Straight Shooters

The very last WCW Clash of the Champions took place on August 21, 1997 in Nashville, TN at the Municipal Auditorium. It drew 4,122 fans and popped a 3.64 rating on TBS.

Vaughn and Nick take a deep dive into the matches, happenings, and see just how far Sting came from the up-and-comer from last week's deep dive into the very first Clash of the Champions to his crow character nine years later.

The results (courtesy of prowrestlinghistory.com):

• Steve McMichael pinned Jeff Jarrett (8:07) to win the WCW U.S. Title.

• Raven pinned Stevie Richards (5:01) in a "no DQ" match.

• Alex Wright pinned Ultimo Dragon (13:55) to win the WCW TV Title.

• WCW Cruiserweight Champ Chris Jericho pinned Eddie Guerrero (6:41).

• Psicosis, Silver King, Villanos IV & V beat Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, Hector Garza, & Lizmark J. (4:52) when Psicosis pinned Calo.

• Ric Flair & Curt Hennig beat Konnan & Syxx (5:09) when Hennig pinned Konnan.

• WCW Tag Champs Scott Hall & Randy Savage (sub for Kevin Nash) beat Diamond Dallas Page & Lex Luger (9:55) when Hall pinned Luger.

Plus the post-main event appearance of Sting with a vulture, the Dinner & A Movie segments, Michael Buffer, and more on this episode!

But before we get into that, we have another very real discussion about Breonna Taylor and how justice was not served in her case. This is what the protests are about. It takes no energy to just listen to people who don't look like you.

We talk about the passing of Road Warrior Animal, who passed away at the age of 60. We also discuss Retribution and the terrible storyline continuing this week on WWE television as now the group has contracts and terrible names! Good stuff, WWE.

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The very first Clash of the Champions took place on March 27, 1988 in Greensboro, NC at the Greensboro Coliseum. It drew 6,000 fans and popped a 5.6 rating on TBS. Oh, and it also went head-to-head with WrestleMania IV.

Vaughn and Nick take a deep dive into the matches, happenings, and ponder if things turned out differently.

The results (courtesy of prowrestlinghistory.com):

NWA TV Champ Mike Rotunda pinned Jimmy Garvin (2nd Rnd - 1:10) in an "amateur" match.

NWA U.S. Tag Champs The Midnight Express (Eaton & Lane) beat The Fantastics (Fulton & Rogers) (10:15) via DQ.

The Road Warriors & Dusty Rhodes beat The Powers of Pain & Ivan Koloff (3:39) in a "barbed wire" match when Animal pinned Warlord.

Lex Luger & Barry Windham beat Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (9:35) to win the NWA Tag Title when Luger pinned Anderson.

NWA World Champ Ric Flair drew Sting (45:00). Gary Juster, Sandy Scott, and Penthouse Pet Patty Mullins were the judges.

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

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Matt Hardy suffered a scary fall at Saturday's AEW All Out pay-per-view where he was knocked unconscious for nearly a minute. Thankfully, the decision was made to stop the Broken Rules Match between him and Sammy Guevara. Minutes later, the doctor cleared Hardy and they resumed the match. The next day, Tony Khan said Hardy did not have a concussion and many people apologized to him, and respected wrestling reporters did not do additional research. This really irked Nick Piccone, so he goes All In (pun intended) on AEW, Tony Khan, and the doctor who "cleared" Hardy (who is currently NOT cleared to wrestle... wonder why) at the 18:30 mark.

Then Vaughn Johnson takes WWE to task for the façade that is "independent contractors" where there's nothing independent about being a WWE talent, especially with a new edict that WWE contracted talent cannot use third-party apps. Is Vince taking money out of their pockets? Will they get that money back under a WWE-led app? Why can't they get a bus or a plane to get the talent around instead of having the talent pay for their own rental car and hotel expenses? Why is this still happening in 2020? (We know they're not really traveling much due to the pandemic, but this has been an issue for a loooong time, so we explore it more.)

Before we get into all of that, we hit on the TV ratings and Dynamite hitting over 1 million viewers unopposed coming off All Out, while NXT remained around 800,000+ ish for their two Super Tuesday shows, and discuss why NXT should permanently move to Tuesday nights.

