. You're
on Interview Thursday with Matt McCarthy. I'm Wade Keller. What
is your name and where are you calling from.
Speaker 12 (01:15:40):
Boris from Chicago. Hey, wait, you as you don't know me?
Wade right, congratulation success too. By the way, you've been
really hall of fame and now I don't know.
Speaker 4 (01:15:54):
Is it all once you hit you? Wait?
Speaker 3 (01:15:57):
Has it hit me?
Speaker 4 (01:15:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 12 (01:15:59):
It hasn't went to went to your head yet. All
your your hall of fame and all this you know,
all know the riotings.
Speaker 4 (01:16:05):
That you get.
Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Now, I don't know. I'm too busy too. I'm too
busy to stoke up with a makeing star I am.
Speaker 4 (01:16:11):
But thank you right this tas way you know how
we do.
Speaker 3 (01:16:15):
I do it.
Speaker 12 (01:16:15):
But Matt, I enjoy your show. I already put you
in on demand and I enjoy your show and I
love how you your perspective on wrestling. Just like wait,
I want to ask you guys a question because way
really really you know, spoke up against smoke up out
against the Hogan thing, and he came out on good
(01:16:36):
morn America. I want your perspective on on that because
he just won't sit.
Speaker 4 (01:16:40):
Down and just just go away for a minute. Well,
I mean, I guess what what else would we expect
from Houlkogre? You know he can't leave well enough alone.
He can't he can't keep his mouth shut. It'll be
interesting to see what happened. I mean, it's funny. I
(01:17:01):
mean just today I was, you know, I turn on
my Twitter and I see him still retweeting people. You know,
Can I get a retweet for my birthday to day?
Or we have this picture in front of them. I'm
just like to lay low. You need to just you know,
I don't know that this thing will ever blow over.
People's memories are pretty short, and especially when it's you know,
(01:17:23):
someone that they it's it's just people. There are way
too many, so many people in this country and worldwide
that just have fond childhood memories involving that guy that
they will look past or or conveniently forget, you know,
(01:17:43):
this whole episode, or or try to justify it somehow.
But it's I don't know, it's just strange that he was.
I don't know, it's Hulkogan not being involved in WWE anymore. Uh,
put the put the damper on it, definitely put the
(01:18:06):
a definite you know, effect on it, because where else
is he gonna go? I know, I don't I don't
see any I don't see anyone else picking him up
or whatever he does next is only just an opportunity
for whomever is working with him to then be accused
of being racist. You know, this is ugly, is an
(01:18:28):
ugly thing that happened, and I don't I don't see
any way out of it. You know, if he can
just cash in his chips and go away, that might
be the best thing for him.
Speaker 3 (01:18:38):
Well, and I do wonder if if he wins the
Gawker lawsuit, if he doesn't kind of catching his chips
and go away, or if that gives him he thinks
that some wind under his sails, even though it has
nothing to do with the you know, the grotesque things
that he said about black people and even gay people too,
both in that uh you know, that leaked sex sex
(01:18:59):
tape and also in that jail health conversation with his
son over the phone. I mean, I just I don't
know how the hul Cogan image recovers from that, You know,
does how do you portray Hull Cogan as a hero
to children and Hulkamanian? You know, just look up the
lyrics to real American How can he ever come out
to that music again? You know, fight for the rights
of every man I mean, it's just it's all about ever.
(01:19:22):
It's so the opposite of what was revealed. And I
loved down the Good Morning America interview Matt where he goes,
I didn't know I was being taped. I'm like, that
makes it worse, not better. Yeah, No, that makes it worse.
Like I read, I think Ultimate Warrior Jim Halwig said
some vile, hateful, awful things about Katrina victims and gay people,
(01:19:44):
And I mean, he was so off the chart awful
as a person, a horrible, horrible person for a while there,
and never asked for forgiveness, never step back from those comments.
Yet Wwe named an award after him and talks about
how great he is for all of humanity. It's insane,
but at least Ultimate Warrior was willing to stand at
a podium and say some of those horrible, vile views
(01:20:06):
in front of college students as some sort of guest speaker.
He got heckled for it, you know, And when when
a gay college dan stood up, he said, get that
thing out of your mouth so I can understand you.
