WeWatchWrestling Issue #632

You watch wrestling? Greetings. Salutations. Well, hello there. Welcome, friends and foes, heels and babyfaces, to the place that's in your face and is never a disgrace to watch wrestling. And that's exactly what this show is called. Welcome to the We Watch Wrestling Podcast. I'm your wonderful darling, ready-to-bearded nose wrestling, Matt McCarthy. With me is no one. With me is Penny, but she's asleep on the chair.

wrapped up in the El Santo famous Monsters of Filmland blanket, which I specifically said the day I bought it, for $50, mind you. over a matter of $50, that Penny was not going to be wrapped up in that blanket. And then she just rolls on in, does whatever she wants. And I'm helpless, impotent to do anything. Vince is on assignment. He will be back by Thursday for our big, big Patreon Q&A.

bonus 0.5, all that good stuff. Also, if you're on the Patreon, you could be watching video of this right now. You could be posting in a Discord saying, where's Finn? All those things. And what? We still have a few, only a couple, Halloween Triple W hats. Those are available at our big cartel. And that link is in the description of the show you're listening to right now. Okay. So, it's just Maddie. It's just us. It's just you, me, and bam, bam.

Peniela Vodka. That's what I call her sometimes. Not often, but sometimes. I am... I guess I'll just start with the...

I don't even know what to start with. I mean, we've got WrestleDream, which happened, which was tremendous. We have no world champion on Monday Night Raw, which... I don't know. Is that even a real belt? I hate, I talk about him plenty, but I hate the multiple belts. Now, don't even get me started on like more than one world champion. Makes no sense. It's like, oh, we have a WWE champion and we have a world champion. Look, if each show...

If they really look and they never did a great job with it. They stuck to it once in a while with the separate brands. But who cares? They kind of stick to it still, you know. They're pretty good about sticking to it. Mostly they're good at sticking it to the fans. Folks. I mean, come on. WWE's lost a... A lot of shine, interest, for me anyway. I mean, I don't know. I mean, I'll still check out what's going on. Obzies. Obzies. You know, it certainly doesn't feel like...

Pick your low point. Pick your historical low point. It doesn't feel like 1993, 4, 3, 4, 5. 95 feels like the low point. And 93 is like when Raw started. And 94, there was still... I don't know. That's more the beginning of the, you could say 93, but that's more the beginning of the new generation. But I don't know. 95 is a low point for WWE.

WWF at the time. This is back when it was the WWWF. I always love when old timers explain that. You know, your Meltzers, your Dallas Pages. I remember seeing Diamond Dallas Page at WWF New York because once in a while, I'm sure you remember watching Raw. And they would, you know, kind of check in with whoever the wrestler or celebrity was at WWF New York. We got a party going on WWF New York and Big Show's there. Big Show doing jello shots with the masses in wings.

big pile of wing bones behind him. Braun Strowman rolling in. Are you going to eat those bones? Remember Braun Strowman? Beef stroganoff? Every time they say Braun and Braun, I'm like, Braun Strowman's back? I always forget. Braun is short for Bronson Reed. Not allowed in the Battle Royal either on Monday. And we'll get to all that.

But Diamond Dallas Page, they did like a Q&A because he's there hanging out with the fans. Man of the people, really. Broke into the business when he was 58 years old. A lot of people don't know that. He was very old when he broke into the business. And that's a joke. I'm bad at sarcasm. I'm actually not bad at sarcasm. I'm just too good of an actor. That's the problem. And Q&A was going on.

I assume this was after Raw was off the air. It's not like you could have done all this during the commercial break. It's not like they put Raw on mute. We're like, let's just chill with Dal. Let's hear some stores. Let's just nosh some stores with Dow. Dow DiPay. And... Somebody asked him, why do you have such a bright smile? Why are your teeth so white? And he goes, kids, floss, floss, floss.

He goes, Kevin Nash says, I'm the, I'm the kid with the million dollar smile. He's like, I never flossed my whole life. And he goes into this whole and, and say what you will about diamond dollars page. Um, great storyteller it was very it was a very compelling story uh you know we're going on what 20 20 plus years ago i heard him tell this story and he just went on and on and on

about never taking care of his teeth, and then finally one day catching up with him, and then he had to... I think he had them all pulled. And now he's got... Because it's not just veneers. He's got... a new grill in there and it ain't like you know a mcfoley oh my teeth got knocked out he done did it to himself

Well, you can make the argument Mick Foley did it to himself. Actually, no, Foley, he lost those teeth in a car wreck when he was a kid, right? When he was a teenager? This story and many more available in... Have a nice day. The Mick Foley Autobiography, available now from Penguin. I was going to say Random House. Probably WWF Books. No, they must have put that out through a fucking, I don't know, my wrestling books are in the bedroom.

