Puro Pourri Podcast

Welcome, one and all, to the first ever Puro Pourri Podcast Christmas Special! Join your intrepid hosts, two of whom are royally hungover and one of whom is getting steadily more wasted on cheap wine in a misguided attempt at solidarity with his stricken brethren, and see how quickly you can guess which is which. In this cornucopia of Christmas cheer, Daniel, David and George shoot the breeze about anything and everything in their inaugural Q&A, tackling such thorny issues as time travel, the ethical dilemma of fancying someone who tried to have foreign aid money diverted to an illegal occupation army, and the best kinds of crisps. Then it's time for a feast of festive frolics, with quizzes, challenges, Christmas wishes and gift-giving. At some point the lads even review a wrestling match. You'll find little puro discussion in this episode, but if you're after good Christmas vibes and a healthy smattering of slightly inebriated fun, then look no further. God bless us, every one!

0:00:00 - How We're Spending Christmas

0:19:00 - Q&A

1:16:50 - WWE Trivial Pursuit

1:39:17 - Mr. Christmas vs. Kevin Mask (NOAH, 24 December 2011)

1:56:32 - The Queen's Speech

2:07:29 - Stardom Streamer Collection Olympics

2:32:47 - Christmas Wishes for 2018

3:02:37 - Secret Santa

And now for something completely different as, following hot on the heels of their series on the humiliation and eventual collapse of the shoot style promotion UWFI, George, David and Daniel cover what Nobuhiko Takada and friends did next; the MMA phenomenon that was PRIDE FC. In this first episode, the boys dip into the formation of the promotion, and review a few fights that really sum up the madness that was the early years of the company; a match where one competitor weighed nearly four times the other, an obvious fix, and a NINETY-minute classic. Along the way your hosts get into a rock legend's questionable political views, the legendary VHS known as Dickie Bird's Greatest Cricketers, and much more besides. Discussing MMA rather than wrestling isn't going to stop the Puro Pourri Podcast!

Matches:

Emmanuel Yarbrough (1-1) vs. Daiju Takase (0-0) (PRIDE FC, 24 June 1998)

Nobuhiko Takada (1-2) vs. Mark Coleman (6-3) (PRIDE FC, 29 April 1999)

Kazushi Sakuraba (8-1-1) vs. Royce Gracie (12-0-1) (PRIDE FC, 1 May 2000)

The Puro Pourri Podcast presents something a little bit different, in the first of a series called #EverythingIsProWrestling. George and David are joined by Rob E. Harmlessly and Benjy (also the Hitman) from ACTIVATE! The Robot Wars Podcast, to discuss the many ways in which the UK TV series Robot Wars is pro wrestling in another form. Along the way we'll discuss robot fighting as a live spectacle, which wrestling commentators would be good in Jonathan Pearce's shoes, the greatest faces and heels among both robots and roboteers, the most hilariously brutal squash matches in Robot Wars, and finally settle the age-old debate regarding who would have won in a fight between Razer and Hypno-Disc. And plenty more, on a very special edition of the Puro Pourri Podcast!

(NOTE: If you are a regular listener to ACTIVATE! this podcast is quite a bit swearier than their usual fare. You have been warned!)

Join the hosts and, returning to the podcast, the TWO TIME! TWO TIME! Puro Pourri Podcast guest Sarah Parkin, as they conclude their look at All Japan Women's Wrestling's Budokan Hall Show in 1985. In this episode the team are privileged enough to bring you analysis, chat and gags about two of the greatest pro wrestling matches of the 80s, but the deep wisdom offered doesn't stop at wrestling, oh no, much as Sarah tried to make it. You'll hear the long-running and never-settled debate over whether Kevin Keegan would have been a better King of the Ring than Billy Gunn, learn the identity of Soundcloud's mystery buyer, and prepare yourself for a post-episode Easter Egg so abstruse that even George didn't understand what it was referencing. As always, enjoy!

Matches:

Devil Masami (c) vs. Chigusa Nagayo (AJW All-Pacific Championship) (AJW, 22 August 1985)

Jaguar Yokota (c) vs. Lioness Asuka (WWWA Championship) (AJW, 22 August 1985)

The good ol' Triple P makes a welcome return to the world of women's wrestling, with Daniel, George and David joined by imaintainthedoublefootstompissilly.com's resident AJW expert Sarah to discuss one of the greatest wrestling shows of all time regardless of gender, AJW's Budokan Hall show from August 1985. In this, the first of a two-parter, Sarah gives us an alternative history of women's wrestling to that presented by WWE (playing the Deborah Lipstadt to Vince's David Irving), the hosts wax lyrical over brick shithouse/violent maniac/pinup/diet guru/bar owner/professional golfer Bull Nakano, throw shade at WWE some more, and get into one of the most chaotic tag team matches in the history of everything, plus all the hearty repartee you've come to expect from the Puro Pourri Podcast.

