character
X-Pac 1, 2, 360 Recap w/ Alex Riley – WWE Release, Pursuing A Career in Acting, Will He Wrestle Again? More!
X-Pac opens today’s show speaking about Shane McMahon’s forced helicopter landing from last week. He says that it didn’t surprise him for a second that Shane came out of that incident uninjured, and it was amazing to see how calm Shane was when he was being interviewed after the fact.
Speaking about last Monday night’s revelation that Jason Jordan is Kurt Angle’s son, X-Pac says for a minute he thought the whole thing might have been a shoot. He says that Angle is known to have had relationships with African American women in the past, and the age gap definitely works out.
X-Pac welcomes Kevin Kiley Jr. (Alex Riley) to the show.
Riley says that he was always a big fan of X-Pac from his time in WWE during the attitude era, and X-Pac always came off as a very real character who had a natural confidence in himself. X-Pac thanks him and says that he was never one to cut a masterful promo, but he was able to make his character work in different ways.
Riley informs that after he parted ways with WWE he immediately wanted to pursue acting. He says that his short stint at broadcasting in NXT was fun, but at the end of the day he wanted to venture out on his own. He was lucky to garner some interest in Hollywood right away and he soon landed a role in the Netflix series GLOW.
The Taz Show Recap – NXT Analysis, Kurt Angle Documentary, Where Does Strowman Go From Here? More!
Blocks 1 & 2:
Taz opens today’s show by speaking about the second of four straight press conferences, promoting the upcoming boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. He calls these press conferences riveting entertainment, but if they continue to do the exact same thing it’s going to get old rather quickly. He believes that these two are going to have to get physical at the last press conference, just to give the fans something to hold onto as they build towards the fight in August.
A listener calls into the show and says that he wishes WWE would just turn Roman Reigns heel, and he believes that even Reigns wants to turn heel at this point. Taz agrees with the caller, and says that for the longest time he thought Reigns was determined to get over as a babyface, but as of late it sure seems like Reigns has embraced the heel overtones of his character.
Taz wonders if we’ve seen the last of Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns, because if WWE wanted to keep Strowman off television for a while they wouldn’t have shown him walking out of ambulance at Great Balls of Fire. The caller says that he has heard rumours that WWE if preparing for a Fatal 4-way match at SummerSlam for Universal Title between Strowman, Reigns, Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar. Taz says he’ll be surprised if that happens.
Taz expects we’ll see Strowman back on RAW by next Monday, and then we should get some answers as to where WWE is heading with him creatively moving forward.
Kurt Angle Rumored To Be The Legend Attached to WWE 2k18
It’s being said Kurt Angle is rumored to be the playable legend character attached to the new WWE 2k18 video game. As unveiled earlier this week, Seth Rollins is going to be the poster-boy for the video game.
Traditionally there’s a pre-order exclusive character attached to every WWE 2k game every year. Some of the names that have been featured as pre-order bonuses are Goldberg, Sting and The Ultimate Warrior.
Adding Angle to the 2k18 roster will be extremely fruitful for the WWE has the former Olympic Gold Medalist has immense stardom attached to his name.
Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Karma Gets Jeff Jarrett, Responding to Corey Graves, More!
Russo says that he can’t believe how much people are talking about him lately, whether it be on their podcasts or on the WWE Network. He says that he’s currently waiting on a bill from WWE for all the promotion that he has been receiving lately that frankly, he wouldn’t be able to afford. At this point, he’s starting to think it’s all a rib.
Russo comments on the recent passing of Adam West. He says that the original Batman (Adam West) was his first hero, and he looked up to him as a child. There have been only two people in the world that he really wanted to meet, Gene Simmons and Adam West. He was lucky enough to meet Simmons during his time working in WCW, and years later he was able to meet West.
Russo said he had one question that he really wanted to ask West, “How were you able to portray that Batman character so perfectly?” West looked at him and said, “Vince, the first time they gave me the script and I read the script, I got it.” West knew right away what the Producers and Writers wanted from this character and he was able to get into that frame of mind right from the start.
Marty Scurll Wants Match Against Former WWE Superstar CM Punk
Marty Scurll appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast for a new interview. Here are some highlights:
Switching from his Party Marty to Villain gimmick: “What I’d like to suggest now is my previous character, a fun-loving, good guy, ‘Party’ Marty, was actually the whole plan all along because all good villains start off as a nice person, something happens, and they turn into that evil villain, so I’m actually a genius. My character is like a long thing, like 12 years. I tried to be a good guy. I tried to be the one everyone loved. They turned their backs on me. Society turned on me. And then, I turned out to be an absolute asshole. Are you surprised? These people made this happen.”