More and more books leave this office and are placed somewhere else so as to make more room for the movies. Movies. We make movies better. I don't know. I couldn't think of a catchphrase of movies. Ooh, I still have this Choir Boys CD and DVD that I was going to send to my man, Casey Corbin. I will send it. Probably this week.

Maybe even later today. Who knows? Anything can happen in the WWF except for Seth Rollins not being injured. Is he like the most injury-prone motherfucker you've ever heard of? I mean, he's not as bad as Mark Henry. It felt like Mark Henry was injured every other fucking second. And in a time when, like, they still wrestle hurt, but not like they used to, you know? I mean...

These guys had pinched nerves and broken bones. And obviously, we don't even need to go into all the concussions. But my God. Uh-oh. Jack and Glenys are home. Penny's on the move. Keep your eye on Penny. Those of you watching on the Patreon, she's about to jump up and take off. She's about to go investigate. Her family's home. But she's not sure. She can hear them.

I assume she can also smell them, but she hasn't seen them yet, but she knows that there's commotion happening and she knows that she needs to investigate. Oh, she's about to hit her foot. Oh, she's growling. She's growling. Who is it, Penny? Get him, Penny. She's barking out the back door like a dummy. You went the wrong way. Her favorite wrestler is the Chunkyard Dog. It's a little on the nose, Penny. Let me get... Hold on. I gotta axe this dog. Hold on.

Yeah, I'm back. I tricked her. Those of you watching on the Patreon, I just got taller. I made the seat go up a little bit. Did I talk about this new seat? It's okay. We got it at, what, Staples. It's around the corner, but man, I got the... I wasn't looking forward to building it, but she's like, if you want the floor model, you don't have to build it.

And I'll cut you a deal. And she's like, but with the deal, you know, get the two-year warranty. Because then, you know, and she specifically said. you know like when you kind of like sweat i don't know why she looked at me and was like this guy fucking sweats a lot she's like but when you sweat it kind of pulls off the um you know because it ain't leather

I don't know what it is, but it's the fake upholstery. I don't know, for the lack of a better word. And she's like, but you can get it replaced. You can get a whole new chair. I'm like, okay. I don't know why you think I'm such a sweat hog, but sure enough, this thing, it's already all jacked up. I mean, it's the floor model. Who knows how long it was sitting there?

Who knows how many other sweat hogs sat down in it, you know? Probably John Travolta. You know, you want to talk sweat hogs. Anyway, Diamond Dallas Page said, He has all new teeth, but also he was the one, he was like, well, when I started watching wrestling, that's back when it was the WWWF. So we have no world champion, which I think is stupid.

Seth Rollins, very injury prone, but not like Mark Henry. Mark Henry was like hurt every other five seconds. And in a time, this was the point I was trying to make, in a time when like, unless you're like... head was hanging off of your body. They're like, oh, hate for you to not get paid, pal. So, I don't know. I feel like maybe Rollins isn't as injury prone as, you know. anybody else it's just this is this is a time when and and it's better this way

it's better that they are looked after and well taken care of. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're hurt. You can't, you can't go in there and wrestle unless you're Cody and you're a weirdo. and you have a purple map of Russia underneath your peck, then you're going to go out there and wrestle at a cage match to prove I don't know what.

And against Rollins, of all people. Just feels like Rollins is always on the shelf for whatever reason. Or like they're working us. That was weird that one time when he was like on crutches or wasn't. It came out and surprised punk or something of all the people to cry wolf with that. He was injured. It's like, yeah, but.

Seth is always injured, and now he's injured again. I don't even know what's wrong. I don't even look. I know Goldust is getting two new knees, but that's, you know, unfortunately kind of standard. a pro wrestler of his age, you need a new knee. You need a new knee now. Did Terry Funk ever get that new knee? He must have, right? Do you ever wonder that?

I wonder if we could get that. I mean, now you're just breaking HIPAA laws. What if we could get that doctor on the show? Have him read us all of Terry Funk's medical history. That'd be pretty cool, huh? Well, we have an exclusive here. We're committing major crimes discussing the medical history of dead folk with their surgeon.

I wonder if the argument could be made, probably not, but I wonder if the argument could be made like, well, Terry said it was okay to talk about this in that movie in Beyond the Mat, so surely we can talk about it on this podcast whenever we want. Just a quick follow-up. Or we could just know his wife is dead. I was about to be like, we could interview his wife. No, she died first. What about his daughters? What about Stace? You look great, Stace.

