Grapple City Rewind

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Collision in Korea 1995 is one of the strangest events in wrestling history. WCW and New Japan brought a massive show to North Korea, drawing over 300,000 people… but something felt completely off. The crowd barely reacted, the atmosphere was eerie, and even solid matches felt lifeless. We break down the weird vibe, standout moments like Flair vs Inoki, and why this is a “watch it so you don’t have to” show.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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Hulk Hogan. The Rock. Sixty-eight thousand screaming fans in Toronto. And somehow… a broomstick gets involved.

This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink head back to WWF WrestleMania X8 (2002) — the strange transitional moment where the Attitude Era crashes head-first into nostalgia. The nWo has arrived, Limp Bizkit is blasting through the arena, and the WWF is suddenly leaning hard on legends again.

But nothing on this show matters more than Icon vs Icon:
Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs The Rock.

What starts as a simple dream match quickly turns into one of the loudest crowd reactions in wrestling history, with Toronto hijacking the entire narrative and accidentally resurrecting Hulkamania in real time.

Along the way we also get:

• Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Scott Hall in a beer-soaked brawl with the nWo lurking
• Ric Flair bleeding buckets against The Undertaker in a brutal fight for the Streak
• Kurt Angle and Kane throwing each other around like refrigerators
• The chaotic Hardcore Championship insanity
• Nu-metal everywhere you look
• And one of the weirdest tonal WrestleManias WWE ever produced

It’s legends, blood, nostalgia, and a crowd that refuses to follow the script.

Because sometimes WrestleMania history isn’t written by the booking.

Sometimes the crowd decides.

🎙️ Grapple City Rewind — where we revisit the wildest, weirdest, and most unforgettable wrestling pay-per-views of the VHS era.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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Grapple City Rewind heads back to the gritty ECW Arena in February 1996 for CyberSlam 96, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down the chaotic compilation-style event featuring Taz squashes, a completely unhinged Brian Pillman segment, dancing babyface Bubba Ray Dudley, triple dog collar madness, and the only true wrestling clinic of the night Too Cold Scorpio vs Sabu, we debate whether ECW’s wild run-in heavy style still holds up, question Meltzer’s dud-heavy ratings, revisit Cactus Jack vs Shane Douglas in a brutal chair shot spectacle, compare modern crowd energy after attending AEW Dynamite live, and discuss The Smashing Machine and how MMA crossover stories shaped the aura of workers like Taz during the 90s

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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Grapple City Rewind heads to No Way Out 2000 as Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down Kurt Angle vs Chris Jericho, Dudleys vs New Age Outlaws, the infamous Mae Young pregnancy storyline with Mark Henry, Kane vs X-Pac chaos, Too Cool vs The Radicalz, Big Show vs The Rock controversy, and the brutal Hell in a Cell main event between Triple H and Cactus Jack. Was this Attitude Era PPV a hidden gem or just main-event dependent? We give it our Fast Forward, Play, or Rewind rating and debate whether the Foley vs Triple H war saves the show.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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WWF No Way Out 2001 is where the Attitude Era officially flies off the rails.

We’re talking shopping carts, stop signs, barbed wire, blood everywhere, and a level of sleaze and chaos that feels less like wrestling and more like a bad decision made at 3 a.m. This show exists in that weird space between WrestleMania hype and total creative insanity—and somehow manages to be both fascinating and exhausting.

Brad and Aaron break down a night that includes:

• A hardcore match that immediately asks “what am I signing up for?”
• Vince McMahon being aggressively gross
• Jerry Springer–level storytelling disguised as wrestling
• A brutally violent Three Stages of Hell match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H that absolutely did not need anything to follow it
• One of the most unhinged vibes we’ve covered on the show so far

Is this peak Attitude Era madness? A cautionary tale? Or just wrestling on meth?

We sort it out so you don’t have to.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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We rewind to January 20, 2002 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta for Royal Rumble 2002, a stacked card sitting right on the edge of the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression. From WWF New York time-capsule chaos to Vince McMahon absolutely loving being evil, we break down every match, every Lawler quip that aged like milk, and every massive star moment. The Rumble itself is loaded with returns, all-time pops, and one Tough Enough contestant who chose death. Plus, we kick things off with predictions for Royal Rumble 2026 in Riyadh, argue about AJ Styles’ retirement rumors, and debate whether Dasani water can ever be intimidating. All killer, very little filler — it’s a full rewind.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink dive into WCW Souled Out 1998, an NWO-heavy pay-per-view packed with strong undercard wrestling, baffling booking decisions, and peak late-90s WCW chaos. From lucha libre madness and Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio, to Bret Hart’s WCW in-ring debut against Ric Flair, plus the infamous Dusty Rhodes heel turn, we break down what works, what absolutely doesn’t, and why WCW felt both stacked with talent and structurally broken at the same time.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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The Attitude Era doesn’t explode overnight — it creaks, leaks, and occasionally catches fire.
Royal Rumble 1998 is the moment where everything finally tilts forward.

Before the Rumble even starts, Terry Funk and Mick Foley try to kill each other with chairs, chainsaws, and zero regard for OSHA. Stone Cold Steve Austin is a marked man, the NWA briefly wanders onto WWF television to tell everyone to stop having fun, and JR delivers some of the most unhinged one-liners of his career.

We break down:

• Foley becoming the only man to enter one Rumble as three different people
• Why this match feels more alive than most modern Rumbles
• The Nation collapsing in real time
• Kane, caskets, gasoline, and the question: how many times can The Undertaker die?
• Shawn Michaels doing extremely heel shit while holding the championship together with tape
• Why this might be the most grounded version of the Attitude Era before everything goes completely off the rails

It’s chaotic, funny, occasionally stupid, and full of stakes that actually matter — the Royal Rumble operating exactly as it should.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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Season 2 kicks off with Grapple City Rewind diving headfirst into Royal Rumble 1991, a bizarre time capsule of early-90s WWF packed with war-era patriotism, Hulk Hogan propaganda, and some truly questionable booking. Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down the entire card, from the Rockers’ polarizing opener to the shocking title change that sacrificed Ultimate Warrior, all the way through a Royal Rumble match where America apparently wins if Hogan wins. Along the way, they debate bear hugs that never end, creepy Macho King segments, confusing Rumble rules, forgotten entrants, and why this show feels aggressively “of its time.” Plus: current wrestling talk, listener mail, and the announcement of next week’s rewind—Royal Rumble 1998.

(626) 657-SLAM

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.

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In this special Grapple City Rewind Bonus Episode, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink head back to NXT TakeOver: London (2015) to revisit one of the defining matches of peak-era NXT: Demon Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe.

This is a classic David vs. Goliath clash—cut-to-the-bone athleticism versus raw power and brutality. The hosts break down Bálor’s demon persona, the crowd-driven entrance that helped redefine modern wrestling presentation, and why this version of Finn feels so distant from his current main-roster role. They also dig into Samoa Joe’s prime-era performance, highlighting his speed, physicality, and why this match stands above much of his later work.

From the indie-style crowd reactions to standout spots like Joe’s full-speed dive and the ever-looming Muscle Buster, this episode explores why NXT in 2015 felt like the closest thing WWE ever got to a true indie product—and why this match remains underrated a decade later.

(626) 657-SLAM

Email: [email protected]

IG: @grapplecitypod

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Music by Bradley Palermo & The Shadow Queens.

Created by  Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink.