2021 Discussion about Wrestling Podcasts

[Eoae]

1 hour ago, Teflon Turtle said:

Is saying what WWE produces is soft or has changed necessarily the same thing as saying that the wrestlers themselves are soft? (I realize most all of you are just riffing now, but still...)

.........

I should probably just go ahead and listen to the rest of the podcast instead of the Twitter clip from above. If he really is just doing the "back in my day men were men and we had more boobs on TV" thing, then I have far less to find correct about Taker's comments.

I've only listened to part of the podcast, but my impression so far is that he's criticizing the locker room culture more than the way the WWE presents itself.  I mean, the front part of the comment about guys playing video games in the locker room was that, back in his day, there were "some crusty f**king men" in the locker room, guys who carried guns in their bags.  Based on his attitude, my takeaway was "guns good.  Switch bad."  He seems to romanticize the guys he came up with.

My general impression of the interviews I've listened to with Taker out of character is that he is comes across as a mildly bitter old man who tells you that back in his day, everything was better and men were tougher.  No doubt, the cocaine was purer too.  My feeling is that he maybe doesn't know what to do with himself without the business, and, that, really, the business when he retired wasn't be business Taker remembers from early in is career.  The WWE has changed a lot in the past 15 years since Vince started signing more indie stars.  I could be way off, since i've never met Calaway and don't know a lot about him outside the ring, but I've met my share of "hard men" - athletes and not - who never planned for the end of their career or felt they had to adjust to changing time, then didn't know what they wanted to do when their careers ended, and they remind more than a little of Taker.

 

[Curt McGirt]

1 hour ago, Teflon Turtle said:

He mentions that there's "guys that have an edge to them," so I could just as easily say he's inveighing against the PG era or the overly-structured cookie cutter matches that some other wrestlers (such as TJP) have talked about when it comes to WWE.

This is what I thought he meant. 

[odessasteps]

Why that Walter match was so loved by a certain segment of Fandom. 

[Craig H]

1 hour ago, Boydy said:

I don't. I took it from Joe Rogan who quotes it all the time. It does sum up how I feel about young people but that is just me being a grumpy old man lol.

Joe Rogan is a fucking idiot. I wouldn't take anything from him.

-------

Anyway, I haven't listened to Rogan's podcast in about forever because he's basically just an idiot shill that energizes a dangerous portion of the internet, but I figured I would listed to this. First of all, I'm a Spotify subscriber, so being forced to listen to ads is fucking bullshit since I'm already paying $15 or more a month to them for their family plan. Second, their podcast player sucks. I could never imagine switching from PocketCasts to Spotify to listen to podcasts. It's just terrible. I don't care how many podcasts switch to Spotify only, I'm sticking with stuff that doesn't limit their audience. And third, they start their interview going right into the same bullshit about how terrible LA is, how CA is a quasi-Nazi state, how Austin is essentially paradise, blah blah blah blah. It's the most uninformed bullshit that only serves to mislead people on what these places are like.

I skipped ahead and honestly, the stuff I found most fascinating was Undertaker talking about his various injuries and surgeries throughout the years. If that's all the interview was then it would have been fine. And then he had to delve into the bullshit about wrestlers being soft or whatever the fuck and all it did was convince me further that guys like Undertaker, Mark Henry, and others need to go the fuck away and stop acting like they're this oracle for all things WWE and pro wrestling. They're not. They're keeping wrestling stuck in the past when it should be more progressive.

Also, there was a remark by someone about how Xavier isn't the best person to talk about being wholesome and whatever. Kindly fuck off with that bullshit. What people do with their kinks and sexual activities from years ago isn't something that should be held against them. That shit was private and some fuckhead decided to hack and leak that shit onto the internet, shaming everyone in the process. It also happened years ago and shouldn't be constantly held against them. They're all consenting adults for fucks sake. Plus, it literally has nothing to do with the activities of wrestlers backstage playing video games and shit instead of playing harmful ribs, starting fights, doing drugs, etc.

[Technico Support]

Two consenting adults doing their thing >>> (infinity) >>> an eventual murderer mocking someone in mourning and calling him a bitch.  I'd say the culture has changed for the better.

Nothing like a lifelong gimmick wrestler acting all old and hard when, in the early 90s, I am positive there were old guys talking shit on him and his dumbass gimmick.  Every generation gets bitter and resentful of the next.  Every generation thinks the way they did it had more validity.  It's a hard trap to avoid, I guess.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Technico Support

[Casey]

18 hours ago, Hagan said:

Of course, as Twitter is helpfully pointing out, Xaver maybe not the best person to bring up wholesome behavior. 

This guy thinks sex is bad, apparently.

[NikoBaltimore]

So in an attempt to move on from that to better episodes I know it was last week but I can't recommend enough the Eddie Kingston episode of Renee's podcast.  The guy really opened up and I find the more I find out about his life the more it strengthens the respect I have for him.  He finally seems generally happy but still wants to forever keep that chip on his shoulder.  But with how things are going with AEW he's been able to have a steady girlfriend and is thinking that he might actually be a dad one day.  So considering all the shit he's been through it's great to see things turning out quite well for Eddie.  The guy more than deserves it and the episode's worth checking out.  And it looks like she got Tony Khan this week though I haven't had the chance to check it yet.  But with the right people on there Renee's podcast is worth paying attention to.

