PWTorch Livecast with Pat McNeill
Special Guest: Former WCW Wrestler Bob Cook
Aired Live: December 2, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap by Dominic DeAngelo
SUBJECTS COVERED
– Bob’s Jobber Days
– Roman Reigns
– Fans Being Too Sensitive
TIME STAMPS
(2:00) Pat McNeill Intro
(2:50) Bob Cook Intro
(4:40) Bob’s Raw Impressions
(7:25) Did Bob ever request to work with a specific talent or vice versa?
(9:20) Does he feel the role of the enhancement has changed for the positive or negative in recent years?
(10:20) Would there be a proper place for Bob in today’s wrestling world?
(11:55) Why is the stock price of WWE still going strong despite a poor product?
(13:35) If Bob could have been repackaged with a gimmick in WCW, what would it have been?
(15:20) Who was the most over-pushed wrestler in WCW during his tenure?
(16:05) New Breed or The Mob Squad?
(18:20) Caller doesn’t care for Bob’s drugs and booze comments.
(24:40) PWTorch Livecast Poll
(26:30) Sting saved Bob from Bill Watts
(28:00) What jobber in WCW should have got an upset victory Barry Horowitz style?
(30:00) WWE still has enhancement talent
(32:00) Funniest Kevin Sullivan story?
(33:20) Of all the major shows he worked for WCW what was his favorite?
(35:00) Who did Bob wrestle in his retirement match and who would he want to wrestle in a retirement match?
(36:50) What’s the point of people training others when they don’t know how to wrestle?
(38:40) Reigns too damaged to turn heel?
(42:10) Reigns being shoved
(47:40) What divas would Bob like to be pushed?
(49:45) What jobbers does Bob like?
(50:50) What else is Bob watching on TV besides WWE programming?
(56:50) Charlotte mentioning Reid on Raw
(59:00) NXT
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
– Bob says since he’s an older wrestler he just took a bunch of steroids, a bunch of drugs, and is going to get hammered later. (cue kickdrum)
– What’s Bob been working on lately? Dinner and he’s going to work out later. He thinks he’s going to have chili later.
– Bob wasn’t that impressed with Raw. There’s so much talking going on, especially at the start of Raw.
– Has he been following anything else? No, he doesn’t watch TNA and the only time he watched ROH was with a noose around his neck.
– Did Bob ever request to work with a specific talent or vice versa? He never requested to work with someone, but he probably requested to not work with certain people – he brings up Vader and not wanting to work with him. Bob says Jody Hamilton and he knew not to work Bob with him.
– Does he feel the role of the enhancement has changed for the positive or negative in recent years? Bob says it’s both – positive because who wants to watch guys get beat up by Superstars and negative because enhancement talent aren’t getting hired for work anymore.
– Would there be a proper place for Bob in today’s wrestling world? He says no, very unlikely: fewer places to wrestle, fewer places to train. You have guys training that don’t know what they’re doing who are training guys that do not learn properly. Plus the only place to wrestle is the independent scene. Easier than ever to get into wrestling but harder than ever to make it.
– Why is the stock price of WWE still going strong despite a poor product? Pat assumes most people that buy WWE stock probably don’t follow the product. From Bob’s perspective it seems WWE is doing fairly well from a financial standpoint – if they can afford three announcers per show they have to be doing fairly well!
– If Bob could have had a gimmick in WCW what would it have been? Usually it’s not up to the guy, Bob says. Pat says what if he had the opportunity? Probably nothing, which is why he is probably doing nothing today! He likes being a pro wrestler doesn’t like the term “jobber” or “enhancement talent,” but prefers “pro wrestler that just didn’t win too often,” because we all traveled the same way, worked out in the same gym, and shared the same rats from time to time.
– Bob was Masked Superstar and Piranha Steel. Pat says talk about the Piranha gimmick. He said the cool part about that was Angelo Poffo was his manager for a short time. It was a brief gimmick for Global Wrestling. It was fun though.