What a happy wedding day that must have been. Barry Blostein and the Beyond the Mat crew are here to record the wedding. Oh, that's great, Dad. Do you think we can get a copy of the wedding? No, I'm sorry, Stace. They said you can't. It's my last match, Stace. It's my last match. I want you to be there. Dennis Stamp isn't going to be there. Dennis Stamp, why didn't we invite Dennis Stamp to the wedding, Stace?

It's my last match. It's my last match. I don't know. So what? So Jey Uso and CM Punk are going to fight at Saturday Night's Main Event for the world title? it's hard it's hard for me to get it up for uh you know i just feel like i you know punk is whatever but jay it's a little yeah i don't know it's a little same old same old at this point i'm just um

It's just fine. It'll just be fine. It's too bad because WWE was coming off of a... I'm talking last year at this point. Was coming off of a... Such a hot... Mania. And then the hot build. And then it just, it was like, okay. Holding pattern. And then, oh shit. Cena turned heel. Oh shit. Rock is back again. He wants Cody's soul. I don't know what the hell that's supposed to mean, but I'm into it.

And then that's it. There was no follow-up. Mr. Long-Term Storytelling Triple H. Just gotta wait to see how it plays out. You enjoying the show? It's all part of the show. Yeah. And then all the fucking, you know, the Saudi Arabia stuff, it's just like, man, it's hard to get into it. But it's also, it's just... They, you know, I mean, Dominic Mysterio can only carry the show so much, you know, at a certain point. And, you know, Rhea's hurt, isn't she? Is she back? Is she gone?

I don't know, man. It's just it's, you know, the ESPN thing. I don't even know what I mean by that. Just the whole rigmarole of, you know, I.

How to sign up? Do I sign up? Do I got to pay for it? I haven't bothered yet. There's so much good pro wrestling happening that I'm just like, eh, you know, if I got to... Go out of my way to see like a Stephanie Vaqueror match and EO Sky and, you know, figure out a way to watch it. But I mean, WrestleDream, I'm like...

I got to sit down and watch the whole thing. Even if something is like, you know, even if I'm like, I don't know that. Even if there's a matter, I don't want to name anything specifically. because there was nothing ultimately that let me down. But if I'm in the middle of watching a match, or just looking on paper, I'm like, this is not a match I was going to go out of my way to see.

I'm still going to watch it. AEW is in such a good spot right now. They are in such a good spot. I loved Statlander and Tony Storm. God, I loved that match. I love the idea, and I don't know that they're going in this direction. I fear... As soon as Monet came out... Ultimo Money, I was like, oh no, don't let Statlander be a transitional champion. Because... I don't know. I'm not...

I'm not one of these types of fans where I'm like, I don't like the expression, the math isn't mathing. It's very forced. It's like... I'm sick of saying, here's the ad for the math isn't mathing. Are you tired of saying it doesn't add up? Well, I've got a new way to express the same feeling while making an analogy towards arithmetic.

Hi, I'm Matt McCarthy. The math isn't mathic. You mean Matthew McCarthy? No, no, no. I mean actual arithmetic, math. It doesn't add up. Saying it doesn't add up doesn't add up anymore. What we say now is the math isn't mathing. What is that supposed to mean? Exactly what it sounds like. It's nonsense. Paid for by the friends of math isn't mathing. But if... Monet couldn't beat Tony. But Tony lost twice to Statlander.

right? Then money shouldn't be able to beat Statlander, right? Hopefully I explained that correctly.

But you understand what I'm saying. But then I have, as soon as money comes out, I'm like, oh, fuck. She's going to fucking beat stat for the belt. And then what? Then... Wembley next year. Tony wins the belt back for money. Because Mercedes Bonet, money. It kind of doesn't matter when she wins the belt.

you know like that seems to be the the the understanding of why like braun breaker wasn't in the battle royal because it's like that guy needs to win that world championship or or fucking the wwe championship you know whatever let's put a world title on him They could have had LA Knight win it. They'll probably wind up on Jay. I don't see them putting it on Punk again just because, I don't know, money in the chase.

Better to have the belt. Feels like Jay's turning the heel anyway. But let's put it on LA. It's a secondary title. Who gives a shit? Ultimately, who gives a shit? But...

They don't want Braun to win the belt at Saturday Night's Main Event. I think they see a future, and probably rightfully so. Braun Breaker is meant for great things, and he should win it at a... a wrestlemania or at the very least a royal rumble or a summer slam but money i don't think it matters when you put that women's championship on her because she already has you know

1800 belts you know she she she hired some college kids to to carry her belts for her i mean that's that's that's where we're at so it's almost like And she didn't win it at Wembley last time. I would love for Stat to just have a long run as champ, though. And maybe she, because you can also get away with not putting the belt on money. She's got enough fucking belts, but the women, like that's the belt that's supposed to matter.

