Our rewind series comes to a close with the match that sits atop the STAR rating board. We are of course talking about the final episode from season 3, Kazuchika Okada with Gedo vs Kenny Omega with the Brothers Jackson for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The match that famously caused Big Dave to turn that star dial all the way to six for the first time in a long time and collectively melted the minds of every fan watching Wrestle Kingdom 11.
We want to thank you once again for joining us on this Rewind series as we looked back into our TIA past before we set off into our WGW future with the first episode of season 10.
Remember gang, Watch Great Wrestling -- same flavor, new wrapper!
[Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada, Wrestle Kingdom 11, January 4 2017]
Our TIA Rewind series is nearly over as we look back to the very first episode of the accursed season 9 of This is Awesome and one of the best matches in the history of the original NXT.
This is Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate for the NXT UK Championship from NXT TakeOver: Chicago, and features all the joint manipulation and mustache twirling that any warm-blooded wrestling fan could ever desire.
It is wild that both of these guys put on this kind of display considering how young they both were. The sky is truly the limit with both performers.
[Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate, NXT TakeOver: Chicago, May 20 2017]
Live from Comiskey Park in Chicago, it is a 2 out of 3 falls contest for the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship and the season 5 entry in our TIA Rewind series!
"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers takes on champion Pat O'Connor. Don't let the black and white or the fact that this match is from 1961 but feels like it is from 1941 - this is practically a Cover Girl match. If you skipped it the first time we released this don't make same mistake twice. Incredibly watchable even 60+ years later.
And, because we're shameless, who better to discuss the "Match of the Century" that ends with one of the most infamous botches in pro wrestling history than Maffew Gregg of Botchamania.
If you're looking for a bite sized discussion of this mat classic, look elsewhere. We talk too much.
[Buddy Rogers vs Pat O'Connor, June 30 1961]
Can a match that is over an hour long be defined by a single moment? If this entry in our TIA Rewind series is to judge, the answer is absolutely not.
From all the way back in season 4 of TIA, this is the 2008 Royal Rumble match. A fun episode that explores what makes a great rumble match, and why.
Two major milestones for our (*patent pending) STAR rating system - not only is our very first zero given by one of our guests, but this match also has the distinction of being the lowest rated match on the big board.
Enjoy!
Our rewind series takes us back to season 7 and our first visit to CMLL -- its Lucha de Apuestas. Volador Jr and Negro Casas lucha their hearts out in front of a rabid crowd for the right to continue to occasionally rock an epic pony.
Reminder, this was recorded before anyone knew that Joey Ryan was a reprehensible monster garbage person so please disregard any and all of our recommendations to check out his stuff.
[Negro Casas vs Volador Jr., CMLL Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, March 18 2016]
Our TIA Rewind series continues with one of our favorite episodes of Season 2 that marked our show's first look at All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Featuring one of our favorite guests, Will Wiesenfeld, this hard hitting tag match is of course an absolutely classic with four dudes just absolutely pounding on eachother and truly showing their audience what the term "fighting spirit" is really all about.
If you are new to All Japan or the four gentlemen in this match, our guest also provides fun nicknames to help you identify each competitor. No spoilers, but these may or may not involve some Pokémon.
Enjoy this episode and we'll catch you next time at Watch Great Wrestling!
[Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue, AJPW, December 3, 1993]
This rewind takes us back to the height of our pandemic-era sessions that saw at least one of our cohosts recording most of the episodes in a closet.
Today we are flashing back to season 8 and the Risa Sera 60 minute Iron Woman gauntlet death match that also happens to double as our main star's birthday present to herself. While much more tame than our previous deathmatch flashback, this one still carries a minor content warning, especially for those of you who are squeemish about the consumption of raw eggs.
There is chaos energy all over this episode, particularly coming from Joaquin who may or may not have been driven mad by this strange Joshi classic. Enjoy this as well as the incredible art that Joaquin designed in tribute!
[Risa Sera vs X, 60 Minute Iron Woman Gauntlet Death Match, Ice Ribbon/Risa Sera 4th Product Last Death Match, November 14 2017]
The retro TIA rewind rolls on and we're setting the dial on the wayback machine all the way to season 1 when we covered the classic matchup between Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII. Don't forget the tissues, folks, that post-match angle is a doozy.
The show format was slightly different back then, but the love and enthusiasm for professional wrestling is as strong as ever.