– Who was the most over-pushed wrestler in WCW during his tenure? He guesses Lex Luger. He doesn’t know if he’d call it over-pushed – they always want to push someone, though.
– New Breed or The Mob Squad? Bob says the New Breed – he knew Chris Champion for many years, isn’t sure if Shawn Royal is still alive. Is he? Pat will check: he can’t see anything, but no news is good news so that might mean he’s alive.
– Caller buzzes in and says he knows Bob’s comments about taking drugs and drinking booze were tongue in cheek, but didn’t care for them. Bob says this caller stressed him out so much that he’s going to do drugs and drink booze after the show.
– Livecast Poll – what’s wrong with Raw?: 49 percent voted for three hours is just too long, 41 percent reciting the same authority storyline for 18 years, 5 percent voted for not enough matches that don’t affect storylines. Bob also agrees with The Authority storyline being awful.
– Pat mentions that Bob had a story he was going to share last time he was on the show about Sting saving him from Bill Watts, but he never told it – so Bill shares: Watts was known to tell guys what he thought very loudly in the room. Bob liked to do comedy stunts in the ring, and Michael Hayes said he thought it would be great but Watts will hate it. After the match, Bill was irate asking who’s idea was that crap and Sting covered for Bob saying that it was his idea. Bill then just went along with it and said don’t do it again.
– What jobber in WCW should have got an upset victory Barry Horowitz style? Bob jokes that he should have, and then Pat asks who was the second most deserving? Bob says George South was a good worker. George proves today that he loves the business today as much as anybody – and he’s a great guy, too.
– Pat says people say that there are no jobbers anymore, but he sees Heath Slater losing all the time. Bob recently saw how WWE categorized jobbers as “props” in a lawsuit which doesn’t look good on them.
– Bob says people complain about Vince McMahon being an evil dictator, but he’s no different than any other boss. You’re not going to like your boss wherever you go.
– Any funny Kevin Sullivan stories? Billy Jack Haynes was sharing a story in the locker room and Sullivan walked up to him and said that was the dumbest story he ever heard. Both agree that Billy Jack was a loon.
– Of all the major shows he worked for WCW what was his favorite? Bob based his favorite place to wrestle all depended on the catering. He just liked working there.
– Who did Bob wrestle in his retirement match and who would he want to wrestle in a retirement match? He actually has a match in January, but the last match he had in WCW was the Road Dogg Jesse James. He wrestled a year ago, too. He doesn’t think he’ll never completely retire. He said when it comes to wrestling the independent scene he prefers to work with people he knows because of so many guys being trained improperly. Bob then mocks Buh Buh Ray Dudley’s way of punching.
– What’s the point of people training others when they don’t know how to wrestle? Pat says probably to make money, but Bob says sometimes they don’t make money. Sometimes guys just love wrestling and they want to keep doing it, even if they don’t know how to wrestle.
– Caller believes that Roman Reigns’s character is too damaged to turn heel. Pat says have him turn heel and have Paul Heyman cut his promos for him. Solution #2 would have him go on tour of all the NBC shows to punch Matt Lauer and Bob Costas. Bob thinks Reigns is a great worker and doesn’t like hearing that he’s washed up. He’s not being shoved down people’s throats.
– Brian from Minnesota calls in and says Reigns is being shoved down our throats, just look at his merchandise in comparison to others on WWEShop.com. They’re giving him more opportunities than they are other people. Bob says obviously Reigns’s merchandise sells or they wouldn’t sell it, no one is twisting your arm to buy anything. Pat says Reigns is positioned where he is because he headlined WrestleMania last year and will headline WrestleMania this year, and that would be probably why he’s got lots of stuff available to buy. Bob says that past WrestleMania match was great. Reigns busts his ass and nobody is very good on the mic nowadays so why criticize him for that. Brian agrees and doesn’t blame Reigns, but blames the fact that nobody is allowed to excel. Everybody’s neutered and you can’t invest. He just doesn’t like that nobody else is given opportunity. How much money has The Authority has drawn? Steve Austin was shoved down his throat and Brian loved it because there was consensus it was his time, but Roman Reigns keeps getting chances.