I mean, he was awful. He was an awful, awful,
awful human being for a number of years. Publicly, and
he never backed down from those comments, but he said
him he had he had the bravery to Sam in
front of people, and so in that respect, I give
(01:20:27):
him more points in Hogan, who's willing to sign autographs
and take pictures with black people with I guess suppressing.
And I wrote about this at wad Keller dot com.
By the way, I wrote an editorial on this a
couple of days ago on Hogan going or maybe it's
yesterday going back on Twitter, and I just said, I
guess I congratulate Hogan for suppressing telling every black person
who came up for an autograph, stay away from my daughter.
(01:20:49):
You're not worthy. N word, you know. I mean, like
because the fact that the cameras weren't roll were rolling
and he didn't know it doesn't make it less bad.
It just means that he was two faced and he
got caught. So it's just I mean. And again, I
don't think I'm not upset at his daughter for forgiving him,
his friends, for forgiving him people he knows well. But
the fact is is, I think Matt the threshold to
(01:21:10):
be a national hero on that a baby face like that.
I think that threshold is really, really high, and I
think Hogan is beneath it.
Speaker 4 (01:21:21):
And it's also interesting in a different day and age,
you could have just parlayed this into him becoming the
top most hated heel in the world again, yeah seven
or earlier. Sure, yeah, I'm with you, but we're you know,
(01:21:41):
it's you think, gad, we're past all of that too,
that you know, be like, well, we can make money
having Hologan's all with that and say these wretched things.
It's just so you know, I don't know the hulks there.
He just needs to, you know, hoist that yellow and
red sail and and and and just cruise off into
(01:22:02):
the sunset. Probably if he wins his gofer case, then
there you go, and there's his nut and he can
just live off of that for the rest of the exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:22:10):
I just I don't think money makes up for fame
for him. I think he likes money, but I wonder
if he could oh.
Speaker 4 (01:22:16):
Yeah, you know he can't help though, No, he can't.
He can't deal with that.
Speaker 3 (01:22:23):
Before we wrap up here, Matt, probably at the top
of the hour here, let's hit a couple of email questions.
If you got time for that, let's do it cool
Helmo c says, my question for Matt McCarthy, why do
people love Arn Anderson even though he always looked like
a middle aged dad? Is it a southern thing and every.
Speaker 4 (01:22:40):
Man type of look?
Speaker 3 (01:22:41):
I forgot to mention in regards to stinging a champion,
he's up there in age too. Do people really want
to see someone that old be champion? It seemed to
work for Arn. He's looked old his entire career. I
love this question that what do you think?
Speaker 4 (01:22:54):
Hi, He's just a big burly bear. You know, he's
just he's he's kind of Arne's cool looking, you know.
I mean, he's just got such a solid look. He's
got those beady eyes, you know, like a like a
stone blooded killer. And you know he's got that the
weird horseshoe hair, but like you know, you look at
it at the right angle, it looks like a full
(01:23:15):
head of hair. Cool beard, cool boy. You know, he's
just that character worked, that persona of the enforcer that
he was, the that he was deadly, you know, like
when he would he would It's funny. I'm watching I
got the network on in the back room right now.
(01:23:35):
It's it's flair versus arn Anderson on the ball.
Speaker 3 (01:23:38):
Brol nine out, Did it creep you up when I
asked you an arm question? No, it made me hap
like it's like you didn't you don't know you're being filmed, Matt,
I'm filming you. I know what you're wanting.
Speaker 4 (01:23:48):
I didn't know I was being solved. I was watching it.
I mean, he's just there's there's no there's no moment
when you don't believe it. That's why people like arn
Anderson every word he said. And at no point could
you think of an inauthentic moment with arn Anderson and
(01:24:10):
maybe being you know, Burley and Harry adds to that
because he's not one of those you know, he didn't
shave his chest or his legs. He was like, this
is who I am. I'm gonna go out.
Speaker 13 (01:24:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (01:24:23):
He was just when when he would run his thumb
across the throat, you know you believe that, You're like,
oh my god, he is going to kill this guy.
He is going to eviscerate someone.
