It’s that special rare week where Julian Burrell steps out of the production booth to join Danielle Radford in the hosting chair! They’re joined by Elle Collins, podcaster and writer for Uproxx. Elle actually became a fan of wrestling fairly recently. That’s given them a unique perspective on wrestling’s history, especially after the four horsewomen helped change WWE for the better.
The panel will first take a look at a company that had a big PPV this week: Impact Wrestling! We’ll break down the biggest matches on the show, including Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim and The Lucha Bros. vs. LAX. And we’ll speculate about what the promotion will look like once AEW is completely off the ground.
Plus, WWE has begun its build to the Money in the Bank PPV. If done well, it sets up someone up for stardom. Now that the crop of competitors has been revealed, who would be best served by getting the guaranteed title match within the briefcase? How do we hope that this is different from the other recent cash-ins?
The Three Count:
Elle put over NXT UK.
Julian put over Hobbs and Shaw.
Danielle put over Tessa Blanchard and Jordynne Grace’s work outs.
Hosted by Danielle Radford, Julian Burrell, and Elle Collins.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
Jo Graham from the How2Wrestling podcast joins Hal, Danielle and Lindsey to break down tons of news from the week in wrestling! She originally got into wrestling as a way to bond with her partner. Now, that’s turned into her own podcast and rabid fandom.
WWE continues to move their stars across both shows, with multiple people making their debuts on RAW and Smackdown. Most significantly, AJ Styles is set to face Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship. It’s seemingly being billed as a "dream match." But is this the most interesting direction that WWE can lean into?
Becky Lynch has not one, but TWO challengers for each of her titles at the next PPV. We’ll decide whether or not Becky should already lose her championships in her first major defense. And Kevin Owens did as Kevin Owens does and beat up Kofi Kingston to get his shot at the WWE Championship! Are we broken up about him never doing the New Day intro again or do we just miss the guttural tones from Big E?
Main Event
In the weeks since WrestleMania, several WWE stars have either left WWE or voiced discontentment with their position within the company. That includes Sasha Banks, Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper. We take a look at each of their situations and our reactions to the difficulties they’ve faced.
Plus, with it being more possible than ever to be a truly independent wrestler or get signed by one of the many growing companies (including the popular AEW), will WWE have a harder time holding onto talent that’s either unhappy or lacking direction?
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk, and Jo Graham.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
Lindsey rejoins the show to regale us with stories of her journey to WrestleMania! She’ll talk about what it was like in Metlife Stadium, how much she enjoyed the G1 Classic and the special project that she was a part of while she was there.
WWE Interviews
As part of her journey through the biggest week of the wrestling year, Lindsey got to talk with some of WWE’s most popular stars. Check the timestamps to see hear one:
26:14 - Roderick Strong
31:23 - Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush
38:32 - Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder
44:23 - Billie Kay and Peyton Royce
50:24 - Kacy Catanzaro
58:03 - Alexa Bliss
Hosted by Hal Lublin and Lindsey Kelk.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
Congratulations! You survived WrestleMania week! Hal and Danielle are joined by James Durin. He’s the lead singer of the band Quiet Riot. As a kid, he had a hard time being comfortable in who he was. But through the character-driven aspects of wrestling, he learned to express himself and find tons of new career avenues.
NXT TakeOver: New York
Johnny Gargano stands tall as the NXT Champion! He along with Shayna Baszler, the War Raiders and Velveteen Dream hold the gold of WWE’s yellow and black brand. With this year’s post-TakeOver featuring fewer call-ups to the main roster than usual, how should WWE balance building up NXT its own promotion and making sure their budding stars have the biggest possible platform to entertain?
WrestleMania
Happy Ice Cream Christmas! What a show it was. The culmination of KofiMania. The return of Roman Reigns. The coronation of Becky Lynch. The slaying of the Beast.
The team will take a wandering look at a show that was incredibly lengthy, but also delivered tons of fun moments to keep everyone engaged. What was the deal with the finish of the main event? How many tears were shed for the new WWE Champion? How did the long runtime affect our enjoyment of the entire program? All that and so much more.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford,and James Durbin.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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 another episode of Riteoga agus Troideanna! This week, Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Kefin Mahon.. He’s one of the hosts of the "How2Wrestling" podcast. The show started as his earnest attempt to introduce his girlfriend to the world of wrestling, one character at a time. He’ll tell us about how he saw his fellow Irish native Becky Lynch in her formative years as a wrestler and was convinced WWE would never give her a proper shot.
