SomethingSavage

I don't know. I think there's something to be said about the women having interactions & experiences among the guys. I'm not saying there should be a bunch of mixed tags or anything. But booking & imprisoning the women into their own "universe" feels like an unnecessary restriction. Say what you will about her comments on Raw - I thought Paige projected a lot of personality there. She felt more noticeable and seemed to carry herself like a star through that segment, regardless of the material they were working with. Her attitude, her body language, her shit-talking, you name it. She was on point, even when she had to step back & let Charlotte drown in that awkward spot for a bit.

Martel made a few waves around '96, after his series with Don Callis up in Canada. In fact, Martel's talked about how he was set to return to the WWF in a veteran babyface role in '97 (along with Callis) but wound up signing with WCW instead. I realize it's unlikely - and a total long shot - but can you imagine Martel getting a similar mid-card run as a babyface with the Fed around that time instead? With the shift towards new stars, chances are he would have been lost in the shuffle within a month. But ya never know. I'm cool with what we got - Martel popping up as a recharged singles star for awhile within WCW - but the grass is almost always greener. And a run with the European Title instead, for example, could have been equally excellent.

Allegedly.

Jeezus Christ at that song selection for the second fall. The sleaze talk had me legit cracking up though. This was a truckload of fun, guys. Always easy listening.

There's certainly a sense of disconnect between Del Rio and Zeb for now, but I think there's still time to correct the course and let them find their stride. I still think Zeb should go into full throttle Ron Wright mode - playing up the old rotten rogue that has turned over a new leaf, seeking forgiveness (and DONATIONS) from men, women, and children of all nations, all colors, and all backgrounds.

For all the mileage they wound up getting out of the Gooker (that being zero), they might as well have went full on with it and debuted a new Conquistadors-level masked tag team. Have 'em decked out in Invaders white attire with a yellow emblem on their chest. And, instead of #1 and #2, call 'em "Dave" and "Wade" - collectively they form the new jobber team of the nineties, "The Eggheads." And off to the races.

FANTASTIC fucking episode, guys. Really enjoyed the hell out of this one. Perhaps my favorite Exile to date, and that's no exaggeration. Just a truckload of information and incredibly entertaining insight from Boricua in terms of the angles and programs in Puerto Rico. Stoked to hear that this may be turning into its own sort of series unto itself. I eat up any and all Puerto Rico that I can, so this stuff is greatly appreciated. Can't say enough good things about Boricua's contributions lately, and I'm definitely looking forward to future episodes centered around Chicky, Hugo, modern PR, and possibly even TNT at some point.

Not that I wish harm on anybody, but at least Seth got "out of the woods" in terms of the Kane feud before this injury happened. I mean, can you imagine if they never got the chance to book the proper payoff to the Kane feud BEFORE the injury? Seth would be out, the title would be vacated, and we'd probably be left with endless Corporate Kane segments to keep the feud going for another 6 to 9 months. Then, like Bryan, once Seth was cleared to return - they'd feel obligated to go back to the Kane stuff and continue the feud for a few more months at minimum. So yeah. It sucks that Seth is out and a bunch of plans are likely scrapped. But I'm at least a little grateful that the Kane thing was wrapped up first.

I'd rather see them run with the buddy routine for a few more years at a minimum. (Crazy, I know.) Then - if and when they pull the trigger on a turn - it'd mean SO MUCH MORE with all the footage, memories, and angles for them to point to as something substantial. I don't know though. If they do the turn now, it would just seem like a way to stall and kill time until Mania. I feel like it'd be more about occupying Roman's time until Mania more than actually doing anything mutually beneficial with them or even fleshing out the story to its full potential.

Crossbreeding a ladder match with a cage match just seems way too convoluted, cluttered, and unnecessary. What's the purpose? Wrestlers winning titles or settling grudges based on outrunning the other in some sort of obstacle course? Yuck. The closest thing that comes to mind is the ridiculous "Dixie Land" match they had between Jeff Hardy and Magnus a year or two ago. And, outside of Jeff's obligatory suicidal tendency bump of the night, there was nothing there.

I'd safely say there are just as many gems in late era TNA, but there's certainly a benefit to being able to cherry pick them from the outset - rather than foraging through the footage for the stuff.

