SomethingSavage

Can't wait to hear the LU segment for this week. Stoked for any and all TripleMania talk, too. Figured Johnny would've tried giving LU a chance by now. It's a wicked potion of something like part Hellboy, part Machete/Kill Bill/Pulp Fiction hybrid, and part pro wrestling. It's basically a Tarantino or Guillermo del Toro flick set to wrestling. Love it.

Great discussion on one of my all-time favorites, guys. Glad to hear the Funker match from Puerto Rico get so much love. It's practically universal praise, which is nice - since I almost always expect somebody to shit on Terry's over the top performance in that match. But it's just so damn enjoyable. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't just free themselves & get caught up in the craziness of it all. I noticed you guys were scrambling to find out more about Martel's early days, initial training, etc. I know most people have heard it, but just in case anyone hasn't... I figured I'd post a link to Martel's RF Video shoot interview here. He goes in-depth on a lot of the earlier stuff, his breaking into the business, his Portland days, etc. Just a tremendous interview that truly shows what a class act the guy is in general. So yeah. Here it is: https://youtu.be/Io-Hrr1RQyY

I also appreciated Johnny's rundown of the Bray/Harper promo from RAW. At this stage, I still REALLY dig Bray as an intense, snug in-ring performer. But I've been fast forwarding past the guy's promos for awhile now. A lot of them are just rambling nonsense, and you generally get the "meat" of them in the video packages at the PPVs again anyway. But Johnny piqued my interest enough in this one to actually go back and give it a listen. Not the worst, and I actually like how they tied Luke's "homecoming" into a demented little childhood tale about a scorned pup. Good stuff.

The Hogan racist talk early on had me cracking up, and Johnny's Nigel promo is fucking phenomenal. Hilarious. Another fun show, guys.

I'm actually holding onto hope that they might take that route with Cesaro now. I know it's still too soon to know if the new babyface push will stick, but so far he's had a string of matches with Owens, Rusev, and Rollins on SmackDown. He's starting to feel like a featured performer on the show, and that could certainly keep the "wrestling show" concept as a focal point.

Mempho is about as near & dear to my heart as Mid-South. At their best & even at their worst, I consider these territories to be the "essence" of pro wrestling in my eyes. So I am absolutely on board for this episode. Unfortunately, it'll take me awhile to listen to this one. Work's going to be a hectic, unrelenting motherfucker for the next couple of weeks or so. But I'll have some drive time & commute space to split up the sessions a bit here and there. Definitely stoked for a future series dedicated to Memphis Wrestling Only. But this should be a truckload of fun & enough to prep the stage in the meantime.

That sounds tremendous. Martel amid the Attitude Era, countering DX's early Rick Rude phase by being the elder statesmen & corner-man for the Hart Foundation is fantastic. And instead of the TV Title run over in WCW, we get latter day Martel working a few special matches here & there for the WWF. He'll never manage the Sultan or any of that shit in '97. Instead, maybe he'll request a "reconciliation ceremony" with the Iron Sheik on a random '97 Raw or something. In true Attitude Era fashion, he swerves Sheiky Baby and publicly ridicules him instead. When the Hart Foundation & Martel put the old beat-down on Sheik, some USA babyfaces could come to save the day. Sheiky waves the American flag for a change, and boom. Payoff to a 20-year angle. Fast forward a bit, and you've got Martel returning circa the year 2000 to mentor a young rookie Kurt Angle (in place of Backlund again). Who better to teach Kurt the ways of righteousness & honor than the "Role Model" Rick Martel? Chris Jericho, who was a primary foe of Angle around that time, would then have open season to fire insults at the both of them on the mic for awhile. Could even lead to a proper "send-off" for Martel with a match vs. Jericho or Angle or something.