Speaker 3 (01:24:36):
I am so in favor of wrestlers not looking like
they're like you know, swim swimmers, you know, like the
swimmer body or body build their body it's like the shaved, muscular,
toned look. I really like that variety. It's what I
got Mad Dog, but Sean and Crusher, Jerry Blackwell and
Adrian Adonis and Layry the Axe Heading. I paid money
to see them, and I don't need all my wrestlers
(01:24:58):
looking like they can just jump jump into Olympic swimming
or on a bodybuilding stage. I think, you know, Drew
McIntyre is fine, Drew Galloway is fine. It's good to
have that body type, but you don't have to run
every run through the Drew Galloway Randy Orton model to
make sure that they fit that to draw money. So
I brought up the question because I just think it's
kind of you know, it's kind of silly. Although I
think like Lou Grant, for instance, has looked the same
(01:25:18):
age his entire existence that I've ever watched him on TV.
You know, it's like there's you know, you kind of
age with them, and they are always a certain amount
older than you, and you always kind of that perception.
But do you think it works against Sting in particular
matt Or does the face paint and the gimmick. You know,
as long as they don't draw attention to his age.
Does that really matter? I bet most people think, oh,
thing must be in his forties by now. I don't
think most people think he's deep into his fifties.
Speaker 4 (01:25:40):
Yeah, no, no kidding. The face paint is to his advantage.
And it's the same thing like with Kiss when you
see them on stage, you're like, oh, it looks like
kit you know, and also but it's it's to Sting's credit.
He is in phenomenal shape. Yeah, absolutely fantastic shape any
but he doesn't you know, he doesn't look like somebody's dad,
(01:26:03):
you know, in kabuki makeup. But I mean that it
was part of the appeal of arn Anderson and even
whole Coogan. You know, when he was, you know, in
nineteen eighty five, he was probably you know, if he
was even thirty yet, but he looked like he was
in his late forwards. You know, it was just you know,
a victim of that time period with you know, the
receding hairline and the facial hair kind of adds as
(01:26:27):
a decade, you know, as it were. But I mean,
you know, Arne did look like a dad, but he
looked like your friend's dad. Who could you know, kick
everybody's button, the neighborhood type of thing. Exactly. As far
as the Stinger, it's he it's such a sentimental favorite too,
of like wow, Sting because I mean, I'm still getting
over the fact that I saw a Sting on, you know,
(01:26:51):
on WWE, that he showed up in that Survivor series.
It's crazy that he showed up on RAW. I was like,
oh my god, Sting is on. Like I turned to
who everyone was with the room, like, Sting is on
RAW right now, dude, Like I'm staying with ww champion.
It would be another one of those moments, but he
doesn't necessarily need it thing away from his career if
he didn't do it. It's just cool in and of
(01:27:12):
itself that he's in the title picture, you know, I
mean it's the Stinger. It's awesome.
Speaker 3 (01:27:18):
Yup. All right, Let's go to another email topic here
Anthony B. From Stanton Island, New York. First, he wanted
to address the Ziggler russev Engel. He said, I think
this spoils down to WWE appealing to many different audiences.
I'm twenty nine. I watched WWE with my girlfriend aged
twenty six and a little cousin who's seven. I've been
(01:27:39):
a hook a maniac, to stone Cold, to the rock Et, cetera.
So I've seen a ton of wrestling. I generally enjoy
heels like Rollins, Owens, Russ of Wyatt, but maybe Cousin
is a typical wwee kid where it's a seen a
headband and loves Roman. However, my girlfriend's a casual fan.
She watches Total Diva segments on raw I show her
and occasionally a pay per view if we go. Of course,
I share the opinion that among the Internet that Ziggwa
(01:28:00):
and Russev aren't being used correctly, but we have to
understand wwez a huge company with different types of fans.
My girlfriend enjoys Ziggler Roussev because it is what it is.
It's an over the top story, as most WW stories are.
That's just fun. It doesn't have to be so serious,
and I think it's meant to be enjoyed with a
grain of salt. A z any story with many possible
outcomes isn't a bad thing. It draws into casual fans.
(01:28:20):
We want Lana. It's one of the most over chants
of a recent show. I've been to the point of
the story. I think is to just sit back and
enjoy this for what it is, a break from reality
that's entertaining, as wild as it may be. Hence the
entire era. You know, we hear this sometimes, Matt. You know, Oh,
sit back and enjoy it. It's meant to appeal to
different audiences. You know, Raw when you were there.