Now that we’re just a few days away from WrestleMania, WWE wants as much positive press as they can get. But that’s not happening now after John Oliver’s recent piece about WWE’s shoddy business practices. We’ll take a look at how we reconcile the reality of WWE’s business practices with our fandom and explain how hopeful we are that this could lead to change.
Plus, our reaction to the final card of WrestleMania and the final confrontation between Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey.
Main Event
Kofi Kingston is an 11 year veteran of WWE. In that time, he’s become a 15-time champion and a part of one of the most bankable acts of the last decade with the New Day stable with his counterparts Xavier Woods and Big E.
When he faces Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35, it will be the culmination of a story that’s focussed on how much work Kofi has put in for a WWE Title opportunity. In honor of that, we’ll go back through Kofi’s career. We’ll touch on some of the highlights, including his debut in WWE’s ECW revival, his feud and de-push with Randy Orton and the original formation of the team that pushed him to new heights.
The Three Count
Kefin put over Big E’s tweet about RAW.
Danielle put over Kofi Kingston’s fan-made ‘Monster’ video.
Lindsey put over Rhea Ripley seeing snow for the first time.
Hal put over Ricochet and Aleister Black’s match against the Revival.
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Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Kefin Mahon.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
Happy #MaxFunDrive! For our second episode of the week, Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Matthew Gaydos. He’s the host of the "I Love It" podcast. One thing that he loves is wrestling. Growing up his family was not very well off, financially; but they still managed to watch a number of wrestling PPV’s (he’s not sure if those two facts are at all related).
The panel will get into everything from the week in wrestling. That includes the highs like Kofi Kingston finally getting his WWE Title against Daniel Bryan; and the confirmation that Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch will be the closing match at WrestleMania!
Unfortunately, it also means looking at the worst things that happened this week. Like Asuka losing her Smackdown Women’s title to Charlotte. Does that inherently devalue the title? Or does having both brand’s championships in the main event help raise the stakes?
This show is dedicated to our Max Fun Members! If you’d like to join them, sign up at maximumfun.org/donate as part of the #MaxFunDrive to support this and other Maximum Fun shows you listen to for as little as $5 a month. Your membership gets you all sorts of gifts like bonus episodes of every Max Fun show, including Tights and Fights!
The Three Count
Matthew put over Dean Ambrose on the "Major Wrestling Figure" Podcast.
Danielle put over Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon discussing their WrestleMania ladder match.
Lindsey put over Nikki Bella’s retirement announcement.
Hal put over Elias and Finn Balor rendition fo ‘Shallows.’
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Matthew Gaydos
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
Happy #MaxFunDrive! For our second episode of the week, Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Daron Jackson. He’s a production attorney for WWE Studios and a lifelong wrestling fan. He’ll recount tons of details about his fandom throughout the years from making snow angels with CM Punk at an ROH show to crying at the Undertaker’s WrestleMania 29 entrance.
Plus, he’ll explain what it’s like to interact with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H during the film-release process, how he managed to land a job in the WWE machine and how the new film Fighting with my Family signals a change in the creative direction of WWE studios.
This show is dedicated to our Max Fun Members! If you’d like to join them, sign up at maximumfun.org/donate as part of the #MaxFunDrive to support this and other Maximum Fun shows you listen to for as little as $5 a month. You’ll get all sorts of gifts, including bonus episodes of every show, including Tights and Fights!
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Daron Jackson
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal, Danielle and Lindsey will break down some of the biggest news on the road to WrestleMania. That includes what some are calling the hottest angle in WWE: KofiMania! Kofi Kingston ran the gauntlet, defeating five men to earn a shot at Daniel Bryan. But even that wasn’t enough to convince Vince McMahon to give Kofi his title shot. As we try to collect ourselves and our shattered emotions, we’ll try to determine what comes next.
Plus, why was Travis Browne on RAW this week with Ronda? Why is Kurt Angle facing Baron Corbin for his last match ever? And does it look like the Miz will actually be a great babyface in his match against Shane McMahon?
