We’ll start the show this week discussing two men Les has great history with and fond memories of: The Mongolian Stomper Archie Gouldie, and the great Gordon Solie (18:41), whose 87th birthday would’ve been this week. Then we’ll turn our attention to the AJ Styles/Chris Jericho match (36:17) and talk about why Les thinks it was a terrific match that may not be getting the credit he thinks it deserves. We’ll segue into thoughts on the Royal Rumble and Raw (42:01), shed some light on how one of Jim Cornette’s favorite phrases came to be (51:04) and close things out by going into the mailbag (55:06). Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
It’s the Royal Rumble edition of the show! After Les and Vic get done discussing a different kind of rumble; people who just don’t know how to act on the road or in the supermarket when snow is coming, we’re pretty much all about WWE (12:00) the rest of the way! Should AJ Styles be in the Rumble, is the Rumble a good place to introduce new faces you have high hopes for, the less than inspired start to Wrestlemania season, what appears to be a lack of enticing matchups for Mania, Royal Rumble predictions and more~
On this week’s Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa look back at the days when you could count on a bunch of roster cuts from WWE shortly after Wrestlemania and wonder if it might be time for that to happen again.
We’ll also talk Sting in the WWE HOF (29:01) and remember the night one of Les’ dear friends was honored by WCW in a very moving ceremony (34:36). As always, we’ll close the show with the mailbag (42:48).
Les and Vic cap off a very newsworthy week in the world of wrestling with lots of thoughts about the New Japan 4, the rash of shoulder injuries, and 50/50 booking in WWE.
After starting off with New Japan, we’ll tackle a couple of issues mentioned in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: the eye opening stats regarding 50/50 booking in WWE during 2015 (23:25) and the proliferation of shoulder injuries within WWE and the strength and conditioning program (28:18). Les has an interesting take on the injuries and workout regimens given his time a wrestler, wrestling trainer, bodybuilder and certified professional trainer for a number of gym and organizations. We’ll wrap by emptying the mailbag (49:28).
This is a FREE SHOW so please spread the word! There are as many as 20 weekly members-only shows, including at least 3 shows per week featuring Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez. Sign up at wrestlingobserver.com for all of this new audio content, plus over 7,000 archived shows dating back to 2005! Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
The last show of the year is old school heavy! Lots of talk about the best president in the history of the NWA as well as the demise of the territories, but Les and Vic start this week with high praise for Alberto Del Rio and even a booking idea regarding a new team and new alliance for 2016. From there, we’ll discuss the legendary Sam Muchnick (13:25) who was one of the main figures in building and running the NWA for many years and segue into talking about a thread on the board regarding the demise of the territories (32:26). Les lived through it, so he gives his take as someone who was in the business and not in WWF at the time. Thanks so much for listening; we hope you have a great weekend and a Happy New Year~!
Les and Vic return just in time for Christmas with some catching up on what we missed by being “on assignment” last week. Vic will start by explaining this assignment, which was more like absent mindedness and about how this doesn’t quite feel like the holiday season.
After that, we’ll discuss (8:51):
-Roman Reigns beginning to turn the corner with the audience
-The Slammys
-A match Les has seen enough of on WWE TV
-Some things that have and somethings that should change on Raw with all the talk of changes coming to the show
-Is John Cena’s impending return a good or a bad thing for Roman Reigns
Then, it’s time for the mailbag (30:58) where we’ll answer questions on Dusty Rhodes booking himself as the eternal top babyface in Jim Crockett Promotions, the injury rate of guys today as opposed to when Les wrestled, and a lot on the Performance Center and guys who are in Orlando as opposed to the main roster. Thanks for listening, have a great weekend and a Merry Christmas~!
A special show this week as Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa are joined by the one and only Jim Cornette to talk about his latest book,Tuesday Night at the Gardens – Pro Wrestling in Louisville! Of course there are a number of other subjects tackled, including a lot regarding the state of the independent scene and some of the workers who are a part of it not taking their craft as seriously as they should.
Among the other topics discussed are:
– The state of the indy wrestling scene and those not taking the craft seriously
– The collectible and convention business today, including the one item Jim wishes he still had
– A lot on the lack of emotional investment in the product today, why that is, and is there any way to change it at all, including whether or not you inform the audience that change is coming
– How Jim came to get his hands on the material that comprise the Mid Atlantic DVD collection which is also still available at jimcornette.com
– What it was that made two different versions of the Midnight Express such great teams
– Why it was easier to become polished professional wrestlers back in the day as opposed to today
– Jim’s favorite match in the Louisville Gardens as a fan, and his most memorable moment in that venue as someone involved in pro wrestling…and more!
Les and Vic are back this week talking a little bit about the state of WWE as written by Dave in the lead story of this week’s Observer, and then it’s on to the main portion of the show, which is a review of Smoky Mountain Wrestling #118 from April 23, 1994 (14:49) on the WWE Network! We decided to tackle the episodes which feature Les on commentary and that particular episode is the first one of the SMW shows currently in the WWE Network vault that Les appears in. In going through the show, we’ll be talking about Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, Jake Roberts, Bob Caudle and many more! We’ll finish up with a dip into the WW mailbag (67:10). Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Les and Vic return on Black Friday so that you can forget about the bills you just rang up and enjoy some Wrestling Weekly~! We’ll talk about Les’ harrowing experience at a store that was open after Thanksgiving dinner with some early sales, then get down to the business of pro wrestling. We’ll do that by discussing the late Tommy Gilbert (7:26) and the Tennessee territory, then spend time covering a myriad of WWE subjects (24:58) including Sheamus, low ratings, Mick Foley’s comments this week, Sami Callihan leaving NXT, and the rumor mill regarding some recruiting that may be going on. Then we’ll open up the mailbag (60:47) to talk wrestlers in commercials, a tour of Japan that Les passed on and why, and more. This is a FREE SHOW so please feel free to share this show and spread the word! Wrestling Weekly is one of as many as 20 other weekly members-only shows, including at least 3 per week from Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez! Sign up at wrestlingobserver.com for all of this new audio content, plus over 7,000 archived shows dating back to 2005 and take advantage of the big Black Friday sale price of just $3.99 for one month! Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Les and Vic return to discuss the events of the week including some time spent on the great Nick Bockwinkel, which also leads us to some stories about other wrestlers who suffered similar fates as Nick. From there, we’ll get Les’ take on the show closing angle from Raw this week with Charlotte and Paige (18:15), people walking on eggshells and why someone with the status that Ric Flair holds in this business felt the need to speak somewhat cryptically when it came to this particular situation. We’ll spend a short time on the unsinkable battleship that is TNA (35:25) and their new deal with Pop TV and close with our Survivor Series predictions (41:31). Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