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

This guy thinks sex is bad, apparently.

Whilst I do not think Xavier Woods is responsible for whatever went on between the couple he played with, we know from Paige's comments that she felt that she was taken advantage of as a 'young girl' in the relationship. The relationship itself definitely belongs in the #MeToo category. Though as I say, I don't think that makes Xavier responsible. But I suspect he probably regrets being involved in that, and not because it got out.

[AxB]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

This guy thinks sex is bad, apparently.

Xavier Woods is in Faye Jackson's Creep Squad. Although he calls it Creed Squad.

Suge D was trying to recruit Kofi for the Wholesome Gang, but he no-sold it.

[Casey]

13 minutes ago, AxB said:

Xavier Woods is in Faye Jackson's Creep Squad. Although he calls it Creed Squad.

Suge D was trying to recruit Kofi for the Wholesome Gang, but he no-sold it.

I have zero idea what any of this means.

[Eoae]

36 minutes ago, Casey said:

I have zero idea what any of this means.

Me neither, but I didn't want to be the first person to admit it.

[AxB]

Faye Jackson (amongst others) was being Creepy on the twitter timeline, and Suge told her to stop, and it sort of spiralled into a massive social media feud between the Creep Squad and the Wholesome Gang. They have shirts:

Spoiler

Anyway...

 

[Eoae]

LOL

 

[RIPPA]

Big E is the guest this week on Renee's podcast

I partially note this since I am curious how long it will before the WWE decides they don't want talent on the show (I am assuming it will be whenever Renee's FOX deal runs out)

[odessasteps]

The super stud cast today is Ron talking to Bill Watts about Danny Hodge. 

[RIPPA]

Hopefully he doesn’t bring Hank Aaron up to Watts

[Technico Support]

"I'm not a racist, I just think a company has a right to institute racist policies if they want!" 

[Curt McGirt]

If he was someone any less stubborn than Bill Watts, he'd probably just say he doesn't remember because he was too busy getting so drunk he pissed in the office trash

[odessasteps]

39 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

If he was someone any less stubborn than Bill Watts, he'd probably just say he doesn't remember because he was too busy getting so drunk he pissed in the office trash

I thought he famously pissed out the office window at CNN tower. 

[Curt McGirt]

If it was the window instead of the trashcan... damn, no wonder they were mad. 

[odessasteps]

Quote

"He used to pee out of his office off the 12th floor. He didn’t wanna walk down the hall. He’d just pee off the balcony...” –Jim Ross on Bill Watts as a WCW executive in CNN Tower; The Ross Report #79 (8/19/15)

 

[Curt McGirt]

I'm not digging it up but I think it was Foley that wrote that he pissed in the trash at an office party.

[John from Cincinnati]

Got so shitfaced he couldn't even make it to a balcony. Disgraceful. 

[Log]

I don't agree with Taker's assessment of today's guys/gals at all.  I'm no gamer, but I think playing video games backstage is preferable to doing shit that will send you to and early grave.

However, I do think that today's wrestlers have gotten soft in one area.  Guys used to be more protective of their character/spot.  They need to learn to say no more to ideas pitched to them.  I know it's harder now that their options are more limited, but I think some of them have done a lot of harm to their careers by not shooting down certain ideas. 

I think the biggest example is Seth Rollins.  The guy was positioned as the #1 babyface in the company.  When he sees the script saying that the Fiend will come out and he'll cower in fear in the corner, he should've said "hell no".  I've heard interviews with Moxley and Miro and I understand that, after a while, you sort of get beaten down by their bad ideas.  I really do get that.  But, eventually, you have to realize that it's hurting your long-term drawing potential.

[Infinit]

24 minutes ago, Log said:

I don't agree with Taker's assessment of today's guys/gals at all.  I'm no gamer, but I think playing video games backstage is preferable to doing shit that will send you to and early grave.

However, I do think that today's wrestlers have gotten soft in one area.  Guys used to be more protective of their character/spot.  They need to learn to say no more to ideas pitched to them.  I know it's harder now that their options are more limited, but I think some of them have done a lot of harm to their careers by not shooting down certain ideas. 

I think the biggest example is Seth Rollins.  The guy was positioned as the #1 babyface in the company.  When he sees the script saying that the Fiend will come out and he'll cower in fear in the corner, he should've said "hell no".  I've heard interviews with Moxley and Miro and I understand that, after a while, you sort of get beaten down by their bad ideas.  I really do get that.  But, eventually, you have to realize that it's hurting your long-term drawing potential.

I think the problem for WWE talent is that when Vince thinks something is "good shit", it's tough to say no to the boss. And there are very few left in the locker room with the stroke or the value to say "no, I'm not doing that".