It does kind of illustrate my point of like too many belts. And I understand like Mercedes has belts from like different promotions and I enjoy the belt collector gimmick too. That said. It's foolish. It's like, there should be only one belt she cares about. Instead of the 24 that she already has. Because when she's walking around with 31 belts, it's like, alright, so you won 38 belts, but I mean...

So does this mean like you have 52 belts every single week of the entire year? You have to defend a championship? That's exhausting, you know? But that's what comes with having 74 belts. But there's only one belt that's supposed to matter. That's the one that Statlander has. And Sat, I loved that match so much. And I also dig, I'm like, well, Toni Storm is...

You know, the best analogy I can make right now in the women's division in AEW, Tony Storm is Hulk Hogan. And I like the idea of Statlander being Macho Man. You know, being this 1988, 89, Hogan's still around. Macho's the champ. You've got two top baby faces in the division. They can even be buddies.

They can tag together. It doesn't feel like they're going to go in that direction, but I just love that nobody seemingly turned heel. Mina Shirakawa, you know, she just throws her belt on the, you know. On the money pile. Mercedes money. I've got 99 belts. But the women's belt ain't one. Mina. Mina. I. This occurred to me watching the pay-per-view where I was like, and this is, and it's, you know, it's said all the time, not by us, but it's said all the time. It's an aesthetic business.

Your look is a big part of your presentation. It's a big part of what sells you. I mean, look no further than Midian. It's like that guy had a look and that guy had a, oh my God, you look incredible. Is this the final, final product? Okay. Wow. That looks unbelievable. Wow. This Halloween costume is something else. People on the Discord know all about it. Actually, I mentioned it on the show too, but you got to be on that Discord.

You got to be laying it down on that Patreon to be able to get sneak previews of the progress of this Halloween costume. Mina Shirakawa is too good looking to be a baby face. Does this at all make sense? Like I was sitting there watching it and I was like. This woman is so gorgeous. It almost turns her heel. Does that make sense? Like I'm sitting looking and I was just like, I was like.

This would be the perfect, like it is like the, you know, and I haven't followed her career prior to AEW. I mean, I think. She wasn't officially AEW for a while, even though she would pop up here and there. And then we would kind of see her at, you know, New Japan Strong or wherever. But, so I don't know if she's been healed before, but it's like that the...

Not even the stuck up, you know, prom queen type thing, what the gimmick would be, what the character would be, but like, you know, the, the, just the, the, the deadly. you know, just the deadly gorgeous, you know, like some sort of like, I'm trying to think of like what animal or, or what, what flora. has that like it's so attractive and then that's what tricks you and then it kills you you know that thing the the siren song or whatever it is

It just struck me, especially when she was comforting Tony. It's like, we still have each other. Then they went off. Tony looked crazy. With the white face, almost like kabuki-like makeup. And then those red, red lips, which smear almost immediately. It's not the first time that's happened, but it's wild. It's like something out of Baron Munchausen. You know, what a riot. And I loved, also what I loved about that match was the packages before both entrants.

You expect a Toni Storm short film before she enters the arena. And I thought it was brilliantly done. It was so interesting, so well shot.

And then all of her dialogue, you know, is death ready for me? You know, whatever it was. It's just fucking terrific. But then Statlander having... probably an even better i mean now you're talking to the king of all physical media the fact that it looked like you know something from the vhs video era uh Again, the way it was shot, the placement of everything on the screen.

You know, a spaceship or a planet here, Statlander's face filling the other half of the screen. It's great. Man, big fight feel. Big fight feel.

And same with Hader and Tekla. You know, it felt like, okay, these two have... It doesn't feel like the end of that feud. And I would certainly hope not. Keep this thing going. What else happened? Well, I mean, the big, big main event, I jotted down a couple of things just because these goddamn motherfuckers. Mox Darbs they I feel like that match was kind of perfect for them

Because I think it lived up to the hype. It lived up to the nervous expectations of like, oh, those two in an I quit match, that's going to be a problem. That's going to be an issue. Someone's going to wind up in a body bag, and it ain't Gabe Kitt. I didn't think anything was too far, honestly. I mean, the fingernail thing. I was like, it almost makes sense, you know? Because these bastards doing the joint manipulations, it makes sense. It's like, this is what...

