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Notes
Intro
1:18 – Question of the Week
4:48 – Show of the Week
8:14 – Match of the Week
11:31 – WWE Raw
20:51 – Ring of Honor
22:38 – Impact Wrestling
29:00 – News
31:33 – Outro
33:00 – The May or May Not be Something Here
Credits
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host / Editor
Ry Mac – Co-host
George Ellinas – Music
Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69PiZRsUvuc
(Unfortunately the video featuring the attackers promo has been removed from YouTube)
What’s the point of having a wrestling match? What’s the point of two (or more) guys (or gals) putting on some spandex (or jean shorts) and staging a fight in the ring? For me, the whole purpose behind this crazy sports/art/theater/TV mash-up of ours is to tell a story. And it’s something that’s not been done to the extent it should be on national TV lately.
I don’t know if it’s the rut running the national circuit of WWE brings or the hunger pangs of being the #2 company, but neither national wrestling company has impressed me in this aspect.
Sure, both have done a decent job lately. Two examples that spring off of the top of my head are:
1) The match we saw Monday on Raw where Christian’s arm was being worked by ADR*. Sure, an injury is one of the most obvious stories a match can tell, but these vets worked it to perfection. Slowly building from arm attacks to the use of the steps to that arm, eventually stopping Christian from hitting the Killswitch. Then, in the end, our Canadian hero pulls the match out with a small package inside cradle.
2) The use of the Figure 4 in the recent KO ladder match on Impact*. The Figure 4 had been a part of the story for weeks, and was Kim’s main method of attacking various competitors via the ring post. The whole match built up to that one moment: when Kim would use the figure 4 on the ladder to hinder her opponent and attain victory. Well told.
That being said and all kudos being given, shouldn’t this be what we see all the time. Too many wrestlers (and yes, Christian is supremely guilty of this too) just go out and do the same thing in the ring. They run through the motions and give us exactly what we’ve seen from them before. It’s boring. And every once it a while it makes me really angry.
One of the worst culprits is Rob Van Dam. I know this guy has a great wrestling mind. And I don’t mind him doing his classic moves. But do you mean to tell me that someone who has been in that many matches as him (and good matches at that) can’t bust out a new move? Some crazy kick? Anything? Instead we’ve gotten the same old RVD both in TNA and since his WWE return.
This is a main reason why I fell in love with the independent federation Chikara (now known as Wrestling Is…). They’ve always told stories in every single one of their matches. From a tag team partner turning on his friends to win a match (see Icarus / Dunkerton vs. Gargano / Taylor from “A Piece of the Action” ) to the Safety Dance being performed to ward off demon opponents*. Each match they have has its own purpose.
Now I am by no means suggesting that a WWE or TNA match stop for a dance break. That would not at all keep with the feel or attitude of either of those organizations. What I’m saying is that the less a match does to tell a story and hold our interest, the more we as wrestling fans use these matches that feature the same old shit for our bathroom breaks.
– Tom Lahdnuh
*Check some links
Christian vs. Del Rio starts at the 56:00 mark
Also be sure to check out our podcast, Side Slam Talk:
The Massive Headache Edition
Listen to this episode
Download this episode (right click and save)
Intro
1:00 – Question of the Week
5:52 – TNA Impact Wrestling
10:25 – Match of the Week
12:12 – Show of the Week
13:10 – WWE Monday Night Raw
25:27 – TNA Impact Wrestling
27:08 – We The People
28:51 – Wrap Up
31:24 – There May or May Not Be Something Here
Credits
RyMac – Co-host/Editor
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host
George Eliinas – Music
Listen to this episode
Download this episode (right click and save)
00:00 – Intro
00:40 – TNA Impact Wrestling Main Event
02:33 – Question of the Week
07:23 – WWE Money In The Bank Review
13:05 – WWE Monday Night Raw
18:53 – WWE NXT
20:22 – TNA Impact Wrestling
31:59 – Wrap Up
Credits
RyMac – Co-host/Editor
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host
George Ellinas – Music
Links
Download this episode (right click and save)
Notes
Intro
1:57 – TNA Impact
4:03 – WWE NXT
5:07 – Question of the Week
12:24 – 0 to 5 Craps: WWE MITB Edition
44:59 – 0 to 5 Craps Recap
45:59 – Outro (Including next week’s QOW)
49:23 – There May or May Not be Something Here
Credits
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host / Editor
Ry Mac – Co-host
Paul Clewell – Guest
Tom Angelo – Guest
George Ellinas – Music
Links
(The song in this is ridiculous ^)
Download this episode (right click and save)
Notes
Intro
1:50 – Question of the Week
5:33 – Show of the Week
9:38 – Impact Wrestling
15:14 – Match of the Week
17:29 – WWE Raw
27:59 – News and Notes
34:01 – Outro (Including Next Week’s QOW)
37:01 – There May or May Not Be Something Here
Credits
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host / Editor
Ry Mac – Co-host
George Ellinas – Music
Links
First off, Happy 4th to everyone in/from the US!
