Beyond The Beermat

With Wrestlemania 35 now firmly consigned to the pages of history, Beyond The Beermat returns to deliver a very different kind of review. In fact, this one might be about a bigger bout than any that was even on the card. The fight between our own cynicism and optimism. Between enjoying the moment and not caring because it won't ultimately matter. Really rather unusually for a modern WWE show, when it appeared that the choices were obvious there was no swerve for the sake of it. We've become so used to not getting what we want as an audience that when it happened, thoughts immediately turn to the future where perhaps a sting in the tail may lie. In a business that often relies on the promise of our heroes getting their ultimate victory at a later date, what happens when that day is today? So come and join us for some post Mania drinks as we take a look back at the event as a whole as well as at the relationship between WWE making us happy and how that sometimes has the opposite effect. We're sure to put a smile on your face.

Both as part of the build up to years Wrestlemania and also to celebrate finally making it to a quarter century of episodes, we're going to take you back to Houston in 2009. A show that contains what some say is the best WWE match ever. Even more impressively, an event for which we were in attendance. The experience of watching something live in person versus being at home is something else entirely. Also we're going to get into how our memories of the PPV compare with watching it back again, parts of it for the very first time in over a decade. It was a show for the ages both in terms of it being a live experience as well as a one of the most polarizing Wrestlemania's of the modern era. Join us as we go through this historic show beer by beer, match by match and segment by segment. The good, the bad and the Santina Marella.

Just when you thought you could have your fill of intoxicated wrestling analysis for one day, along comes another incredible dose of solo Beyond The Beermat goodess. Over the last few years as it's grown, NXT has really give WWE programming as a whole a real shot in the arm. The sheer quality of matches, number of exciting young talents coming through and overall warmth from a fanbase that has been through the ringer these last few years has lead to an unprecedented and genuine wave of optimism for the future. But is it as simple as that? What are the unseen bumps along the road that may derail those making the step up to the main roster from fulfilling their obvious potential? Before we get on to the main event of the wrestling calendar, make sure you make an appointment with the best podcast out there. It's HHH approved, we hope.

As part of the build up to this years Wrestlemania and as part of our commitment to our amazing listeners, we're giving to you the first of a two edition solo podcast extravaganza. That's a really glorified way of describing one man drinking alone, talking wrestling to whomever will listen. Traditions are always an interesting – if not fraught – concept in today's day and age. We're so used to change in wrestling, sometimes for the sake of it, that the things we hold on to simply because that's the way they used to be done are actually now more important than ever. Just because Wrestlemania is the established place where feuds will end doesn't mean that should always be the case. As we've seen in more recent years, it's actually become where they begin. So as we're here, just twenty four hours removed from the grandest stage of them all, let's have a good look at the encounters that mattered; whether they started something big or finished things once and for all.

We are hot on the heels of a historic event and if you thought that Beyond The Beermat would let it pass without getting ourselves down to the nearest watering hole and going all in the you seriously doubt our commitment to you the listener, the art of wrestling itself and – of course – the allure of a drink or ten. All is not sunshine and roses however, for though the road to Mania rolls on and leads us ever closer to what promises to be a great show, still there is trepidation in the days ahead. In other words, while everyone else is getting rightly hyped for the first ever women's match to main event the grandest stage of them all, we have some concerns. A whole bag full of them. We're hitting the ground running, coming back with a bang as we go through every possible angle of all the headline matches going into Wrestlemania 35. The good, the bad and the problematic.

Though it may not always be the case, the ties that bind wrestling to more conventional media are stronger than some would care to admit. Played out in – and around – the squared circle, the stories that are told still connect the same dots that your favorite TV shows would. Of those aspects which they have in common, there is one that has a much more unsuccessful track record than the others. One thing is for sure though. They love to leave us hanging. This episode takes a hard look at the process of continually trying to pull in viewers and how wrestling has tried to hook them with classic writing cliches. For one reason or another though, they've ever quite managed to do it right. Take out your magnifying glasses and put on your Sherlock Holmes hat as Beyond The Beermat examines all the WWF who-dunnits and all the WCW I-can't-believe-they-dunnits over the years. We can assure you, the payoff in this podcast is better than Hornswoggle.

WARNING: The following podcast contains a large amount of drunk talk. Beyond The Beermat are experienced inebriated conversational specialists and as such we implore you not to try this at home. Smackdown celebrates getting to a thousand shows and we wanted to join in with all the festivities. There's no better way to show our appreciation than for a very special episode taking a deep dive into the blue brand. From it's humble beginnings as a simple catchphrase days, through a roster split (or two) and into today. Not to mention it's rocky relationship with Raw, we examine just how this show has carved it's own unique place into wrestling folklore. From great moments we've seen over the years to possible surprises in store for the upcoming landmark show itself, get ready for a momentous podcast to go along with it.

Wrestling has many ways to draw your attention, to grab your imagination from an early age and ever let go. Quite possibly the most flamboyant and ultimately biggest of these are the superstars themselves. These larger than life athletes decked in these incredible costumes. So in today's WWE we have to ask ourselves, where have they all gone? Even more alarmingly, did we make them all go away?

Beyond The Beermat is back to confront perhaps the deadliest question of all, did we just get old? We're going to have to have a serious look at what makes a gimmick great and perhaps in the modern context even redefine what it means altogether. As times have changed, so too have tastes. The types of personalities had to adjust accordingly. This episode we're going to trace it all back from childhood and see if our hunger for more realism went too far or did the outlandish gimmicks of our youth simply outrun their course. It becomes – in all senses of the word – a question of character.

Everyone has their own line to be drawn when it comes to the level of brutality in wrestling. That's the way it's always been. It's not the way we've always been shown it though. The hardcore revolution in the late nineties and it's legacy still holds a fond place in the hearts of fans of the time. To the point where some would say that WWE moving away from that and playing it safer – especially in regard to their policy regarding blood in match – is a big factor in the product as a whole suffering. Coming off the Hell in A Cell PPV and specifically a spot involving Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy, there's a real question to be answered in regard to the perception of violence and it's wider role in helping tell the stories that they're trying to tell us. So put your barbed wire baseball bats down and wrap your ears around our latest offering. It's bloody good you know.

When the stars align and something works so far above all expectations, it's only natural to try and recreate the set of circumstances that allowed for such great success in the first place. That's why all our good ideas come at the four/five pint rage and we continue to hit that mark as regularly as possible. But sometimes you fall back on the same idea too often, long after it's continued producing the same initial results. Which is how you end up every few years with a tired old rehash of Steve Austin vs Vince McMahon. Beyond The Beermat is back and we most definitely have the power to take a long look at how the on screen role of those in charge came to be such a important one and all the ingredients that went into that. What's more we fast forward to today and discuss whether there's even a need for this kind of character in 2018 let alone why it continues to be relied upon. So grab yourself a couple of Steveweisers and settle in for another in depth look into the wonderful world of professional wrestling. You know it's best for business.