Wrestlespective

Josh Hachat and Jason Mann answer your questions and discuss who “they” might be in TNA, being perversely interested in Bound For Glory and the end of the Hogan-Bischoff era, how to give the WWE tag-team division a lift, why Internet fans don’t like the Hardy Boys, our philosophy on defending championships and making them meaningful, how to keep main eventers busy when they are out of the title picture, Jason’s snarky comments about the ROH title, the WWE’s ban on somas, wellness issues and more. We also make some hacky Matt Hardy weight jokes; nobody is perfect. Speaking of which, thanks to careful planning, this show was recorded before Night of Champions, which should lead to many laughs about how out of date some of our answers are. #WWE #wrestling

Originally published: 9/23/10

Jason Mann and Josh Hachat recap the January 1996 episodes of WWF Raw and WCW Nitro, plus the Royal Rumble and Clash of the Champions 32. Topics discussed include: the Raw Bowl and football puns, Billionaire Ted’s Rasslin War Room, Lord Steven Regal: a man’s man, more drama between friends Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, Sting and Lex Luger and the Dungeon of Doom and the Four Horsemen, Jeff Jarrett’s ugly outfits, Shawn Michaels returning to the building, The Ringmaster and a skinny Matt Hardy, Undertaker vs. Kane before he was Kane, the many sides of Goldust, the baffling mix of genres that is the “American Males” theme song, Vader destroying Gorilla Monsoon, a shocking world-title change, the return of the Road Warriors, the debut of the notorious P.I.G., Sunny’s sultry come-ons for Raw, Shawn Michaels’ horrible babyface obnoxiousness, Flair’s great shoe-aided triumph over Hogan, Macho Man doesn’t care what you think, and more.

Originally published: 9/17/10

#WWE #wrestling

Jason Mann and Josh Hachat answer questions submitted by listeners in this edition of Wrestlespective. Topics include the new design WWE Tag Team Championship, best facial expressions, our favorite title-victory celebrations, the future of wrestling on television, whether TNA has ruined the chance for a second wrestling company to thrive, WWE after Vince McMahon, the greatest tag teams in the world, why we’re horrible wrestling fans who don’t support independent wrestling, and wondering what would happen if ESPN got involved in the wrestling business.

Originally published: 9/3/10

Josh Hachat and Jason Mann break down the following bouts:

Topics discussed include the surprising spryness of 2002 Tommy Dreamer, silliness getting in the way of an otherwise pretty good TNA match, how swell Triple H was in 2000, good guys getting nasty and why the Ultimate Warrior ended up not being a bigger success. We even rant about how wrestling titles don’t mean as much as they used to.

Originally published: 8/27/10

Josh and Jason discuss three classic grudge matches: the Terry Funk-Jerry Lawler empty arena match in Memphis from 5/9/1981, the Iron Sheik-Sgt. Slaughter boot camp battle at Madison Square Garden from 6/16/1984 and Michael P.S. Hayes, Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy battling Kevin Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich and Mike Von Erich in Fort Worth on 7/4/1984. Topics discussed include the wonderful insanity of Terry Funk, the beautiful intensity professional wrestling used to have and how baffling the Freebirds-Von Erichs was as a choice for Wrestling Observer match of the year. #WWE #prowrestling #wrestling #rasslin

Originally published: 7/26/10

Josh Hachat and Jason Mann discuss this week’s “ReCW” invasion of TNA Impact, whether this version will work any better than anything TNA does, what ECW means in wrestling in 2010, what influence ECW had in the Monday Night Wars, remembering some of the best and worst moments and much more.

Originally published: 7/17/10

Jason Mann and Josh Hachat continue looking back at the Monday Night War between WCW and the WWF. Part 3 of our series looks at November 1995, and topics discussed include: the Shawn Michaels concussion angle, the end of Dieselmania and that tricky Bret Hart, someone besides Hulk Hogan becoming WCW champion, the “wildcard” Survivor Series, the debut of the World War 3 battle royal, the beginning of Ahmed Johnson, Hogan’s “shoot” promo on the Wrestling Observer, the end of the Renegade experiment, excellent Japanese women’s wrestling, hillbillies and their love of slop, Randy Savage’s real fake arm injury and more.

Jason Mann and Josh Hachat travel back to October 1995 and explain Hulk Hogan’s first flirtation with the dark side and continued uncontrolled ego, Bret Hart’s continuing feuds with wrestlers who were far beneath him, the Horsemen deciding to turn on Sting for old times’ sake, Diesel being chewed out by Vince McMahon after a pay-per-view main event, Shawn Michaels being beaten up by Marines for realz, when Avatar was an unpopular wrestler and not a popular movie, the Yeti, the catastrophe that is Hulk Hogan vs. the Giant at Halloween Havoc, and much more. #WWE #wrestling

Original airdate: 5/26/10

Jason Mann and Josh Hachat take you back to September 1995, when Hulkamania was (still) running wild over WCW and Diesel power was running WWF.

Topics of discussion include Lex Luger’s shocking debut on the first Nitro, the serendipity of Sting and Ric Flair wrestling on the first and last editions, the 1-2-3 Kid rekindling his feud with Razor Ramon, whether the Smoking Gunns’ tight jeans are better than John Cena’s jean shorts, the baffling tactic of introducing new talent only to have them immediately lose, the tremendous Ric Flair-Arn Anderson feud, whether wrestling Canadian pirates was the best use of Bret Hart’s time and much more. #WWE #wrestling

Originally published: 5/18/10

Josh Hachat and Jason Mann talk about Ken Shamrock’s WWE career, specifically his debut against Vader at Cold Day in Hell in 1997 and his Lions Den battle with Owen Hart at Summerslam 1998. Topics covered include: MMA’s influence on pro wrestling, making submissions believable, Jerry Lawler’s seeming disdain for UFC, missed opportunities for Shamrock, how Goldberg succeeded in WCW by adopting the shootfighting gimmick, comedic examples of pure sports builds like Vince McMahon training for the Royal Rumble or Hulk Hogan training Mean Gene Okerlund and more. #WWE #wrestling

Original airdate: 5/9/10