2015 Sheamus is colder than penguin piss. His return with the new look and the "bully" shtick was enjoyable for about a month, but then the Even Steven booking got tacked onto the act - and he was quickly trading wins with Dolph Ziggler for three months straight. And, truth be told, that was the hottest he's been since the comeback. The briefcase has done nothing to strengthen his status. Call me crazy, but 2012 Sheamus had developed into a strong main event worker. I really enjoyed everything with the Big Show, Del Rio, Dolph, and Bryan from that year. In terms of in-ring bouts, I'd be fine with Sheamus having a run up top. But, as a character and a viable player, he does nothing for me. The guy would require some MAJOR rehabbing first and foremost. At this point, I'm crossing my fingers & hoping they find a way to work some sort of Edge/Kennedy deal where they switch the briefcase over to somebody else. Barrett backstabbing Sheamus and getting the contract to reignite the "Bad News" gimmick would be fun, but it'd ultimately leave them with the same issue of needing to reheat a guy from scratch. My pick might be Del Rio. He's fresh off the return and the Cena match. Plus I'd get a kick out of seeing Zeb transport the briefcase from place to place via the little cart on the front of his scooter. Turn up the arrogance on Del Rio, give an edge of danger to his Armbar again, and let Zeb go full throttle into the Ron Wright tribute act. I'd absolutely be on board for all of that.

More post-match "humiliation" signature spots from the heels. Jake releasing Damien, DiBiase shoving a roll of filthy bills into jobbers' mouths, the nWo tagging their victims, etc. are all decent enough examples. I miss that sort of stuff. It's simple but effective in terms of conveying characters to the audience. And I could honestly see some of the guys on the roster - Owens, Del Rio, Big E - having a blast with it.

Maybe this? http://www.wrestlecrap.com/more/rewriting/what-if-the-gobbledy-gooker-didnt-hatch-from-the-egg-at-survivor-series-1990/ I haven't read it in YEARS, but - from what I recall - it's a fun little piece of fantasy booking that centers around Terry Taylor returning as a mid-card heel to openly mock the Red Rooster "gimmick." There's some stuff with him targeting the people that made fun of him before and even challenging Bret or Perfect for the IC Title or something. The only thing that really stood out to me at the time was the idea of Taylor TARRING AND FEATHERING jobbers, which is always something I'd enjoy. Truth be told, the character sounds too "inside" for the time. But it's at least better than some suggestions ya see tossed around.

Something tells me you guys are going to be finding your own voice and style to go right along with the angles and booking as ya move forward here. Haven't had a chance to scope out these two latest episodes, but keeping the shows short & sweet around the 1 hour mark means I'll definitely be blazing through 'em in the next week or so - no problem. I'll drop some comments and try to drum up some points for discussion afterwards. If memory serves me correctly, you guys aren't going to have any shortage of options when it comes to the "Fan of the Week" category. With the holidays coming up, I hope to have some time to go back & binge watch on a bunch of episodes. A refresher to get me up to speed should really help to enhance the listening experience. But so far, so good. And again - really appreciate the effort to upload the remainder of Smoky Mountain's run over on your YouTube channel, man.

^ Even better, you can seek out their rematch - with the roles reversed - and I think it plainly illustrates that Generico is simply so much better in a babyface capacity. Ricochet plays the more arrogant rising upstart routine, and Generico is the gatekeeper babyface looking to prove he's still the top dog - even if he's a half-step behind or a split-second slower. It's a fun freaking match. And yeah. It goes into overdrive at the end and becomes the Generico workrate special or whatever, but it's a lot of fun and lets things breathe a bit. While it's not completely cohesive throughout - with Ricochet looking a little lost at times with too much stalling and gaga - you still get a great structure and story from the match.

Just passed the part where you guys are discussing Scott Hall no-showing the AWA event and being rumored to sign with the Fed. Bix asks when Hall finally puts things together, and Kris guesses it was around the time he worked Puerto Rico. Funnily enough, I *just* listened to Hall on Austin's podcast from this past month - and he addresses that. Hall credits Carlos Colon for having a lot of influence on how he learned how to work stipulations, put together angles, and build toward gimmick matches. He even mentions aping Hansen during his run there and eventually having a Bullrope Match against Colon. I've seen footage of "Cowboy" Hall in WWC, but I've never come across THAT. Curious to know whether anyone here has actually seen it. I realize, of course, that Hall was clunky and greener than goose shit at the time. But I still think it could be worth scoping out, if just to see how Colon himself carries the load and works the gimmick match again. With all the recent talk & discussion about how tremendous Carlos was in getting over gimmick matches - and the awesome job he did in making the bullrope stipulation mean so much in the encounter with Hansen - it'd be worth the watch, at the very least.

Due to work and hectic schedules, I didn't get a chance to participate in the discussion for this one here on the board. But I'm definitely looking forward to the discussion. A lot of interesting pieces & players were in motion around this time, and the whole giant "nostalgia wave" was in full effect for the majority of the year. Can't wait to hear some of the thoughts & suggestions you guys kick around. The podcast in general remains one of my constant favorites. Glad to see you guys keeping consistent and keeping it mixed up with your selection of topics.