Speaker 4 (01:28:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (01:28:38):
I assume the scripts had that little checklist ONNIC go
and be sure there's some comedy, some sex appeal, something
for kids. We need a midget, we need a fat guy,
we need a sexy lady, we need a bickering women,
like did we hit all the checkboxes? I understand WWE
and RAW is a variety show, and they're trying to
appeal the different demographics. Your quote earlier, you know that
you can't be all things to all people. It's a
(01:28:59):
boutique right now that we're in is I think real poignant.
But I will say this, if you think rusev Ziggler
Lana Summer Ray that storyline belongs in wrestling, I'm for that.
I love World Class champiship wrestling back in the mid
eighties with Georgios, Jimmy Garvin and Precious against Chris Adams
and Sunshine. I mean, this stuff has been going on
for a long time. There's been women involved in wrestling
(01:29:21):
and different angles, and that was sort of a left
triangle type thing in its own way, with Precious switching
sides or Sunshine switching sides. Excuse me. So it's not
like this is new and Wwe invented it. All we
want is to have how they're portrayed on television not
be grown inducingly awful, and to not have Lana who supposedly,
and maybe this will make sense in retrospect, supposedly it
(01:29:43):
is the baby face completely overreacting to something that Ziggler
had no fault in, and so there's aspects of this
that can work. I just think we're watching it and
like Summer Ray, Matt, you know, we talk about last
time you're on the show. We talked a lot about
and it seems like somebody heard. You know, when someone's
being they should know it, you know, Like, and I
like that Renee was why is a camera showing triple
(01:30:04):
H on it cell phone? How did he know? How
did the director know Kine was about to barge in
and make it relevant? That we're showing on her standing there.
They've actually moved away from that, and this week's rob
was really good because Renee Young's doing an interview and
over her shoulder some Ray shows up. Now my problem
is they got halfway there good, but some are Ray
apparently is unable to see Renee Young and the cameraman
because she's looking around. I'll paranoid, we're staring at her
(01:30:26):
do that. But somehow fifteen twenty feet away there's Renee
Young and a cameraman and she doesn't notice they're there.
So they sort of got half right and half wrong.
So to me, it's more about the execution that it
is the idea of involving Lan and some Aray in
a storyline with rus seven Ziggler.
Speaker 14 (01:30:48):
Longing for some nostalgia, or maybe you want to learn
some wrestling history. Don't miss the nineties pass cast Every
Friday on the PW Towards Daly Cast Feed. Alex and
Patrick will transport youth thirty years into the past by
taking you through the Torch issue from that very week.
Follow news from the WWF and WCW and all the
(01:31:08):
happenings from across the wrestling industry in real time as
The Torch reported it thirty years ago. That's the nineties
pass cast every Friday on the PW Torch Daily Cast feed, right,
(01:31:29):
you know, and it is.
Speaker 4 (01:31:30):
It's funny because it's watching that on raw and I'm like, wow,
there's a lot of renee this week because I appreciated
that where it's it's like, you know, the right back
backstage got interrupted with more of the dolf like golf
screaming out of his locker room type of thing. But
I mean there's just the you can have storylines like this,
(01:31:55):
and you can have you know, absolutely, but it's just
the idea of all the women, are these these for
lack of a better word, like divas, like it is
it is a negative word. And then ultimately it's just
(01:32:15):
the story hasn't so much been I mean, it's hilarious
that like Russev pretends that he's over Lana and then
replaces her with a woman that he dresses. I mean
that's great, that's great. But then where it's it's just
it doesn't need to be like they're just such catty women.
