Wednesday PWTorch Livecast with Pat McNeill
New Year’s Eve Eve Spectacular
Special Guest: Reality TV Star & Wrestling Personality Jonny Fairplay
Aired Live: December 30, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap by Dominic DeAngelo
SUBJECTS COVERED
– WWE’s 2016
– What if the Roman Reigns Empire Crumbles?
– Same Old Stuff from TNA?
TIME STAMPS OF MATCH COVERAGE
(2:30) Pat McNeill intro
(3:40) Jonny Fairplay intro
(5:25) Favorite wrestling event of 2015
(9:30) Jonny knows TNA’s next champ
(12:00) What are Pat and Jonny’s 2016 wrestling predictions?
(14:39) Craziest untrue conspiracy theory about Jonny?
(15:45) Jim Ross denied from the sidelines
(19:18) Did any celebrities sell their soul to the devil?
(20:45) If Reigns and Rollins don’t pan out this year, who will Vince choose?
(23:45) Will Mauro Ranallo’s announcing have any impact on Smackdown’s ratings?
(26:25) Who should Daniel Bryan work with if he returns in 2016?
(28:50) Would Kurt Angle returning for WrestleMania be a good idea?
(29:45) Concern for Bayley’s booking well-being if she gets called up?
(39:10) Will the WWE title go back to two titles?
(40:50) What two males and what two females would you build WWE around?
(46:30) Odds Tyrus wins the TNA title in 2016?
(47:08) What would Raw’s ratings be if they were on Pop TV?
(49:05) How do the guys get through good Raw matches with the commentary?
(54:00) Damien Sandow discussion
(56:30) Livecast Poll follow-up
(58:45) Jonny’s experience with three of the Four Horsemen
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
– Jonny is having a “green and white” NYE party in honor of his wife being Michigan State alumni. Pat and him discuss the college football match-ups for a bit.
– Jonny’s favorite wrestling event of 2015 was WrestleMania, especially the main event. He also enjoyed Wrestle Kingdom 9. Pat thinks WWE did a heck of a job booking the WM main event.
– Jonny knows the inside scoop of how the next TNA champion is going to be crowned. He gives a foreboding hint saying it is in typical TNA fashion.
– The gang is asked about their predictions for 2016, and Jonny says that’s a pretty narrow question. Pat predicts we’ll see a lot of Roman Reigns in 2016 and Jonny says we’ll see the same amount of Brock Lesnar as we did this year. Pat also predicts controversy with the TNA title this year which may lead to another network change – Jonny thinks that they won’t see another network (or from the way he phrased it, another year). Pat also says ROH will have some very good shows that no one will talk about, and NXT will be very popular. Jonny hopes that Samoa Joe will get called up and Pat adds that it could be to start a feud with Reigns. Jonny doesn’t care if Triple H brings Joe out on a leash if it happens at 10:50 EST on Monday, he’s all for it.
– Jonny watched five episodes of Breaking Ground and then quit. He thought it was boring.
– What was the craziest conspiracy theory about Jonny that wasn’t true? On Wikipedia it said he drove a Chrysler which wasn’t true. He said most of the craziest stuff is true, People thought he quit the second season of Survivor because of his daughter being born, but the real reason is he got four teeth knocked out. No painkillers allowed on the island. You could only have vitamins, contact solution and condoms. Jonny says he made balloon animals out of them which was frowned upon.
– Jim Ross states that he will not be allowed on the sidelines for Thursday’s match-up of Oklahoma vs. Clemson. Jonny asks if Oklahoma has a bigger celebrity supporter?
– Final question from Ryan is an interesting one from left field: has Jonny known of any celebrities selling their soul to the devil? Bill Pullman, Carly Jaspen of “Call Me Maybe” fame. He hung out with Ron Perlman once, who was Hellboy.
– Kylin from N.J. calls in: If Reigns and Rollins don’t pan out this year, who will Vince choose as the next guy? Jonny thinks if Reigns doesn’t work in his current face run, then the two’s roles will be flipped, but Pat thinks Kylin is searching for a third name. Jonny jokes Triple H – there’s no third option. He doesn’t even think Dean Ambrose because he’s been damaged so much. He only thinks a double turn may work, but isn’t even sure if Rollins can play a good face. Pat says he did at WM32 when everyone thought Reigns was going to win the title.