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

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What made us want to deep dive into No Holds Barred: The Movie?

We honestly have no clue. But we did it. And it was something. This deep dive is actually longer than the actual running time for the movie.

Who was Rip? Why was Samantha cast as the bad person that Rip needed to forgive? Why did we celebrate Rip killing two people? Why is Brell a movie version of Vince McMahon? Why is Rip's brother named Randy? What did anyone get out of this movie?

Also quite a few WWF cameos.

Join us on our deep dive into the first WWE Studios movie that dropped in June of 1989.

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

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This week, we talk about the real world.

The show starts off with poignant comments from Vaughn Johnson about Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot by a police officer 7 times... and survived. Vaughn begins the episode with a monologue that you need to hear.

Then we get into some wrasslin'. Roman Reigns is back, and the perception of him has been very, very different, especially now. We explore why that is.

Brodie Lee squashed Cody on Dynamite to win the TNT Championship. So why does he seem so much more important as TNT Champion than he did as WWE Intercontinental Champion? We talk about wrestling titles and the meaning behind them

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

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Nick Piccone joins Jon Jansen on the Line Change on Fox Sports The Gambler to discuss WWE SummerSlam.

Recorded August 19, 2020.

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Lex Luger rode across the country inside the bus known as the Lex Express during the summer of 1993.

WWE Network added a video called "All Aboard the Lex Express" to their archives about two years ago, where a bunch of raw footage was sandwiched between the Stars & Stripes Challenge and the SummerSlam 1993 main event featuring Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna for the WWF Championship. This week, Nick and Vaughn took a deep dive into all that raw footage and discussed it all in-depth, which some interesting Easter eggs that Nick uncovered with some local Philly flavor.

You won't want to miss this one!

Before that, however, the guys give their thoughts on the WWE Thunderdome, which debuted on SmackDown Friday night.

Check out our Patreon for Stars and Stripes Challenge Live Commentary - Luger Slams Yokozuna (7/4/93)!

Episode 155 of this podcast is our live commentary of the SummerSlam 1993 main event match!

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: 

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This week, we take another deep dive into an event that took place in Philadelphia at the Spectrum in 1990 - WWF SummerSlam.

It was a double main event! Hulk Hogan returns to take on Earthquake and the Ultimate Warrior defends the WWF Championship against "Ravishing" Rick Rude inside a steel cage... and much more! 

Vaughn and Nick discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly in-depth for nearly 3 hours!

But first, they discuss the current day and the Retribution angle on WWE television. It's just... not good.

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: 

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What is happening in the world of pro wrestling?

After a few weeks of looking at the past and having some fun, this week we turn to the current day. 

RAW Underground made its debut Monday night and it was ... something. Should this be a permanent fixture for the time being on RAW? Will it ... be good? Or will it just be one  of those Vince McMahon things that'll be forgotten about in two weeks?

AEW Heels announced a new membership platform for $49/year, which is supposed to be a "safe environment for engaging in conversation and developing friendships worldwide" with  "virtual meet-and-greets, video conference discussions with industry experts, exclusive AEW talent Q&A sessions, customized merchandise, special promotions, themed parties and more" according to the company's press release.

The reaction wasn't too hot online. Without doing any prior digging, Nick thought it was a response to the criticism the company's faced in regards to their women's division on television. But it's much more than that.

The guys also discuss the rumors of WWE coming to Atlantic City for SummerSlam. 

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

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1999 was a very interesting year in wrestling. This week, we discuss WCW Beach Brawl, which took place from MTV Spring Break in Cancún, Mexico. It was just basically a battle royal, but Vaughn and Nick took voluminous notes to take a deep dive into the event. It might've just been a half-hour,  but there was a lot to talk about. Kid Rock, Jimmy Hart, and Raven called the action on commentary, and even that was just flat-out ridiculous.

The guys also discuss possible plans for SummerSlam taking place outdoors with WWE currently looking to possibly find some place in the Northeast. Where should it be held? Should there be limited fans or no fans? All that and more on this edition of the pod.

Follow us on Twitter [@nickpiccone] [@VaughnMJohnson] [@ShootersRadio]

You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: 

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Exclusive Patreon content: [patreon.com/shootersradio]

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E-mail: [[email protected]]

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