(01:32:37):
And I'm talking about like in general and wwe like
they're trying to move away from that, but it's still
contrived that they just get put into these arbitrary teams,
you know, the three on three on three. But then
like with Lana and and Summer, it's like it's always
a it just degenerates into a cat fight, grabbing each
(01:32:58):
other by the hair and then you know, somebody's skirt
gets pulled up over their you know, buttocks type of
thing where it's it's like, it's not it's not the
most positive portrayal of women, whereas it's like it could
be a little more of a you know, there's a
sophisticated way of telling the story, or at least you
know that these women can have brains, you know, as
(01:33:21):
a brief to just being jealous, vindictive harlots, which unfortunately
is what they all kind of get relegated to when
there is a storyline that plays out because unfortunately, like
a lot of the story is just you know, like
we talked about before even Stephen booking or or the
winds and losses don't matter. As Nicky Bella eloquently said,
(01:33:44):
I'm wrong. You know, it's just there's you just it's
it's not hard. It's like Jerry Jarrett said in the
Memphis Heat documentary. Booking pro wrestling is not complicated, right,
And look no further than NXT, you know, look no
further than the story they told with Bailey, Who's just
(01:34:07):
it's what a breadth of fresh air Bailey is for
a female wrestler in WWE. You know, a fresh character
appeals to children, appeals to you know, the men and
the women in the audience. Is believable. It's just a likable,
lovable babyface that you you know, she's a great athlete.
(01:34:27):
She puts on a great show. And then she goes
up against you know, Sasha Banks, who's just such an
immense talent, such a great gimmick, and they both have
such a high level of believability. And it's also, you know,
I mentioned ever before, Sarah Delway Delray no doubt, you know,
she's the NXT female trainer down there. She absolutely had
(01:34:50):
a hand producing and laying out that match. I'm sure,
you know. Yeah, and more more power to them, you
know it. I mean, for me, I want to see
Sarah Delray on ah, you know, I want to see
her performing on the screen. If that's not gonna happen,
then at least have her produced matches, yet please are
right by all means more more of it, have her
(01:35:11):
produced on raw, you know, bring her up to not
just be training the developmental talent. And I use that
in quotations because you know, NXT has just kind of
become its own brand and it's not so much even
developing new talent, although that is so the the idea
of you know, women's wrestling, having it be women's wrestling
(01:35:32):
and not just you know, it's it's weird with the
with the you know, the three on three on three,
with the Bellas and the PCV and the UH and bad.
It's a little too it's too much of an island
onto itself where it's like, Okay, now we're just gonna
go to Monster Island and watch all the monsters fight,
whereas it's like there's no story there. It's just this
(01:35:54):
is the league and these are the ones who fight
each other.
Speaker 5 (01:35:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (01:35:57):
It's it's it's just kind of like overra versus g
I Joe. It's like they're fighting because they're the ones
that fight, as opposed to they're being a little bit
more of an organic, you know, story to it. So
in that respect, and Summer Ray have at least an
advantage on them where they have an actual story, but
it is still their secondary to a man. And they
(01:36:20):
are defined by men. You know that they only because
of men have given them, you know, reason to exist.
So that's that's still backwards. You know, these women can
have problems with themselves on their own, and you know,
can have a story playout on their own, you know,
or at least have a title that means something as
(01:36:42):
opposed to just oh, it's your turn to be the
Davis Champion now you know exactly. Well, we'll see, we
can get there. I say, we'll see.
Speaker 3 (01:36:49):
Let me.
Speaker 4 (01:36:52):
Going.
Speaker 3 (01:36:52):
Matt Fincher thought of her.
Speaker 4 (01:36:54):
No, no, no, that was my point. Never say never.
That's rule number one. Rule number one.
Speaker 3 (01:37:00):
What did you watch much?
Speaker 7 (01:37:01):
Tough enough?
Speaker 4 (01:37:03):
I didn't watch it at all.
Speaker 3 (01:37:05):
I was like, yeah, yeah, I was. Don't blame you.
I don't blame you. I'm gonna ask you about it
if you did. But now now I don't have.
Speaker 13 (01:37:13):
To do that.
Speaker 4 (01:37:15):
Wasn't to worry about it now.
Speaker 3 (01:37:17):
Yeah. I watched it every week and Todd Martin and I.
Tom Martin is a Torch columnists and audio contributor, and
on the VIP side of things, and we talked about
it every Wednesday on The Fix with Todd Martin and
we're kind of uh, we had a lot of fun
talking about it because it was just that it was
so many things about w W and they're you know,
pandering to network types and uh dwell and and and
(01:37:38):
focusing too much on pulling back the curtain as opposed
to taking advantage of the format to tell better stories
and build their characters in a different environment. It was,
It was quite the It was. It was a fascinating
display of all of w DOUBLE. There's so many of
WWW's quirks that that I think are counterproductive for them.
