Welcome everyone to our official post-Royal Rumble decompression. Most of WWE is in a bit of a holding pattern as the final WrestleMania picture takes shape.
But there are still tons of things happening throughout both shows. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are seemingly headed for a break-up which we are very much NOT in favor. We’ll explain how we’d like to see their partnership developed alongside the WWE Title scene with AJ Styles.
Plus, Jason Jordan is dealing with a neck injury that’s going to have him out of the ring for a number of months. But where does this leave his character and Seth Rollins before he’s able to head back to the ring?
And we’ll take a closer look at where everyone else is heading into the final weeks before the biggest show in wrestling, including Asuka, Nia Jax and everyone on the Smackdown Top 10 (Whatever that ends up being like!).
Gimmick Corner
For the past 15 years or so, WWE television has had one man at the forefront: John Cena. He’s been the franchise player for WWE up until a few years ago. So it’s hard to believe that he started out as a generic babyface with ruthless aggression and eventually became the doctor of thuganomics with some impressive (?) rap skills. We’ll take a look at what makes him tick and whether or not he’s lost a step as he ascended the card.
Three Count
Danielle put over some of Twitter's best wrestling artists
Julian put over John Cena's best joke ever
Hal put over the Philly Special
Hosted by Hal Lublin, and Danielle Radford
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
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NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia
NXT’s hot streak of quality events continues!
Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas and Johnny Gargano tore the house down in the NXT Title match. They both seem destined for big stories in the coming months before the next TakeOver but, for now, we can just bask in the afterglow of how special this match was.
Plus Ember Moon retained her woman’s title against Shayna Baszler in a hard-hitting match. But will Moon lose that title to Baszler in the coming months to head to the main roster or should she stick around NXT a bit longer?
Not to be outdone, Undisputed Era’s Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly retained their tag titles over The Authors of Pain while their leader Adam Cole came up short against Aleister Black. Where does this trio go next to keep their footing in NXT?
All that… and we’ll even discuss the return of the XFL, the latest rifts in Bullet Club and why Kenny Omega’s reunion with Kota Ibushi brought tears to our eyes.
Royal Rumble
Oh, what a Royal Rumble it was!
It’s great to finally have a Big 4 weekend that everyone’s given rave reviews too. We had not one, but TWO great Royal Rumble matches, including the first-ever women’s event. Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka have been near-unanimously praised as the right winners of the contests and there were tons of legends who returned to keep the crowd engaged.
But significantly, UFC star Ronda Rousey made her debut after Asuka’s big win. With reports coming out that she’s a full-time wrestler now, how optimistic are we that we’ll enjoy what she brings to the table?
And now that we’re pretty sure Nakamura will face AJ Styles for the WWE championship, where does that leave best friends Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens? And how does Roman Reigns get his long-expected match with Brock?
Welcome to the Road to WrestleMania!
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Mike Eagle.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
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It was an incredibly eventful week for WWE, but not entirely for the reasons that the company wanted it to be.
Enzo Amore has been fired following the revelations that he has been accused and is under investigation for rape and kept the situation from his employers. In this era of #MeToo, this sort of thing can’t stand in wrestling. But how scared are we that this could be just the start of WWE stars, past and present, being called out for similar heinous actions?
And in much lighter news, WWE celebrated the 25th anniversary of RAW! Unfortunately, people watching it from the Manhattan Center, it wasn’t nearly as entertaining. But between all of the legends and Miz winning back the Intercontinental Title, which of the hosts had fun, and who hated it?
Plus, Sami Zayn picked up a major win against AJ Styles in the main event of Smackdown. Is this the signature win he needed as a heel or is this undone by taking a big loss on Sunday?
All that, and we continue to be excited about the Royal Rumble and feel like the Mixed Match Challenge is still providing a ton of things to love.
Main Event
Every time there’s a major anniversary or occasion in WWE, it’s a safe bet that we’re going to be treated to a wealth of nostalgia. And while a little bit of that is fun, when does it cross the line? And how big of a problem is it when a young team like the Revival is destroyed by a group of older wrestlers for the purposes of a nostalgia pop?