If there are rules, and now I'm in a match where I can break those rules, it is better that there are simpler, logical things. Such as, you know, I can't picture in my mind a wrestling rule book where it mentions you can't try to rip somebody's fingernails. But maybe it's in there. You know? And certainly, you can't hit below the belt. That's obvious. But it's like, there have to be other smaller things. You know, like the eye gouging.

Can't stick your finger in somebody's eye. No foreign objects. Fingernails, it makes sense. It's a small thing, but it's like a, you know. It's like a toothache where it's like, I don't care how tough you are. If your tooth hurts, you're fucking done for. Everybody's that way about their fingernails. Nobody wants to hurt their fingernails. Somebody, somebody out there.

You know, I mean, that, that's, that's some, that's some like, you know, that spot was out of Rambo or some, you know, God awful Vietnam movie from the mid eighties where you're just like, God damn. Why are you being so mean, Mox? Why are you being so mean, Mox? But I didn't feel like it. They didn't belabor the point, you know.

They didn't gross me out. I've seen matches in AEW that grossed me out. I've seen matches between those two that grossed me out. They didn't do anything gross. I thought the attempted, you know, whenever they attempt a murder.

it's always foolish but i don't know something about the simplicity of the the tiny little fish tank you know that they had the the the presumably the water they stole the water the gatorade jugs from the back which have aew taped on it it's kind of funny um i didn't hate it though i because i was like Because ultimately I was like, well, he's not trying to murder him. He's torturing him so that he will quit. If you didn't see it, like.

They filled a fish tank with water and Moxley shoved Darby's face into the water, demanding that he quit. He's like, you know, and Moxley did a great job of playing up the, I don't want to do this. Why are you making me do this? That's always the great angle for a heel. Like Lord Humongous in Road Warrior in the second Mad Max movie. Just walk away.

There will be an end to the suffering. He's like, I don't want anybody to get hurt. Just give me all your stuff. You know? Moxley. I tried to help him. I tried to warn him. This isn't my fault. He's making me do this. It's great. Great justification for being a fucking rat bastard. For being a rat bastard son of a bitch. Just putting pens in my new mug. Archie Bunker, the beer party. There you go. There's Archie. Oh, Archie!

I don't want to drink out of it. I have pens in it. I feel like I'm always digging around in this drawer looking for pens. I'm like, well, if the pens were right there, then I wouldn't have that problem. Would I? Would I, Vince?

He's not even here to defend himself. One of my favorite parts of the match was early on, the crowd started chanting, fuck you, Moxley. And again, to my earlier point, moxley literally he you need to watch it back i don't know if anybody else noticed this they're chanting fuck you moxley mothly mouths he just goes me he's like me What did I do? And it's great coming from him, too. Because he spent a year or more being like, I'm going to destroy this company. This company's over.

You know, he wipes his feet on the AW flag from the top of the world. And he acts like, what? What did I do? I didn't want any of this. It's like, John, you fucking heel. That's great. Yeah, man, having the belt on him was no good. He just needs to be a guy who likes to hurt people. But you're making me do it. That tightens it. That is airtight. He'll do it if he has to, and you're always making him do it. It's an airtight alibi.

He's not just a sadistic fuck. His hand is being forced. I have no choice. And my crew is here to aid me in this. Claudio fucking throwing Darby. into the fucking table. Always loved that spot. My God. My God in heaven. What an absolutely delightful show. But yeah, I was glad that it didn't feel like they went too apeshit.

That must have been like blood capsules in his mouth at the front, right? Where he puts his mouth on the ring rope and he kicks it. And then, I don't know, he did something else to his mouth. He was like choking it with the... put the necklace or something. I'm like, doesn't feel like a meat, like right off the bat, you like rip out his teeth, rip her teeth out, piss on her, do whatever you want.

That is the Tim... Oh, God, I'm going to blank on his name now. From Detroiters that I think you should leave. Tim... I keep wanting to say Tim Daly. But that guy was on wings, okay? Tim Robinson. We started watching The Chair Company, a new show he does on HBO. Like... Out loud, hysterical laughing. That guy, I think he's the funniest guy in the world right now. I mean, that guy makes me laugh.

Anyway, so that's from the character show from Netflix. Kind of the precursor to I Think You Should Leave. Luck. Lady Luck. They call her Lady Luck. If you've never watched that, do yourself a favor. Stay guys. Snake eyes. Sometimes I'll watch that. I'll just listen to it before I'm about to go on stage. Just to put me in the... Just to remind my body.

what funny feels like what laughter feels like um tony shivani was an interesting case in in the main event as well because there were certain points like they they were chanting um Oh, during the Bucks match. Oh. You've got no money, right? And Nigel goes, what are they chanting? Nigel's perfect. I can't believe he is like... He should be the heel announcer on every wrestling show, in every company. He needs to get his ass to the Ukraine, call the GCW shows, get Super Dragon on the phone.