So yeah, but I wouldn't you know, it was kind
of a guilty pleasure too, But I wouldn't say that
(01:37:59):
you've you your life is a wrestling fan is in
complete Matt for not watching.
Speaker 4 (01:38:02):
Oh yeah, no, no, no, I mean that's what it was.
It was Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn being like, we're
not wrestling promoters, we are TV producers and watch us
produce TV show and it's like, well, then good for you.
I'll be over here watching wrestling. Bye.
Speaker 3 (01:38:19):
Yes, well, Matt, we watch wrestling as your podcast. If
I wasn't careful and looking at the clock, I could
talk three hours instead of just an hour and a
half here with you and lose track of time because
there's a lot of things we haven't talked about that
we will have to table for next time, or you
can talk about on your podcast again. We watch Wrestling
by Matt McCarthy. Tell him about how to find your
show again, Matt. There's various ways websites and iTunes and such.
Speaker 4 (01:38:41):
Absolutely, we are the We watch wrestling podcast on Pharaoh Audio,
Feral Audio dot com. We watch wrestling podcast dot com.
Shoot us an email. We watch wrestling podcast at gmail
dot com. Shoot us a tweet over there on Twitter
at we watchw podcast. I'm Matt McCarthy. My website is
(01:39:02):
This is Matt McCarthy dot com. My Twitter is at
McCarthy Redhead, and we watch Wrestling podcast every Wednesday at
three sixteen am. It's on iTunes, it's on Stitcher, It's
on every concealable format for a podcast to exist on.
And yeah, we get more listeners every single week. The
(01:39:22):
show keeps getting bigger and bigger because it's the most
unique wrestling podcast that they're is. It's just three fans,
three friends sitting around talking about wrestling. You know, we
try to celebrate. We try not to veer into the negative.
It's easy to just sit around and complain about WWE.
That's not what it's about. You know. If we don't
like what WW is doing, we try to find somebody
(01:39:44):
that we do like what they're doing. So there's a
lot of PWG talk, a lot of New Japan talk,
there's a lot of loot underground talk. There's a lot
of I've been on a kick now of trying to
get together old Wrestling magazine than this past issue. I
just read a cover story about in the Ring from
The Wrestling I somebody I forget who wrote the article,
but they were responding to Eddie Mansfield exposing the twenty
(01:40:08):
twenty Yeah, phenomenal, phenomenal article. And Yeah, lately I've been
driving around to fast food restaurants in the Los Angeles
area with my affordable digital recorder asking the clerks who
their favorite wrestlers are. Uh so, you can check out
issue one hundred and four for that.
Speaker 5 (01:40:30):
It is the very entertain thing.
Speaker 4 (01:40:32):
It's my favorite thing in the world to do right now,
just asking random people who their favorite wrestler. Yeah, a
lot of fun. We have a lot of phone over there.
We watched wrestling.
Speaker 3 (01:40:40):
I was at FYE. Is that the media store? Is
that the big media thing?
Speaker 5 (01:40:46):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (01:40:46):
Yeah, for your entertainment?
Speaker 3 (01:40:48):
Sure, yes, yes, I was there is there a couple
of weeks ago and picked up the d XV or
the click Ruove DVD? Excuse me? And the lady behind
the counter was basically Target Lady from snl OH Wrestling.
Whoa you're fan? And Target Lady with a Minnesota accent.
She was so excited She's in her forty show. What's
gonna happen with Undertaker and Lesner?
Speaker 4 (01:41:06):
What do you think?
Speaker 3 (01:41:07):
And I'm quizing her. You know who do you want
to win? Or are you mad about Undertaker hitting Lesnard
with a low blow? She's like, no, he's Undertaker. He's
like fifty years old. He needs to do everything he
can to beat that monster. It was just it was
really fun. I know what you mean, you know, just
talking to people on the street.
Speaker 4 (01:41:20):
Oh, I love it. My my buddy Brendan, he was
just talking to the custodian at his building where he
works about the Undertaker Lesnar thing building up to it
and it's it's such a funny perspective. I had never
thought of him before. But the guy's like, ah, it
just feels sad watching an undertaker. He looks so old
and he goes it looks like your friend's dad who's
really huge but thinks he's tough, and then he goes
(01:41:41):
to the bar and gets drunk, and then you have
to watch the bouncer of brock Lesnion and just beat
the crap out of him. That is a fresh perdu
because I hadn't.
