How Wrestling Explains the World

Nick and Dave jump back into our survey of the legendary career of soon-to-be two-time (two time!) WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T., with a focus on his post-WCW run in WWE, as King Booker and in the Main Event Mafia during his time in TNA.

This week’s edutaining banter features discussion of...

- Where does his SummerSlam match with the Rock rank on the list of best bouts in both their careers?

- What does his grocery store fight with Stone Cold Steve Austin's have to do with Japanese hair commercials?

- How fucking racist was the infamous "people like you" feud between he and HHH in the lead up to WrestleMania XIX?

- Why does King Booker work so well?

- Was his time in TNA actually kind of great or at least worthy of RESPECT?

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE -- AND A WAY TO MARKET OUR NEW PATREON-ONLY PODCAST -- THE GOOD FOLKS AT JUICE MAKE SUGAR PRODUCTIONS PRESENT: THE POD BEYOND.

The Pod Beyond is a journey through the wonderful world of World Championship Wrestling during the Jim Crockett Era. Although the show proper will start with the very first episode of the JCP-produced version of NWA's flagship show from April 6, 1985, Dave and Nick are hopping in the time machine a little early to bring you all up to speed on what's perhaps the most volatile era in professional wrestling history and, once we've arrived at the studios in Atlanta, GA, who we will meet when we get there. 

If you are interested in getting your ears on the actual show, you'll want to head right over to Patreon.com/hwetw and sign up at the corresponding benefit tier (THE POD BEYOND-ERS) to join us on what should be a fantastic journey. Err, sorry, wrong decade: to join us on what should be a "Don't Stop Believin' by" Journey. 

Nick and Dave kick off the next cycle of How Wrestling Explains with a discussion of WCW's most accomplished performer and a soon-to-be two-time (two time!) WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T..

This week’s edutaining banter features discussion of...

- Which two performers were the most influential in his storied career?

- When should WCW have realized that he was the future?

- Why did it still take them so long after that to figure it out?

- Was WCW actually good at developing talent (and just bad at almost everything else)?

- Is Booker T the best WCW performer of the post-Crockett era?

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

Nick and Dave finish out this infinitely diverse cycle of How Wrestling Explains with a discussion of Star Trek featuring (Deadshirt.net founder) Dylan Roth of The Hell Yeah Babies. WE ALSO HAVE  A MAJOR, EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

This week’s edutaining banter breaks down ...

- Why was the Ruthless Aggression era so bad for both WWE and Star Trek?

- How does the act of fans making the product change the product?

- What do CM Punk's #pipebomb promo and the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies have in common?

- The parallels between the kinds of stories both rely on to articulate their worldviews and achieve their narrative goals

- Who but Q could be Vince McMahon?

- Which Star Trek character would be the best manager?

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

The Wrestling Estate's David Gibb and Juice Make Sugar's Nick Bond are here with their off-cycle supplement to the pleasantly in-depth discussion on what makes professional wrestling, well, professional wrestling (and, at least every other week) what that means for the world.

For today's essential viewing of the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, Nick and Dave break down the ever-evolving legacy of the title through the prism of the following matches:

Pat Patterson vs. Ted DiBiase (MSG - 10/22/79)

Pedro Morales vs. Don Muraco (MSG - 12/28/82)

Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior (SummerSlam 8/28/89)

Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett (Royal Rumble 1/22/95)

Rob Van Dam vs. William Regal (WrestleMania X-8 3/17/02)

Randy Orton vs. Edge (Vengeance 7/11/04)

Ric Flair vs. Triple H (Taboo Tuesday 11/1/05)

Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler - Title vs. Career (No Mercy 10/9/16)

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

Nick and Dave kick off the next cycle of How Wrestling Explains with a discussion of one WWE's most prestigious championships, the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.

This week’s edutaining banter features discussion of...

- The brazenness of pre-internet/pre-Meltzer professional wrestling's promotional tactics

- Why Savage is the definitive Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion (OHHHH YEAAAAHH)

- What changed with the legacy of the belt during its Golden Era (the New Generation)

- How the Attitude Era ruined the IC title, like did it with nearly everything else

- Where the title can go from here

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

Nick and Dave finish out this sensational cycle of How Wrestling Explains with a discussion of A Fish Called Wanda.

This week’s edutaining banter features discussion of...

- The parallels between Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Sherri Martel, as femme fatales and physical performers

- How does Otto (Kevin Kline) relentless shit-heelishness helps to define the central themes and values of the movie?

- Why is his comeuppance so important to the movie?

- What did John Cleese do to "pop smart marks" of comedy?

- Who are the best physical comedians in the history of wrestling?

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

The Wrestling Estate's David Gibb and Juice Make Sugar's Nick are here with their off-cycle supplement to the pleasantly in-depth discussion on what makes professional wrestling, well, professional wrestling (and, at least every other week) what that means for the world.

For today's essential viewing of the "Sensational" Queen Sister Sherri Martel, Nick and Dave break down her transcendent work in some of the worst (and one of the best) matches of the Hulkamania era in WWE and WCW.

Sherri vs. Moolah

- Moolah = farts

Savage/Sherri - Dusty/Sapphire

- Sapphire is probably the worst worker we’ve ever seen

  - And Sherri makes her less that!

Savage (w/ Queen Sherri) - Warrior

- A pantheon match, moment and performance from everyone involved

Sting-Flair

- The match that breaks Sting's brain

Harlem Heat-Amazing French Canadia(e)ns/Sherri-Colonel Parker - World War 3 (‘96)

- One of the best tag finishes you'll ever see (Seriously!)

- A *classic* appearance of the "get your hands on the manager" trope

- The announcers are very giddy to see Sherri stiff the shit out of Parker

- It even makes very good use of the three rings

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick and Dave kick off the next cycle of How Wrestling Explains  with a discussion of one of the greatest workers of her era, "Sensational" (Queen/Sister) Sherri Martel.

This week’s edutaining banter features discussion of...

- The reverberating damage of Fabulous Moolah's reign over Ladies' Wrestling in the mid-century

- Why Sensational Sherri walked so Becky Lynch could run

- What place in the pantheon of Hulkamania era performers

- How to deal with Elizabeth's legacy in the context of Sherri

- Where Sherri would have ended up on the card in the modern era 

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk

Nick and Dave kick off the next cycle of How Wrestling Explains (sponsored by One of the Greatest Heroes in the History of Our Pod, Michael Montalbo) with a discussion of the seminal animated film The Beatles: Yellow Submarine.

This week’s edutaining banter features discussion of...

- The importance of knowing your audience

- Liverpudlian accents

- The oddness of voice actors playing "The Beatles" playing ""The Beatles"" 

- Why Ringo works so well as a babyface

- What "Only a Northern Song" has to do with Will Ospreay and Ricochet

- Which wrestling promotion comes the closest to Yellow Submarine?

If you dig the show, be sure to follow How Wrestling Explains on Twitter at @HWETWPod and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, How Wrestling Explains the World.

If you could find it in your heart to rate and review the show, that’d be a mitzvah as well!

For those who are just discovering the show, check out our previous episodes in the archive: https://howwrestlingexplains.podbean.com/

Follow Nick on Twitter: @THEN1CKSTER

Follow Dave on Twitter: @DaveWritesJunk