Much Ado About Wrestling

The scholars speculate over the new WWE ID program, and chat about independent wrestling.

The Scholars start things off by exploring all the hypothetical positives and negatives for WWE’s latest recruiting program, WWE ID – which gives a pipeline from the Indies to WWE. They try to parse corporate speak to determine what “financial opportunities” and “mentorship” mean, while contemplating what doors could open and close for any wrestler who signs one of these deals. (04:00)

Then, it’s time for the Word of the Day: Independent Wrestling. They try to differentiate the indies from the territories, talk about incidents that birthed the indies like the NJ Athletic Commission deregulation and the creation of Ring Of Honor through RF Video, and go through the ins and outs of how to stand out as an indy promotion in a crowded landscape. (36:00)

Finally, the scholars come back to everyone’s new favorite segment, the Tony Atlas Truth Index, looking at the truthfulness of some comments about WWE ID from indy promoters, wrestling journalists, and QT Marshall. Plus, Bully Ray said what!? (1:01:50)

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The scholars talk all about the Netflix documentary Mr.McMahon

The Scholars start things off with a new segment, The Tony Atlas Truth Index. They go through statements and designate how truthful they are, such as CM Punk and Drew’s Hell in a Cell match deserved five stars, it is ethical to add injury time to a wrestler’s expiring contract, and The Rock won’t be on the WrestleMania card this year. (04:15)

Then, it’s time for a post mortem on the six part Netflix documentary series Mr. McMahon. They share their initial reactions to watching the documentary, the ethical and non-ethical ways the documentary approached editing & showing a filmmaker’s point-of-view, and what to do when your documentary subject doesn’t want to open up in their interviews. They also discuss what the main questions of the doc are, and if it is successful in answering them. They talk about the most juicy bits from Vince’s statute of limitations remark, Phil Mushnick calling Vince a scumbag, Richard Belzer getting choked out, Stephanie McMahon getting the bad news about Mike Tyson in real time, Tony Atlas getting his pecker touched, Bruce Prichard’s review of the doc, and so much more. They also talk about who they wish got interviewed, and the questions left on the cutting room floor. (26:34)

Finally, the scholars roll with a second helping of the Tony Atlas Truth Index, looking at the truthfulness of some of the biggest quotes from the documentary. (1:08:20)

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The scholars talk about AEW ALL IN 2024, and remember the career of Sid.

The Scholars start things off by discussing the recently passed Sid Eudy, known in the wrestling world as Sycho Sid, Sid Vicious, and Sid Justice. They talk about his look and who he influenced, why he doesn’t come up more casually in conversations of world champions, how his success in wrestling was always a start/stop and lived on the fringes of some of the more infamous political wrestling moments. They also touch on all the powerbombs, the WrestleMania main events, the gruesome leg injury, and unpacking Sid’s personality. (04:15)

Then, it’s time for a post mortem on AEW ALL IN 2024. They start by talking about the most well-told stories on the show, Danielson vs. Swerve & Toni Storm vs. Mariah May. They roll through what worked at the top of the card (Ospreay/MJF), what didn’t work (Mone/Baker), and what didn’t get enough time (Perry/Darby). They dissect the magic that is the AEW Casino Gauntlet match, get giddy about ALL the surprises and returns on the card, and air some gripes about the opening of the show. Finally, they look ahead to the next few months and feuds in AEW. (25:25)

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The scholars talk about SummerSlam fallout, and explore their word of the day: Ace!

The Scholars start things off by discussing SummerSlam. They talk about the title changes, the hell turns, the returns, the friendship bracelets!!! What is the best squad to take on the Bloodline? How did we feel about Ref Cam? Will Rhea Ripley be allowed to do some inter-gender wrestling in a WWE ring? Will SummerSlam be 2 nights going forward? All of these questions and more are answered (05:20)

Then, it’s time for the Word of the Day: Ace. They talk about the origins for the top guy term coming from baseball, why we associate Tanahashi with the term ace, explore just how close New Japan was to closing its doors, and talk about the US Ace John Cena and his upcoming retirement tour. (32:37)

Then, we take a page out of The Ringer’s playbook, and try to determine the lineage of the Pro Wrestling Ace Championship Belt! We start at WrestleMania 1 and go year to year trying to determine who the Ace was, who challenged them, and when the title was vacant. (49:40)

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The scholars make their annual bold predictions, plus talk Wyatt Sicks & preview Forbidden Door!

The Scholars start things off by discussing the big debut of the Wyatt Sicks faction led by Bo Dallas. They talk about the One-er film shot in their debut, and the sit down interview from this week. They try to answer the two big questions in keeping the momentum with this group: What do the Wyatt Sicks want? and how do you tie what makes this group interesting back to a wrestling ring? (06:00)

Then, the Scholars talk AEW Forbidden Door. They take sides in the debate for who should walk out as AEW Champion, Swerve or Ospreay. They also talk about incorporating CMLL, if an AEW wrestler will drop a title to a wrestler from another company, and the magic that is Mariah May being listed as in the corner for both Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa. (26:11)

Then, it’s time for the annual Bold Predictions! The Scholars knock out the superlatives with some safe (and wild) predictions for first time world champs, most over acts, and same face new place (Andrew gets wild here, ngl). (37:45)

Then, they move on to the countdown of 5 bold predictions (from possible to bonkers). How much is TNA going to factor into WWE’s plans for this year? How does Andrew think David Zaslav will respond to TNT losing Inside the NBA and how does it relate to wrestling? And, man oh man, does Tyler have a doozy with what he thinks Vince McMahon will be up to. (56:15)

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The scholars look at Post-Story-Finished WWE and New-Elite AEW, and count down their top 10 Wrestlers & Matches of the 2023-24 Wrestling Calendar!