The Three Count
Danielle put over Becky Lynch and Sami Zayn in the Mixed Match Challenge.
Mike put over Mike Parrow's interviews on his experience as a gay wrestler.
Hal put over the post-match promo in the MMC from the Miz and Asuka
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter.
If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts
Noted wrestling fan, video-game aficionado and rapper Mega Ran officially joins the Nation of Conversation.
And we’re going to continue to talk all about his experience with Wrestle Kingdom 12 since he saw it LIVE in the Tokyo Dome!
Plus, we’ll take a look at how much fun it was to see Braun Strowman tear up the ($12 million) production trucks, why AJ Styles is delivering some of the worst promos of his career and why the Revival is set to take a hit from every single legend next week on RAW.
And we’ll keep looking ahead to the Royal Rumble, including who would be a great winner for the first ever Woman’s edition of the event.
Main Event
Seth Rollins’s signature finishing move has at last returned! After a brief stint with the Pedigree and (ugh) King’s Landing, the Curb Stomp is back with a vengeance. What makes it such an effective finisher? And who could stand to get a new finisher in the next few weeks?
The Three Count
Mike put over Bruce Prichard's stories on the latest episode The Masked Man podcast.
Mega Ran put over Rusev's encouragement to Lana for the MMC.
Hal put over Kurt Angle's awful acting.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Mike Eagle and Mega Ran.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter.
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We’ve already got a ton of things to deal with that have overturned what we expected from the Road to Wrestlemania!
Balor Club is officially a thing and is beginning to get going as force on RAW. As they beat up Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan, and throw up the too sweets, Finn and company look like they’re having tons of fun again.
Plus, Jason finally gets to develop more as a character as Seth and Roman try to teach him how to be at the cool kids table. Could we finally be at a point where WWE remembers how to get multiple stories going at one time on RAW?
And Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens look excited for their chance to be co-WWE Champions! While we all love AJ Styles, wouldn’t it be great to see the pair of friends get this just to see how much fun they would have together?
All this and a look at Samoa Joe’s injury, the current state of the Riott Squad and Absolution and whether Titus Brand is actually set to get some wins in the next few weeks.
Main Event
It’s New Japan’s annual equivalent to WrestleMania: Wrestle Kingdom! The full team joins up to discuss what they enjoyed from the major wrestling show, how it compares as an experience to WrestleMania and geek out about Daryl Takahashi in a mask. They’ll also break down that Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho match that took the world by storm.
Three Count:
Hal put over the latest episode of We Got This with Simon Grimm
Lindsey put over a great NXT live show in South Carolina
Danielle put over the WWE Mixed Match Challenge announcement videos
Julian put over Edge's response to everyone who said the Alabama Crimson Tide wouldn't win a championship this year.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter.
If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.
Welcome to the first episode of the year 2018!
And unlike the rest of society, there’s a whole host of things we get to look forward to in the New Year*. We’re well on the road to WrestleMania, as evidenced by all the news about the Royal Rumble that’s been coming out in recent weeks.
But we also don’t know what’s going on with a lot of RAW’s most prominent characters. What will Jason Jordan’s current story with Seth Rollins evolve into? Will Samoa Joe continue to pursue the Intercontinental title after losing to Roman Reigns? And will Brock Lesnar vs. Kane amount to anything exciting?
Plus, on Smackdown, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have finally seen some renewed success in their new alliance. They’ve beaten WWE Champion AJ Styles in back to back weeks. But is it okay for AJ to be taking losses like that?
*Yes, including Wrestle Kingdom. But we’ll get to that next week!
Main Event
Women in the Royal Rumble were always treated as a novelty. Only gals like Kharma, Beth Phoenix and Chyna were ever afforded the honor of joining in the male-dominated event. But now that we’ll have a full Women’s Royal Rumble, what can we expect? And how confident are we that they won’t ruin this?
The Three Count
Danielle put over Xavier Woods and Aiden English's Twitter battle.
Mike put over this Sid Viscious's voicemail.
Hal put over Drew Gulak covering for Enzo on RAW.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter.
If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.