Speaker 3 (01:41:50):
Considered Yes, yeah, funny. All right, Matt, I am watching
you on a loop do the cross chop on. This
is Matt McCarthy dot com. So people want that disturbing
image full screen on their computers. I think that's possible
to just go ahead and spread that out and have
that in the background while you write your college papers
(01:42:11):
or whatever it is you're doing, kind of keep yourself entertained.
But that does. By the way, Matt have the link
that we watch wrestling on there too, and so that's
a good place for people to find the podcast too.
Very cool. The website is a new thing.
Speaker 4 (01:42:21):
Isn't it. Yeah, yeah, a plant a site that I
forgot to renew for a little while and then turned
into like this Japanese blog or something. I kept going
on and I was like, I don't know. So then
I was almost like I liked my old links of
led to this whole Japanese writing. But then I realized, now, no, no,
(01:42:41):
I need an actual hub. I need a resource where
people can go and find out where I'm doing shows
and what's going on. Yeah, if you're in the Los
Angeles area, I'm starting a monthly comedy show downtown at
a place called Basic Flowers.
Speaker 3 (01:42:55):
It used to be a.
Speaker 4 (01:42:56):
Flower shop now it's it's a really cool art space
and some number twenty fifth eight pm is the inaugural
show of the Matt mccomedy show, Starry Matt McCarthy. So
check that out if you're in LA downtown.
Speaker 3 (01:43:10):
Super cool. That's awesome, Matt. Thank you always a pleasure
talking wrestling with you, and we'll talk to you again
soon on the line. All right, thanks a lot, way
you bet, Thank you everybody for you continue support here
at Peter w Torch Live cast and until tomorrow we're
Bruce Mitchell and Travis Bryant take over with the Peter
Bleby Torch Live cast Friday edition, taking her calls at
seven Eastern. This is Wade Teller, thanking my guest Matt
(01:43:32):
McCarthy and signing off. Invite you to email the show
(01:44:02):
with feedback or questions or comments. That email address is
Wadekeller Podcast at petwtorch dot com. That's Wadkeller Podcast at
pwtorch dot com. Also welcome your feedback on Twitter. You
can follow us on Twitter at pw torch and follow
me at the Wadekeller. That's at PW Torch and at
the Wadekeller.
Speaker 15 (01:44:23):
Searching for more great pro wrestling talk, then join me.
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(01:44:45):
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Speaker 1 (01:44:54):
Thanks for listening to our podcast. Did you know we
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Speaker 16 (01:45:37):
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Speaker 18 (01:46:59):
In twenty twelve, NXT transitioned into the developmental system and
ultimately the brand you see today on the Torch VIP
podcast NXT eight years Back. We'll be taking a weekly
look at this page.
Speaker 13 (01:47:12):
In NXT's early history. Join Kelly Wells and me Tom
Stout from PWT Talks NXT every Saturday as we go
eight years back to the day to track NXT's rising
talents and why they did or didn't work out exclusively
for PW Torch VIP members.
Speaker 1 (01:47:28):
A PW Torch VIP membership doesn't just give you add
free access to these shows and a ton of other
VIP exclusive podcasts throughout the week, but you also gain
access to our unmatched vast library of wrestling history, our
contemporaneous week to week coverage through our progressing Torch weekly
newsletters dating back to the late nineteen eighties, along with
streaming and download access to hundreds of retro radio shows
from the nineteen nineties, including some of my interviews with
(01:47:50):
wrestling's top newsmakers in the nineties, and also our podcast
library dating back to the year two thousand and three.
There's no larger, longer spanning pro wrestling podcast library then
that comes with a PW Torch VIP membership. Now we're
approaching twenty years of podcasting. Go vi IP and dive
into our post pay per view roundtables are covered with
some of your favorite eras of wrestling, top name long
(01:48:13):
form interviews, and special format podcasts that we've done throughout
the years. Pw torch dot com slash go VIP. We
have a streamline sign up for me and you can
pay with PayPal or directly with your credit card or
debit card. In one or two minutes from right now,
you can be a VIP member and diving into our library.
PW torch dot com slash go VIP
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