Soooo…in the last seven days since we had a mailbag, we’ve had a huge NXT show, two nights of WrestleMania, Vince McMahon back running creative, and AEW announcing they are going to have their first ever show at Wembley Stadium of all places. Shew wee…that’s a LOT to unpack, isn’t it?
I know most folks were furious that Cody didn’t beat Roman at Mania. In many ways, it reminded me of the worst of old WCW Nitros, shows that were so much fun with an absurd mix of talent and great matches you would have never seen anywhere else at the time. But then the main event would happen and we’d get ANOTHER nWo run-in and it would completely negate all the positives. That’s what I am seeing here. And the Lex Luger comparisons are completely valid in my opinion, as I lived through that era (error) and I saw just what it did to that poor guy. Fans were totally behind him and when they dropped the confetti on his countout win over Yokozuna he was done in the WWF. I’d say I hope they have a plan for Cody, but with Vince lurking in Gorilla position last Monday they probably did and he’s torn it up and rewritten it 27 times already. At least with this change we will have no shortage of material for us here at WrestleCrap.
As for AEW announcing Wembley, that’s a tad over ambitious I think, but time will tell. I do like it when folks are willing to try different things and see what happens. At some point if you believe in what you are producing, all you can do is roll the dice and see what happens. Sometimes you will succeed and sometimes you will fail, but that’s part of life and it’s part of learning. No matter what happens, whether they sell 900 tickets or 90,000 tickets, I promise you this: you will have clans of people saying it’s a great success and others saying it’s a total failure. That’s sadly the society we live in today in wrestling. It makes the old Sega Genesis vs. SNES wars look like a friendly game of checkers in comparison.
That’s enough negativity…let’s move onto the fun of your questions!
Jack G starts us off in a super positive light with…”Hey, I consider you the Weird Al of wrestling. Is that a cringey or cool comparison? “
Considering Al is my all time favorite musician, it would be the biggest compliment ever. I’ve been blessed to meet him several times dating back over 25 years, and he’s always been incredibly nice and in many ways, was a role model to me as to how to treat people who are your listeners/readers/supporters. Like me, he was humble and even I think somewhat taken aback that folks have been following him all these years. It’s very cool to be able to entertain folks, either with his amazing musical talent or my meager writing abilities. And as always, I appreciate the support in emails such as these.
Robert R ponders…”Will Roman’s reign ever end.? Is this what it felt like for people who didn’t like the Hogan era in the WWF?”
What’s funny is Hogan’s entire main WWF run was about 10-11 years. In comparison, The Miz has been around for 20. TWENTY YEARS OF THE MIZ. That’s nuts. As far as Roman, the idea is to make him into a legend so they don’t want him losing anytime soon. For sure not before 1,000 days. But a quick Google search yielded this:
Hulk Hogan – 1,474 Days (1st Reign)
Realistically, I could see it being another year and a half before Roman drops the belt. Make of that what you will.
QFBSP wants to know…”Who would win in a sword fight between Drew McIntyre and The Berzerker?”
Hands down Drew. Berzerker seemed utterly confused with that thing in his hand, kinda reminding me of Ian McDiarmid being handed a light saber in Revenge of the Sith. So yeah, that’s not much of a battle. If, however, you asked who I’d buy a car from between the two guys, THEN Berserker gets the duke. So I kinda think we need one more Drew vs. Berzerker question for the rubber match.
Mike M gives us this age old gem…”Coke or Pepsi?”
It’s so funny, I go out with co-workers after hours and they will get vodkas and bourbons and beer and whatever. I’ve never been into alcohol, just not my jam. They look at me oddly sometimes and I say “I have my vices, those just aren’t among them.” I’m sure they think I am running back to my hotel room and getting hepped up on goofballs, but when I say that I am ALWAYS thinking about Coca-Cola Classic baby. I drink way too much of it and always have. I know it’s anything but good for me, but man…an ice cold Coke is something I truly love. Pepsi is fine and it’s not like I won’t have it if that’s what the restaurant has to offer, but between the two, nah, no contest.
Michael B wants to know…”Is Eugene Wrestlecrap?”
We’ve never inducted him and I seem to remember feeling there was a reason why. With that said, I think that an in-depth examination of the character and storyline is overdue. In fact, I just put my name on that one on our list (yes, believe it or not Art, Scott, and I have giant list of potential inductions and we all put our names on it) so you can expect it at some point in the future. Good question.
Danny R comes hoppin’ down the bunny trail with…”Do you think wwe held the Easter bunny back? He could have and should have been a main eventer, but got buried in the Bar room brawl match.”
A lot of money was left on the table by not bringing back Xanta Klaus for a holiday battle for the ages. My money would have been on Xanta, by the way, with our old pal Hornswoggle getting involved somehow.
Charles B brings back memories with…”How did you and Blade come up with the idea for the WrestleCrap Radio roast of RD and Blade?”
I honestly cannot remember if that was Blade’s idea or mine. We would always try to come up with ancient ideas for bits and characters on the show, and roasts were a HUGE thing in the late 70’s/early 80’s so it was a natural fit. We often discussed doing a telethon like the Jerry Lewis ones of old, the carnival of course, and other stuff too like a Variety Hour. I’ve said it a million times, but it holds ever true – the funniest stuff was never recorded. It was just two friends doing everything they possibly could to make each other laugh. And he made me laugh harder than anyone else I ever met. A true friend.
Dan T asks…”Favorite Simpsons episode?”
Depends on the day, and I love a ton of them, even from newer seasons we are supposed to hate. Frank Grimes immediately springs to mind of course, but any of the Sideshow Bob eps are fantastic too. Heck, I couldn’t even pick a favorite Treehouse of Horror. And then there’s the Behind the Music parody which if you were around when that was all the rage was top shelf. Nah, can’t pick. I do think I will leave you now however and go binge some Simpsons. Been way too long since I’ve done that!
That’s it for this week! But let’s keep those questions coming by sending them rightchere!