Killing The Town
Release Date: January 2, 2017
Recap By: Andrew Soucek, PWPodcasts.com Editor
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Cyrus and Lance Storm opened up the show talking about some of Cyrus’ upcoming schedule. They move onto discussing the injury Paige suffered at a house show. Storm thinks her career could possibly be over. She keeps getting hurt and might have something really wrong with her neck.
Cyrus claims he’d never seen that spot before (Sasha Banks kicked Paige in the back while she was turned away) and would have refused to take it from anyone. You can’t see the move coming and there’s no way to judge it. It’s stupid! Why would anyone agree to take that move?!?
Storm relayed a time he took a similar move from Chris Jericho in ECW. He’s seen many stiffer kicks and the problem, in this instance, was mainly the bad neck. They go back-and-forth on the move for a bit and question whether it was planned. They agree wrestlers need to take better care of their necks.
Cyrus relays a story about Shane Douglas telling him years ago that he needed to stay above 250 lbs. to help sustain the punishment his body takes. He then questions if smaller sized bodies contribute to so many injuries. Storm agrees and says he advises his students to spend 2 to 3 years in the gym before starting training so they can better protect themselves.
22:40 – Randy Savage WrestleMania Awesome and Awfuls
Savage/Steamboat at WrestleMania 3 is brought up. Both guys love it. Cyrus has seen it 100 times. The match was safely worked and didn’t feature a bunch of crazy spots. It was believable.
The awful match? WrestleMania X’s Savage bout with Crush. Brian Adams was a good guy but the match stunk, the rules were silly, and the ending was terrible.
36:05 – Abyss Interview
Abyss worked the very first TNA pay-per-view ever as Chris Justice. He wasn’t hired full-time until a year later. Only Jeremy Borash and Bob Ryder have been employed there longer. Abyss had been on the indy scene for seven years at that point and his time in Puerto Rico knocked some of the bad habits out of him.
How was Dutch Mantell’s booking in Puerto Rico? Simple. Not complicated. He was big on saving things and using it at the right time. A Savio Vega/Apollo angle once drew 20,000 to a stadium show.
Abyss was really athletic when he started. He had a college football background. His instinct then was to do everything the smaller guys could. It was around 2005-07 that he really understood his role in the company, his character, and how to protect his size. He thought his pairing with Jim Mitchell provided a money act and said the Sinister Minister is one of the top 10 promo guys ever.
Top 3 Favorite Opponents? 1. A.J. Styles. They had some great matches going back to the Wednesday night pay-per-views. Lockdown 2005 was also the first time Abyss main-evented a ppv. It remains his favorite match of all time. 2. Sabu. Their Barbed Wire Massacre match in 2006 was the first time the United States had aired a barbed wire match live on TV. 3? He doesn’t know. The Ric Flair match was surreal as was his match with Mick Foley. Kurt Angle too! He also gave props to Christian for their matches.
Cyrus praised Abyss for his acting ability and his versatility for playing the Joseph Park character. It was an Eric’s idea (I’m assuming he meant Bischoff). Abyss was excited to take on the role to show another layer to his talent. It was also great because it gave his body a rest. He still loves the character. Storm said he has incredible facial expressions.
Storm brings up the barbed wire Christmas Tree Match (Silent Night, Bloody Night). Abyss laughed. He said it was atrocious and a complete catastrophe. He knew going into it that it would be “gnarly.” He’s glad it’s in the past.
1:03:15: Delete or Decay
Storm put over the angle with the Hardys vs. Decay. Abyss said it was so much fun. He talked about shooting the Delete or Decay match at the Hardy compound two or three nights in a row. They got done at 5:30 in the morning and slept until 2pm. He praised Jeremy Borash as the mastermind of the shoot and said J.B. worked together really well with Matt Hardy. Abyss also loved he didn’t have to take any big bumps.
At some point during the interview, they lost Cyrus. He came back though to wrap up the show and they aired a “Best of Cyrus” for 2017 montage.
Review: 7.5/10
I’m a man who likes his wrestling podcasts short (relatively) and sweet. This week’s episode clocked in at a nice 79 minutes and didn’t overstay its welcome. The Paige discussion at the beginning was really interesting and perhaps provides a much-needed warning to young talent. Abyss seems like a genuinely nice guy who is incredibly proud of his work in TNA and is excited to see where the company is headed in the future. The highlight of his segment was talking about the unique shooting situation of the Delete or Decay match. It’s a shame to see Abyss, Crazzy Steve, and Rosemary characters flounder ever since that angle ended. Overall, you won’t find anything mind-blowing here, but it was an episode that kept my attention throughout.
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