Salina de la Renta
The team is joined by Salina de La Renta! She’s a rising star in Major League Wrestling, both as a wrestler and as a manager. She’s had to deal with a lot of injuries right now and is able to get in the ring. But she doesn’t think the pain of the bumps will ever stop her. According to her, "The bump is the sacrifice you’re willing to take to make the show great,"
She’ll tell us all about her goals, why Total Divas is directly responsible for her career and about the craziest story of her first night working in Mexico that involved a minivan, police and the dangerous kind of heat.
This show is dedicated to our Max Fun Members! If you’d like to join them, sign up at maximumfun.org/donate as part of the #MaxFunDrive to support this and other Maximum Fun shows you listen to for as little as $5 a month. You’ll get all sorts of gifts, including bonus episodes of every show, including Tights and Fights!
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal and Danielle are joined by Hunktears! They’re the host of "Wrestlesplainia" podcast. Elby will talk about how her parents were actually closeted wrestling fans… for over 50 years.
This past Sunday was Fastlane. It’s normally a distinctly filler program before the main show of WrestleMania. But this year, reactions to the event were very positive! Stories and matches were strong throughout to keep everyone’s attention
The show was headlined by The Shield supposed last match together. Now that Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are all about to be pulled into different directions, we’ll examine how WWE can be sure that they’re all used correctly (hint: none of us want another Baron Corbin match).
Perhaps the most significant narrative piece at Fastlane was Kofi Kingston’s ongoing trials on the road to his presumed match against Daniel Bryan for the WWE title. Has WWE struck the right notes as his journey continues?
All of that, plus a look at Finn Balor losing his Intercontinental title, Becky Lynch officially being added to the RAW Women’s title match (for the second time) and our excitement to RAW finally having a tag scene again.
The Three Count
Elby put over Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito’s match in the New Japan Cup.
Danielle put over Mustafa Ali on The Secret Life of Muslims</a>.
Hal put over Randy Orton’s promo on AJ Styles.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Elby Hunktears.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Sarah "The Rebel" Wolfe! She’s the host of "Women Wrestling Friends". She’s also part of WOW - Women of Wrestling as Razor ". It’s the first time she’s wrestling more on her own and less as a manager. But she’ll explain why she thinks managers are due to make a comeback in wrestling.
This Sunday will be the last WWE PPV before WrestleMania (yeah we can’t believe it’s already here either!) Fastlane has had a number of stories that are really clicking and some that we take issue with.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte will face off once again, this time with Becky’s inclusion in the RAW women’s championship match at stake. Why has it been such a convoluted role to get us to this point? Especially with Becky already having won the Royal Rumble!
Plus, with Mustafa Ali finally returning to active competition, how does he fit into the WWE Title scene with Kevin Owens and Kofi Kingston? And while we all agree that Kofi Kingston getting the title at Mania would be for the best, we’re at odds with how long he should hold the title.
All of this plus, why we’re not sold on Mandy Rose, Ronda Rousey finally turning heel and Triple H giving Batista… what he needs.
The Three Count
Sarah put over WOW Women of Wrestling.
Lindsey put over the campaign to get Cyndi Lauper in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Danielle put over the most legendary stunner edit ever.
Hal put over Randy Orton’s burn on AJ Styles.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Sarah "The Rebel" Wolfe.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Olive Rae Brinker! She’s the creator of the webcomic "Rae the Doe". Olive came in and out of wrestling as a fan for years until she finally found the one storyline that actively hooked her. Hint: it involved Cody Rhodes, but not in a role that he was very proud of.
The panel will get into what was week of returns for the WWE. That includes Batista coming back to beat up Ric Flair and presumably challenge Triple H to a match at WrestleMania. Who would’ve thought it would be so hard for an Avenger to get the attention of Hunter!
Plus, how do we feel about Kevin Owens being immediately inserted into the WWE Title match to replace Kofi Kingston? And whose stock is on the decline after they’ve had to deal with so much sub-par booking over the course of the last month?
Main Event
Roman Reigns returned to Monday Night Raw to deliver the message that we’d all hoped to hear for months: His leukemia is officially in remission. What does this mean for the WWE’s flagship star? Does he have a match at WrestleMania? And hwo soon should the WWE wait before putting him back in the Universal Title picture?