Yup. And, since people are skeptical about Martel as a speaker, you could just use Heenan to heat him up there. Hulk could still have his extensive list of monsters & maniacs as challengers, but I think a strategist like Martel trying to outwit & out-wrestle him would offer some variety. But when we fast forward to '94, does "senile" Rick Martel - snapping backs with his Quebec Crab and hellbent on regaining the title he never lost - work as well as it did for Backlund?

Solid suggestion, man. I like it a lot, to be honest. In fact, I think there could be more meat to the matter than just that. Replacing Backlund in that interim gives way to some awesome matches - as you mentioned - but there's also plenty of potential down the line. Maybe Backlund disappears for awhile after dropping the strap. Skaaland latches onto Martel, the young rising star & brand new champion during that time - of course. Similar to the Bob deal, you start to plant seeds and subtle signs that Skaaland may be paying off officials or just trying to keep the more aggressive heel challengers at bay. The ring wars and endless cycle of title defenses take their toll on Martel. The wear & tear of the schedule lead him to the Masked Superstar injury angle and - ultimately - defeat at the feet of the Iron Sheik. The towel bit happens, and Martel drops out for a second. Hogan comes in. Gangbusters business. Hulk-A-Mania is born. Then, if Backlund cannot be convinced to come back and resume the role as a heel - just as he declined in real life - then you've got a ready made recipe with Martel going heel and targeting Hulk instead. Maybe he goes ballistic, assaults Skaaland on camera, and Martel could declare that it was HIM directing Skaaland all along. He wanted the refs to be paid off. He wanted a day off here and there. But that doesn't make him a bad guy. And, by the way, he NEVER gave up to the Iron Sheik. He NEVER submitted to the Camel Clutch. He NEVER gave up HIS title. So why are they booing him now? Why are they cheering the Hulkster? He's NOT the bad guy. Maybe he doesn't like MTV. Maybe he doesn't care for rock'n'roll, or Rock'N'Wrestling for that matter. But he's NOT the bad guy. He's the "Role Model", Rick Martel. And he's Hogan's next challenger. I could live with that.

Where is this talk of Cena actually taking the belt coming from? Did I miss something? I mean, I could understand why they'd want to shake things up a bit for the Fall season lull, but the booking seems like the usual standard stuff. The RAW match gave Cena a successful defense of his title over Rollins. Seems kind of obvious that the purpose of SummerSlam would be to give Seth the same with a win over Cena. Then maybe run a rubber match at NoC or even just on RAW to setup whatever main event they've got for NoC instead.

Wasn't the Brock Lock just a Stretch Muffler? Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Either way, yeah. The move can look painful, but it can just as easily look lazy as shit. Always dug the way Big Show would use the Cobra Clutch back breaker though, especially during that ECW run. He'd slap on the submission for a second, break guys over his knee, and then just rag-doll them across the ring like so many bags of trash. Very Titus O'Neil like. I realize some people will scoff at that comparison, but it is what it is.

Glad to hear there will be a reaction show coming after this one. It is something I'm really excited about. Definitely looking forward to it more than SummerSlam this year, for sure. The wager match will keep me guessing, going back & forth on who walks out the winner. Alberto's the guy they SHOULD go with, and logical booking would put him getting his payback here - but ya never know. Can't imagine Cage or Patron with a chrome dome, to be honest. The 3-way trios bout it STACKED with a truckload of talent. Part of me wishes it would have been scaled back and split up to give us a separate singles match - but it's hard to complain when ya just know you're going to get some insane high spots & rapid-fire, fast-paced action. I'll watch anything involving Mesias. Even if it's a cluster or an ugly encounter, it's usually a fun train-wreck type of brawl. The guy's got a presence & carries an aura that few do these days. The Villano bros. are some of my all-time favorite brawlers, and I'm gonna be fully dialed in to see what they do with the treatment of III's swan song. Should be something memorable at the very least. Rey has had some sneaky good performances in tags since returning. I'm especially curious to see how he does in a full-on showcase like this one, and I'm even more interested in seeing how they present the match itself. It stands the chance of being a great match, certainly. But it also stands the chance of being a lot more than that. Really hoping they take advantage and show what WWE missed the boat on with channeling the most from these legitimately larger-than-life figures of lucha libre. And I know Matt Striker has his detractors, but the guy's grown on me a lot via his Championship From Hollywood and Lucha Underground contributions. Combine that with Hugo's participation? And yeah. I'm sold. Should be a super fun show. With the English commentary offered, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't try to give this a chance.

