The Dork Side of The Ring Podcast

The year is 2020 and the global pandemic is in its early stages, leaving pro wrestling as the only game in town as the world shut down. This allowed wrestling to use their creative freedom to try new things, which created the cinematic match and AEW's first go at a cinematic was at the second ever Double or Nothing PPV, which saw the Elite with Matt Hardy taking on the Inner Circle waging war in the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars , the TIAA Bank Field.

Close Personal Friends BSJ and Y0ungist (@y0ungist) join the show to watch the Stadium Stampede match, play a round of Shoot or Kayfabe, talk about the need for more set piece wrestling, and Vince McMahon's new look.

The year is 1999 and the peak of wrestling just about to pass as WCW and WWE still go back and forth for the higher ratings but with a corporate merger, WCW's better days are behind them, despite names like Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, Sting, and Ric Flair. But the returning Randy Savage caused a boost in morale as yet another all time great would return, and he did not return alone. Armed with Team Madness, a group of dangerous and beautiful women, Savage rekindled an old rivalry with Ric Flair, who himself had a group with him between Arn Anderson, Asya, and Charles Robinson????

The year is 1991 and Wrestling is about to exit its first nationwide boom period. The hokey, over the top characters had not yet worn out their welcome as characters like Typhoon, Earthquake, IRS, and more still drew a loud reaction from the crowd. Perhaps no over the top character benefitted more at this time than The Mountie, the evil Canadian law enforcement man, who found himself on the wrong side of The Big Boss Man, the now good American law enforcement man, and the two would settle their differences at Summerslam 1991

The year is 2005 and wrestling in America has become a bit stagnant with WWE at the top of the food chain and the American indies still forming. TNA Wrestling tho, seemed poised to make a change to the food change, beginning to have monthly PPV specials and in an effort to be the alternative to WWE, one such event became infamous for its gimmick: Every match was in a steel cage. But even then, how do you make the matches different even with a steel cage? Blindfolds for one.

From Something Unexpected, Boomdabah ( @boomdabah) and CPF Cornman (@ZackCorneliusen) join the podcast to watch The Prince of Darkness match between Dustin Rhodes and Bobby Roode, talk about chiropractors in a corn field, and the great war between Texans and Canadians.

You can help Boom raise money for St. Jude's at https://donate.tiltify.com/@boomdachik/something-unexpected-for-st-jude-2023

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The year is 2004 and WWE is starting to see their next stars take the next step: John Cena has gone from two dimension prototypical WWE star to a quick witted, popular rapper. Dave Batista has gone from a deacon to being the muscle of the dominant stable of the time, Evolution, Brock Lesnar has gone from monster rookie to future NFL tryout. But one star was in need of aid in taking that next step and thats where Mick Foley came in to help one Randy Orton. In an effect to make Orton take that next step, Mick Foley was going to drag Orton to the darkest parts of hell.

The year is 2007 and TNA is beginning to find its stride after 5 years of aiming to be an alternative to WWE, and while WWE is putting on large grand shows, TNA was taking their pay per views on the road finally. When it came time to take Lockdown on the road, they asked, "how do we make every match feel different if they're all cage matches?" and did they come up with a grand idea

Twitch.tv's  @Schmoogoogable  (@schmoogoogle) and Close Personal Friend Diggy (@bdig89) join to watch Team 3D vs LAX in an electrified cage match, talk about their own forays into electric fenses, and talk becoming fans of wrestling as adults

The year is 2002 and wrestling is waking up from the attitude era hungover. WCW left the party, ECW got bounced from the club, and the sun hasn't yet risen for the independent scene, leaving WWE groggy and wondering whats next. As the Turner exclusive contracts for talents like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Hulk Hogan expired, WWE would bring in the NWO, the hottest WCW act of all time, to feud with its top two talents, Stone Cold and The Rock. While Stone Cold would feud with Scott Hall, the NWO and Hulk Hogan would take their story with The Rock to another level

The year is 2008 and wrestling is a one person town where it matters, but that's not stopping the WWE from trying to grow bigger and bigger. WWE has always benefited from the use of celebrities at WrestleMania, from Muhammed Ali at the very first Wrestlemania all the way to even the previous year, Wrestlemania 23 with Donald Trump. 22 years after Mr. T and Roddy Piper boxed at Wrestlemania 2, it was time once again for WWE to bring boxing to the Granddaddy of em All. What was originally set to be a tag team affair featuring Rey Mysterio and Shane McMahon, turned into a one on one bout between the returning Big Show and the undefeated great Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Close Personal Friend Basque (@Ba5que) and Twitch.tv's Girp123 (@Girp123) join the show to watch the first interaction between Big Show and Mayweather, watch their Wrestlemania 24 match, who they want to fight in a boxing match, and Floyd Mayweather's Security Guy's No Good Very Bad Day. All that and more!

The year is 2007 and WWE is powering forward with record setting events like Wrestlemania 27, while trying to find itself fully entrenched post Ruthless Agression era. As stars like Randy Orton, John Cena, and Batista mix with legends like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker, the undercard looks very similar. Matt Hardy, nearly a decade into his WWE career, found himself chasing the United States Champion, MVP, who in less than a year, found himself wearing gold. The chase found Matt Hardy challenging MVP to a game of one-upmanship, from pizza eating to weight lifting to even boxing. All the while MVP would find a way out of defending his US title. This escalated to an infamous 1 on 1 game of basketball, first to eleven before a reluctant tag team championship run.