Enjoy one of our favorite episodes from our first season of podcasting, 2016 vintage.
[Randy Savage vs The Ultimate Warrior, WrestleMania VII, March 24 1991]
CONTENT WARNING: The match discussed in this episode is highly graphic and should only be viewed by those comfortable with excessive blood and violence. Seriously.
The first episode of our TIA rewind series takes us back to season 6 and Big Japan Wrestling for a festive deathmatch that will test even the most hardened wrestling fan's limits. This is the Dangerous Christmas for Deathmatch Fluorescent Light Tubes Tree & Glass Plate & Alpha Deathmatch with Masashi Takeda taking on Masaya Takahashi.
Happy holidays from all your friends at Watch Great Wrestling!
[Masashi Takeda vs. Masaya Takahashi, BJW Death Vegas 2017, December 17 2017]
WATCH GREAT WRESTLING -- New wrapper, same flavor.
Watch Great Wrestling is a podcast from Los Angeles-based wrestling crew Muscle Temple.
Formerly known as This Is Awesome? WGW is an informal research project with little to no methodology.
Your hosts watch the best wrestling matches of all time, suggested by you, and share them with their friends.
While looking for a new pro wrestling autobiography to read, Chuck discovered that many of these books have forewards written by other pro wrestlers. Naturally, he made a game out of it.
Frank and Joaquin face off in this buzzer game that will test their skills in critical listening and wrestling minutiae. Who will be the ultimate winner? How many times will Chuck botch the reading? Listen and find out!
Inspired by Matthew J. McPherson's one shot role playing game Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf, Joaquin has crafted yet another one-session game of wrestling madness to confound Frank and Chuck. For this game, the duo is tasked with stepping into the shoes of beleaguered billionaire and owner/operator of All Elite Wrestling Tony Khan and picks up immediately following the media scrum of All out 2022.
Following the Gripe Bomb, will this booking team be able to escape the ghost of CM Punk? Or will the company fall victim to a Pepsi plunge in backstage morale?
All eyes fall upon the newest creative director of the WWE to see if he can set up the perfect main event for a WrestleMania taking place in the shadow of Hollywood, California. Will Paul be able to book Dwayne Johnson against his cousin Roman Reigns, or will he have to settle for an ascendant Three Star General to close out their biggest show of the year?
For this off-season game, Chuck and Frank assume the role of Papa H as they play a cooperative one sheet RPG that seeks to answer that very question. Inspired by the one sheet RPG Potato by Oliver Darkshire (@deathbybadger), Joaquin will serve as the game master who has crafted this very silly game.
This episode features your croix boys taking their very first dive into the Official WWE Encyclopedia of Sports Entertainment New Edition.
Joaquin has crafted a weirdly complicated points system that he definitely will be able to keep track of in this game that tests the knowledge of Frank and Chuck.
Will Frank once again best his opponent in this battle of wits, or will Chuck live the boyhood dream and actually win a game of trivia?
On this off-season episode Chuck challenges Joaquin, Frank and returning guest Geoffrey Golden (@geoffreygolden) to compete against one another in a classic TIA knockout game with a fresh twist.
This time, Chuck has culled a list of hundreds wrestling promotions. Half are real promotions found on Cagematch.net's exhaustive database -- the other half are completely made up. Which of our three players can successfully navigate Chuck's mind games and emerge victorious?
Welcome to episode 3 of Watching the Underground! The internet’s only podcast binging, recapping and annotating AwesomenessTV's The Underground.
Your hosts are the boys of This is Awesome? - Joaquin, Frank and Chuck.
In this episode we are discussing The Underground episodes 10-13. Covering the final episodes of the season, we watch three blow off matches: a raucous triple threat, a traditional tag match, and a wild tornado ladder match for control of The Underground!
Find every episode of The Underground HERE to follow along.
Welcome to episode 2 of Watching the Underground! The internet’s only podcast binging, recapping and annotating AwesomenessTV's The Underground.
Your hosts are the boys of This is Awesome? - Joaquin, Frank and Chuck.
In this episode we are discussing The Underground episodes 5-9. Covering Act 2 of the season, the drama picks up almost as much as the match quality, and the players move around the board as we build toward a brother vs brother clash that will change the Underground forever.
Find every episode of The Underground HERE to follow along.
Let us know what you think of the series on twitter @TIAPOD or at thisisawesomepod@gmail.com
Welcome to episode 1 of Watching the Underground! The internet’s only podcast binging, recapping and annotating AwesomenessTV's The Underground.