The Three Count
Olive put over Macho Man not talking.
Lindsey put over Batista’s love of dogs.
Hal put over "Something to Wrestle With Bruce Prichard’s"episode focussing on Christian.
Danielle put over Refs as wizards.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Olive Rae Brinker.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Matthew Klein! He’s the VP of sales and marketing for Valiant Comics. Matthew has some vivid memories of wrestling from throughout his life; so vivid that he’s willing to share them with anyone, even his therapist.
The team will focus on Elimination Chamber, the second to last PPV before WrestleMania.
The highlight of the show was Kofi Kingston narrowly coming up short for his first WWE Championship in the main event. Even though some have shrugged this off as a bandwagon situation, the panel vehemently disagrees and will explain why Kofi has always been ready to be in this position.
Plus, there were tons of NXT stars who made their debuts on RAW and Smackdown this week. While it’s not clear how Ricochet, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa and Aleister Black will be used going forward, they made a great impression that should bode well for their continued success.
All of this, plus the latest on Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair, Chyna’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of DX and why the main event of WrestleMania is still very much up in the air.
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The Three Count
Matthew put over Daniel Bryan’s promo before the Elimination Chamber.
Lindsey put over the Fighting with my Family.
Danielle put over Cody Rhodes’ potential plans for WrestleMania weekend.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Matthew Klein.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Chris Gethard! He’s a comedian who’s worked in TV and hosts the podcast "Beautiful/Anonymous.". He’s also someone who wouldn’t let a little thing like parent’s permission get in the way of his childhood wrestling fandom.
To start, the team will discuss some of the biggest things that happened in wrestling this week.
This includes things in WWE like Kofi Kingston’s new opportunity to the WWE Championship and the fact that Charlotte has officially been inserted into the RAW women’s title match against Ronda Rousey. Regarding the latter, it was something we all saw coming. So how are we feeling now that it’s official?
Beyond WWE, AEW had a lot of talent announcements from this week, with confirmations that Nyla Rose, Sonny Kiss and Kenny Omega are now under contract. Plus, Jay White is now the IWGP heavyweight champion after beating Hiroshi Tanahashi. Where do these moves leave each respective promotions as they prepare for the rest of 2019?
The Beatdown: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
After Hulk Hogan left WWF, the company faced a creative valley as it searched for its next big star. Eventually, two stars emerged in the early to mid-90’s that would be expected to carry to company: Bret “The Hitman” Hart and The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. Their talent eventually coalesced into one of the most bitter rivalries in WWF and a moment that would change wrestling forever.
The team will get into the biggest moments that defined their story from the WrestleMania to the Montreal Screwjob to their reconciliation in Dayton, Ohio.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Chris Gethard.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Omar Holmon. He’s the content editor for the website Black Nerd Problems. He’ll explain which part of WWE is keeping him engaged with the company’s programming.
WWE is currently building towards Elimination Chamber, which will likely determine who will be the WWE champion going into WrestleMania. One of the competitors in that match is Samoa Joe. He’s been doing brilliant work. But how much has his character taken a hit with all of the losses he’s accumulated?
Becky Lynch will also likely pay a big part in this event. She’s the most active part of WWE TV these days, appearing on both RAW and Smackdown as part of the story to her match with Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania. We’ll discuss how WWE’s playing with the possibility of Charlotte entering the match… and if Asuka has been lost in the shuffle as Smackdown women’s champion.
All of this, plus the on-going drama surrounding Dean Ambrose, the possibility of Seth Rollins working hurt and the return of Halftime Heat on the WWE network.
Main Event
In just a few weeks, WWE will crown its inaugural women’s tag team champions. It’s been a long time coming and there are tons of talented women who will compete for the titles. But do we have any assurance that WWE will be able to build this into something consistently interesting? And who should be trusted as the first champions to help establish the division?
The Three Count
Omar put over the the entire WWE women’s division which he credits for maintaining his interest in WWE
Lindsey put over the worlds collide tournament.
Danielle put over the campaign for Drew Gulak to join NXT.
Hal put over the 2015 tag team Elimination Chamber match.