As I’m sure we’ve all noticed, the WWE product has improved ever since one of the worst Wrestlemanias in recent memory. Here I’ll elaborate and highlight on some of the changes the top company has made that have peaked our interest and made the inundation that is WWE TV a lot more tolerable and, dare I say, entertaining.
1) The Divas
The Divas actually have a story! I think that WWE has realized that even the men in their fanbase don’t just want to look at the Divas for two minutes – we want to see them actually do something interesting!
None are better to do that at this moment than Kaitlyn and AJ Lee. These two best friends have put together an intriguing story, using their broken on-screen relationship to fuel the fire. Their match at Payback told a great story as well, as AJ’s head games indirectly paid off and indirectly cost Kaitlyn the title (Kaitlyn taunted AJ for retribution after a finishing spear and was unable to get the three because she took too much time).
With the introduction of WWE’s new Total Divas, we are looking at a potential two-story Diva division. This is a step in the right direction. Hopefully once the reality show ends (or WWE decides to stop taking care of it a la Superstars, Main Event, NXT before it became developmental), WWE still continues to involve its female stars in intriguing parts of the show.
2) Predictability
WWE (or any story, for that matter) is always going to have some element of predictability. These stories have to should make sense, so we should be able to tell where they are heading to some degree. However, in the past WWE has not even tried to throw us any surprises that generate interest at all.
I’m not saying every surprise has to be a Brock Lesnar return against CM Punk. Small stuff like the arrangement the SHIELD matches at Payback (Bryan teaming with Orton instead of Kane) makes us want to see what will happen. And not every surprise needs to take place out of nowhere. The RVD return is a surprise, and we have 4 weeks or so to prepare for it.
All three examples I talked about are proof of the great writing we’ve seen from the creative staff lately. Here’s hoping it continues.
3) Character Depth
In the past few months, we’ve begun to see different sides of characters we love. Daniel Bryan and Zeb Colter have both taken steps to expand on their personalities. Dolph Ziggler is on the cusp of showing us how he functions as a goodie.
We’ve also seen some expansions in characters. Damien Sandow has shown us what he can do by challenging Sheamus to intellectual competitions on Smackdown. We’ve also seen Kaitlyn’s personality take a step forward by envoking some empathy in us do to her lost admirer, broken friendship, and lost title.
We all know that it’s the characters in the ring that makes us love wrestling. I think WWE has realized that they also make us tune in more, buy t-shirts, and come to events. This equals money for them and enjoyment for us.
– Tom Lahdnuh
What improvements and/or deteriorations have you noticed in WWE lately? Join in the conversation with us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/sideslamtalk) (https://twitter.com/sswtom) (https://twitter.com/sideslamrymac)
Also don’t forget to listen to the latest episode of our Side Slam Talk Podcast:
The Frisky Forgiveness Edition
Listen to this episode
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00:00 – Intro
00:33 – Callback To Payback
04:30 – Question of the Week
10:37 – Show of the Week
16:41 – Match of the Week
24:09 – WWE Money In The Bank 2013
27:22 – TNA Impact Wrestling
42:59 – WWE Raw/SmackDown
44:14 – Wrap Up
47:44 – There May or May Not Be Something Here
RyMac – Co-host / Editor
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host
George Ellinas – Music
Download this episode (right click and save)
Notes
Intro
1:28 – Question of the Week
4:52 – WWE Payback
14:39 – WWE Raw
25:59 – TNA
27:53 – News and Notes
28:19 – Outro
31:37 – Sports Minute
Credits
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host / Editor
Ry Mac – Co-host
George Ellinas – Music
Links
Download this episode (right click and save)
Intro
1:11 – Question of the Week
8:42 – Show of the Week
11:04 – Match of the Week
12:21 – TNA Impact
20:19 – News and Notes
22:42 – 0 to 5 Craps – WWE Payback
43:37 – Twitter Questions
47:45 – Outro
49:14 – There may or may not be something here
Credits
Tom Lahdnuh – Co-host / Editor
Ry Mac – Co-host
George Ellinas – Music
Link Dump
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z7ht_the-rock-lilian-garcia-the-people-s_sport#.UbzyfqbD_mI
http://www.tmz.com/2013/06/14/rapper-gunplay-hulk-hogan-world-heavyweight-champion-wrestling-wwf/
http://tv.yahoo.com/video/playlist/daytime/dint-wrestling-legends-unexpected-job-183211124.html
Side Slam Wrestling 