Matches:

Yukari Omori vs. Monster Ripper (AJW, 22 August 1985)

The Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki) vs. The Atrocious Alliance (Dump Matsumoto and Bull Nakano) (Two out of Three Falls Match) (AJW, 22 August 1985)

Our dive into a trio of notable puro matches concludes with the last of our trilogy. But will it be more Return of the King than Return of the Jedi? (It's the former.) George, Daniel and David present an in-depth look at one of the greatest displays of pro wrestling acrobatics you'll ever see, and along the way take in the genesis of Dragon Gate, class war, male pattern baldness and its role in wrestling psychology, and Daniel and George pit their wits against each other in another thinly veiled parody of a 90s British quiz show.

Matches:

Shin M2K (Dragon Kid, Masaaki Mochizuki and Kenichiro Arai) (c) vs. Crazy MAX (CIMA, Don Fujii and SUWA) vs. Do FIXER (Genki Horiguchi, Magnum TOKYO and Susumu Yokosuka) vs. Italian Connection (Condotti Shuji, Milano Connection A.T. and YOSSINO) (Four-Way Elimination Trios Match for the UWA World Trios Championship) (Toryumon, 30 August 2003)

Strap yourselves down and force your eyelids apart with cocktail sticks, as the boys are back with their second in a trilogy of in-depth looks at classic Japanese pro wrestling matches a little off the beaten track. This time around Daniel, David and George are hurtling back into the dim and distant past (the 1980s) to run the rule over a clash between two of the greatest technical wrestlers the Western world has ever produced. Along the way we'll take in exactly how the UK's most terrifying geezers were produced, which Japanese women's wrestling legend has a burning desire to visit Wigan, and revisit Daniel's love of Last of the Summer Wine in what is alarmingly not a first on this show.

Matches:

Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkel (AJPW, 11 December 1980)

Join George, Daniel and David for the first in a new series called Match Microscope, in which our intrepid hosts tackle a single puro match in detail and tie it in with what it meant to Japanese pro wrestling at the time. Then, in Part 2, the guys welcome Jamie from Dramatic DDT for an expert interview about the DDT promotion, and try to unpick the full story of this most offbeat of promotions. Featuring George making the case for the most underrated high-flyer of his generation, the time a pork cutlet won a pro wrestling belt, the flamboyant enigma that is Danshoku Dino, and all the good cheer you've come to expect from the Puro Pourri Podcast!

Matches:

Kota Ibushi (c) vs. YOSHIHIKO (c)(KO-D Heavyweight Championship and DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship) (DDT, 25 October 2009)

The NJPW vs. UWFI saga marches to its heady climax as David, George and Daniel look at the death rattle in UWFI's dessicated throat. Marvel as Riki Choshu continues his Burial Tour '95-'96, a fat Elvis impersonator shows why he was the most badass action hero of all time, and the guys laugh at Yoji Anjo some more. They also somehow manage to mention a storyline where a sumo wrestler hatches out of an egg not once, but twice. A typical two hours' work from the Puro Pourri Podcast.

Matches:

Riki Choshu vs. Masahito Kakihara (NJPW, 4 January 1996)

Keiji Muto (c) vs. Nobuhiko Takada (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (NJPW, 4 January 1996)

Nobuhiko Takada (c) vs. Shinya Hashimoto (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (29 April 1996)

After our brief diversion into the strange and terrifying world of modern-day WWE, the boys are back on familiar terrain, though no less strange and terrifying. 1995 is solidly behind us as we move into what 1996 meant for the New Japan-UWFI feud, mourn the sad death of Yoji Anjo one more time, gush over one of the greatest wrestlers of all time (and talk about Antonio Inoki as well), and reference Takeshi's Castle even more than usual.

Matches:

Yuji Nagata, Shinjiro Otani and Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Kenichi Yamamoto (NJPW, 4 January 1996)

Yoji Anjo vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki (NJPW, 4 January 1996)

Antonio Inoki vs. Vader (NJPW, 4 January 1996)