I haven't had an issue with it. I guess you can take some things under a microscope and pick them apart, but there's now way I'm convinced that it's strictly applicable to Dean or his performances. As far as the MITB match against Rollins goes, well I think that'd fall more in line of being the fault of how the finishing stretch was structured. Dean took some brutal punishment, but then they wanted him to recover in time to hobble back into the fight & still make it up the ladder in time for the photo finish. The guy was registering immense pain & selling the beating throughout. But it's not like he can lie there & play dead whilst magically levitating himself up the ladder.

But for seriously though - will Sting humbly shake the hand of every single Wyatt Family member after he eats the pin, or just Bray's?

Sami Callihan is a kind of just a crazed, reckless redneck. So I don't think he'd be all that bad a fit. If nothing else, he'd bring variety by being a smaller guy. And he can work like a little wrecking ball. He's not much of a talker, to be sure - but at least he SOUNDS like a hillbilly. And so I don't think it'd be a stretch for him to fit the part. Out of all the suggestions, I think he'd be one of the better options actually. Bo could work, but I think it'd same some serious effort. He's got a creepy grin and everything, but I don't know. There's a risk of ruining a bit of the Wyatt Family image by just lazily plopping this inspirational, overly positive speaker into this ranks. Again, it COULD work. I just don't know that I'd place much faith in them to pull it off and put a concentrated effort into it. Corbin? Meh. I guess he could work as a temporary stand-in or band-aid for Rowan. But then again, so would either of the Ascension guys. I mean, if you're just looking for a warm body to fill the role of "random big bad guy #2" to stand out there next to Harper and look menacing. But, at the end of the day, I think a lot of people will just wish & wait for Rowan to get back in that case anyway.

FINALLY got around to finishing this one, and I've got to say - Graham hit it out of the park with his closing comments. ... Comparing Backlund to Adam Best era Batman, with his charismatic challengers as the rogues gallery of Gotham, was just about as accurate as it gets. Great show overall, guys.

Just wanted to chime in and add a little love to the pile. I've downloaded every ep as they became available, but I never took the time to listen - because of both hectic work schedules AND the fact that I get into a routine of listening to certain podcasts as priorities. But I recently started burning through this series, and I'm absolutely enjoying the hell out of it. Marty's one of those guys with an infectious energy & enthusiasm in his voice. Even if I don't always agree with some of his opinions, the guy's just got a lot of excitement in what he has to say. For instance, the narrative he created as a counterpoint to the Rockers/Rose & Somers rivalry was excellent. Whereas a lot of people would shit on the layout and the structure of the story being told, Marty busts out a spin on the whole ordeal that actually makes sense and builds as a progressive "coming of age" story for the young Midnight Rockers. I caught myself just nodding along and agreeing with him actually. And Kelly's a great guide - giving insight, backstory, and establishing context when it's needed. You guys are a killer combo of grizzled veteran detective & rookie cop on the beat. Big thumbs up to that. Also like the way this brings fresh takes to old matches, stories, and workers from the tag scene of that time. There's already a handful of things I want to go back and review for myself now that you guys have brought them back to my attention. And I think that's sort of the point.

Agreed. I really like the Great American Bash from that year, too. Ultimo and Psicosis have a really fun opener, Akira Hokuto and Madusa have one of my favorite women's matches to ever occur on US soil, Benoit and Meng maul each other in their rematch, the Piper and Flair rift angle is decent enough for what they wanted to do, and then you end it all with a Savage and Page "attitude era" brawl before those things wore out their welcome.

