Talking Taker

It's a special simulcast between Watchalong Wrestling and Talking Taker on this BONUS episode to get you ready for the Royal Rumble! Friend of the show and Pod Street Krew member Tommy On The Spot joins Alex Doriot for a unique countdown of their Top 10 "Non-Rumble" matches from the Royal Rumble PPV. That's right - we're ranking our favorites all of the classic singles, tag team, World Title, street fight, and Last Man Standing (so many Last Man Standing) matches from the Rumble undercards over the past 35 years. There's a lot of true classics from these shows that get a bit overlooked due to the Royal Rumble matches themselves, so we're shining a light on them with this special countdown. What will top our lists? What legends didn't make the cut? And are there any Mountain Dew Pitch Black matches on our lists? You'll have to listen to find out! 

Check out this month's sponsor SmartLabels on Amazon - It's Organization Made Easy with their innovative QR Code labeling system!

Subscribe to Tommy's YouTube Channel Watchalong Wrestling and check out the video version of this episode as well as all of Tommy's recent content looking back at some classic Royal Rumbles!

We're ringing in the new year with the tolling of The Undertaker's bell in yet another Royal Rumble as we look back 25 years to a classic Attitude Era melee on an all new Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their encyclopedic exploration digging up The Dead Man as they revisit a Rumble match The Lord Of Darkness didn't technically participate in, but certainly played a major part of as he makes a sacrifice mid-match to strengthen his ever-growing faction. Really it's just an excuse for us to do another Royal Rumble Watch-Along - but it really is an iconic moment and a significant piece of The Undertaker's lore as he takes the former Mabel under his wing and transforms him into Viscera. Of course we'll give you the timestamp to watch along with us but as always it'll be just as fun if you only listen. Along the way we'll discuss some of the greatest fans we've ever seen and all of their head-bobbing and crotch-chopping action, an incredible array of signs in the audience, who wins the worst-dressed Superstar of the match award, sweaty wet shirts, the many active AEW performers in the match including a one-shoed Billy Gunn, the surprising star power of Mabel, Kane's awesome blink and you miss it performance, Chyna's big moment, the big shows WCW and ECW put on around this time, and how well the storytelling between Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon holds up to this day. Plus we look back at a year of Undertaker Sightings in 2023 including his award-winning NXT appearance and his presentation of the Big 12 Championship! Download, enjoy, Happy New Year, and Taker Easy! 

Check out this month's sponsor SmartLabels on Amazon - It's Organization Made Easy with their innovative QR Code labeling system!

We're looking back at the year in Undertaker Toy Collecting on a special bonus episode of Talking Taker! Alex Doriot is joined by friends and P.S.K. members Stephen Zieman and Randy Turco to discuss all of The Dead Man figures, Funkos, bobbleheads, inflatables, and more that put a goozle on our wallets in 2023. We review every Taker release from the past year, pick our favorites, look ahead to 2024, come up with some fantasy figures, and much more. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!

Follow Stephen on Twitter and be sure to check out the Collecting Deadman podcast! 

Follow Randy on Twitter and check him out the Collecting Deadman YouTube channel! 

It's the debut of one of The Undertaker's most iconic entrance songs on this month's BACK FROM THE DEAD! Join Alex and Travis as we look at the origins of the "American Badass" song and character for The Undertaker at King Of The Ring 2000. Our next new episode in November is a journey through the history and importance of Taker's entrance music, and there might have been no more important shift in that music than the one to Kid Rock that came rolling in on wheels of fire! This episode covers The Phenom's unbelievable return at Judgment Day 2000 all the way up to a wacky 6 Man Tag main event at KOTR that has the WWF Championship on the line, plus a discussion at what went into the thinking behind the debut of the Biker Taker character and our initial reactions to it when were watching back in the day. Enjoy this trip back in our time-traveling hearse - er, motorcycle that is - and be sure to join us November 1st for The Complete Evolution Of The Undertaker's Entrance Music! 

We're looking at the origin of The Brothers Of Destruction and DX's rivalry on this month's BACK FROM THE DEAD! Join Alex and Travis as we look back at the wild brawl between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels from In Your House: Ground Zero in September of 1997 and discuss the foundation it laid for one of The Undertaker's greatest rivalries. Our next new episode in October will focus on Crown Jewel 2018 and the end to this decades-long storyline, so we thought it would be fun to revisit the beginning. Plus this classic episode features Alex and Travis talking about the "Ground Zero" of their friendship as they first met in September of 1997! Enjoy this trip back in our time-traveling hearse and be sure to join us October 1st for our Crown Jewel 2018 Watch-Along!