Julian put over Oso_Obscuro’s portrait of Eddie Guerrero.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Omar Holmon.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Vita Ayala. They’re a comic book writer whose work has been published by Marvel, DC Comics and Valiant. Before getting into the news, Vita will explain how they getting into wrestling led to them to some rough sleeping arrangements growing up.
For a limited time, from Thursday, January 31st to Sunday, February 10, Tights and Fights listeners can go to Comixology and put LIVEWIRE #1 in their cart and enter the code LIVEWIREFIGHTS at checkout to access it for free!
NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Like most of the last few TakeOvers, this show was built around the ongoing drama between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. Now both of these two are on the same page and are champions. What’s the future hold for Dark-DIY?
And while those two are fixtures of TakeOvers, Bianca Belair had her first showing at the event, coming up short against Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s championship. But no one on the panel is ready for this feud to be over any time soon.
Plus, how the War Raiders finally won us over as the top tag team on RAW, who the ashiest NXT star may be and why Matt Riddle has gotta wear some shoes (a controversial take, to be sure).
The Royal Rumble
For the second consecutive year, WWE succeeded in giving us two great Royal Rumble winners. Seth Rollins won the men’s contest and is in line to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal title and Becky Lynch was a late entrant in the women’s Rumble and will finally have her match against Ronda Rousey.
But that doesn’t mean we’re on board with everything that happened on Sunday. Was it the best move to have Asuka tap Becky out in the opening match of the night? And why didn’t WWE ever address why Finn Balor didn’t use his Demon persona in his match against Lesnar?
All of that, plus all of the fallout on RAW and Smackdown and our favorite moments from one of the most chaotic matches in all of WWE.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Vita Ayala.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal and Lindsey discuss the premier of WOW: Women of Wrestling. The show finally made its AXS TV debut last Friday. It’s got tons of great action and colorful performers. But does it lean too far into caricature rather than character? We’ll discuss.
Plus, Finn Balor and Daniel Bryan have major title matches at WWE’s Royal Rumble event on Sunday. Will Finn regain the Universal Title against Brock Lesnar and fulfill the underdog win of the decade? Will Daniel Bryan retain the WWE Title against AJ Styles in his quest to be the planet’s champion?
And with the WrestleMania card still looking murky, there are still tons of options in play including who will take on Ronda Rousey for the RAW women’s title, whether or not Asuka will still be the Smackdown Women’s champion and plenty more
Main Event
It’s the annual event that symbolizes the road to WrestleMania: The Royal Rumble. Last year we had two really solid versions of the match. Will the men and women be able to deliver shows of similar quality? How should the women follow up their second ever edition of the event? And who do we expect to be the winners?
The Three Count
Lindsey put over the Sasha Banks’ interview on the Edge and Christian podcast.
Hal put over Aiden English on commentary for 205 Live.
Julia put over Bobby Lashley and Apollo Crews’ pose-off on RAW.
Hosted by Hal Lublin and Lindsey Kelk.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal and Lindsey discuss NXT TakeOver: Blackpool. It was the very major TakeOver event from the UK side of WWE’s developmental promotion. Responses from viewers were incredibly strong, with plenty of familiar faces to reintroduce some new ones to a wider audience. What’s behind the positivity surrounding the brand? And what does the future hold, especially now that WALTER has debuted to challenge Pete Dunne for the UK Championship?
One person who was at the TakeOver event was Finn Balor. But that was just the start of his week. Not only did he defeat his protege Jordan Devlin, but he was named the new number one contender for the Universal Championship! But do we have any hope that he’s going to win, even with that +10 Demon modifier?
Plus, WWE introduced their brand new Women’s Tag Team Championships. The designs are great, but WWE hasn’t followed it up with quality women’s wrestling for all of its stars. There’s some great stuff like with Becky Lynch and the IIconics; And then there are some awful things like Mandy Rose’s home-wrecker character and Alexa Bliss being involved in a topless segment. What’s the response to the inconsistency?
Stephy Slays
Stephy Slays began wrestling when she was 18 years old. Now that she’s 25, she’s come a long way; from learning how to take her first bump, to developing her character and training the next generation of stars for WOW Women of Wrestling. She’ll tell us all about how she got her start, what her goals are and why wrestling helped her combat her depression.
WOW Women of Wrestling debuts on AXS TV on January 18th.