Exactly. I personally have thicker skin and higher tolerance when it comes to ignorance, prejudice, etc. But hey. I was born & raised in the south. Easily offended people either 1) don't survive or 2) don't stick around. Of course I could understand why a lot of people would be upset or disappointed by this stuff coming out. I just find it a little over the top when people act all outraged and legitimately angry over it. Don't people have personal lives to tend to? Why does everyone feel the need to constantly "be heard" and become activists all of a sudden? At least Hogan has the good sense to say disgusting comments and spout his personal opinions in private - even if it later becomes public. I wish more people on social media would take note. I've seen enough about flags, gay marriage, and this sort of stuff to last me a lifetime in the last two weeks alone. It's all just noise.

A little bit of talk about TJ Perkins recently sprung up over in the Timothy Thatcher microscope thread, but I wanted to move it here to avoid from derailing that topic too much. Perkins is a guy that doesn't get as discussed as much as I wish he would sometimes, and so I hoped maybe a few people would chime in with their thoughts about his work, his potential, etc. Here's the little bit that kicked it off... And my response... I'd probably add that Perkins had a sneaky fun match with Bobby Fish in the BOLA opener last year. He was a last minute sub for Brian Cage, but he really stepped up to the plate and gave Fish the kind of performance that Cage couldn't have given him on ANY night. And I'm a Cage fan. It was just so uniquely different from what the Fish/Cage pairing would've produced though, and I think the finished product was absolutely better off for it. Couple that with his recent stuff in Evolve - and even his in-ring TNA work under the hood is some of the better work left on display in the X Division these days. I realize that isn't saying much, but the guy's putting out quality with quantity lately. That's normally what leads to people taking notice, and so I think Perkins is slowly becoming a timely & topical guy to talk about.

Regarding Perkins, I always thought the same thing about Matt Sydal - and he still got a shot in the E. For my money, Perkins runs circles around a guy like that or just about anyone else of his size, to be honest. He's not necessarily a high-flyer by design, but that doesn't mean he can't do the stuff extremely well in his own right. Plus his actual grappling is outstanding, as noted. I realize that he's undersized, but that's hardly a strike against guys anymore these days. Plus I'd think that would allow him to slide into a Tyson Kidd (circa the babyface SD push) or Evan Bourne style role rather seamlessly if they gave him the chance. Perkins is still young enough. I'd legitimately like to see him get a shot in NXT at the very least, although I think the misstep with TNA might take awhile to recover from first. I sure hope not, especially now that there's the supposed connection with WWNLive as a feeder system. Hopefully it opens up an opportunity for him to get a look. Sorry to derail the talk away from Thatcher momentarily... This is his thread, but Perkins was mentioned. Might move this post over to the Modern Indie topic just in case.

Macho Mandow is an act I can do without - but Axelmania is immortal, dude. Have him spin this and run with it. He could start cutting promos on Kanye, Cosby, and the other various "heels" of the more recent mainstream press. Have it start subtly and imply that he's just preaching the usual Hulk-A-Mania hero shtick... Until they slowly catch on that, yep. All these guys are black, and Axelmania just might be racist. Okay. They'd never go for it, but there's a carny promoter out there somewhere that would jump on it in a heartbeat.

Absolutely agree. I think we heard some inklings of that from King in the last month or two with Kevin Owens also. Lawler is far from my favorite announcer these days, but there's still something to be said about those moments when he shows enthusiasm and excitement over something. Comes across as more authentic & genuine than a lot of the usual noise.

Came across this neat little gem over at DropToeHold.com, which used to be a regular stop for me. Haven't scoped out the site in awhile, but there's still some cool stuff put up over there from time to time.

D'Lo Brown and Head Banger Mosh wearing turbans and genie pants, while being managed by Tiger Ali Singh, is still something that makes me wonder. Plus their team name was "Lo Down", which sounded nothing at all like what the gimmick was going for and was also the name of Brown's signature maneuver. Just ridiculous.