The Story of Wrestling

Kyle takes time out of a busy Canadian Thanksgiving weekend to talk wrestling with Alasdair. We consider the joys of JeriKO vs the New Day and the future of Raw's women's division, even as we express our trepidations about the newly rebranded Emmalina. We look ahead to No Mercy and wonder just who might be able to take on the Miz if indeed he retires Dolph Ziggler tomorrow night. Then we do a little bracketology with NXT's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, and Austin Aries comes out of this looking very good. Finally, Alasdair offers another indie show review with his account of Beyond Wrestling's Midas Touch show, which he was a part of for like five seconds!

Much to Kyle's delight, we completely skip Raw this week and focus our attentions on NXT Takeover: Chicago, which was great, and Backlash, which was... hey, did you all see NXT Takeover: Chicago? We jump straight in with huge praise for all things UK Championship, with Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne putting on a damn match of the year candidate. We consider what kind of match would best showcase Shinsuke Nakamura, then look at the improving state of the tag division in this beautiful Breezango-driven world. But then we have to mourn the end of DIY, and a week later we're still not really ready to face it. Oh, and Jinder Mahal is champion. Um. Yeah. So, you see NXT Takeover: Chicago?

Alasdair and Kyle check in with an Extreme Rules preview after a generally strong go-home show for Monday Night Raw. They consider why the two matches between the five competitors showcased all at their best, then turn their attention to the rest of the card. Sure, that business with Bayley and Alexa Bliss was pretty terrible, but most other things are ticking along nicely. Alasdair wonders whether Dean Ambrose and the Miz's match can aspire to the same heights of "title changes on a DQ" nonsense as Randy Orton and Christian at Money in the Bank 2011, while Kyle recognizes the simple fun of Rich Swann and Sasha Banks hanging out. Plus we look at Tomasso Ciampa's brutal heel promo on NXT, and Alasdair answers a reader question by putting together a super card of dream matches featuring all active (and retired but not permanently injured) wrestlers across all promotions!

Kyle takes time out of a busy Canadian Thanksgiving weekend to talk wrestling with Alasdair. We consider the joys of JeriKO vs the New Day and the future of Raw's women's division, even as we express our trepidations about the newly rebranded Emmalina. We look ahead to No Mercy and wonder just who might be able to take on the Miz if indeed he retires Dolph Ziggler tomorrow night. Then we do a little bracketology with NXT's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, and Austin Aries comes out of this looking very good. Finally, Alasdair offers another indie show review with his account of Beyond Wrestling's Midas Touch show, which he was a part of for like five seconds!

Alasdair and Kyle are amped this week after one of the best weeks in wrestling in ages. We go 30 minutes on the glory that was Styles-Ellsworth II on SmackDown Live and then another 30 minutes on Bill Goldberg's amazing return to Raw. We break down just what about those two epic main events made them so special, particularly in terms of the stories being told. (Which, you know, is kind of the point of this podcast, if we're getting all technical about it.) This ought to be a good one!