The Scholars talk about the summer plans for WWE, including the hottest angles (Liv & Dom, Drew vs Punk), the impending departure of Becky Lynch, and Bloodline: The New Class! (06:11)

Then, the Scholars talk AEW Double or Nothing. They recount all the ways this bonkers show reminded them of peak ECW PPVs (fire, chaos, weird table breaks!), look at the future of the Elite vs. other random factions, and Andrew embarrassingly admits that he’s into Jericho’s new Learning Tree character. (19:15)

Then, it’s time for the annual best of lists! The Scholars explain the wrestling calendar (WrestleMania to WrestleMania) and start with the top 10 Matches of the year, highlighting things like the great international crowds this year, the scorn of performers when a match is bumped from the card, and the star ratings of it all. (34:25)

Then, they move on to the top 10 Wrestlers of the year, touching on how many matches a wrestler needs to have in a year to be in consideration, why no tag teams appeared on the list, and how to rate kayfabe performance vs work rate vs consistency. (1:08:00)

Finally, the scholars announce the winner of the Pro Wrestling Tees gift card giveaway!(1:29:20)

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It’s that time of year again to vote for the 7th annual Much Ado About Wrestling Top 10 Matches and Wrestlers of the Year Lists!!!

Vote at the following links:
Match of the Year
Wrestler of the Year

By voting for each respective list, you gain one entry to our random draw for a $50 Pro Wrestling Tee’s gift card!!! *Must be a US Resident*

Voting is open now through May 3rd.

About the Wrestling Calendar:
With no off-season in pro wrestling and multiple global promotions, it’s hard to delineate when a year of wrestling truly begins and ends. In this spirit, we mark the beginning of each “wrestling year” at the Monday after WrestleMania, and ending at the conclusion of the following WrestleMania.

Why do we do this? Simply because it is the largest show from the largest promotion, and one where various long storylines build to a head. It’s the cleanest version of a season finale, a championship game, a gold-medal event as we are going to get.

Criteria for Match of the Year:

Wrestler of the Year Criteria:

The scholars talk the highs and lows from a huge week of professional wrestling.

The Scholars take the minimum amount of time possible to talk through their feelings about Tony Khan’s decision to show backstage footage of CM Punk and Jack Perry’s fight from ALL IN. (03:15)

Then, the scholars give their thoughts on WrestleMania XL. They break down the careful bits of storytelling from the warm night 2 main event, including assigning which wrestler fit which superhero from Avenger’s Endgame. They talk about what felt different in this year’s WrestleMania than in years past. They talk about the non-literal winners of the weekend (Michael Cole, Samantha Irvin, Bayley & Iyo, cinematography) and the losers (bad weather, live musical performances, a total and disgusting lack of Gritty!). (27:00)

Finally, the scholars look ahead to WWE’s post-Bloodline future. They talk about how Cody can avoid cooling off now that he’s finished his story, what the next steps are for the likes of Roman Reigns and The Rock, they talk about who should be the focal point of the next batch of longterm WWE storytelling, and fantasy book SummerSlam, The Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania XLI.(1:05:48)

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The scholars answer 40 burning questions about WrestleMania XL!

The Scholars rundown the entire WrestleMania week by answering 40 questions in a marathon recording sesh! But first, Andrew talks to Tyler a bit about WWE Next Gen on RokuTV. (05:00)

First, they look at the CM Punk- Ariel Helwani interview, contemplate the place of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale, look at the WWE Hall of Fame lineup, and talk about the early start time of NXT. (08:45)

Then, the scholars look at night 1 of WrestleMania. They talk about the second year in arow with a tag team main event, the layers of Rhea vs Becky, how to keep Dom vs. Rey going, and pitch some new traditions for WrestleManias in the future. (36:12)

Finally, the scholars look ahead to night 2 of WrestleMania. They talk ALLLL about the possible outcomes of the main event, how they expect night 1 to preview night 2, how extreme the Philly street fight will be, what The Rock will do next, and what we will be left with once the event is over.(1:06:50)

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The scholars react to AEW Revolution, then recount the unique and enduring career of Sting!

The Scholars talk about how life is getting in the way of their wrestling fandom, and preview what the pod’s WrestleMania schedule will be like. (00:35)

Then the scholars recap AEW Revolution, including talking about Tyler’s attendance at the event, the stellar undercard, the joys of watching Will Ospreay in person, the perils of high spots involving glass, and the perfection of Sting’s farewell match. (04:00)

Then, the scholars look at the outstanding career of Sting. They talk about the dumb luck that got Steve Borden to try wrestling, the early attempts at ripping off the Road Warriors, the early promise of Surfer Sting in the transition from NWA to WCW, becoming the Crow, turning down WWE to become TNA’s ICON, the eventual WWE run, and the surprise AEW farewell tour. They talk about what made Sting so popular, and why Steve Borden feels like a one of one in wrestling. Tyler is put on the spot to try to rank Sting in the hall of greatest wrestlers ever. (31:43)

Finally, the scholars look at what is to come in this soft reboot of AEW. Should the next champ be Okada or Swerve? Is the impending arrival of Mercedes Mone what the women’s division needs to take off? Is now the time for Bryan Danielson to get gold in AEW, and who should he take a title from? Is Dynasty one too many PPVs for the company? And is its name a hint at an MJF return? (1:16:10)

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Listen to Andrew pitch a Simpsons Series Finale