When he thought about changing his look: “There was a very famous quote, well, I’m not sure how famous it is, but a quote either way from Matt Groening who wrote The Simpsons. And he said that all great characters can be recognized from their silhouette. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s an interesting point.’ And I thought, ‘Well, okay, I need to get something to mix this up.’ So yeah, it was a gradual thing. It wasn’t like, ‘This is my character!’ It’s an evolving thing. It still is, even to this day.”
The importance of having a developed character: “I think originally I just assumed I’d be a really good wrestler and then someone would give me a character and I’d be good enough to play it off. Right, right, they’d be like, ‘You’re going to be Mantaur 2,’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, I love it!’ I could do that. No. But I think you quickly realize to get by and be successful in wrestling purely based on your in-ring ability is…you have to be really remarkable. Guys like ‘Dynamite Kid’ could do it, but I feel like to be a main event player and a character some people can get invested in, that’s the most thing, I think.”
Guys who are great in-ring talents needing good characters: “If you look at the guys who have broke out from Europe, you have Zack [Sabre, Jr.] and you have [Will] Ospreay, who are really, really exceptional in their fields. Zack is the best technical wrestler and Ospreay is the best high flyer, so they don’t have to rely as much on characters, but they will because they are the best in their field, but there will come a point when they’ll have to excel in that character. Wrestling on TV and wrestling on the indies are two different things, so they’ll have to.”
Heel/babyface dynamics: “What the hell is a heel? Who said I was a heel? I’m ‘The Villain’, I didn’t say I was [a heel]. I don’t play by these pro wrestling rules of faces and heels. I just don’t. I don’t care about that. You can live by those wrestling rules. I think outside the box. I’m a villain. I’m an antagonist. I do nasty things. If the people want to cheer or boo it, that’s down to them. It’s says more about them than it does about me.”
Wanting to face CM Punk: “CM Punk, I’d like to bring CM Punk out of retirement and wrestle him for sure. I don’t know if CM Punk listens to this show, but if he [does]…” Scurll added, “but CM Punk, if you’re watching, come out of retirement. We can cause quite a bother of a wrestling match. What do you say? And that’d be fun, right? Yeah, that’s one for the headlines!”
Why Jinder Mahal As Champion Is Fine
As most of you know by now, WWE pulled the trigger on Jinder Mahal and he is now WWE Champion. It’ll surely go down as one of the most shocking and unexpected victories in professional wrestling history. Sure it was met with harsh criticism, but others seem to think it was the right move. From a business standpoint, it was.
WWE is in the process of expanding its brand to India. Mahal winning the championship was the edge they needed to promote it and expand even more. It was a smart business decision, but don’t let that take away anything that Jinder has done to get to this point. He earned his match against Orton in the upcoming weeks to Backlash. His victory in the six-pack challenge and over AJ Styles showed that Mahal should be considered a true player.
Sunday night was just the coronation of his arrival to the spotlight, one that I’m perfectly fine with him having.
Mahal is considered a jobber by most of the WWE Universe. After being fired back in 2014, Mahal was brought back just to fill up the roster holes the brand split would create. The Mahal we saw in 2016 was different. Much different. He is built like a brick house. Maybe it’s the steroids, but nonetheless he changed his look. He also changed his character to a degree. No longer was he a founding member of 3MB. This Mahal was serious, ready to knock down anyone that stood in his way to success. It still didn’t change how he would be booked. By definition, Mahal was a jobber. That would all change at Wrestlemania 33.
Mahal was a finalist in the Andre the Giant battle royal, losing to Mojo Rawley with help from New England Patriots Tight End, Rob Gronkowski. Fast forward a little bit and we see him in the ring with a returning Finn Balor. The match was anything great, but what got people talking was the forearm shot by Mahal. It was viewed as stiff, unnecessary, and dangerous. Even though it got people talking bad about Mahal, it got them talking about Mahal nonetheless.
Jinder then shows up on Smackdown Live and does what every superstar plans to do, seize the opportunity before him. Thanks to The Singh Brothers (formally known as The Bollywood Boys), Mahal was able to pin Sami Zayn in the six-pack challenge and become the number one contender for Randy Orton and the WWE Championship. The rest, we say, is history. Mahal seized his opportunity and became the man of Smackdown Live.
The reason I love this so much is because Mahal has seized his moment, capitalized on every opportunity given before him, and took advantage where necessary. Smackdown Live is “The Land of Opportunity”, and Mahal is now the face of that moniker. Just three years ago Mahal was receiving his termination papers. Today, he holds the most coveted belt in all of professional wrestling.
If that isn’t perseverance, I don’t know what is.
People are going to hate the fact he is champ. They are going to say he hasn’t earned it, or that he doesn’t have enough credibility to be champion. The fact of the matter is, Mahal proved then wrong. He said he would become champ and everyone laughed at him. Now he’s the one holding the gold, laughing while people sit in unbelief.