He needs to call those matches with Excalibur at PWG. My God. So funny. But he asked. He's like, what are they chanting? Couldn't make out what they were chanting. And then Tony Schiavone says. They're saying, oh, we've got the money. And Excalibur's like, no, no, no. They're saying, oh, you've got no money. Tony's like, oh, well, we have got the money. It's sitting here on the obstacle.

And he has not gone as far as Jim Ross. And God bless Jim Ross. But it's just, you know, we've talked about it to the umpteenth degree on this show where it's just like, he just, he wasn't... He wasn't bringing any joy to the play-by-play anymore. It felt like he was bothered. Bothered by the wrestling. Bothered by us.

bothered that he had to be there, you know? And look, your dad gives you a hammer to kill a bag full of puppies. Maybe things are going to bother you too, okay? But I'm just saying, I don't need it on my wrestling show. Tony hasn't gone that far. Tony has not lost his smile. Tony's just Tony, and he's the perfect Tony. And there are so many moments where it's just like, Tony, throw that shit away, Tony. What are you...

Where are you right now? What planet are you on? The other time that that happened was that stood out to me. There were plenty of times. But when Darby... Cut his ear on the ring rope. Excalibur very quickly, and I knew exactly what he was, you know. trying to pull out of Tony Schiavone. Because if you've never noticed it before, it's a pretty simple technique. When they want the other guy to talk...

they will say their name. It almost sounds like kind of a given, a duh moment. But they'll just be like, you know. Oh my God, Darby Allin's ear is hurting. Tony, that can't feel very good. Now it's like, Tony, you need to say something. You need to respond to this. You need to chime in. In this instance... it's caliber and i knew exactly where what he was getting at he just goes oh my god tony you know firsthand you've seen it with your own eyes

Something very terrible can happen to somebody's ear when it's pushed against those ring ropes like that. And of course, he was very directly referencing. When Cactus Jack, Mick Foley, got his head tangled up in the ropes in a match in Germany with Big Ben Vader, and the pressure literally ripped his ear off of his head. Famous story. There's a bootleg of the video. You can watch it right now. You can come to my house and I'll throw in the VHS. Tony Schiavone had no earthly idea that

Excalibur was getting at that. You know firsthand what can happen to ears when it's rubbed against ropes the wrong way. Right, Tony? I sure do, Excalibur. I sure do. He didn't say those exact words, but he might as well have. It would have been funnier if he had just been like, do I ever? So anyway, Nigel, it just moves on. But yeah. Tony is so great because maybe he doesn't remember everything that's happened in wrestling or everything that's even happened to him in his career.

And I don't even know if Tony was necessarily there in Germany calling that action. I'm sure he saw that footage 18 times over. Lord knows he mentioned that Cactus Jack didn't have an ear on WCW Saturday night. or at a Halloween Havoc, or at some point. But when the stun gun came out, Tony goes, either of you guys ever got hit with one of those? Excalibur and Nigel both like, what? No. Tony's like, I have Ole Anderson, 1990. Come on.

Has Tony written a book? Has Tony Schiavone written a book? Somebody write a book. Somebody. I mean, could somebody write a book, please, for once?

I dug it. I thought the Bucks were going to turn babyface. And maybe it's coming. I mean, we'll see. They're better as heels, obviously, but they could be obnoxious babyfaces. Why not? They could be cool heels. But when Kenny came out, I was like, oh, Kenny's about to turn that baby face. But nah. Nah. They'll get there at some point. I mean, we need to hear carry on my wayward son. A few more.

A couple of times in that arena. How much longer? I mean, we've speculated on this before. How much longer is Kenny going to go? Kenny's hurt. You killed Kenny, you bastards. I haven't watched South Park in years. I'm watching new episodes every goddamn week now. Well, not every week, but every time they post. Holy shit. Hot take. Those guys don't give a fuck. It's fucking crazy. Okay.