This is why I'm more inclined to side with Will's ongoing argument about them needing a babyface champ up top. I guess (essentially) they've got that with Cena and the US Championship - at least in how it's been presented recently. But that's obviously about to change with Cena's absence for awhile. As someone that routinely makes the house shows with my nephew and/or grandfather when they come to town, I side with Johnny about the shows being WAY more light-hearted and casual in nature. And I dig that. I wouldn't want that to change. The atmosphere, the experience, and the vibe is totally different from a TV taping. There's a reason I haven't attended a RAW since 2002, but I've made trips to house shows at least about twice a year ever since. It's just a different beast. Fans generally want to end the night on a high note. Let them leave happy & satisfied. They typically don't want to walk away with that old, tired "NWA traveling champ sneaks away with the belt" bullshit. It's dated and stale, but the REAL issue is that they've failed to establish any sort of faith or goodwill with their fanbase in regards to paying it off properly. The payoff never seems to materialize. In fact, they've mostly gone the OPPOSITE path and shown that they deliberately DO NOT follow through on stipulations, significant consequences, etc. The old heel champ squeaking through a reign on luck and circumstance only functions properly when you pay it off, have the babyface eventually deliver his comeuppance, and actually follow through with the good guy getting his moment in the sun. They just don't do things that way enough anymore. It's not so much a "chase" anymore as it is a constant trolling of the audience. It's such a strange, bizarre approach to booking. But if it's something they are going to do - then I'd rather see them nestle in somewhere lower down the card - that way the last match can wrap up with a babyface thwarting a heel of some sort. But then people would be complaining that the heel champ isn't being booked in the last match. So it's lose/lose in a lot of ways. Don't get me wrong. I can get on board for a fun heel run with the main title. But this isn't that. It hasn't been booked that way since day one. I find nothing about the Rollins' reign enthralling or entertaining. It's had brief spurts & moments of neatness, but they fade quickly & abruptly. He's booked like a perfectly passable pest & scummy, ratty coward at times - but I've never got the sense that he "belongs" in the spot. Even when they've had opportunities to present him as someone legitimately dangerous or capable - like with the knee to Cena's face or the defense against Brock - they didn't follow through and instead went with presenting him as this outmatched, incapable competitor. At this point, I'm not at all surprised that they're booking him to lose 15 "non-title" matches on every 30 day loop.

REALLY appreciate ya taking the time and energy to upload the rest of Smoky Mountain's run, man. I've got the entirety of SMW on a spare hard drive around the house SOMEWHERE, but I've admittedly been too busy (err, lazy?) to dig it out and submerge myself back into this stuff. Having it readily available and easily accessible on Youtube this way will spare me the excuses. Truly helps out a truckload, and I genuinely appreciate it. Thanks again, man. Hope ya manage to get it all up eventually, as that would be tremendous. As far as the pods go, I've enjoyed them immensely. Knocked out the first two episodes a week or so ago on a drive to Houston and back. Got a real kick out of the chemistry among you 3 guys. As noted, the dynamic keeps discussion varied with sliding viewpoints. It's a fun project, for sure. I'm eager to hear how, when, or even if Justin's perceptions shift once the coals get to burning, the angles go to blazing, and the performers have some real flames lit up under their asses. Some seriously fun stuff is coming up, and so I almost expect him to be pleasantly surprised. Only criticism I could conjure is that I'd like a little more variety in the closing "Awards" talk, if in fact that's going to continue to be a trend. I realize you guys have minimal options to choose from, since things are still a bit clunky and slow in the beginning. But everyone nominating the same choice or just retreading each other's opinions for the final ten minutes kind of grinds the show's momentum to a halt towards the end there. That's it though, man. All in all, I've enjoyed the show a lot. By all means, keep it coming.

Awesome, ambitious idea. There are some days I won't even be able to sneak in a single match, but then there are days where I might attempt to burn through four or five. Neat concept, and I like how it gives reason to explore & discuss some "lesser" matches that might otherwise never be sought out or actively brought up.

I haven't seen any of Mysteziz (outside of the short shots of him and Cage doing the unmasked teasing stuff) since the heel turn. How's he been in the role? Any notable performances as a rudo? I'd be curious to know how he's handled the transition. Would it be considered a misguided step or a fresh adaptation for the guy?

I always enjoy these snapshot shows for profiling and spotting specific, individual guys. Even if it's guys I feel familiar with, I usually walk away with new information and a deeper understanding of some milestone moments in their careers. Haven't heard this show just yet, as I'm still enjoying the shit out of the Colon and Puro episodes in sporadic sessions when I can, but I'm definitely going to get around to it.

Awesome possum. Finally got the lists. Really appreciate it, Chad.

^^ Had me cracking up. Show's staged in-ring shit talking is the best, but that's at another level.