Anything can happen in the WWE. It’s what makes it a great product. The unpredictability captivates audience or sours them, but either way it’s being talked about. I applaud WWE for making this happen. It was a shocking moment, and it was the right move to make.
Whether You Like It or Not, Jinder Mahal Is Here to Stay
As we are all no doubt very aware, Jinder Mahal is the WWE Champion. He’s bested the likes of Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, and is now seated comfortably at the top of the mountain. It is still unclear just how long he’s going to stay there, but things have changed. He is not going back down to where he was. WWE is clearly all in on the Maharaja Express. Once this is all done and there’s a new WWE Champion, don’t expect Mahal to fade away. From the looks of things, he is going to be around for a while.
The Last Few Reigns Kinda Sucked
Think about it. The last three champions, for some crazy reason, have all been transitional champions. I can’t believe it. If you add the total amount of days that John Cena, Bray Wyatt, and Randy Orton held the title this year, it’s less than the length of AJ Styles’s reign. The championship went nowhere.
Cena won it off AJ so he could get his 16 title reigns and lose it to Bray Wyatt two weeks later. Two weeks. What is this, the 70’s? Next up is Bray Wyatt. His reign started out alright. He won in the Elimination Chamber and retained against Cena and Styles in a triple threat. Cool. Randy Orton burned his house down and killed Sister Abigail to death. It was an awesome moment, but that was when the feud jumped the shark.
The bad blood between Wyatt and Orton devolved into a dick measuring contest. They argued over who had the superior magic powers, with Bray claiming he was born again and Randy just kinda stabbing the ground with a stake. Then they put on a garbage match at Wrestlemania that was certifiably spooky.
Randy won and then fought Wyatt in an even spookier House of Horrors match that he lost. He then lost his in his first title defense.
They’ve Put Effort Into Turning Jinder Into a Champion
The very first thing that Jinder Mahal did on Smackdown was come out of a damn limousine like he was hot stuff. The Singh brothers weren’t even riding in the same car as him. They rolled out a carpet for him to step on. Then he had a Punjabi celebration that was actually really cool and colorful. Dancers and music were there in the stadium. It was quite nice.
They are clearly trying to present Mahal as a big deal, and he does seem like one now. This shows a surprising amount of effort. If they were just doing this for kicks and giggles, then they wouldn’t hire a whole crew of Indians to sing and dance. They wouldn’t hire a limousine. WWE is seemingly going the whole nine yards for Mr. Mahal.
Is Mahal going to retain at Money in the Bank? It’s hard to say. Randy Orton is now going after him, and where the hell is Rusev, seriously. Give that man his WWE Championship match. With a new Mr. Money in the Bank about to be crowned soon, we’re about to see some new faces in the main event scene.
Mahal, to his credit, has shown that he can hang with the best. He knows how to wrestle, even if he is a bit plain and uninspiring. The Singh Brothers add depth to his character by giving him unwarranted arrogance. He claims he’s the best, but he’s clearly not. Combine that with his attempts to make us feel racist, and now everyone hates him. It’s great.
Could A Major Swerve Occur At Backlash?
Thanks to the most recent episode of Smackdown Live, my interest in Backlash has reached new highs. Jinder going over AJ (even though he had help) has made me a believer that he really stands a chance against Randy Orton in their WWE Championship match. The Usos dropped one awesome promo on Breezango, and I absolutely loved it despite my ill feelings toward them. Even Erick Rowan showing just what kind of character he can be on Talking Smack has me excited for his match as well.
While all of these matches are intriguing, it’s the women’s tag match that has me intrigued the most. The newest babyface of Smackdown, Charlotte, will team up with Naomi and Becky Lynch to take on The Welcoming Committee of Smackdown Live. It’s weird to see Charlotte as a face, but it’s a nice change on a show where change is welcome. Natalya and company have made it clear that they do not want Charlotte here, and she shouldn’t be allowed a chance at the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship just because of her past accomplishments on Raw. Technically these women have a point, but they shouldn’t be fighting for the belt either so their opinion is invalid.
Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. Charlotte seems like the person who should be a natural heel, for her entire career. This is why I see Charlotte turning on Becky and Naomi at Backlash.
Kurt Angle Compares Neville to Rey Mysterio
During a Q&A session on his Facebook account, Kurt angle was asked which mid-card WWE Superstar he thinks can be a main eventer in WWE. Angle said that Neville could be a top star and compared him to former WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio.
“I really like Neville. He has the ability to cross over from the 205 division to the HWT division. He’s so talented as a wrestler, and his character is strong. He can speak very well, and his style will mesh well with the heavyweights. Almost like Rey Mysterio was able to mesh with the big boys. Neville is very talented.”