Let me just take one more look. Obviously no homework this week. We need Vincent. Vincent! And Vince will be back for Thursdays. Big, big bonus audio. Eddie Kingston and Hook beat the frat house. Harley Cameron, what a riot. What a fucking riot she is. And Willow won FTR. Oh, that was a good match. Shocker. FTR and Speedball and Jet Speed had a great match. Jurassic Express. I do like that.

jungle boy is he's a baby face again but he hasn't gone like he still has an attitude he's still got that smirk that chip on his shoulder he's still You know, dangerous, basically. Hurt Syndicate. Holy shit. When Shelton, German suplexed Ricochet.

over the ring over the rope out of the ring it's like holy shit thank god thank god they caught him and then when shelton jumps out and like first of all almost knocks mvp's head off his body and then they both go sliding on that broken table that was upside down fellas stop uh kyle fletcher beats mark briscoe you know it's a bunch of bullshit still a nice fucking long you know half hour match god damn

God damn. Like a main event length match. Mark Briscoe's the best. Oh, yes. Thank you, Brodito. Oh, Hangman and Samoa Joe. Jesus Christ. What a great match. What a great... They say Samoa Joe is going to retire next year at the end of this contract. It's... It's the year of the dudes from 20 years ago retiring, isn't it? Isn't it just that time of year? When's Randy going to retire? Not that I'm rushing him out the door, but I mean...

Again, talk about a guy who doesn't like wrestling, is really, really good at it, and probably sounds like a Halloween special effects record when he gets out of bed in the morning. I mean, if Goldust needs two new knees, Randy must need new spinal cords, you know, multiple. A lot of people don't know this. Multiple spinal cords are needed in Randy Orton's body. But Joe, he shows no signs of aging, if that's at all possible. When he moves in the ring and he does a Samoa Joe match.

It's just perfect, and he leaves no meat on the bone. I'm never left wanting more after a Joe match. I'm left going, I can't wait to... to see that again um and him and hangman beautiful beautiful performance i tell you that's the thing man like with with that's the difference between

Cody's championship run and Hangman's championship run, where I'm like, every Cody defense, it feels like a placeholder. You know, it just feels like, I mean, it was mucked up by the John Cena retirement tour because it was just like, well, John's going to have his matches, obligatory matches with all these people. It is John's choice. We got to bring back Brack. I didn't want to do it. Like Triple H is the same kind of heel that Jon Moxley is. You making me do it.

I didn't want to do this. Really? Because you're in charge. I don't know if you know this, Paul. It's up to you what happens. I don't know if you know that. I don't know if you know that. Unless your bosses in Saudi Arabia changed their minds. Folks. How awful is that? Wrestle Arabia gonna be in two years. Less than two years now. God damn. Because... Who's gonna be there? Nick Khan is like, I think...

Plenty of Americans are going to come. I think plenty of Americans are going to fly in to Saudi Arabia, go to the show. I don't know. I don't know if they are. They can barely afford... Going to your shitty shows here in the United States, Nick. I don't know about flying to the other side of the world. Maybe some of them will. I'm sure there will be maybe even as many as 11 people from the United States who will fly there to pay money.

That dude with the green smiley shirt. He'll be in the front row. Somehow he has an in in Riyadh. But I have less... Faith in you, Mr. Can. But what a shit show it's going to be. Like what? Old, retired. Names from the past are going to be forced, like, be given so, like, such an obscene, absurd... ungodly unconscionable amount of money that they're just like why are you doing this to me now i can't say no like still goes steve austin he doesn't have a want in the world

Do you follow him on Instagram? He seems quite happy to me. He's got two cats. He's got a chicken. He seems to be perfectly content. And... managed to do like a backdoor match. You want to call it a fight? You want to call it a sit down? You want to call it a match?

You have piqued my interest, Kevin Owens. To be in there with Kevin Owens and to not ruin his legacy, to not... spoil the image we have of him he didn't embarrass himself i feel like like what what what what kind of money does he want to leave behind for his family That money's already there. Is it really going to matter if it's four times, five times, ten times that? I don't know if Paul Heyman...

Todd Gordon, they had to mortgage his house one time, two times, three times to get to the correct number to make Stunning Steve Austin sign up for ECW. I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't. Because he's the one. He's like fucking Undertaker. We know this. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels will gladly take a Brinks truck full of money and embarrass themselves in Saudi Arabia. It's a shame. It's a shame. It's crazy that... You know, Sean wound up doing it, but Steve, I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, obviously, Triple H is not going to. There's probably not enough money in the world to risk your heart exploding on pay-per-view. I think he's probably already... making enough money you know paul has a steady paycheck he should be good but i mean after that i don't know Dave Bautista? Booker T? I don't know. What other names? I mean, John Cena? Just immediately have him come out of retirement? Immediately?

It would be the most perfect. It's the most pro wrestling thing in the world to come out of retirement immediately after retiring. But like Mick Foley ain't going to do it.

And not for, you know, moral and ethical reasons. McFoley is another one that it's like, you will never be medically cleared ever again for the rest of your life. I can't even, I shudder to think about, you know, where Mick is at hip-wise, knee-wise, back-wise, you know.