– Will Mauro Ranallo’s announcing have any impact on Smackdown’s ratings? He said if what Ranallo said about Smackdown’s presentation change was true and an addition of NXT guys will help it, but if Smackdown is in the same format, no one could save it…not even JR.
– Who should Daniel Bryan work with if he returns in 2016? Pat says he should work with someone who should not give him a 15th concussion. Jonny says they’ll throw him to the wolves and make it Kevin Owens. Pat says Lesnar, but both really don’t think he’s coming back.
– Would Kurt Angle returning for WrestleMania be a good idea? Pat doesn’t think it’s a good idea and more importantly he doesn’t think WWE will do it. Jonny agrees.
– Is there any concern for Bayley when she gets called up to the main roster? Pat thinks she’s safe for a while considering her spot in NXT. Jonny is concerned for her because she is something special (if anyone can sway Bruce Mitchell over the course of a match, then she has to be). They haven’t used many NXT people successfully. Even Roman Reigns they haven’t booked properly, Jonny says. He thinks Reigns will face Triple H at WrestleMania which will be fine, but they have no heels which is the problem.
– Should WWE keep fresh talent away from top talent to preserve feuds? Pat and Jonny both think that is the answer. Jonny thinks things started falling apart after J.R. left talent relations.
– Will WWE go back to two world titles? Pat and Jonny both don’t think so, maybe the NXT Title will get touted more.
– What two wrestlers would Jonny or Pat build WWE around? Jonny says Roman Reigns would be better for the role if he was booked better in 2015 with Daniel Bryan. Pat says Seth Rollins could be a top babyface if booked better and chooses Kevin Owens as a top heel. How about female? Pat says Sasha Banks and Paige, with Asuka as the ass kicker. Jonny goes with Sasha and Bayley. Emailer’s picks are Finn Balor as top babyface and Roman Reigns as top heel. Both Pat and Jonny don’t think Finn will be pushed because of his height. Emailer’s female picks are Sasha as top babyface and Eva Marie as top heel. Jonny doesn’t understand why they need to train Eva Marie as a wrestler, Pat says it’s part of a Total Divas storyline.
– Pat’s odds of Tyrus winning the TNA title: 1 in 3, Jonny’s odds of Tyrys winning the TNA title: 1 in 4.
– What would Raw’s ratings be if they were on Pop TV? Pat says 2.1 while Jonny goes lower and says 1.5.
– Boris from Chicago can’t handle the commentary while watching Raw: how do Jonny and Pat cope with it? Jonny says he gets through it by watching 90 minutes of Raw instead of three hours. Pat says they should have an option where you can just hear the arena.
– Boris asks if there are any current matches where Pat and Jonny root for both guys? Pat says Ambrose vs. Owens and Jonny agrees.
– Boris wants Damien Sandow back. Jonny’s problem with Sandow was that Sandow knew the end was coming with the Damien Mizdow gimmick – it was his responsibility to be innovative and he wasn’t. He had his opportunity and didn’t take advantage of it.
– Leading the Livecast Poll for favorite match of 2015 was NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, WrestleMania 31 in second and Royal Rumble in third.
– Jonny notes that he thinks Lesnar could be the greatest wrestler of all time, and that’s just based on his facial expressions.
– Follow Jonny on Twitter and Instagram @jonnyfairplay.
– At WrestleCade this year Jonny went up to three of the Four Horsemen (Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and Arn Anderson). Tully just left, Barry was by himself, and Arn was talking to J.J. Dillon. He got Barry to sign two items for him, then Tully came back and was about to sign them too, but his daughter Tessa told him to not sign them because Jonny had her inadvertantly kiss him last year. Tully told Tessa that “she learned her lesson then,” and proceeded to sign the items. Arn recognized who Jonny was which flattered him.
SCORE & REVIEW
7.5: Much like many New Year’s Eve parties, this week’s episode seemed to fly by (and as far as I’m aware no alcohol was involved). Jonny and Pat are both a one-two punch with quips and one-liners, which was beneficial to having a variety of topics talked about because if a question was too broad, they’d joke about it, address it, and move on. Their chemistry is very good like that. Caller content wasn’t too action packed since it’s the calm before the Road to WrestleMania storm, but Jonny’s insider insight on what looks to be the “same-old, same-old” from TNA booking was intriguingly discouraging. If you like fantasy booking and predictions, especially for WWE, then add this onto your weekend’s playlist.
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