We Watch Wrestling #122 w/Matt McCarthy (Dec. 30, 2015)

“WE WATCH WRESTLING”
EPISODE #122
HOST: MATT MCCARTHY
CO-HOSTS: VINCE AVERILL, TOM SIBLEY
RELEASE DATE: December 30, 2015

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Report by Steven Ganyo, PWPodcast reporter

TOP QUOTES

– The thing is, these cats? As soon as you clean the box it makes ’em have to take a s—. – Vince, on litter box psychology

– She has the healthiest head of hair in America. There ain’t a split end to be found. – Vince, possibly channeling an absent Tom?

– I wonder what you call from the phone book for GIRLS! – Matt, riffing on scenes from Beyond The Mat

– Paul, I lost the connection. Star 69 Mideon. Get his number. We’ll call him on a land line. – Matt, lampooning Taker’s cell phone use.

– That’s a powerful message. – Kevin Silva’s deadpan reaction to Michael Hayes’s school prayer song.

HOT TOPICS ON THE SHOW

This week, the boys talk PWG, Vinnie Mac, Lemmy, and more!

SUBJECTS COVERED (w/Time Stamps)

*Intro*

*PWG/ROH* – 03:05-10:15

*Vince McMahon’s Recent On-Screen Work* – 10:15-19:50

*Gulak/Owens/PWG Quick Hits* – 19:50-22:35

*WCW’s Sturgis Shows* – 22:35-25:35

*The Big Show* – 25:35-32:20

*Rapid Fire Topics* – 32:20-41:50

*VKM’s Incarceration & Other Arresting Wrestling Angles* – 41:50-50:55

*Rapid Fire Topics II* – 50:55-1:01:10

*Lemmy* – 1:01:10-1:07:25

*PWG Preview* – 1:07:25-1:21:20

*Who’s Your Favorite Wrestler?* – 1:21:20-1:34:36

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

The boys, minus Tom but plus special guest Kevin Silva, kick off this week’s show talking the upcoming PWG event this weekend, Ishii being booked at the upcoming ROH show in February, and recalling how many PWG shows they’ve been to since they started going in 2013. Matt relays a story from last year when he got drunk and accidentally yelled the wrong insult at Chris Hero.

Vince transitions to VKM’s adventures on Raw in the last few weeks. They all agree there’s been a bit of a trainwreck feel to it, but they also point out that it’s been somewhat entertaining as well. Matt recalls the “bone through the nose” line, which sends them off on an Afa story from Beyond The Mat. Back to the present, the boys discuss VKM being booked to ref a match on Raw and wonder what level of physicality the 70-year-old chairman is still capable of.

A quick detour follows in which the boys note Drew Gulak’s subtle appearance on Raw, Matt tells a Kevin Owens story, and a PWG referee story ends the brief segment.

Up next, the boys look back at the unique WCW Road Wild PPVs in Sturgis, including the involvement of Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and Jay Leno.

On to the Miz TV segment from Raw in which multiple mid-card wrestlers were used as crash test dummies for Big Show. They talk about Show’s “please retire” go away heat and note that talents like Kane and Mark Henry, while also underutilized, remain fresher than Show. Matt gives a rare glimpse into his time with WWE to say that Show was a moody personality to work with, but points out that someone that’s lived Big Show’s abnormal life can’t necessarily be blamed for having an attitude.

From there, we learn a little about Kevin, including where he grew up and when he started watching wrestling. He talks about being at the Royal Rumble to see the Rock vs. Mankind I Quit match. That leads to some Dewey Foley-as-WWE-writer talk and the boys wonder why Eva Marie is on WWE TV but Noelle Foley is not. They go on to discuss Jim Cornette’s recent anti-Islamic comments and wonder why The Rock’s Wrestlemania involvement was announced the way it was.

They then bring it back to Raw to talk VKM getting arrested and compare it to previous arrest angles in wrestling, notably the Attitude Era’s McMahon-Austin angle and The Undertaker’s satanic, cell phone-using character’s incarceration.

The boys speculate who The Rock will fight at WrestleMania and what will happen between now and then. They fantasy book Rock passing the torch to Roman Reigns at Mania and compare it to Hogan’s “torch passing” to Warrior at Mania VI. This feeds to a discussion of Warrior’s extremist attitude and demeanor and how people want to ignore it after his HOF return and subsequent death. That raises the question of “Can you put The Freebirds in the HOF next year after the Confederate flag flap earlier this year?”

About six minutes of Lemmy eulogy ensues. Little to no wrestling thread here so if you like Lemmy, enjoy. If you don’t care, that’s six minutes you can save yourself.

The boys look ahead to this weekend’s PWG event. They run down the card and speculate on who will win and which match(es) could steal the show.

Who’s your favorite wrestler? Guests first, and Kevin chooses Chris Benoit as his all-time favorite, which is rough to tell people, but he was great and had great matches so it is what it is. His current favorite is Kevin Owens and the group discusses the latest Owens-Ambrose-Neville angle. Vince goes with John Cena this week because he just came back from his break and he’s currently in two movies. Matt goes with Mojo Rawley as his favorite because of how he comes off on Breaking Ground and his energy in the ring. The show closes with Kevin admitting that he likes Dana Brooke.

OVERALL REVIEW

I’m not trying to be mean, but with Tom gone, I thought the guest replacement added very little and I didn’t love hearing his voice. There was a lot of jumping around and various subjects hit on, and I like that, but this is the most lukewarm I’ve been on this show ever. Check it out and tell me I’m wrong and an idiot. I can take it.

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