Seems to have all of his mental faculties about him. Although I will say this, every time Mick makes some sort of statement about politics and about how Donald Trump is a piece of shit, someone will post it on facebook or like somewhere in my feed on facebook i will see some wrestling news site or podcast that i've never heard of that is posting the story

And then I look and it's like 2.5 thousand comments. And I'm like, okay, two and a half thousand comments. 1.7 thousand of them are dudes who think they're killing. who think they are crushing, saying, looks like Mick Foley took too many shots to the head. I mean, like... Have some self-respect. Before you post your generic low-hanging fruit dipshit, just scroll. Scroll for... less than half a second just to see that off the bat two dozen other dumb fucks have made the same joke hours ago

Guess the rock hit him too hard in the head. I mean, my God, just. I mean, hey, look. Shame on me for bothering to scroll on Facebook. You know, sometimes I'm taking a dump. Sometimes I'm looking for something to do. Okay? Okay? Shame on me. Shame on you. Okay? Fuck me.

Me? You forced me to do this. Anyway, Vince Averill's favorite wrestler this week is Kazuchika Okada. And I skipped over that match. because I knew that I would be talking about it here, albeit briefly. Brodito and the Don Callis family, what a spectacular match, and also what a spectacular... finish, but also a story they've been telling this whole time between Takeshita and Okada. Let's see how it plays out. You enjoying the show? So I'll play the show.

I mean, real honest to goodness, long-term storytelling, building to a match which will be so good. Where are they going to do it though, huh? Is this... When do they have their big breakup? And I think obviously it'll be Takeshita being... exercised from the family, being forced out into a babyface run, running wild. Do they do it at the dome? I mean, that's a big match, but I mean, the fact is, you know, one of them is half a New Japan talent, and the other one is a former...

Not just former New Japan talent, former face of the company. But then at the same time, it's like, it's Tony's match. Tony gets to do it on Tony's show. But what show? Wembley next year? I mean, do you draw this thing out for this long? And Okada, my God. Vince made the right choice. Vince made the right choice. Not the right choice for me.

I'm glad you asked. My favorite wrestler this week is Chris Statlander. Just the total package, I think, for me. She's... It's very... that she has a bad match um i mean you know what it was too is is especially watching um Look, everybody has their move set, you know, and there's nothing wrong with that. They should. Wrestlers should have signature moves, things that they're known for.

Things that, oh, he hit him with the this, you know. And Stat has those too, obviously. But in between, but then there are wrestlers that it's just like, holy shit, it's the same fucking shit. you know, five moves of doom or whatever. Statlander and Tony to, to, you know, Tony to Tony to Tony as well. I,

I know what signature things I'm going to see, but then there's other things I'm just like, I don't know what's going to happen. And it's so interesting. I think every Chris Statlander match is so... compelling and interesting because the repertoire is so deep. These unserious wrestlers from Long Island, man.

it's just the best i mean like chuck taylor was the same way or it's just like you know he's gonna be fucking funny but then also it's just like he'd whip out some moves here and there he's just like never seen that before or wasn't expecting to see that you know um orange cassidy fucking forget it i mean come on that guy's so good but stat man oh and Trent, I mean... Trent Beretta's the perfect wrestler. I mean, it's... Can we get Trent a couple new spinal cords?

I feel like he earned them. But stat, man, it's just like, fuck, dude. It's just like... Doesn't leave a... crumb on the on the plate man just like fucking god that was good and it's it's just it's the difference between watching you know people who Kind of know how to wrestle. People who know a couple of moves. Try doing things that maybe they don't know how to do. Try to do too much.

There's those type of wrestlers. And then you can watch Chris Statlander where he's just like, holy fucking shit. Not a wasted movement. I mean, look, everybody goofs up. Not Heath Slater. Heath Slater's never botched once in his career, but I digress. But Statman is just like, fuck. It's so compelling. It's so interesting.

because you don't need to be ripping off fingernails. And this is not a shot at Darby and Mox, but it's just like you don't need to be trying to drown each other. But they're telling a completely different story. If Stat got into a blood death feud with someone, I'm sure that those dangerous, unnecessary, over-the-top elements, they would work perfectly.

I've never been bored even for a second turn in any of our matches. Anyway, my favorite wrestler this week. And I hope she's championed for a long, long time. Okay.

Thank you everyone for participating. Thank you for supporting the podcast. Get yourself a Halloween hat. They're going soon. You can find me online at McCarthy Redhead. Join the video movie club. Get yourself a membership card to the video garage. By joining the Video Grudge Patreon. Join the Triple W Patreon. And also, I'd say within a matter of weeks, hopefully before the end of the month, but the end of the month is next week.

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