Your hosts are the boys of This is Awesome? - Joaquin, Frank and Chuck.
In this episode we are discussing The Underground episodes 1-4. Covering Act 1 of the season, we learn about the origins of the show, the basic premise of the series, and meet all of the colorful characters vying for control of the Underground.
Find every episode of The Underground HERE to follow along.
Let us know what you think of the series on twitter @TIAPOD or at thisisawesomepod@gmail.com
Another off-season episode ahead of the premiere of season 10 of the program.
First, Joaquin delights his co-hosts with details of his enlightening lucha libre adventure with his tag team partner.
THEN, its show and tell time in the Muscle Temple as Chuck introduces the boys to the wonderful world of Manor Pro Wrestling -- the ONLY pro wrestling dinner theater show.
If you or anyone you know has attended a Manor Pro Wrestling show PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE hit us up @TIAPOD on twitter.
It is the off-season again, so that means it is time for more silly games and nonsense talk. Joaquin kicks things off by hosting a fresh round of Muscle Temple Jeopardy. It's just like normal Jeopardy, but just about wrestling!
Joining Frank and Chuck to play the game is a very special guest: Geoffrey Golden (@geoffreygolden)
Season 9 mercifully reaches its end with another classic finale episode! As is tradition, your croix boys have gathered 'round the microphone to get to the business of tying up loose ends.
This season produced FOUR tie scores derived from our *patent pending* STAR Rating system. Votes will be cast and matches will either slide up or down the big board of match rankings.
ALSO, each host will present their "big idea" from the season - and Frank will gush about Dabba-Kato.
See you in the off-season!
Put that cigarette out!
The longest TIA season of all time creeps ever closer to the its end with (predictably) the longest TIA episode of all time.
With the World's Heavyweight Title held in abeyance, WWF President Jack Tunney has decided that the only way to determine the next champion is via the greatest gimmick match in the history of wrestling, the Royal Rumble.
They say to be the man you have to beat the man. But for one night in January of 1992, you had to beat 29.
As promised many years ago, we are joined by the first person in TIA history to ever hand out a ZERO during their STAR Ratings session: Mikey McManus!
[The 1992 Royal Rumble, WWF, January 19 1992]
Crank up the AC, pour yourself a cold beverage, and maybe wear something that breathes because you've found yourself smack dab in the middle of a Heat Wave 1998.
We're checking out a standout match from that show that features the odd couple tag team champions, RVD and Sabu, defending their titles against the "Japanese Contingent" from FMW, Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinsaki.
Will our champions be able to get along long enough to retain their belts? Will the amount of cargo shorts in the crowd be higher than the number of shirtless men? Will Bill Alfonso ever stop with that damn whistle? Well you'll have to listen to find out!
Special thanks to one of our favorite guests, the returning Ana Espinoza!
[Rob Van Dam and Sabu vs Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki, ECW Heat Wave 1998, August 2 1998]
Our "long" hiatus has finally ended!
(I mean, sure it was a long time but its not like it was a whole year or anything, jeez. This show is free! Get all up off my back about it.)
We return to Lucha Underground to have a look at the bloody, brutal, fire-filled Cero Miedo match that sees the arm-breaking Pentagon Jr challenging a thurible-toting Vampiro. Will Dasha's daddy be able to turn the clock back and rise to the challenge of the man looking to please his Master? Or will Ian Hodgkinson become yet another victim to the dark luchador?
Also, who the heck is this Master fella and what's his deal? You have to assume that's going to resolve up at some point, right?
Joining your croix boys to break down all the action and apply the (patent pending) STAR Rating system is Joel Bednarz!
[Pentagon Jr vs Vampiro, Season 1 Episode 39 "Ultimate Lucha 1" August 5 2015]
Well folks, we're in for a delightful night of gentlemanly pugilism as we turn our sights on an exciting exhibition matchup between two champions! Competing under Admiral-Lord Mountevans with 8 five minute rounds and two falls to a finish... In one corner, Johnny Saint, the Lightweight Wrestling Champion of the World - and across him Steve Grey, your British Lightweight Champion.
Which of these two technical masters will emerge victorious this evening on World of Sport?
And of course, somersaulting into the studio to join your hosts is special guest Steven Screws!
[Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey, February 2nd 1980, Joint Promotions/World of Sport]