– Pat brings up Lance Storm’s theory: storyline is that The Authority is choosing a champion that the fans don’t want, so they put somebody as the challenger in hopes that the fans will cheer for them, but it doesn’t work.
– Boris from Chicago calls in and asks Bob what Diva would he liked to be shoved down his throat? Bob goes from a physical appearance standpoint and says not Nia Jax, but Pat says he thinks Boris meant what Divas would he like to see be pushed? Bob actually likes the Divas, but doesn’t think they’re being handled in the best way. He thinks the solution to a three-hour show is more wrestling. Longer matches and less yapping. He commends Charlotte and Becky Lunch on a good match last week.
– What jobbers does Bob like? Bob got along with most of the guys. He goes to a legends lunch every three months in Tampa that Brian Blair puts on.
– What else is Bob watching on TV besides WWE programming? He watches Nashville, Orange Is The New Black, The Walking Dead, Last Man on Earth. He still watches Raw and Smackdown because he loves wrestling – you take the good with the bad. He doesn’t stop watching The Walking Dead even though he hates the character of Morgan.
– Boris wishes wrestling would get back to heels being heels and faces being faces. Pat says the problem is that families go the shows and adult males won’t always like what the rest of the audience likes. Maybe that’s something they need to address, Boris asks Pat how his Thanksgiving was and Pat does the same. Bob asks if anyone shoved turkey down his throat?
– How was Bob’s Thanksgiving? It was nice and quiet, he just spent it with his dog.
– Bob brings up the Charlotte mentioning Reid on Raw. He can’t understand why people flipped out – personally thought it was great. Pat says one person that flipped out was Ric Flair, and Bob says you get loony at that age. He said Michael Hayes and Mike Graham did an angle like that 30 years ago with Eddie Graham, and they did that two months after he died. Charlotte did it in the context of what she said in real life, to get in the business to honor him. Did it make him want to see the match more? Bob says sure – people are oversensitive, if they didn’t do that no one would have been talking about that match. Bob thought the Divas Revolution was going good for a while, but it’s kind of been faltering lately.
– Bob says even NXT has been stinking lately too. Short matches and who wants to see Samoa Joe and Finn Balor wrestle? He’d rather see Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens have a pie-eating contest.
– Bob’s match is in Bradenton, Florida and he’s helping put it together.
– Follow Bob on Twitter @EvelEye1. Bob loves Evel Knievel.
SCORE & REVIEW
6 out of 10: This was an interesting episode to say the least. Bob is quite abrasive and bullish in his thoughts and opinions, which some may find to be entertaining while others (like the one caller) find to be distasteful. He substitutes jokes in favor of legitimate answers for most questions, which can be frustrating or again, entertaining by how you take everything. One thing he is certainly vocal about is his support for Roman Reigns and his annoyance for complaining fans, which is a big highlight of this episode. His thoughts on the Reid Flair angle is one that’s in the minority and his “loony” comment about Ric Flair’s reaction to it is one that most will feel to be out of line (myself included). He also tends to make fun of performers with weight issues, which also doesn’t paint him in a good light. Give this episode a listen if you’re looking for something with a little controversy.
I became a fan of Bob Cook from this. Hilarious and awkward to the point of Andy Kaufman-esque genius. Bob’s brutal put-down of the caller raising concerns over his drugs and alcohol jokes was classic. And the awkward moment when Pat made a light-hearted remark about Evel Knievel only to be told by Bob about how much he loved and respected the man, was timeless. By far the Wednesday guest of the year. Forget him as a guest, I want Bob as a host. Must listen 20/10.