Hosted by Hal Lublin and Lindsey Kelk.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
This week Hal, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Shawn Marek. He’s a podcast host and producer who’s worked with wrestlers such as Lance Storm, Steve Austin and more on their respective shows.
The panel will take a deep dive into New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 13. The annual show from Japan featured matches from Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White and more. The show had the feeling of the start of a new era, with champions The Young Bucks, Cody and Kenny Omega all losing their titles.
The reason for that is that Cody and the Bucks will be devoted to their new promotion All Elite Wrestling. The organization had their first ever promotional press rally that outlined new details on the company. That includes practices like equal pay for men and women and paying for wrestling injuries. Also announced was the involvement of stars like Britt Baker, PAC, Hangman Page and Chris Jericho.
What are the reasonable expectations for AEW as it gets set for launch? What does this mean for Kenny Omega, now that his New Japan contract is done and he’s courting offers from multiple parties? And where does New Japan go now that the baton has been passed to a new crop of stars?
All of this and plenty more… including some yelling about Hulk Hogan showing up on RAW.
The Three Count
Shawn put over the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast.
Lindsey put over Kota Ibushi’s appearance on game-show.
Danielle put over Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas cosplaying as Team Rocket.
Hal put over his birthday buddy Ruby Riott.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Shawn Marek.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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This week Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Mat Ricardo. He’s a variety performer who actually sees a lot of similarities between his profession and the art of pro wrestling.
There’s a lot for wrestling fans to look forward to in 2019, including WWE finally announcing new tag team titles for the women’s division! Danielle share her reaction to the news and Lindsey will explain why she knew this was a real possibility for months.
Plus, All Elite Wrestling has officially been confirmed! The panel will explain how they hope that this builds on the success of All In and offers another place for wrestlers and fans to benefit.
All of this, plus a requiem for Mean Gene Okerlund, reactions to Becky Lynch teaming up John Cena and which matches we’re looking forward to from Wrestle Kingdom 13.
The Main Event
The panel reflects on the wrestling news and events in 2018. Whether it was Kenny Omega winning the IWGP title, the rise of Becky Lynch, the return of Daniel Bryan or the news from Roman Reigns, there were tons of things to remember.
The Three Count
Mat put over the match between Les Kellet and Leon Arras .
Lindsey put over Kenny’s Quest.
Danielle put over her recent article on Vice Sports.
Hosted by Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Mat Ricardo.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
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This week Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Selina Majors. She’s been a wrestler since the 80’s for promotions like AWA and WCW. These days, she spends her time with WOW - Women of Wrestling, where she continues to perform and train the next generation of stars.
Amid laughs and tears, Majors will discuss why she’s still passionate about wrestling after all these years, who she’s had a hand in training and why she’s so excited to share WOW with a new audience.
WOW - Women of Wrestling debuts on AXS TV on January 18th.
Hosted by Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
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This week Hal and Danielle are joined by Chris Cubas. He is a podcaster and TV host who’s been watching wrestling for years. Lately he’s gotten more into New Japan Pro Wrestling, Progress and other international wrestling promotions than WWE. But he is ready to dive into TLC and the fallout from RAW and Smackdown… especially because he really liked it!
There were tons of great matches on the show, especially the main event for the Smackdown women’s title match between Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Asuka. Where will each of the three competitors go from here? We’ll discuss.
Perhaps the biggest WWE news of the week, though, came from RAW. The entire McMahon family opened the show to declare that both brands were due for a fresh start. The thing is, no one on the panel is feeling all that optimistic about how “fresh” this new direction is going to be, especially when the first match of the new regime was a rematch from Sunday.
But maybe things like Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens returning and Mustafa Ali being added to the Smackdown Live roster, maybe things will get going soon. The team has their takes ready for both the good and bad.
The Three Count
Chris put over the noises Charlotte made as she was in pain her TLC match.
Danielle put over a recent thread of wrestling safety from @Shoulders_Up on Twitter.
Hal put over Renee Young’s commentary during the Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins match.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Chris Cubas.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
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For the last several weeks the panel has been in agreement: RAW is in a funk. It’s featured segments with juvenile humor, interesting stories and a lack of stars that make us want to watch.
Turns out there’s someone who agrees with our commentary: Vince McMahon! We know this because he had Seth Rollins come out chastise Baron Corbin for all of RAW’s shortcomings. But was this acknowledgment of the problem properly followed up with steps to fix the issue? The crew will take a look.
In the meantime, Smackdown continued its momentum from the past several weeks with a match that got the internet buzzing: Mustafa Ali vs. Daniel Bryan! It’s the first time a 205 Live star has wrestled the WWE Champion and everyone hopes it won’t be the last.
All of this plus a look at the Asuka vs. Charlotte match and how the Nation of Conversation feels on the way to TLC this Sunday.
WOW - Women of Wrestling
David McLane is a wrestling promoter who’s known for creating the original 80’s program GLOW. The show gained a reputation for being one of the biggest programs that featured all-women’s wrestling on TV at a time where that was rarity.
McLane’s taken everything he learned working on that show and applied it to Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
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Jeff Dye is comedian and star of numerous TV shows like Girl Code and Money From Strangers. He also happens to be a lifelong wrestling fan who’s got tons of thoughts about WWE’s past and present.
That includes things like why he wants WWE to hardly ever turn and why he supports Vince McMahon’s image of a promotion full of giants.
Jeff, Hal and Danielle also break down why Smackdown continues to be so good (especially with its women’s division), why it may have been too early to break up Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler and he’ll even turn Hal and Danielle onto some promising future careers in wrestling.
The Three Count
Jeff put over the promotion Wrestling Pro Wrestling in Burbank.
Danielle put over Rhyno’s career after his apparent retirement.
Hal put over Daniel Bryan’s new catchphrase.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Jeff Dye.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.
TLC is the last WWE event left in the year and both RAW and Smackdown have begun to build towards it. The difference is that the reception for both shows has been very different for the last few weeks.
While Smackdown has generated a lot of buzz with exciting new directions for Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Daniel Bryan, RAW has struggled to regain its identity with both Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman out of action.
To figure out what’s behind this dichotomy, we’ll start by taking a look at the things we’ve loved from Smackdown; that includes Asuka winning a battle royal to be included in the triple threat TLC match with Lynch and Flair and Samoa Joe’s mic work against Jeff Hardy which could give Joe his long-elusive win.
Then we’ll draw that back to RAW and its shortcomings; Whether it’s a lack of competent babyfaces, Dean’s trite promos about burying the local city while he gets his booster shot or that AOP(ee) segment, there’s plenty to get into.
All of this, plus a look at the latest rumors surrounding the creation of All Elite Wrestling. It’s a promotion that supposedly has The Bullet Club at the helm and may be confirmed to exist soon.
The Three Count
Julian put over Incineroar’s inclusion in the upcoming game Super Smash Bros: Ultimate.
Lindsey put over Kevin Owens’ return to Twitter.
Danielle put over the latest episode of How 2 Wrestling featuring William Regal.
Hosted by Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
Dave Schilling is ready to join the Nation of Conversation!
He, Danielle and Hal were all in Staples Center on various days this week to take in all the WWE wrestling that happened in Los Angeles.
NXT TakeOver: War Games
The final NXT TakeOver of the year featured a pair of great matches that all had strong character work and wrestling. But as for the War Games match itself? The panel will explain why it still feels like a concept that needs to be refined to be as effective as possible. Plus, what’s the deal with Velveteen Dream dressing up as Hollywood Hogan for the second time? Is it a cheeky homage or something that will ultimately end up biting us as fans if Hogan does eventually return?
Survivor Series
This could have also just been called “The Putting Smackdown in its Place” show. In the battle-of-the-brands, RAW emerged victorious in every match (minus the tag match on the preshow, which WWE obviously doesn’t care about).
But even though the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches were a pretty standard affair, there were some great encounters. Daniel Bryan has officially adopted a new persona and had one of the best Brock Lesnar matches in years. The team is really excited to see where the WWE champion goes from here, especially after his great promo on Smackdown.
And how about Charlotte Flair? Her beating down Ronda after a great match was a lot of fun, but is she just stealing Becky Lynch’s shine or is this a great new path for her character to take after losing the championship?
All of this plus thoughts on Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton once again wrestling Rey Mysterio and Braun Strowman officially being out for at least a few weeks as he deals with elbow surgery.
Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Dave Schilling.
Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.
If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram.
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.